Somewhere in Delaware, angel delivers pizza to stranded Amtrak passengers

Pizza guy braves hills and ravines, proving delayed Amtrak trains are included in delivery zone.

On Sunday afternoon an Amtrak trained was delayed somewhere in Delware en route from New York to Washington. And by “delayed” we mean stranded for three hours, which is actually not the surprising or newsworthy part of the story. No, that would be the arrival of national hero and Dom’s Pizza delivery man who climbed a hill and brought pizza to the passengers.

Amtrak riders live Tweeted the whole incident, as you do when “severe engine problems” and no power leave you with nothing else to do. Some reports were inspiring – moms popping bottles of champagne for Mother’s Day, cafe attendants giving away free Twix and beer – but the pizza delivery man was the clear hero.

According to U.S. News, Dominic Philingera, the owner of Dom’s Pizza, told the Associated Press that the driver “cut through a backyard, stepped down a steep embankment and over a water-filled ditch to bring the pie to the hungry passengers.” This was the first time that Dom’s Pizza, located in Newport, Delaware, has delivered pizza to a stalled train, so congrats to them on a successful first mission.

The assist goes to Twitter user @MitchKatz for the ordering the pizzas in the first place. Good thinking, Mitch. Here’s hoping he shared.

The pizza was a delightful and hopefully delicious distraction for the passengers, who were still trying to get to DC.

Eventually, Amtrak sent two rescue trains, which passengers boarded through single file through two doorways. Once on the new train, they learned there were not enough seats, over a hundred passengers were left to stand for the remaining 30 minutes. There was also an ominous warning to not touch both trains at the same time while transferring. Adding insult to injury, there was also no cafe car on the rescue train, leading some to keep tweeting at Dom’s for more pizza.

The passengers arrived in Washington about seven hours after leaving New York, but at least they got a pizza break in between.