# Trip Report - Silver Meteor, Orlando to NYP



## Tlcooper93 (Jun 30, 2021)

Just took a lovely trip from St. Petersburg to Boston via the Silver Meteor. I paid $482 for the complete ticket, though I ended up upgrading to an Acela at NYP for an extra $70.


Unfortunately, Amtrak didn't communicate very effectively that the St. Petersburg thruway bus station switched locations a year ago, and many apps (even when linked through the Amtrak app) still showed the old location.
Because of this, my fiancé and I missed the Amtrak bus and had to find our own way to Orlando. We did arrive a little early however, and decided to explore the station and surrounding area thoroughly.
Orlando is one of my favorite train stations in the country. Its revival architecture is beautiful.



The train arrived on time at Orlando, and boarding was relatively easy. Low platforms don't make life easy (and it was 97 degrees outside), but they made boarding as quick as possible.
I am a big fan of the Viewliner II thus far. Especially for longer journeys with more than one person in the room, it really doesn't make sense to have the toilet in the room.
In the Viewliner I's however, I don't mind having the toilet in room if it’s just a 1-night journey (like BOS-WAS Night Owl, where chances are you really only ever need it for #1).
The new seats are great, and Viewliners are much better than superliners when it comes to the Roomette, because the person in the upper bunk can still look outside. It feels a little less like a coffin.






Though this picture doesn't necesarily show it, I was genuinely surprised how dirty the outside of the VII's were. They were utterly filthy, and it wasn't just this train. I got to see the southbound Silver Meteor pass at Orlando, and it was about the same. To contrast, the sleeper, New River, they use on the NEC for the Night Owl (on the right), is so spotless it often gets mistaken for a VII.








As per usual, and no surprise to any of us, the dining experience was abysmal. Flexible dining on eastern LD trains is worse for vegetarians; they only had the one vegetarian option, and it’s pretty tasteless. There was no fresh fruit anywhere to be found.
At breakfast, the omlette was terrible. The potatoes however, were good (I think others have said at much). I asked the clerk for some cereal, but he refused at first because we had already gotten the omlette. Upon asking if I could pay for the cereal however, he gave in and let me eat it. Even he (who had kind of a temper the entire trip) had to I guess admit the dining for sleeper passengers is terrible. 

Much to my dismay, there was no coffee or tea available in the sleepers.





One highlight of the trip was this tight curve somewhere outside Jacksonville (I’m sure Jis can provide more info). Truly a stunning curve; we were in the last sleeper of the train and really got to see its entire curvature.





We arrived in to NYP about 15 minutes late, which was just fine, and in the realm of Amtrak LD trains, I'd consider it still on time.
As per usual, the best service of the entire Amtrak trip was at Moynihan train hall's Metropolitan Lounge. During our layover, we enjoyed excellent La Colombe cappuccinos and drip coffee, along with the best food provided by Amtrak. I know it’s expensive to provide such premium offering, but Acela First Class may be more appealing (and worth the money) if they offered a similar selection.


As I wrote in another thread, the Acela leg of the trip from NYP-BOS was a let down. We were 45 minutes delayed into Boston, which in Acela time is quite a lot.
From what I understand, there is a 100mph cap on all Amtrak trains due to this unbelievable heat wave we are all having. The Acela therefore, ran like a NE Regional the entire way, and I found myself wondering why we payed extra in the first place.


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## joelkfla (Jul 1, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> Orlando is one of my favorite train stations in the country. Its revival architecture is beautiful.


The Orlando station still has wooden phone booths in the waiting room -- but no phones in them.


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## jis (Jul 1, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> One highlight of the trip was this tight curve somewhere outside Jacksonville (I’m sure Jis can provide more info). Truly a stunning curve; we were in the last sleeper of the train and really got to see its entire curvature.


The curve in question is the one at the upper left of the map below...


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## MARC Rider (Jul 1, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> At breakfast, the omlette was terrible. The potatoes however, were good (I think others have said at much). I asked the clerk for some cereal, but he refused at first because we had already gotten the omlette. Upon asking if I could pay for the cereal however, he gave in and let me eat it. Even he (who had kind of a temper the entire trip) had to I guess admit the dining for sleeper passengers is terrible.



Funny, I think that the omelet is better than the potatoes, but then, maybe what they serve on First Class Acela is different from the Flex meals on the LD trains. They sure look the same. And it's an improvement over the Flex breakfasts they served me in 2019, which was a choice of an undersized oatmeal, undersized yogurt, and oversized muffin, or the Jimmy Dean Sandwich, which might be OK if they heated it up properly. I've heard that while the eastern LD trains might not be getting traditional dining, improvements in the Flex dining are in the works. I'm hoping it happens before October, when I go out to Chicago for the Gathering.


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## Tlcooper93 (Jul 1, 2021)

jis said:


> The curve in question is the one at the upper left of the map below...
> View attachment 23333



You never fail to provide info. Thanks!



MARC Rider said:


> Funny, I think that the omelet is better than the potatoes, but then, maybe what they serve on First Class Acela is different from the Flex meals on the LD trains. They sure look the same. And it's an improvement over the Flex breakfasts they served me in 2019, which was a choice of an undersized oatmeal, undersized yogurt, and oversized muffin, or the Jimmy Dean Sandwich, which might be OK if they heated it up properly. I've heard that while the eastern LD trains might not be getting traditional dining, improvements in the Flex dining are in the works. I'm hoping it happens before October, when I go out to Chicago for the Gathering.



I also put this in the Amtrak dining thread, but I spoke with the SCA, and he said that traditional dining is indeed returning to eastern LD trains. Its nice to know that eventually it will happen.

He said that hiring all of the people necesary to make traditional dining happen, along with planning all of this is the reason for the likely year long delay.


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## jis (Jul 1, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> Funny, I think that the omelet is better than the potatoes, but then, maybe what they serve on First Class Acela is different from the Flex meals on the LD trains.


I think they most certainly are different since they are plated and delivered by different vendors, unless something has changed recently.


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## Brian Battuello (Jul 1, 2021)

I recently had my first "Acela First" meal and it was very flex-like, but wasn't inedible. The unlimited free drinks didn't hurt!


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## Qapla (Jul 1, 2021)

I have taken the Silvers from JAX to NWK and NYP and have taken them south from PAL - I have never been around that curve since I have yet to take the train between JAX and PAL ... I'm sure that has something to do with living, more-or-less, between those two stations.


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## jis (Jul 1, 2021)

Qapla said:


> I have taken the Silvers from JAX to NWK and NYP and have taken them south from PAL - I have never been around that curve since I have yet to take the train between JAX and PAL ... I'm sure that has something to do with living, more-or-less, between those two stations.


Then again one would have taken somewhat similar curves at Philadelphia on the so called River Line getting onto the Schuylkill River Bridge (R heading North) heading out towards NY from 30th St. Station. Also there is the Frankford Curve (L heading North)/East), the infamous site of the #188 derailment. And the Bergen Curve (R heading towards NY) between Secaucus and the Hudson Tubes. And of course not to forget, the curve entering Acca Yard bypass tracks coming in from the South (L heading North). Just to name a few. There are many interesting curved on the route of the Silvers.


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## MARC Rider (Jul 1, 2021)

jis said:


> Also there is the Frankford Curve (L heading North)/East), the infamous site of the #188 derailment.


And also the site of the much more deadly 1943 Frankford Junction wreck of the Congressional Limited.


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## Qapla (Jul 1, 2021)

I do wish there was a daytime train from FL-NY so I could enjoy the scenery between JAX and NWK ... instead of most of it being dark.


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## MARC Rider (Jul 1, 2021)

Qapla said:


> I do wish there was a daytime train from FL-NY so I could enjoy the scenery between JAX and NWK ... instead of most of it being dark.


Well, you could drive up to Savannah and take the Palmetto. Not that there's a lot of scenery, unless you like looking a trees, swamps, and cotton fields. The highlight of my Palmetto rides was passing by the observation tower at South of the Border on the NC/SC state line.


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## railiner (Jul 1, 2021)

Too bad the Palmetto doesn't extend to Jacksonville. like it used to....

And for that matter, overnight on to Miami. Would be nice to have another train arrive there more than 30 minutes apart from the two that now do....


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## Michigan Mom (Jul 4, 2021)

Nice report! Loved being able to travel vicariously on the Silver. I'm priced out of this trip for the foreseeable future - maybe things will change. At the moment, I can get 3 people to Florida (out of DTW) for a small fraction of the cost on Delta. 
Agree with you the Orlando station is so cool.


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## Tlcooper93 (Jul 4, 2021)

Michigan Mom said:


> Nice report! Loved being able to travel vicariously on the Silver. I'm priced out of this trip for the foreseeable future - maybe things will change. At the moment, I can get 3 people to Florida (out of DTW) for a small fraction of the cost on Delta.
> Agree with you the Orlando station is so cool.



my ticket from St. Petersburg to Boston was $482, which was actually cheaper than all airline costs (3 weeks out). I suppose I could have searched for flights with 3 or 4 connections, but I think this was a pretty good deal and definitely is more competitive than legacy airlines. Though DTW for trains is definitely harder to get to!

the overall price after trip ended up being a little more due to switching to an Acela, but the difference was $70.


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## Michigan Mom (Jul 5, 2021)

$99 one way and nonstop. DL. It does take some playing around with dates and times.


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