(The following story by Ryan McBride appeared on The Westerly Sun website on November 29.)
WESTERLY, R.I. — An unknown obstruction on an overhead electrical line caused a malfunction in a westbound Amtrak train headed for New York and Washington D.C. Friday, stranding travelers at the Westerly Amtrak station for nearly three hours.
A conductor speculated that the obstruction could have been a tree branch, but Amtrak officials could not be reached to confirm that Friday night.
Hundreds of travelers making an unexpected stop off Train 2163 at 12:30 p.m. crowded the Westerly station lobby and platform, many talking on cell phones as they waited by their luggage for another train to arrive.
Mixed announcements repeatedly changed the arrival time of the next train, prompting moans and groans from frustrated travelers.
“Twelve minutes (until the next train arrives) turned to ‘we’re still working on it’,” said Gary Caruso of Boston, who said he was late in meeting friends in New York City to attend a Phish concert on Long Island Friday night.
“I left at 11 a.m. just to make sure that I’d get to New York on time,” he said, standing on the station platform at 3 p.m. under overcast skies.
Caruso said the train halted about 400 yards west of the train station (in Pawcatuck) for 30 minutes before backing up to the Westerly station, where passengers exited the train.
Amtrak workers made “temporary repairs” to the section of wire that sustained damage when an obstruction unseated the pantograph, which conducts electricity from the wires to the engines, according to railroad assistant superintendent Thomas Rae. The pantograph is on the train; when it disconnected, it left the train disabled.
“(The damaged wire) has got everything tied up,” Rae said, adding that eastbound trains were 20 to 30 minutes behind schedule and westbound trains were “severely delayed.”
The displaced passengers represent a tiny fraction of the millions of travelers in the U.S that make Thanksgiving weekend one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
Leaning up against the outside wall of the train station, Bill LeClerc of Acton, Mass., a freshman on the Yale University hockey team, was already late for his 3 p.m. practice.
“I called (my coach) at 1 and I said we were still on the train, and he told me to get here as soon as I could,” said the defender, who was returning from his home where he had celebrated the holiday on Thursday.
Howard Hanning of Portland, Maine, hadn’t had the chance to see his family yet. The retired employee from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said he boarded the train at 6 a.m. and was headed to Philadelphia to visit his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
“My good wife kindly got up at 5 a.m. and drove me to the station (in Portland),” he said.
Another westbound train from Boston arrived at 3:40 p.m. and picked up the passenges, but some worried that too few seats would further delay their travels.
As a female Amtrak police officer yelled, “Get behind the yellow line,” travelers flooded the platform to board the train.
Mark Goldman, who was finally headed home to New York City after visiting friends in Providence, remained skeptical about an announcement over the loudspeaker assuring that there were enough seats on the train for everyone.
“I don’t even know if there’s going to be room on this train,” he said, as he walked with his luggage toward one of the train cars.
As promised, however, all travelers all boarded the train and departed at 3:50 p.m.