the time...0815. glorious day. i spent the majority of the train ride knitting a 2x2 rib scarf. malabrigo...colonel china-a colorway of rusts and avocados. i was nearing the finish...watching tori amos' dvd "welcome to sunny florida." the sun was on the rise...snow drifts lining the tracks and extending out to the horizon, covering the fields. we were south of joliet by about 15 miles. then...a rustle. i like to describe the sound as that you would hear if driving over a branch in the driveway. nothing loud, just mildly obvious. then...a burning smell. kinda electrical, kinda rubber. followed by a screeching stop that took about 30 seconds. sirens. flashing lights. conductors striding past us to the front of the train. then returning to the back. walkie talkies squelching white noise. passengers waking up from travel slumber (the best kind by the way.) the gossip begins. "i saw a white car spin off into the ditch." "really?!?" "a girl just crawled out of the car!" after a few minutes, the conductor speaks over the intercom..."folks, we will be delayed for an undetermined amount of time. our train has struck a vehicle. we are waiting for union pacific and the police to arrive. the person driving the vehicle is alive. the delay shouldn't be long. had she been killed, we would be here a considerable amount of time waiting for the coroner. i guess that's the brightside to this, huh?" i kid you not. he said that! so...we wait. and wait. and wait. the girl was trying to beat the train at the crossing. yeah...uh...that didn't work. at approximately 1015hrs, we were cleared to leave. everyone settles back into their seats. the train has sustained some damage, but mainly to the ladders alongside the train at the doors. at this point, my nerves have calmed. all is well with the world. i'll be late. ang knows that. she decides to wait for me at union station and knit.
ready for the freaky part???
no more than 10 minutes (just 5 miles down the track) into the second leg of our trip...BAM!!! we hit a grain truck! all i can say is "WTF!" (well, not wtf...but the whole phrase.) a sea of yellow flies past my periphery. i immediately think we hit a school bus. no. come to find out...we hit a grain truck filled with grain and what i saw fly past me was corn! the story of how we hit this person was that the railroad crossing was on a ridge...think a boat turned upside down...only a little more flattened. the truck was crossing and because of the ice and snow along the track, it got stuck. the driver couldn't get it to completely cross over. while contemplating his next move, he gets hit by a 60 mph train! yes...he survived too. but this was going to be awhile. our train was now suffering from severe trauma to the engine. and we had bits of the truck stuck under the train. well, we were there until 1430. at this part of the trip, we are about 10 miles from joliet...and less than an hour from chicago. the snack car was cleaned out. not a drop of coffee remained. all this of course, was gratis. (the very least amtrak could do!!!) state troopers came through the cars taking name, address, phone number and date of birth of each passenger. (amtrak was delayed in giving them a passenger manifest.) when we were once again cleared to leave, we were now under a speed restriction due to the damage the train sustained. no more than 40 mph. getting to chicago took 2 more hours! by the time we arrived, i was so sick of that flippin' train! most passengers deboarding were huddled around the front taking pictures...myself included. until an amtrak official started blowing his whistle and shooing us away. "no pictures allowed!" he screamed. in a hurry, we continued through the doors into the station. i don't think there was ever a time i was so happy to be jammed up in a crowd. trying to make my way upstairs and find my sis, i kept thinking how lucky we all were...to be alive...to have arrived...to be able to continue on our seperate ways after such an ordeal forced us to become fast friends. i don't think i will ever forget this day. here it is four months later...i can easily recall the date, the times, the specifics...like it happened today. what a significant day! on a side note, i finished the scarf while waiting to be cleared from the second accident and appropriately named it "the trainwreck scarf." ang and i met up, got together with eric and had an amazing indian dinner followed by a christmas light stroll and hot chocolate from ethels...
the view from eric's place (on the 36th floor) this starts from the south window...looking east to the lake...if you can imagine along the horizon...gary, indiana is across the way.
the south view looking down into the city...i have spent many a time spying with binoculars at hugh hefner's mansion located on top of a building located between the red skyscraper and the mirrored one. it's very obscure in this photo...but hey! use your imagination!
this is the southwest view...the line down the middle of the pic? the window washer's line!
and finally...the due west view. directly below and to the right (if you were standing on the balcony) is the river. the building you see always has good binocular viewing pleasure! mainly, people at work...but i've witnessed a many unsuspected gold mining expeditions...aka nose picking! hehe.
1 comment:
Hey Raquel....I've been reading your blog :) Found it through Mai's. Really great pictures of orchids by the way. I'd like to get a macro lens for our camera...David bought a really nice Canon SLR before we went to Prague.
Anyway, I have a blog now too! Not sure how updated I will keep it...we'll see.
See you Sunday?!
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