Davisville, March 11, 2019: Snowbound on a train, with a ukulele

Today’s show is a story about a train with 183 riders that never reached its destination. The reason why it didn’t is also why this train became a national story – and it’s a story for Davisville because the train normally stops in Davis. My guest was one of the people aboard, my daughter, Megan Buchanan (I was onboard too). She’s also the young woman whose kid-entertaining ukulele playing in the lounge car was recorded by another passenger and went a little viral. No injuries were reported from this trip, the power, water and food held out, and a lot of people were helpful – but that’s not to say this was an anxiety-free sojourn in the woods. The story starts on a Sunday evening with snowflakes falling at the train station in Eugene, Ore., as the Seattle-to-L.A. Coast Starlight began what was supposed to be a 13-hour overnight trip to Davis. Instead, the train spent more than 36 hours stuck in a small mountain town.