savoirfaire
Train Attendant
Okay, here goes my first Trip Report ever. The Wife and I departed WAS on 97, 20 December for a family visit in Florida over the holidays. Took the MARC Penn Line from Bowie State down to Union Station, for what was supposed to be an on-time departure from WAS. We board from the lounge and are greeted by Vic, settling into the 9710 car, Room 2. This is my first time in a Viewliner Roomette and boy, I don't think I was ready for how small it seemed with the two of us in there. I am used to the Superliners, and the toilet in the room just seemed odd to me! Vic had made us an 8pm dinner reservation, so off to the diner we went. The steaks were passable at best (ordered medium, they were rare, maybe), but the company was phenomenal. The biggest dissapointment outside of that is that the diner was out of ice cream. At about 8:30, we and our tablemate noticed that we had yet to leave WAS. Eventually, maybe about 8:45, it was revealed to us that we were awaiting the arrival of 93, which had been delayed in Rhode Island earlier that day due to a boat fire near the tracks and they had to shut off power to the catenary in the area. Folks therefore had missed their connection to 97 in NYP, and we were picking them up, as well as some other passengers from 93 going to other VA destinations. After they boarded, we departed WAS around 9:15, about 1:45 down. We also added 3 stops (Quantico, Fredricksburg, Ashland?) to accomodate the additional VA passengers from 93. We concluded dinner as we departed and settled into our room for the night.
We consistently ran late throughout the night and were about an hour or so late into JAX in the AM. Overnight was a smooth ride, and while we didn't sleep well, it was comfortable. Vic was confident that we would be able to make up more time into Orlando, and I wish he had been right. Breakfast and lunch were good (Hello Black Bean burger, my favorite diner meal) and after lunch the ride went south, so to speak. Before we hit Winter Park, we got stuck in a siding waiting for the Northbound 98 to pass, and that, combined with slow orders for the SunRail construction, made us over 2.5 hours late into ORL. This put me in total panic mode (thank God my wife is the calm, collected type) as we had to make the bus connection in a hectic ORL station and I had to get to Tampa to collect my rental car before 6pm at the Alamo at the Harbor Island Hotel. So, we get on a FULL bus to Tampa, with a stop in LAK and depart at 4pm. The bus pulls onto I-4 right into the teeth of Orlando rush hour and we stop and sit. My first thought is, crap, there goes the rental car. My spouse calls the rental car place and obviously got a hold of the wrong person who essentially tells us we are SOL. After we get out of the traffic and I get my panic under control, I call again and get a hold of Larry, who turns out to be the Assistant Manager at the Alamo location. He tells us that as long as it's not too late (30-45 mins) he will gladly hang around and wait for us. Back to the bus ride. I have ridden a lot of buses in my life time, but this lady who was driving, and I wish I had gotten her name, was one of the smoothest drivers EVER. It also didn't hurt that she wasn't shy with the accelerator. Traffic notwithstanding, she got us from door-to-door in about 2 hours, smooth as silk. We rushed to get our luggage and a cab and $6 later were with Larry grabbing the car as he closed up for the night.
The return trip went much more smoothly. We boarded 92 in Tampa on-time and pulled out of the station just a few minutes late. We settled into the 9210 car in room 2 with Jack as our attendant. Nice guy, a little self-depricating, good SCA. He came by often to check on us as our door was always open unless we were sleeping. Dinner was excellent out of TPA at 6pm, the steaks done perfectly this time, but once again, the dining car was out of ice cream already (at 6!). The company was again phenomenal, but the rough ride made dinner sloppy at best! We went back to our room, played some cards and Jack informed us that he would come by between 9:30 and 10 to make our rooms up for the night. At about 9:45 a bunch of us were out in the hallway wondering where he was! Needless to say, at about 10:30, he came to us and made up the beds. In contrast to our trip to Florida, the tracks on the Star route seemed much rougher as I felt that I might fall out of the bunk multiple times through the night. Breakfast and Lunch continued this dining crews stellar performance from the night before, tasty food and efficient service. We ran about a half hour late most of the night and until we reached ALX, where the wife and I realized we were well ahead of schedule and that we needed to call our ride to pick us up earlier! We arrived WAS about 30 mins early, which was a pleasant suprise given the delays on our trip down.
-Jerry
We consistently ran late throughout the night and were about an hour or so late into JAX in the AM. Overnight was a smooth ride, and while we didn't sleep well, it was comfortable. Vic was confident that we would be able to make up more time into Orlando, and I wish he had been right. Breakfast and lunch were good (Hello Black Bean burger, my favorite diner meal) and after lunch the ride went south, so to speak. Before we hit Winter Park, we got stuck in a siding waiting for the Northbound 98 to pass, and that, combined with slow orders for the SunRail construction, made us over 2.5 hours late into ORL. This put me in total panic mode (thank God my wife is the calm, collected type) as we had to make the bus connection in a hectic ORL station and I had to get to Tampa to collect my rental car before 6pm at the Alamo at the Harbor Island Hotel. So, we get on a FULL bus to Tampa, with a stop in LAK and depart at 4pm. The bus pulls onto I-4 right into the teeth of Orlando rush hour and we stop and sit. My first thought is, crap, there goes the rental car. My spouse calls the rental car place and obviously got a hold of the wrong person who essentially tells us we are SOL. After we get out of the traffic and I get my panic under control, I call again and get a hold of Larry, who turns out to be the Assistant Manager at the Alamo location. He tells us that as long as it's not too late (30-45 mins) he will gladly hang around and wait for us. Back to the bus ride. I have ridden a lot of buses in my life time, but this lady who was driving, and I wish I had gotten her name, was one of the smoothest drivers EVER. It also didn't hurt that she wasn't shy with the accelerator. Traffic notwithstanding, she got us from door-to-door in about 2 hours, smooth as silk. We rushed to get our luggage and a cab and $6 later were with Larry grabbing the car as he closed up for the night.
The return trip went much more smoothly. We boarded 92 in Tampa on-time and pulled out of the station just a few minutes late. We settled into the 9210 car in room 2 with Jack as our attendant. Nice guy, a little self-depricating, good SCA. He came by often to check on us as our door was always open unless we were sleeping. Dinner was excellent out of TPA at 6pm, the steaks done perfectly this time, but once again, the dining car was out of ice cream already (at 6!). The company was again phenomenal, but the rough ride made dinner sloppy at best! We went back to our room, played some cards and Jack informed us that he would come by between 9:30 and 10 to make our rooms up for the night. At about 9:45 a bunch of us were out in the hallway wondering where he was! Needless to say, at about 10:30, he came to us and made up the beds. In contrast to our trip to Florida, the tracks on the Star route seemed much rougher as I felt that I might fall out of the bunk multiple times through the night. Breakfast and Lunch continued this dining crews stellar performance from the night before, tasty food and efficient service. We ran about a half hour late most of the night and until we reached ALX, where the wife and I realized we were well ahead of schedule and that we needed to call our ride to pick us up earlier! We arrived WAS about 30 mins early, which was a pleasant suprise given the delays on our trip down.
-Jerry
