It Starts Out Bad, Then Gets Better, Then Gets Worse, Much Worse
Part One – Los Angeles Hour One . . . a few notes that I wrote in real time:
I just found out that wifi is only available at first class and business class seats. I was neither. This will be posted when I get connected.
I paid 100 US$ for a ticket from Los Angeles to Vancouver. I will stop in Seattle tomorrow night around 9:00 p.m., 32 hours from now, and then I will transfer to a bus that will head to Canada.
I was second in line for the seat assignment and tried to bargain. Everyone going the distance, LA to Seattle, was put in the last car. I asked them not to put anyone next to me. They said the train was sold out. I didn’t know about asking for an ocean-facing, west-side seat. Instead I said, "Try and find me someone interesting."
It started badly.
I was in my seat for a few minutes when my seatmate showed up. He was 600 pounds, at least, maybe more. This man was both tall and large, very large. He didn’t quite fit in his seat and filled all the available space in front of us. My space shrank. I was squeezed over by the window. I couldn’t breathe and began to panic. Could I sleep here? Could I sit here for the next 35 hours? He might have been interesting, but I was so squeezed in, I didn't care. I felt awful for the guy. I bet that had happened to him over and over again, but I needed to breathe.
I slipped downstairs to the attendant at the door of my car and asked for another seat. The helpful Amtrak boarding assistant said, “What they put him there for?”
I asked for a seat on the Pacific Ocean side and she found me one at the back of the same car. I settled into my new seat. No one was next to me. I nibbled a little on the salad insomniasexx and randomuser had brought me. Thanks insom! This might be all right… and then
The conductor said that everyone in the back of the car had to move. A party of 20 was coming on and they didn’t want to split them up. He ends up moving me back to the front of the car just across the aisle from my previous seat. The large fellow had moved into my seat by the window and now filled both seats. And he'd be next to me. but anyway...
I’m next to a pleasant senior citizen who, I am grateful to say, has a book and seems to be reading it.
His cell phone ring tone sounds like a cuckoo clock.
Eventually I’ll start exploring.
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I wandered down to the other end of the train and discovered a long car with large windows.
At one end there were window-facing seats full of people reading, working, and chatting. Further down there were tables. Snacks were available downstairs. One fellow had an LA Times. I asked him whether he was finished with the paper – he said, not yet. I said that I was looking for the Suduko – that it distracts me.
I went down to the lower level where the snack bar was and picked up a coffee. When I came back up, the fellow with the newspapers said, “Sit here” and passed me the sections of the paper that he had finished.
That’s how I met Kevin.
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Now Hubski, I'm Sure You Want to Hear About the View, the Service, the Amenities
But I need to talk about Kevin
Then Things Get Better
I will make a long story short.
We quickly discovered that we were both suddenly single (Kevin had left his wife of 20-plus years two months ago, and my husband of 20-plus years told me one month ago that he "needed space.")
We were both teachers, and after some chat, it turned out he was an amazing teacher who really cared about his students, challenged them, helped them. Cool.
Our birthdays were both coming up in a couple of days.
I won't go on about Kevin (unless asked) but when I told Kevin my seat trauma, he suggested I move next to him. "Look for the seat," he said, "that has a book by Carl Hiasson and several New Yorker magazines."
I read every book by Carl Hiasson and I read The New Yorker. Is this real?
His seat, it turned out, was just in front of the seat I had been kicked out of because of the party of 20. I ran back to the last car and and moved my stuff from the front of the car to the back where Kevin's seat was. I put my ticket up above the seat to show it was occupied.
We spent the next few hours playing card games and talking in the lounge car. Plus he let me put my feet on his lap and he massaged them. I pulled out all the food packed by insomniasexx (sex that you don't sleep through), and we somehow made it through the night, awkwardly. We picked up the party of 20 in Santa Barbara. It turned out to be 20 Canadian Girl Guides.
And Then It Gets Worse, Much Worse
Thursday, August 6
Yes, there's amazing scenery and I could search on line for pictures, but at about 3:00 p.m., 45 minutes outside of Portland Oregon, I feel a jolt, the train suddenly brakes and slows to a stop.
I say to Kevin, "I have a bad feeling about this."
An announcement comes on the PA and says, "The train has hit a trespasser. We will let you know what happens as soon as we know. The doors will be locked for your own safety. Do not try and leave the train."
Another announcement comes on the PA and says, "The train has hit a trespasser. He didn't make it."
So we sit on the tracks in Oregon for an extra three hours. The train engineer and some of his staff are sent home. The PA system says, "We are waiting for a new crew. We'll keep you posted."
We eventually arrive in Seattle around midnight, four hours later than planned. I say good-bye (temporarily) to Kevin. Amtrak has found a private shuttle company to take about a dozen people up to Canada.
Around 4:00 a.m., I arrive at my friend's house in Vancouver where I will be safely sheltered for the next while.
Thank you insom and randomuser for the food package and your mother's bread! Thank you kleinbl00 for asking. Thank you thenewgreen and steve for being so loving.
One word: Kevin! I'm sure insomniasexx approves of the name. I'm glad you were able to meet him. Even if you never see the fella again, it's evidence of what is in store for you. The world is full of Kevin's for lil. I hope you enjoy many Kevin's and don't jump head over heels for the first Kevin you meet. Though, a Kevin that can give a foot-rub is a plus. Happy Kevining, -TNG
1. Kevin's are the best. Trust me on this one. They are the best. 2. When we met up with lil on Tuesday, she said "trains hit things a lot and bad things happen...every time I'm on a train something happens." And I'm like, "Haha...yeah...I'm sure it will be fine." 3. OBVIOUSLY I WAS FUCKING WRONG. But not about the Kevins. Kevins are the best. I'm glad it wasn't all terrible. I should have told you this before you left but oh well. My dad always says, "The difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude." Sounds like an experience and a good story nonetheless. And maybe...who knows...feelings will be had. ;)
I like that pretty much everything we talked about happening on a train, did. I'm sorry there was so many bad things that happened on your train, glad it got there, and awesome you met a Kevin.(we're pretty awesome generally;))
What an interesting journey almost a novel in itself, but real. It is a sad thing to hear about the person getting hit. I hope you have an awesome time in Vancouver. Side note: I find it sad they had to change out the engineer staff. I imagine they take stuff like that really hard.
It is policy. Even if the engineer thinks he is okay, they are sent home - for safety I imagine. Kevin told me that one of his students crashed her bike into his car (he was parked), and ended up on the windshield. The students were standing around and he said, "For once can you do something useful with your damn iPhones and call 911." An ambulance came and got the student and, even though Kevin wanted to work, the school made him go home for the day. My uncle was in the navy during World War II. His boat got torpedoed. Everyone who survived was given one week's leave. Same stuff, I guess.
I imagine they are right to make it so. It's gotta be something underlying at first with the trauma. I mean you really can't have someone second guessing themselves when operating heavy machinery even if it is a slight difference in the way they do their jobs.
Goodness! I'm sorry about that ending, but it sounds like an all right train journey. I've only been on a train during a pedestrian death once, but they're not rare. Lots of rail workers have PTSD because of them. The NY MTA has to provide special mental health services to drivers, because most of them have played a role in someone's death. I've actually done the Coast Starlight SF-LA in coach myself, and Portland-SF in a sleeper. The first class / sleeper setup is pretty fantastic. Until very recently, there were complimentary champagne and cheese tastings in first class. Now the federal government has specifically banned serving complimentary alcohol to rail passengers, so it costs $5 or something nominal. The wifi in the first class lounge is decent, as train wifi goes (better than the Northeast Corridor, anyway). There's a movie theater downstairs as well, though it mostly plays terrible Adam Sandler movies. I'm sorry you had that experience, but I hope you get to see Kevin again. Thanks for reporting!
One of the REALLY IRRITATING things about being in coach is the constant announcements of the great things that are available to the First Class and Sleeper passengers. The wine tasting will start in ten minutes. First class and sleeper passengers only. The movie will start in ten minutes. The attendant will take meal car reservations shortly. First class and sleeper passengers will have their choice. The rest of you can wait, and if we run out of food, we're very very sorry. Note the salmon and the chicken are gone. and then: We are stranded on the tracks for three hours. First class and sleeper car passengers will be airlifted out by helicopter, if you want. The attendant will come around and take your reservations. -- made that last bit up - but you get the idea.
Wow, I can't imagine that ever happening in Germany :D First class is just first class. More comfy seats, a coffee extra, the higher society of people that don't want to speak with you. Just first class. If they would start giving announcements like these, germans will start complaining. A lot.
Man, you hear about trains hitting people a lot but I never thought I'd talk to anyone who was on one when it happened. I did the same trip about a year ago, except our starting point was San Diego. I ended up in the same spot: coach. We should have sprung for a sleeper car; it would have made the long, long trip a lot more comfortable. The cafe car rules though!
Wow lil! It seems you had quite an interesting train ride. 1) sorry you had to experience the trespasser ordeal 2) why doesn't the train just run into vancouver? Last I checked I thought there was a way to ride Amtrak from WA to BC... 3) Kevin seems like a cool guy! The Kevins I meet tend to be nice.
Great write up. Welcome to Canada! Hope you have fun. Vancouver is a great town but the surrounding areas are even better IMO. I try to get to Whistler and travel between there and Calgary once a year.
I should try and have a meetup with sounds_sound and forwardslash
You should. I have organized a few internet meet-ups and they have all turned out really well, despite what some people say about meeting anonymous weirdos from the internet.