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naturally the whole thing was the fault of Amtrak. The complainers should have had airline tickets then they could sleep on the airport floor and figure out hw to get food. BAH HUMBUG !!!
DeeCT Member # 3241
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--- just blame Mother Nature. Call it an act of God. Bad Karma. Whatever.
Life Happens.
--- how we react and adjust to what happens says a lot about us.
One thing always amazes me -- It is the we were not kept informed statements. Look out the window people. A simple "trees and power lines are down and we will proceed as soon as we can do so safely" should suffice. Having that repeated every fifteen minutes or so will not change a thing. -- We have become an impatient people.
And yes I have been on severely delayed trains several times. (Sometimes handled wonderfully by Amtrak Train Attendants and/or Customer Services and sometimes not.)
In every case, as near as I can determine, it did not affect or alter the rest of my life.
Life is short --- enjoy the ride.
train lady Member # 3920
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Amen Dee
RRRICH Member # 1418
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I too was wondering how AMTRAK was doing in the NE with all the snow. I realize no one can change the weather, but it seems to me, back in the hey-day of railroading (1930's and 1940's), passenger trains were very seldom delayed, even by such massive snowstorms. Highways were shut down, planes (what few there were then) were cancelled, but how did the railroads handle situations like this "in the olden days?"
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Simply a case of "more boots on the ground" Rich.
Lest we forget that when the 1952 City of San Francisco Donner Pass stranding occurred, railroad industry employment was about 1.2M; today it is about 185K or some 15% of 1952 levels.
Railroading today by comparison is one big 1:1 Lionel set - and it is handling considerably more traffic today than it did back then - Korean War notwithstanding.
train lady Member # 3920
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Acording to the reports massive numbers of lines and trees are down on therails. also the crews may have trouble getting to work. The roads are incredible.
RR4me Member # 6052
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Hear, hear DeeCT
sbalax Member # 2801
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Great link, Mr. Norman. Thanks for posting it.
Frank in sunny and clear SBA
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Thanks for the 1952 newsreel link, Gil! As always, I enjoy your vast archives of railroading history.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Just as long as they don't handle the Donner Pass stranding Mr Norman describes as it was handled in the 1800s . . .
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Sojourner, did you know that there is a tourist spot in the pass called the "Donner Camp Picnic Grounds"?
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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I would be checking the lunch meat in those picnic sandwiches very carefully at that spot!
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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Funny how things weren't so bad in worse snow conditions, back in 1996 (fourteen years ago). Nobody coined the inane term "Snowmageddon" either. Has the younger generation just turned out weaker or weaker-willed?
Pity about the real Capitol Limited too. Riding out of CRRNJ Terminal and stopping at Baltimore Mount Royal en route are things that one can merely imagine, these days.
wayne72145 Member # 4503
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I have been delayed at the Denver Airport in February and can not count the times in Chicago and I have been stuck between Spokane and Seattle for hours in the snow. I will trade any of my airport delays for the comfortable wait on a train. Delays on a train are more relaxing than an airport floor. I won't go through Denver in the winter ever again unless it's on Amtrak.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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As a lover of wordplay, I enjoyed "Snowmageddon" the first couple of times it was used. Also "Snowpocalypse," for a while. And "Snopocalympics," the caption a Maryland newspaper reportedly put on a photograph of kids sledding downhill Monday.
train lady Member # 3920
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Jusr this AM a woman reported her son looked out and called it a snowdado (age 10 not bad!!)With the blizzard going on that is a very apt discription
RR4me Member # 6052
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Seems like everything has to be a 3 second soundbyte nowadays, and I don't necessarily blame the younger generations. I blame "news" casters or their writers. Can't resist adding it is ruining thoughtful discourse in politics as well.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Heard "snowverkill" today, and thought that was a good 'un.
It's nice to see people having fun with the language.
AHALL Member # 3515
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My wife and I just returned from our 7,000 mile train trip, and all went well except the final 400 miles on the Capitol Limited from CHI to PGH.
We arrived in CHI Sunday night on the Empire Builder, and the Capitol was canceled due to "trees on the tracks."
We were staying in Chicago for two nights anyway, but the CL departure of 2/10 was still canceled and Amtrak in Chicago doesn't expect the CL to be operational for "3-5 more days."
So we rented a car and returned home via the Indiana and Ohio Turnpikes. Weather was okay until Akron. Slow driving after that.
RR4me Member # 6052
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AHALL, will we be getting a trip report? Since I can't ride as often as I'd like (work, bills, college funding etc.) I vicariously enjoy all the reports published.
rresor Member # 128
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Well, with respect to "snowverkill" or whatever you want to call it, I need to point one thing out. This one broke records set more than a hundred years ago, so those "back in the day" railroaders never dealt with anything quite so severe, at least not on the East Coast. In Philadelphia, we're now up to 72 inches so far this year -- previous yearly high was 54 inches, back in 1996, and 52 in 1898.
A friend sent photos of his neighborhood south of Washington, and there were LOTS of downed trees, so that made the problems on the RF&P pretty clear.
We're got about three feet on the ground here. Main roads are okay, side streets still iffy in spots. But hey, I work for the government, and they've been closed all week so I've got nowhere I need to go. Good thing, because Amtrak sure won't get me there.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Today it was "snowverload." Tomorrow it'll be "snowverdose," Sunday it'll be "snowverflow," Monday "snowversupply."
Or am I snowverdoing it?
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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Methought "snowmageddon" was "snowverdone" right out of the box. Snow corny…
train lady Member # 3920
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The word play here is excellent and amusing. Trying to survuve in the snow is not. People in the area are being taken out by helicopter for medicaal emergencies, the National guard is helping get the emergency equipment through, in some communities there ate 8 ft. drifts, people can't get out to get food, Some have been without electricity for days and the temps have been below freezing. No life for many here is not a game nor are the reports overkill.
train lady Member # 3920
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oops Line 3 the word is are not ate
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Dare I stick my head out of the turret again? But I wanted to tell you all that even the New York Times is playing this game:
Clearing Roads in Winter Requires Snowphistication
train lady Member # 3920
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that was also in the Washington Post this morning. Hmmm, I wonder who copied whom?
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Come to think of it, that was an AP story -- presumably the AP puts headlines on all its stories.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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While off rails, the best of these contracted terms I've heard along the way has got to be 'Invoicetation", or otherwise an invitation which best translates 'send gift to....'
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