Chapter 5: Texas Bound and Not Flyin’

October 4th, 1995, 4:15 PM EST, Union Station, Dallas, TX

Jill, Josh, George, and Akilah were still engaged in conversation when the PA system came on telling of things about to change heavily for the people involved. They, of course, had no idea that there was an issue with the world known as Hurricane Opal; they had been traveling for several days. They certainly had no idea of the exchanges that had gone on between Amtrak’s management about what to do with various types of passengers. So to them the announcement, of course, came as something of a surprise.

“Attention passengers, due to the situation concerning Hurricane Opal, the connecting train on which we were going to forward equipment to Los Angeles is massively delayed. This will result in a few changes on board, so please listen carefully, as many passengers will have to change seats. Please listen carefully, and if you have questions, ask your car attendant.

“Passengers bound for Corsicana, College Station, and Houston, Texas, please move into the first coach of the train. You will be proceeding along as per the normal schedule, and once you relocate, you should be fine. You should already be in the first two coaches, in any case. Essentially, if you are supposed to be on the Houston section of the train, the changes do not affect you.

“Passengers bound for Fort Worth, Cleburne, McGregor, Temple, Taylor, Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio, Texas, please make sure you are in the cars behind the lounge car. The lounge car and the cars in front of it will be de-coupled from the train in the next few minutes and will not be going to those cities. This is just a reminder as this is normal operating procedure for this train.

“Passengers who are not in the preceding two categories, please listen up because the next part is important; you have a decision to make right now. The delay for the connecting train to other stops is going to be at least 36 hours. As a result, Amtrak is offering alternate arrangements. Passengers bound for Del Rio, Sanderson, and Alpine, please continue on with the San Antonio portion of the train. You will be bussed to your destinations from San Antonio, at Amtrak’s expense, and your checked baggage will be loaded onto the appropriate bus for you.

“Passengers bound for El Paso, Texas; Deming and Lordsburg, New Mexico; Benson, Tucson, Coolidge, Tempe, Phoenix, and Yuma, Arizona; and Indio, Ontario, Pomona, and Los Angeles, California have a couple of options. If you are willing to fly, move to the Lounge car- you should see a coach attendant who will seat you in the appropriate coach. Amtrak will arrange for you to be flown and bussed via Houston International, again at Amtrak’s expense.

“Amtrak is also aware that some passengers do not wish to fly under any circumstances. If you are unwilling to fly, and are willing to accept a potential 36 hour delay, please contact your attendant. We will make arrangements for you to wait for the delayed Sunset Limited in San Antonio, again at Amtrak’s expense. Keep in mind, however, that 36 hours is the minimum- it may be longer, as it depends on the situation concerning Hurricane Opal.

“Amtrak sincerely apologizes for the delay. These are truly due to circumstances beyond our control, and we are doing and will do our best to accommodate all the needs of our passengers. We thank you for choosing to ride Amtrak’s Texas Eagle and once again tender our deepest apologies for the delay. If you are continuing on, and have questions, please ask your car attendant, once again.”

George immediately pressed the attendant call button. He obviously needed to talk to someone; he certainly wasn’t going to fly, and he had all the time in the world.

“So I tink I’manna fly,” said Josh, “I have no place el-”

“Nonsense,” George snapped, “Amtrak will put us up in hotel accommodations, provide food allowances, and so on. This is how they tend to do this stuff. We should stick together, guys, this is going grandly, in my opinion.”

“Yeah, fantastic its goin’, and I don’t wanna have it end, but different hotels fawh de sleepuh and coach passengers I’m sure dey pick,” Josh groused, while looking longingly at Akilah, “stickin’ togethuh as a group, I was hopin’ we could do. Yuh know?”

Akilah rubbed Josh’s knee with the palm of her hand, “Perhaps we could share a room,” she said with a fairly suggestive smile. The smile melted Josh’s heart further and made him long to have a little time alone with her.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind that part,” George said, rolling his eyes, “But in any case, Jill and I are not flying, period. So we’d be split up anyway.”

“Why not de flyin’ yuh do?” Josh asked.

“I haven’t flown in my entire life, and I am not about to start now!” George grumbled, “They treat you like cattle, they dehumanize you, stuff you in like sardines. Then they take the airplane up and mess up your ears six ways to Sunday, and it hurts like hell. Then they serve you inedible food, before taking you down and hurting your ears again. Besides, Archimedes was right: if man was meant to fly, he would have been born with wings!”

Jill snickered. She was more than used to his childish outbursts. Although, truth be told, having ridden the train with him so many times, she fully understood the lack of desire to fly. The train was more personal by an order of magnitude. More comfortable, more enjoyable, and so on.

“Besides, your scared of it,” Jill teased him.

“Of course I’m scared of it!” George averred, “Being up all that way in the air, safety controlled by government regulations, maintenance farmed out to the lowest bidder ... its terrifying. We break down on the train, we just stop. Even if we derail, there’s no big fall!”

“You’re crazy, George, but I love you anyway,” Jill replied.

“You may be right, I may be crazy,” George replied, “But it just might be a lunatic you’re looking for.”

“Damned skippy,” Jill replied, and kissed him affectionately on the cheek.

“Well, I, for one, do not want to be separated from the only friends I have in this country,” Akilah said with confidence, “So I think I would prefer to take the train with George and Jill. I hope you will come with us, Josh.”

“Well, if none of yuh want dis flyin’ meshugaus, who am I tuh buck de trend?” Josh conceded. “De train I will take.”

The attendant immediately came to the door. “Yes, sir?” he asked, with a bored voice. He was expecting an onslaught with all of these announcements, although he was thankful that he would be turning around at San Antonio, since this sleeper was not being forwarded on the Sunset Limited.

“All four of us are bound for Los Angeles. None of us want to fly,” George explained for everyone.

“Okay, let me tell the ... wait, I don’t recognize the young lady,” the attendant said.

“Yeah, she’s from coach,” George said.

“I’m sor-”

He was cut short by George handing him a $20 bill, “Oh, I might as well give you your tip now,” said George, trying to hide his irritation.

“Since the young lady is from coach, you might wish to approach the conductor separately,” the attendant said, “That way they might be able to accommodate all of you together.”

The four of them got up and walked to the dining/lounge car, and sat in the booth next to the one the conductor had apparently set up for his office, and waited for the conductor to return. While they waited, the train jolted and the lights went off.

Outside, the conductor was waiting for the yard crew to finally do their thing. “Call for three step, 501.”

“Three step acknowledged,” came the voice of the engineer of Amtrak P32BH #501.

The trainman uncoupled locomotive 501 from the train.

“Remove three step, 501,” the conductor monotoned.

“Three step removed,” 501’s engineer replied.

“Proceed through the switch and stop 15 yards clear,” the conductor ordered him.

The P32BH released its brakes and activated its bell, and its 16 cylinder turbo-diesel briefly spooled up as the engine crept through the switch ahead of it and stopped with a soft hiss, its bell still ringing for a second. The switchman flipped the switch back. Meanwhile, an engineer and fireman climbed into the cab of F40PH 243.

“Three step, 243” the conductor said.

“Three step,” 243’s engineer acknowledged.

The trainmen bent over the coupler between the lounge and the third coach car and set about closing the brake cock on both cars, undoing the air line, train line, and hotel power connector between the two cars, then released the coupler.

“Brake test, 243.”

“Brake test, passed.”

“243, remove three step, 521 you have control, over.”

“Affirmative, thank you,” said the conductor of 521, the Houston section of the Texas Eagle. “Dispatch, Amtrak 521 requests permission to proceed.”

“Amtrak 521, this is dispatch, proceed as signaled, you have highball.”

“Acknowledged, 521 has highball, proceed when ready,” the conductor said.

“521 has highball, proceeding,” the engineer parroted.

243’s engine spooled up as it put tractive power to the track, its bell ringing softly. The engineer blasted the horn in a traditional farewell salute, and 243 and its compliment of four cars smoothly accelerated towards Houston. The Houston section of the Texas Eagle disappeared into the distance.

The switchman once again changed the position of the switch, while the conductor climbed on to the back of the engine and stood on the rear platform, one hand braced on the railing.

“501, back slowly to the train under my command.”

The huge General Electric Dash 8 BoBo engine started ringing its bell again as the prime mover spooled up. The engine slowly backed up through the switch, and down the track towards the waiting cars.

“Four car lengths ... three ... two ... one car length ... half... 20 feet... 15... 10... 5 ... you’re good.” The huge locomotive barely kissed the cars as it coupled, a tribute to the skill of the engineer operating it.

“Three step protection, 501.”

The trainman set about connecting the various lines. Finally, he opened the two brake cocks.

“Remove three step and perform brake test, 501,” the yard conductor said, as he got off the engine and stood next to the train’s conductor.

“Brake test,” the engineer acknowledged as he performed it, “Brakes check.”

The train’s conductor boarded the lounge car and hung out the window.

Meanwhile, the switchman had set back the first switch and had gone ahead to set another one so as to send the train off in the proper direction.

“21, you have control,” the yard conductor said.

“Control acknowledged, thank you,” the conductor said, “Dispatcher, this is Amtrak 21, request permission to proceed.”

“Amtrak 21, this is dispatch. Proceed as signaled, you have the highball.”

“21 has highball, proceed as signaled, do you copy 501?”

“501 copies, 21 has highball proceeding as signaled.”

The big GE locomotive spooled up its traction motors, and giving its own salute, smoothly pulled its way forward out of the station.

They were still sitting in the booth when the conductor came into the lounge to make do the paperwork required as part of his job.

“I know you’re busy, but we are heading to Los Angeles-” George was cut off.

“You should have gotten on the other train!” the conductor said, “Passengers bound for Los Angeles are supposed to catch a flight out of Houston.

“No, no. I want to wait for the Sunset Limited in San Antonio,” George told him, “I can’t stand flying, never have been able to.”

“Amtrak told me the wait was 36 hours as a minimum,” he said, “And they meant it as a minimum.”

“I know, but I don’t fly and the time isn’t important to me,” George told him.

“Damn, I’ll radio to Amtrak and let them know about that,” the conductor muttered, “You must like trains.”

“I was born on one, Conductor. Conceived on one. Practically raised on them. I live in an old streamlined, actually. You must be fairly new to Amtrak.”

“Only a year now, how’d you know?”

“Because I don’t know you,” George smiled, making the conductor laugh.

“You’re all sleeper class?”

“All except, Akilah,” Josh said uncharacteristically, while putting his arm around huh shoulder, “And a room we agreed tuh share; we wanna in de same hotel tuh be as our friends. Yuh with me?”

Josh’s voluntarily placement of his arm around her shoulder made Akilah feel warm inside, and loved. It was a small gesture; from someone less scared it would almost be insignificant. But for Josh, to do something that extroverted, it meant a lot. She softly melted against him and stifled a sigh. She didn’t want to be seen as swooning over him so soon.

The conductor asked them for their names which they gave.

The conductor picked up his radio.

“Dispatch, this is Amtrak 21. Come in dispatch.”

“Amtrak 21, this is dispatch, go ahead.”

“Please call Amtrak for me and tell them that we have three sleeper passengers and one coach passenger bound for L.A. who want to wait out the Sunset Limited, over.”

“Caught that, call Amtrak and tell you have three sleeper and one coach for Sunset Limited to LA. Calling now.”

“Wait, also that the coach passenger wishes to share a room with one of the sleeper passengers and all passengers wish assignment to same hotel.”

“Acknowledged, Amtrak 21.”

A few minutes later, the radio squawked again.

“Amtrak 21, Amtrak requests passenger’s names, over.”

“Sleeper passengers are George Caldwell, Jillian McGee, and Joshua Abati. The coach passenger is Akellah Gannem, over.”

“Excuse me, conductor, it’s Ah-keel-ah GAN-em,” corrected Akilah, she had been in the country only 3 days and she was already used to people pronouncing her name all kinds of wrong.