The Great Train Rescue

Today we took a trip that my mom has been planning for months. She bought tickets for a train excursion trip to Monterey for their Dogwood Festival and gave them to Jenni, Dad, and me for our birthdays. It was a day that would turn out to be unlike any other.

As Saturday approached, our excitement about the trip grew. It would be my first train trip. We knew that the forecast looked gloomy, but we don't let the rain spoil our plans generally. Jenni and I looked up some information online so we would know what to expect.

We found out that the town had a total population of 2,717 people in the 2000 Census. My church has 2,000 members, so it's a pretty small town. Jenni was pretty excited about it and thought it would be like Stars Hollow, the town in the show Gilmore Girls. However, we live in Tennessee and not in New England!

We woke in the morning to find dark skies. My parents picked us up at 7:00 to head to the train station in Nashville. It was pouring rain, so we were pretty wet by the time we boarded the train. Note: You should use the restroom before you board a train. They do not unlock the bathrooms until you get on the main track, which was a 45 minute wait.

The train was very nice. We were toward the back of the train, and behind our car was a gift shop car and the dining car, as well as more passenger cars. The gift shop car used to be a cargo car, so it was very wobbly walking through that one. We took our seats for a very enjoyable ride to Monterey. We were along the river for a lot of the trip, and there were a lot of scenic fields, farms, and cliffs along the way. Mom and Jenni saw a couple of places where the rain had formed some tiny waterfalls on the rocks a couple feet from our window.

The conductor on our car told us that the people of Monterey were looking forward to our arrival. Upon arrival, we realized we were the main attraction for the festival. Most of the town was waiting for us by the tracks when we got off the train. No, there's no station. Some of them were waiting to get on the train for a trip of their own to the sand plant (not quite sure what was there, but they were excited nonetheless). Among their entertainment for their trip would be a lady who said she "didn't kill that woman!" Our train held a little over 500 people, so a quarter of the town got on the train after we got off. A bit of a strange way to greet your guests, haha!

We only had an hour and a half in the town before we needed to board, so lunch seemed the main purpose for the festival. The citizens of Monterey beckoned us to come eat at the restaurants, all of which were now packed with people from the train. We ate some hamburgers and hot dogs at the newly built VFW. We also looked around in a couple of the shops and bought some lemonade from two cute sisters. Jenni is learning to quilt so she bought some fabric from one of the stores. I will say, I was quite surprised to see that Monterey had not only a Mexican restaurant, but also a tienda y discoteca.

We got back on the train and headed back to Nashville. Being of my generation, I checked Facebook on my phone and saw that a lot of my West Tennessean friends had been posting about flooding throughout the day. Of course all this weather would be headed our way.

We chose to sit in the dining car on the way back, partly due to the excessively affectionate couple across the aisle and partly so we could play games. My mom had brought cards and the rules for Canasta. We love playing cards in our family, and it had been years since my parents had played this game. It was new to Jen and me. We had a great time, pausing from time to time to watch the now gushing waterfalls cascading down the rocks and crashing onto the train. I really wish I had videotaped that part of the ride. It felt like we were on a ride at Disneyland or Universal Studios! The creeks and rivers had been full on our way to Monterey, and were now swelling past their banks and across fields. Streams were forming everywhere.

The train had to stop or slow down a few times so the workers could check the tracks up ahead. We felt pretty safe on the train even though the waters were rising. As we travelled through Watertown (now we know how it got it's name), the train came to a stop. The conductor told us that the tracks were under water in two places ahead and there was a ballast broken. We would not be able to continue. They decided to back the train up to a highway in Wilson County until we could be rescued. As we backed up, we could see the now higher flood waters. There was a small church with the bottom steps under water. The woods around us looked more like a swamp. We had found out that MTA (Metro Transit Authority), the Tennessee Central Railway's plan for emergencies, could not come pick us up because of the flooding in Nashville. There was no way for them to get out of town!

The staff on the train was absolutely wonderful. They kept us updated on what was going on. The dining cars sold snacks at a very reasonable price, which kept everyone happy while we waited. We went back to playing cards, and Dad and Jenni won the game. By this time it was around 5:00, and we wondered if we should buy some sandwiches before they were gone. We ended up getting some of the last buns! We figured we would be some of the last to leave the train since we didn't have anything pressing. We were willing to spend the night if needed. We were told that the Wilson County School District had offered their buses and bus driver's to transport us back to Nashville. Yep, that's right, all 500 of us!

The dining car started to empty as people pushed toward the front of the train. We just started another game of cards. Eventually some firemen came back to our car and said it was time for us to go. We asked if we could finish our hand, but he said, "No!" As we walked through the train, we got to see the dome car and another dining car. This car had cut their sandwiches in half so that there would be mre to go around. We got off the train as saw a line of buses waiting for us to board.

Our bus driver was awesome! She was so friendly and greeted everyone with excitement. We found seats, which were much smaller than any of us remembered. Many would have been scared driving the 40 miles to flooded Nashville, but not our driver! I really wish I knew her name. She had to take some detours, but we made it back to the station. She told us what a pleasure it had been driving us and, "I wish I would have had enough time to make y'all some snacks!" I plan to write to Wilson County School to thank them and tell them how wonderful their bus drivers are. The pleasure was all ours!

We finally arrived at home around 8:30. My phone had died on the way home from roaming, and several friends had seen our train on the news and called to check. We turned on the television to check the weather, and saw footage of the flooding on Bell Road and Blue Hole. We also saw another line of storms headed our way with tornado watches and warnings. Jen & I wondered what to do: we live in a great spot for floods, but our apartment at the top of the hill was not so great for tornados! We were exhausted, but thought we should stay dressed and ready in case we needed to run down the stairs. The bottom floor of our building is built into the side of the hill. Luckily the watch expired without turning into a warning for our area. We know it will be a long night of bad weather, but I do hope my weather alerts on my phone will wake me if it gets too bad!