# My Amtrak trip to Florida and back



## cheapfurcoat (Apr 1, 2005)

My Amtrak trip was better this time with some noted exceptions which all seem to have a common connection. (Later with that)

Having a relapse of the flu didn't help my trip but thank God for Nyquil! It kept me going when otherwise I probably would have gone to my motel room and crashed.

The Capitol Limited picked me up in Cleveland for D.C. only 15 minutes late at about 1:20 AM.

I got to my Economy Bedroom and had the car attendant set up the bed. By the time I got settled down and comfortable the train came to a halt around Walton Hills. We sat there for a good 45 minutes. Then I remembered that I had brought my scanner. We waited on 2 NS freights, and then we rolled. My room was clean and everything worked as it should. No runaway heat this time. I drifted off to sleep somewhere just before Pittsburgh.

About 6:30 I got up and went to the diner for breakfast. The Amtrak french toast was excellent as always and the crew in the diner was at least half-way pleasant. After breakfast I went back to my room and enjoyed the rest of the ride over Sand Patch and points east.

We arrived in D.C. about 45 minutes late which left me about 5 hours to kill before I was to board the Silver Meteor for Florida.

I went into the Acela Lounge to store my bags. It was here that a helpful Amtrak agent told me that I could change my Coach ticket so that I could immediately board the Silver Star instead of the Meteor. I was pleased to hear this and followed through. I had a Coach ticket for this leg because the price for a Viewliner Roomette was up to $400.00 when I booked the trip. As I boarded, it soon became painfully apparent to me that it would probably be a very long ride to Deerfield Beach, FL.

The coach cars were loaded with many unruly children and adults. There were already no window seats and I was moved 5 times by a rather unpleasant female conductor. My take was that her mission was to desegregate the whole train. It seemed like African-American folks could sit together but us poor white folks got spread out all over the place. It really didn’t matter much to me but watching the shenanigans going on around me and having the Conductor move me 5 times went beyond ridiculous to the point where just about everybody in the car was pissed. The black gentleman that I finally ended up sitting next to filled me in on some of the things that had been going on in the car since New York City. Drunk and belligerent passengers were allowed to pretty much do as they pleased. He and I both came to the conclusion that there would be no sleep tonight for either one of us.

I guess the Train Gods were smiling on me because about 30 minutes into the trip the Conductor came along and announced that there were many sleepers left available. I would have paid full price at this moment but as it turned out my cost to Deerfield Beach was $125.00. I beat feet up to the lounge to buy one. The gentleman next to me did the same even though he was only going as far as Jacksonville. I then headed on to the front Viewliner Sleeper “Beach View” for my room.

This was my first experience on a Viewliner. I have to say that I really like the Viewliner Bedroom's layout. It has its own toilet and sink, a pleasant surprise. I settled down and finally relaxed feeling the fatigue of train travel and what was to be a relapse of the flu. As I drifted off for a nap I listened to the engineer calling out the signals and the defect detectors droning out the axle count on my scanner. Life is good!

I opted for the late dinner in the dining car and afterwards, retired to my room. The car attendant pulled the top bunk down for me and after freshening up a bit I climbed up. I had the greatest time laying next to the upper window. Watching the lights whiz by until I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning it became painfully clear to me that the cold/flu I had had early last week was making a comeback. With enough foresight to bring along some Nyquil and Dayquil I took a couple of the day ones, stayed in bed and skipped breakfast. Around noon I forced myself to get up and get dressed. I went to the lounge car and had something to eat which made me feel a bit better.

I listened to my scanner which was interesting as we were making a very long backing move into Tampa Station. I stepped off the train in Tampa. It was actually warm.

After we departed Tampa, the hurricane damage from Florida’s 4 hurricanes last year started to become apparent. As we moved southeast more and more debris littered the areas around the tracks. Homes with blue tarps covering all or part of their roofs became the rule instead of the exception. As one looks upon the clothing and debris trackside, you have to wonder just how far this stuff blew in from.

While listening to the scanner south of Sebring, our train’s engineer stated his concern several times about his locomotive’s lack dwindling pulling power. Citing several minutes lost after each stop.

He and the conductor traded some ideas of what may be the problem. We finally stopped again in the middle of nowhere and the HEP was switched off. We sat for 20 minutes or so until the northbound Silver Star went whizzing by. Our crew had stepped off and must have tinkered with something until the general consensus was that we should be able to “limp” into Miami. I don’t think the train went over 45mph after this but we did at least keep moving from that point.

As we entered the Palm Beach area I started to pack up my stuff in lieu of debarking in Deerfield Beach. All in all not too bad an experience this time so far.

I was met at the Deerfield Beach Amtrak station by my friend Ken Willaman. He took me over to Enterprise Car Rental to pick up my rental car. I had reserved a Chevy Cavalier but all they had was a brand new `05 Pontiac Grand Prix. So for the same cost I drove in style. We then went to find my motel. The Motel 6 in Pompano Beach.

Now I have had really great luck with Motel 6 but I guess the law of averages kind-of caught up with me. First off, they had no info on my reservation even when handed a printout of it from my computer. Luckily they had plenty of rooms so it could have been worse. A lot worse.

We went up to my room. It was relatively clean but on the worn side. My habit of checking the beds and mattresses however revealed an absolutely filthy mattress underneath the thin bottom sheet. A call to the front desk was later rewarded with a brand new mattress.

After freshening up Ken and I went to his house, had dinner and caught up on each other’s lives.

About 9:00PM I drove back to my motel. There was no hot water for a shower so I was forced to shower with cold water. A call to the front desk informed me that this happens often when everyone checks in and bathes at the same time.

The next morning I drove to a mall in Fort Lauderdale which has a Ron-Jon Surf Shop. Did some shopping and went to lunch. Met Ken around 12:30 and we proceeded to do a tour de force of hobby shops in the South Florida area. I was blown away by some of these places. Warrick Hobby was the biggest hobby shop I have ever seen. I bought a model of Mad Max’s car from the movie. We went to 5 places in all and by the end of the afternoon it had started to rain.

I was to meet Ken around 7:30PM at his model railroad club which is in the South Florida Railway Museum located in the Deerfield Beach train station. The club’s work session was to be this night but Ken and I ran trains on the club’s N scale layout. Afterwards we retired to the Denny’s restaurant next store. By this time I was really starting to pretty feel poorly. I drove back to my motel room and got into bed with fever and chills after severely medicating myself.

The next morning I felt awful. I stayed in bed until noon. I didn’t feel like doing much until evening but another friend whose name is also Ken, Ken Travis, had driven over from Port Charlotte to see me while I was in Florida. I again medicated myself and went out in the pouring rain with Ken Travis to do 2 more hobby shops in the area that I and Ken Willaman had missed. That evening we all met again at the South Florida Railway Museum and had a great time watching Tri-Rail and talking trains. About 9:00PM we broke it up as I had to go to my room and pack for the trip home the next day.

It was a sunny but cool for Florida day on Thursday when I turned in my rental car. Ken drove me to the Deerfield Beach Amtrak Station about 30 minutes early. The train was right on time at 11:34 AM and I boarded my Viewliner Sleeper car (this time Palm View) for the trip home. It was lunch time in the diner and I had the jambalaya. It was pretty spicy but good. I settled into my room and watched DVDs until dinner. That evening I had dinner with an interesting group of women headed for New York City. I had the short ribs of beef which were excellent. I was invited to the lounge car for a card game but politely refused as I think one of the women may have had other ideas for later. I was right because she knocked on my room door a bit later to ask if I was “alright”. I faked having been asleep and did not open the door. I just laid up in the top bunk and watched the night scenery go by until I went to sleep. At least I was feeling a bit better.

The next morning I got up around 7:30AM to make the breakfast in the dining car before we got into D.C. Afterward I packed my stuff and let the car attendant clean my room. I tipped him before I debarked in D.C.

I had 7 hours to kill in D.C. I thought about going to the Smithsonian but decided to stick close to the station. I shopped for a gift for my son and hung out in the Acela Lounge watching DVDs and napping briefly. The call to the Capitol Limited came at last and I went to my coach seat. The coach was empty as Acela Lounge passengers board the train first but most have rooms. I staked out a window seat next to the 110 volt AC outlet so I could watch more DVDs. The coach began to fill up rapidly and as two young Japanese women took the isle seats next to me, the conductor came along and once again wanted to move me. I don’t know if I just look like a pushover or what but I flatly refused to move this time. I told the conductor that I had been moved no less than 5 times on the Silver Star and that this seat, which was near the AC outlet was the reason I sat here in the first place. He backed off immediately and moved some other poor soul. I apologized to the two women next to me who had no problem with it anyway. And hey, they got to watch DVDs all the way to Cleveland!

I had dinner in the dining car at last call and spent some time in the Lounge Car. It was obvious at this point that we were really falling behind schedule as we were crawling and stopping quite a bit. At Cumberland, MD we were 80 minutes behind schedule and still crawling along. It was announced earlier that at midnight the Lounge Car snack bar would close. So about 11:10PM I walked up there to get a soda to nurse until either sleep or Cleveland came first. When I went downstairs to the snack bar, there were several passengers standing around waiting for the missing snack bar attendant. One woman said she had been waiting for 20 minutes. We waited for about another 10 minutes and I decided to go upstairs and wait until someone came along. The others eventually came upstairs, some with items from the bar in their hands. I don’t know if they left money or not but shortly after that a female crew member came along and went downstairs. I followed her down the stairs and into the snack bar but I wasn’t quite fast enough.

The door to the snack bar was literally slammed in my face. When I protested, stating that the snack bar was not to close until midnight she rudely replied, “Well, now we’re closed…” I was livid. I immediately went to look for the crew conductor. It became obvious to me that he was also part of the little private crew party going on in the closed dining car. He listened to my complaint right in front of the snack bar attendant, apologized, but did nothing. When I walked away and got out of sight, I heard them laughing. I guess denying passengers food and drink while goofing off and screwing their employer, Amtrak out of commissary profits was funny to the crew including the crew conductor.

I went back to my seat pretty disgusted. Suddenly I wanted to be home very much and this train was just CRAWLING ALONG…

At Pittsburgh we were a full 90 minutes late but when we left, it was time to hang on for dear life.

I mean we were flying… By the time we reached Alliance, OH, we had made up 35 minutes and were less than an hour late. It started to snow at this point and by the time we had entered the Cleveland suburbs, it was nearly a whiteout.

I got my bags together and went downstairs to disembark. We had made up even more time and were only 25 minutes late getting into Cleveland. I was amazed.

I was never so happy to see my wife and son. I almost never travel alone and missed them terribly. It was good to be home…

As for the train trip. It was definitely better than the trip to Oregon last fall. Having said that,

I truly believe I am through with Amtrak.

I have mixed feelings about the current situation Amtrak is in. There is no denying a definite need for cross country trains in the U.S. But like a lot of government run or funded entities Amtrak is insurmountably weighted down with worn out equipment and employees with either a poor work ethic or some sort of racial axe to grind. In many cases, both.

I resent having to “buy a smile” on Amtrak by tipping before a service is performed. That is not how it is supposed to work.

The term “First Class” needs to be removed from Amtrak’s web sites and brochures.

After paying for what was described as First Class tickets twice in the last 7 months, I can find little of either experience that could be described with the words “First” or “Class”.

Amtrak needs to make some serious changes before I will ever ride them again.


----------



## Foodman53 (Apr 1, 2005)

Although all of us....the employee....the railfan....and the employee...all know of Amtrak's precarious future.....poor customer service, and most of all, perceived treatment based on a racial "chip on the shoulder"... by no means should be allowed to exist!! If there is any hope of the company making it, and people's jobs continuing....it makes no sense to run off people who pay good money for the trip just because an employee(s) wants to act like an ass!! Having worked as a service attendant(albeit many years ago!!)....shoddy treatment from the crew would make me leave you.....pronto....and campaign for Amtrak's demise.....No passenger should be treated badly, for any reason!!

Simply ask Winn-Dixie why they are bankrupt! Although, Wal-Mart Supercenter was the final nail in the coffin, Publix has stolen customers from W/D for many years....not because of price....or location.....but, because of customer service, with cleanliness being the next reason!

I do stay in touch with many current employees...and yes, Amtrak, due to its inconsistancy, is a very diffucult employer. But, despite your "issues"...the customer is...or damn sure should be....the king!!

So, if Amtrak indeed "goes under".....poor customer service would have to take its share of the blame....which would be a crying shame!!

Just getting it off my chest!!

From the "Florida Funnel"

Foodman 53


----------



## Guest (Jun 4, 2005)

well in some ways you are right but I think there are some decent employees who try they best . I hated when hear bad experiences on Amtrak (and most of it about the employees) but I always tell my guest where I am working in the diner or in the sleeper or even in the snack bar ........I tell them I keep riding Amtrak.


----------

