It is spring break for the schools in Ontario so my daughter and I decided to take a short trip to New York City. I thought it would be fun to take the train especially with all the crazy weather we have been having causing a lot of frustration at the airport. I should have been a little suspicious when we were told the train would be leaving from gate 13. We left Toronto at 8:30 am and arrived in New York City at 2 am the next day. Thats right we spent 18.5 hours on the train and I will try to explain why. I had ample time to take some pictures from the train while it was still daylight and I will share some of them with you . First a little background information. There is only one Amtrak train daily from Toronto to NYC. The train was full due to the fact that a lot of flights had been cancelled in Toronto due to the huge winter storm we had on the weekend. Everyone was eager to get home or start their family march break vacation.
Just over an hour into the trip the train came to a full stop in a place we later learned was Aldershot which is near Hamilton. We sat there for about one hour before it was announced that the first engine was malfunctioning . The train has two engines so the plan was to cut the power , unhitch the broken engine and replace it with the second engine. While this was happening the washrooms and snack car would be closed and only one door of the train would be opened if anyone needed to step out . We were in the car with the open door. You have to understand that it was at least minus 15 degrees that morning and we were dressed for the warmth of NYC that day. They were unable to connect the second engine probably because it was too darn cold so they had to call for help from Toronto. The passengers that were staying in Canada were loaded onto a bus after a few hours leaving us USA bound passengers cold, hungry and desperately in need of toilets. We sat there for over 5 hours until it was announced that the engineer from Toronto had managed to fix the problem. Less than an hour passed and I remarked to the passenger in front of us that I smelled burnt rubber. The train then stopped again. This time it was announced that a heat sensor in the wheels had been activated and they needed to investigate. An hour later it was announced that they had been dragging something and it was removed and the problem solved. We soon crossed the border at Niagara Falls.
The train stops and lets the customs and immigration inspectors on the train . I knew this would take a while with a full train but I didn't think it would take 2 hours. Language barriers were evident for some
Eight passengers were removed from the train for further questioning and only six returned. It was now late afternoon and we had only gone less than one third of the way.
It was soon dark and after many more hours but no major delays we arrived at Penn Station at 2 am. So what do you do on a train for that length of time? You see a lot of interesting things
eat lots of snacks, read lots of magazines and books (Deborah finished 2 books and even did some required reading for school), knit a pair of socks
and embroider a butterfly.
The lesson I learned from this experience was next time to do as the butterfly. FLY, FLY, FLY. Is that why they say butterflies are free?
This sweet little snail even let me adorn it with a jasmin flower and thanked me by making some rock art. 
