[WGRZ] Some passengers were enduring one of the worst trips ever Tuesday as winter weather continued to wreak havoc not only with road travel but also Amtrak trains, where stranded passengers said they were dealing with overflowing toilets and a lack of food.Amtrak's Crescent, which left New Orleans on Sunday on its way to New York, got stuck north of Lynchburg, Virginia, on Monday morning, returned to Lynchburg and remained there until finally heading northbound again late Tuesday afternoon. Officials said downed trees had been blocking the tracks.
Earlier Tuesday, passenger Sean Thornton said in a phone interview that the railroad was providing food, but toilets were overflowing and passengers were furious. The Richmond, Virginia, resident was in a sleeping car with a private toilet, but he said coach passengers were suffering "a wretched, wretched experience" with cars reeking of overflowing toilets.
"I get it that there are weather conditions," said Thornton, who was traveling from Atlanta to Charlottesville, Virginia. "The real failure here was communication and management involvement."
Amtrak spokesperson Kimberly Woods wrote in an email that the train would go on to New York, where it was supposed to arrive on Monday, once the tracks were clear.
Thornton said that the train crew offered no information after the train parked north of Lynchburg for hours Monday without cell service, until finally backing up to the city around midnight, with no word on what came next. He said the train ran out of food Monday and that passengers weren't offered anything to eat until McDonald's was brought to the train around midmorning Tuesday.
Thornton also said a member of the train crew yelled at passengers over the public address system on Monday to stop complaining to them, instead telling them to call Amtrak's 1-800 number.