J
James Patten
Guest
In light of recent threads about service cuts, etc. I thought I would provide an insight into a recent long distance trip.
My wife and I took the Silver Meteor to Orlando and return, starting out (on Amtrak anyway) in Boston. We had the bedroom both ways. The trip down was done on points, the trip back on money.
When I called AGR several months ago to get the reservation, I specifically asked for the furthest back sleeper in the train, room B. I like room B because it faces forward. The person I spoke with said that car 11 (the second sleeper) was as far back as she could get. So I resigned myself to being in the middle sleeper, hoping the sleepers stay in the rear. When we boarded and the conductor scanned my ticket (before we even left) he said I was in car 12! We immediately dragged our luggage back one car, much to my happiness. Our trip back was in car 10 - this I did online and didn't bother to try to get a further back room.
Our attendant on the way down to Florida was nice ... but no ice was out when we left and it wasn't until later he put ice out. There was no fruit juice or coffee out either until (I think) next morning. There wasn't even a timetable out! I didn't know if this was related to first class service cuts I've read about or only a personal preference. The attendant on the way back was much better, with full juice/coffee/ice going the whole time. Both, of course, were helpful with luggage and with room change overs. Both were friendly and had good attitudes.
Our car on Train 97 seemed in good shape - the only thing that rattled was the little cabinet by the mirror. Some duct tape took care of that. Not even the door between the rooms rattled! On train 98 the car seemed rather more tired - the door rattled a lot (the attendant helped out by stuffing a wedge on other side), and when I took a shower the pressure was quite low.
Sleep, for me, is hard to come by in strange places. So I slept with a little pharmaceutical help, and earplugs. I had the top bunk in both directions. My wife gave me her second pillow, which I stuck between myself and the wall. In both directions, the locomotive horn was pretty distant (2 locos, 3 coaches, cafe and diner, then the sleepers), so that didn't wake me or keep me up. The ride quality left something to be desired in either case - lots of shaking or vibration happening. I could not tell if it was worse on the trip north or not. In any case, the pillow against the wall seemed to help some. Was it track, braking, or just the fact that I was higher above the center of gravity?
"Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer". Food was good, neither of us noticed the lack of flowers. I think we only ate with one other person the entire trip. The diner was never full when I was there, which I've never recalled happening before (traveled on the LSL, Cap Limited, CZ, Cardinal, and EB before).
On the trip down, we were rarely late - except getting into DC, when I wanted the extra time to get out and explore the station a bit! We got to Orlando 10 minutes early. The trip back the train got in to Orlando 2 hours late, and except for schedule padding we never made the time back.
Announcements: I don't recall hearing any on the way down. On the way back they were made at every station stop, except between 10 PM and 7 AM. Maybe the speaker in our car was broken on the way down.
FYI the Amtrak Status Maps (dixielandsoftware.net) was a constant companion, as was a GPS app on my smartphone to see where I was and how fast we were going. Amtrak's website (for the Track a Train) was a little too hard to navigate on the small screen of my phone, although I did use it. The counter crew at Orlando would only announce delays after it was obvious the train was late - meanwhile many of us were following the trains progress periodically on Track a Train.
My wife and I took the Silver Meteor to Orlando and return, starting out (on Amtrak anyway) in Boston. We had the bedroom both ways. The trip down was done on points, the trip back on money.
When I called AGR several months ago to get the reservation, I specifically asked for the furthest back sleeper in the train, room B. I like room B because it faces forward. The person I spoke with said that car 11 (the second sleeper) was as far back as she could get. So I resigned myself to being in the middle sleeper, hoping the sleepers stay in the rear. When we boarded and the conductor scanned my ticket (before we even left) he said I was in car 12! We immediately dragged our luggage back one car, much to my happiness. Our trip back was in car 10 - this I did online and didn't bother to try to get a further back room.
Our attendant on the way down to Florida was nice ... but no ice was out when we left and it wasn't until later he put ice out. There was no fruit juice or coffee out either until (I think) next morning. There wasn't even a timetable out! I didn't know if this was related to first class service cuts I've read about or only a personal preference. The attendant on the way back was much better, with full juice/coffee/ice going the whole time. Both, of course, were helpful with luggage and with room change overs. Both were friendly and had good attitudes.
Our car on Train 97 seemed in good shape - the only thing that rattled was the little cabinet by the mirror. Some duct tape took care of that. Not even the door between the rooms rattled! On train 98 the car seemed rather more tired - the door rattled a lot (the attendant helped out by stuffing a wedge on other side), and when I took a shower the pressure was quite low.
Sleep, for me, is hard to come by in strange places. So I slept with a little pharmaceutical help, and earplugs. I had the top bunk in both directions. My wife gave me her second pillow, which I stuck between myself and the wall. In both directions, the locomotive horn was pretty distant (2 locos, 3 coaches, cafe and diner, then the sleepers), so that didn't wake me or keep me up. The ride quality left something to be desired in either case - lots of shaking or vibration happening. I could not tell if it was worse on the trip north or not. In any case, the pillow against the wall seemed to help some. Was it track, braking, or just the fact that I was higher above the center of gravity?
"Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer". Food was good, neither of us noticed the lack of flowers. I think we only ate with one other person the entire trip. The diner was never full when I was there, which I've never recalled happening before (traveled on the LSL, Cap Limited, CZ, Cardinal, and EB before).
On the trip down, we were rarely late - except getting into DC, when I wanted the extra time to get out and explore the station a bit! We got to Orlando 10 minutes early. The trip back the train got in to Orlando 2 hours late, and except for schedule padding we never made the time back.
Announcements: I don't recall hearing any on the way down. On the way back they were made at every station stop, except between 10 PM and 7 AM. Maybe the speaker in our car was broken on the way down.
FYI the Amtrak Status Maps (dixielandsoftware.net) was a constant companion, as was a GPS app on my smartphone to see where I was and how fast we were going. Amtrak's website (for the Track a Train) was a little too hard to navigate on the small screen of my phone, although I did use it. The counter crew at Orlando would only announce delays after it was obvious the train was late - meanwhile many of us were following the trains progress periodically on Track a Train.
