We were heavily considering just taking the loss on the already booked train tickets home and taking an airplane instead. That ride up was insane and we did not want any part of that if we could. However, not wanting to waste lots of money and to give Amtrak a second chance we thought why not give it a go?
The people we spent some time with up and near Philadelphia were kind of enough to drop us off. We got there quite super early so we had some time to kill. This ended up going alright since the train station in Philadelphia is massive. So massive we had to ask if one of the lines was for our train.
I then sat down for a while and discovered this train station has a bit of an issue. I kept getting hit up by bums looking for money. Some even tried to sit down next to me and refused to leave till I told them no. I did not like being confronted in this manner for money. It made me feel a bit uneasy.
Thankfully I was left alone once the person I was with got back with lunch. This place had some fast food to get a quick bite from.
The station itself looks amazing. Between the pillars, stonework, and lighting it was quite breathtaking. These were all things I did not quite notice when we first arrived here since we were in a hurry to get into a car and leave.
They then started to call boarding for our train. This is when things got a little confusing. While there are numbers on the walls for different gates. You need to be lined up with the escalator that would take you down underground to where the trains are at.
At least when it was time for us to depart there were only a couple of lines. We ended up just going in the line closest to our expected gate. Everyone kept asking if it was for our train and people would reply yes. So clearly this was not as easy of a system as we were led to believe it would be.
This time I was asked for my boarding pass. I had to show it before getting on the escalator. I then had to show it again getting onto the train. I then had to show it quite a few more times. More on that in a bit.
Once the train however got in they did not open the doors to let our section on. They ended up moving quite a few people to the next open door to the train. I guess there was a bit of a mix-up of where they wanted people to stand.
The good news is I don’t have half a dozen crazy stories to tell about this train ride. For the most part, the people around us were thankfully normal and quite friendly. We found ourselves bonding with many over the situation that occurred on board.
It was not long before this one person got on board. This person slept almost the entire train ride. They also snored like they were guzzling shot glasses of snot and sounded like a chainsaw in volume. This person was quickly dubbed “The Chainsaw.” You only had to say chainsaw and everyone know who you were talking about without having to ask further questions.
We at first thought this person was just sleeping during the day since there was no way they did not know they snored that badly. We were all hopeful that person then would stay up during the night time and let people sleep. That did not happen. The person must have slept for a good 18 or more hours. They were still sleeping when we got off.
That was not the only odd thing during this train ride. Coming out of Philadelphia and for quite a few stops we noticed a lot of Amtrak police were either getting on or off. Everyone was also asked over and over again to keep showing their train tickets.
The only person not asked to keep showing his tickets was the snoring guy. All Amtrak employees seemed to want nothing to do with that guy. Lots of people complained about the guy snoring so loud that half our train car got zero sleep.
Many also complained that the guy sounded quite sick. As he would sometimes go into coughing fits. For the short amount of time he was awake he was also coughing quite bad.
Some people even asked if they could be moved elsewhere and Amtrak employees told anyone who asked NO. They claimed the train was full but any amount of walking around and you would see lots of empty seats people could have been relocated to.
Even worse while everyone who got on sounded fine. Towards the end of our train ride of over 23 hours instead of just the 20 it was supposed to take. I started to notice people were starting to sneeze, cough, and not sound so well. The next day after getting off the train had developed a nasty cold. Everyone was quite sure who made them sick as well. As everyone else was fine expected the chainsaw.
Things also went quite bad early on in the trip. We only had made it a couple of stops to DC before tragedy would strike. In DC we had to switch our electric engine to diesel. They removed our car and there was no replacement for almost three hours.
The entire time there were no powers except emergency lights, no onboard toilets, no AC, and no café. For most of it, we were not even on a platform so we were stuck in a tin can baking in the sunlight.
At one point they did for a short while pull our train up to the station. The Amtrak repair crew had dragged out a giant cooler they filled with water bottles and ice. We all got a short break and some cold water before getting shuffled back onto the train and pulled back out so other trains could get a short break outside.
The railway itself also started to fill up with trains. Anytime someone was asked what was going on employees would just say “Whatever I’d tell you would not be the truth anyways.” That was not reassuring.
Over time someone did let it slip that there was a derailment in the tunnel everyone had to take to get out. That tunnel is also where they bring in the new train engines from. So that is why we had yet to get a new train engine as it was trapped on the other side of the tunnel.
When we went through the tunnel I did not notice anything that looked like a derailment leftovers. I could also not find any news of such a thing occurring. Something went down and I doubt I’ll ever know about it.
The rest of the train ride was filled with that horrible chainsaw snoring. During the daytime, I did not mind it whatsoever. I however just had two bad nights of sleep before this one. I knew there was going to be zero chance of getting any sleep on this train.
It was also shocking just how many cement factories were in the middle of nowhere. Like quite a few towns were starting to pop up but first they needed cement to be able to build them. Those were about the only clearings I noticed for most of the trip back.
At one point it started to get late and they announced it was “quiet time.” Unlike the train ride up the staff this time were more than willing to tell everyone but the person snoring like a chainsaw to keep it down. Take their phone calls to the café car, and so on if someone was not respecting others.
One of the good things at least between all the snoring even if they are not severing microwaved food in the café car you can go hang out there anytime. Many of us when we felt like we were losing our sanity would just go back there and hang out. The door to the café blocked the snoring!
Very late into the night, many had enough of the snoring and Amtrak’s attitude of not doing anything. Some were considering taking the matter into their own hands or just getting off at the next stop and flying home.
Thankfully no one did anything they would regret doing. Many decided to just hang out in the café car for as long as they could. The only downside is it was quite bumpy back there. That car did not have the kind of shocks the other cars on the train had. So it was quite rough if you wanted or needed to spend five or so hours back there to escape the chainsaw.
One of the good things about the train ride up is they kept the bathrooms a lot cleaner. They not only cleaned the bathrooms they made happy announcements to our train car that they were now clean. Many of the staff were quite cheerful on this ride as well. Some of them even talked with customers for hours on end about trains.
The staff even came around and offered to take any trash we had a couple of times during our stay on the train. If it was not for the bad snoring and over 3-hour delay this might be an ok trip.
I was for sure having some fun with people around me on the train. The biggest issue I noticed is since they were so late they were not letting people out to smoke or walk around the station. That caused some people who were already in a bad mood due to the person snoring to be even worse off.
Thankfully while it felt like this train ride would never end it did. This is however when I learned my body cannot stand 23 hours on a train. I got off the train and realized I was trying to walk like I was still on the train.
It took a whole two days before I stopped walking the train funny walk. It did not help either that I developed a nasty cold and I’m still dealing with a nasty cough even a week later. Hopefully, I will be gone soon.
It has also become quite clear to me that I cannot sleep on a train. I’d rather get off a train at nightfall and go stay at a local hotel. Then wait for the next train the day after to pick up my journey again if I was to go anywhere that took a while on a train.
I did meet some amazing people on the train as well. Not all of it sucked. I had a few laughs and I think if things were more ideal I might have loved riding the train. That is however not how it worked out this time around for either of my train rides.
Photos were taken and content was written by @Enjar about my personal experiences in the real world away from the computer at home.
