Noticing something didn't happen is much harder than noticing something did, particularly when you are sleeping.
My joke, which clearly missed, was about expectation. Not waking up because your house remains still (as you expect it to) is different than sleeping a train you're expecting to, at some point, be moving and undulating. I say this as a person who falls asleep in moving vehicles—and wakes up if they stop for more than a few minutes.