79-Carolinian 13 June 2021

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I talked my wife into taking the train from CNY to BNC instead of having me drive back to Raleigh over the weekend. We were moving a daughter into a new place in a new city. I drove the truck back and my wife took the train the next day so she could help our daughter set up her new pace. It was my wife's first time on Amtrak without me actually.

A lady with a dog did not get off at the correct city (CNY) so she stayed on for at least two more cities if not longer. That was a bit of drama.

However, a man refusing to put a mask on was kicked off the train at DNC on his way to CLT. The language was something special according to my wife. He made reference to certain sexual acts involving ones mouth and commented on his wealth and the low salary of the Amtrak staff, and that was the clean part. Someone else getting off at BNC commented to my wife inside the BNC station that he was actually worried the person kicked off the train might have a gun as he got off the train and then back on the train to get his luggage. I think he thought more Amtrak trains were coming behind him and getting kicked off the train was not going to bother him.

She did say the Amtrak staff did a good job with a bad situation and was very apologetic to the riding customers on the train. Still not a great fist time on Amtrak by one's self.

The last ride she took was having the Amtrak derail under WAS.

Not exactly batting 1.000 with Amtrak.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Sorry about the kerfuffle that your wife witnessed. Take heart in knowing that those kinds of incidents are very rare. She was just "lucky".

On the other hand, if you ride frequently over a period of years, eventually you'll collect enough stories that you can tell the grandkids.

jb

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

She did mention how nice BNC station is. They have a nice diorama of what was Company Shops at one time and some other displays.

I am not sure if both were on the clock but there were two station attendants at the station, which seems a bit overkill.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Could be one of the attendants was in training.

jb

 

[MARC Rider]

I talked my wife into taking the train from CNY to BNC instead of having me drive back to Raleigh over the weekend. We were moving a daughter into a new place in a new city. I drove the truck back and my wife took the train the next day so she could help our daughter set up her new pace. It was my wife's first time on Amtrak without me actually.

A lady with a dog did not get off at the correct city (CNY) so she stayed on for at least two more cities if not longer. That was a bit of drama.

Did she take the train from Corning, NY (CNY) or Cary, NC (CYN)? (Amtrak.com shows CNY, Corning as a legitimate station code, even if there's no Amtrak service there.)

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

It was Cary. My daughter's apartment is between the RUS and CYN station and our home is between GRO and BNC so to make the trip as cheap and short as possible we chose these smaller stations. Personally, I would have done RUS to GRO, but that is just me wanting a longer train ride. Also Burlington sits in a county that has gone to pieces and I can't get myself to spend money in that county right now. In fact I think this is the first time in a year I have set foot on ground in this county. I'll pass through but that is the most I can get myself to do.

Does Corning have Amtrak bus service? I assume that is were the Amtrak code comes from.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

T

Could be one of the attendants was in training.

jb

That is the likely answer, though the train/station host training is still on hold for now. However the volunteer host program would be treated a bit differently than a paid station attendant position. One is not a requirement but I assume the other is part of a contractual obligation between Amtrak and NC DOT.

 

[MARC Rider]

It was Cary. My daughter's apartment is between the RUS and CYN station and our home is between GRO and BNC so to make the trip as cheap and short as possible we chose these smaller stations. Personally, I would have done RUS to GRO, but that is just me wanting a longer train ride. Also Burlington sits in a county that has gone to pieces and I can't get myself to spend money in that county right now. In fact I think this is the first time in a year I have set foot on ground in this county. I'll pass through but that is the most I can get myself to do.

Does Corning have Amtrak bus service? I assume that is were the Amtrak code comes from.

I believe the Raleigh station code is RGH, not RUS.

Also, Burlington sits in two counties. Which of the counties is "going to pieces," and what's happening there? Up our way in almost-Yankee Land (aka Maryland), we haven't heard of any major breakdowns in North Carolina.

 

[jis]

If people must use Amtrak station codes, maybe they should take the trouble to look up the correct codes instead of inventing random ones. All the stations and their codes can be found listed at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amtrak_stations
Alternatively of course one could just use the station name when in doubt

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I believe the Raleigh station code is RGH, not RUS.

Also, Burlington sits in two counties. Which of the counties is "going to pieces," and what's happening there? Up our way in almost-Yankee Land (aka Maryland), we haven't heard of any major breakdowns in North Carolina.

Raleigh is RGH, you are correct. I know it is RGH and was thinking of the name which is Raleigh Union Station, as I typed it out. I was thinking, why even call it Union Station since there is nothing "union" about this station in the traditional sense of the "union station" meaning for railroad stations. Next thing you know I was typing RUS instead of RGH.

Burlington mostly sits in Alamance County with a few annexed subdivisons in Guilford County. Burlington's main water supply,Lake Macintosh, sits in both Guilford and Alamance. I guess technically the lake is part of the city limits of Burlington. There is actually a sign in the middle of the lake at the county line. I kayak there every so often, though I always put in at the marina in Guilford County. Gibsonville is in both counties with downtown right at the county line and most but not all of the newer homes seem to be built in Alamance County. You may be thinking of Gibsonville. High Point, which is the next station past Greensboro, actually now sits in 4 counties thought the vast majority is part of Guilford County. Guilford County is unique in North Carolina in that we have 2 Amtrak stations (Wake County also has two stations), and we have two courthouses and High Point being part of 4 counties is also odd.

As far as problems in the county of Alamance. Every county commissioner is of one particular political party and they tend to be much more reactionary than I want to see. The sheriff of the county did not handle some demonstrations last year in a good way and from what I could tell was not allowing a basically peaceful march not happen. In my view some serious 1st Amendment violations. There is a really good NC pork BBQ restaurant in Burlington that I will eat at. This particular restaurant has a good history going back to the 1960s with race relations that I appreciate. There is not any sort of active "Boycott Alamance County" movement but I really do try and avoid dropping money in this county right now. Hopefully that will change in a few years.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

If people must use Amtrak station codes, maybe they should take the trouble to look up the correct codes instead of inventing random ones. Al, the stations and their codes can be found listed at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amtrak_stations
Alternatively of course one could just use the station name when in doubt

I go back and forth on this. Partly I was tired after a lot of work outside and partly just not thinking clearly and thinking of the station name and initials. I typed in RGH so many times the other day trying to get a ticket over the phone I am likely to wake up in a sweat one night yelling RGH, RGH. Then I went with a ticket from Cary.

 

[jis]

I go back and forth on this. Partly I was tired after a lot of work outside and partly just not thinking clearly and thinking of the station name and initials. I typed in RGH so many times the other day trying to get a ticket over the phone I am likely to wake up in a sweat one night yelling RGH, RGH. Then I went with a ticket from Cary.

Heh heh! Yeah I know how that goes. I used to goof up a lot myself. Then I decided to settle on my personal policy that if I am not absolutely sure I will just type in the whole name. Specially since some of the codes are not that intuitive. I also used to get airport codes and Amtrak codes mixed up. Some are the same for the same city but many are not.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Another daughter is on the 79-Carolinian heading south and there is an argument on the train again today as I am typing this. She did state she thought the conductor is handling it well. Hopefully nothing more to post than this.

 

[jis]

Looks like there is a lot of odd passenger behavior going on both on trains and planes these days!

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Heh heh! Yeah I know how that goes. I used to goof up a lot myself. Then I decided to settle on my personal policy that if I am not absolutely sure I will just type in the whole name. Specially since some of the codes are not that intuitive. I also used to get airport codes and Amtrak codes mixed up. Some are the same for the same city but many are not.

The reddit for Greensboro is reddit/r/gso and gso is the airport code. I made a suggestion about two years ago that the subreddit should be /r/gro as that is the train symbol and the trains were here first. In fact our nickname as the gate city referred to all train lines in/out of the city at one time, as we were a gateway in transportation. Oddly, some got really pissed at my suggestion. I was only (half) joking around.

Also we have no air conditioning in the house and will not have a working system until after 4 July. It took a week to just get a quote. ANYTHING I type in the next month is going be under the duress of heat and humidity. That alone should catch me a break.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Looks like there is a lot of odd passenger behavior going on both on trains and planes these days!

Hopefully nothing gets out of hand and yes this is not an Amtrak problem but a "people not wanting to think of others problem.'

 

[TheVig]

I jokingly say, this pandemic has brought out the Greyhound Bus in a lot of people.

 

[MARC Rider]

Looks like there is a lot of odd passenger behavior going on both on trains and planes these days!

I guess I should feel grateful that during my trip last week (Northeast Regional, Pennsylvania, bustitution, Capitol Limited) there was no "odd" behavior for me to experience.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

To finish my daughter's situation-it seems to have been about the train running late and trying to get those deboarding off as fast as possible and some confusion with people standing by the door and then one person just not letting it go once he got upset.

As my daughter was telling me this on the way back home a bird flew right into the windshield of the car. That was very odd and only the second time I can remember hitting a bird after decades of driving.

I also grab the signal for CP McLeansville and CP Superior for ATCS Mon. Then I send out the info to the internet on the NC-Line just east of Greensboro. That started acting up about the time the Amtrak was entering North Carolina and the problem was something that I fixed but have no reason to explain why it did what it did to change a setting and stop working. Just an odd day yesterday.

However everyone was home safe, technology working, except the air conditioner, and hopefully the bird recovered.

 

[west point]

Used to fly 2200 night coach LAX - ATL. Many Flight Attendants use to say worse passengers than on Greyhound.