# Capitol Limited Trip



## Steve4031 (Jan 29, 2005)

Well I got through the last week at my old school with no problems. The last day passed smoothly with good by's from students and teachers. Overall, the school part of the day was better than I thought it would be.

I stayed late to help another teacher get a talent show started, and by 4 pm I was off to Union Station. The school is only 5 minutes away from Union Station, so this worked pretty well.

The metropolitan lounge was not crowded at all, and the check in process went smoothly. I had time for a soft pretzel and pepsi and a few phone calls. I watched the news on the TV. The TV's in there I think are HDTV's because the picture quality was excellent. I was a little spacey, kept thinking that I had missed the call for the Capitol, so I asked. Nope, no call. It was not in the station yet. This was about 5 p.m. About 5:15, they made the announcement and we walked down to the train. I was the first to board the sleeper.

I pulled a rookie mistake. I new I was in room 5, but did not remember that I was in car 3001. So I walked up to the attendant in 3000, said room 5, and boarded. About 10 minutes later, as were rolling through the south side of Chicago, the attendant showed up and said, "Toledo?". I said "Washington!" and handed him my ticket stub. He informed me that I was in car 3001. He was very nice about. Since I had already put garbage in the garbage bin, and sat on the pillows, and moved things around, I tipped him 5 dollars for the trouble of re-doing the room. He was surprised, and then helped with my bags. The attendant in the 3001 was glad to see me. "Oh, we thought we had lost you!" I could tell this was going to be a good trip. Both attendats were professional in their handling of my miscue. I was somehwat distracted, because I was rethinking my last day and was somewhat emotionally drained.

There was one seating for dinner. They made the call at about 6:30. I enjoyed dinner. I do not clearly remember who I ate with, but the service was prompt, and the meal was good. The conversation revolved around train travel, and was pleasant.

I returned to my roon which was on the left side. A full moon and some U2 on my MP3 made for an enjoyable couple of hours before bed time. I slowly relaxed, and unwould from my past two weeks at work. I went to bed when we reached Toledo. Though we left Chicago late, we left Toledo on time.

I got a few good hours of sleep, and woke up to discover we were about 90 minutes late. I went back to sleep, and woke up shortly after Pittsburg. Showered, had breakfast in the diner, and returned to my room. The attendant had made the bed up, and I asked if there were empty rooms on the right side so I could watch the scenery as we went over Sand Patch. He said yes, and cleared some of his stuff out of room 2. I immediately slipped him a twenty. This was real classy on his part, considering that some attendants would tell you know, or direct you to a room down the hall. Moments later, he was engaged in a railfan convesation with another passenger. He was enthusiatically describing the refurbishing done on some Superliner I sleepers. (the ones with wood paneling and the nice showers, etc) He said that about 2 a month were coming out of the shops. This pleased me . . . I had forgotten about these refurbishments. I asked him if one would be on tonight's 30. He really did not know.

I turned to the scenery. The Capitol was rounding a curve, and I could look down river as sunlight reflected of the surface. At the same time, steam rose from the surface. What a view! I enjoyed this for an hour a so, took a nap, and woke up shortly before Cumberland.

I was just beginning to think about buying a snack in the lounge car. The train was still late, and the night before, the crew had announced that lunch would not be served because we arrived in to D.C. at 12:24. As an answer to my thoughts, an announcement was made that a "lunch brunch" would be served from 11 to 12 in the diner. I reported to the diner, and claimed a seat on the left side as we left Cumberland. The only choices were hambergurs, cheeseburgers, or Chicken sandwiches. Great, I wanted cheeseburger anyway. The cheeseburger arrived as we rolled along the Potomac. I thought about my co-workers choosing between McDonalds and KFC on the west side of Chicago. (It was a professional development day, and they were allowed to go "out" to lunch) That cheeseburger tasted damn good. And the scenery seemed exceptionally sharp and colorful.

Back in the room, I read and napped. Enjoyed Harper's Ferry, and then napped again. At Rock springs, my cell phone buzzed, telling me I had a message. I played the message. Angela, a friend from work, said," Steve, are you here today?" I laughed. Called back and left I the message that said, "Angela, I'm not there, I'm here, and here is Rock Spring's Marylyand on the Capitol Limited!" Shortly thereafter, we arrived into Washington's Union Station.

Here is my record of 30's timekeeping. From what I heard, the main delay was caused by engine problems where they had to switch the engines around. I slep through all of this, so I really do not know.

board at 540 pm

dp cus 551 pm 16 min late

dp hammond 619 pm 18 min late

dp south bend 824 pm 21 min late

dp elkhart 846 22 min late

dp waterloo 935 18 min late

ar toledo 1055 16 min late

dp toledo 1108 ot

ar cleveland 231 1 hr 33 min late

dp cleveland 247 1 hr 41 min late

dp pittsburg 555 am 1 hr 15 late

dp connelsville 800 am 1 hr 40 late

dp cumberland 1106 2hr19 late

dp harpers ferry 105 pm 2hrs26 late

dp rockville 146 220 late

ar washington dc 217 1 hr 53 min late

I had about three hours to kill in Washington, D.C. I stashed my bags in the Acela lounge, and went off to look at the shops. I bough a gift for my girlfriend. I noted that they now have a Victoria's Secret at the north end of the shopping area. I thought about it, but did not have the guts to walk in there to buy her gift there.

I had lunch in the Pizzeria Uno on the second floor on a balcony overlooking the great hall. A nice view, and a decent lunch. After lunch did some more browsing and then returned to the Acela lounge. I noted that 51 was very late, and briefly thought about returning on that train, but decided not to. The boarding call was made, and we were walked out to the train. I was in the 2900 car, room 10 this time. I was right behind the diner. 2900 was the superliner II, Florida. The attendant came, gave me the info. about the room, and admired my apple IPOD. He was pleasant, but not as polished as the attendant on 30.

The dining car was an Am-mess. First they were going to pass out reservations, then they were not. They did have two seatings. I went to the first, and was seated with three other people. No one seemed talkitive for awhile. I tried to start conversatons a few times. Eventually the two woman chatted with each other. The guy across from me pulled out a book. I was glad I had my own book. The kitchen was slow, and the service indifferent. However, after the guy reading the book left, and one of the woman left, I had a nice conversation over desert with the woman sitting next to me. So socially, the meal was somewhat salvaged. The steak was mediocre, and cold at best The first sitting was not even half full, so the slow service, and the cold food made no since to me.

Went to bed early, and had a good nights sleep. I woke up and showered in Toledo. Waited in the lounge until 7, and then went into breakfast.

Again the same indifference. I walked in first, and was seated. Then two guys not traveling together came in. They were big men with truck driver builds. The same attendant who had waited on me the night before lectured us that we had to sit together. I had no problem with that. But one of the guys was left handed, and he knew that he would be uncomfortable sitting next to a right handed person in a confined space eating breakfast. So he informed the Am-idiot about being left handed. She still made him sit at our table. He sat next to the other guy. Both were irritated at the lady's demeanor.

When the Am-idot returned to take our order, I explained to her. "Maybe you don't understand, but a left handed person sitting next to a right handed person is not going to be comfortable. We do not have a problem with the community seating policy, we were just trying to ensure that everybody was comfortable." Am-idiot responded, "I can't read minds, you didn't tell me." Two of us told her in unison, "He did, and you ignored him". She continued to be rude. I said, "I gave you a nice tip last night, what is this all about anyway?" Am-Idiot said "And I gave good service last night" I said, "not really".

The left handed guy left when he saw that he did no like the prices. I think the atmosphere turned him off. The other guy stated to me. "If she talks to like that one of two things will happen. One . . . I just might knock her on her ass. Two, I might just tell her what to go do." I told him that I agreed with his sentiment, but advised him that Amtrak's response would be the same as if someon had attacked an airline employee.

Amazingly, the guy still liked the train. He was a truck driver, and had taken greyhound. He noted that Amtrak's prices were cheaper, and that the seats and trains were much nicer than the bus.

The food was ok. The truck driver decided that he would eat in the lounge car. The Am-idiot was smart enough not to charge him for the one cup of coffee that she had poured. Though she told him in a snotty tone that she would charge for the next one. What a loser. I will right a letter on this one. I stiffed her too.

I returned to my room to read, and listen to music. We gradually lost time as we got closer to Chicago do to freight traffic. The train progress information follows.

29

dp washington d.c. 529 pm 9 min late

dp rockville 553 9 min late

dp harpers ferry 639 8 min late

dp martinsburg 705 5 min late

dp cumberland 853 19 min late

dp pittsburg 130 8 min late

dp cleveland 433 13 min late

dp toledo 702 15 min late

dp waterloo 855 45 min late

dp elkhart 945 43 min late

dp south bend 1035 1hr14 min late

dp hammond-whiting 1055 1 hr 33 min late

ar Chicago 11:28 am 1 hour and 9 minutes late.

Overall, the trip was enjoyable. It served its purpose of helping me get through the last week at my old school. Of course, you know me. Have money, will travel


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## AMTRAK-P42 (Jan 29, 2005)

Thanks for the report Steve. Enjoyed it. Sorry to hear about the dining car "Am-idiot" (very nicely put btw :lol: ).


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## Steve4031 (Jan 29, 2005)

AMTRAK-P42 said:


> Thanks for the report Steve. Enjoyed it. Sorry to hear about the dining car "Am-idiot" (very nicely put btw :lol: ).


No problem. I enjoy writing them. They make the trip last longer. I thought Am(insert swearword here) would have been better, but then my trip report would have been edited.


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## battalion51 (Jan 29, 2005)

Great report Steve. Too bad you didn't have Ryan with you on your trips! :lol:


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## Bill Haithcoat (Jan 31, 2005)

Enjoyed your report, Steve.

Too bad about the Am-idiot---there seemd to be no learning curve with her.....so many rudenesses can begin but be curved, just suck in ones breath and start with fresh approach to a person when one has gotten off to a bad start........but she did not grasp that concept, even though it isi ntegral to her job.

Glad your trip over was not too late to prevent have a nice visit in DC.


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## trainrider623 (Jan 31, 2005)

Awesome Report!! I particularly enjoyed the "Am-idiot"!! :lol: Hope you had a good time!!


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## Skip Howard (Jan 31, 2005)

Hi Steve,

I really enjoy reading your reports. One AmIdiot can ruin a great trip as I have learned. I read your report on your summer trip. It sounded like you had a awesome trip. Good luck with the new school and hope to see you in July.


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## Steve4031 (Jan 31, 2005)

Skip Howard said:


> Hi Steve,I really enjoy reading your reports. One AmIdiot can ruin a great trip as I have learned. I read your report on your summer trip. It sounded like you had a awesome trip. Good luck with the new school and hope to see you in July.


Skip,

Thanks for the compliment. I kind of roll with it, but that was gonna be one am-idiot without teeth if she was not carefu. That guy was mad.


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