Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
It has been far to long since I have been aboard a long distance Amtrak train. I was sitting on about 100,000 AGR points waiting for the right time to work on riding the few Amtrak long distance services that I haven’t ridden yet. With the impending devaluation I knew that it was time to get moving on my goals. I was hoping to ride both the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor, but since they removed the dining car off the Star it seemed like the best use of points was to simply leave the Star off the redemption. On September 9th I got serious about getting started on burning all of these miles, and found a good friend who was interested enough in traveling by train to join me.
We finalized a plan that was a lot more pedestrian than either one of us was hoping for, but we both understood we only had a finite amount of time we could take off. So the Maine to Miami plan became a simpler New York to Miami run on the Silver Meteor both ways. For my friend this would be his first ever trip aboard any type of Amtrak train. For me it would be my first long distance trip in a couple of years.
This year I have traveled more than any other year of my life by a wide margin. I have flown around 110,000 miles and been in about a dozen countries. I have about 45,000 more miles to fly, and plans to visit 6-8 additional countries. Amtrak was where it all really started for me though, so I was looking forward to finding myself aboard a sleeper car. Where I first began realizing the pleasures of letting the travel be as much of a part of the trip as the destination.
So with that my friend and I met up around 11AM at my house for the drive to Metropark where we would leave my car for a few days, and catch a New Jersey Transit train into New York Penn Station. We took a local train that took about 50 minutes, and got us into Penn Station around 1:30. With two hours to kill we left our bags in the Club Acela and headed to New York Pizza Suprema across the street from Penn Station. Definitely my favorite slice in the city, and I would recommend checking it out if you have a layover at Penn Station.
At around 2:45 they started boarding in the lounge and an usher led us to track 10 where we were quickly welcomed aboard by our attendant James. That days Lake Shore Limited was across the platform from us on track 9. Our car departing New York only had 2 other rooms occupied, so James came along pretty quickly and explained to my friend the features of our roomette as well as the different cars onboard. We left right on time and picked up one more passenger for our car in Newark. My friend was very eager to walk through the rest of the train, and get a better idea of just what he had signed up for. Unfortunately, the LSA didn’t make it back to our to take dinner reservations until around 4:30. We secured a 6 o’clock dinner reservation, and then we walked the length of the train. Oddly enough there was another café car at the very rear of the train.
We headed to dinner and were seated with quite possibly the worst tablemate I’ve ever experienced aboard Amtrak. I felt bad since I had told my friend one of the more interesting parts of taking the train was sitting with our people and sharing stories. Despite our dining companion dinner was very good. I have read all of the threads about the various cuts to the sleeper amenities and changes in the dining car. It made me a little apprehensive about what we would actually be served, but everything was as good as I remembered. I actually found the new salad that was now a paid side, but still included with the sleeper ticket to be a step up in size and quality from the old one. All in all my friend and I both enjoyed the food, and with the right company it would have been an excellent introduction to dining on Amtrak. I guess for me it was just a matter of having spent to much time on AU reading about the death by a thousand cuts when I found the onboard experience to be very similar from what I remember in the 2010-2012 timeframe. I know that was also during the beginning of the SDS days, but I don’t want to stray into all that here.
After dinner we arrived in Washington where I walked around the platform, and watched the locomotive switch. I spent some time talking to our attendant, and he said the reason for the lounge car on the end was simply a mistake made in the yard. It should have been a coach and the folks at Sunnyside swore up and down it was a coach, quite an inspiring testament to Amtrak’s yard crews and their ability to identify equipment. I also told James that we’d like to have the room switched over after the stop in Richmond. Once we departed DC we took advantage of the ice at the end of the car and mixed up a couple of drinks. I was glad to hear that my friend was enjoying the trip more than he thought he would.
The time passed pretty quickly and we found ourselves stepping out in Richmond before we knew it. As promised a couple minutes after we left James arrived, and changed the room over for the night. I had forgotten how much better a top bunk on a Viewliner was compared to a Superliner, and once I settled in up there I had no regrets in giving away the bottom bunk. I had no trouble falling a sleep, and slept soundly until just a couple of minutes before our on time arrival in Savannah. I was glad to see that we hadn’t lost any time overnight, and dozed off again until around 7:30 when my friend woke me up.
We headed to a pretty empty dining car, and were told we would have a table to ourselves. I was glad to see that the railroad French Toast was on the menu. Again it seemed to be as tasty as I remember it being from a couple years ago. The dining car staffs were very good and made sure we were looked after. After breakfast we went back to the room, and my friend did start to get a little stir crazy, but the almost 30 minutes we spent in Jacksonville really improved his mood. He started to watch a couple of movies, and I began to write this report. We took a 1:30 lunch reservation, and I decided to take a shower. I always enjoy the balancing act of trying to shower as you bounce around the tracks.
After arriving in Orlando early we had a nice stretch and was able to chat more with our attendant who had been working for Amtrak for over 25 years. He had some pretty funny stories to share about all kinds of strange passengers he has encountered. We waited about 10 minutes after our departure from Orlando to try, and see if the dining car would seat us a little early. That turned out to be of little concern as there were only two other tables occupied. Once again we were given our own table for lunch. We both had the Angus Burger and some ice cream to round it out. Since there a couple tables after us we felt comfortable just kind of lingering around after our meal to enjoy a change in scenery.
When we got back from lunch James told us to feel free to spread out a little bit, and allowed my friend to occupy the roomette across the hall for the rest of the trip. It became apparent that aside from the staff that was staying in our car we were the only passengers left. I took advantage of the extra space, and slid the seats down and took a pretty solid nap for a couple of hours. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful and we continued to be on time. Until we reached Deerfield Beach where we got held for about 20 minutes due to a suspicious package on the tracks near Fort Lauderdale. I wasn’t to upset about it though since I was actually surprised that we had made it that far without any kind of delays. From there we just spent the remaining time packing up our stuff. There was one final delay right outside the station as we waited for the Silver Star to be taken off the only remaining track at the Miami station while they complete some station upgrades.
From there we summoned an Uber to take us the 25 minutes or so to the Intercontinental Doral Springs where we would be staying for the night. The hotel is very nice, but the weather is simply not cooperating as its been raining pretty much the whole time we’ve been in Miami. Had dinner at a coal fired pizza place, which was pretty good considering where we are. As I write this its hard to believe that in a few short hours we’ll be heading back to the train station to do the same thing in reverse.
Thanks for reading the first part of what will probably be quite a few posts as I work through burning all of my AGR points. I will post another installment once we complete the Northbound trip. I hope you enjoyed reading my report. It felt good to get back on a long distance train after so much time. Pictures will follow once I get back home, and have time to organize and edit them. As well as fix any grammatical errors inside this report
We finalized a plan that was a lot more pedestrian than either one of us was hoping for, but we both understood we only had a finite amount of time we could take off. So the Maine to Miami plan became a simpler New York to Miami run on the Silver Meteor both ways. For my friend this would be his first ever trip aboard any type of Amtrak train. For me it would be my first long distance trip in a couple of years.
This year I have traveled more than any other year of my life by a wide margin. I have flown around 110,000 miles and been in about a dozen countries. I have about 45,000 more miles to fly, and plans to visit 6-8 additional countries. Amtrak was where it all really started for me though, so I was looking forward to finding myself aboard a sleeper car. Where I first began realizing the pleasures of letting the travel be as much of a part of the trip as the destination.
So with that my friend and I met up around 11AM at my house for the drive to Metropark where we would leave my car for a few days, and catch a New Jersey Transit train into New York Penn Station. We took a local train that took about 50 minutes, and got us into Penn Station around 1:30. With two hours to kill we left our bags in the Club Acela and headed to New York Pizza Suprema across the street from Penn Station. Definitely my favorite slice in the city, and I would recommend checking it out if you have a layover at Penn Station.
At around 2:45 they started boarding in the lounge and an usher led us to track 10 where we were quickly welcomed aboard by our attendant James. That days Lake Shore Limited was across the platform from us on track 9. Our car departing New York only had 2 other rooms occupied, so James came along pretty quickly and explained to my friend the features of our roomette as well as the different cars onboard. We left right on time and picked up one more passenger for our car in Newark. My friend was very eager to walk through the rest of the train, and get a better idea of just what he had signed up for. Unfortunately, the LSA didn’t make it back to our to take dinner reservations until around 4:30. We secured a 6 o’clock dinner reservation, and then we walked the length of the train. Oddly enough there was another café car at the very rear of the train.
We headed to dinner and were seated with quite possibly the worst tablemate I’ve ever experienced aboard Amtrak. I felt bad since I had told my friend one of the more interesting parts of taking the train was sitting with our people and sharing stories. Despite our dining companion dinner was very good. I have read all of the threads about the various cuts to the sleeper amenities and changes in the dining car. It made me a little apprehensive about what we would actually be served, but everything was as good as I remembered. I actually found the new salad that was now a paid side, but still included with the sleeper ticket to be a step up in size and quality from the old one. All in all my friend and I both enjoyed the food, and with the right company it would have been an excellent introduction to dining on Amtrak. I guess for me it was just a matter of having spent to much time on AU reading about the death by a thousand cuts when I found the onboard experience to be very similar from what I remember in the 2010-2012 timeframe. I know that was also during the beginning of the SDS days, but I don’t want to stray into all that here.
After dinner we arrived in Washington where I walked around the platform, and watched the locomotive switch. I spent some time talking to our attendant, and he said the reason for the lounge car on the end was simply a mistake made in the yard. It should have been a coach and the folks at Sunnyside swore up and down it was a coach, quite an inspiring testament to Amtrak’s yard crews and their ability to identify equipment. I also told James that we’d like to have the room switched over after the stop in Richmond. Once we departed DC we took advantage of the ice at the end of the car and mixed up a couple of drinks. I was glad to hear that my friend was enjoying the trip more than he thought he would.
The time passed pretty quickly and we found ourselves stepping out in Richmond before we knew it. As promised a couple minutes after we left James arrived, and changed the room over for the night. I had forgotten how much better a top bunk on a Viewliner was compared to a Superliner, and once I settled in up there I had no regrets in giving away the bottom bunk. I had no trouble falling a sleep, and slept soundly until just a couple of minutes before our on time arrival in Savannah. I was glad to see that we hadn’t lost any time overnight, and dozed off again until around 7:30 when my friend woke me up.
We headed to a pretty empty dining car, and were told we would have a table to ourselves. I was glad to see that the railroad French Toast was on the menu. Again it seemed to be as tasty as I remember it being from a couple years ago. The dining car staffs were very good and made sure we were looked after. After breakfast we went back to the room, and my friend did start to get a little stir crazy, but the almost 30 minutes we spent in Jacksonville really improved his mood. He started to watch a couple of movies, and I began to write this report. We took a 1:30 lunch reservation, and I decided to take a shower. I always enjoy the balancing act of trying to shower as you bounce around the tracks.
After arriving in Orlando early we had a nice stretch and was able to chat more with our attendant who had been working for Amtrak for over 25 years. He had some pretty funny stories to share about all kinds of strange passengers he has encountered. We waited about 10 minutes after our departure from Orlando to try, and see if the dining car would seat us a little early. That turned out to be of little concern as there were only two other tables occupied. Once again we were given our own table for lunch. We both had the Angus Burger and some ice cream to round it out. Since there a couple tables after us we felt comfortable just kind of lingering around after our meal to enjoy a change in scenery.
When we got back from lunch James told us to feel free to spread out a little bit, and allowed my friend to occupy the roomette across the hall for the rest of the trip. It became apparent that aside from the staff that was staying in our car we were the only passengers left. I took advantage of the extra space, and slid the seats down and took a pretty solid nap for a couple of hours. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful and we continued to be on time. Until we reached Deerfield Beach where we got held for about 20 minutes due to a suspicious package on the tracks near Fort Lauderdale. I wasn’t to upset about it though since I was actually surprised that we had made it that far without any kind of delays. From there we just spent the remaining time packing up our stuff. There was one final delay right outside the station as we waited for the Silver Star to be taken off the only remaining track at the Miami station while they complete some station upgrades.
From there we summoned an Uber to take us the 25 minutes or so to the Intercontinental Doral Springs where we would be staying for the night. The hotel is very nice, but the weather is simply not cooperating as its been raining pretty much the whole time we’ve been in Miami. Had dinner at a coal fired pizza place, which was pretty good considering where we are. As I write this its hard to believe that in a few short hours we’ll be heading back to the train station to do the same thing in reverse.
Thanks for reading the first part of what will probably be quite a few posts as I work through burning all of my AGR points. I will post another installment once we complete the Northbound trip. I hope you enjoyed reading my report. It felt good to get back on a long distance train after so much time. Pictures will follow once I get back home, and have time to organize and edit them. As well as fix any grammatical errors inside this report
