# Philly to Florida, part 2



## Mystic River Dragon (Feb 8, 2015)

When I left all of you at the end of part 1, I had just arrived in Winter Park and was greeted by a downpour. I am glad to report that the weather improved (except for a drizzly Thursday). This is my trip report for the week in Winter Park and the trip back up on 98.

I had a wonderful time in Winter Park. I love Tiffany almost as much as trains, so I spent a lot of time in the Morse Museum with its fantastic collection, and also went to a nice lunch there. The weather was cool for the Florida natives but perfect for me--I took some long walks around the very walkable town, ate outside at some of the restaurants on Park Avenue across from the park, and window-shopped along the same street.

But, of course, what you really want to know about is the trains, so here goes:

On Wednesday, I decided to take SunRail. I had originally planned to go up to Maitland and back, but as I was looking at the schedule Wednesday morning, a better connection was going south to the Orlando Health/Amtrak station, because the northbound train would be coming back in about a half hour from when the southbound arrived. So I got on the southbound one around mid-morning.

I didn't know how I'd feel about SunRail, because it does seem to make quite a spectacle of itself, with all the bright yellow and orange colors and the loud horn blowing. I was very, very pleasantly surprised. The tap on/tap off feature worked well, the conductor was polite, and the inside of the train was a bit more subdued than the outside. The seats were a muted color (so muted that I can't remember what they were) and very comfortable. The passengers were well-behaved and polite, and the train was spotless.

A bonus when I got off at Orlando was that 91 was in the station! So I walked down (you can take the same sidewalk from SunRail down to the Amtrak station) and watched the people getting on and off and went into the station and looked around. After that, it was about time to walk back up and get the SunRail back. A small but very enjoyable adventure!

During the week, I wandered over to the park to watch 91, 97, or 98 if they were coming or going, and then I watched 92 at night from the balcony of the place I was staying.

By the way, I saw John, the station agent in Winter Park, who won a service award this year. He wasn't working the days I arrived or left, but I stopped to say hello during the week and congratulate him on the award, and he showed me a picture taken of all the Florida people who had won awards.

After my "splurge" week in Winter Park, I came up on 98 starting yesterday. We had the same great crew as on the way down, and I had young Leo as my SCA. He had a slightly different style than Preston, but was still very good. We had three sleepers, and the SCA in that one was Jimmy, a very gracious, soft-spoken man who I had as an SCA sometime last year. He remembered me and stopped to say hello, which was very nice of him.

We were taken most of the way by P-42 no. 12, followed by no. 19. No. 19 seemed to be getting a good workout this week--I saw it four times! At WAS, we switched to ACS-64 no. 601.

The crew was great, but the trip itself had a few delays. It started an hour late out of WPK, then stopped somewhere between Jacksonville and Jesup because a car was stranded on the tracks. I imagine some of you know more details than I do about exactly what happened. I was very impressed with Leo, though, in that he went to each roomette and bedroom and told us what the delay was. We made up a bit of time overnight, but were still a few hours late. Because I am staying in Philly overnight, the delays didn't affect me, but I did feel bad for the people trying to make connections. Some were able to get their Northeast Regional in WAS (it was right across the tracks from us) instead of going to New York.

As for meals, I had lunch right after I got on (just before 3:00). I offered to skip it because it was so late, but the dining crew said it was no problem. I had the turkey meatballs and cheesecake, just like on the way down. I had to eat by myself because it was so late, and nobody else came in. I had dinner at 6:30 and chose the light option (since I pretty much had just finished lunch). It was small but perfect if you don't want a lot (some kind of meat in wine sauce with pearl couscous and carrots). Then ice cream for dessert. My dining companions were an older gentleman who had gone back to work because he got bored in retirement. Unfortunately, he was having a golfing vacation in Florida when there was an emergency at work and they asked him to come back up. He lives just outside of Boston and was not looking forward to going back to the snow up there. The other two people were a husband and wife who were on the train with me going down--they were a very pleasant couple from Pennsylvania, and she and I walked up together this morning to see the engine switch at WAS. For breakfast, I had the omelet with potatoes and the chicken maple sausage. I had breakfast with the same nice gentleman from Boston and with a woman who was more reserved, but still pleasant.

I realize I have been very long-winded, and have probably omitted the one detail someone wants to know! But there is just one more memory, and perhaps the best one: while waiting for the train, I met a grandmother and her 6-year-old grandson. Whenever he visits her in Winter Park, they walk over and look at the trains. We had a wonderful conversation, all about trains. He knew the numbers, the times, the roomette layout, and how many coaches, sleepers, etc. each Florida Amtrak train had. He had also been on SunRail with his family 22 times. And he wants to work for Amtrak when he grows up (as an engineer, of course--every 6-year-old train enthusiast seems to want to be an engineer!). Talking with them made me smile and started the trip back just right, and Leo insisted that I wave to them from the window before I did anything else!


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## Bob Dylan (Feb 8, 2015)

Nice trip,thanks for sharing! And I'd bet that with the storms that are hammering the NE, you wish you were still in Florida!


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## Railroad Bill (Feb 8, 2015)

Enjoyed your trip report especially since we just returned from Winter Park last month. Did you make it to the Winter Park Historical Society? A very nice RR history exhibition with photos, film and memorabilia throughout the building.. Thanks for sharing your trip.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Feb 10, 2015)

jimhudson--You're right, I came back up too soon! Although where I live, we have been very lucky this year--most of the snow has gone north of us, and we have just had some black ice days to deal with.

Railroad Bill--I forgot all about the Winter Park Historical Society! I didn't realize it has a RR history exhibition, and I will put it on the list for a trip back (hopefully) next winter. Hope your trip was a good one, too!

Sorry for the delay in replying to both of you--I was doing all those boring "after you get home from vacation" chores!


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## MrEd (Feb 13, 2015)

thanks for the trip report


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## Mystic River Dragon (Feb 14, 2015)

You're very welcome, MrEd.


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