I’m on my way home from the Gathering now - departed after the Sunday morning activities. While doing PATCO would have been fun, I wanted to take the train back and didn’t want to spend an extra day. My original plan was to take Northeast Regional 88 in coach departing at 1:19pm, but I was a bit anxious about the tight connection and saw a low fare Acela 2252 a few weeks back, so made the switch. I also was gifted an upgrade coupon by one of the members of this forum, so I was able to upgrade to Acela First (after having to call in - really annoying how you can’t do much with multi-segment tickets online).
Doing that is also part of why I skipped out on Saturday afternoon‘s Acela ride - I’d be doing the same thing the next day, and all I’d be missing is the NJT/SEPTA Trenton Shuffle (as our plans for the RiverLine were quashed by bustitution). Being as I always like to visit the ocean when I am close, I took the NJT Atlantic City line to Atlantic City and back instead. On that trip, I saw a big sign that said “Fire Anderson” which initially made me think there was an Anderson Fire Department nearby - I know about former Amtrak CEO Anderson, but since he’s now former that wouldn’t make sense. However, the next sign said “Save Amtrak”, so I guess they just haven’t updated their signs.
Anyway, my trip home started when the group returned to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Was a bit nervous about the tight timeframe to make it back there, but figured it was better than a tight connection at NYP (particularly since I had 88 as a backup option if I missed it). As it turned out, they hadn’t even started boarding yet when I made it back, but they started fairly quickly after that. Made it to my single seat (which I found available after I did the upgrade through the app).
Was quickly offered my choice of meal after boarding, which was part of why upgrading was nice - I didn’t really have much time to grab anything in the station, and it would be close to 2pm by the time I reached Moynihan. I got the cheese and fruit plate, which was actually quite good. The train really zoomed by once we got a little ways out of Philadelphia - to the point where I couldn’t even read the names of the commuter rail stations we were blowing through. We didn’t stop until Newark, and after that we made our way into Manhattan. We were stopped a few miles out for train traffic for a few minutes - didn’t really expect that - though only made it to New York a few minutes late.
Once there, I finally got to see the Moynihan Train Hall, and then made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge. I had been to the old New York ClubAcela, but not in Moynihan or the new Metropolitan Lounge. It definitely seemed like the best Amtrak lounge I had been to, with all the food and drink options and being so new. Got some coffee and tea, a bagel, and when I saw they had Andes mints they gave me a coffee cup full. Sat down for a while, and in no time they were making a boarding announcement for train 49. Made my way down to the track with the other 49 passengers in the lounge and was directed past the line to preboard.
Made it to the train and found my sleeper quickly - I was in room 1, which was right past the bedrooms. Our car was an old Viewliner I - while it would have been nice to see the new ones, I actually do appreciate having the much-maligned toilet there. Also, you can definitely notice how much more room the Viewliners roomettes have than the Superliners - I could fit my bag in the room (which is good as the Viewliners have no luggage racks and Michigan has no checked baggage). The upholstery was the classic Amtrak blue, rather than the refreshed grey I saw on the Capitol Limited (or the red seen in Viewliner II cars).
The SCA gave us the rundown of how things worked, and came around to take dinner reservations and meal orders - which is different from my past flex dining experience on the LSL (when they just took reservations). I did 5:30 as the next one after that was after Albany - also, I wanted to be able to see some scenery out of the Viewliner diner. As we pulled away, I noticed I was on the wrong side of the train for the Hudson, which made me wish I had perhaps taken the 5pm to see even more. Reminiscent of being on the wrong side for Puget Sound last year on the Empire Builder - in both cases lacking a lounge car. On the other had, I was surprised to find the Lake Shore Limited (unlike the Capitol Limited, or any western long distance train) features Wi-Fi, which was a bit surprising for an LD train. I’d take the lounge car and traditional dining, but each does have its advantages…
Doing that is also part of why I skipped out on Saturday afternoon‘s Acela ride - I’d be doing the same thing the next day, and all I’d be missing is the NJT/SEPTA Trenton Shuffle (as our plans for the RiverLine were quashed by bustitution). Being as I always like to visit the ocean when I am close, I took the NJT Atlantic City line to Atlantic City and back instead. On that trip, I saw a big sign that said “Fire Anderson” which initially made me think there was an Anderson Fire Department nearby - I know about former Amtrak CEO Anderson, but since he’s now former that wouldn’t make sense. However, the next sign said “Save Amtrak”, so I guess they just haven’t updated their signs.
Anyway, my trip home started when the group returned to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Was a bit nervous about the tight timeframe to make it back there, but figured it was better than a tight connection at NYP (particularly since I had 88 as a backup option if I missed it). As it turned out, they hadn’t even started boarding yet when I made it back, but they started fairly quickly after that. Made it to my single seat (which I found available after I did the upgrade through the app).
Was quickly offered my choice of meal after boarding, which was part of why upgrading was nice - I didn’t really have much time to grab anything in the station, and it would be close to 2pm by the time I reached Moynihan. I got the cheese and fruit plate, which was actually quite good. The train really zoomed by once we got a little ways out of Philadelphia - to the point where I couldn’t even read the names of the commuter rail stations we were blowing through. We didn’t stop until Newark, and after that we made our way into Manhattan. We were stopped a few miles out for train traffic for a few minutes - didn’t really expect that - though only made it to New York a few minutes late.
Once there, I finally got to see the Moynihan Train Hall, and then made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge. I had been to the old New York ClubAcela, but not in Moynihan or the new Metropolitan Lounge. It definitely seemed like the best Amtrak lounge I had been to, with all the food and drink options and being so new. Got some coffee and tea, a bagel, and when I saw they had Andes mints they gave me a coffee cup full. Sat down for a while, and in no time they were making a boarding announcement for train 49. Made my way down to the track with the other 49 passengers in the lounge and was directed past the line to preboard.
Made it to the train and found my sleeper quickly - I was in room 1, which was right past the bedrooms. Our car was an old Viewliner I - while it would have been nice to see the new ones, I actually do appreciate having the much-maligned toilet there. Also, you can definitely notice how much more room the Viewliners roomettes have than the Superliners - I could fit my bag in the room (which is good as the Viewliners have no luggage racks and Michigan has no checked baggage). The upholstery was the classic Amtrak blue, rather than the refreshed grey I saw on the Capitol Limited (or the red seen in Viewliner II cars).
The SCA gave us the rundown of how things worked, and came around to take dinner reservations and meal orders - which is different from my past flex dining experience on the LSL (when they just took reservations). I did 5:30 as the next one after that was after Albany - also, I wanted to be able to see some scenery out of the Viewliner diner. As we pulled away, I noticed I was on the wrong side of the train for the Hudson, which made me wish I had perhaps taken the 5pm to see even more. Reminiscent of being on the wrong side for Puget Sound last year on the Empire Builder - in both cases lacking a lounge car. On the other had, I was surprised to find the Lake Shore Limited (unlike the Capitol Limited, or any western long distance train) features Wi-Fi, which was a bit surprising for an LD train. I’d take the lounge car and traditional dining, but each does have its advantages…
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