After visiting family and friends in the northeast, we decided to take AutoTrain home on Sunday May15. Big mistake. Sunday morning I looked at the inbound train to Lorton knowing that it would turn that afternoon for our train that was due to leave at 5pm. It was running about 8 hours late as a result of successive days of late operation resulting from various mishaps. So, how could our train leave on time at 5pm as the Amtrak app still showed? Later I called customer relations and they confirmed what I suspected. Our train wouldn’t leave until ‘later’ but we should check in no later than 6:30pm and they advised having dinner before we arrived at the station. I knew this was going to be one of ‘those’ trips. One of the mechanical guys working on the inbound train told me the train would be annulled on Tuesday to catch up.
I’ll get into some of the details in a moment but for those of us with ADD I’ll summarize. We boarded the train at midnight, left Lorton at 1:30am and arrived Sanford at 8:15pm on Monday – about 10 hours late. In between we dined on snacks and fast food and tried to groggily recovery from the night before. So, the trip was a disaster but being optimistic there were some positive things about it. Our sleeper was mechanically good, if a bit tired cosmetically, the crew was excellent, CSX did a decent job of dispatching, and there is hope for the future. With that I’ll comment on a few things.
Lorton station was a roomy and pleasant place to hang out for 6 hours. My wife knitted and chatted with other passengers including those from the late inbound train who were waiting for their cars to be unloaded. I strolled the platforms and watched the inbound and outbound trains being unloaded and reloaded as well as a great view of the old RF&P and the many trains on it. My wife said an inbound passenger who was a regular snowbird on AutoTrain was exhausted. They had a full load waiting for the train and then the AC went out on a hot afternoon in Sanford. Passengers were livid and many gave up and drove. She tried to book on the next day’s AT but was told it was sold out and would be until June 10. To Amtrak’s credit when we arrived at Lorton they handed out snack boxes and water then a little later, maybe 8pm, gave out Subway subs.
Unlike other stations, the boarding location for each car was shown on the platform and it was easy to board once the train opened up at midnight. It had arrived at 8:30 and a group of cleaners was ready to go to work while mechanical people were servicing it, including a honey bucket truck! Unlike Sanford all the passenger cars could fit on the one platform. When it arrived the auto carriers were cutoff in the yard for the switch engine to spot at the six unloading racks (5 railcars on each with one track respotted). The servicing guys worked from the other side of the train so passengers were free to wander throughout the platform and surrounding station area. No gate ****’s!
Our train had 4 coaches, the coach café/lounge, 5 sleepers, the diner, sleeper lounge, and three more sleepers. The two all bedroom sleepers, including ours, were on either side of the diner and lounge. Our attendant was attentive and helpful and the rest of the crew we saw seemed to be too. It had to be tough on them too. As we arrived Sanford there was an announcement intended for the crew that said ‘crew number 3, be back on board a midnight’ for the return trip.
Even though AutoTrain is considered a premier train, the staffing bug has bit it too. There was one person in the diner, which was not open to passenger. He and a couple trainees prepared and handed out our meal boxes. Most ate in their rooms or a few in the unstaffed sleeper lounge next to the diner. We got the continental breakfast which was ok and included a hot breakfast sandwich, OJ, cereal, milk, coffee cake and banana. A coffee urn was set up in the lounge, there was none in the sleeper although there was ice.. Lunch was what I’ll call Dinty Moore pilaf. It was ok especially after I poured some of our glass of red wine into it. We were served this about 2pm and then around 6 we stopped in Jax so they could load on pizzas for everyone. So much for fine fining on Amtrak.
As I mentioned CSX did ok with the train given it’s late operation that wasn’t even close to its time slot. We left Lorton about 8 ½ hours late and arrived Sanford about 10 hours late. We passed many freights sitting in sidings. In the late morning an announcement was made that because the temperature that afternoon would be above 90, a heat related speed restriction had been issued. In addition we made the unscheduled pizza stop in Jax and went slowly through a long stretch around Palatka where there was track work. Fortunately the our train had a relatively light load so our car was unloaded quickly and we were home an hour after arrival in Sanford.
So why do I feel optimistic about the future? One of the OBS staff said they were hiring employees as fast as they could and fully intended to go back to full service dining as well as staff the sleeper lounge. We have kept contact with an SCA from a prior trip and he said they have hired 6 for AutoTrain and hiring 6 more. The changes can’t come soon enough as we (and a lot of fellow passengers) won’t ride it again until it returns to its former service level. The morning after our arrival I received a call from Amtrak guest relations. They apologized for the poor service and offered a full credit for the value of our tickets. They also gave me the email to send comments to their management, which I will do (although I think it’s just a generic email address: [email protected]). But at least they were a bit proactive and let’s hope they follow through as we’d like to take it in October. I’ll post a few photos later.
I’ll get into some of the details in a moment but for those of us with ADD I’ll summarize. We boarded the train at midnight, left Lorton at 1:30am and arrived Sanford at 8:15pm on Monday – about 10 hours late. In between we dined on snacks and fast food and tried to groggily recovery from the night before. So, the trip was a disaster but being optimistic there were some positive things about it. Our sleeper was mechanically good, if a bit tired cosmetically, the crew was excellent, CSX did a decent job of dispatching, and there is hope for the future. With that I’ll comment on a few things.
Lorton station was a roomy and pleasant place to hang out for 6 hours. My wife knitted and chatted with other passengers including those from the late inbound train who were waiting for their cars to be unloaded. I strolled the platforms and watched the inbound and outbound trains being unloaded and reloaded as well as a great view of the old RF&P and the many trains on it. My wife said an inbound passenger who was a regular snowbird on AutoTrain was exhausted. They had a full load waiting for the train and then the AC went out on a hot afternoon in Sanford. Passengers were livid and many gave up and drove. She tried to book on the next day’s AT but was told it was sold out and would be until June 10. To Amtrak’s credit when we arrived at Lorton they handed out snack boxes and water then a little later, maybe 8pm, gave out Subway subs.
Unlike other stations, the boarding location for each car was shown on the platform and it was easy to board once the train opened up at midnight. It had arrived at 8:30 and a group of cleaners was ready to go to work while mechanical people were servicing it, including a honey bucket truck! Unlike Sanford all the passenger cars could fit on the one platform. When it arrived the auto carriers were cutoff in the yard for the switch engine to spot at the six unloading racks (5 railcars on each with one track respotted). The servicing guys worked from the other side of the train so passengers were free to wander throughout the platform and surrounding station area. No gate ****’s!
Our train had 4 coaches, the coach café/lounge, 5 sleepers, the diner, sleeper lounge, and three more sleepers. The two all bedroom sleepers, including ours, were on either side of the diner and lounge. Our attendant was attentive and helpful and the rest of the crew we saw seemed to be too. It had to be tough on them too. As we arrived Sanford there was an announcement intended for the crew that said ‘crew number 3, be back on board a midnight’ for the return trip.
Even though AutoTrain is considered a premier train, the staffing bug has bit it too. There was one person in the diner, which was not open to passenger. He and a couple trainees prepared and handed out our meal boxes. Most ate in their rooms or a few in the unstaffed sleeper lounge next to the diner. We got the continental breakfast which was ok and included a hot breakfast sandwich, OJ, cereal, milk, coffee cake and banana. A coffee urn was set up in the lounge, there was none in the sleeper although there was ice.. Lunch was what I’ll call Dinty Moore pilaf. It was ok especially after I poured some of our glass of red wine into it. We were served this about 2pm and then around 6 we stopped in Jax so they could load on pizzas for everyone. So much for fine fining on Amtrak.
As I mentioned CSX did ok with the train given it’s late operation that wasn’t even close to its time slot. We left Lorton about 8 ½ hours late and arrived Sanford about 10 hours late. We passed many freights sitting in sidings. In the late morning an announcement was made that because the temperature that afternoon would be above 90, a heat related speed restriction had been issued. In addition we made the unscheduled pizza stop in Jax and went slowly through a long stretch around Palatka where there was track work. Fortunately the our train had a relatively light load so our car was unloaded quickly and we were home an hour after arrival in Sanford.
So why do I feel optimistic about the future? One of the OBS staff said they were hiring employees as fast as they could and fully intended to go back to full service dining as well as staff the sleeper lounge. We have kept contact with an SCA from a prior trip and he said they have hired 6 for AutoTrain and hiring 6 more. The changes can’t come soon enough as we (and a lot of fellow passengers) won’t ride it again until it returns to its former service level. The morning after our arrival I received a call from Amtrak guest relations. They apologized for the poor service and offered a full credit for the value of our tickets. They also gave me the email to send comments to their management, which I will do (although I think it’s just a generic email address: [email protected]). But at least they were a bit proactive and let’s hope they follow through as we’d like to take it in October. I’ll post a few photos later.
