HASTINGS, Minn. – Twenty-four miles short of its St. Paul destination, the red-nose passenger train Borealis slowed to a stop, backed up, and sat three hours in Hastings. For 300 holiday travelers, it was an inconvenience. For railroaders, it was one of those not-so-uncommon winter nightmares — a frozen switch on the mainline ahead. Hastings isn’t the ideal place to be stranded these days. It hasn’t been a scheduled stop for decades — no depot, no trackside vendors. And snacks in the Borealis club car ran out. By 10:15 p.m. the switch was thawed and fixed. The train pulled out and proceeded, albeit gingerly, across the Canadian Pacific bridge over the Mississippi. Twenty minutes or so later it was at the end of the line in St. Paul. Everybody deboard with a story to tell.
Timetable. The daily Borealis, Amtrak’s Train 1333, had departed Chicago at 11:05 a.m. and cleared Winona at 6:36 p.m.