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That deserves at least 4 parkas and 5 pairs of gloves! Plus a few sweaters, a few pairs of pants, 2 scarves a hat or 2 and boots!

Or for someone up north, just a sweater. :)
 
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Should get up to around 80F today in San Antonio. Y'all have fun freezing your feet off. I'm staying down here for now. The trip I'm itching to take is on the Empire Builder but the schedule keeping has been so bad that I don't see how I can swing it.
 
Keeping an eye on the weather for any possible delays/cancellations. I know the only thing more unpredictable than a LD train is the weather. Might run to Target to pick up some cold weather gear. I'm definitely not used to the cold (even if it's only for an hour or two).

I imagine if 98 is two or more hours late into DC, I'll probably just get off in Baltimore (change reservations, and let the attendant know). No point in risking it, because I would like to ride 91 back. Different scenery (even if it is mostly at night).
 
chrsjrcj, This is not such a crazy idea! You have just enough time to enjoy a train ride and have a full day in Washington DC. (I have always wanted to do a day trip to DC but from Chicago I have only an hour or two in town (arriving about 1pm) and then I'd have to turn and head back at 4pm.) From Florida you have essentially 12 hours to see a lot of sights...if you go to Washington.



If you ride the Silver Meteor - Amtrak 98 up from Florida you arrive at 0721am or shortly thereafter.

There are tons of things to do all day in DC and I would head over to the Smithsonian and other museums.

Have lunch at one of many great restaurants and then bring carry out for the evening departure south.



http://www.viator.com/Washington-DD-tours/d657-ttd?pref=02&aid=g5716



https://www.livingsocial.com/cities/1-washington-d-c/entertainment-coupons/?ref=XUA00TOGNSE5EDCNK4AHNEDENUS0000000000000020022014&gclid=CPHdqJyF8LwCFYpaMgodZgMAmg



You could catch Amtrak 97 going south at 7:30pm and party in the lounge car all night!

Have fun!
 
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So I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off this coming week. No school or work. I've been thinking about taking a train ride, but Tri-Rail is just a tease, and I've been everywhere on Amtrak in Florida. The furthest I've been on Amtrak is from West Palm to Savannah. I've been thinking about taking a trip from S. Florida to Philadelphia on 98 (arrive at 9:30 am), then come back the same day on 91 (leave at 12:35 pm). Obviously 3 hours is really cutting it close for LD trains, but there is also 97 leaving at 4:58 pm. Obviously I run the risk of no space available, but price isn't a problem since I plan on using AGR points. Too crazy of a trip with a quick turnaround, or worth it for a rail nut? :p
Wow! I wish I had that many points to burn on a train-only trip! I'm jealous as I had to use more than half my points for a two-week trip and I was hoping for two more trips of similar time frame this year. Might be able to get in one with points but the other will be a long time coming.

(Edit: Typo Error)
 
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I imagine if 98 is two or more hours late into DC, I'll probably just get off in Baltimore (change reservations, and let the attendant know). No point in risking it, because I would like to ride 91 back. Different scenery (even if it is mostly at night).
if you do have to get off 98 in Baltimore, Baltimore Penn Station is much smaller than 30th Street station with only a couple of food places in the station. As a backup FYI for BAL, you can go downstairs from the main lobby to the Baltimore light rail stub station and take that to several blocks west of the Inner Harbor and downtown. The other local transit option at BAL is the Purple route of the Charm City Circulator buses (free!) which can take you to the Inner Harbor if you have enough time. The buses and light rail both travel in street traffic, so they can be slow.
 
Question about 30th Street station (and Baltimore) are there lockers or some place I can store my bag in case I have time to explore?

As far as getting around, I imagine in Philly I'll head to Independence Hall. Looks like I take the Market-Frankford Line to 5th Street? Any other places I might want to check out?

I think I have Baltimore's transit system and where to go down pat. Thanks everyone, you all have been very helpful!
 
No lockers but u can "day check" ur bags for the standard Amtrak charge Of $4 per bag (much more in NYP and WAS!) In PHL or BAL! And if ur using a Sleeping Car that day or in Acela FC u can use the Club Acela in PHL and leave your bags for free in the cabinets in the upstairs lounge!
 
Oh, I would definitely take 97 up and 98 down and hope for a full 6 hour layover. If you get there on time, go see Liberty Square, and the Liberty Bell. Try out one of SEPTAs many street cars. If you're late, you won't come close to missing your return train.

I've been up and down on the Silvers between ORL and WAS many times. For the most part, any city pairs between those places are nuthin' special. But there's something magical when that 79 MPH max train you've been on for almost a full day starts to creak up to 115 MPH. I LOVED every minute of my NEC experience between WAS and NYP.
 
Well, I had written a pretty lengthy trip report (with pictures and videos), but my stupid fingers decided to hit the back button 3/4 of the way through and I lost everything. I'll get around to it eventually, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Got to touch snow for the first time. The scenery in Virginia north is beautiful. I do plan on taking the train north to Philly again, but spending the night so I do have time to see the sights.

I did see ACS 600 and 601 in DC. I also spotted another one at the Wilmington shops coming back south. Not sure if it was 600, 601, or a new one.

zHHfj1Hl.jpg
 
Well, I had written a pretty lengthy trip report (with pictures and videos), but my stupid fingers decided to hit the back button 3/4 of the way through and I lost everything. I'll get around to it eventually, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Got to touch snow for the first time. The scenery in Virginia north is beautiful. I do plan on taking the train north to Philly again, but spending the night so I do have time to see the sights.

I did see ACS 600 and 601 in DC. I also spotted another one at the Wilmington shops coming back south. Not sure if it was 600, 601, or a new one.

zHHfj1Hl.jpg
Don't just touch it! Take it with you!! We've had enough of it already! :D
 
Well, I had written a pretty lengthy trip report (with pictures and videos), but my stupid fingers decided to hit the back button 3/4 of the way through and I lost everything. I'll get around to it eventually, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Got to touch snow for the first time. The scenery in Virginia north is beautiful. I do plan on taking the train north to Philly again, but spending the night so I do have time to see the sights.
Good to read that you manage to pull off the round trip successfully. Got lucky on timing it after the snow storm on Monday.
On the losing the long post, ouch. What I do when writing a longish post is to write it or the bulk of it in a word processing program, even Wordpad for Windows PCs will do. Then copy and paste it into the reply box and do some final edit checks. Too easy to lose the post by hitting the wrong key while working in the browser window.
 
I tried taking the snow with me, but got to many weird looks from the locals. I think I was the only person on both trains coming from the South to visit the North. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I wanted to see the snow, not run away from it. :giggle:

Well, I had written a pretty lengthy trip report (with pictures and videos), but my stupid fingers decided to hit the back button 3/4 of the way through and I lost everything. I'll get around to it eventually, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Got to touch snow for the first time. The scenery in Virginia north is beautiful. I do plan on taking the train north to Philly again, but spending the night so I do have time to see the sights.
Good to read that you manage to pull off the round trip successfully. Got lucky on timing it after the snow storm on Monday.

On the losing the long post, ouch. What I do when writing a longish post is to write it or the bulk of it in a word processing program, even Wordpad for Windows PCs will do. Then copy and paste it into the reply box and do some final edit checks. Too easy to lose the post by hitting the wrong key while working in the browser window.
Yeah, I thought about writing it in Word, but didn't realize how much I liked to talk. :p I'll rewrite it tonight using Word.
 
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