Train adventure

Where to begin? I have been busy lately so I haven’t been able to update as much. I have a few things to write about so here it goes.

Last Thursday the Metra trains shut down due to a spilled bag of white acid(not the rec drug) but the type you use for making soap or candles something like that. Here is how the story goes. Thursday morning I took the boys on walk to the post office and we walked along the train station so the boys could see the trains that went by. I had noticed a bag on the middle track that looked like it had fallen off a train. This was around 9:30am. Around 3:30 pm we went by again and it was still there. We went to the library and when we came back by on the way home around 4:00pm there was a fire truck and several police officers standing along the train station. There was a train sitting there. I thought it maybe something happened on the train. There were a lot of people waiting.

We were going to stop off to the side to watch the trains go by when a gentleman was walking by and said that it would be about 30 minutes before trains go by because of a package on the tracks. I laughed and said they are just now doing something with that it has been there all day. We head home. I call Hubby to tell him he might have a delay on the train. Just then I here a helicopter outside, so I step out and see three helicopters from the news stations. I run in and turn on the news. They are reporting that the Hazmat dept. has been called out because they think the substance on the tracks is some sort of chemical. They said they are only letting trains come up to my street not the station and letting people off. I call Hubby back and tell him it is a bigger deal.

He gets on a train around 6pm and by now the trains are only going as far as a train station that is 4 miles from my house. I tell Hubby I will pick him up. I get a call back from him telling me that they have stopped at the Cicero stop and told people to get off. He says there are no cabs and he is thinking about walking back to the city.

Cicero is right next to the city on the west side. It is not a very safe burb. It has just been announced the second suburb that has the most gangs in it. I freak out and tell Hubby he is not walking to the city while it is getting dark. I tell him I am on my way. It is a straight shot to the train station he is at and it is right across the street from a police station.

I load up the kids and head out. The traffic is horrible. It is rush hour plus people going to pick people stranded by the trains. As I am driving down Ogden, there are tons of people on cell phones walking or standing and waiting for a ride. It takes me 15 mins to go 5 miles. Hubby is 20 miles away. Traffic finally breaks a little and I can go a little bit faster. I miss then street I needed to turn on and I turn on the next street hoping to turn around and I see down it the train tracks so I head that way and there is the station and Hubby waiting.

Right as I am turning in Little Cubby throws up. He did the same thing he did last Saturday. So, I pull in and tell Hubby. We pull out Little Cubby take off his clothes, wipe him down and wipe is seat down. We put him back in the seat with just his diaper and head home. We did not get home until 9pm. The trains started up again by then. 12,000 people were stranded because of this.

I was pretty proud of myself for driving to Cicero. I did not do too much driving in the city so this was a big deal. I can drive in most burbs fine.