# The Great Slidell Loophole Trip Pt.3



## JayPea (Aug 13, 2009)

Part 3: Capitol Limited

After an enjoyable few hours in our nation's Capitol (and deciding I will have to take my buddy up on his offer to stay there when I had more time), it was off to Chicago on the Capitol Limited. We boarded in Union Station ( a very fine, grand station), and were on our way on time. I didn't have time to observe the consist for this train. After rolling along through the suburbia of the DC area (and marveling at the sheer volume of Metro trains everywhere-no one should ever be able to make the excuse they missed their train if they were ever late!) we were into the very pretty countryside of Maryland and West Virginia. This area, for those who've never seen it, is very hilly and wooded; I definitely would like to spend more time exploring this area, as the CL was in daylight just over four hours, and some of that was in the suburbia of DC. Thank goodness! Back to the Superliners!

Eugene was our car attendant, and very attentive. Once again, we only had two bottles of water, with any more doled out only on request. I wonder if this is a new policy, as every other LD train trip I've taken the water was readily available by the coffee machines.

As we paused at the Harpers Ferry station (very scenic, like the area), I noticed a house nearby with an extremely large, and extremely steep and hilly, lawn. Most of the lawn had been mowed and a lawn mower was sitting nearby. I couldn't figure out how in the world anyone could have mowed such a steep and hilly lawn with a little mower like that. Even though we encountered several freights on this line, we were never really slowed down by any, and were in most stations pretty much on time. It was so green and pretty here, through West Virginia, Maryland, and into Pennsylvania, with the Cumberland Gap especially beautiful. In several of the fields and meadows we could see many deer.

At dinner, Paula was the dining car steward and she and her crew did a very fine job. I had the trout for dinner, and it was excellent! Seated with us at dinner was a young man with a delightful sense of humor who was on his way to Toledo to a family reunion. Traveling with him, though he wasn't in the diner, was his younger brother, a man of 25 years old with cerebral palsy who had endured dozens of surgeries, but was on the train with him to the reunion. It's stories such as this that, to me, make the dining experience on a train so enjoyable.

After dinner, I dozed on and off until finally giving up the ghost and going to bed just as we were pulling into the outskirts of Pittsburgh. I slept as deeply as I ever have on a train; I didn't wake up for any of the stops, even the smoke breaks at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Toledo (which might say more about those cities than my sleeping pattern :lol: ). I finally woke for good right after the Waterloo, IN stop. By now we were into the farmland of Indiana, and it was very foggy for quite awhile. After I grabbed a shower (amazingly, hot, high pressure water again), we went to breakfast. Our fellow breakfast eater this day was a man from Wisconsin, who, among other things, spoke of taking care of his parents. The man himself looked like he was in his late seventies, so we had to wonder how old his folks were. I threw caution to the wind and had the scrambled eggs with my hashbrowns, sausage, and milk, and the croissant instead of the biscuit. All were excellent.

We pulled into the Chicago area early, like the previous two trains. Just before stopping at Union Station, Eugene informed us that our car would deboard second after the first sleeper and that there would be an announcement. Well, we stopped, and after a few minutes, decided that there was no announcement, and as I was getting off, Eugene came back to see why so few people had gotten off the train. Turns out the annoucement as to when to deboard the train didn't come through. And, as I found out later from my uncle, when the train stopped in Union Station, no one opened the door or put the stool out. So my uncle did both, which probably wasn't the best decision but at least it got the job done.

That accomplished, we set out for the Metropolitan Lounge, where we found a huge line. We must have stood in line for 10-15 minutes before finally getting checked in. After that, to while away the time, we strolled along the streets of Chicago. My uncle tried to get ahold of a friend of his, who works near Union Station, to meet us for lunch, but never did get ahold of him. We walked as far as State Street before heading back. We had both heard so much about Giordano's on this forum that we stopped there for lunch. And being the contrary souls we are :lol: instead of having pizza like about everyone else, we had sub sandwiches instead. And they were excellent! I can't remember the last time I had a sub sandwich that good.

Afterward, we went back to Union Station to wait out the time before our next leg, the Empire Builder, departed. The lounge was crowded with passengers for the Texas Eagle, California Zephyr, and Empire Builder all there. The scene in the Metropolitan Lounge was sometimes confusing, as people in sleepers for each train were called to the front desk to check in. Some who were on another train than the one called tried to check in and of course didn't, and those who had arrived in Chicago on sleepers but were departing in a coach car were confused when they were told to go somehere else to board, and when it was time to board each train, some tried to board the wrong train. I thought all announcements were concise, clear, and most importantly loud enough to be heard, but I guess not, for some people. One woman who had arrived in Chicago on a sleeper and was departing on the Empire Builder to Wisconsin on coach was upset when she attempted to check in and was told the boarding area for coach passengers was in a different spot than for sleepers. My uncle gently tried to explain how that worked but she started arguing with him. My uncle, never one to shy away from a good argument (or start one himself!) let it go and didn't reply, which may have been a first for him! :lol:

At any rate, as the trains left and people cleared out, the confusion cleared up as well. We boarded the Empire Builder without any fuss, and pulled out of Chicago right on time.

Next up: Leg #4: Chicago to Portland This was easily the most interesting leg of the trip.

PS. I'm working on pictures for the trip. I'm in the process of editing them, so as to make you think I'm a much better photographer than I really am! :lol:


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## OlympianHiawatha (Aug 13, 2009)

Great series of reports! I have been anxiously looking forward to the next installments.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 14, 2009)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> Great series of reports! I have been anxiously looking forward to the next installments.


Most enjoyable!Laughed @ the sub-sandwich comment since Im not a Pizza fan,Chicago does have good Italian food!(they have too,the boys

insist on it! :lol: )Previous posts have discussed the crowding in the Metro Lounge,Ive always found it pretty crowded and confusing and Im

a fairly seasoned traveler(but NOT THE traveler :lol: )myself!Its great that your uncle is getting to share this trip,riding a train by yourself

is great,sharing it is even better!Look forward to the next part and the pics(I cant even take a good ID pic myself and my camera disappeared

on the CONO during my last trip!  ,a good excuse!!)


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## Long Train Runnin' (Aug 14, 2009)

Keep the report coming  If you liked what you saw in Harpers Ferry may I recommend you try and ride the Cardinal. South of DC the scenery is like that, (what the east calls mountains, what you would call a hill out west) and heavily wooded areas.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2009)

As an often guest I am offering a comment.the reson, I have been told, for the "hidden' water is that people were coming in from the coaches and taking it which made a shortage for the car passengers. Therefore by having to ask for the water the atttendent could make sure there was enought for his passengers.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2009)

Guest said:


> As an often guest I am offering a comment.the reson, I have been told, for the "hidden' water is that people were coming in from the coaches and taking it which made a shortage for the car passengers. Therefore by having to ask for the water the atttendent could make sure there was enought for his passengers.


I was told by a SCA that it was a policy change by Amtrak to save money,on the TE they ran out going north on 22 and I saw

them getting water in the diner,do LSAs have to account for bottled water too?I have noticed that most SCAs keep water and

juice in their roomette and most gladly give you what you ask for IF you ask,please dont go into their room and help yourself!


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## Ispolkom (Aug 14, 2009)

We had Eugene as our sleeping car attendant on the Capitol Limited in May, and we were also very impressed by him, especially since we were back in the transdorm. Great guy, and a real asset to Amtrak. Naturally we wrote a letter to Amtrak praising him.


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## JayPea (Aug 14, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Keep the report coming  If you liked what you saw in Harpers Ferry may I recommend you try and ride the Cardinal. South of DC the scenery is like that, (what the east calls mountains, what you would call a hill out west) and heavily wooded areas.



I may do that. My buddy in Washington DC has been begging me to come out for an extended stay for some time now and I definitely plan to take him up on it sometime. I may very well fly to Chicago and then take the Cardinal from there. It looks like it would be very beautiful.


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## the_traveler (Aug 15, 2009)

JayPea said:


> I may very well fly to Chicago and then take the Cardinal from there. It looks like it would be very beautiful.


If you do, may I recommend taking the Cardinal at least eastbound!  The best scenery in the New River Gorge is guaranteed to be in daylight, even if the train's late.  Westbound if it's late, it may be dark.


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## JayPea (Aug 19, 2009)

More quality photos! :lol: http://jlpb60.multiply.com/photos/album/17


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## saxman (Aug 28, 2009)

Nice reports! I've only just discovered them.

I don't know why they tell coach passenger that if they wait in the lounge that they have to go out to wait with the regular coach passengers when boarding. Part of the benefit of waiting in the lounge is to board before all other passengers, even if you're in Coach. After all, you were at one point in a sleeper that day. The other day, I was in the Metro Lounge to board the Empire Builder to Wisconsin and was only in coach. From now on I just pretend I'm a sleeping car passenger and go out to the train with them. That way I can get a better coach seat.


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## MrFSS (Aug 29, 2009)

saxman66 said:


> Nice reports! I've only just discovered them.
> I don't know why they tell coach passenger that if they wait in the lounge that they have to go out to wait with the regular coach passengers when boarding. Part of the benefit of waiting in the lounge is to board before all other passengers, even if you're in Coach. After all, you were at one point in a sleeper that day. The other day, I was in the Metro Lounge to board the Empire Builder to Wisconsin and was only in coach. From now on I just pretend I'm a sleeping car passenger and go out to the train with them. That way I can get a better coach seat.


And I've done that several times when connecting from a west coast LD train to The Cardinal in coach. We just head out with The Cardinal sleeper passengers but board the coach and are usually the first ones in that car.


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## rrdude (Aug 29, 2009)

POSERS!

Nice strategy thou.........


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 29, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> > Nice reports! I've only just discovered them.
> ...


Ive done the same in CHI when boarding the LSL and the TE after arriving in a sleeper,havent had a problem with these trains but with the Western trains

(EB/CZ/SWC)Ive noticed that the gate guardians have stopped folks and sent them to Siberia to load with the masses!Guess it depends on who is working and which train you are catching!In LAUS I noticed that as we were being led by the attendant from the Traxx lounge that some coach pax in the long line

@ the desk joined the group and nothing was said!In NOl of course they were checking IDs and tickets after we left the magnificent Magnolia hovel,er lounge so no go there!In SEA there is a seperate gate for sleepers and coaches but once through the gate everyone goes to the same place.In PDX they assign seats inside the station @ the desk for coach but havent been in business class or sleepers there so cant comment on them!All other stations I ve been have no lounges so no problema!(This excludes WAS/PHL/NYP/BOS for the Acela and sleepers of course!)Id say go for it,if your sent back,nothing ventured,nothing gained!


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