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We were less than 40 miles from my home station of Salinas. I was at the rear of train 11 taking photos out the back window. Suddenly I heard a whoosh of air (from the brakes I assume) and we made a sudden lurch which threw me a little off balance, and we came to a rapid stop. I thought “that was weird.” I had my scanner with me and heard “Conductor, we’ve hit a truck.”
My room was in car 1131, and when I got to the 1130 car the hallway was so packed with gawkers I could barely get through. It was then I saw the truck was on its side. It was about a 20 footer, one of two hauling plants from the grower’s place nearby. The driver was unhurt, but the train crew had to pull him out.
As is typical for Monterey County truck/train collisions, this site, right at MP 88.5, had the tracks parallel to a highway no more than 30 feet apart, maybe less. Trucks stop before pulling onto the highway fail to clear the tracks. There was a curve in the tracks less than one train length from the crossing. There was no way the engineer could have seen the truck in time to stop. We clipped the truck at the rear and spun it around and flipped it on its side.
As “luck” would have it, my sleeper stopped right next to the truck. Our door was opened, so I was able to roam freely and shoot photos, which I will post when I have a little more time. On the ground witnesses to the collision were on the opposite side of the train, so the vestibule opened to the other side to allow them to pass through and talk to conductors and police. I gathered that some of them also had a financial interest in the cargo.
We were running slightly over an hour late before the collision, and we were delayed about 55 minutes more by the accident. The locomotive suffered only superficial damage.
Otherwise it was a fabulous trip. On Nov. 3, my birthday, I boarded #11 in Salem right on time. I had room 7, and my attendant was Roger, and he was absolutely wonderful. Roomettes were oriented forward in this car. Angela was in charge of car 1132. We had her on a previous trip and she was terrific then and now.
There was no Parlour Car, but some Parlour Car amenities such as sodas, muffins, juice, sweet rolls, and newspapers were set out on display in room 9, while room 10 was used for storage of same. The goodies were right next door for me. It occurs to me that someone made a conscious decision well ahead of time not to sell these rooms and use them for this purpose. I’m thinking they knew there would be no Parlour Car on this consist. I will note, however, that when we passed #14(2) in the Wilamette Valley and #14(3) in the Sacramento Valley, both had Parlour Cars, dispelling the rumor that they would be taken off on the 1st.
Roger had also set up a GPS system in his room #1, on the upper bunk so it was at eye level. We could track our progress and speed at any time. He actually slept in room 10, so the GPS was available all night.
The food was terrific. If you read my northbound report, I had a horrible piece of salmon. I ordered chicken this time, and it was tender, juicy and tasty. Finger lickin’ good. My table companions all enjoyed their meals as well, each having ordered something different. – lamb, beef, and ravioli. I did have a problem with my salad, which was visibly far from fresh. I sent it back, astounded that they would even put that bowl of compost material on a table, though it did have one piece of fresh lettuce on top.
But maybe the server was so busy he didn’t notice. With only two people they were clearly spread too thin, and it was hard to get their attention. The train was packed end to end, and the diner was packed all night. I was at the 8:00 pm seating, second to last which came at 8:30.
One of my companions said he was on the Empire Builder the previous day and they still had real china. I had cheesecake for dessert, and my table mates sang “Happy Birthday” to me.
The sightseer lounge was an unrefurbished Superliner I, with the original orange and brown colors. The coach passengers this trip seemed to be a pretty rough looking bunch, and they pretty much dominated the lounge, so I didn’t spend much time there. I did sit there for awhile late at night before bed and met a couple with a 16 month toddler. Dad seemed to be having a good time, but Mom was bored and kinda cranky about the food prices. It was their first train trip, and they were doing the whole length of the run in coach.
We had a couple of the new customer service managers aboard. A gentleman from my car and I talked with one at dinner on Friday and another came aboard in Oakland, and we chatted with her in the hall on Saturday. She said she wasn’t supposed to talk about Amtrak politics, but since we were generally happy with the on board service, we asked her about the politics anyway.
20th Century Member # 2196
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Considering the collision delay with the already one hour delay that wasn't bad for the Coast Starlight! Also happy to hear the food was delicious.
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