Faraz
Train Attendant
Just curious if it goes through the mountains or not?
Yes, it goes through the mountains at night. You will come into Greenville just before daylight and from Atlanta to New Orleans it will be relatively flat. The most beautiful part of the trip, in my book, is crossing Lake Pontchartrain at sunset; be sure to be sitting on the west side of the train after you stop in Slidell.Just curious if it goes through the mountains or not?
Reverse what you wrote, he's riding on #20.Yes, it goes through the mountains at night. You will come into Greenville just before daylight and from Atlanta to New Orleans it will be relatively flat. The most beautiful part of the trip, in my book, is crossing Lake Pontchartrain at sunset; be sure to be sitting on the west side of the train after you stop in Slidell.Just curious if it goes through the mountains or not?
Darn, don't tell me that--I rode the Crescent from CLT-CVS and then WAS-CLT last August. On the CLT-CVS leg, I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up until the attendant told me we were arriving in CVS, since I had been flying for 20 hours and had worked a 10 hour shift the morning before I left (then going straight home, packing, and driving to the airport)--I had been awake for something like 35 hours straight upon arrival in CLT.Reverse what you wrote, he's riding on #20.Yes, it goes through the mountains at night. You will come into Greenville just before daylight and from Atlanta to New Orleans it will be relatively flat. The most beautiful part of the trip, in my book, is crossing Lake Pontchartrain at sunset; be sure to be sitting on the west side of the train after you stop in Slidell.Just curious if it goes through the mountains or not?
I've only ridden 20/19 between CSN and WAS, but some of my favorite scenery is between DAN and CLP. Be sure to have your eyes out the window when you leave Lynchburg, as you'll go over the beautiful James River trestle and it's utterly amazing.
The river is the Tombigbee, I'm not sure what kind of rock is on the side, but it is brilliantly white. The river has quite a bit of barge traffic. If you search Epes, AL in Google Earth you shoud be able to find the bridge just a little to the east. Its between Meridian and Tuscaloosa.Ditto, very descriptive... I laughed at the "picking up speed" part between Laurel and Meridian. The train always seemed to do the "shake, rattle and roll" through there making it hard to stay straight in the diner... You may have missed inserting a description about one of the meanest patches of kudzu I've ever seen that shows up on one side or the other of Anniston.... AND, for the record, Fried Green Tomatoes and the movie prop (now an operating restaurant) for the Whistle Stop cafe was actually filmed in Juliette, Georgia (a small community north of Macon, GA).Tell me the name of the white banked river between Hattiesburg and Birmingham. I don't recall a bridge. Cedars start appearing in quantities before crossing this river so the white is probably Limestone or kaolin.
I usually just wait until it gets dark, which will probably be after Lynchburg, but I have been awake for the entire route one time. I had slept late that day just before leaving and stayed up watching the lights from the towns, the locos headlights, and the signals change as we went under them. Just before Lynchburg you will cross a high bridge across a gorge with a small creek in the bottom. I would definitely be awake for that. There is a lot of good scenery during the night portion, but unless you are on a significantly late train you will miss it. You could always take one of the day trains through N & S Carolina though.On wednesday I will not only be on 19 crescent for the first time but also first time on Amtrak, anything I should stay awake for ? Not the dinner by the sounds of things
Leaving DC at 6:30 pm heading for Atlanta, how long should I keep my eyes open ????
Thanks
Paul
I contest your statement about the dinner. If the Heritage diner is on that train, the dinner will be worth staying up for, trust me.
A heritage diner is a diner that was inherited by Amtrak from the freight railroads when it began operations on May 10, 1971. These are used exclusively on single level LD trains in the east. These cars are for the most part between 60 and 80 yrs old, this is some of Amtrak's oldest equipment.I contest your statement about the dinner. If the Heritage diner is on that train, the dinner will be worth staying up for, trust me.
Rookie Here.
Enlighten me on the difference, please!
The Club car's where the cars that were rebuilt with the smoker's box in them. Many have now had that box removed, although I'm not sure that they are all gone. And some of those cars have already been converted to Diner-Lite cars.What is the difference between a club car and a cafe car? I have seen the Philadelphia Club, run on one of the Crescent's consists for a while now, is there really any difference between it and a regular cafe?
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