Capitol Limited, Washington-Michigan stations

Old MM · Apr 22, 2023

So the last time I rode the Cap, it was Michigan-Washington. That train originates in Chicago and connects all the Michigan passengers in Toledo. And I'll have another similar upcoming trip next month. This time, the reverse: I had a train ticket leaving Washington at 4:05. Previous legs of this journey were non-rail related, save for a segment from Charlotte to Durham, NC on the Piedmont. Everything had gone well, and following the week's adventures, here I was in DC for the day.
It was a beautiful spring day, the ultimate light jacket weather. Arriving at Union Station, I stowed my bag at the lounge, charged up the phone and then headed out to get lunch. Had not eaten yet that day although I could have stayed in the lounge and had some of the snacks (muffins, pretzels etc). But this was just not a day to stay indoors. The station food court was packed - all concessions were busy in the lower level, and new concessions have opened in the upper (street) level. This was right at noon so probably not the smartest time, unless you just resign yourself to waiting in line, which I did, at Chipotle. Not only were the lines long, the various outlets all ran out of plastic utensils. Always be sure to pack your own, like the friendly woman in line next to me who gave me one of her wrapped plastic forks. Hopefully they get a better handle on needed supplies soon, because this wasn't during a peak travel time by any means! Spring breaks were over and school still in session. Seating was available indoors, but that outdoor weather was beckoning so off I went.
Having been to DC last fall, much more familiar with the area surrounding the train station. I just walked and walked until I found a shady bench and had lunch in the park. Downtown DC is so beautiful and there is this sense of discovery with every footstep. It was one of those moments when time stands still and no stresses are able to intrude. It got to be about 2:30 so I decided to walk for about 45 minutes, with planned return to Union station by 3:15. The Amtrak lounge attendant said 3:30 would be fine, I always like to build in a buffer.

Old MM · Apr 22, 2023

Picture from the park across from Union Station

Mystic River Dragon · Apr 22, 2023

That is a really good tip about bringing a few plastic utensils. I learned to do that after bringing half of a delicious restaurant lunch back to my hotel once to have for lunch the next day. Then went to eat it and realized I didn’t have a fork!

Old MM · Apr 22, 2023

And soon after I retrieved my bag, it was time to board! The lounge was quite a bit more crowded than when I had checked in earlier. Redcaps were on hand to preboard those needing assistance first, then the attendant opened up the West doors to the tracks and we all filed out to the waiting Superliner. The sleeper car was completely full, and I think the coaches were fairly well sold out also. Our SCA Carlos verified each name as we boarded, and soon we were on our way out of DC. My roomette was on the lower level, which I prefer anyway, and it was a pleasant ride. Carlos was making the rounds to take the dinner orders. In response to the many questions you see posted about the Flex dining meal process, my experience is that it's a little different on every trip. It might appear more consistent if I did this often enough to assess, in any case I just expect the unexpected, so to speak, and pack extra items. Unlike the trip last fall, which was more along the lines of, the diner will be open for these hours, and you just go down at some point to pick up your breakfast, for this dinner service we were given a choice of 5 or 530. I decided to leave the beef to others (it sells out fast) as I didn't care too much one way or the other, and picked the plant based noodle dish. Having just eaten a few hours ago I was hoping for a later dinner; but then again, with a 0430 wake up call perhaps getting dinner out of the way earlier wasn't a bad thought. Carlos asked each person if they wanted him to bring the food or eat in the cafe, I told him I would go pick it up. I was preparing to do so when, much to my surprise, he appeared at 5:30 with my dinner, fortunately I had a tip ready. I packed the brownie, roll and salad in my bag, and had part of the entree with a nice cold Lite. It is a perfectly tasty dish, very processed as are they all, with the typical processed food ingredients. But you will not go hungry! I also brought some apples and carrot sticks with me.
I am guessing that with a full car, this system works well for the staff in terms of getting everyone fed and garbage disposed of before the train gets to its first longer stop, which is Cumberland, MD. There you can step off the train for a few minutes, too.

Old MM · Apr 22, 2023

At Cumberland we were instructed to keep the Conductor in sight, who directed us to board through a different car than the one we had stepped off from. Something to do with the shorter platform. We weren't there for long but it was a nice opportunity to stretch. There was a crew change. I walked through the diner to get back to my room, and very soon thereafter we were rolling again, under the pastel evening sky. Carlos was no doubt working hard - I kept hearing the call button, I was glad I knew how to configure the bed without assistance. Turned in by 10 pm, having been up since very early that day and with that upcoming 5 am Toledo arrival, it was time for a restful sleep, albeit with the normal train interruptions. We arrived in Pittsburgh at midnight - on time, and another extended stop. I woke up, but wasn't getting out of bed. There were quite a few passengers both exiting and boarding at this stop. From my window I watched a vehicle drive slowly down the platform and the driver would get out and pick up all the large plastic bags of garbage. I tried to stay awake for a few minutes, in the hopes of taking in the night scenery but fell asleep again quickly.
For all the times you book this trip and hope the train is late to Toledo so you can sleep a bit more, it never is. In my experience, there is more likely to be delay in or out of Chicago, or within Ohio, but not so much leaving or approaching DC. The wake up knock at the door from Carlos preceded my phone alarm by a couple of minutes. He had started the coffeepot upstairs so I got everything packed up and ready, really wasn't much to pack, and I had a couple cups of freshly made train coffee (the best kind, you know) before our planned arrival into Toledo. Well, planned. The Cap instead slowly came to a halt and we waited for a half hour for passing freight. Not that you miss anything by having less wait time at Toledo station in the early hours, mind you. I like the place for connecting, as long as the wait time is somewhere within the schedule. The extra half hour of sleep would have been nice, but you can't have everything. Now, for passengers taking this train all the way to Chicago, you can sleep through the Toledo stop, plus, there is time for an abbreviated breakfast service as well, at 6:30. I had been considering doing just that, perhaps spending an afternoon in the Windy city and then taking a Wolverine back home. But my playtime had come to an end and there was too much to be done at home. So I was on the connecting bus service to Michigan, which can actually be very convenient in both directions: You either leave late enough, or arrive early enough, that you have the whole day in the SE Michigan area, which can be useful for work or other plans. If... it's on time.
The Indian Trails coach pulled in at the front of the station, and boarded the connecting passengers a little after 6 am, for a 6:30 departure. Which, as it turned out, was not to be. You see, the bus bridge connects passengers to Michigan cities from the LSL, as well. The fortunes of passengers on the Cap and the LSL are thus intertwined. And it developed that the LSL was parked somewhere just down the track from Toledo, because a freight train had gone into emergency mode and required an inspection. Now, I'm happy that whatever emergency procedures the RR had, were being followed. But this didn't sound promising. After an hour of no news or updates, and realizing that inspection probably meant an engineer would have to walk the length of, in all likelihood, a 2 mile train, I decided to cut my losses and called an Uber. It turned out to be a good decision, I actually got back sooner as the final city bus connection was eliminated from my plan. And the coach apparently didn't leave until 9 am.
So that's my latest adventure on the Capitol Ltd... you gotta have adventure.