Here is a short little trip report for a short little trip.
I picked up the northbound Carolinian last Friday in Kannapolis for a weekend trip to Greenville NC to see a ball game. The train arrived on-time (hard for it to be late as the origination point is only 25 miles away in Charlotte) and I dropped into my assigned business class seat - number 51. The car was only about 1/4 full at the time but all seats were sold - hence the seat assignments.
I had a couple of excellent cups of Amtrak coffee, picked up the complementary Charlotte Observer, and alternated reading the paper and looking out the window. We lost about 10 minutes following a freight from Kannapolis to Greensboro, then ran pretty much on schedule to Selma. Selma to Wilson is only 25 miles or so but the run took us almost an hour - this on the double-tracked CSX main line. For some reason we kept stopping - did not seem to be much freight traffic and the attendent really could not figure it out. I put the delays down to crappy CSX dispatching. We arrived in Wilson about 40 minutes late - not too bad considering the Carolinian's recent history.
I'm not much of a consist person, and did not write down car numbers. We were pulled by engine #76, which looked like it had a few miles on it. Battered and dirty, it did an excellent job when allowed to proceed at speed. It was followed by three Amfleet coaches, a cafe car, the biz class car (mine), and two baggage cars. The business class coach was very clean, the bathroom spotless, and the service pretty good. The video system was down and one of the doors would not shut all the way, but other than that in adequate shape.
We will not talk about the ball game.
Yesterday's return trip was outstanding. The southbound train was about 25 minutes late into Wilson - which is fine as the Wilson station is a wonderfully restored ACL building constructed in 1924. There are plenty of benches by the platform, with hanging baskets of flowers, and several sculptures of waiting passengers. It is a great place to train spot and relax.
I was again assigned a seat, as the southbound train had been full. About 10 folks got off business class in Wilson, which was fortunate. I had an entire row to myself until Durham when a cute 20-something kindergarten teacher requested to sit next to me. (Usually my seat partners resemble serial killers). The remainder of the trip went by quickly, chatting with the teacher and checking out her outstanding legs. (I love summer - too hot in North Carolina to wear long pants). We made up time - arriving in Kannapolis about 14 minutes late.
The southbound train had the same consist, except that we were pulled by number 76. The business class coach was again spotless and looked like it had recently been refurbished. The seats and carpet upholstery appeared quite new, some windows had been replaced, the video worked (Shrek II), and the ride was smooth.
All-in-all another good Amtrak trip.
I picked up the northbound Carolinian last Friday in Kannapolis for a weekend trip to Greenville NC to see a ball game. The train arrived on-time (hard for it to be late as the origination point is only 25 miles away in Charlotte) and I dropped into my assigned business class seat - number 51. The car was only about 1/4 full at the time but all seats were sold - hence the seat assignments.
I had a couple of excellent cups of Amtrak coffee, picked up the complementary Charlotte Observer, and alternated reading the paper and looking out the window. We lost about 10 minutes following a freight from Kannapolis to Greensboro, then ran pretty much on schedule to Selma. Selma to Wilson is only 25 miles or so but the run took us almost an hour - this on the double-tracked CSX main line. For some reason we kept stopping - did not seem to be much freight traffic and the attendent really could not figure it out. I put the delays down to crappy CSX dispatching. We arrived in Wilson about 40 minutes late - not too bad considering the Carolinian's recent history.
I'm not much of a consist person, and did not write down car numbers. We were pulled by engine #76, which looked like it had a few miles on it. Battered and dirty, it did an excellent job when allowed to proceed at speed. It was followed by three Amfleet coaches, a cafe car, the biz class car (mine), and two baggage cars. The business class coach was very clean, the bathroom spotless, and the service pretty good. The video system was down and one of the doors would not shut all the way, but other than that in adequate shape.
We will not talk about the ball game.
Yesterday's return trip was outstanding. The southbound train was about 25 minutes late into Wilson - which is fine as the Wilson station is a wonderfully restored ACL building constructed in 1924. There are plenty of benches by the platform, with hanging baskets of flowers, and several sculptures of waiting passengers. It is a great place to train spot and relax.
I was again assigned a seat, as the southbound train had been full. About 10 folks got off business class in Wilson, which was fortunate. I had an entire row to myself until Durham when a cute 20-something kindergarten teacher requested to sit next to me. (Usually my seat partners resemble serial killers). The remainder of the trip went by quickly, chatting with the teacher and checking out her outstanding legs. (I love summer - too hot in North Carolina to wear long pants). We made up time - arriving in Kannapolis about 14 minutes late.
The southbound train had the same consist, except that we were pulled by number 76. The business class coach was again spotless and looked like it had recently been refurbished. The seats and carpet upholstery appeared quite new, some windows had been replaced, the video worked (Shrek II), and the ride was smooth.
All-in-all another good Amtrak trip.
