Seaboard92
Engineer
Day 9: Transfer at Washington
I slept thru the stretch stop in Pittsburgh and woke up somewhere on Sand Patch grade East of Connelsville. The room was on the scenic side of the train for the views of Sandpatch. Patrick didn’t wake up till just before Cumberland to enjoy the scenic part of the Capitol Limited. We enjoyed the fresh air stop at Cumberland than I frantically tried ordering a gift for Viktoria before the train left cell service. Which with help from Patrick I managed to barely get it done in time.
After that we walked down to the diner to claim our “breakfast” and took it back to our room to eat. I pointed out scenic highlights along the line such as the spot bartenders used to serve on blue law trains. That spot where the train ducks into Maryland for thirty seconds for a tunnel while both ends are West Virginia. The Capitol Limited is actually a fairly scenic route and with the train being on time there was no need to worry about making the connection.
We took the direct route into Martinsburg instead of the low grade route closer to the river. Patrick and I enjoyed talking and listening to some strange music such as “the star spangled banner hacked by Putin” which is a mixture of the Star Spangled Banner, and the Hymn of the Russian Federation. It’s actually a white interesting piece because it puts our anthem in a minor key which gives a distinctive Russian sound. I pointed out the sights in Harpers Ferry as we pulled to a stop on the westbound main.
After that our attendant took the bedding at Brunswick while I pointed the old Baldwin station to Patrick. Shortly after that I pointed out the most famous Baldwin Station at Point of Rocks. After that we gathered our things and relaxed for the final miles into Union Station. Without having to worry about my connection to No. 91 it was enjoyable looking at metropolitan DC from the Metropolitan Branch.
We arrived into Union Station 27 minutes early at 12:38 which gave us plenty of time to get lunch. We met Malcolm in the head house and walked over to Capitol Southeast to visit the Tune Inn the West Virginia Bar. That is another place my old professor recommended all those years ago. It’s very refreshing to see how everyone on the street knows everyone. It may be a big city but in the neighborhoods and the local places everyone knows each other.
We sat on the street and told Malcolm everything about what we did on the car. And handed over all of the receipts to him for safe keeping after that we just caught up for the hour we could sit there before walking back to Union Station to catch our train. Malcolm needed one more trip to keep his AGR status so he bought a coach ticket on 91 with us to Alexandria to ride in our sleeper for a moment. We waited in the Club Acela for roughly five minutes before it was time to board the Train.
Our power hadn’t been added yet but we still walked the long length of the Silver Star to reach our assigned accommodations. We were in River View/ Iroquois River for our sleeper. Malcolm rode with us to Alexandria but we mostly toured the new Viewliner II sleeper on the ride to Alexandria. After Alexandria Patrick worked on his Christmas cards and I relaxed soaking in the last little bit of daylight. I photographed the alco at Possum Point, pointed out the Pyramid, and other sights on the way south.
At Doswell we looked for sights of Kings Dominion because both Patrick and I are mega roller coaster fans. We even had a discussion of how many parks we could get to using Amtrak without repeating a route. We got it to a 50 day routing hitting over a hundred parks. We had a fresh air stop at Richmond where I took some nice photos in interesting light. After that it was time for the mystery meat special as darkness befell the train as we discussed l sorts of topics.
We talked to our parents for a little bit before we arrived in Raleigh three minutes late. We had just enough time to walk to the head end of the train and back down the platform. We had to make a second spot to allow the baggage to be unloaded because the platform wasn’t long enough for the train. After Raleigh both Patrick and I took a shower in the brand new Viewliner II because we could. The shower is definitely an improvement over the older Viewliners and there is storage located over the shower and bathrooms.
The cars are still missing a linen closet which means regardless of anything else they are flawed cars. Then I slept from Southern Pines to Cassat.
I slept thru the stretch stop in Pittsburgh and woke up somewhere on Sand Patch grade East of Connelsville. The room was on the scenic side of the train for the views of Sandpatch. Patrick didn’t wake up till just before Cumberland to enjoy the scenic part of the Capitol Limited. We enjoyed the fresh air stop at Cumberland than I frantically tried ordering a gift for Viktoria before the train left cell service. Which with help from Patrick I managed to barely get it done in time.
After that we walked down to the diner to claim our “breakfast” and took it back to our room to eat. I pointed out scenic highlights along the line such as the spot bartenders used to serve on blue law trains. That spot where the train ducks into Maryland for thirty seconds for a tunnel while both ends are West Virginia. The Capitol Limited is actually a fairly scenic route and with the train being on time there was no need to worry about making the connection.
We took the direct route into Martinsburg instead of the low grade route closer to the river. Patrick and I enjoyed talking and listening to some strange music such as “the star spangled banner hacked by Putin” which is a mixture of the Star Spangled Banner, and the Hymn of the Russian Federation. It’s actually a white interesting piece because it puts our anthem in a minor key which gives a distinctive Russian sound. I pointed out the sights in Harpers Ferry as we pulled to a stop on the westbound main.
After that our attendant took the bedding at Brunswick while I pointed the old Baldwin station to Patrick. Shortly after that I pointed out the most famous Baldwin Station at Point of Rocks. After that we gathered our things and relaxed for the final miles into Union Station. Without having to worry about my connection to No. 91 it was enjoyable looking at metropolitan DC from the Metropolitan Branch.
We arrived into Union Station 27 minutes early at 12:38 which gave us plenty of time to get lunch. We met Malcolm in the head house and walked over to Capitol Southeast to visit the Tune Inn the West Virginia Bar. That is another place my old professor recommended all those years ago. It’s very refreshing to see how everyone on the street knows everyone. It may be a big city but in the neighborhoods and the local places everyone knows each other.
We sat on the street and told Malcolm everything about what we did on the car. And handed over all of the receipts to him for safe keeping after that we just caught up for the hour we could sit there before walking back to Union Station to catch our train. Malcolm needed one more trip to keep his AGR status so he bought a coach ticket on 91 with us to Alexandria to ride in our sleeper for a moment. We waited in the Club Acela for roughly five minutes before it was time to board the Train.
Our power hadn’t been added yet but we still walked the long length of the Silver Star to reach our assigned accommodations. We were in River View/ Iroquois River for our sleeper. Malcolm rode with us to Alexandria but we mostly toured the new Viewliner II sleeper on the ride to Alexandria. After Alexandria Patrick worked on his Christmas cards and I relaxed soaking in the last little bit of daylight. I photographed the alco at Possum Point, pointed out the Pyramid, and other sights on the way south.
At Doswell we looked for sights of Kings Dominion because both Patrick and I are mega roller coaster fans. We even had a discussion of how many parks we could get to using Amtrak without repeating a route. We got it to a 50 day routing hitting over a hundred parks. We had a fresh air stop at Richmond where I took some nice photos in interesting light. After that it was time for the mystery meat special as darkness befell the train as we discussed l sorts of topics.
We talked to our parents for a little bit before we arrived in Raleigh three minutes late. We had just enough time to walk to the head end of the train and back down the platform. We had to make a second spot to allow the baggage to be unloaded because the platform wasn’t long enough for the train. After Raleigh both Patrick and I took a shower in the brand new Viewliner II because we could. The shower is definitely an improvement over the older Viewliners and there is storage located over the shower and bathrooms.
The cars are still missing a linen closet which means regardless of anything else they are flawed cars. Then I slept from Southern Pines to Cassat.
