# Florida or bust!



## Ryan (Apr 27, 2011)

We were originally booked on the Auto Train to see the launch on 4/19, but when the launch was rescheduled we decided to go to Tampa and stay with some friends there for the weekend.

So far, I've taken the MARC from BWI to WAS. I met a very nice man on the platform at BWI that was also headed to WAS to catch the CL and then the CZ all the was to California. He was a truck driver that just retired, put all his stuff of a truck and was taking a train out to move into a small horse farm near Reno. I gave him some tips on the train (he was taking coach to CHI and then a sleeper to California) and gave him the gouge on the CHI layover (told him where the Willis Tower was and where to get a pizza).

So far, 91 is on time and we should be boarding here shortly. As always, the CA at WAS is a great place to wait for a train!

More to come...


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## jb64 (Apr 27, 2011)

Hope you all have a great trip.


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## Ryan (Apr 27, 2011)

So far, so good!

We are in Cary, after sitting for about 40 minutes because we arrived early. Today's consist:

P42 171

P42 165

Bag 1160

VL 62035 shore view (still carrying big numbers and name on exterior)

VL 62029 palm view (tiger restored)

Diner 8559

Cafe 28024

Coach 25066

Coach 25076

Coach 25003

Coach 25115

Coach ????

That last coach looked mighty dark, but I couldn't get back there to look at is, as it was off the platform and blocking a grade crossing in RGH (yes, for all 40 minutes).

Ed, our car attendant has been as helpful as we've allowed, we dropped the top bunk early so that Alexander could ride up there and look out the top windows.

The dining car seems a bit slow but the food was great in 8599 (which was the topic of a recent thread here). We both had the crab cakes, which were tasty. Typical AmRice and AamVeg, but the dessert was top notch as always.

Lots of talk of torrado warnings all along the route, but we've dogged them all so far. Hopefully the good luck keeps up!!!


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## Ryan (May 1, 2011)

Here's the end of part I:

After passing through Southern Pines, NC on time, I decided to call it a night. I slept reasonably well, waking up a handful of times to get comfortable, but nothing major. I was awoken by what felt like a VERY sudden stop - I grabbed the scanner and turned it on to see what was going on, as it turns out we were just making our stop at Denmark, SC on time at 2:41 in the morning. I'm not sure if the stop was really all that sudden or if I was just half awake and wasn't expecting it.

I awoke a few minutes before Jacksonville, and took the opportunity to get off and stretch my legs and take some pictures. Georgia 300 was sitting in the station on the track closest to the station.

For some reason, we lost some time after Jacksonville, leaving Palatka 17 minutes late and Deland and Winter Park about 30 minutes down. We made back a little of the time leaving Orlando and Lakeland 11 and 16 minutes down respectively, but gave some of that back when a truck ran a grade crossing in front of us after we departed Lakeland. We were still moving very slowly at the time and the engineer was able to stop the train before the crossing, but we did a slow roll by and the crew got the tag number, business name and phone number of the truck (they had some type of apparatus dragging off the side of the truck and they stopped on the far side of the grade crossing). The crew called the damaged gate (it sounded like the truck just clipped the end of the gate as it rent around it) into the CSX dispatcher and we proceeded on our way.

We arrived in Tampa about 25 minutes late which was no big deal for us, as we weren't in too much of a hurry to get anywhere.

The dining car staff continued their somewhat sluggish service and had the annoying habit (to me at least) of just asking "What will you have" without first explaining what the various specials that were available. They redeemed themselves at the end however, by offering a Tampa-only seating first for lunch so that we could get fed before we arrived (the slight delay worked in our favor as well there.

Over all, the trip down got a solid B. Ed, the TAS was awesome, the dining crew was decent (but not superstars), but the scenery on the Atlantic coast routes just can't compare to the other Amtrak routes that I've taken.

On the rental car front, we made reservations with the Hertz at the Marriott that is about 5 minutes from the train station - they have a van that they used to come get us off the train and take us back to the hotel to do the paperwork and get the car. Not nearly as nice as having it right there at the station, but still very quick and easy. I'm looking forward to having a little bit of time at the station this afternoon to take some pictures and explore - the station in Tampa looked to be a nice older building.

On the non-train side of things, we drove from Tampa over to Merritt Island on the day of the launch, and found out that the launch had been scrubbed just as we arrived on the island. We were planning on watching from a friend's house, so we still had a nice BBQ and had an enjoyable afternoon before heading back to Tampa. Disappointing yes, but not a complete waste of a trip.


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