The incident happened around 7:22 p.m. Wednesday on board Amtrak Train 68, the Adirondack traveling from Montreal.
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There were no reported injuries to the 287 passengers or crew.
"I started hearing the sound, I turn around and all of a sudden I just watched the whole other part of the train just rip and detach from where I was," said Billy Osher-Dugan, a passenger in one of the front cars.
"There's about 25 passengers sitting around wondering what to do as our car kept going and then another guy yelled, 'pull the emergency brake.'"
Passengers were stranded in the cold for two hours after the cars separated.
Amtrak said a recovery engine was dispatched to transfer passengers from the disabled train.
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The cause of the car separation is under investigation.