# Houston to Ft Lauderdale via Chicago and Boston



## henryj (Dec 13, 2012)

I guess the first question would be how did this come about. That’s easy for me. I had always wanted to ride the Cardinal from Chicago to New York because it goes through the New River gorge and is supposed to be a very scenic ride(which it was). That train is very hard to get a room on as it only carries one sleeper and runs just three times a week. After searching for some time, I finally found a roomette on the train of December the 8th. The rest just fell in place around that date. I had always wanted to ride one of the Florida trains and also an Acela so that rounded out the trip.

 

I made my reservations Sept 24th. Leaving Houston Dec. 7th on the bus connection that is the Eagle here in Houston. The Cardinal gets into New York rather late, around 10pm and is often late. So rather than spend the night in a hotel I opted to take the late night train 66 to Boston and return the same morning on an Acela, train 2159 and then boarding the Meteor for Florida. I won’t do that again. But it saved me a hotel room and got me an Acela ride. The only motel I needed was an overnight in Ft Lauderdale before my SWA flight the next day to Houston.

 

The trip really started to jell Thursday the 6th when I checked the Amtrak Status Maps and found that #2 was running over two hours late. That was going to delay my train #22 because it carried the connecting cars from California. So Friday morning the first thing I checked before leaving my house was #22’s status. But the Sunset had made up some time and the Eagle left San Antonio only about 10 minutes late. I was relieved and made my preps to leave the house. The plan was to drive to Hobby Airport, leave my car at the Parking Spot and take the Super Shuttle from Hobby to the Amtrak depot. The #22 bus leaves Houston Amtrak station at 1:05pm. I thought I could get a quick lunch at Hobby before going to Amtrak as there is nothing at the Amtrak depot nor anywhere near it to eat. But Hobby has been redesigned with all the food courts beyond the security gates so I couldn’t do that this time. I just got a bag of chips at the Amtrak depot.

 

I have never met a Super Shuttle driver that actually knows where the Amtrak depot is in Houston, but we finally got there and I checked in. The bus arrived about thirty minutes before it’s scheduled departure and started boarding. The bus is a very nice one as buses go, run by Lone Star Bus Company under contract with Amtrak to pose as train #22 from Houston to Longview where it connects with the ‘real’ #22 coming over from San Antonio and Dallas. Lone Star also operates the Longview to Shreveport buses. By now I was noticing on my Blackberry that #22 was running later and later, finally leaving McGregor an hour and 40 minutes late. I began to think this was going to be ‘one of those trips’. As we began to board the bus driver warned each passenger to use the depot rest room before boarding as the bus one was for emergencies only. After we all boarded he gave us one more lecture about that and then pointed out the large trash cans he had on board and let us know that he would not tolerate any trash being thrown on his floors. Interesting that people now days have to be lectured on how not to be pigs. The bus takes over four hours to get to Longview, but as I was to find out, it’s only three hours driving time. The old MP Texas Eagle took five hours to make the trip with a thirty minute switching move in Palestine. We only had 12 passengers on our bus so I am guessing it will be a long time before we see a real Eagle train again from Houston. While we were waiting to leave the #21 bus came in and it appeared to be about the same load. Amtrak does nothing to promote these connections nor do the buses stop anywhere between Houston and Longview to pick up or let off passengers in any of the other many little towns we pass through. Our first stop was 2 ½ hours up the road in Nacogdoches, Tx for a potty break. The driver warned us not to stock up on food there as we would stop again in Longview at a much better place to eat. The stop was for 40 minutes. It then took about an hour to get to Longview where we stopped again at a major truck stop for another 30 minutes. They had everything from hot food to sandwiches or whatever. The coach passengers stocked up. There were only two of us going sleeper so we held out as we had a free dinner coming after Longview. The old MP depot in Longview is still in tack even though Amtrak only uses one end. But there were ample chairs and benches outside to accommodate us and the weather was balmy. Longview bills itself as the entertainment capitol of east Texas. I guess, lol. Number 22 had made up some time and was only an hour late getting in. We saw three north bound freights go by while we sat there. An auto rack train, a container train and the last a tank train, which waited for us to pass it. Once on board I went immediately to the diner to eat as it was last call. Alfred was my car host and did a fine job and even had my dinner reservation waiting for me as I boarded. Both of us had been booked in the Transition dorm car. But as the regular sleeper was not full and had been hurriedly tacked onto the back of the train, many car lengths from the transition dorm, the conductor put us in roomettes in the regular sleeper so the attendant didn’t have to walk through the train to take care of us. Food on board the Eagle was mediocre at best. Even the RR French toast was soggy and stale the next morning. We had two coach passengers as company on the diner, the only coach people I saw in a diner the whole trip. They were two young guys on a business trip. I asked them why they just didn’t fly. The answer was the train was much cheaper. It turned out they worked for a non-profit organization. The diner on this train is one of Amtrak’s so called ‘Diner Lites’ and is staffed with only three people, a chef, a waiter and the dining car steward. But they didn’t really need any more as hardly anyone goes to the diner on these trains other than sleeping car passengers. Amtrak has just priced themselves out of the diner business. Most coach passengers just get junk food from the sightseer lounge(SSL) attendant or bring their own. The diner is only open on one side. The other side, designed as the lite end was unstaffed and hardly used by anyone. Really Amtrak could save some money by taking the SSL off this train and moving the attendant to the café/lounge end of the diner lite and sell his stuff there. The SSL was never heavily occupied. The track on this route was good and we made good time, arriving in St Louis almost on time and Chicago early. I think the freight main leaves at Poplar Bluff and goes over to the east side of the river. After that we experience some rougher track and jointed rail on the old passenger main entering St Louis. Leaving St Louis the next morning, we rocked and rolled over shaky track all the way to Alton, 27 miles, never getting over 30mph. Once past Alton we hit the newly refurbished track and took off. However, this train, being all superliners, is not allowed faster than 79mph. Fastest I clocked it at was 83mph even on the 110mph segment. My Blackberry has GPS maps which gave speeds and showed our location. 

 

In Chicago I had a four hour layover before leaving on the Cardinal at 5:45pm. I got some light lunch after passing on another meal on the Eagle and took a walk. I stopped at a Starbucks on the corner of Wells and Adams and had a Mocha while watching the El trains go by. Chicago was cold and rainy. I had stashed my bag at the first class lounge. When I got back they boarded us on the sleeper from there. It felt good to finally be on board the nice warm car in my own private room. Jan was the car host on the Cardinal sleeper. She has 30 years with Amtrak and was professional in every way. She was also entertaining and fun to talk too. The Cardinal has only a diner lite or café lite or whatever they call it. It has a formal diner on one side and a café lite on the other. With only one sleeper the diner side was lightly used. As such they just let us sit where ever we wanted, not forcing people to crowd onto one table as they did on the Eagle. I had dinner late and went to bed. The next morning we added two private cars at Huntington, WV while I ate breadfast. Shortly after that we enter the scenic part of the trip which lasts all most all the way to Charlottesville. I rode most of the way in the lounge car taking pics and talking to other passengers. After Charlottesville darkness fell and I retired to my private room. We were more or less on time most of the way after briefly falling behind in Huntington. I clocked us at 111mph on the NEC. We got into NY early. I have watched the Cardinal off and on for some time and #50 is usually late into NY. Getting in early means I now had an almost 5 hour wait for train #66 to Boston. The Acela lounge was closed at 10pm so I had to sit out in the waiting area in Penn Station. Fortunately it was monitored and only passengers with tickets could sit there. As the night wore on we became the only people there other than the usual homeless and bums hanging out in the station. I would not do this again even though Penn Station has a good security presence at all times. The Cardinal is a fun train and is heavily used by people in all the little towns going through WV. It should be run daily, even as a coach only train if they do not have enough sleepers as most rode there anyway.

 

Finally #66, the overnight regional from DC to Boston came in and I boarded the business class car. If this train is in any way typical of the other regionals, they are in my opinion, junkers. It rode rough and loud and the roof leaked water on the seat in front of me. These cars are just worn out. Then in New Haven they took off one of the electrics and put on a diesel helper. Is this normal in electrified territory? I ate breakfast in Boston’s South Station and boarded my Acela express #2159 for New York. In contrast this train was really nice, full of mostly business people, and rode smooth and quite as you would expect. I clocked us at 149mph on several occasions. Boston to NY in three and half hours. I had about two and ½ hours to lay over before boarding the Meteor to Florida. So I checked my bag at the Acela lounge, grabbed some lunch and took a walk around. At each exit door to the outside of Penn Station I found the usual beggars, homeless and panhandlers so I finally just retired to the first class lounge and took a nap in one of the nice soft chairs.

 

They called sleeping car passengers from the lounge at around 2:45pm and boarded us first. My car host here was Sonny, a 14 year veteran of Amtrak and a very professional and friendly guy. He did get excited when I asked him for a towel to clean off my roomette window on the outside. As it turned out I had the only clean window on the whole train. Lol. Riding the Meteor, or a Florida train, was my third and final goal of this trip and I wasn’t disappointed. I think the food is somewhat better than I had experience on the other trains. I again clocked us at 111mph on the NEC to DC using my Blackberry. This is just my opinion, but I believe Amtrak is really missing the boat in this market. This should be one of their premier markets, NY to Florida. Instead they run just another generic train just like all the others. Boring and plain. I went to the so called lounge car after leaving NY and found just another diner lite or café lite or whatever you call them, with an attendant. I had my bloody mary and sat down for a while and just pondered what Amtrak was missing. The car was just blasé Amtrak blue with nothing but plain tables and benches at both ends. No lounge chairs, no Florida ambiance, no nothing. What a disappointment. How did they ever break this mold with the Pacific Parlor car on the Coast Starlight? After dinner with Penny K(I forgot to mention, she found me on the way to the diner) in the heritage diner and a nice conversation with her until we got run out of the diner, I retired to my private room and crashed after the all night thing to Boston. I had a late breakfast the next morning and then just retired to my room to watch the Florida scenery go by, getting off for some exercise in Jacksonville where they serviced the train and in Orlando and West Palm Beach. I had no desire to return to that depressing ‘lounge car’. I took a cab, driven by a Hatian, to my motel in Ft Lauderdale to await my SWA departure for Houston the next morning. He managed to turn a short drive into a $15 cab fare and didn’t even want to give me change for my twenty. I hate tourist trap towns.

 

I stayed at the Rodeway Inn which is near the airport and has a free airport shuttle hourly. The Ft Lauderdale airport is busy and SWA is their usual self. The trip was three hours gate to gate and uneventful. The contrast between train travel, which is stuck in the past and flying is just striking. I was just about tipped out from riding those trains, tipping in the diner, tipping the car host, tipping the baggage handlers, etc. flying cost me nothing extra and was quick and painless. Parking Spot was waiting for me at Houston Hobby and I got in my car and drove home in less than an hour. Overall it was an enjoyable trip.

 

Finally Amtrak, think about what I said. Long distance train travel should be something special, not just another bland generic Amtrak-blue train. Where is the ambiance? Where have all the amenities gone? The Florida Sun Room lounge, the Pride of Texas Coffee Shop, the French Quarter Lounge, the Cable Car Lounge, the Traveler’s Rest Lounge, the Lewis & Clark Lounge, the Turquoise Room just to mention a few. When people are paying premium prices for travel they should expect something different. The lounge and dining cars would be the place to show off that something. And if you are going to charge $25 for a steak dinner then at least have a decent steak and a baked potato that hasn’t been micro-waved to death.

 

The Amtrak employees I encountered on these trains were hard working, dedicated, and enjoyed their work and did their best to make their passengers feel welcome. They deserve some better, newer and more inspirational equipment to work with.


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## greatcats (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks you for an excellent trip report. You make some valid points about how the service could be made more attractive. I was on the Texas Eagle recently from San Antonio to Chicago and found the dining car food to be quite good, except for the mashed potatoes. I have also had a rude Haitian cab driver in Fort Lauderdale - one of the few times I gave no tip. While Amtrak could certainly be improved in some ways, we need to appreciate what service we do have. I have seen threads here in recent days complaining about the slowness of some schedules. This used to concern me, too, but last year I was on the Lakeshore sleeper from Boston, which has a leisurely schedule and a layover of at least an hour and a half in Albany. ( some of which is occupied by switching, of course ) But it dawned on me - who cares? - this train is a different mode of travel with its own pace and rythyms. We can meet new people, take a stroll around a place like Albany, or go to our room and read a book or snooze. If one is in a huge hurry, then fly, or drive pedal to the metal. ( I will drive huge distances, but no longer try to set distance records. ) I was talking to my travel companion yesterday and brought up the idea of mileage that has not been covered by me on major routes: The Coast Starlight north of Oakland and the Empire Builder Seattle to Spokane. We will have to work that into one of our future concert going trips. Your trip seems to have been a success for you, although that was a little too much continuous train riding for me. I would have spent some time in Chicago, Boston, and Fort Lauderdale!


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## henryj (Dec 13, 2012)

Hi Greatcats. Hey I do appreciate what little we have, particularly here in Texas. I assume I just caught the Eagle diner on a bad day. As for the stops. Yeah, I could have stopped longer, but I have really seen all the tourist sites in those cities and anyway that wasn't the goal of this trip. Had I gone earlier in the year, particularly in early Fall, I would have stayed a couple of days in the Boston area. As it was, the weather sucked up there. Lots of fog and rain and for a Texan, cold. But no snow anywhere. Rolling through Florida was nice. Since they have never been without passenger service, all the little stations were still there and in good shape. The new station in Jacksonville was nice and it serves its purpose well for just two trains a day. Also got a glimpse of the Auto Train depot in Sanford and the train was in. Lots of construction going on for the start up of Sun Rail. Also saw lots of Tri-Rail trains down south. One could lay back and just imagine what it was like in the good old days when the trains just rolled in from New York and Chicago bringing the 'snow birds' down to the warmth of the Florida sunshine. And it was 80 degrees in Ft Lauderdale. It's a nice little city, but I had been there too and all the way down to Key West. So I just flew back. I have stuff to do here in Katy and the weather here is ideal this time of year.


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## Bob Dylan (Dec 13, 2012)

:hi: Nice trip and Report Henry, thanks for Posting! I made the same trip in May on the way to PHL for NTD except I returned from Florida on the train instead of SWA and maybe I was Lucky but I had really good OBS and Food on the Silver trains and even Miss Polly was Friendly on the Eagle! :giggle: Totally agree that the Prices are gertting out of hand in the Diners (and the Cafe/Lounges also!) for Coach Pax in that they are not Worth what is Charged!

Good point about Generic Trains, if the Starlight and Empire Builder can have Special Features, no Reason that the Florida Trains can't either! (well, the Auto Train does but thats a different Category with Dedicated Equipment!)


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## henryj (Dec 13, 2012)

Thanks Jim. It was a good trip and every train was on time. A miracle. lol.


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## NETrainfan (Dec 15, 2012)

Interesting trip report. Your suggestions about sprucing up the lounge cars could be easily done.


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## pennyk (Dec 15, 2012)

Nice trip report. Thanks. I enjoyed meeting you and sharing a meal. Maybe we will meet again in the Florida Sun Room. :giggle:


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## printman2000 (Dec 16, 2012)

henryj said:


> Once past Alton we hit the newly refurbished track and took off. However, this train, being all superliners, is not allowed faster than 79mph. Fastest I clocked it at was 83mph even on the 110mph segment. My Blackberry has GPS maps which gave speeds and showed our location.


Superliners can most definitely go faster than 79mph. They do it all the time on the Southwest Chief hitting 90 on several segments. Not sure why they did not go that fast on the new segment, but the cars are capable.


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## henryj (Dec 16, 2012)

printman2000 said:


> henryj said:
> 
> 
> > Once past Alton we hit the newly refurbished track and took off. However, this train, being all superliners, is not allowed faster than 79mph. Fastest I clocked it at was 83mph even on the 110mph segment. My Blackberry has GPS maps which gave speeds and showed our location.
> ...


Well that's what I thought also, but the crew made that statement saying the cars are too tall and have too much sway to go any faster. And they definitely did not exceed that speed of around 80mph. Somebody with the inside knowledge would have to fill us in on the reasoning.


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## henryj (Dec 20, 2012)

If anyone from Amtrak happens to read this, this link shows you what a real lounge car looks like:

http://webpages.charter.net/suzuya/Seaboard1.html


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## thully (Dec 23, 2012)

Good report - I just got off the Texas Eagle myself (took #422 all the way LAX-CHI on my way to Michigan). I thought the food was decent enough (and didn't see the alleged inferiority of the CCC diner, though around the third day I was yearning for non-Amtrak food...) Also, our SSL (for both the Sunset/TE segments) had a decent crowd for most of the trip - perhaps being right before Christmas meant there were more people on board...

I also have experience with bus connections (those being the Toledo-Michigan LSL/CL bus and the LA-Bakersfield San Joaquin connection) - have definitely had the experience of bus drivers laying down the law. One driver on the BFD-LAX route threatened to put people off at the next exit ramp if they misbehaved! That bus wasn't very crowded, but I do remember the bus from TOL to ARB was quite packed. Don't mind the buses too much, but I definitely prefer the trains...

Sounds like you had a better time with the Cardinal than I did - though I did coach. The big issue with my trip is that they actively discouraged coach passengers from going to the diner, and not having the SSL made it less enjoyable. I had a better experience with #66 overnight on the same trip though - the BC car was pretty nice, and I slept better than in the Cardinal coach. However, I made the connection in WAS instead of NYP - probably better to do that since you can board earlier at night and have more time to sleep. I connected at BOS to #449 from that train (completing a mini-circle trip).

It would be nicer to have more special/unique amenities on some of these trains - want to get in a run on the Coast Starlight with the PPC at some point, and get on a train the Great Dome is running on. Airlines are definitely quicker (in most cases - though a short trip by Acela may be faster than a short flight with the added security), though it is more relaxing to do the train (no security haste, and significantly more room). My last trip was a bit tiring, though - I think 2 nights is probably the ideal length of one of these trips.


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## henryj (Dec 27, 2012)

Hi Thully, nice report. I have taken the Sunset numerous times and have always found it to be a nice relaxed experience. The Sunset has a full diner. The Eagle has the CCC of course. I talked to the workers in the CCC and they are the ones that told me the cafe end of the car was not manned and the cafe closed and not manned. The guy in the SSL sold snacks instead. So on the Eagles the diner/lounge crew totals only four. I had no problem with the bus connection from Houston other than it was so lightly patronized. Perhaps it was an off day. I thought the Cardinal was a neat little train and well patronized. Like I said, they should run it daily even if it is only a coach train.


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## TheTwelfthDoctor (Dec 28, 2012)

Nice report. I do think they should spruce up the lounge cars, and customize them for each route. The one time I did the Starlight a few years back it was in a sleeper, so naturally I spent pretty much all my time in the PPC. It was nice, but of course it's sad that they're only on that one route, and sometimes they don't run for whatever reason. If only...the local flavor, the movie theater, the comfy swivel seats...

It would also be nice to put 10031 (the full dome car) back in service permanently on the Cardinal, Adirondack, and other very scenic routes, instead of once every blue moon.

And as for the CCC--they've got the right idea with food themed towards the route (southern comfort on the CONO, Tex-Mex on the TE), and the interior is nice and modern-looking, but the decreased seating is a real drawback.

Glad you had a nice trip!


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