If I was going to take a Silver train...

[GlobalistPotato]

M'kay, so let's say that I'm taking one of the Silver trains from New York or Washington to Florida.

Which Silver train would you recommend? Are they practically the same, or is one better than the other?

Also, what is the low-bucket coach and roomette fares?

 

[Acela150]

Depends how long of a ride you want.. Longer ride the star, short the Meteor. Me I'd take the star because when you get on at New York you can get some lunch in the diner soon after and the engine change takes place during daylight hours! During the winter or early DST you can't get good shots of the engine change on the meteor!

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Id say take the Star, as was said Dinner in the daylight, and it goes to Tampa while the Meteor bypasses this Stop giving you more time on the Train which most of us really like! One of our members came up with amsnag.com , use it to check fares any day,week,month on the LD trains, itll give you a good idea as Prices vary depending on Demand, Time of Year etc.

 

[MrEd]

I think low bucket is around $125/$208 from Washington, should be same for either train.

 

[Tony]

I take the Silver Star (#91) down to Florida, and the Silver Meteor (#98) back. That's because their schedule times work out to be far better for me.

 

[VentureForth]

I think the bucket rates are the same, but the Meteor tends to fill up faster because it is a faster train. Really, there are enough differences between the two that I would take one down and the other back up should you have that luxury.

IIRC, the Star has only 2 sleepers and 3 coaches, where the Meteor has 3 sleeper and 4 coaches. Taking the above advise, I would definitely take the Star down and try for an onboard sleeper upgrade (it will be cheaper than the Meteor).

The Star goes through Raliegh and Columbia, SC as well as Tampa, FL. The Meteor goes through Fayetteville, SC where there is some "perceived" street running (albeit at 1 AM).

So, I guess the quick and dirty is: Star = slower (by 3 hours), more scenery, more miles, more activity, better dining, possibly cheaper. Meteor = Faster, more direct, longer consist, possibly more expensive.

NOTE: Amsnag.com isn't registered. AmSnag is at: http://biketrain.netfirms.com/amsnag/amSnag.php

 

[Ryan]

Voted the Star, but that's because I'm taking it to Tampa this month (no bus for me!).

I've compiled some info on the fares on the Meteor here:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/36205-amtrak-fare-comparisons/page__p__271305__fromsearch__1#entry271305

I think that the raw data I have at home includes the Star as well, and as I recall the cost is the same for stations that they both serve.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I didn't vote because the option I would have chosen, "whichever is cheaper for my date of travel", was not an option.

I'm actually taking the Meteor tomorrow from WAS -> MIA. When I booked, I used Amsnag to chart all the departures of the Meteor and Star for all my possible dates of departure. It worked out that the Meteor was cheaper on the best date, so I went with that. It also has the advantage of allowing me to work tomorrow (7:30p WAS departure) instead of leaving early. And the 3 hour difference isn't enough to make me choose the Meteor if it wasn't cheaper.

 

[pennyk]

I think it would depend on where in Florida you are going and whether you are connecting from a train from the west prior to traveling on the Silver.

If you are going to Tampa and have no connection issues, I would take the Star. If you are connected from the Capitol Limited, I would take the Meteor.

In my experience, I think the equipment is in better shape on the Meteor. I travel on the Meteor more often because of the connections. However, when I am not connecting, I try to take the Star if it is economical to do so in order to see different scenery at different times of the day.

 

[SCrails]

Of course, I think that one should take the Silver Star because it goes through MY home town, the capital of South Carolina! :lol: (That's Columbia, by the way.) Despite our colorful political and social history, or maybe because of it, we're worth a quick visit in the wee hours of the morning.

Approaching the station from the north, the train passes through the historic neighborhoods of Eau Claire and Elmwood Park: formerly ritzy, later blighted, and recently gentrifying. The Columbia Vista area surrounds the station. This area over the past 12 years has been transformed from rows of empty warehouses and storefronts lining US Highway 1 into the heart of the city's nightlife with (expensive) loft apartments overhead.

And leaving the station to the south the train crosses the Congaree River, one of our state's largest waterways - which is also home to the country's newest national park, Congaree National Park.

What's not to like??

 

[BobWeaver]

It's really going to come down to what scenery you want to see in Florida. Both trains move south from NYP within a few hours of each other, and both will move through NC, SC, and at least some of GA at night. Meteor will put you into Miami around 3.5 hours faster, though.

I think the bucket rates are the same, but the Meteor tends to fill up faster because it is a faster train.

My money is on the fact that the Meteor serves larger stations on its portion of the separated route. Fayetteville, Florence, and Charleston are going to be more popular stops than Southern Pines, Camden, and Denmark.

IIRC, the Star has only 2 sleepers and 3 coaches, where the Meteor has 3 sleeper and 4 coaches.

These trains consistently run with 4 coaches the vast majority of the time.

In my experience, I think the equipment is in better shape on the Meteor.

Don't the Silver trains turn as the other? That is, doesn't 97 turn as 92, and 98 as 91 and vice versa?

Approaching the station from the north, the train passes through the historic neighborhoods of Eau Claire and Elmwood Park: formerly ritzy, later blighted, and recently gentrifying. The Columbia Vista area surrounds the station. This area over the past 12 years has been transformed from rows of empty warehouses and storefronts lining US Highway 1 into the heart of the city's nightlife with (expensive) loft apartments overhead.

And leaving the station to the south the train crosses the Congaree River, one of our state's largest waterways - which is also home to the country's newest national park, Congaree National Park.

What's not to like??

The fact that you really can't see much of the above from a train in the middle of the night, save for maybe the river. The CSX as well as NS tracks run below street level in the Vista district.

 

[VentureForth]

In my experience, I think the equipment is in better shape on the Meteor.

Don't the Silver trains turn as the other? That is, doesn't 97 turn as 92, and 98 as 91 and vice versa?

Well, ain't this little post just full of negative vibes. A smile for you.

I don't think that the Silver turns - they DO run different consists depending on the time of the year, and if they flipped, it could only happen in Miami as the Meteor is scheduled to arrive in NYP 30 minutes after the Star departs.

As for the rest of the post, I'll take it all as opinion...

Oh - another smile.

 

[Shanghai]

We usually go to Tampa, so we take the Silver Star.

 

[BobWeaver]

Don't the Silver trains turn as the other? That is, doesn't 97 turn as 92, and 98 as 91 and vice versa?

Well, ain't this little post just full of negative vibes. A smile for you.

I don't think that the Silver turns - they DO run different consists depending on the time of the year, and if they flipped, it could only happen in Miami as the Meteor is scheduled to arrive in NYP 30 minutes after the Star departs.

As for the rest of the post, I'll take it all as opinion...

Oh - another smile.

Ha, no negative vibes here. I did my undergrad at USC, so I know the Columbia area very well. It would be very hard to see the neighborhoods he/she is referring to from 91 at that hour, not to mention that the tracks don't afford a great view of the area anyway. I will say from personal experience though that the areas aren't as, well, shall we say "prestigious" as they once were. As to the Vista district, it can't be seen from the tracks that the Star rides on or from the station platform itself. I can't complain about the station's proximity to the Vista, though.

I think you misread what I was saying about equipment turns. It was always my understanding that upon reaching Miami, 97 turns as the next day's 92, and 91 turns as the next day's 98, and that the opposite happens upon reaching Sunnyside yard?

There's no opinion in what I said about the Star carrying 4 coaches. That's standard Silver Service coach load. Not to say they don't shorten or lengthen it on some runs, but the standard is 4.

 

[ACVitale]

Having taken the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor several times.....

Yes the Meteor goes thru "some" bigger cities in NC and SC then the Star.... But, The Star picks up literally 100-200 people in RGH. Many of them are connections from the Piedmont/Carolinian service but, RGH is the 3rd busiest station in the SE USA according to a recent Amtrak article. I took the Star last week and we actually had 5 coaches, 2 sleepers, diner, cafe, baggage, and 2 engines. The Meteor on the same day had 4 coaches, 3 sleepers, diner, cafe, baggage and 2 engines. So they seemed pretty close. The Star was sold out in Coach and Sleeper and the Meteor had coach, roomettes, bedrooms and H rooms available.

 

[Anderson]

I've always had a preference for the Meteor, but that's because, as the last train out of DC going south, it lets me hop on and grab dinner on my way to DC. It can also allow breakfast heading north, too, so you've got a double-winner there.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

IF anybody is interested in history, the winner hands down is the Meteor.

It was built in 1939 as a beautiful, stainless steel, diesel streamliner. You gotta understand that stainless steel was a novelty, not the norm, in 1939. Thus the Meteor was in on the beginning of the streamlined era.

It was named silver because of the steel, of course, and meteor, to suggest speed.

It was 1947 when the Silver Star was put into service. Also the Silver Comet, which went NYC, DC, Richmond,Atlanta and Birmingham.

Thus they were named after and patterned after the Meteor.

Now here comes the rub......Seaboard was openly in favour of its beloved Meteor. It is a fact that the Star and the Comet were made up partly of hand me down cars from the Meteor. Thus, the Meteor would get new equipment from time to time and hand down its equipment to the Star next and to the Comet last.

In the mid 50s when most railroads had given up on trains, Seaboard ordered some new design coaches and some a new design sunlounge sleeper car, all for the Meteor.

 

[jphjaxfl]

I usually take the Meteor northbound because it is great if I have to go to Washington on business. It leaves around 5:30PM and gets to Washington at about 7:45AM. I get dinner, a good night's sleep and breakfast with time for a full day of meetings. I usually take the Star southbound because I like the earlier arrival into JAX. The A line tracks are in better shape than the S line. As far as equipment or service, they are about identical except the Meteor usually has 3 sleepers. As Bill mentioned, even in the early days of Amtrak, the Meteor carried the better equipment which made taking a different train more interesting. Now, its typical Amtrak sameness. I have never taken the Star to Miami because I don't really want to through Tampa to get to Miami. I miss the Silver Palm/Palmetto because I could go overnight from JAX to Tampa via the S line. I am looking forward to a ride down the FEC to Miami when and if that ever happens.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Actually I did not really know about the early days of Amtrak but it make sense that the Meteor maintained the superior equipment. My reference was preAmtrak.

I want to expand on what I said in the earlier post. The special coaches I spoke of had a neat looking smoking lounge in the middle of the car, described as breaking up the funnel effect of a long row of seats.

The sun lounge midtrain pullman lounge had windows in the roof, shining in on the sun lounge, a basic product of Florida. Kind of the best they could do short of a dome car.

A distinctive thing about the Meteor is that it retained its classy rounded rear end observation lounge right up to the end, I think, and maybe even in the early days of Amtrak. It was the last of the New York to Florida trains, Atlantic Coast Line as well as Seaboard,to have a rounded rear obs.

Of the trains from Chicago to Florida it is possible that the City of Miami retained its observation car up until the beginning of Amtrak but nobody else did. The Dixieland (former Dixie Flagler) kept its obs until about its last year and that was 1957.

Both the Meteor and the Star at one time had a "hospitality hour" at 4 in the afternoon in the lounge car. It meant coffee and orange juice. This was before Amtrak when we did not have coffee and such in our sleeper. So far as I know, the Comet did not have this. The Comet, referred to in my earlier post, was discontinued about 1969 I think.

Remember what I said in my original post, the Seaboard made it plain that its pecking order was Meteor first, Star second and Comet third among its stainless steel streamliners.

Today, of course, a train of one body type (viewliner, Amfleet, Superliner etc) really does not differ much from another in the way preAmtak trains did.

Last but not least, be sure to read my post just second before this, those were my original thoughts, this adds to it but should not stand alone. because I gave the history of the names earlier.

 

[pennyk]

Actually I did not really know about the early days of Amtrak but it make sense that the Meteor maintained the superior equipment. My reference was preAmtrak.

I want to expand on what I said in the earlier post. The special coaches I spoke of had a neat looking smoking lounge in the middle of the car, described as breaking up the funnel effect of a long row of seats.

The sun lounge midtrain pullman lounge had windows in the roof, shining in on the sun lounge, a basic product of Florida. Kind of the best they could do short of a dome car.

A distinctive thing about the Meteor is that it retained its classy rounded rear end observation lounge right up to the end, I think, and maybe even in the early days of Amtrak. It was the last of the New York to Florida trains, Atlantic Coast Line as well as Seaboard,to have a rounded rear obs.

Of the trains from Chicago to Florida it is possible that the City of Miami retained its observation car up until the beginning of Amtrak but nobody else did. The Dixieland (former Dixie Flagler) kept its obs until about its last year and that was 1957.

Both the Meteor and the Star at one time had a "hospitality hour" at 4 in the afternoon in the lounge car. It meant coffee and orange juice. This was before Amtrak when we did not have coffee and such in our sleeper. So far as I know, the Comet did not have this. The Comet, referred to in my earlier post, was discontinued about 1969 I think.

Remember what I said in my original post, the Seaboard made it plain that its pecking order was Meteor first, Star second and Comet third among its stainless steel streamliners.

Today, of course, a train of one body type (viewliner, Amfleet, Superliner etc) really does not differ much from another in the way preAmtak trains did.

Last but not least, be sure to read my post just second before this, those were my original thoughts, this adds to it but should not stand alone. because I gave the history of the names earlier.

Thanks Bill. You are a wealth of information!!

 

[Train2104]

Meteor—much faster than the Silver Star.

 

[GlobalistPotato]

I think I'd take the Meteor if I had the chance.

I'd like to ride in a sleeper (so I can party in Florida), but that's just how I'm feeling now.

Then again, if I'm going to be riding a long distance train from Florida, I'm probably going to take the Auto Train, because I'd have to drive from Austin to Florida.

That is, unless Amtrak can get the Sunset East working again...

 

[eagle628]

Meteor, mainly because that's the one I was just on and it was the best long distance trip I've had yet.