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When Amtrak was still using F40s and Amfleet-2 cars on the San Diago route, I once rode one on the way back to Anahiem, and making the aproach to the station the train started slowing down real fast, to fast, since the Amfleets dont have automadic doors like Surf Linners do now, I was in the area of the car ware the conductors say they'll be letting poeple off and when the train stoped we waited for a while and conductor came running up to the door and said that some teens had started a fire on the tracks and laid a 2x4 across the rails, after they removed the 2x4 and put out the fire the train moved on. Another time a women fell from the platform into the tracks and the next train(the one I was ridding) aproaching the station was notafide, it was already at the end of the platform and suddenly a conductors voise over the speakers said: ALL passengers and crew prepare for an Emergency stop. Out the window I could see sparks starting to come from undernieth the train, in the end the train had stoped in time. And after getting off the train in Anahiem I seen flames and smoldering sinders blowing from the rear axel(back then I didnt know what a hotbox was) so I just reported it to the station manager. And thats just some of the things that I've seen out of 13 years of ridding trains.-------Anything like this ever happend to you?
------------------ JONATHON D. ORTIZ
Posts: 989 | From: DIAMOND BAR CA. U.S. | Registered: Nov 2003
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Back in the early 90s I was a riding a private car attached to the Southwest Chief, LAX-CHI. It was early afternoon just east of Lamy, and we had come in from the back platform after watching the meet with #3. The crew was busy getting lunch ready. Unexpectedly, we came to a stop. On the scanner we could heard that #3 had reported seeing smoke coming from our train. Out we went onto the platform, looked forward, and saw the conductor and his assistant running back toward us. The conductor stopped halfway down our car, stuck his head underneath, and a second later got up, laughing. Suddenly, we got it. The kitchen grill was vented out underneath the car. "It's OK," he told the engineer on the radio, "They're just cooking chicken back here. Highball #4."
Posts: 103 | From: St. Louis, MO USA | Registered: Oct 2002
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I took the Chief #4 from FLG-NPV last August. The trip (the part I had been on, at least) had been fairly uneventful. We were traveling at a decent speed through Missouri, when we suddenly came to a screeching halt. I could tell the train had gone into emergency, and I turned my scanner on to see what was up. I heard something about an asphalt company, and looking ahead through the windows of the lounge car, I could see that we had come to a stop in front of a grade crossing with several trucks parked around it. The scanner further informed me that the engineers had spotted some road repair/paving equipment sitting on the tracks, and dumped the air. I saw the conductor walk the train, as the asst. conductor or engineer got a report from the road company. I heard the engineer and conductor exchange reports that they had gotten the address of the company, and would send them a nice letter. We lost about 35" due to the incident.
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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I was waiting for the Southwest Chief at Gallup, along with the other passengers, when I heard the distinctive Amtrak horn. So we expected to be on board in a few minutes. But the train didn't pull into the station. I went out to see what happened, and there she was a few feet from the station with a bunch of comotion going on in front of the lead loco. It turns out someone commited suicide by laying on the tracks! The train was delayed for two hours and we just had to wait for it to pull up to the station before we could board. What a pain, I could see the train, and practially touch it, but it took two hours until we could board.
Several passengers, as was I, were woried about missing dinner. Thankfully the dining car crew stayed up for us and they were appropriately tipped for their services.
The deceased was a native american who was having family trouble, and decided to end it. What a horrible way to go! I though of a title for a newspaper article but common sense told me to let it go in this politically correct world. My title was "Chief kills tribesman", not all that politically incorrect, but I thought it was somewhat insensitive.
Anyway, the train crew (engineer+fireman/asst. engineer) had to be replace and this is why the delay took so long.
Posts: 579 | From: San Bernardino Subdivison | Registered: Dec 2001
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I was waiting for the ann rutlege one day last year (St. Louis-Chi) and just before it arrived the PA said that it struck a car about 8 minutes out. All the other passengers sighed by being next to a yard, found something to pass the time. When it finally came in, I expected to see a crumpled pilot or busted ditch light, but the only thing different was a smashed duck behind the pilot. The crew got out and had a good laugh.
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On the Zephyr on 10/30 this year, somewhere past Denver, we were having lunch. Suddenly heard the train's horn and we came to a screeching halt. Soon thereafter, we learned that we had hit a boulder on the track. Took nearly 4 hours to fix the train and get back on our way.
Posts: 33 | From: Fair Oaks, CA US | Registered: Jul 2003
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Well, my story is no where as good as all of yours but once i was taking 48 home to Buffalo and somewhere between Hammond-Whiting and South Bend one of the air hoses became disconnected and we came to a hard stop. Funny thing is i heard the air go, followed by us stopping. Really it could of been many things judging by that. Good thing is is it only took about 5 minutes to get back on our way.
Posts: 115 | From: Buffalo, NY | Registered: Aug 2002
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On a trip last winter, I overheard the engineer saying that our braking was a bit sticky on the train, making it harder to accellorate, so when we pulled into the next Station, the conductor got off the train, walked to the last coach and found the angle cock was ever so slightly open resulting in lower brake pressure and causing "Sticky brakes"! He closed it up, and we were on our way, things went otherwise perfect after that. Sounds rather boring compared to some of the other stories told on this board but oh well...
Posts: 113 | From: Buffalo, NY | Registered: Sep 2002
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Sometime over a the past year, the southbound Surfliner came to a stop in Oxnard a couple miles west of the station; my coach stopped right next to a "79" speed limit sign.
According to the conductor they stopped to avoid hitting someone; I don't know if that was a pedestrian or car on a crossing. Delay was less than 10 minutes.
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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I was on the City of New Orleans southbound through Batesville Miss.It was early morning,and I was asleep,streched out across two seats in the first coach.this was right behind the baggage car,when there was a loud WHAM!I picked myself up off the floor.We had hit a semi loaded with cardboard.From talking to other passengers later,I learned that the locomotive(along with the first few cars)Jumped into the air about 6 to 8 inches and landed on the rails!I knew exactly when this happened because we landed VERY hard!We were running at 75 MPH.at time of impact.We had to set out the first unit at the next siding because the headlight was smashed in.Also,the horn was damaged and wouldn't work.all of this delayed us 5hr.30min.At first Amtrak was going to bus us to our destinations but found that it would take 4 hrs.to get buses so we continued by train.The driver would have made it across,but stalled with his trailer on the crossing.He got out in time and was unharmed.He was about three days from retirement.
------------------ Trust Jesus,Ride Amtrak.
[This message has been edited by espeefoamer (edited 11-29-2003).]
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Sorry, I've been in Santa Maria for the last few days and havent bin able to reply. ----------------------------------- SOUTHWEST CHIEF, I think I've seen a photo of this incident and I also have had the same problem with poeple delaying trains by commiting suicide, on my way to San Diago the train in front of us hit someone who stepped in the tracks, so they backed up the train,(the one in front of us)right next to ours in Santa Ana station. The conductor said they were going to transfer every one from the train that hit the suicide victem to our train and take them back to Anahiem(I dont know why theyed go the way they came)and we would wait for the next one because the rails the incident occured on were not aloud to be used yet. Another time I woke up on the Coast Starlight to find out that over night we'd hit someone, I dont no why poeple chose to use trains to commit suicide.
ESPEEFOAMER, I've never herd of that happening before but in the train crash that happend around the same time the O.J. Simpson case was all over the news, the one where it was sabbataged by an ex-Amtrak employee, I dont remember what year it was, but the 2 F40PH locomotives whent over an entire section of missing rail and whent right back on the next section of track, the rest of the train derailed though.
------------------ JONATHON D. ORTIZ
Posts: 989 | From: DIAMOND BAR CA. U.S. | Registered: Nov 2003
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We were on the CZ this spring, about 2 hours late, and the train went around a curve in a cut near Colfax and sideswiped an SUV. The train stopped -- it was moving slowly anyway -- and the people on the other side of the coach watched as a guy and a girl scrambled out of the SUV and headed up the bank. We figured the guy had found what he thought was a neat and secluded place to park, not taking the vagarities of Amtrak schedules into account. When the train finally moved off, we could look down into the SUV and see they'd left their boxes of KFC behind.
Posts: 58 | From: Owensboro, KY USA | Registered: Apr 2002
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I've got quite a long list of these sorts of incidents, from many years of train riding, but here are a few of the best:
1) Eastbound on the "Canadian" in 1970, came to an emergency stop east of Armstrong, ON in the middle of nowhere. Turns out we had hit someone portaging a canoe across a railroad trestle (!). Crew put him in the baggage car and took him to the nearest hospital (Sudbury, IIRC). Funniest thing was the diner, where a bunch of Quebecois had been having red wine with their lunch. The tablecloths were pink!
2) Eastbound on #30, we had a train separation at speed and went into emergency. The crew got things back together in about 30 minutes.
3) On the Late for Sure Limited, somebody left a handbrake set on the dome car, flattening all eight wheels and ultimately resulting in our tripping a defect detector. I didn't have much luck with the Claytor domes!
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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