ABC News anchor Stephen Tschida of D.C. affiliate WJLA had what
appears to have been a slow-boil breakdown late Thursday night when his
train to Philadelphia was delayed by ten hours and went without power,
an experience he chronicled
extensively on Twitter.
Tschida's tweets began as reporting, if a bit casually, the train's mid-trip halt and the reactions of his fellow passengers. But Tschida seems to have succumbed to stress and confusion as the ordeal progressed, and as the train grew colder.
Things began inauspiciously:
En route
phili. Train broke down. Terrrible, cold, no info.
Better get what can
from cafe. Looks like long night ahead.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Really
someone here should tell us something. Train gettting colder
and
colder. Hearing now about a possible rescue train.
OMH?Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Tschida was calm at first, reporting on the situation and attempting humor:
OK,
getting wierd on here. People starting to talk loud.
Demanding another
train. But don't think another train will help.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
If it gets
much colder I am going to have to cuddle with the senior citizen next to
me. Hey it's called SURVIVAL!Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
At some point, with the heat and lights off, it became clear this was no routine delay:
Help is on
the way. Whatever that means. And they have
"emergency food". Whatever
that is.
How long r we going 2 b on here?Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Oh god we r
going to back up. Then head all the way back to
Balimore. Amtrak says
we have heat. Let me tell u my fee r numb!Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
And then Tschida began to lose it.
Train
stopped again. So cold can't stop trembling. Going 2
try meditation.
Think good thoughts. It will be over soon.
Right?Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Train
stalled again. Pitch black all around, cold air
blowing on me. It's
like twilight zone. Or I've died and gone 2 hell.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Afraid
they're going to back us off a bridge into cold black water.
Maybe I'm
paranoid, but afraid this isn't going to end well.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
To be fair to Tschida, his fellow passengers don't seem to have handled the stress any better:
Why will no
one tell us anything? People are cold, hungry, and
frightened. I hear
yelling in other cars.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
People are
storming the conductor. He is letting them off in Perryville.
He says u
get off at your own risk.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
1 man
grabbed intercom demanded answers. Another started screaming
we have 2
get home. Now total silence.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Sitting
here in still darkness, strange. Spanish lady keeps muttering
"please
please". Think she wants train to move,
just move.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Along the way, there were some questionable metaphors and literary references:
Oh
god,
lights went out. Train totally dead. No one is
telling us anything!
Sitting in dark shivering. "Sartre"Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Oh god all
lights went out again. Train dead, it's like a
coffin in here. But
less anger and yelling. Exhaustion setting in.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
And some moments of triumph:
Train
MOVING! Spanish lady looked at me with sad eyes said "I want
to go to
New York". I said you are YOU ARE!Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
But, after 2 a.m. or so, Tschida mostly tweeted about God and his desire maybe to do some crying:
God I think
I'm close to crying again. I NEVER cry. Just want out. This
might be a
life changer.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Oh god, a
half hour out of phili and it stopped again. Please please! Ah
it's
moving, slowly but moving.Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Oh god,
close close close! Almost off this god forsaken train!Stephen
Tschida
ABC7Stephen
Tschida's performance ended moments after his train arrived, around 4:35 a.m., when he tweeted "Ten hours of hell is over. Now warmth and sleep, goodnight."
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