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

[west point]

So, tonight's #41 out of Chicago has a backwards trainset (from what I saw below from the railcam).

I'm assuming as a timesaver, due to the earlier 40 being severely delayed, it wasn't wye'd (I wasn't able to look earlier at the cam on the racetrack in Chicago).

Wying a train set in CHI is always an iffy problem. Great idea IMO. Now the train set will not have to be looped in MIA yard/

 

[joelkfla]

I have ridden the Cap Limited twice, once in 2017, and this year. Neither was an enjoyable experience. The crews both times didn't seem to care about the passengers. This time the flex food was not edible (the pasta dish had to be cut and eaten in chunks; the breakfast was almost as bad. Fortunately I had emergency food with me.)
If these are the same crews that take the Floridian from DC to Chicago, then there's a problem.
The Cap Limited is the Amtrak DMV.

Chicago crew, but Traditional Dining.

 

[OBS]

Chicago crew, but Traditional Dining.

Incorrect. Wash DC crew.

 

[MARC Rider]

I have ridden the Cap Limited twice, once in 2017, and this year. Neither was an enjoyable experience. The crews both times didn't seem to care about the passengers. This time the flex food was not edible (the pasta dish had to be cut and eaten in chunks; the breakfast was almost as bad. Fortunately I had emergency food with me.)
If these are the same crews that take the Floridian from DC to Chicago, then there's a problem.
The Cap Limited is the Amtrak DMV.

I've had a completely different experience. I last rode the Capitol in 2021 and 2023, and while the flex food and lack of Sightseer Lounge was a minus, the onboard service was fine, and my trip in 2023 even arrived in Washington on time!

 

[rookzie]

Chicago crew, but Traditional Dining.

I've had a completely different experience. I last rode the Capitol in 2021 and 2023, and while the flex food and lack of Sightseer Lounge was a minus, the onboard service was fine, and my trip in 2023 even arrived in Washington on time!

My experience on the CL was at least decent, on both one-way rides CHI-WAS in July 2019 and the last time in early Sept. 2020 before L-D service was reduced that fall. On the 2019 trip, the community shower gave me trouble, as some panel had fallen loose and posed a jagged-edge hazard for users.

For the 2020 trip I reserved a bedroom for one, instead of a roomette. That trip incurred about a 4-hour delay somewhere in the area of Elyria, due to failure of the single P42 assigned to that run. I immediately wondered why they even would trust the then-aging units to handle L-D runs in singles, with no protection. It did allow me to witness a sunrise departure out of Cleveland and a daylight approach into PGH (preceded with a brief falling back asleep).

 

[Cal]

I've had a completely different experience. I last rode the Capitol in 2021 and 2023, and while the flex food and lack of Sightseer Lounge was a minus, the onboard service was fine, and my trip in 2023 even arrived in Washington on time!

Just another example of YMMV on Amtrak.

 

[joelkfla]

Incorrect. Wash DC crew.

There's a OBS base for SCA's, chefs, and Diner LSA's in WAS, just for one train?

 

[Cal]

There's a OBS base for SCA's, chefs, and Diner LSA's in WAS, just for one train?

I don't think theres a lot that's really needed for an OBS base. I'm petty sure NOLA has one when the other endpoints of all it's trains also have one. Doesn't Miami also have one, even though obviously NYP does? Point is, there are a lot of OBS bases.

 

[joelkfla]

I don't think theres a lot that's really needed for an OBS base. I'm petty sure NOLA has one when the other endpoints of all it's trains also have one. Doesn't Miami also have one, even though obviously NYP does? Point is, there are a lot of OBS bases.

All sleeper trains from NYP go to either CHI or MIA, so I had assumed they were staffed from those ends, but it was just my assumption.

 

[Cal]

All sleeper trains from NYP go to either CHI or MIA, so I had assumed they were staffed from those ends, but it was just my assumption.

Not as good as an example, but the #7 is staffed out of Seattle. The Cascades definitely help their case there though.

 

[Trogdor]

Not as good as an example, but the #7 is staffed out of Seattle. The Cascades definitely help their case there though.

If you are going to count corridor trains, there may be one or two that operate out of WAS, last I checked.

 

[OBS]

There's a OBS base for SCA's, chefs, and Diner LSA's in WAS, just for one train?

Correct