Qapla
Engineer
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
New train (40-41 Floridian) between Miami and Chicago via Washington DC
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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
Engineer
I guess they made up time somewhere along the way
11:46 PM
11:46 PM
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.
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
OBS Chief
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.
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).
Second this observation, being a regular rider on the Cascades as well as in the east.
The draconian regimen on the eastern cafes is wholly unnecessary.
Pretty sure it’s a Chicago crew from Washington DC to Chicago.
Aha, I see. Good to know.
Qapla
Engineer
The opposite of the other day
Qapla
Engineer
They finally have the entire route in the list
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OBS is DC-based from DC to Chicago. It’s essentially the same rotation as the Capitol Limited used.
acelafan
Conductor
I am glad to see Amtrak IT can fix stuff. Should we ever see a train with 47 stops, I hope it continues working, too.
Qapla
Engineer
Here is an interesting video about some of the delays the new 40/41 has faced - it includes some other trains as well
Tonight's #41 out of Chicago to DC had the new phase 7 sleeper included on it tonight...
desertflyer
Lead Service Attendant
I have a couple of questions for those of you happy to oblige me.
For people riding end to end, the timing seems a little bit better for scenery and arrival southbound than northbound. Is that correct?
Also, are there Viewliner II sleepers in the mix with any regularity?
For people riding end to end, the timing seems a little bit better for scenery and arrival southbound than northbound. Is that correct?
Also, are there Viewliner II sleepers in the mix with any regularity?
I think so. Someone else will have a more definitive answer.
Recently on Facebook (I think the Amtrak page?) someone posted a long story about a horrible experience on the Floridian, mainly the fact that the SCA wouldn't clean the restroom and didn't help, the sleeper was unbearably cold and nobody did anything about it, and the LSA in the cafe was extremely rude. And to top it all off the conductor at the end of the trip was rude too. This is what turns away people from riding Amtrak, so it's a shame to see it happen.
On old Capitol Limited territory, easily better going east out of Pittsburgh because much there more daylight in the morning vs. evening when you're traveling to Pittsburgh from Washington. I recently took roundtrip between Pittsburgh and Florida but don't have a strong viewpoint on the old Silver Star route south of Washington. Maybe give a slight nod going north through North Carolina this time of year.
It seems the 11 cars are generally Viewliner IIs. Beginning in March when third sleeper is added, who knows which car will be VII.
