We arrived at the Pittsburg station at 5:30 am about an hour late but we still had to wait until 7:20 am before we could board the 42 Pennsylvanian to Philadelphia.
Getting off the train was a little bit of a problem at first. The door on our car was stuck. Our porter, Jamal, kept trying but the door handle would not move. He reached around into the emergency kit and got out a sledgehammer and banged on the handle but still no luck. You tell from the marks on the door that this was not the first time forth is technique. The conductor was outside and thought that the door might have been locked, but no the door was unlocked. He asked for the sledgehammer and tried banging on the outside door handle. Still the door was stuck. Next a mechanic came in and tried the door. Then he asked for the sledgehammer. After a few good wacks, the door opened and we exited the train. I am glad they don't do this on airplanes!
Since we are just riding this train during the day we have coach seats instead of a roomette. When we first got on the train, everyone headed for the front of the car, we picked a spot in the middle. Shortly after we sat down, four women, speaking very loudly with Delaware valley accents got on the train and selected four seat across at the front of the car. Slowly, some of the people who were originally seated at the front of the car moved to to seats in the back of the car. One young couple mentioned that they did not want to spend 5 hours listening to the women. The women are going to New York City for the weekend, and they have started to party already. We are glad they have gone to the dining car.
There were two Amish gentlemen on our train from Chicago and they are on this train as well with and older Amish couple that got on in Pittsburg. I am not sure which sect they belong to as not all of the men have beards. Rich thinks they are traveling to Lancaster. PA, a large Amish community is there.
A fog hangs in the trees as the train winds through a forest of more deciduous than conifer trees. In places the leaves have started to turn red and yellow but most are green. Occasionally a freight train passes us going the other way as we ride through the Allegheny Mountains which seem more like hills compared to the Cascades and Rockies. The train slows as we pass a small town, then speeds up until we reach the next one. Many of these small towns grew around the tracks, their lifeline to the rest of the world. As we pass through towns we see the front doors of the houses facing the tracks. Yet in other places, the town growth was away from the tracks, focused on the river, before the railroad came through. We are like voyeurs looking into the backyards and porches as the houses face away from the tracks.
We arrived at Philadelphia's 30th street station, picked up a rental car and headed out of town and onto the Atlantic City Expressway. We are now at Ocean City, staying with some friends, Wilda and Jim.
Let the vacation continue.
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