Last weekend was a busy one for us. We were picking up our new car at the BMW factory in Greenville, SC and then driving to VA beach for the Shamrock Half Marathon. To make things interesting we jumped on the Amtrak train from Washington DC on Thursday evening to arrive in Greenville,SC on Friday morning at 5 AM, followed by a quick shower before heading out to the BMW performance center at 8AM for a day of driving one of their cars on the test tracks and to take delivery of our new car (we will cover that in another post).
Anyway, we got on the train at 6:30 PM Thursday evening and didn’t even get two seats together as the train was overbooked. We both settled down and I slipped the camera bag under the seat in front of me. I had imagined this train ride to be one of those lovely palace on wheels kind of rides where you expect a nice bar and gourmet food. We treated ourselves to some microwaved burger, hotdog and 4 tiny wings. By this time I had realized this is not going to be fun but a struggle surviving the next 10hrs. The final destination for the train was New Orleans. At around 10PM the guy next to me was picked up by his buddy as they had scored a sleeper seat and finally Kyra was able to join me. All this time she was sitting with this guy who (not to be judgmental) was probably400-500 pounds and was snoring like anything (no kidding). I think the whole car could hear him snore and Kyra was right next to him.
We were delighted to finally be sitting together and get some snooze time. I was updating the facebook status all along and you can see the Google maps snapshot on my facebook account. We somehow made it to Greenville at 5AM. We got down along with 3-4 other people and after 5 minutes we were the only people at this small station waiting for our ride from the Marriott Hotel to pick us up. All this time we didn’t realize that we had left our camera bag under the seat in front of us (damn). Finally we reach the hotel and realized we could take a quick hour nap before we had to get up and get ready. As soon as I hit the bed I just felt as if the bed was removed from under me when I realized we had left the camera bag on the train. I didn’t want to wake Kyra up as I knew nothing could be done. I lay there for another 5 minutes and then finally told Kyra “We made a very stupid mistake”. She immediately shot up and said let’s call Amtrak and tell them. I basically said there was no way in the world we would see that bag again. If anybody opened the bag, he would know right away that the stuff in there was worth a couple grand. We finally called Amtrak and they took the description of the bag and where we were sitting and told us that they would relay the message to the conductor but the conductor might not see it. The only way they would know is when the train reached New Orleans that evening at 7:30PM. They suggested we call the New Orleans lost and found and tell them as well and gave us the number.
Burt from the New Orleans lost and found picked up the phone and patiently listened to my story and then finally said there was very slim chance of recovery, but to give him a call later that evening. We decided not to worry too much and enjoy our day picking up the car. Later that evening, I called Burt again and he said the train was not there. We had been driving from Greenville, SC to VA beach for the half marathon. We stopped at this Italian place on our way to get dinner and I got the call of a lifetime. I didn’t pick up the phone and then realized it might be Burt. I immediately listened to the voicemail and it was Burt asking me to give him a call back. I called him right away and he said he had the bag. We were thrilled and took down his address and told him to expect something in the mail next week.
For me, it was nothing less than a miracle. I wouldn’t have even called Amtrak. I would have gotten over it. I was happy Kyra made me call Amtrak. Anyway, yesterday Kyra went to Union Station in DC during lunch to pick up the bag. Burt had put the bag back on Amtrak for DC!
We have never been to New Orleans but our camera bag has. Thanks to Burt and all the Amtrak staff who helped us track our bag and return it to us.
Cheers
G
by Gaurav
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