More than 500 rail passengers who spent the night aboard three trains stranded in snow in northern Illinois are finally heading to Chicago. Buses are transporting about 300 passengers from two trains near Mendota, about 130 kilometers from Chicago, said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. A third train carrying 217 passengers spent the night at a rail yard in Galesburg, about 240 kilometers from Chicago. The spokesman said Amtrak still is deciding whether to let the train travel along a different route or whether passengers should be put on buses. The trains that got stuck in drifting snow were heading to Chicago from Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Quincy, Illinois. There was ample food on the trains for the stranded passengers, and emergency crews were on standby.
