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zephyr17. Just browsing the forum for pleasure today. Read your post here. I suppose there is an upside and downside to everything. Reminded me of my experience with the incident in Putnam County Florida in the 1980's where #98 dumped waste on two fishermen at Buffalo Bluff Creek on the St...

NO. Not since the Florida East Coast ended service in the 1960's. For many years before the creation of Amtrak 05/01/1971, the routes have always been Jacksonville-Ocala-Wildwood-Auburndale-West Palm and south; OR Jacksonville-DeLand-Orlando-Auburndale-West Palm and south (with several...

As purely a matter of curiosity on this; and after attempting a dummy booking, it appears that 97/98 may return to service on 10/11 and 10/12 respectively. Any discussion or insights on this.

joe from PA: I am with you. Like clockwork I would log in to Virtual Rail Ashland to see #97 almost every night. Seems most attention is focused on the Auto Train #53 through Ashland at about 6PM. The Silver Meteor has been my favorite train (as an SAL and SCL train + Amtrak) for a good part...

JWM: Amen to that. I am age 75. When I moved from GA to CA in 1970, the very-- I mean the very-- first thing I wanted to do was ride Santa Fe Super Chief in the sleepers Los Angeles to Chicago--and I DID! Four trips before Amtrak took control in 1971. One of the trips we had a Pullman...

Just to throw in my opinion, as a railfan and sleeping car passenger I would take the 3 night Texas Eagle just for the overall travel miles and on board time on the train and sleeper car. I think I could forgive the equipment issues, perhaps the mentioned inconsistencies of the OBS, and--even...

Thanks, ALL , for the many responses to my original post. I realize that there are serious concerns and issues taking place with Amtrak operations these days. I think it is good, on occasion, to approach a rather frivolous but maybe historical issue that may remind us all of better times gone...

I concur that this narrative by zephyr17 is the best summary explanation I have read. Thank You!

jis: You do make a good point. I wonder what the route with the most reasonable or desirable possibilities might be?--a second train to New York and southbound like the Southern Railway's Southerner and Crescent (about 12 hours differences in departure times); Atlanta-Chicago...

With all due respect to the developers, this plan for Atlanta is exactly what a large, lively, cosmopolitan city like Atlanta deserves. However, this forum needs to focus on AMTRAK and I would, therefore, reinforce my previous posts on this subject. Until there is more train northbound and...

Thank all of you who responded to my post. With all the "tons" of paper I have accumulated over 300,000 miles and 55 years, I could not quite remember that date. I think I agree with the consensus that is was somewhere 1986-1988. Do any of you remember the days when you wrote your own meal...

I posted this message several months ago : "It has been now nearly a one year (June 2021) since the Crescent changed its northbound schedule to an afternoon rather than morning arrival into WAS. I am wondering are there any real valid statistics on passengers who have abandoned this train due to...

Thanks, PaTrainFan, for the reply and comment and you make a good point in your final sentence. I obviously do not know at what time 4(1) will ultimately arrive in CHI tomorrow morning in the AM, but if it were 3AM or 4AM or 5AM, would it not be good customer service to allow occupancy--if...

I wonder what the "mood" is aboard 4(1) just now: food, service issues, etc. I know if it were me just going for a railfan ride--as many and most of my rides are--I would probably be OK with that extra night in the sleeper (although arrival middle of the night at CHI might be unappealing)...

Although I proudly have just over 300,000 rail passenger miles since 1966 and have a log of all those trips, I am having trouble pegging the date that meals became included with Amtrak sleeping car fares. My logs and paper "stuff" saved from my trips are a wealth of personal trip and event...

I think I would like to add my support to the general tenor and support suggested in tricia's post. My days of passenger trains began in 1966--mostly in the Pullman cars of the SAL Silver Comet Richmond to Atlanta. Even though there were still white table cloths, silver, china, etc. and some...

It always seemed like the most watched trains on the Virtual Railfan site in Ashland VA were #53 Auto Train @ about 0630p and #97 Silver Meteor @ about 0915p. Not being a current member of Virtual Railfan, I watched # 97 almost every night on YouTube. #97 has been annulled for some time now. I...

As a railfan, I had always wanted to work for Amtrak in some capacity since the 1970's--applied on occasion but never really followed it up. Now I am too old. Darn. C'est la vie.

I wonder what that means "criminal activity"? I have been a member of Virtual Rail off and on (currently off) for years. I visit the Ashland VA site frequently primarily because of the shear number of Amtrak trains through Ashland (the Silvers + about 20 others a day I think).

The Star actually did what? -- on time. It's been a rough several months for the Star for on time performance. Hope it continues to improve. The Silvers (Star, Meteor, and once the Comet) have been my favorite trains for the last 60 years.