Sunday May 22 Amtrak 350

[wagnew0923]

I was in business class so I got to speak at length to the train crew, which was in the Dining car about what the problems were. Everything I am about to share, I overheard from the conductors, or witnessed myself (except for my obvious sarcasm).

I would like to first say that first off my complements to the crew of this train. They kept us well informed and did the best they could under difficult situations. My personal thanks goes out to the crew that was with us starting in Battle Creek. They had reached the end of their legally mandated 12 hours in Ann Arbor, before the accident happened. That did not stop them from jumping to action after the accident to assist the passengers and the one replacement conductor they had picked up in Ann Arbor.

The second thing I would like to point out is that being 5 hours late on Amtrak is far easier to roll with than being an hour late on an airliner. Big seats, wifi, and food make things bearable during delays.

First off business class on the older cars kind of sucks, no overhead luggage and they keep the lights on making it hard to sleep, also the chairs are older and it is just not as nice. Still better than coach though.

OK on our way there we stopped outside of Battle Creek, MI. The locomotive was having computer issues and needed to be restarted several times in order to be able to move again. The Tandy 500 they were using is probably on its last legs. They eventually had to call tech support in Chicago (India) in order to get going again. After about an hour we strolled into Battle Creek and got our passengers. Two things I noticed when we got moving:

1. The train accelerated a lot slower almost Pere Marquette speeds and was not able go as fast as track speed would allow.
2. The locomotive jerked every time it started going forward. Almost like a freight train.

The second incident occurred outside of Jackson in the middle of nowhere. Amtrak 351 from Detroit to Chicago smacked into a pedestrian severing the person's foot. That caused a long and miserable delay of three hours which allowed me to read more of my book and have a microwaved hamburger. I am not sure what they were doing that took three hours. After that we pulled into a siding and let 351 through, then backed out and headed off at the speed of SRI excursions. I would have been surprised if we went over 55 MPH.

When we arrived in Ann Arbor, a crew change was needed since the current crew had exceeded their 12 hours. They also decided that everyone would disembark in Dearborn (which was my station anyway), since we were so over due. So they found a conductor that was on vacation to come on and take us on the last leg of our journey which he thought would be pretty easy. After that everyone got on buses and he if the train could make it, he would accompany it back to Pontiac. The poor poor man.

At Meriman Rd I heard a loud smack and what sounded like something bouncing under the train. After that we went into emergency breaking mode which stopped us quickly but not fast enough to make a ruckus or discomfort. The conductor went rushing through saying we went into emergency break and then hopped off the train along with the off duty crew. When they came back they said there was another "police incident." About three minutes after impact several police cars and an ambulance went flying down Michigan Avenue. As things settled down, one of the business class passengers an older lady that was part of a travel group got up and went to the area between the last car and rear locomotive to lean out and see what was going on. At this point she had had a bit to drink and curiosity got the best of her, she then came back in and sat down, with no problem. A young man in business class saw this and also went to the same part and decided to actually leave the train and head back to Merriman. The old lady and another passenger decided to see what happened to him. The police yelled at him to go back on the train, whether he could hear them at that distance or not is up for debate, he chose to just head down the tracks the other way. After doing this he was pursued and arrested by the police, which ended our escape by Uber discussion in business class. At that point it switched to a I bet we get home faster if we get arrested discussion.

After several hours and another microwaved hamburger as well as talking to the crew I found out the following. The noise I heard that no one else did was us smacking into a guy on a bicycle who tried to beat the train. He was smacked by the center of the locomotive and went under but was not dragged. What was left of him, and trust me it was not much was at the crossing. It was a quick and gruesome demise for a foolish action. The crew stated that paramedics would be coming on board to check for injuries, but that never happened and I had a hard time wondering why they thought it would in the first place. Then we found out that the buses that were going to meet us at Dearborn were coming to pick us up. The train moved ahead to the next crossing and we all got off and took the bus home. The engineer, the old crew, some random Amtrak employee and new conductor were very friendly and assisted everyone off the train. I had a scheduled arrival in Dearborn at 1:35 pm; I got in at 7:30 pm. This is everything anything else would be speculation.

[James Sofonia]

Interesting story, thanks.

[Doktor No]

Great story Wagnew! Just goes to show what a little ingenuity and being up front by the crew can do to keep everyone informed, if not happy. Kudos to them.
What was the movie...Fate Is The Hunter...where many things conspired to ruin a plane flight...things disconnected yet connected. Kinda like running a train across country, or the state for that matter.
Trying to explain a freight trip into Chicago to someone who has never done it? This crap happened every day...well not whacking people at speed...but all the little things that conspire to ruin a good trip....power problems, signal problems, air troubles on a train 10 miles ahead...you get the idea. Toss in winter...glad I am retired...I hate to think of my attitude with a train of surley passengers and not a lot of boxcars that don't care...
Again, good job.

[Ypsi]

Thanks for the first hand recall of the situations, it must have been rough. A couple clarifications though ok train numbers and crew change. Amtrak 353 (not 351) struck the person in Jackson apperently severing their leg/ foot (apperently they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol from what I read). The crew on 350 was not over their hours of service before Ann Arbor (although you may have not meant this, your wording says so/ suggest it). The crew would die on hours between 3-4pm I believe thanks to the summer schedule, which if they had not stopped at Ann Arbor may have been somewhere in between Dearborn and Ann Arbor. The story goes that the guy in inkster was trying to retrieve a cell phone or something and was possibly walking the bike but I'm not sure. I did see a photo of the bike and it was pretty mangled up and kicked to the side of the road from the looks of it. Like I said these are a couple clarifications/ additions to what you shared.

On a line with a stretched crew pool this had to have hurt the Amtrak crew situation. I did eventually catch 355 through Ypsi around 11:30 that night shortly before Amtrak 354.

[wagnew0923]

Ypsi you are correct on the numbers. We did not get into Ann Arbor until a little after 4pm according to the text I sent my wife so They told me they started on the clock at 4 am which means they reach there 12 in Ann Arbor. As for the guy in Westland that we smacked into you could be right but who knows for sure. Play stupid people games win stupid people prizes.

[wagnew0923]

One more thing just incase anyone was wondering. The train did blow its normal 2 long 1 short 1 long pattern and the gates were down at the time of impact.

[Buster Manning]

the guy in westland was not walking his bike or looking for a cell phone.....he just disregarded the lights and gates at the crossing (although there is no gate for the sidewalk here, and that's where he was riding his bike)....