Philly to Florida, part 1

[Mystic River Dragon]

I just got to Winter Park in Florida, but by the time my vacation ends, I may have forgotten details of the beginning, so I will do the first part of my first trip report now.

My grand adventure started humbly on Saturday--light rail (RiverLine) from my small town to TRE, then SEPTA to Center City Philly, where I stayed overnight. I do that if I'm going on a long train trip in the winter--if we have bad weather, it will be easier to get out of Philly than my small town (plus I get to do an overnight in one of my favorite places!)

On Sunday, I took SEPTA over to 30th Street and checked into the Acela lounge. The lounge attendant was very nice. I had a cup of coffee and talked with a lady who was taking the same train as I was (Silver Star). She is 83 years old and is a journalist for several local papers and has traveled all over the country by train. We had a lively discussion and, between us, had just solved all Amtrak's problems and were starting in on how to save the Phillies when they called us to go down the elevator to the train.

I was in car 9111, room B (I had some vouchers from cancelled trips, so put them together and splurged on a bedroom for the first time ever).

We had a fantastic crew. My SCA was Preston, and Michelle and Claudia were in the dining car. I already knew from reading Amtrak Ink that Preston and Michelle had won service awards. The attendant in the other sleeper was Leo (not the famous veteran, but a very young man who is probably fairly new but who is doing a nice job).

Preston sent me to lunch, and my dining companion was the same very interesting and energetic lady I had been talking with in the lounge. We had a lot in common, because she is a freelance journalist, and I am a semiretired copy editor, so we both love and work with words. My dinner companion was also a nice older lady, but she and I had little in common so stuck to the "Where are you going?" type of conversation. The only boring dining companion I had was this morning at breakfast--I didn't get there till about 8:00, so everyone else was at full tables, and nobody else came in after me, so I had to eat by myself!

After lunch yesterday, Preston showed me how things worked in the bedroom, then I read for a while until we got to Washington, where I got out to see the engine change. I am just learning how to write my train letters and numbers, so please correct me if I have the hyphens in the wrong place in the following information. We were taken to Washington by ACS-64, no. 607, then the rest of the way by two P-42s: no. 148 in the lead and no. 14 in back of it.

I had the turkey meatballs and cheesecake for lunch, the steak and the chocolate dessert for dinner, and an omelet this morning. The food was all excellent, and there were flowers (not real, but still flowers) on all the tables. The dining car was very comfortable--it wasn't new, but it wasn't the oldest of the Heritage cars. It had green seats and green curtains--do any of you know what vintage it would be?

We got to Winter Park just about an hour late, and soon after I checked into my hotel, there was a downpour and the electricity went out. I'm surprised the hotel staff didn't put me on 98 north to get me out of town!

I will write part 2 of my trip report after it is over, but hope you enjoyed part 1.

 

[OBS]

Thanks for the report, glad you had a great trip...

 

[greatcats]

Thank you for the positive report.I like making compliments about crews, too. I'm glad that you liked the turkey meatballs, because I did not on the CZ a few months back. I guess I am a culinary snob!

 

[mediaman]

Thanks for the trip report, looking forward to part 2. How did you like traveling in a Bedroom this time?

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Thanks for the replies.

About the food--even if all the trains have the same menu, could the quality have something to do with the skill of the chef? For example, the young man who was in the kitchen did a beautiful omelet and the potatoes just right (and I am very fussy about breakfast--it's my favorite meal).

About the bedroom--I loved having my own enclosed bathroom, a larger sink, and the wider bed. It was tough to use the sink when the bed was down, though, because there isn't much room between them. I also loved being able to see outside both sides of the train and having the long couch to stretch out on. It was a nice treat, but the roomette is really enough space for me--I would probably do a bedroom again only if I were going on a two-night trip or in the rare case where the bedroom might be cheaper than the roomette.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Great trip report, and I'm envious even though yesterday it was 70 and Sunny where I live, today it's 40 and Cloudy!

Glad to hear the crews are still good in the Silver Trains, especially the newbies, sounds like the new Leo might have been trained by the Famous Leo!

I actually prefer the Viewliner Roomettes over the Bedrooms except when one can book the H Room which is like a all apartment, best accommodations on Amtrak IMHO!

And as for the food, yes, the ingredients are all the same so the chef does make a big difference!

Have fun in Florida, you picked a good time to be there! Look forward to your updates!

 

[gaspeamtrak]

Thanks for sharing your trip report with us looking forward to part # 2!

 

[Railroad Bill]

Enjoying your trip report to Fla. Glad you had a good crew and food. We just returned from WPK after a sunny week in Fla. Wish we were going back