The fact that you can't get it to show you a Silver doesn't mean that it can't be done. Which part of "Amtrak.com doesn't show every routing that ARROW has" didn't you understand? Amtrak.com shows you the first page of routings that ARROW provides. ARROW however could have 3 or 4 more pages of routings that Amtrak.com will not show you. But any agent can see those routings and book you one of those unseen routings. What you can see via Amtrak.com is irrelevant. It's what the agent can see and what falls within AGR rules that counts.
If you look at my screen shot, note that the next train combo does start with the Silver Meteor. I will grant you that combo took one to the Lake Shore and then train #28 direct to Portland. But what we are discussing can be done! And just for the record, many of the trips that you can plot out using the multi-city function are still valid AGR trips. Not all are which is why most people advise only using the normal search function when trying to work out what AGR might allow. But again many trip routings that one can bring up via the multi-city search are still valid AGR trips.
Finally, what qualifies for an award in one direction qualifies in the reverse direction, assuming that the trains still connect in reverse. Since I can book this:
I can then book the opposite, Richmond on a Silver to DC, Capitol to Chicago, Builder to Seattle, Talgo to Portland.
End of discussion!
.
