This was a one-way trip on the Cap on Nov. 1st. I will just offer a brief explanation why it wasn't a round trip. I am approaching 43, and have been deathly afraid of flying my whole life. I had never even been on a plane until a few days ago. I decided it was time to face my fears and go for it. The takeoff was a little rough. It was pouring and cold in Cleveland. But once we got leveled out, I was ok. It was not my most favorite thing to do, but I know I can do it if we ever want to travel to Hawaii or England.
We landed at BWI and I took the shuttle to the train station. I got to see an Acela fly by and another stop. I had never seen one in person before. I got on my train and headed down to D.C. The station looks nice. I had only been there once, in 2012, and they had scaffolding all over repairing it. I had around 5 hours to look around the station and sightsee around the monuments before heading back to the Club Acela around 3:00. It was nice in there, also. It's a good place to relax. They boarded us around 3:30.
I booked a roomette because it was fairly cheap and I knew I was going to have a long day and want to get some sleep. The conductor said that coach was really full, so that made me glad to have the room as well. We pulled out on time. I went to dinner at 5:00. They asked if we wanted salads, two of us did. They were huge, probably twice as big as the old ones with 4 or 5 tomatoes, onion, carrots, and croutons. It was a nice salad. I got the steak, it was really good. They had green and yellow beans for the veggie instead of the mushy mix. The chocolate truffle was very good. The service and meal were excellent, in my opinion. I got back to my room and just put the bed out myself, but the SCA was excellent as well. He was very attentive and nice.
We were running on time the whole way. I slept for a while, and the woke up around Alliance. We got to the outskirts of Cleveland on time, but the 30 beat us into the station, so we had to wait out by Burke Lakefront airport until they were done doing their thing. That actually worked out better for me because I needed to hop on the Rapid to get back to my car out by the airport, and they don't start running until around 3:30 AM. So even though we sat for almost an hour, we got into the station on time, due to the time change. I was happy to sit on the train an hour than in the station. When we arrived, I took a cab up to Tower City and got on the Rapid to get back to my car.
Overall, my trip was excellent. I have absolutely no complaints at all about my experience on the Cap. We did have the Diner/Lounge, and I did hear someone complain about not having a SSL, but if that is what they need to do to run on time for a while, then so be it. The food and all of the OBS we great. I had a wonderful trip.
We landed at BWI and I took the shuttle to the train station. I got to see an Acela fly by and another stop. I had never seen one in person before. I got on my train and headed down to D.C. The station looks nice. I had only been there once, in 2012, and they had scaffolding all over repairing it. I had around 5 hours to look around the station and sightsee around the monuments before heading back to the Club Acela around 3:00. It was nice in there, also. It's a good place to relax. They boarded us around 3:30.
I booked a roomette because it was fairly cheap and I knew I was going to have a long day and want to get some sleep. The conductor said that coach was really full, so that made me glad to have the room as well. We pulled out on time. I went to dinner at 5:00. They asked if we wanted salads, two of us did. They were huge, probably twice as big as the old ones with 4 or 5 tomatoes, onion, carrots, and croutons. It was a nice salad. I got the steak, it was really good. They had green and yellow beans for the veggie instead of the mushy mix. The chocolate truffle was very good. The service and meal were excellent, in my opinion. I got back to my room and just put the bed out myself, but the SCA was excellent as well. He was very attentive and nice.
We were running on time the whole way. I slept for a while, and the woke up around Alliance. We got to the outskirts of Cleveland on time, but the 30 beat us into the station, so we had to wait out by Burke Lakefront airport until they were done doing their thing. That actually worked out better for me because I needed to hop on the Rapid to get back to my car out by the airport, and they don't start running until around 3:30 AM. So even though we sat for almost an hour, we got into the station on time, due to the time change. I was happy to sit on the train an hour than in the station. When we arrived, I took a cab up to Tower City and got on the Rapid to get back to my car.
Overall, my trip was excellent. I have absolutely no complaints at all about my experience on the Cap. We did have the Diner/Lounge, and I did hear someone complain about not having a SSL, but if that is what they need to do to run on time for a while, then so be it. The food and all of the OBS we great. I had a wonderful trip.
