Has anyone been on the Silver Meteor lately?

[JayMadison]

I'm taking it in about six weeks, i'm curious if folks have had experience with the train.

 

[Sauve850]

I rode the train a couple months ago. Live in West Palm Beach Fl and travel to Washington DC or fly to Washington and ride the train back. Do it 2-3 times a year. It has been a pleasant experience for the last few times. I always book a bedroom or roomette. If you have a specific question would be glad to try and help.

 

[pennyk]

I traveled on the Silver Meteor between Orlando and Washington and between Orlando in New York in October. Twice I was in roomettes and twice in bedrooms.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Lots of us have been on the Silver Trains many times, both the Meteor and the Star, so if you have questions about these Trains there's tons of good advice available here!

 

[Steve4031]

I've ridden both the star and the meteor. I the trains are almost identical in onboard experience. They operate with amfleet 2 coaches and launch car and viewliner sleepers. The dining cars are 50 plus years old and have been remodeled several times. Obs crews are usually pretty good. The star has a longer route which I prefer because of the extra train time.

 

[user 1215]

They still have flowers in vases in the diner.

 

[Anderson]

Anything in particular I could help with? I'm on the Silvers once or twice a month (I use the trains both ways from Richmond: North to Washington or New York and south to Florida).

 

[greatcats]

Steve- please describe in vivid detail the amenities of the " launch " car.

 

[J-1 3235]

Is that the prototype for the Lionel missile-laden flatcar?

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Steve- please describe in vivid detail the amenities of the " launch " car.

Isn't that where they take overly drunk or unruly pax for removal from the train at speed?

 

[jis]

Steve- please describe in vivid detail the amenities of the " launch " car.

It is used for launching small ballistic missiles with non-nuclear warheads, targeted for cars and truck that go around crossing gates ahead of the train, just to clear the way.

 

[Steve4031]

It's the car where I launch people off of the train for pointing out spell check errors. Also could be used for the programmers of spellcheck who created this error.

 

[user 1215]

Ahem. So something else I've noticed about the Silver's is that their OTP had between impeccable lately. Well, at least through Savannah. Even the Auto Train has been flying through a half hour earlier than usual.

 

[Guest]

Is that the prototype for the Lionel missile-laden flatcar?

Missile? I remember one with a spinning "telstar" like satellite.

 

[jis]

Ahem. So something else I've noticed about the Silver's is that their OTP had between impeccable lately. Well, at least through Savannah. Even the Auto Train has been flying through a half hour earlier than usual.

Yes. The whole Atlantic Coast Service has been doing very well on OTP of late. They were not too bad even through the summer this year when I took the Auto Train several times, arriving 45 minutes to 1:45 early.

 

[JayMadison]

I had heard areas of the track were a bit rough, and i'm curious if there is any 'can't miss' parts of the trip, I'm basically going from WAS to Deerfield Beach, FL (aka between ft lauderdate and west palm beach)

 

[JayMadison]

LOL, I finally saw someone get kicked off the train for smoking, probably dropping the f-bomb at the conductor didn't help. I wonder if there's a ticket for being a tool.

 

[Anderson]

Jay:
I'd put the rivers in VA high on the list. The run from WAS down to about RMT is pretty nice (along the Potomac for a while, with lots of "inlet river" crossings; beautiful when done at sunset; and the crossings of the James and Roanoke Rivers further south are quite nice as well). The run from SAV to JAX is also nice...you can actually see the ocean through some inlets in places. Other than that...lots of forests and farms all around.