Long Overdue Travelogue

[profwebs]

Well guys and gals. Here is the link to my travelogue. Profweb's first Amtrak trip I took this trip at the end of May and returned on June 9th.

Overall, 3/4 of the experience was good. Let's hope with the increased ridership right now, we can get some more funding and make our railroads as good as they once were. I still can't wait to take my next trip, which I'm thinking about booking right now.

Make sure you check out all the pictures both of Amtrak and Washington DC.

Enjoy!

Brian Weaver

P.S. If the above link isn't allowed, let me know and I'll copy and paste the post here.

 

[hello]

Thank you, profwebs, for your report. We were planning on a coast to coast LD trip next spring, which included the CL -- but we might need to reevaluate the CL leg!

 

[profwebs]

Well hello,

If you are doing the trip as a "vacation by rail" then I wouldn't necessarily count out the CL. The main thing that got me was the last leg coming back into pit with all the separate things piling up into misery. I guess if you like the rails enough, you will look past these things and just relax, slow down and enjoy the ride. My next excursion on #29 will be on Sept. 9th. I booked a roomette on it mainly so I can enter the Club Acela lounge in DC. The Silver Meteor gets into DC around 8 in the morning and the CL doesn't leave until 4 in the afternoon It was a nice excuse to get a roomette for my second trip tho B)

 

[Shotgun7]

Well hello,
If you are doing the trip as a "vacation by rail" then I wouldn't necessarily count out the CL. The main thing that got me was the last leg coming back into pit with all the separate things piling up into misery. I guess if you like the rails enough, you will look past these things and just relax, slow down and enjoy the ride. My next excursion on #29 will be on Sept. 9th. I booked a roomette on it mainly so I can enter the Club Acela lounge in DC. The Silver Meteor gets into DC around 8 in the morning and the CL doesn't leave until 4 in the afternoon It was a nice excuse to get a roomette for my second trip tho B)

I made this connection from the Meteor to the CL on to PGH last March and actually kind of really enjoyed my eight hours in DC! Then again, I'm from Florida so I dont exactly get to see DC very often. If you've never been to the National Zoo, it's really impressive to see and the subway from Union Station will take you right to it. There's also a really good Italian restaurant right next to the next station stop north (don't remember what it's called).

Are you boarding the Meteor very far south? If you are, it might be worth it to cancel your roomette on the Capital and switch to one on the Meteor so you'll have enough energy to live through your connection in Washington. The rooms on the Meteor are also a little nicer than those on the bilevel Superliner trains. (Just my opinion because of the second window, don't wanna start the whole debate again).

 

[profwebs]

Yeah I already toured DC in June, but I may still go out on the bus and do some things. I'm catching 98 in Charleston at 9:45 so I was planning on getting the sleeper on the Silver Meteor, but it is $100 more than on the CL. Why is that? Less rooms on the amfleets? I mean its only 2 hours longer than the ride on the CL. Even when booked well in advance, it is the same so its not due to demand.

I may still try to grab a sleeper onboard, but doubtful as I really don't want to spend the money.

Brian

 

[Shotgun7]

Yeah I already toured DC in June, but I may still go out on the bus and do some things. I'm catching 98 in Charleston at 9:45 so I was planning on getting the sleeper on the Silver Meteor, but it is $100 more than on the CL. Why is that? Less rooms on the amfleets? I mean its only 2 hours longer than the ride on the CL. Even when booked well in advance, it is the same so its not due to demand.
I may still try to grab a sleeper onboard, but doubtful as I really don't want to spend the money.

Brian

For some reason, the two Silver trains always have some of the most expensive accomodations on the entire system, while the CL always has some of the cheapest. Here's some reasoning that I came up with, though (so, it's definately not guranteed to be right):

Service between the Northeast and Florida is one of the most popular rail corridors in the nation. This means that more people will book trips, say from Florida to New York City, way in advance. So no matter how far in advance you book it, odds are alot of people before you already have. Since Amtrak knows tons of families will travel by sleeper through this route, they know they can jack up the prices here. I wouldn't think there are as many "family vacations" from WAS-CHI as there are New York to Orlando, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami.

Also, Charleston to WAS is an overnight trip, meaning there's a whole lot more demand for sleepers. Not a whole lot of people think they need a private room for a seven hour trip through mostly daylight and evening hours. I do believe the CL has more sleeping capacity though. Both trains have three sleeping cars (usually), but the SM has single level Viewliner sleepers, while the CL has bilevel Superliner sleepers, with a few more rooms per car.

Even with the price difference, a sleeper for your leg on the Meteor really is worth it. There's not much to do and nobody to talk to on either Silver train at 3AM and sleeping in an Amfleet doesn't come too easy (at least for me). On the CL, it's quite the contrary (for your trip) because there's a ton of good scenery during daylight from the lounge car, you've got a meal to pass some time, and the lounge car and people on that train are far more interesting, even into the later evening hours. I really wouldn't get a sleeper for that leg, even if it was free.

 

[profwebs]

Yeah I agree and I really would like a sleeper on the SM, but I figure If I'm worn out, I sleep on the CL But yeah I spent most of my 1st trip on the CL in the lounge chatting with other people. There were even a family of people from Britain touring the country via Amtrak for a month. Maybe I'll end up upgrading to a sleeper on the SM before I leave, or onboard if there is a cancellation and I can get a last minute deal.

 

[AlanB]

Yeah I already toured DC in June, but I may still go out on the bus and do some things. I'm catching 98 in Charleston at 9:45 so I was planning on getting the sleeper on the Silver Meteor, but it is $100 more than on the CL. Why is that? Less rooms on the amfleets? I mean its only 2 hours longer than the ride on the CL. Even when booked well in advance, it is the same so its not due to demand.
I may still try to grab a sleeper onboard, but doubtful as I really don't want to spend the money.

Brian

For some reason, the two Silver trains always have some of the most expensive accomodations on the entire system, while the CL always has some of the cheapest. Here's some reasoning that I came up with, though (so, it's definately not guranteed to be right):

Service between the Northeast and Florida is one of the most popular rail corridors in the nation. This means that more people will book trips, say from Florida to New York City, way in advance. So no matter how far in advance you book it, odds are alot of people before you already have. Since Amtrak knows tons of families will travel by sleeper through this route, they know they can jack up the prices here. I wouldn't think there are as many "family vacations" from WAS-CHI as there are New York to Orlando, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami.

Also, Charleston to WAS is an overnight trip, meaning there's a whole lot more demand for sleepers. Not a whole lot of people think they need a private room for a seven hour trip through mostly daylight and evening hours. I do believe the CL has more sleeping capacity though. Both trains have three sleeping cars (usually), but the SM has single level Viewliner sleepers, while the CL has bilevel Superliner sleepers, with a few more rooms per car.

Even with the price difference, a sleeper for your leg on the Meteor really is worth it. There's not much to do and nobody to talk to on either Silver train at 3AM and sleeping in an Amfleet doesn't come too easy (at least for me). On the CL, it's quite the contrary (for your trip) because there's a ton of good scenery during daylight from the lounge car, you've got a meal to pass some time, and the lounge car and people on that train are far more interesting, even into the later evening hours. I really wouldn't get a sleeper for that leg, even if it was free.

That may be part of it, but you also need to consider that the CL runs with a crew dorm car, whereas the Silver's don't and the crew takes up what would normally be revenue space. Additionally the Superliner sleepers have more rooms of all types, by comparison to the Viewliners. All these factors help to drive prices up on the Silvers and down on the CL.