Threatening note delays train to NYC

NEWARK, N.J. -- An Amtrak passenger found a threatening note on board yesterday, and the train was detained for more than an hour as police checked passenger identifications and searched luggage racks.

The Washington-to-New York train was declared safe and allowed to continue.

Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said he did not know the exact contents of the note, which a passenger found attached to a mirror in the caf car's restroom.

The passenger alerted the train crew, and police boarded at the next scheduled stop, Newark Penn Station, to perform the search, Stessel said.

"The passenger did exactly the right thing," Stessel said.

A crime laboratory will analyze the note, he said.

Terry Taylor, the AP sports editor, who boarded in Philadelphia, said the train was held in the Newark station for about 90 minutes, beginning shortly before 8 a.m. Taylor said no explanation was given, but an announcement thanked passengers for their patience.

Taylor said transit police officers came down the aisle of each car, asking to see each passenger's identification and checking the information with small computers.

Police also searched overhead luggage compartments with a metal wand. At least one police dog was brought aboard the train.

No one was allowed on or off the train, and the nearby platform was cordoned off with yellow police tape, Taylor said.