An Amtrak train in Queens. Bea Hines found the Amtrak train from Tampa to Miami to be dirty and it broke down shortly after it left the station.

An Amtrak train in Queens. Bea Hines found the Amtrak train from Tampa to Miami to be dirty and it broke down shortly after it left the station.

HIROKO MASUIKE

NYT

I have always enjoyed traveling by train. Even as a little girl when we had to travel in the Colored coach, traveling by train was always exciting to me. I love the mournful sound of the train’s horn, letting communities know it was passing through.

When I was 10, my family traveled from Miami to Fort Worth on the Silver Meter – a three-day, two-night trip back then. As Blacks, we weren’t allowed to eat in the train’s dining coach. But we came prepared with shoe boxes filled with fried chicken, pound cake and potato salad. By the time we reached Fort Worth, though, our shoebox meal that our neighbors had made for us was just a memory.

Later, as a young adult, I traveled to New York on the train, a 24-hour overnight trip with my older son Rick, who was 2 at the time.

Since then, I have taken other, shorter trips by train. And always, the trips have been enjoyable, especially the trips on Brightline. The train was clean and comfortable and the restroom was clean. The train departed and arrived on time.

However, my most recent trip on Amtrak a week ago, when I went to visit my granddaughter Jamie in Tampa, left me with a bitter taste for train travel. I left at 11:10 a.m. from the Hialeah station. The coach I was in looked fairly clean, as was the restroom. (I travel with my wipes, just to be on the safe side.) And we left pretty much on time.

When we arrived in Tampa, a wave of nostalgia swept over me when I walked into the station’s waiting room, where the mahogany pews reminded me of the waiting areas of my childhood. I loved the smell of the mahogany pews that filled the waiting rooms of the train stations. And Tampa’s station looked like a picture from my memory of train traveling as a child.

I tried to express the feeling of nostalgia to my granddaughter Jamie, who was waiting at the station for me. She just laughed. But how could she know how I felt? She was born only 38 years ago.

It was when it was time to leave for home that I first thought something was wrong. The announcer informed us that the 1: 43 p.m. train would be leaving at 2:30 p.m., almost an hour later. Understandable. Delays happen when you travel. I have traveled by air, land and sea. We don’t always leave on time.

I made myself comfortable on the pew and caught up on answering my emails while we waited. A very nice woman who was traveling to Hollywood noticed that I walked with a cane offered to help with my carry-on. Her name was Girder. When it was time, we boarded the train and looked for our assigned seats — 34 and 35.

Then we saw it. The coach was littered with trash. I had an empty plastic bag, and Girder and I started cleaning up our space, wiping down our tray and seats before sitting down. I had never seen such a dirty coach on any of the other trains I had been on. The previous passengers had left food and empty soda cans and other types of trash behind for the new passengers to clean up.

I travel by air a lot. I am used to seeing a crew standing by, ready to clean the plane as soon as it lands. They work quickly and before the new passengers come aboard, the airline has been cleared of any noticeable trash left behind by passengers.

These days, travelers must be careful health wise, because not all dirt can be seen with the natural eye. Still, you felt better boarding, knowing that somebody thought enough of you as a passenger to at least clean out the visible litter.

It bothered me and the other passengers that nobody from the Amtrak staff bothered to clean out the trash left behind by former passengers before inviting us to board.

After a thorough wipe-down, Girder and I settled in our seats as the train slowly pulled out of the Tampa station. I was hungry and as soon as we settled in our seats, I took out a sandwich I brought along.

I had taken maybe three bites of my sandwich when the train came to a complete stop. I looked at my watch. We were only about 15 minutes out. The train had broken down. And for the next more than three hours, we sat on the tracks as the coach got hotter.

Our lone conductors and another Amtrak worker passed out water and snacks. About an hour later, the conductor came back, promising the train would be fixed “shortly.” This time he passed out cups filled with ice.

By that time, we had been sitting for more than an hour. The heat was getting to me, but I opted not to drink too much because the report from a passenger seated across the aisle from me was, “… the restroom is filthy… no toilet tissue, urine covering the floor and the toilet doesn’t flush.”

So, I stayed seated, imagining the germs floating around throughout the coach, and how we passengers were at risk. I took a sip of water only when my mouth was dry and prayed that the train would be fixed quickly. Mostly, I prayed that I wouldn’t have to use the restroom until we got to Miami. My prayers were answered.

I shared my experience with a friend who has a relative who works as a conductor on Amtrak. She said there is a severe shortage of workers. “The powers that be just don’t seem to want to hire enough people,” she said.

Writing this column, I’m thinking about how we often take so much for granted. As paying passengers, we expect our safety to come first. And rightfully so. My recent experience on Amtrak taught me to always expect the best service but be prepared for the worse.

I would hate to see Amtrak, or any other train, be put out of service because there are not enough people working to keep the coaches clean for the passengers who, like me, still enjoy a good train ride.

Bea Hines Bea Hines Al Diaz adiaz@miamiherald.com