M
monkeyboat
Guest
I would like to thank the forum members for advice given over the last couple of months as I prepared for my trip on the silver star #92 and #91. I bought tickets online for my son and myself in early Feb., I purchased two coach tickets from west Palm Beach to Raleigh for $200 roundtrip. The price for a roomette was $288 each way .
We boarded in WPB on 3-27, I attempted to check a fishing rod case that was about 42” long, the baggage person told me that I had to carry on the rods, so I carried the case on along with my laptop, and son’s backpack and small cooler (I was told by 1800 usarail that the cooler would be fine as long as it didn’t contain alcohol and would fit in front of the seat) the train left on time, we had a nice ride to Tampa then had ate in the diner car after Orlando, the train departed Jacksonville after 11pm, I did not find the seats very comfortable for sleeping ( my 10 yr old son could at least stretch his legs out all the way). We arrived in Raleigh a few minutes earlier than scheduled.
We were picked up by friends an enjoyed our time in Va. And NC, our return was set for Sat. 4-3 from Raleigh, we spent the last part of our week in Greensboro, I knew that there was a train from Greensboro to Raleigh, so I looked online and saw that the train left GBO at 7pm, so I called 800usarail to see if it would be ok to check bags in GBO since the arrival to to RGH is 8:43 and the departure time for the silver star #91 is 913pm from RGH, the person at the other end of the phone told me that there was no train leavin Greensboro at 7pm, and the only train that went from Greensboro to Raleigh left Greensboro at 823am, and that I was SOL, I asked her to please look again because I was sure what I had seen online a few minutes earlier, she said that she was absolutely sure that there was one train daily from GBO to RGH, I thanked her for her time and said goodbye. Perplexed, I went back online and saw that there in fact two daily trains from GBO to RGH the Piedmont which is the early train and the Carolinian which is the late train, so I called 1800usarail again to make sure that the website was up to date, sure enough it was confirmed by the agent on the other end, I thanked her for time and hung up and went back online and booked two tickets from GBO to RGH.
We arrived at the GBO station at 6:30 pm to check the bags and we were informed that the bags were not guaranteed to transfer to the 91 train in RGH due to the timing of the trains, so we had to carry two suitcases, fishing rod case, a suit bag, laptop bag, cooler and a backpack on board the #80 Carolinian. As we started to board one of the conductors was almost yelling like a drill Sgt. Stating that we are not allowed to carry coolers or fishing poles onboard, that is all I needed to hear after I thought that we were safely aboard, the conductor blew off his steam and did not give me a chance to talk, then some other guy with a non amtrak uniform vest helped us aboard, I was trying to tell the conductor that the 800# said that it was ok to carry a cooler and that I was told in WPB a week earlier to carry the fishing rods onboard, anyway, it is getting late, I will continue the story tomorrow……………………
We boarded in WPB on 3-27, I attempted to check a fishing rod case that was about 42” long, the baggage person told me that I had to carry on the rods, so I carried the case on along with my laptop, and son’s backpack and small cooler (I was told by 1800 usarail that the cooler would be fine as long as it didn’t contain alcohol and would fit in front of the seat) the train left on time, we had a nice ride to Tampa then had ate in the diner car after Orlando, the train departed Jacksonville after 11pm, I did not find the seats very comfortable for sleeping ( my 10 yr old son could at least stretch his legs out all the way). We arrived in Raleigh a few minutes earlier than scheduled.
We were picked up by friends an enjoyed our time in Va. And NC, our return was set for Sat. 4-3 from Raleigh, we spent the last part of our week in Greensboro, I knew that there was a train from Greensboro to Raleigh, so I looked online and saw that the train left GBO at 7pm, so I called 800usarail to see if it would be ok to check bags in GBO since the arrival to to RGH is 8:43 and the departure time for the silver star #91 is 913pm from RGH, the person at the other end of the phone told me that there was no train leavin Greensboro at 7pm, and the only train that went from Greensboro to Raleigh left Greensboro at 823am, and that I was SOL, I asked her to please look again because I was sure what I had seen online a few minutes earlier, she said that she was absolutely sure that there was one train daily from GBO to RGH, I thanked her for her time and said goodbye. Perplexed, I went back online and saw that there in fact two daily trains from GBO to RGH the Piedmont which is the early train and the Carolinian which is the late train, so I called 1800usarail again to make sure that the website was up to date, sure enough it was confirmed by the agent on the other end, I thanked her for time and hung up and went back online and booked two tickets from GBO to RGH.
We arrived at the GBO station at 6:30 pm to check the bags and we were informed that the bags were not guaranteed to transfer to the 91 train in RGH due to the timing of the trains, so we had to carry two suitcases, fishing rod case, a suit bag, laptop bag, cooler and a backpack on board the #80 Carolinian. As we started to board one of the conductors was almost yelling like a drill Sgt. Stating that we are not allowed to carry coolers or fishing poles onboard, that is all I needed to hear after I thought that we were safely aboard, the conductor blew off his steam and did not give me a chance to talk, then some other guy with a non amtrak uniform vest helped us aboard, I was trying to tell the conductor that the 800# said that it was ok to carry a cooler and that I was told in WPB a week earlier to carry the fishing rods onboard, anyway, it is getting late, I will continue the story tomorrow……………………
