Over the Roads, Through the Airports They Stream

Travelers took to the rails, roads and air by the millions Wednesday in the annual exodus to visit relatives for Thanksgiving.

Amtrak put more trains on the tracks and more cars on its trains. Airlines expected a record 19.8 million passengers in the week and a half surrounding the holiday, 10% more than last year.

The American Automobile Assn. said nearly 28 million people would drive 100 miles or more; Greyhound Lines rented extra buses.

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a Christmas decoration hanging in the rafters of the United Airlines terminal caught fire Wednesday afternoon.

No one was injured and the fire was put out in 10 minutes, but the concourse was shut for about an hour and would delay an unknown number of flights, said United spokesman Matthew Triaca.

The holiday crush was torture to some but a party for others.

Strolling entertainers from area schools and dance and music groups were scheduled to perform at the Denver International Airport through the holiday.

In Detroit, airport workers handed out baskets of candy and greeted children with coloring books and face painters.

“The airport is more fun on the holidays,” said Detroit airport spokesman Mike Conway. “The TV stations tend to come out and make it sound awful, but all the gray suits and briefcases disappear, and you have children and grandparents hugging. It’s more colorful this time of year.”

Students lined up outside the University of Wisconsin-Madison student union for buses to take them the 130 miles to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

“I could not afford a flight over there,” said freshman Romulo Martinez, whose relatives planned to pick him up at the airport.

“I would not drive today,” John Sorkin said as he and his family waited for their train to leave Baltimore for New York. “If I had to drive, I would leave early this morning and come back Saturday.”

Long-term parking lots at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport filled up Tuesday, and private lots were close behind Wednesday. “They’re pulling in like crazy,” said Shirley Edmondson, who was running a private lot.

Charles Walker, 82, of Cambridge, Mass., had to wait for a train in Boston and then faced a 10-hour ride to his stepson’s home in Syracuse, N.Y. “I don’t care as long as I don’t have to drive,” Walker said.

By midday Wednesday, about 10,000 Thanksgiving travelers had passed through Boston’s South Station, up about 20% over last year, said manager Kevin Scullin.

Amtrak’s Texas Eagle had only five vacant seats Wednesday when it left Little Rock, Ark., on its run from Chicago to Dallas and Los Angeles.

That still left a lot of travelers on the highways.

Frances Scott had two people working the cash registers at midday at the Flying J Travel Plaza off Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Ga., and people were lined up 18 deep.

On the New Jersey Turnpike, notorious for backups at its southern toll booths before cars cross into Wilmington, Del., Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has suggested waiving the toll to relieve holiday congestion.

“That’s a decision that’s made on a case-by-case basis,” said Lynn M. Fleeger, director of public affairs for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Authorities expect more than 4.8 million travelers there during the holiday period.