A train that was stuck in wintry conditions outside Oakridge, Oregon, for a day and a half is now "on the move" back to Seattle, Amtrak said Tuesday morning. But the train, with 183 passengers on board, doesn't appear to be out of the woods yet.
"Due to weather conditions, additional delays are to be expected along the route," the railroad service tweeted.
UPDATE: Coast Starlight Train 11 which departed Seattle (SEA) on 2/24 is on the move back to Seattle (SEA). Due to weather conditions, additional delays are to be expected along the route.
— Amtrak Alerts (@AmtrakAlerts) February 26, 2019The Coast Starlight train 11 had been stuck since Sunday evening when it hit a tree that fell onto the tracks while it was heading from Seattle to Los Angeles. Amtrak said no one was hurt, CBS Seattle affiliate KOIN reported.
Amtrak said earlier that it "made the decision to keep the passengers on the train because power is out in the city. Also, with only two small hotels in town they don't want to separate the passengers prior to having them reboard for departure."
Amtrak said heavy snow and trees on the tracks had made it difficult for crews to reach the train, and that road closures due to the snow and downed trees were complicating matters.
Passengers described challenging conditions.
Carly Bigby, who was heading to Klamath Falls, Oregon, on what is ordinarily a three-hour trip, told KOIN the snack cart was empty and people were running out of diapers for their kids.
"A lot of the [older> kids have been really good but they're having to run up and down and it's a lot. Especially the food -- it's not really food they're liking," Bigby said. "Moms are doing all they can right now."
She said Verizon was the only cellphone provider with coverage in the area, so some people hadn't been able to easily contact family members.
"If someone wants to deliver a pizza, that'd be great," Bigby joked.
Dodson told CBS affiliate KTVL, "We've opened windows, we've gotten yelled at for opening windows. We can't get off the train because there's four feet of snow in every direction, there's nowhere to go."
She sent the station a video:
Rebekah sent me this video a few hours ago after we got off the phone.She, along with 182 others are still on a train stranded in Oakridge #Oregon --> https://t.co/fAgGAoxUq4 pic.twitter.com/r2fCZTmANM
— ---------- ------------ (@brian_schnee) February 26, 2019In the video, a fellow passenger told Dodson he'd been on the train for 32 hours. "We're running low on supplies," Dodon said. "It is now 6 o'clock at night (on Monday). It is dark. There is more snow on the way and we are stranded for another night. … Please send help if possible. Thanks."
CBS Roseburg, Oregon affiliate KPIC-TV reported that a main highway into Oakridge was blocked and that Oakridge was largely cut off from help. The town had no power, leaving gas stations and grocery stores closed, and the local utility said electricity may not be restored for another week.
KPIC spoke with a family from the town who said neighbors were huddling together with others who had propane-fueled generators to stay warm. But with services out, they said that won't last long, and they were worried about what will be happen if things became desperate.
-CBS News
