An Amtrak train with 183 passengers is stuck in Oregon since Sunday



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The train struck a fallen tree on the railway. He did not move more than 30 hours. But with the heat, power and (so far) food, the passengers say that the atmosphere on board is surprisingly optimistic.

"It's like a giant kumbaya," Rebekah Dodson told CNN on Tuesday morning. "The aliens are playing cards, a teenager has played his ukulele to the children to make them sleep, and ladies who have never met dance in the alleys."

Nevertheless, she said that "the test" was stressful, of course, passengers could not go anywhere. The train is surrounded by feet of snow. Some students heading to Los Angeles have "panicked" because their teachers do not accept their excuse for missing a class, Dodson said.

The region experienced record snow.

Marc Magliari, spokesman for Amtrak, told CNN that none of the 183 passengers and dozens of crewmembers were injured, but that "the conditions were still deteriorated with many obstructions of snow and fallen trees. "

"Due to the deteriorating conditions, the closure of roads in the area and the lack of a viable means of safely transporting passengers or crews, train 11 stopped in Oakridge, in Oregon, "he said. "We are actively working with Union Pacific to clear the right of way and allow passengers to get off the train."

The train had electricity and enough food on board – for which passengers will not be charged, Amtrak said on Twitter Monday.

But Dodson said Tuesday morning that passengers had learned that breakfast was the last meal available. She was trying to go home to Kalamath after a teaching conference in Portland.

She added that the passengers included families with children and a few dozen university students, including about 20 Japanese students. The crew members had always been "professional and kind".

Amtrak said the train could return to Eugene on Tuesday.
Passenger Carly Bigby told CNN's affiliate, KOIN 6, that the basket of snacks on the train was empty and that the diapers have run out for the kids.
"A lot of [older] the kids were really good but they have to go up and down and that's a lot, "she told the news channel. Especially the food – it's not really the food that they like. Moms do everything they can right now. "

Bigby also said that some people did not have a good reception of their mobile phone in the area where the train was blocked and had not been able to easily contact their family. Train 11, which runs daily from Seattle to Los Angeles, hit the fallen tree at around 18:18. Sunday, said Magliari.

Amtrak expects the train will return to Eugene on Tuesday morning, he said.

Joe Sutton of CNN contributed to this report.

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