# Capitol Limited Trip report



## Steve4031 (Nov 11, 2003)

Well . . . it was great.

On Friday, my day at school was tough. A huge batttle has been going on between me and some of my co-workers. I had grand plans of getting several things accomplished due to the fact that the kids were off and the teachers were scheduled to have time to themselves. Each time I tried to cross something of the to do list, another issue developed. My coworkers were somewhat like freight trains on the SP Sunset line, obstructing the main line and not doing much else. The principal was like a competent, but harried dispatcher trying to prevent a head on collission. Fortunately, the principal is on my side and she was trying like hell to clear the main lines. She just could not get it done . . .

Anyway . . . off to Union station at 3:15 P.M. My buddy had a ride from his school, and his arrival was the first thing that happened as planned on Friday. I was expecting a late departure because 6 had been running 4:45 minutes late all day. I expected 30 to be held. We arrived at Uion station, proceeded to the Metropolitan Lounce, left are bags, and retreated to the bar that is near the old waiting room. My buddy, Gene, wanted to ogle the bartenders. They were worth olgling, and the 90 minute wait for the first class boarding passed quickly.

Gene has yet to discover suitcases with wheels, and so we opted to try red cap serivice. It was easier not having to carry the bags down to the sleepers which were on the head end, but there were no clear, direct instructions as to what to do to get our bags to the train. This uncertainty cause mild stress.

As we walked down the platform, I noted the consist. Two or three freight cars on the back, two csx business cars(oops forgot the names), and the Yankee clipper car tacked on to 3 coaches, sightseer lougne, superliner 1 diner, superliner 1 sleeper, and our car, "New Hampshire". I was glad to see a newer superliner II car. The attendant directed us to bedroom D, and we settled in for an on-time departure.

There were no dinner reservations taken, but service started less than 1 hour out of Chicago. We were seated by a waiter who at first seemed unfriendly. However, he did respond to our request to sit accross from each other so we could both sit by the window. The waiter thought we did not want to share the table. I explained that we had been looking forward to llooking out the window and eating dinner, and also that we would love to share the table with others. We were joined by an older gentleman (alone) and a woman (alone) who spiced up the festivities by ordering a bottle of wine and sharing with the table. The steaks and side dishes were excellent, and the service was pleasant. A great dinner in the diner.

After dinner, a first for me. During dinner my cell phone informed me that I had voice mail. I waited until after dinner, and checked my message. It was my principal calling to see if I had made the train OK. I called back, and she encouraged me to have a good trip. She new that the work day had been "bad day on the rr. " So the first was talking to a principal while riding a train. Alll you teachers out there know what I mean. 

A few minutes later, an older lady from Oregon admired my phone which also is a handlheld PC. Somehow, she started talking about area 51 and then asked me if I had ever seen a UFO. I responded, oh like in Ugly Freaking Object . . . like certain coworkders. Well she kept up with the UFO's, and I kept up with the coworkers. Finally I asked if area 51 had a hot line so that I could call them and tell them that some of their aliens(my coworkers) had escaped. That finally ended that. 

By now we were ontime out of Waterloo. We arrrived and departed Toledo pretty much on time. At this point, we went to bed. I had the upper, Gene had that double width lower. Someday I want to try that lower. We both slepted adequately. Morning logistics are tough for two grown men in a deluxe bedroom. Thus I got up real early, showered, and retreated to the lounge car. That toilet/shower thing is small. I would have gone downstairs accept I saw a lady heading down there before me.

About an hour later, Gene joined me for breakfast in the diner. The train had crested Sand Patch, and was now on the way into Cumberland. Since we made the last seating of breakfast, we relaxed for a godd 90 minutes and discussed the state of our social lives (not good) as we enjoyed the scenery.

Returned to find the beds not made. However, the attendant was working hard in the standard bedroom section. He did ours next as we relaxed in an empty standard room.

The remainder of the ride was uneventful, with an ontime arrival into Washington, D.C. Overall, this leg was very satisfactory. No problems.

On Monday, we returned to Chicago. Returning a Hertz rental car to Union station is a pain in the you know what. First, there is no convenient gas station nearby, so we had to look for that. Then we could not find the enterance into the garage. Fortunately, allowed plenty of time.

Gene ate at Sbarros, I inhaled a pretzel and drank lemonade. We took one quick look at the luggage stores where I encouraged Gene to join the 21st century and get a suitcase with wheels. He said nope.

We returned to the Acela lounge, and relaxed. Gene slept, I wandered, and then checked my email. Again, tried redcap service. Again, directions were unclear. Next time, I'll give Gene one my suitcases with wheels. However, everyone was reasonably nice. We boarded in car 2900 room C for the rturn trip. This time there were two engines hooked up directly to the first coach, with two more coaches, the lounge, the diner, and two superliner 1 sleepers. There was freight on the back. I was glad the sleepers were on the back, because I could see the engines more easily when we went around curves.

We departed on time, but experienced slow running most of the way to Harpers Ferry. We must have been stuck behind a freight or a commuter train. During this time, Gene napped, and I called my friends at work (not the aliens) and to catch up on the gossip. I missed monday. (oh damn  )

There were dinner reservations, and we took the 8 p.m. ones. We snacked on cheese in crackers and looked out the window with the lights off. I don't every get tired of that. I knew Gene wanted to read after dinner, so I notied that bedroom A was empty. If it remained so, I was goint to sit there for the ride over sand patch.

Dinner was interesting. There was a new girl working who knew restaurant work to some degree, but not trains. She seemed overwhelmed by this practice, jogging back in forth to bring checks, pens, etc. She made one general announcement as to how to enter the car number and room number and sign the check. She was somewhat like a teacher, but she was enthusiastic and friendly.

Then she came to ask our order. Ooops-no menus. So a quick run to the gally and back to hand out menus to all the passengers. When she returned to get our order, I cautioned her to be careful about running on a moving train, and told her to relax because she would be OK and do a good job. She did stop running. Overall, I appreaciate a friendly demeanor even if the servce is lacking. She was obviously tring. The steaks were a little tough this time, but the rest of dinner was good.

We returned to the sleeper, and i scoped out A. It was till empty and we had left Cumberland moments before. I snagged my MP3 player and headphones out of C, turned out the lights in A, and settled in. The bedrooms were on the left side of the room, and we were running on the right had main. There was a full moon, so the entire view was covered with moonlight. Each time we went around a curve, the shadows and moonlight highlighted the scenery, and the headlight showed the way. I really cant describe this, but it was awesome, and went on for two hours. The ride over sand patch was my favorite part of the trip.

I went to bed around 11, and slept until an hour before Toledo. This time, I got downstairs and used the other shower because there was more room there. Also, I did not want to wake Gene up. We pulled into Toledo 30 minutes early. I used this time to call my girlfriend (she gets up early), and return a message to my dad.

Again, Gene and I had a pleasant breakfast in the diner. The new lady waited on us again. She did not have the same energy as last night, but was till friendly. The LSA did not seem very supportive of her, and he seemed to be scolding her for not working efficiently. He may have been right, but he could have pitched in to help. The french toast was excellent, and we did get refills on the coffee.

The weather was dreary, rainy and cloudy. We made good time until shortly after South Bend. Then we had about an hour of 30 mph running. This caused us to arrive into Hammon/Whiting about 30 minutes late. Ultimtely, we pulled into Union Sation about 20 minutes late. Overall, the return trip was great also.


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## AlanB (Nov 11, 2003)

Sounds like you had a decent trip Steve. Thanks for the report.


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## Bill Haithcoat (Nov 11, 2003)

Sounds liek a good trip. Encourage your friend to start using luggage with wheels. I was late in doing so but now don't know how I stiool dragging all that stuff around. The luggage with wheels can be awkward in some situations but the good far outweighs the bad. Glad you were as close to schedule as you were....good trip, good report. The kind that makes one want to go out and board a train, oneself..


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## battalion51 (Nov 11, 2003)

Sounds like an awesome trip Steve. Too bad you couldn't catch the Cardinal one way and the Capitol the other. May just have too take another trip. :lol:


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## Steve4031 (Nov 11, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> Sounds like an awesome trip Steve. Too bad you couldn't catch the Cardinal one way and the Capitol the other. May just have too take another trip. :lol:


EXACTLY!! I want to do the Cardinal at Christmas. I'm thinking Three Rivers to New York, and the Cardinal back.


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## AlanB (Nov 11, 2003)

Steve4031 said:


> EXACTLY!! I want to do the Cardinal at Christmas. I'm thinking Three Rivers to New York, and the Cardinal back.


Ouch, Steve that's a tough one to do at that time of the year. The best scenery on both routes can only be seen eastbound during the winter months. Westbound however both routes hit the best scenery during daylight hours.

If you take the Cardinal back to Chicago you will miss seeing the fabulous New River Gorge, as it will be dark by the time you reach that area. On the other hand if you were to ride the 3R's back to Chicago, then you would miss Horseshoe Curve.

Personally, I'd probably suggest running the 3r's to NY. Then take the Lake Shore home. Save the Card for your next trip. Alternatively, you could run the Cardinal to DC, and then return on the Cap saving the 3R's for next time. This way you would get the best scenery heading east, while returning on trains that you've already been on or don't have great scenery (the LSL is just so so on scenery).

Either that or plan this trip during the summer months when you have a chance of catching the good scenery while headed west-bound.

If you really still want to do those two trains at Christmas, then I would highly suggest taking the Cardinal east bound. While the Horseshoe Curve is famous and a nice visual treat, the New River Gorge in my humble opinion is far more spectacular.


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## battalion51 (Nov 11, 2003)

Heck I'd love to take a train other than Silver Service sometime. :lol: Then again I can't really complain about my situation. I am planning on taking the Sunset and City of New Orleans this summer though to Chicago.


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## Amfleet (Nov 11, 2003)

Glad you had a great trip Steve. There's nothing like a realxing train trip when life leads down a bumpy road. Hope everything works out for you, your co-workers, and school.


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## Steve4031 (Nov 12, 2003)

AlanB said:


> Steve4031 said:
> 
> 
> > EXACTLY!!   I want to do the Cardinal at Christmas.  I'm thinking Three Rivers to New York, and the Cardinal back.
> ...


I understand you exactly. However, having a room and turning the lights off at night mitigates the issue quite a bit. I was hoping to take the Cardinal eastbound, and the 3 Rs wb. I kind of like that pennsy mainline to Pittsburg, and seeing the horseshoe curve at night from a room is pretty cool. I have done that in the past. Thanks for the advice.


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## battalion51 (Nov 12, 2003)

This is sort of off topic. But is the Horseshoe double track or single track main? That'd make an awesome shot if was DT and there was a meet there.


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## AlanB (Nov 12, 2003)

Actually, if I recall correctly, Horseshoe Curve is triple track. So meets frequently happen in that area.


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## Viewliner (Nov 12, 2003)

battalion51 said:


> Heck I'd love to take a train other than Silver Service sometime. :lol:


That makes two of us. :lol:

Seriously, I'm glad you had a great trip steve. Thanks for the report.


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## coachseats (Nov 13, 2003)

The Horseshoe curve is double track currently. From a high of four tracks, it has been cut down as traffic levels have decreased. Don't forget about Germany's plan to blow up the horseshoe curve as a way to disrupt American industry during WWII! Spies were even caught in the states with diagrams plotting their attack. Luckily none of that today, you can visit a museum and take all kinds of great pictures.


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## tp49 (Nov 13, 2003)

Sounds like the teachers have reverted to the level of the students at your school.  Glad you had an enjoyable trip.


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## Steve4031 (Nov 13, 2003)

tp49 said:


> Sounds like the teachers have reverted to the level of the students at your school.  Glad you had an enjoyable trip.


The students are most definitely not the problem!! They are inner city high school kids, but for the most part, they are the best part of the job. Like I noted in my trip report, I think those co-workers are aliens.


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## amtrakmichigan (Dec 3, 2003)

Steve,

Who was your sleeper attendent on this train to WAS? the one who didn't make up your beds. I had the same problem when I was on it a few days after you.


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## Steve4031 (Dec 4, 2003)

amtrakmichigan said:


> Steve,
> Who was your sleeper attendent on this train to WAS? the one who didn't make up your beds. I had the same problem when I was on it a few days after you.


Too be honest, I dont remember. However, I do remember that he was doing other rooms at the time.


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