Recent Silver Meteor trip

after 20+ years of auto train success we finally need to ride the silver Meteor.
I’ll make a few posts to better focus discussions.
Upfront the only positive was the food. Better than expected.
The rest was a nightmare start to finish.
To begin. Arrived at NYP with a wheelchair request and red cap needs. Went to street entrance as directed.
No help or chairs or sitting area to be found. Finally located a guard who advised 30 minute wait. We gave up and struggled to the Acela lounge to await our train. There we did find wheelchair help for boarding.
In comparison flying I had wheelchairs waiting easily when stepping from my car at departure gate, helped through check in and security, offered bath or snack stop too. Straight to the plane door. Same upon arrival.
Amtrak has nothing compared to this. My arrival station was worse. Left off on wrong side of tracks and told to walk 1/2 around parked train. No luggage help either. Again it had been requested.
More to post. But for those in need of assistance don’t bother taking the Meteor from NYP south

lyineltrain said:

after 20+ years of auto train success we finally need to ride the silver Meteor.
I’ll make a few posts to better focus discussions.
Upfront the only positive was the food. Better than expected.
The rest was a nightmare start to finish.
To begin. Arrived at NYP with a wheelchair request and red cap needs. Went to street entrance as directed.
No help or chairs or sitting area to be found. Finally located a guard who advised 30 minute wait. We gave up and struggled to the Acela lounge to await our train. There we did find wheelchair help for boarding.
In comparison flying I had wheelchairs waiting easily when stepping from my car at departure gate, helped through check in and security, offered bath or snack stop too. Straight to the plane door. Same upon arrival.
Amtrak has nothing compared to this. My arrival station was worse. Left off on wrong side of tracks and told to walk 1/2 around parked train. No luggage help either. Again it had been requested.
More to post. But for those in need of assistance don’t bother taking the Meteor from NYP south

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I would report this to customer relations - you probably are deserving of some compensation for this experience. Some of what you are saying here doesn't seem like it should have happened. I have had much better service at NYP than what you described. Additionally luggage help should have been available at your arrival station if it was a staffed station and you requested it. Not to excuse what you went through of course, but I have had far better service and it sounds like you may have been affected by some employees that weren't doing their jobs. I have found that customer relations will generally give you something in this type of scenario.

lordsigma said:

I would report this to customer relations - you probably are deserving of some compensation for this experience. Some of what you are saying here doesn't seem like it should have happened. I have had much better service at NYP than what you described. Additionally luggage help should have been available at your arrival station if it was a staffed station and you requested it. Not to excuse what you went through of course, but I have had far better service and it sounds like you may have been affected by some employees that weren't doing their jobs. I have found that customer relations will generally give you something in this type of scenario.

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Good points. Appreciate them.
Normally I’d ask but add in whats left to post and its beyond calling.
Arrive station was staffed. Offered no help other than walk on my own somehow with my luggage. And I’m a wheelchair request. Attendants on train offered no help once I reached the platform.

What station did you arrive at? Why did you expect Red Cap style service at the arrival station?

I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but I think you were expecting something that Amtrak simply does not provide.

We arrived Orlando. Got left off train on the wrong side of two tracks with a fence between us and station. Nearest Cross over was 1/4 mile away which was really a local side street for cars. No wheelchair as requested either.
Amtrak staff weren’t concerned. Somehow I hobbled the distance. Bottom line is the worlds major tourist stop for Amtrak can’t handle handicap assistance

2nd part of our journey. 20+ years on auto train nothing like this.
We paid the big $ for the sleeper as we always do. Never a bad trip. Till this.
Entering the cabin it was obvious this train car was past its prime. Some examples:
Arms on chair broken and thread bare
Attendant call button broken
Black scuff marks on every metal wall
Black scuff marks even on ceiling!
Fluid drip/run marks near garbage and sink areas
The Arm rests were repaired with “glue” to hold them to window ledge - looked like gorilla glue.
Bath toilet paper dispenser filthy, the plastic cover long since water stained and deposited over. Inside a small flattened and stiff old roll of toilet paper.
Bath door not original, won’t close without effort
Bath door knob and lock must be the 3rd or 4th replacement, basically a patch job bolted over the original area. Barely worked.
More? Only one working plug in room.
Lights above lower berth did work correctly.
Best part? Bath door won’t open enough to get in with the chair set up. U have to stow chair to get enough clearance for door.
Never saw anything like this on auto train. Ever.
Have pics but can’t figure how to post yet.
Of course we tried to tell some of this to our attendant. That’s when we found the call button was broken. Eventually we found him. For over $1k expected better than this.
Part 3 next. It gets worse.

lyineltrain said:

We arrived Orlando. Got left off train on the wrong side of two tracks with a fence between us and station. Nearest Cross over was 1/4 mile away which was really a local side street for cars. No wheelchair as requested either.
Amtrak staff weren’t concerned. Somehow I hobbled the distance. Bottom line is the worlds major tourist stop for Amtrak can’t handle handicap assistance

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When a train discharges away from the station, it is because another train (possibly train 98) was in the station or recently departed. I am quite familiar with the Orlando station and at times, I have boarded or detrained on the opposite track. I am an avid walker and to me a 1/4 mile is not far, but I am surprised that any passengers had to walk a 1/4 mile. I have never had to walk that far to board or detrain.

Although Orlando does not have Redcaps, the station crew is usually pretty good at picking up passengers who need assistance in a cart. However, if two trains were in the station (or one recently departed), the station staff likely was a bit overwhelmed. I have seen passengers wait for the cart to pick them up. I have traveled with @the_traveler and @Bob Dylan from Orlando and station agents arranged for them to be transported from the station to train. I believe the train (98) may have been on the outside track that day.

Did you request the lift to assist you in detraining? If so, the station agents should have been aware of your need for assistance.

I am also very familiar with the crews on the Meteor and they are generally great. I am surprised that assistance from station agents was not requested. It is possible that it was requested and the station agents were delayed because of the large passenger load detraining and boarding in Orlando.
Were you in coach or sleeper? Did your attendant know you required assistance?
I am sorry this happened to you at my "home" station.

You are very correct. 98 NB was stuck in the station blocking access. Engine issues I think. No station or train help were assisting our 97 train. If u know the area all of the passengers finally organized by the main line and walked north to Columbia street to cross over to the station side.
Sleeper, my tickets noted assist. Attendant knew and got bags off the train.
We were also an hour late arriving.
If there was a cart not sure who would have brought it, as is all the passengers were standing in the 100 degree sun light at 2pm. Luckily for me I could walk enough.
Tks for the comments. Adds clarity

lyineltrain said:

You are very correct. 98 NB was stuck in the station blocking access. Engine issues I think. No station or train help were assisting our 97 train. If u know the area all of the passengers finally organized by the main line and walked north to Columbia street to cross over to the station side.
Sleeper, my tickets noted assist. Attendant knew and got bags off the train.
We were also an hour late arriving.
If there was a cart not sure who would have brought it, as is all the passengers were standing in the 100 degree sun light at 2pm. Luckily for me I could walk enough.
Tks for the comments. Adds clarity

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It sounds like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I have never had to walk to Columbia Street to cross the tracks. I agree that doing that is a schlep. If 97 had extra cars, like it has recently, the closer crossing may have been blocked.
It is possible that the carts were unable to access the train because of the distance to Columbia Street and/or station personnel was busy with dealing with train 98.
If you are inclined, I would give the Silver Meteor another try. The chances are everything will not go wrong again. However, if you wait until October 1st or after, the meals will be different.
Do you remember the name of your attendant and whether he/she tried to contact station personnel?
Again, sorry for your bad experience.

Out of curiosity, was that an "H" room? Others have mentioned the door to the bathroom being an access issue, unlike the curtain in a SL H room, and (unconfirmed) that the VL 2 H room would go in that direction.

"H" room = Handicapped Access Room
There is one on each sleeper car

If you book online, that room will not even show in the options unless you indicate that you are in a wheelchair

Qapla said:

"H" room = Handicapped Access Room
There is one on each sleeper car

If you book online, that room will not even show in the options unless you indicate that you are in a wheelchair

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It will show, if its available, less than 15 days before departure.

PVD said:

Out of curiosity, was that an "H" room? Others have mentioned the door to the bathroom being an access issue, unlike the curtain in a SL H room, and (unconfirmed) that the VL 2 H room would go in that direction.

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I am guessing that it was not an "H" room since the OP mentioned a chair and I do not recall seeing chairs in the Viewliner H rooms. I think the access problem to the H room restroom is for passengers in wheelchairs. I do not believe the OP was in a wheelchair, although he requested one in the departing and arrival stations.

When they said couldn't get in with chair set up, and had to stow chair, I thought of folding a wheelchair, but I certainly could have misread that I never really thought about moving the chair to get into the bathroom.

PVD said:

When they said couldn't get in with chair set up, and had to stow chair, I thought of folding a wheelchair, but I certainly could have misread that I never really thought about moving the chair to get into the bathroom.

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I have been in Viewliner bedrooms where the chair is very close to the restroom door. It is closer in the Viewliner bedroom than in a Superliner bedroom.

Catching up. Thanks for replies.
This was not an H room.
To finish the post the unbearable part of trip was the constant loud banging and rattling of the car and room. Wondered we had bad trucks under us. Every switch, Joint, etc sent a loud series of banging sounds through the room. Never heard anything this bad. Vibrations were so bad we gave up trying to eat a good dinner.
Most noise was from the adjoining room door. It already had several towels stuck in it and was still loose.
Banging was so long and loud I swore the mirror would shatter any moment.
Sleep was impossible. Conversation or rest was hopeless.
After 20 plus hours our nerves were done. We did mention it to our attendant when we saw him. That car should head straight to the scrappers torch at the end of the run.
Just a post to help others. Not looking for refunds. Damage is done.

Don't forget you were on CSX tracks... that's not gonna help anything!

The worst ride I've ever had was on a private car on the tail of the City of New Orleans.... being in the last car on CN tracks.... now THAT was a rough ride. I do remember some rough rides on the Florida runs as well. Much rougher than on the Crescent for example (Viewliner Cars but on NS tracks).

I ride the Silver Meteor regularly (some years twice a month). The only really rough ride I had was when my room was right over a truck and the truck had a flat spot. It was annoying (and I complained to the guy across the hall [@jis]) but it was not annoying enough to complain to the attendant or to other AU members. The sliding doors between the bedrooms do rattle, but they rattle on the Superliners also.

lyineltrain said:

Catching up. Thanks for replies.
This was not an H room.
To finish the post the unbearable part of trip was the constant loud banging and rattling of the car and room. Wondered we had bad trucks under us. Every switch, Joint, etc sent a loud series of banging sounds through the room. Never heard anything this bad. Vibrations were so bad we gave up trying to eat a good dinner.
Most noise was from the adjoining room door. It already had several towels stuck in it and was still loose.
Banging was so long and loud I swore the mirror would shatter any moment.
Sleep was impossible. Conversation or rest was hopeless.
After 20 plus hours our nerves were done. We did mention it to our attendant when we saw him. That car should head straight to the scrappers torch at the end of the run.
Just a post to help others. Not looking for refunds. Damage is done.

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Sorry to hear your trip wasn’t good. Thankfully I have had mostly good experiences in Viewliners so far. Hopefully this car will get a rehab to address these issues.

Appreciate the comments. Having taken auto train bedrooms on the same tracks dozens of times this was far worse. For sure the doors rattle but this was beyond belief. A lot happened north of DC as well.
My impression is that sleeper car has problems.
I did learn the food is ending, that was the best part!
Just my caution to others and what can happen. Service and ride were not the usual.

lyineltrain said:

Catching up. Thanks for replies.
This was not an H room.
To finish the post the unbearable part of trip was the constant loud banging and rattling of the car and room. Wondered we had bad trucks under us. Every switch, Joint, etc sent a loud series of banging sounds through the room. Never heard anything this bad. Vibrations were so bad we gave up trying to eat a good dinner.
Most noise was from the adjoining room door. It already had several towels stuck in it and was still loose.
Banging was so long and loud I swore the mirror would shatter any moment.
Sleep was impossible. Conversation or rest was hopeless.
After 20 plus hours our nerves were done. We did mention it to our attendant when we saw him. That car should head straight to the scrappers torch at the end of the run.
Just a post to help others. Not looking for refunds. Damage is done.

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We carry rubber door stops to help stop the rattlers you sometimes get. It can be the door or the top or other things. I highly recommend that you get a couple and also carry some gaffers or painters tape which can come in handy. We also bring along a small extension cord and a power strip for charging various electronics.

I like the Viewliners but they are old. Maybe you’ll get a new one next time. Give the Meteor another shot, it’s not a bad train.

lyineltrain said:

But for those in need of assistance don’t bother taking the Meteor from NYP south

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I recall being rather appalled by the lack of assistance provided by an attendant as an elderly lady needed a bit of assistance in boarding No. 4 at Flagstaff. The attendant stood by, obviously saw that the lady could use some assistance, but provided none. If it was not for help from other passengers (the kindness of strangers) I don't think she would have been able to board the train. I saw the same thing happen with the Sunset at El Paso a few years earlier.

That (staff standing by, doing nothing) also occurs often on the NE Corridor. For example, in DC, NEC trains originating in VA use the easternmost tracks, which require stepping up on a stool and then the stairs. Some passengers cannot do this without assistance, especially with luggage. It often falls to other passengers to help them, while train crew stand by doing nothing.

Perhaps that is because the train crews and Amtrak do not want to be accused of assault, fondling, sexual touching, pickpocketing and all the other types of liability people like to sue corporation for - even if the allegations cannot be proven and are often unfounded

Qapla said:

Perhaps that is because the train crews and Amtrak do not want to be accused of assault, fondling, sexual touching, pickpocketing and all the other types of liability people like to sue corporation for - even if the allegations cannot be proven and are often unfounded

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I hardly think that is the case.