Shotgun7
Service Attendant
Just to let everybody know..... this is my first "trip report".... so I appreciate any tips
I also forgot to record car numbers 'n such.
A few days before the weekend of the 15th of December, I sort of felt like getting out of town and the people I know for a while... So what better to do than to take a train somewhere?! I called up Amtrak and made a 40 dollar reservation for the 15th (Saturday). I would take the 820 Silver Meteor from Deerfield Beach to Winter Haven, have lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and catch the 1:40 or so Silver Star back South.
The northbound Meteor pulled in right on time at 820 with its usual consist (2 P-42's, 1 baggage, 3 Viewliners, 1 Diner, 1 Cafe, and 4 Amfleets)... with an extra Viewliner on the end I'd guess they were deadheading up north. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but the papers Amtrak conductors use to assign people seats don't seem to be very useful..... as even with an only half-full train, everybody assigned seats had their seats taken... somehow "sit wherever you see a spot" (at least for short distances) would seem a tad bit more sensible. But anyway.... I only sat for about five minutes before getting impatient (in an unusually huge, comfy coach seat) and checking out breakfast in the old diner. I've gotta say, Amtrak must have refurbished their heritage diners since the last time I rode a single level train because it was the most spectacular Amtrak diner I've ever seen!! I'll post pictures in about two days about what I'm talking about. The northbound diner looked like a five star restaurant in Chicago or something, with real tablecloths and 40's style decor n such likat. The one going south on the Silver Star was the really amazing one though. It was like a fancy art deco miami railroad theme... except less tacky. I gotta admit, I was really amazed. This was about a week after Amtrak upgraded their standard menus, so the French toast tasted unusually good... and for seven bucks and free juice I was darn well satisfied! (I'm 15... obviously I cherish an opportunity for what seems like a good deal). I hung out in the cafe car for the remaining 3 hours, meeting people going anywhere from Jacksonville to Connecticut. Cafe cars going both directions were the old brown and orange ones, but I noticed that they've still got a decent "lounge" setup and hardly any people take advantage of the extra room and social atmosphere.
Heading South on the Silver Star was just as much of an experience. Again though, I my assigned seat was a tad bit taken... but I didn't really care as I didn't sit in coach the whole time anyway. I began my southbound trip just as I did heading north. I headed to the this time even more amazing (and rather empty) dining car where I ate the new grilled chicken and huge, overflowing salad for about 8 bucks or something. Again, I don't care how much people complain about cafe prices, that particular lunch was truely worth my 8 dollars. The dining staff was again, unusually friendly. They were sort of the only ones to talk to since nobody else was really eating. I spent most of my remaining time in the cafe car again, listening to the cafe SA (a real funny BIG ol' girl) set a few people straight. And I'll say now that Amtrak employees who work with customers have to put up with a whole lot more than most of us will know and so most comments that people make towards them are usually without good reasoning. I regard almost all Amtrak employees with a whole lot of respect and made sure I tipped every one I met (and again, I'm 15.... so that's not easy for me). CSX trains really do hold up Amtrak though.... we waited for about 20-30 minutes twice for passing CSX autoracks around Okeechobee and Sebring. The condition of the inside of the train seemed to defy what most people claim Amtrak is like (mostly reports from a few years ago when unrefurbished Phase IV equipment was still widespread). All the Amfleets (except 1) were completely clean and refurbished with decently clear windows. I used/checked the bathrooms in two refurbished amfleets and they were extremely clean and semi-comfortable. Even the bathroom in the cafe car (which has surely gone 20 or so years without being refurbished) was a whole lot cleaner than bathrooms on my almost daily Tri-Rail trips! Almost all items in the cafe car were still in stock, along with about 2/3 of the items in the diner. They did close the lounge around Palm Beach though cause according to the cafe SA, "Miss Daisy's gotta do invantora and I dont want nobody gettin thays legs broked!" So for the remaining 30-40 minutes, I did what I would recommend to any other person traveling in coach on a quickly unloading train... find the nearest person playing a decent movie on a laptop or dvd player and take the seat immediately behind them. And the coach seats..... I swear they were better than first class on Delta! I wouldn't mind going all the way up to New York in one, they were that amazing.
But this short random day trip left me pondering a few things:
1. Will Silver Service ever get diner lites??
2. How much cheaper is it to upgrade to a sleeper onboard than the night before online?
3. Why is the Orlando station so far from downtown?? (When, in pictures, I've seen the train roll right through it)
4. Where do Viewliners get refurbished? Does the inside get refurbished too? (like on Superliners)
5. Are there any plans to remove heritage diners from the Silver trains?... because unless they've got a Viewliner Diner to replace them with, that would really make me mad
Pictures should be up in about two days
-Paul (Pablo for short)
I also forgot to record car numbers 'n such.
A few days before the weekend of the 15th of December, I sort of felt like getting out of town and the people I know for a while... So what better to do than to take a train somewhere?! I called up Amtrak and made a 40 dollar reservation for the 15th (Saturday). I would take the 820 Silver Meteor from Deerfield Beach to Winter Haven, have lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and catch the 1:40 or so Silver Star back South.
The northbound Meteor pulled in right on time at 820 with its usual consist (2 P-42's, 1 baggage, 3 Viewliners, 1 Diner, 1 Cafe, and 4 Amfleets)... with an extra Viewliner on the end I'd guess they were deadheading up north. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but the papers Amtrak conductors use to assign people seats don't seem to be very useful..... as even with an only half-full train, everybody assigned seats had their seats taken... somehow "sit wherever you see a spot" (at least for short distances) would seem a tad bit more sensible. But anyway.... I only sat for about five minutes before getting impatient (in an unusually huge, comfy coach seat) and checking out breakfast in the old diner. I've gotta say, Amtrak must have refurbished their heritage diners since the last time I rode a single level train because it was the most spectacular Amtrak diner I've ever seen!! I'll post pictures in about two days about what I'm talking about. The northbound diner looked like a five star restaurant in Chicago or something, with real tablecloths and 40's style decor n such likat. The one going south on the Silver Star was the really amazing one though. It was like a fancy art deco miami railroad theme... except less tacky. I gotta admit, I was really amazed. This was about a week after Amtrak upgraded their standard menus, so the French toast tasted unusually good... and for seven bucks and free juice I was darn well satisfied! (I'm 15... obviously I cherish an opportunity for what seems like a good deal). I hung out in the cafe car for the remaining 3 hours, meeting people going anywhere from Jacksonville to Connecticut. Cafe cars going both directions were the old brown and orange ones, but I noticed that they've still got a decent "lounge" setup and hardly any people take advantage of the extra room and social atmosphere.
Heading South on the Silver Star was just as much of an experience. Again though, I my assigned seat was a tad bit taken... but I didn't really care as I didn't sit in coach the whole time anyway. I began my southbound trip just as I did heading north. I headed to the this time even more amazing (and rather empty) dining car where I ate the new grilled chicken and huge, overflowing salad for about 8 bucks or something. Again, I don't care how much people complain about cafe prices, that particular lunch was truely worth my 8 dollars. The dining staff was again, unusually friendly. They were sort of the only ones to talk to since nobody else was really eating. I spent most of my remaining time in the cafe car again, listening to the cafe SA (a real funny BIG ol' girl) set a few people straight. And I'll say now that Amtrak employees who work with customers have to put up with a whole lot more than most of us will know and so most comments that people make towards them are usually without good reasoning. I regard almost all Amtrak employees with a whole lot of respect and made sure I tipped every one I met (and again, I'm 15.... so that's not easy for me). CSX trains really do hold up Amtrak though.... we waited for about 20-30 minutes twice for passing CSX autoracks around Okeechobee and Sebring. The condition of the inside of the train seemed to defy what most people claim Amtrak is like (mostly reports from a few years ago when unrefurbished Phase IV equipment was still widespread). All the Amfleets (except 1) were completely clean and refurbished with decently clear windows. I used/checked the bathrooms in two refurbished amfleets and they were extremely clean and semi-comfortable. Even the bathroom in the cafe car (which has surely gone 20 or so years without being refurbished) was a whole lot cleaner than bathrooms on my almost daily Tri-Rail trips! Almost all items in the cafe car were still in stock, along with about 2/3 of the items in the diner. They did close the lounge around Palm Beach though cause according to the cafe SA, "Miss Daisy's gotta do invantora and I dont want nobody gettin thays legs broked!" So for the remaining 30-40 minutes, I did what I would recommend to any other person traveling in coach on a quickly unloading train... find the nearest person playing a decent movie on a laptop or dvd player and take the seat immediately behind them. And the coach seats..... I swear they were better than first class on Delta! I wouldn't mind going all the way up to New York in one, they were that amazing.
But this short random day trip left me pondering a few things:
1. Will Silver Service ever get diner lites??
2. How much cheaper is it to upgrade to a sleeper onboard than the night before online?
3. Why is the Orlando station so far from downtown?? (When, in pictures, I've seen the train roll right through it)
4. Where do Viewliners get refurbished? Does the inside get refurbished too? (like on Superliners)
5. Are there any plans to remove heritage diners from the Silver trains?... because unless they've got a Viewliner Diner to replace them with, that would really make me mad
Pictures should be up in about two days
-Paul (Pablo for short)