# 97/98 trip report



## mrdisnie (Aug 19, 2007)

My family and I just returned from our family vacation to Orlando and below are the trip reports on the southbound train #97 and the northbound train #98.

Departed from Newark Penn Station on Thursday August 2 on the 97 and had a deluxe sleeping room. Train arrived right on time and we left, this was probably the only good thing about this trip other then our room attendant!! Trip to WAS was fine until we reached D.C. all went wrong from this point on. When we arrived i was somewhat surprised to see all the Amtrak Crew waiting for us to switch from electric to Diesel, usually we see them a couple of minutes later. To my surprise they were all standing around talking, at first i thought they were having a meeting  but then i realized they were waiting for the Diesel hook up. So we all waitied and waited and waited. Finaly the diesel arrived and was hooked up, a half hour later by the way. Although we arrived in D.C. on time we leftl 45 minutes late, still trying to figure this one out. As we started out again i figured, ok this is not that bad since maybe we could make some time up, boy was i wrong!!!!! Somewhere in VA the fun really began, it was after diner and Richmond that we stopped, for what i thought was the typical, let the freight train pass and away we go!! Not this time we were stopped for 3 hours with nothing moving in either direction. I asked our attendant if he knew what was going on but he had'nt heard anything at that point. Finally we got word that a freight train had broken down in front of us and they were awaiting a replacement. I saw the replacement go by and then saw the freight pass us by going northbound!!!! Again i figured, if this is the only stop we should be ok, we will get into Orlando late but not that bad. Again i was wrong !!!! We started again and i would say 10 minutes later we stopped again this time for an hour. I asked our attendant if he knew what was going on and this time he really had no clue, he was confused by this one. We did find out later that the conductor had to call the local police to remove people form coach and that is why we were stopped a second time. To make a long story a little shorter we did not get into Orlando until 6:00pm when we should have arrived at 12:55pm. The only positive from this leg of the trip was our attendant, he could have not been any nicer and accomadating to us.

The trip home on the 98 was a lot better! We left on Friday August 17 from Orlando. The train arrived in Orlando on time and ran that way for most of the trip. We got caught up in some freight traffice in the Carolinas but nothing like the southbound trip. We arrived in D.C. about an half an hour late but made that up from D.C. to Newark and arrived 5 minutes late.

Some of my other comments on the trip are as follows: Food was good on both legs of the trip, not like it used to be but not bad at all. Service has really improved in the dining car with all being very cordial and helpful, a vast improvement from earlier trips. Our room attendant on the southbound trip was really fantastic and i will let Amtrak know about him. He checked on us throughout the day and morning, asked if we needed anything, let us know what was going on with the schedule. He gets an A+. Our attendant on the northbound trip was not the best. If we saw him three times during the trip it was a lot. We asked to have our room turned down around 9:00pm and he finally showed up around 10:00pm with the explanation that he stomach needed to be filled. I am all for eating but just let us know and we would have understood and made other arrangemenst then sitting in our waiting for him. We never recieved our morning paper, while everybody else in the other sleepers recieved thiers. I don't want to sound like a snub but with the cost of the sleeper i do expect some ammenities!!!

In closing i would rate the southbound trip a 5, only because of the greqat sevice otherwise it would have been a 0, and the northbound trip a 7, this time only because of the on tile performance and the dining staff. I will be letting Amtrak know my feelings in the coming days and will keep everybody up to date!!!!!


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## AlanB (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks for the report!


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## BobWeaver (Aug 25, 2007)

mrdisnie said:


> Finally we got word that a freight train had broken down in front of us and they were awaiting a replacement. I saw the replacement go by and then saw the freight pass us by going northbound!!!!


I think it is wrong of you to indirectly blame this on Amtrak, as it was most decidedly out of their hands. Keep in mind that while your train is controlled by the engineer on the head end, he is controlled by the dispatcher. This accident might have happened when the broken down train was stopped on part of a single main track, or maybe even when it was crossing over on a double track main. If there was a way to get your train around the broken down freight, I'm sure that the dispatcher would have tried it.

I've always taken a strong stand against (and disregarded) any comments about Amtrak's OTP when it involves host railroads, as it is completely out of their hands.


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## battalion51 (Aug 26, 2007)

Bob is absolutely correct. Many times because of the way the signal system works and the way the tracks are lined up you may be put in the siding (or if at south end double track) hold there so that rescue equipment can be moved in to pick up the stranded train. If there is double track next to the stranded train you would simply be routed around the dead train and move along and most likely never know the difference.


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## mrdisnie (Aug 27, 2007)

BobWeaver said:


> mrdisnie said:
> 
> 
> > Finally we got word that a freight train had broken down in front of us and they were awaiting a replacement. I saw the replacement go by and then saw the freight pass us by going northbound!!!!
> ...


Bob,

I never said it was Amtrak's fault directly or indirectly!!! I simply gave a trip report which included the bad as well as the good.

I have been riding Amtrak for many years and have had both good and bad trips, some of which has been Amtrak's fault but most of the time it is not.

I also contacted Amtrak's customer realtions department to let them know how well everyone on board dealt with the issues, and did not blame Amtrak for our OTP. I have to also admit as i stated in my intial report on how well the dining has become and our attendant was!

Again my report was not to blame Amtrak for our OTP both was rather a trip report on the good and the bad!!!!


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## Steve4031 (Aug 27, 2007)

I felt the report was balanced and honest. Poor ontime performance for any reason negatively affects the travel experiencee. This is what the author stated. He also stated that Amtrak's employees did an excellent job in mitigating the pain of the 4 hour delay. A 0 trip became a 5 because of their efforts.

As a railfan, I am more forgiving of delays, even stating that I "get more for my money" if the train is late. I was in Europe a couple of weeks ago, rode 12 trains in 10 days. One broke down outside of Olso, but we were tansferred to a local and were only an hour late. Another train was 15 minutes late. The rest were on time. In fact I expectedd these trains to be on time, which allowed me to agressively plan connections to maximize sightseeing for myself and my father.

I think that it is important to educate people who are uninformed about the problems caused by freight railroads and the effect on Amtrak. This author obviously knows his stuff because of accurate descriptions of the situation. I think that his opionions should be respected.

On a further note, when we do "educate" I think that it is better to be respectful in tone in manner. Other wise our messages will go unheard.


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## had8ley (Aug 30, 2007)

BobWeaver said:


> mrdisnie said:
> 
> 
> > Finally we got word that a freight train had broken down in front of us and they were awaiting a replacement. I saw the replacement go by and then saw the freight pass us by going northbound!!!!
> ...


I agree with you in this situation. But I've often wondered how the UP justifies putting #1 and #2 in a siding and running a stack train AHEAD of them in the SAME direction. Unfortunately, I've been on the Sunset more times than I care to count when this has happened.


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## AmtrakWPK (Aug 30, 2007)

> I've often wondered how the UP justifies putting #1 and #2 in a siding and running a stack train AHEAD of them in the SAME direction.


It's perfectly simple. Their freight is much more important than Amtrak's passengers, and they don't give a rat's behind what the law says. And until that changes there is no hope whatsoever for Amtrak trains running on UP tracks.


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