I date myself with this line from a Glenn Miller song. We profess to love trains in this country, but I suspect we haven't developed our service much since this song was a 1941 chart-topper. Yes, the first 40 years of the 20th Century represent the heyday of train travel. There was a resurgence in later decades, but our system can't compete with rail service in Europe and Asia despite all our pop culture references – Soul Train, Peace Train, The O'Jays on the "Love Train" and an actual group called "Train!" (Meet Virginia.)
I often use the Metro and AMTRAK. I always tout it as an alternative to car-clogged highways and expensive air travel. Frankly, I no longer like to drive long distances; I'm uncomfortable with speed and traffic. Probably because I'm old and don't have the reflexes and patience I once had, I enjoy seeing my family and friends, but they cannot always come to me.
So, I continually suck it up and find ways to get where I'm going. There are advantages to living where I do -- easy access to Metro and Union Station. Most of the time, my AMTRAK trips are successful, although often delayed; at least I can travel. My recent trip caused me to think twice about continuing interstate train travel. It tried my patience to the limit. I'll let you be the judge.
Recently, I planned a quick AMTRAK trip from Washington, DC, Union Station, to Woodbridge, VA station. The train trip would be less than an hour, and my nephew would make the short trip from Dumfries to pick me up. Easy, what could go wrong?
As usual, I entrusted my bag to the Red Cap. He took it and said he'd return to collect me once he got some passengers on a train to New York. As my departure time approached, I started looking for my Red Cap and finally saw him headed toward me with an empty cart. I signaled him, and when he approached, I said, "Where is my bag?" He looked at the empty cart, spun around (as if my bag would magically appear?), and then asked, "What color is it?' I told him, and he said I'll be right back. At this point, I got that sinking feeling…where was he going? Is my bag sitting downstairs on the platform alone and unprotected? I looked at my husband and said, "Shit… he's lost my bag."
As I suspected, shortly before boarding Train 141 for Woodbridge, VA, I learned my bag was on the wrong train, one of two headed to New York City. Close to losing my shit, my husband tried to calm me down. The Red Cap assured me they would retrieve my bag in New Carrolton, MD, and return it to Union Station. (That did not happen, nor was it even a possibility.) There were a few moments when I seriously considered not going – my clothing for four days, cosmetics, and meds were all in that bag. My husband assured me he would remain at Union Station and straighten it out, so I left the waiting room with the Red Cap and boarded the train. To his credit, he put me on the train, albeit in the wrong seat. I sat on a hot train for some time, watching people getting off to Uber one stop to their final destination. I kept texting my husband and at least twice thought about getting off. Finally, the A/C kicked in, and the train slowly left Union Station.
The trip was uneventful, and I got off in Woodbridge one hour past the scheduled arrival time. It was not until later that I found out my husband stayed at Union Station for hours, where he received little assurance from Customer Service that my bag would be found and transported to me. Only through his persistence (working with the Red Cap) was he able to get my bag back to me that night. While my husband was finishing his efforts in DC, I got a call from an AMTRAK employee in New York City, who discovered my bag sitting alone on an empty train. I give that employee massive credit for calling me and personally returning my bag to Union Station later that evening. Once my husband learned of this development, he arranged to get my bag "Ubered" to me in Virginia—finally, the light at the end of the tunnel. My husband's determination and a significant "tip," not AMTRAK, enabled my bag to reach me at nearly midnight that day.
Does this mean I’ll never retake AMTRAK? Probably not. My visit with my family was terrific and wiped out most of the memory of my frustrating departure. Just a few words of advice: keep your eye on your baggage. Even though this was probably a one-in-a-million goof, I will no longer put my luggage on the cart until I’m walking alongside it. In retrospect, this wasn’t so bad. I won’t let this “bump” keep me from finding alternate ways to enjoy trips and time with family and friends. “ALL ABOARD.”
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OMG, what a nightmare! So glad you had Bob at the ready to work so hard on getting your bag back to you late that night.
There are bars at union station. I’m sure Bob now has new friends for us to visit. Sounds like you both needed a drink!