That sounds deeply unfortunate. For future reference, if you're on that much of a time constraint, you'll run into issues with a lot of American cities even in

That sounds deeply unfortunate. For future reference, if you're on that much of a time constraint, you'll run into issues with a lot of American cities even in the Northeast if you try to cut it close via train (my experiences have been with NYC Penn -- YMMV). For the sake of argument, I am pretty sure natives would have given you the ol' caveat emptor and told you to just take a car/taxi, and I think that's usually your strongest option in that situation. Otherwise, you're relying on a dependency chain that's out of your control -- ticket machines, multiple trains having both availability and uptime. I get a little confused when you get to the part about Greyhounds and the Megabus. Why not rent a car or take an uber at that point? Sure, it's expensive, but at a certain point, it's worth considering how much your peace of mind is worth.