# National Train Day Philadelphia 2010



## Long Train Runnin' (May 14, 2010)

I had made my reservations for National Train Day nearly 3 months earlier, so the night before I was so excited I didn’t get much sleep. I woke up got ready and drove 30 miles to Metropark where I would be boarding Amtrak train number 143 to Philadelphia.

I was on the platform roughly an hour early and during my wait I saw 7 trains ranging from the Vermonter to an Acela carrying AlanB who I noticed from the platform and we exchanged a quick wave. My train came in about 10 minutes late and we proceeded to tear across my favorite piece of the NEC. I don’t think we ever dropped below 100 MPH on our 24 minute run across the state of New Jersey. We made a quick station stop in Trenton, NJ and were on our way to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Once in Philadelphia I had no trouble finding the group of AU members already assembled there. There I was introduced to Jim Hudson, Ryan, and FrankStar. We then waited until Bill Haithcoat arrived from Atlanta on the Crescent. AlanB and I stayed at the meeting spot for a few more minutes as we awaited the arrival of the_traveler. The group of 9 found tables at Bridgewaters a restaurant/bar inside 30th street. We had at our peak 10 AU members when jacorbett70 found us at the restaurant.

I enjoyed lunch not only for the food, but because of the good conversation. Having a meal with fellow AU members guarantees some good conversation and a good time.

After lunch we made our way down to the equipment display which wasn’t run as smoothly as it could have been. We entered the Acela in the Bistro Car and spent almost 40 minutes walking through at a snail’s pace. Some folks behind us were quite irate and unloaded on the first Amtrak employee they saw. From there we got up close with an Amtrak catenary repair vehicle which was neat since I’ve only seen them of sidings at quite a distance.

Next up was the private varnish, which consisted of 4 cars. The first of Dover Harbor which was owned by the DC NHRS I was surprised to see it Philadelphia, but really enjoyed walking through the beautifully restored car. Next up was a Santa Fe lunch counter car. I really liked this car because it presented a food service option no longer found on the rails here in the US and gave a good example of what made premier passenger trains 30 cars long once upon a time. There was another sleeper/lounge car but I don’t remember the name.

The real jewel was the Hickory Creek rear observation car that ran on the 20th century limited. My oh my, this car was fantastic! I have been in the rear observation car of the Burlington Zephyr on display in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, but this car had a totally different feel to it. The lounge felt so much bigger and my entire field of vision was filled with windows facing out. It was quite the rail fans window!

After the private varnish the tour concluded with a couple of Amtrak cars. The highlight was car 9800 a business car used by sports teams or other VIPs being hauled up and down the NEC. It had wood paneling and several small “meeting rooms”. It was very cool to be inside of unique Amtrak car it was far from just another Amfleet.

The equipment tour took over an hour and 20 minutes meaning a possible 3 PM points run was ruled out. Here we met with AU member Mike Pace (J-1 3235) who had come down from BOS. Bill Haithcoat organized a group shot before it was time for him and Jim Hudson to get ready to catch the Crescent to points south.

The remaining group headed over to commuter section of 30th Street and walked through a set of new SEPTA cars. There I experienced “New Train Smell” which was a first for me. The new cars looked good, and seemed to let in a lot of light. After that the remaining group stood on the platform talking about SEPTA and other transit agencies across the US. The weather was great so we stayed and talked for quite some time.

After that I lost the group for a few minutes, so I checked out the main stage and a little bit of the baseball display. By chance I found the group again as most planned to head to the Club Acela as National Train Day was nearly over. I decided not join them and save the pass Jim had given me for another day since I only had a 20 minute wait. (Thanks again Jim!) I said my good-byes and made my way to the line forming to board my train.

I stood in line and watched the clock strike 4 officially ending National Train Day. I stood in line for another 20 minutes thinking that being toward the front would help me secure a seat. In Philly however they let everyone down a couple minutes ahead of the train, so being toward the front didn’t do much for me.

I entered the train in the quiet car and since I saw a window seat I decided I would try the quiet car. We pulled out shortly after I took my seat, and I began to write some brief notes to help better compose this trip report. Once we pulled out of Trenton I was glued to the window as we rocked and rolled through NJ. 30 minutes later we came to a stop at Metropark meaning National Train Day was really over for me.

Thanks for reading my report!

It was great to see old and new faces during the day!


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## Bob Dylan (May 14, 2010)

Good job Stephen!  It was good to meet you and the others, hope you can get in lots of train riding while triple points is on and this summer before the start of school in the fall! Hope to see you again along the rails!Youre welcome, enjoy the pass perhaps in NYP or BOS! Jim


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## WhoozOn1st (May 14, 2010)

What, no pictures!?


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## Bill Haithcoat (May 14, 2010)

Stephen, good report. It was a great weekend (well it was a weekend for me, traveling from Atlanta.) Only Jim--from Texas--- had come further.


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## gswager (May 14, 2010)

WhoozOn1st said:


> What, no pictures!?


He's writing on a note, containing 1,000 words ("A picture worth 1,000 words"). :lol:


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## Ryan (May 14, 2010)

Great report!

My day mirrored his, save for the transportation to/from PHL.

I caught a NB Regional from BWI (only 10 minutes from the house), and was lucky enough to score a pair of seats to myself for the trip up.

I was booked on a Regional back sometime after 5:30, but after touring the Acela set, I needed to ride in one - fortunately, after seeing the new SEPTA wagon (decent, I guess, nowhere near as nice as my beloved MARC) I had just enough time to see a ticket agent, swap my ticket for an Acela leaving at 4:12 and stand and watch the Solari Board for a few minutes (I could stand and watch them for hours) and then board the train.

The trip was only 10 minutes shorter, but the ride was a lot smoother and quieter in my opinion. The big windows are definitely a plus, although I confess to nodding off for about 20 minutes between Wilmington and Baltimore. As has been mentioned before, we passed Bill and Jim at BAL, and then I hung around and waved as they blew through BWI a few minutes later. As I finally headed for the exit, a nice lady approached me and asked if the train that had just left was the 5:41 that had left early (the Acela calls at about 5:35). After some back and forth, I noticed that she was holding a MARC schedule, and I broke the bad news that MARC didn't have any weekend service and she should see a ticket agent inside to get a ticket for the next Amtrak train headed to DC. I checked the status board as I left, and there was a s/b Regional due in around 6, so she shouldn't have had to wait all that long.

All told, it was a great day - I enjoyed meeting everyone, and am looking forward to hopefully heading west to STL in October! I'll post the few pictures that I took shortly, I'm a little backlogged on pictures at the moment.


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## the_traveler (May 14, 2010)

It was good to see everyone in PHL! 

The only hitch for me was with the cat problem in NJ that cut out my 3rd 3X point run. (I was going to ride down to WIL and catch #66 there.) So I was going to wait at the CA, but they closed at 9 PM  (and #66 arrives at midnight). So I met up with nomis for a beer at Bridgewaters.

I too was surprised to see the Dover Harbor. If it is owned by the DC NRHS, I would have expected to be displayed in WAS, not PHL. And that was the first time I ever saw a counter car like that!


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## Bill Haithcoat (May 14, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> It was good to see everyone in PHL!
> The only hitch for me was with the cat problem in NJ that cut out my 3rd 3X point run. (I was going to ride down to WIL and catch #66 there.) So I was going to wait at the CA, but they closed at 9 PM  (and #66 arrives at midnight). So I met up with nomis for a beer at Bridgewaters.
> 
> I too was surprised to see the Dover Harbor. If it is owned by the DC NRHS, I would have expected to be displayed in WAS, not PHL. And that was the first time I ever saw a counter car like that!



There were various kinds and designs of lunch counter lounges, diner lounges, grill lounge, coffee shop lounges etc.i the pre Amtrak years.

They usually served one of two purposes. They either supplemented the regular diner and regular lounge on a heavy, busy train. Or they functioned in lieu of a complete diner and complete lounge in a more lightly patonized train.

They often had simpler, less expensive meals than in the regular diner.

Passengers taking a long trip on a long train might switch around and eat some meals in one car, the others in another.

Since the car we saw was Santa Fe, there is just some chance the car may have even run on El Capitan. Please keep in mind the El Capitan was originally a normal one level train (aside from a dome in the early 50's) like any other, it was about 15 years old when it was reequiped as high level. The EL Cap was a busy train so any lunch counter lounge on it was definately a supplement to the other cars.


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## AlanB (May 17, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> I too was surprised to see the Dover Harbor. If it is owned by the DC NRHS, I would have expected to be displayed in WAS, not PHL.


The DH was on display last year in DC, so I guess maybe they decided that they should move things around a bit so as to keep it from getting boring to the regulars.


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## jis (May 17, 2010)

AlanB said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > I too was surprised to see the Dover Harbor. If it is owned by the DC NRHS, I would have expected to be displayed in WAS, not PHL.
> ...


When I met Rafi in the Kitchi Gamie Club in DC he mentioned that many of the equipment that were displayed in DC last year were in Phillie this year.

There were naturally a completely different set of PV displayed in DC this year. I thought that the Auto Train equipment was the special thing in DC this year. The freight railroads apparently were running on the Green theme, with NS displaying a battery locomotive and CSX a gen-set.


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