We had a variety of train excursions in May, spread out among several states and family members. All in all, it was a good overall combined episode of travel. I'll try to recount our trips here and cover the highlights and lowlights with hopefully not too much detail!
It was a sunny, clear and pleasantly cool spring evening in southeastern Michigan. I had made arrangements to meet my daughter in downtown Ann Arbor, to take the Amtrak connector bus to Toledo, to board the Capitol Ltd to Washington DC. Originally, I thought of ticketing out of Dearborn, which, like Ann Arbor has free parking, and which unlike Ann Arbor, has a larger lot that doesn't fill up to capacity on weekends. I've used the Ann Arbor station for parking back in the day, in recent years not keen on showing up there with a car and not finding a spot. So for this trip, since my daughter was already going to be in town concluding a work shift, I took public transportation to meet her for dinner after which the plan was to walk to the Amtrak station.
We arrived in plenty of time, and with it being a gorgeous evening we waited outside and chatted until the bus arrived. There weren't many of us boarding and the bus was not crowded as we pulled away to the next station stop of Dearborn. As night fell, we enjoyed the sights along the way and after Dearborn, then Detroit, the bus headed south on I-75 towards the Toledo Amtrak station. The bus arrived on schedule, and wonder of wonders. the Cap was on time. How many times am I lucky enough to be able to say that? The evening was still warm enough that we waited by the tracks instead of inside, and were right there for the thrill of the train arriving in the station.
I had a surprise in store for my daughter: instead of a roomette, I had managed to snap a low bucket Bedroom. She was so pleased, it was more than worth it. We boarded the car and headed upstairs to room C. We met our friendly and personable SCA, and so help me I've already forgotten his name, nice guy. We had limited conversation since it was midnight and basically nothing to do but get ready for bed. It's been years since I've been in a BR on any train. The extra space for 2 people is really nice, and of course the ensuite toilet and shower is that extra bit of luxury (yes I know, we don't consider that luxurious, but if you compare that to Amtrak coach overnight, kind of takes on a different character). I was a bit disappointed seeing the condition of the bathroom floor in the room. Dried up sticky stains of unknown origin. This train spent the night in Chicago, can the cleaning crews not do better than this? I got out another pack of wipes and cleaned the floor. (You're welcome Amtrak). The other minor issue was the door under the sink banging and rattling loudly to the extent sleep wouldn't have been possible, happily there is a very easy fix:
It was a sunny, clear and pleasantly cool spring evening in southeastern Michigan. I had made arrangements to meet my daughter in downtown Ann Arbor, to take the Amtrak connector bus to Toledo, to board the Capitol Ltd to Washington DC. Originally, I thought of ticketing out of Dearborn, which, like Ann Arbor has free parking, and which unlike Ann Arbor, has a larger lot that doesn't fill up to capacity on weekends. I've used the Ann Arbor station for parking back in the day, in recent years not keen on showing up there with a car and not finding a spot. So for this trip, since my daughter was already going to be in town concluding a work shift, I took public transportation to meet her for dinner after which the plan was to walk to the Amtrak station.
We arrived in plenty of time, and with it being a gorgeous evening we waited outside and chatted until the bus arrived. There weren't many of us boarding and the bus was not crowded as we pulled away to the next station stop of Dearborn. As night fell, we enjoyed the sights along the way and after Dearborn, then Detroit, the bus headed south on I-75 towards the Toledo Amtrak station. The bus arrived on schedule, and wonder of wonders. the Cap was on time. How many times am I lucky enough to be able to say that? The evening was still warm enough that we waited by the tracks instead of inside, and were right there for the thrill of the train arriving in the station.
I had a surprise in store for my daughter: instead of a roomette, I had managed to snap a low bucket Bedroom. She was so pleased, it was more than worth it. We boarded the car and headed upstairs to room C. We met our friendly and personable SCA, and so help me I've already forgotten his name, nice guy. We had limited conversation since it was midnight and basically nothing to do but get ready for bed. It's been years since I've been in a BR on any train. The extra space for 2 people is really nice, and of course the ensuite toilet and shower is that extra bit of luxury (yes I know, we don't consider that luxurious, but if you compare that to Amtrak coach overnight, kind of takes on a different character). I was a bit disappointed seeing the condition of the bathroom floor in the room. Dried up sticky stains of unknown origin. This train spent the night in Chicago, can the cleaning crews not do better than this? I got out another pack of wipes and cleaned the floor. (You're welcome Amtrak). The other minor issue was the door under the sink banging and rattling loudly to the extent sleep wouldn't have been possible, happily there is a very easy fix:
