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The City of New Orleans part 2 – US Rail Journeys Series 2 Episode 9
Carbondale:
The City of New Orleans part 2 begins as we realise that the train will go no further. It is 6.30 am and we are in Carbondale. We are given the options of returning the way we came or going on by bus.
Some of the passengers are not happy!
Our train failure is news! A local TV station comes to report on the situation and interview the passengers – it must be a slow news day!
We hear that buses are coming, but from some distance away. Because there will be a delay I go to look for coffee but find that the shops don’t open early. Its after 9.00 a.m. and nothing is open!
The buses arrive, they are driven on to the platform. The first gets caught on some fencing and suffers slight damage. It is soon full so we get on the second one which, after a short delay, sets off for our journey south.
Going South:
The bus makes reasonable progress. Our route takes us past shopping areas all with single storey buildings and brands that are new to me. We then come to an area with hotels.
The bus then turns off down a dirt track. At the end of the track we come to Fulton station. Its basically a container with a couple of windows. The person we were meant to pick up has gone. I can’t understand why – we are only 7 hours late!
Someone calls 911:
The bus turns, we retrace our route to the highway and get going. A passenger complains loudly about the route we are taking. The Amtrak staff member tries to calm her. The complaints continue. She is disturbing the other passengers so she is warned that she must be quiet or get off the bus.
A police car overtakes us. The bus stops. All because the complaining passenger dialled 911. The policeman gives the passenger a choice, keep quiet or get off. There’s not much here so she stays.
Gourmet lunch:
We stop at Loves. It is a truck stop. At least it is an opportunity to get something to eat.
The photographs that accompany the podcast:
Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:
Next up:
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. Please join me in two weeks for the next episode where the journey on the Rail Replacement Bus continues and we reach New Orleans.
Links:
To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.
You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher.
Music:
AKM Music has licensed the theme, Steam Railway, for use in this podcast.
Audioblocks has licensed Train Station by Jason Donnelly and Country Road both by Bobby Cole for use as incidental music in this episode.
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