Train 98 (26) is running between 7 and 8 hours late today and, as of 10:30am, was still only as far north as Rocky Mount, NC. Speculation of other boards blamed this on weather but the real story is that the train clipped a car at Palm Beach gardens (north side of WPB) and incurred a delay of about 3 hours. A young man was discovered dead in the car but here's where the story gets strange. According to the Palm beach Post, he died in a single car accident the prior night. How the car sat partially on the train tracks without being noticed is strange as the road is not some isolated dirt road. Note that the former Seaboard line is lightly used and there apparently was no freight activity overnight. Later on the train lost about an hour at Auburndale and an Amtrak friend reports this was due to a truck being stalled on the tracks. Another hour was lost between Palatka and Jax, perhaps due to the weather though recent delays in that area predate Debby. And approximately another hour was dropped between Jax and Jesup, again in an area possibly impacted by the storm but an area that lately has seen many trains lose time before the tropical storm. I have friends making their first train trip on this train and imagine it will be their last regardles sof who is to blame.
Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
Too bad for your friends; it is not good when these unfortunate accidents compound. Hopefully they can try again and have a better experience.