New train (40-41 Floridian) between Miami and Chicago via Washington DC

[Qapla]

Amazing, for the moment, not only are all the Florida trains on time ... so are the rest of the east coast trains south of WDC

 

[PaTrainFan]

Amazing, for the moment, not only are all the Florida trains on time ... so are the rest of the east coast trains south of WDC

View attachment 38553

Uhhh, I'm on 40. Won't be green for long; been doing a lot of sitting and waiting on freights north of Selma.

 

[Qapla]

I guess they made up time somewhere along the way

11:46 PM

 

[PaTrainFan]

I guess they made up time somewhere along the way

11:46 PM
View attachment 38558

Arrived in Washington a few minutes late but managed to depart on time, and arrived in Pittsburgh a remarkable 33 minutes ahead of schedule at 11:15.

Only the 6th time since the commencement of the 40 service this train was ahead of the advertised in Pittsburgh p
So, and it was by far the earliest arrival time. In the past 29 was fairly routinely on time or respectfully close.

It was so early that my attendant was no where to be found to open the door for me and I had to chase down the other car's attendant who had ask where we were. When I broke the news bulletin that we were in Pittsburgh, she responded, "already?"

By the way my attendant never bothered to introduce himself when he took over duty in DC from the amazing Javier.

Comforting to know Amtrak employees empowered to get the customers off at the correct stops are on top of it. (Not)

Sure am happy I drew the right straw this time, especially since the outbound trip on 41 was also on-time into Orlando (my stop), immediately after which it lost two and a half hours due to a leaf fire in a vestibule.

 

[Steve4031]

It's really annoying that when cafes are close they're just like nobody in here! Like.. let people use the tables please. And of course the first instinct was to yell instead of just.. tell.

I believe the issue is that they cannot secure all food items. They keep people out of the car to prevent theft. If inventory is incorrect at the trip's end, I believe the LSA will be held accountable. This does not excuse yelling at random passengers for trying to get to their seats. IMHO, it is better not to lift the bar blocking the passage between the cars because this could escalate into an unnecessary confrontation.

 

[trimetbusfan]

I believe the issue is that they cannot secure all food items. They keep people out of the car to prevent theft. If inventory is incorrect at the trip's end, I believe the LSA will be held accountable. This does not excuse yelling at random passengers for trying to get to their seats. IMHO, it is better not to lift the bar blocking the passage between the cars because this could escalate into an unnecessary confrontation.

Perhaps, but on the West Coast they never do this. On Cascades, the only time they will kick you out of the cafe car is on trains 517/518 when they load on commissary items and restock at Seattle.

 

[OmahaRoad]

By the way my attendant never bothered to introduce himself when he took over duty in DC from the amazing Javier.

That's too bad. Our post-DC attendant on the Thanksgiving week Floridian trip wasn't quite that bad (though very brusque), but in having taken the Star/Floridian in a roomette twice, the Star a number of times in coach, and the Cap once in a roomette, I feel confident in saying that the Florida-based crew (but especially the SCAs) is on the whole kinder and just better at their jobs than the DC-based crew.

I don't know what it is, but there is SUCH a marked difference, in my experience. SCA Brian/Bryan (didn't see/learn spelling) prior to DC on the Floridian was great; he was even going up and down the aisles with a new carpet sweeper and very thoroughly cleaning/remaking roomettes, and cleaning the bathrooms too. Was friendly and welcoming to all, while being a realist about the delays we had. Aka, pretty much doing the job description, except actually doing it well (I assume the specialized floor cleaning is above what is expected--have never seen that before).