KANSAS CITY — Riding Amtrak across Missouri, it becomes clear why so many people love the train — and why so many others would probably rather drive.
The Amtrak route connecting Kansas City and St. Louis cuts mostly south of Interstate 70, which is the way many usually get from one end of the state to the other, according to the Kansas City Star.
From the rails, travelers expect to see a different swath of Missouri than from the highway. No billboards. No construction crews. No truck stops large enough to require their own ZIP code. All of that is true.
The view, however, still is not that exciting: a lot of back yards and farmland and the occasional depot. A recent afternoon train heading east from Kansas City arrived in Jefferson City too late for a glimpse of the Missouri River before night fell.
Delays are nothing new for Amtrak. The very concept of a schedule is relative — the rail line considers 30 minutes late an “on-time” arrival.
The reason is that Amtrak trains in most of the country (Missouri being no exception) share tracks with freight trains. The rules say passenger trains are supposed to have the right of way, but this does not always happen.
Missouri’s busy rail corridor means Amtrak riders can expect their trains to spend a lot of time on sidetracks, waiting for lines of freight cars to chug by. It’s not uncommon for the trains to St. Louis to run as much as two hours late, passengers say, stretching a six-hour ride to eight.
Such delays don’t bother seasoned riders, but there can be other, unforeseen complications.
On Tuesday, a train traveling west to Kansas City pulled into Sedalia a half-hour late, just after 7 p.m. Just as the depot came into view and some passengers prepared to step off, there was a sudden crunching sound from below, like biting into ice. The lights went off, and the train stopped.
A murmur went up in the cabin: What was that?
A pile of logs, paper and other trash had been left on the track, evidently as a prank. Running over the pile cut a power cable in the train, killing the lights, the air conditioning, the automatic hand-dryers in the rest rooms.
After a half-hour, the conductor came through to tell the passengers that the train could keep moving, but without electricity the rest of the way.
For the next two hours, the train rumbled along in the dark and cold, the automatic door to the cabin sliding open and shut, letting in the stiff wind outside.