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  • What Happens in AC..(lawng)

    ...ends up here.

    I'll make this a quick backstory: while my family and I were on vacation our car (with the emblem that looks like a slanted H, same breed as Bleu) started having trouble. After a series of unfortunate events it turned out to be transmission issues, which would have to be replaced. Thankfully it was covered under warranty, so we left our car in DE (we live in MA) and took a rental home the rest of the way.

    The dealer we left it at called last week and said it was ready to be picked up, so Mom-bot and I made arrangements to go pick it up and then take it with us to Atlantic City for a couple nights.

    Better get a cold drink and a snack, because this going to be epic.


    Amtrak Woes

    The dealer was near an Amtrak station in DE, so we decided to take the train down instead of a bus or flying. Mom purchased "reserved seating" online and was very disappointed to find out their version of "reserved". All it meant was that we had seats on that train, but not what we'd like. We were hoping to get a row with the lapdesks and all that jazz, like the website advertised, but we were stuck in this 4-person thing instead.

    Mom was very peeved, and asked to move when she could. We had to wait until we were outside NYC before we were able to change seats, but until then, because of the way we were seated, we barely has 10 inches of leg space between us, and had to take turns stretching legs because there just wasn't enough room.

    Main reason she was peeved? Single riders would come on, and take up the whole row by sitting in one seat and their bags in another. Other people that got on later were forced to split up, often in different cars, because of that. She also said that when she went down to the snack car she'd see people take a table that seated 4, but by themselves. Hook up a laptop, spread their stuff around, and it was always just one person at each table.

    And the kicker was in NYC, when a family of four got on. Mom and I managed to move a row back and were now sitting side by side, comfortably, when this family got on. mom, pop, two teenaged daughters, took up both four person seat areas at the front of the car. The girls sprawled across their rows, while Mom and Pop sat across their seats, making it impossible for anyone to sit there.

    The whole rides none of the conductors said anything to anyone. Mom was spellbound and asked if I had ever seen anything like this. I just mentioned the board.


    No...No....Uh, NO.

    After the train, we took a cab over to the dealer. This guy was scary as all hell.

    The dealer was located on the other side of a divided "highway", if you will. Four lanes on both sides, that sort of thing. Well, there were turn lanes to go either way, some with lights, others with stop signs. Cabbie tries to go down one such turn lane, and realizes that he's basically going down the wrong way. Gotta get out of there, right?

    He tries to back up at FULL SPEED, into oncoming traffic. He kept asking us "I go now, yes?" and every time I said "No, not yet" while watching, he'd start going anyway, getting honks from drivers who hadn't counted on seeing this cab backing out of there.

    I always shake my head at drivers who back up on the highway because they missed an exit...never thought I'd be riding with one....


    Rude Truck

    This might fit more in Roadkill, but rather than make a whole new thread about it I'll stick it here.

    We're taking a back road to AC when we get stuck behind a trash truck. A slow one, at that. Limit was 55, this guy was doing 40.

    The road was a broken yellow line, so if the coast was clear we could pass. Well every time Mom tried to peek and see if the coast was clear, the truck would hug the dotted line so we couldn't see at all if traffic was coming, and would back away from it when the lines were solid. He kept this game up for 5 miles.

    We did finally pass him when the road split into two lanes and he took the right one, but it was still pretty ridiculous.


    This Sounds Familiar Somehow...

    Mom and I really like this one buffet in one of the casinos, so we had plans to have dinner there with our comps. We lost track of time and got there really late, within 15 minutes of them closing seating. It was they stopped seating at 9:00 pm, last call for booze at 9:30, and food was taken away at 9:45.

    We managed to get enough to eat (though Mom griped about how little there was left...I was gonna say something about "lack of planning etc etc etc " but it's a long walk back to MA), and headed up for dessert when we heard a ruckus. I made like I was getting a slice of cake and listened in.

    This woman was having a nutty because all that was left for sugary stuff was the coconut cake I was getting, bread pudding, and apple crisp. She saw display cheesecake sin a case at the front of the counter and demanded the guy behind the counter give her that. He kept trying to explain that he couldn't serve those, that they are display only, but she wouldn't have any of it. It went on for ten minutes before she slunk away, defeated. (Mom told me she was very tempted to sidle over to her and whisper "The cake is a lie, anyway")

    Was that the end of it? Is the sky plaid, I ask you?

    Mom had to use the bathroom so while I waited for her to come out I people watched. Who comes by but Cheesecake lady, still griping to her family about the lack of cheesecake. Family looked like they were trying to ignore her as best as they could, but she wouldn't let up. She even went as far as to go and harass a security guard about it, putting her hands on the wall so the guard couldn't escape. I don't see how a guard could have helped her unless she associated uniform=cop.


    Really?

    There a four-casino sister group in AC, and we were staying at one of them. The Big Four -I guess I'll call them that-has a shuttle bus that takes you to The Big Four's casinos.

    Last night we were taking one such shuttle when we met this couple who was steamed because they had been waiting for an hour (legit or not I'll never know) for the shuttle. We get picked up at Big Four #1, and they got off at Big Four #2, which you can actually get to by walking through Big Four #1, which would take you all of maybe 5 minutes tops.

    Now, they weren't old, or handicapped, and Mom's thinking it was just laziness but really hopes it isn't, that they really didn't know they could cut through the casinos but I told her if they had really been there an hour they could have asked someone how to get to Big Four #2. Oh well.

  • #2
    Why the HECK are they running extra cars? Ok, it's great that you don't need to book insanely far in advance, but even with VIA you can get a last-minute ticket most of the time (just not between here and Toronto for Thanksgiving or Christmas). If they have twice as many seats as needed, they're running too many cars. Simple as that. I am so familiar with the "the train is sold out, there will be someone sitting next to you" announcement that I'm more surprised when we don't get it (at least when travelling on the weekend).

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    • #3
      Quoth Magpie View Post
      Why the HECK are they running extra cars?
      (I think you meant "Why the HECK aren't they running extra cars?"

      Well, Amtrak is a government run railroad.
      "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

      Comment


      • #4
        Amtrak tends to do that a bit. The reason being, is that some of those cars might be forwarded ahead. Or, they could be needed for stations further down the line.

        For example, (and I don't know if they still do this), was that one of the Albany trains would actually split there. The locomotive, and say 6 cars, would uncouple from the rest of the train. That consist, would then proceed north. The remaining cars would then go on another train...as soon as its locomotive was ready.
        Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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        • #5
          Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
          (I think you meant "Why the HECK aren't they running extra cars?"
          Not sure if there's sarcasm here at all (I can never tell in real life even), but I meant it literally... if there's enough seats for people to continue being jerks like that, then there's way more cars than needed.

          And using the train to shift cars around makes sense. I'm on a little branch line (we're not the main way to get from Toronto to London), so we wouldn't be used for that. Somewhere where the tracks don't suck would be a first choice. They probably wouldn't seat people in the extra cars anyhow, even places where they did do that though.

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          • #6
            Quoth Magpie View Post
            Not sure if there's sarcasm here at all (I can never tell in real life even), but I meant it literally... if there's enough seats for people to continue being jerks like that, then there's way more cars than needed.
            No sarcasm, just a different interpretation of the OP. It sounded to me like people were hogging seats, causing others difficulties in finding seats, thus not enough cars. Being a government run railroad, I would expect fewer cars instead of extra cars. But, maybe Amtrak does do some things right.
            "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

            Comment


            • #7
              I'd have asked the conductor to go and move the seat hogs.

              But then I enjoy talking to conductors in general. I was taking the train down to Florida, many years ago, and had my new scanner on my belt whilst watching out the rear window to see where we'd come from. (No dome = no way for pax to see where we're going, so that's the next best thing.) Suddenly my scanner says "Hey you at the back door!!" I turn around fast, and the conductor is standing at the other end of the (mostly empty) car, saying to another of the on-board personnel "See, I told you he had a radio."

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              • #8
                Here all this time I thought that AMTRAK only ran terribly late or fell off the rails all of the time. Silly me!
                Dull women have immaculate homes.

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                • #9
                  Quoth Exaspera View Post
                  Here all this time I thought that AMTRAK only ran terribly late or fell off the rails all of the time. Silly me!
                  Amtrak's problems aren't all because it's government-owned. Well, *one* problem is--their lack of funding at times. The Feds have decided that the 'road should be self-sufficient, and their funding was severely cut back. They really do want to upgrade their trains and routes, but until funding is available...they have to use what they have.

                  The lateness problems occur, because they're a *tenant* on much of the nation's rail system. Other railroads see their trains as an annoyance--they hold up the money-making freights--and don't care if they're late. In many cases, the fines are actually *less* than they'd lose if a manifest freight was delayed. As to the maintenance issues...those are usually the responsibility of their landlord. Amtrak doesn't really own any track, other than their Northeast Corridor, and a few other lines here and there.
                  Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                  • #10
                    I will say, if you ever get the chance to take the Amtrack north line from Chicago to Portland/Seattle, do so. Absolutely beautiful view most of the time. I'm one of those people who hate sightseeing, and I was even entranced a bit. It really says something that the view distracted me from my book/computer.
                    The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
                    "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
                    Hoc spatio locantur.

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