# 3 trains 3 days



## rail sale (Mar 23, 2003)

I just returned from my first trip east on Amtrak.

It went well.

*1. Lake Shore Limited: tiny grumbles*

We left Chicago on the Lake Shore to Boston. Definitely the roughest part of the trip. I still can't handle coach as well as I'd like. We had one of those berated smoking lounges but the conversation was great and after the NYNY train took off, we could look out the back window. We lost a couple hours behind a freight. Probably would have been ok but the PA system seemed to be out in our car so the folks that stayed in their seats seemed to get really disappointed. Some seemed to connect from western superliner with good informative crews. But a bit of time overhearing the conductor cleared it all up. Wow that original Buffalo station must have been amazing in it's day.

*2. Twilight Shoreliner: that's the toilet? *

We had two hours in Boston before we got on to the Twilight Shoreliner. What a nice station, the Acela Club was great. The viewliner (winter view) was fun. the shower worked well to wash off the coach grime. Probably should have let the attendant make the lower bunk, I'm sure he would have known the secret. Getting up at 5:30 however is a little rough. Running to the club car for coffee gave my girlfriend a chance to go to the bathroom without me watching.

*DC*

We had about 6 hours in DC just enough time to take a bus tour and search around Union Station.

*3. The Capitol Limited*

I was a little disappointed to get a lower room but in retrospect the ride was smoother down lower. The sightseer lounge made up for the lower berth and the dinner was good. I decided to get the half bottle of Merlot after ordering a free fillet.

Again the sleeper was blast even if the PA didn't work in it either (four levels of static). We annexed the room across from our room (as per the attendant's suggestion) while the beds were down (our own version of a deluxe) The flooding from the snow melt made our train limited to 15 mph for a few hours, probably would have driven me nuts if I weren't bedded down in the sleeper and I hadn't heard the announcement while in the lounge. But arriving late meant we had extra time for breakfast and even a pretty decent lunch

*Insights*

-save the sleeper for last: it was nice to have something to look forward to

-let the attendant do his/her job: your probably going to tip the same anyway

-if your going to be late be late on a sleeper

*Things I'd do different*

-ask about problems: they might have been able to fix the PA if I asked

-use the Metro. lounge in Chicago: I guess I was a 1st class traveler and eligible for the service

-bring slippers: I must have looked like a moron in shorts and boots coming back from the shower

*Tricks we used*

- brought our own food for the first part: the dinners are great but the cafe food is not. and our luggage got lighter as we traveled.

- download the amtrak Site: if you have a web capture program and a laptop you can have some fun answering question and looking up stations.

In all- a good trip. Give it a try if you can get to Chicago


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## Amfleet (Mar 23, 2003)

Glad you enjoyed your trip!


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## battalion51 (Mar 23, 2003)

> Things I'd do different-ask about problems: they might have been able to fix the PA if I asked


 Ummm, I hate to say it but, no way. Amtrak crews really don't have the time to try and fix the PA box during station stops. Many times when we know a PA is out in one of the rear cars we will make the general train announcement, and then make local announcements the rest of the way back. I'm glad that the trip was enjoyable, and I may try something similar to that in a few years. My route would be Meteor FTL-ORL, Sunset Ltd ORL-NOL, Crescent NOL-NYP, Meteor NYP-FTL.


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## AlanB (Mar 23, 2003)

rail sale said:


> -use the Metro. lounge in Chicago: I guess I was a 1st class traveler and eligible for the service


Rail Sale,

Since you started out in coach, you would not have been able to use the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. You didn't achieve first class status until you hit the sleeper on the Twilight Shoreliner.

Now had you transferred to another Amtrak train when you returned to Chicago on the Capital, then you could have used the lounge at that point.



rail sale said:


> Wow that original Buffalo station must have been amazing in it's day.


From pictures that I've seen, it was indeed magnificent in it's heyday.

I'm glad you had an enjoyable trip, and thanks for the report.


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## rail sale (Mar 23, 2003)

AlanB said:


> Since you started out in coach, you would not have been able to use the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. You didn't achieve first class status until you hit the sleeper on the Twilight Shoreliner.


Thanks AlanB

I thought I had read that somewhere in a posting. Actually that's good, I don't have to feel bad about missing the doughnuts

-rail sale


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## Bill Haithcoat (Mar 24, 2003)

Rail sale, welcome to our post!! I enjoyed your trip summaries.


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