Earlier this week my wife and I took a short trip on the Pennsylvanian, NYP-HAR. I posted on another thread our generally positive experience at Moynihan. The trip was uneventful- the best kind!
Our Amfleet I business class car had a recent makeover and was extremely clean. Since the train reverses direction In Philadelphia we were at the rear of the train leaving NYP between the baggage and cafe cars. We left on time and were on time until west of Paoli where there appeared to be extensive track work which caused our Harrisburg arrival to be about 5 minutes late, which is on time for Amtrak.
The conductor scanning our tickets was extremely friendly- a far cry from PC days. The cafe attendant was also very friendly although we had a hard time communicating with both of us masked up and a large clear plastic barrier between us. Some kind of intercom was needed. The rest of the cafe car only had a couple passengers sitting in it. Our car was maybe 2/3 full out of NYP but many had left by PHL.
It was interesting to see the improvements at the mainline stations west of Philadelphia including Paoli with new high level platforms. The old, and unattractive, station appeared to still be in use. That was where I boarded my first solo overnight train trip at age 12. We flew by the interchange with the Strasburg RR at 106 mph. Harrisburg station hasn’t changed much over the years and could use a makeover but is a classic PRR station, especially with the GG1 parked under the shed.
A couple days after we returned home I got a survey from Amtrak about our trip. My comments to them are reflected here and in my Moynihan post. I do wish Amtrak could make the changes necessary to have connecting cars to the Capitol at Pittsburgh. Philadelphia metro area is too large not have a one seat ride to Chicago.
Our Amfleet I business class car had a recent makeover and was extremely clean. Since the train reverses direction In Philadelphia we were at the rear of the train leaving NYP between the baggage and cafe cars. We left on time and were on time until west of Paoli where there appeared to be extensive track work which caused our Harrisburg arrival to be about 5 minutes late, which is on time for Amtrak.
The conductor scanning our tickets was extremely friendly- a far cry from PC days. The cafe attendant was also very friendly although we had a hard time communicating with both of us masked up and a large clear plastic barrier between us. Some kind of intercom was needed. The rest of the cafe car only had a couple passengers sitting in it. Our car was maybe 2/3 full out of NYP but many had left by PHL.
It was interesting to see the improvements at the mainline stations west of Philadelphia including Paoli with new high level platforms. The old, and unattractive, station appeared to still be in use. That was where I boarded my first solo overnight train trip at age 12. We flew by the interchange with the Strasburg RR at 106 mph. Harrisburg station hasn’t changed much over the years and could use a makeover but is a classic PRR station, especially with the GG1 parked under the shed.
A couple days after we returned home I got a survey from Amtrak about our trip. My comments to them are reflected here and in my Moynihan post. I do wish Amtrak could make the changes necessary to have connecting cars to the Capitol at Pittsburgh. Philadelphia metro area is too large not have a one seat ride to Chicago.