Tracktwentynine
OBS Chief
Yesterday, I took my first Amtrak trip of the year. I went up to Philadelphia to visit a friend who had moved there and to meetup with some other friends from DC. I just spent the day, taking a morning train up and coming back on a late train.
It was a cold day, but I had fun seeing the city. While it wasn't my first time in Philly, it never ceases to amaze me how different it is from DC.
I went over to New Carrollton (NCR) to catch the regional. NCR is only about 15 minutes from my apartment, so it's pretty convenient. I had about 45 minutes until my train, so I hung out in the Amtrak waiting room. Despite using the Metro station at New Carrollton countless times, and having taken both MARC and the Northeast Regional out of NCR before, I'd never been in the waiting room. Generally, I just go straight to the platform, but it was far too cold to do that yesterday.
The NCR waiting room is nice for a 1980s Amtrak station. The space is located underneath the Metro platforms and across the corridor from the Metro entrance. It's a large space with plenty of benches. It even has a newsstand and a coffee cart. I bought a magazine and a coffee and sat down to await my train.
Unfortunately, the peace of the station was broken by a group of rowdy passengers in one corner of the waiting room. They were being loud and rambunctious and used lots of foul language, despite the presence of kids in the area. I was hoping that an Amtrak Police officer would swing by, but no such luck. And the glares from other passengers didn't seem to have any impact on them, either.
About 10 minutes before my train's scheduled arrival, I headed up to the platform. #152 came in right on time at 8:32. I boarded the second-to-last car and managed to get a window seat without a seatmate. Having had my coffee already, I didn't head for the cafe, I just sat back and watched Maryland roll by.
It was a scenic trip. By the time we reached Harford County, the farm fields were covered with snow. Crossing the Susquehanna, like always, was a breathtaking experience.
We passed through 2 trackwork areas. In the B&P Tunnels south (west, really) of Baltimore Penn Station, and again north of Wilmington, where the NEC runs alongside I-495. But despite that, we were only about 10 minutes late into Philadelphia.
30th Street Station is a masterpiece of architecture. I walked around the Great Hall and took a few pictures and was not hassled, despite the TSA people doing random screenings of people boarding or the presence of Amtrak Police with large, automatic weapons. I headed off for SEPTA to meet up with my friends.
We spent the day seeing the city and about 8:15, I headed for 30th Street. At about 8:45, I walked into the station for my 9:23 train, only to discover that it was running 40 minutes late. I decided to wander around the station to pass the time. I also hadn't had dinner, so I headed for the food court, but the only thing open was McDonald's. I had a sandwich before heading back to the main hall. There, the board said that the train was only 20 minutes late, and a line was forming.
Glad I hadn't dawdled in the food court, I headed for Gate 3 and got in line. Shortly, the solari board flipped from "20 minutes LATE" to "BOARDING", but no one came to let us down onto the platform. After a few minutes an Amtrak employee came over to tell us that despite what the board said, the train was still a few minutes late and because of the low temperature on the platform they were holding us upstairs.
Eventually, about 30 minutes after the scheduled departure, they let us down onto the platform. #165 came in, and I boarded the last car of the train. My car was less than half full, so there was plenty of room to settle in and stretch out.
We passed through the same trackwork area just south of Baltimore Penn. I couldn't tell what they were doing, but there was lots of heavy equipment in the tunnel. We got into NCR about 30 minutes late, and by midnight I was home, 252 more Amtrak miles under my belt.
It was a cold day, but I had fun seeing the city. While it wasn't my first time in Philly, it never ceases to amaze me how different it is from DC.
I went over to New Carrollton (NCR) to catch the regional. NCR is only about 15 minutes from my apartment, so it's pretty convenient. I had about 45 minutes until my train, so I hung out in the Amtrak waiting room. Despite using the Metro station at New Carrollton countless times, and having taken both MARC and the Northeast Regional out of NCR before, I'd never been in the waiting room. Generally, I just go straight to the platform, but it was far too cold to do that yesterday.
The NCR waiting room is nice for a 1980s Amtrak station. The space is located underneath the Metro platforms and across the corridor from the Metro entrance. It's a large space with plenty of benches. It even has a newsstand and a coffee cart. I bought a magazine and a coffee and sat down to await my train.
Unfortunately, the peace of the station was broken by a group of rowdy passengers in one corner of the waiting room. They were being loud and rambunctious and used lots of foul language, despite the presence of kids in the area. I was hoping that an Amtrak Police officer would swing by, but no such luck. And the glares from other passengers didn't seem to have any impact on them, either.
About 10 minutes before my train's scheduled arrival, I headed up to the platform. #152 came in right on time at 8:32. I boarded the second-to-last car and managed to get a window seat without a seatmate. Having had my coffee already, I didn't head for the cafe, I just sat back and watched Maryland roll by.
It was a scenic trip. By the time we reached Harford County, the farm fields were covered with snow. Crossing the Susquehanna, like always, was a breathtaking experience.
We passed through 2 trackwork areas. In the B&P Tunnels south (west, really) of Baltimore Penn Station, and again north of Wilmington, where the NEC runs alongside I-495. But despite that, we were only about 10 minutes late into Philadelphia.
30th Street Station is a masterpiece of architecture. I walked around the Great Hall and took a few pictures and was not hassled, despite the TSA people doing random screenings of people boarding or the presence of Amtrak Police with large, automatic weapons. I headed off for SEPTA to meet up with my friends.
We spent the day seeing the city and about 8:15, I headed for 30th Street. At about 8:45, I walked into the station for my 9:23 train, only to discover that it was running 40 minutes late. I decided to wander around the station to pass the time. I also hadn't had dinner, so I headed for the food court, but the only thing open was McDonald's. I had a sandwich before heading back to the main hall. There, the board said that the train was only 20 minutes late, and a line was forming.
Glad I hadn't dawdled in the food court, I headed for Gate 3 and got in line. Shortly, the solari board flipped from "20 minutes LATE" to "BOARDING", but no one came to let us down onto the platform. After a few minutes an Amtrak employee came over to tell us that despite what the board said, the train was still a few minutes late and because of the low temperature on the platform they were holding us upstairs.
Eventually, about 30 minutes after the scheduled departure, they let us down onto the platform. #165 came in, and I boarded the last car of the train. My car was less than half full, so there was plenty of room to settle in and stretch out.
We passed through the same trackwork area just south of Baltimore Penn. I couldn't tell what they were doing, but there was lots of heavy equipment in the tunnel. We got into NCR about 30 minutes late, and by midnight I was home, 252 more Amtrak miles under my belt.
