In September, 2004, I needed to travel from Tulsa OK to Washington DC. For a lark I took Amtrak. The first leg was via bus (Greyhound) from Tulsa to Kansas City, then via train from KC to Chicago, and another train to DC. The KC to Chicago run was in daylight and a lot of fun. The train arrived in Chicago on time. Chicago to DC was another story: Widespread storms over the eastern US had disrupted Amtrak’s schedule. We departed late from Chicago; Amtrak did not load the food for the dining car so there were only a few cold sandwiches for dinner that night; and rather than arriving at noon the next day we pulled in to DC’s Union Station at 10:15 PM.
In the early afternoon, the train remained stopped at one of the stops on the route, and they announced that the engineer had worked the maximum number of hours allowed and a replacement was on the way – 45 minute delay. About 2 1/2 hours later, the train stopped again on a siding and they announced that the conductor had worked the maximum and a replacement was on the way – 1.5 hour delay. We also had to wait several times for freight traffic to use the track.
But I met some very nice people, and since I was in no hurry, I had a blast. I don’t see even the eastern corridor getting better, though, as long as Amtrak is using the freight companies’ lines. The tracks are in pretty poor shape too: We had to slow down several times because the side-to-side swaying would have been dangerous at higher speeds.
