On 11/30/2018 the Amtrak train 505 departed PDX at 6:05 pm as scheduled. It proceeded to the only scheduled stop at Oregon City, where we encountered a broken down Amtrak 508 going the opposite direction. We then spent the next 1.5 hours sitting and going nowhere. It took another 2 hours for Amtrak to make a decision to tow the 508 back to PDX with our train 500, 20 miles away. It then took another hour to connect. It took another hour to get back to PDX. Train 500 then backed up and we sat another hour. 500 switched tracks and finally headed towards our original destination, 6 hours after the scheduled departure. Not once during the entire delay did Amtrak offer passengers to get off of the train. Why wasn't there a bus alternative offered? We could have found our own ride to our destination! Salem is only 45 miles from Portland. Ultimately, Amtrak kept all 93 passengers on 500 and ? on 508 hostage, unnecessarily! There should have been another non-passenger engine tow the broken 508 back to PDX. I agree, we did eventually get to Salem, nearly 7 hours later. Unacceptable!!! You have one job to do, transport paying passengers, and you don't do that very well at times. There were several poor decisions during this adventure. At the very least, a complimentary travel voucher should be offered to every guest. Jack Haggard