As you know from a previous post, I was quite excited by the opportunity to take an Amtrak train up to Glenwood Springs with our FBC missionaries for our retreat. We left on Tuesday, as planned. However, there was significant trouble on the way to Union Station, as the bus we booked to transport the missionaries from the church to the station broke down, and we had to utilize church vans and cars at the last minute. Added to that, there was major gridlock throughout the metro highway system due to snow the night before. The train was scheduled to leave at 8:00 am, was delayed to 9:00, and eventually, delayed again to nearly 10:30 am. Fortunate for us. Most of our group arrived between 9:30 and 10:00, and we all eventually made it onto the last coach car of the train - which we had all to ourselves.
The ride up was incredible. The views were breathtaking. A fresh blanket of snow covered the terrain and in many places, was clearly untouched and untraveled. We saw more wildlife than I anticipated, including several deer, elk, mountain sheep and bald eagles. When we arrived at the Glenwood train station several hours late, none of us thought too much of the delay, because the ride up had been so delightful.
In addition to the natural beauty, we also enjoyed the time to engage in conversation with several of our missionaries. As planned, the travel time got our retreat started from the moment we arrived at Union Station.
The retreat exceeded all of my expectations and was a little taste of heaven for all 65 of us. I may make some reflections on that in a blog later. In short, it was a highlight in my last five years of ministry at FBC.
Back to the train. We were scheduled to leave at 1:00 pm on Thursday. We all scattered throughout the city for lunch after we checked out of the hotel. Predictably, the train was delayed. First, to 1:30, then to 2:15, and finally to 2:30, when we all boarded. Little did we know that a trip that we planned to take about 6 or 7 hours turned into a nightmare!
The first delay occurred when we had to wait for a train coming from the other direction to to pass while we waited on the tracks. No big deal. If you travel on Amtrak, you should expect that as a common occurrence.
The second delay occurred when a “rail switch” on the track froze shut. Yes, I wrote “froze!” Who knew that rail switches could freeze? A crew member got off the stopped train to see if he could do anything about it, and when he learned that he couldn’t, they had to call for technicians (not sure where they came from) to come to work on it. This was a two hour delay that was softened a bit by the fact that it took place near an elk feeding station. Apparently, the Colorado DNR has set up several feeding stations for elk throughout the high country this year due to harsh condition in the mountains. From our vantage point we observed over 75 elk make their way down a hillside near a feeding area right near the train track. One was a huge 6 point bull that had the largest rack I’ve ever observed on an animal in the wild.
The third delay occurred at exactly 10:23 pm. (I’ll tell you why I know the exact time in a minute.) Delay number three occurred in a major blizzard in some remote place between Winter Park and Denver. No homes or lights in sight. Visibility was no more than ten feet. We were already two and a half hours late at this point. And the train just shut down. No announcement over the public address system. (We had several throughout the trip.) No explanation. No staff/conductors wandering through the trains. (As they had previously.) Something happened to the toilets and they stopped working. No food or beverage service. Just cold air blowing through the ventilation system and a dead stop in the middle of nowhere.
Initially, we all patiently waited, since we were becoming very accustomed to delays. But after an hour we became restless. The weather was deteriorating. I could see a look of fear on several faces. 11:30 pm and we had no idea why we weren’t moving.
Two of our guys made their way through the train cars (remember we were the last car) all the way to the front of the train. I heard they left to check things out, and followed behind by a couple of minutes. We traveled through about ten cars, including sleepers and first class, and were able to find one uniformed Amtrak employee (not sure of his job). He was not a happy man. “We’re out of time.” He said it a couple of times. “Meaning what,” we asked. “Meaning I can’t do anything for you, unless I want to be fined $10,000.” “I can’t give you water, I can’t feed you, I can’t make an announcement about what’s happened, I can’t do anything. We’re out of time.” We must have looked stunned, so he continued. “We have to get another crew up here, and the weather is so bad, they couldn’t make it by van, so they have to come by freight train….” and then he said the words I feared when one of the guys asked, “Where is the crew coming from?” “Denver.” I desperately tried to get him to announce the status to the whole train as I had been approached by several other passengers on my way to the front – “do you know what’s happening?” So, I asked the Amtrak employee – “Can’t you just make a 30 second announcement telling everyone what you just told me?” “NO! And would you please stop talking? My crew is sleeping. They’ve worked a full 12 hour shift and need their sleep.” Here’s what I learned from this exchange – the Amtrak crew started at 10:23 am, they stopped at 10:23 pm and they didn’t care what happened to anyone else from that point forward.
Get this. The Amtrak crew worked for exactly 12 hours and literally stopped. Didn’t publicly announce to anyone what was happening. Didn’t matter where we were. Didn’t matter whether older people, children, pregnant women, or whoever might have a need on the train. They were “out of time.” And we were out of luck. I’m still stunned by this reprehensible lack of responsibility. If someone would have had a medical emergency, the Amtrak crew could not/would not (?) have responded. I have to admit that I experienced several waves of anxiety (short-lived, but real) as I walked back to tell our team what I learned. I also admit that I was angry at such cold-heartedness - the guy wouldn’t even make a 60 second announcement to let people know what was happening.
When I told our people what was going on, several moved out to try to find water, some headed to other cars to see whether their bathrooms were functional, and within about a half hour, the Lord sent us an Amtrak employee, who I won’t describe, since I don’t want to get him in trouble. I assume he was under the same constraints as the other crew members. Suffice it to say, he came and talked us down and addressed the problem with the bathrooms. He was a stark contrast to the stubborn employee in the front who was “out of time” and ….OK, I’ll resist further description!
So, we waited. From 10:23 pm to 1:30 am when the crew from Denver arrived. It took a while to get going, and finally a conductor (one of the new crew) came back to our car to let us know we would be arriving in Denver at around 3:00 am Friday morning. (Remember the initial ETA was 8:00 pm.) We pulled in at 3:00 am, waited to claim out luggage, and when I finally fell into bed, my digital alarm clock read 4:34 am.
My favorite moment upon arrival was when Jan found a little cardboard sign in the train station with the following headline – “How Was Your Trip?” (<—-my blog title!) The sign goes on to ask passengers to go to www.amtraksurvey.com to let Amtrak know how their trip was, and if we do, guess what? We could win a $500 certificate for future travel ….on Amtrak!!! I wish I had a video of the responses I got when I walked around to our group and showed them the little sign. “How Was Your Trip?”
Even though this is a long post, I’ve actually held back on so much I could have written. Let me close with some final musings:
1. Our group showed great patience, understanding, and flexibility from beginning to end. What should I have expected? They’re MISSIONARIES. Great job, guys! If I was going to be stranded on a train, this is the group I would have chosen!
2. The retreat was awesome, and I’m not going to allow the Amtrak debacle rob me of my joy at what the Lord did for us during these three days.
3. God knew about all of this in eternity past, and at no time did I feel that we were out of His mind or His care. We had several older folks with us and one of our staff members is pregnant. I want to thank the Lord that we were all protected and kept from harm.
4. At one point a few of us gathered in the aisle of our car and began to chuckle and laugh (everything seemed exceptionally funny for some reason….) and I honestly have to say I haven’t laughed that hard in years. The same thing happened in the lower level of our car when someone suggested that I might blog about this and title the blog, “SCAMTRAK!” We laughed so hard my stomach hurt. A few other things happened that I can’t describe (though I think there are photos!), but believe me, we were a joyful group in the midst of our trial! And after 2:00 am, several of us became so giddy that everything anyone said made us all laugh!
5. One of our missionaries from Poland said, “I’ve been traveling on trains in Europe for 20 years and have never had an experience like this.” Perhaps we should send the Amtrak team to Europe for some mentoring in train protocol?
6. This was my FIRST and LAST trip on AMTRAK. I understand weather delays, track malfunctions, and the imprecision of rail travel. But the failure of the Amtrak crew to care for their passengers in a humane and sensitive fashion has convinced me that to ride on Amtrak is to knowingly place yourself in jeopardy. My advice –find another way to travel, and tell your friends – travel on Amtrak is risky business!
That’s my answer to “How Was Your Trip!”
