On Sunday evening, outside of Oakridge, Oregon, an Amtrak train carrying 183 passengers from Seattle to Los Angeles struck a tree on the tracks, and has not moved since. In related news: Aahhhhhh!
Due to record-setting snows and downed trees in the area, Union Pacific crews had difficulty clearing the way for the stranded train, leaving passengers trapped together in a metal tube for over 30 hours. According to CBS, a relief crew finally reached the train on Tuesday morning. No one was injured, but one passenger, Rebekah Dodson, told CNN that some Los Angeles college students have “panicked” because their professors apparently won’t accept “stranded in a waking nightmare” as an excuse for missing class.
Amazingly, the train does not seem to have descended into a Lord of the Flies–type scenario. Dodson told CNN that there was still power, and some food, and that it’s been “like a giant kumbaya party.”
“Strangers are playing cards. A teenager played his ukulele to kids to get them to sleep. Ladies who have never met before were dancing in aisles.”
Still, things were not all dancing and ukulele-playing. One woman, Carly Bigby, told KOIN that people with small children have run out of diapers, and some people are having difficulty getting cell service to contact their families.
Another apparent passenger, whose Twitter handle is @Tracy27, tweeted, “We have accepted our new life on the train. Tribes are forming. We are all walking thin,” and suggested that things were taking a turn for the horny.
As of Tuesday morning, the tracks appear to finally be cleared, and the train seems to be on its way to Eugene.
The residents of nearby Oakridge are not so lucky. CBS reports that the town is without power, forcing gas stations and grocery stores to close, and that a main highway is blocked, cutting them off from almost all help.
