AUNTIE C's ADVENTURE JUNE 2015
(these first bits will appear in each post -- scoll down to get to the new stuff)
ORL to WAS = Orlando, Fla., to Washington, D.C., on Silver Meteor 98; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C begins her grand tour"
WAS to CHI = Washington to Chicago, Ill., on Capitol Limited 29; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C gains perspective"
CHI to PDX = Chicago to Portland, Ore., on Empire Builder 27; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C beholds the Empire"
PDX to EUG = Portland to Eugene, Ore, on Coast Starlight 11 coach seat -- "Auntie C arrives at her destination"
return trip
EUG to SAC = Eugene to Sacramento, Calif., on Coast Starlight 11; sleeper car roomettte -- "Auntie C goes to California"
SAC to CHI = Sacramento to Chicago on California Zephyr 6; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C cuts through the middle"
Special edition: "Auntie C takes a detour"
CHI to WAS = Chicago to Washington on Capitol Limited 30; sleeper car /b/e/d/r/o/o/m/ now roomette -- "Auntie C roughs it"
WAS to ORL = Washington to Orlando on Silver Meteor 97; sleeper car roomette
I'll not mention cars or rooms until after I've completed that leg of the trip. Nor do I intend to give the full names of Amtrak crew members -- the nametags state first initial and last name, but they tend to introduce themselves by first name.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
I picked these up from other trip reports, and will post atop each of mine to remind myself what terms I should use, adding as I learn more. (Then I'll forget and fail to use them.)
LSA-D lead service attendant - diner
TA-SC train attendant - sleeper car
TA-C train atendant - coach
waiter - other service attendants in diner car, as I'm not sure what the official name might be (I will probably end up calling most all diner staff something else, as I did not notice nametags on either attendant during the first leg of my trip -- likely under the aprons.) Non-gender specific.
Red Cap staff member at stations who helps travelers get to and from trains, the club lounges and, I assume, the outside world. Non-gender specific.
INTRODUCTION
I am a 45-year-old Floridian visiting relatives in Oregon after about five years with little contact and no other big vacations. I'm introverted, so comments about struggling to chat with other passengers should be viewed as my own hangup, not any character flaws on their parts.
I've taken two-plus weeks off work for this, my first Amtrak rail journey, to attend a life event for my niece -- hence my chosen moniker for this forum.
I trust the more knowledgeable members of Amtrak Unlimited will correct any errors I make in describing particuars of the trains, stations or other aspects of rail travel. Thanks in advance, and while I won't take such corrections personally, I also won't likely thank you individually.
My primary audience for this are my parents. Dad's a steam train enthusiast in theory, but as Mom doesn't travel well, they don't take vacations, either. I hope my descriptions help them travel vicariously with me to visit their only grandchild a continent away.
I do not intend to post photos, mostly as I can't figure out how to downsize the images my iPad takes with its cracked screen.
I'll slug all my posts with "Auntie C" this or that, for ease of finding (or avoiding) them.
FORMAT
I'm compiling these trip reports from emails I send to a handful of kith and kin, taking out the duller bits (I hope). For the first leg, I started typing while on the Silver Meteor, so real-time intrusions into the narrative are separated by ellipses and perhaps time signatures. If I continue to type as I go, this format might persist. It makes sense to me, an you are welcome to stop reading if it does not appeal to you.
My Bluetooth keyboard, as I discovered in my first email, tends to double some characters. I doubt I'll be diligent in proofing, so please forgive typos.
return LEG 3: CHI to WAS on Capitol Limited 30, car 3009, roomette 17
CHICAGO UNION STATION
2:04 p.m. Central time Sunday, June 14, 2015
I opted to stretch my legs and find lunch when the Metropolitan Lounge became standing room only as some train ran late and a group traveling in a private car waited awkwardly near the entrance.
Walking through the food court of CUS, I noticed a disproportionate table-to-chair ratio, and gained greated appreciation of the well-run Met lounge. With no place to stash their bags (or unwilling to pay the fee), families camped out in corners, luggage stacked below and atop tables while one member guarded the chairs and others foraged for food. Spare chairs were politely asked for and moved to open tables. I found a space with three two-seater tables pushed together, but only two chairs. The one I did not sit in soon moved to someone else's spot. When I left, I gave my chair to a girl claiming chairless tables and calling/texxting the rest of her group to communicate her location.
Debating how to use the $10 food voucher I received when my prior train ran too late for me to make my connection Saturday, I chose real food over the delights of Nuts on Clark.
Not since the invention of the spork have I seen an improvement on the simplest of eating utensils (not counting chopsticks or fingers): the spoon. The version I received for my soup (yes, as we drove in from the layover hotel this late morning, a digital sign stated it was 72 degrees F outside, but the lounge stays quite cool) had a small notch at the end, useful for draining liquid from chewy bits or, as I discovered, mashing a bit of bread into the bottom of the cup to mop up the last bites.
It could also have been a defective spoon, but I like to think it was deliberate.
A train must have cleared, because I found a seat again after returning to the lounge. The line in the two-hole restroom here is much shorter than what I saw upstairs in the food court.
I picked up a map of the station to study, in case I want to walk around again. Other than the eateries and a news/candy shop, I am not sure there's much to see. Architecture and people, I suppose.
Well, drat. Had I studied the map first, I could have gone to an annex to try Indian/Pakistani cuisine. Or get a manicure, but that would not be covered on the food voucher even if I claimed to bite my nails.
3:25 p.m. for a second or third time the lounge attendant has announced another 30-minute delay fo the No. 5 westbound California Zephyr due to mechaical failure. It is now scheduuled for a 4 p.m. departure, but the attendant warns this information can and will change.
4 p.m., the No. 5 CZ passengers lined up and filed out, making the lounge much quieter. More travelers filtered in, of course.
4:42 p.m. the brand-name, packaged cinnamon rolls are prettier than they are tasty. Maybe if I found a microwave to warm it up, it would be better.
I wonder if management would consider placing signs with arrows at eye level, pointing down to the power outlets? I knew where to find one behind a low table from my prior visit, but I saw people wandering and peering. Each time I need to get up, I carefully pack up my charger and tech, in case someone else needs the outlet. So far, I have beenable to return to the same chair each time -- I need to cut back on the Mountain Dew.
The ladies at the reception desk announced boarding for each train, escorting those passengers to their gate. They also repeated the same explanations of how the lounge works for every new arrival, patiently answering questions and guarding us from anyone trying to walk past them without flashing the correct color of lounge pass for today. I'm not sure I could be that nice to people all the time.
DORM CAR
6:23 p.m. CST, something new: likely due to the overlfow, I am in the sleeper car closest to the baggage car, with a crew lounge where the lower roomettes and family bedroom have been on other Superliners I've seen, and the portion of the car above that labeled "crew only." Thus, my No. 17 roomettte is upstairs.
What I could see of the sky as I walked alongside the train looked overcast. Guuess I did not miss much by not walking to the shopping district. (I think wee might be halfway there just walking to the sleeper car, though.) Union statiion is a feat of engineering, with all these tracks running under the other blocks of businesses and residences. Would they do the same in earthquake-prone areas?
The emergency exit plaque on my wall shows maybe four toilets downstairs and something labeled "women's lounge" in the corner that would be part of the disabled-accessible room on other cars. (I peeked into one on another lef of my trip, seeing essentially a roomette's two seats and fold-down bunk on one side and an open space on the other with the toilet and sink. A drape can pull across for privacy, but it's a sensible way to set up a room for someone with limited mobility.
That must be where the fourth toilet comes from in this car. Where the dressing room/shower would be is an open space. I'll have to ask, but I suspect we'd go to the next sleeper car in line to shower. We passengers must share the upstairs toilet with the crew -- I'll try to be considerate on my wee-hour outings to shuffle downstairs. Or will there be crew in the lounge downstairs I should not disturb? Hmm, better not drink too much liquid with dinner.
This car has the newer non-closet storage slot, easier to drop my travel pillow case into, wedging my suitcase over the rail. The underside of the uppper bunk iis covered with the dark blue carpeting on the walls above the seats and thhe wall of the closet space -- better for me, as I'll inevitably thwap my head on it a few times, standing up.
I'll leave my ticket out on the table when I go to dinner, if the conductor has not made his/her way back to this car yet. Of course, if I'm at the front of the train, that might not be a problem.
I saw no sleeper car attendant when I boarded -- I will again guess the TA-SC for the next car must pull double duty.
Enough with all the guessing. I'll await announcements.
6:49 p.m. we start to roll. Hey, there's even a freight car full of gravel on a far track. Who uses that odd little parking lot tucked in under an overpass just before all the trains go underground? The access road ending there goes a long way past electrical transformers and other industrial areas, so you'd have to know it was there to find it.
There's even some sunlight, now we're out of the shade of the highrises. Ow -- and it reflects really well off a glass wall and into my side of the car.
I'm at the front of the train, btw.
7:01 p.m. the diner attendant came through to confirm dinner reservations. The conductor followed shortly after. I know better than to head for the dining car before the announcement is made.
8 p.m. the diner car has the curved tables I like. I received rice with my vegetarian pasta rather than the vegetable confetti I've come to expect, and my tablemates found their ice cream had melted and crystallized. (I gave them the fresh strawberry atop my cheesecake. I've found I can tolerate the fruit mixed in, but I'm not a fan of the fresh stuff.)
As we left the city, I saw many flatbed rail cars with long, metal shipping containers double-stacked. I never thought about how those things get to landlocked areas.
I've done little but sit all day, yet I'm tired.
... 8:08 p.m., halted outside the Midwest plant of United States Steel (there was a sign) as Ohio rain pattered on the windows, a man's voice anounces we're behind another passenger train and waiting for it to head on its way before we can move again. Seems a good time to brush teeth.
8:18 p.m., the TA-SC fo the car behind this one, Miles, said he and the attendand for the other full sleeper car, Larry, are tag-teaming this one. He explained he'll be back between 8:45 and 9:45 to put down beds, and there is indeed a shower downstairs. (I brshed my teeth upstairs, so I'll investigate in the morning.)
The call buttons won't reach between cars, so Miles told us to find him in roomette 1 in his car if we need him. All attendants have down time from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., he said -- good to know. (So what happens when a train changed time zones overnight?)
There are cups in the bathroom cupholders, hooray. Is it a West Coast thing not to use them?
I'll set my watch ahead now, if the myfi finds a signal.
9:36 p.m. Eastern time -- wow, when there;s nothing on those flatbed rail cars, they make a funny sound in passing. I though we were being buzzed by those flying cycles from "The Empire Strikes Back" until I looked down. Wiish I'd had the presence of mind to record that.
9:47 p.m. passing huge piles of wrecked cars/car parts near a conveyor belt leading to a crusher/grinder -- whatever is done to such scrap to make it scrappier.
9:51 p.m. bed now down, I think I'll bed down now as we approach South Bend, Indiana.
Things one does not normally notice about one's self: I think one ear canal is lumpier than the other. Makes it harder to insert the squished-flat earplug.
SIX STATES AND A DISTRICT
6:21 a.m. Eastern tie Monday, June 15, 2015, possibly somewhere outside of Pittsburgh, Pennnsylvania.
The young man across the hall from me, I thought, was to disembark in Pittsburgh, and he's stil there. We're passing at least four other tracks -- make that many, now the closest freight cars have cleared my line of sight -- and many of the buildings are brick.
I had not paid attention to the schedule when I first took this route: It runs through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennnsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, (back through Maryland) and the District of Columbia.
AGAIN WITH THE POTTY TALK
7:18 a.m. what I thought on the plaque was annother toilet is, instead, a shower -- right next to a toilet. It must have a curtain, as there is no space for a door to swing open. The women's lounge from the plaque is labeled "dressing room" on its door -- I did not look in, yet.
If the open closet are indicates this is a newer model of Superliner, I am not a fan of the faucets. Other cars I've been on have high-necked loops for the spout and push-taps that will dispense water for a brief period of time. The sinks on this car have lever taps one must hold down to keep running and the stubby spout spits out water at high velocity -- causing more spray to splash out and onto me.
During breakfast, my three tablemates from coach said we had to stop a few times overnight to wait on freight trains, causing our train to run late. We pulled in to Pittsburgh station at 6:49 a.m.
The two couples at the next table recognized me -- we'd met in Washington during my outbound trip, and I've given the retired steam train engineer a pin. They asked how my blog was going -- had I remembered pen and paper, I would have written down the AU site for them.
The Capito Limited, it seems, does not believe in Mountain Dew. Sigh. The water dispenser in the dorm car made a funny noice when I tried to fill my travel bottle, so I might venture back to Miles's car to try that water. Then I can use the flavored water enhancer I brought with me to get caffeine.
Freight cars filled with coal or dark gravel stand on nearby tracks, next to other tracks with more types of freight cars -- boxy ones, round tanks, some squat half-rounds that mostly state CSX on the sides, open-top bins filled with railroad ties.
7:45 a.m. this region of Pennsylvania has seen a good deal of rainfall, judging by the large puddles of water, full ditches and muddy, swollen rivers we pass.
I thought I heard one of the TA-SCs chatting with other passengers in this car, but no one has offered to reset the chairs. Probably it was passengers chatting with each other.
... ah, but another crew member (conductor?) saw me typing awkwardly using a pillow to prop up the keyboard, and offered to let me sit at a table in the lounge downstairs -- how thoughtful! I thanked him, but declined. If I get tired of my perch, I'll fold up the mattress myself.
8 a.m. no water in the other car, either. Another passenger said I could just go to the dining car and request one. That would mean interrupting the hard-working crew during breakfast, and I'd have to talk to people. If I get desperate enough, I'll use one of the tiny cups to slowly fill my bottle from the spitty taps.
I did wrestle the seat into position, so I may now type at the pull-out table. Better.
8:50 a.m. word problem: If it takes 9 tiny cups of water to fill a 20-ounce bottle while a train is standing still, how many would it take when the train is moving at top speed?
Answer: The caffeine hasn't kicked in yet; stop bothering me. (Alternate answeer, for Monty Python fans: Are they African or European cups?)
The dressing room appears to be just that: two fixed stools in front of a large mirror, with a door leading to another shower/toilet combination. It does not state it is only for crew, but I would not intrude without permission. I'll plan to shower tonight on my next train, and hope I'm not too whiffy while waiting in Club Acela in D.C.
10:43 a.m. an hour's nap leaves me refreshed as the train moves slowly through large, wet, green hills -- part of the Appalachians? Not enough cell service to brush up on my geography, were I so inclined. The stream on the other side of the train flows downhill with us, with whitecaps over the rocky spots. If I could not see running water, the occasional squeal of the brakes tell me we're descending.
The slops are filled with deciduous trees, to closely packs as far away for me to distinguish -- not than I can tell much other than oak and not-oak, as I don't see magnolias, palms, crape myrtles, banyans, melalucas or longleaf pines. A few evergreens look deliberately planted in the rare yard we pass. Some shrubs look laden with ripening berries, still too green for me to guess at.
The one deer I noticed seems to be normal, not supersized. Doubtless, Northern visitors who see a white-tailed deer in Florida think it petite.
11:32 a.m. stopped at Cumberland, Maryland, station -- scheduled for 9:20. A church sign as we approached stated, "immediate seating available."
This is the station outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, with memorials to fallen members of the armed forces near the tracks.
12:34 p.m. TA-SC Larry came up through the car to tell the other family in this one that the diner was open at 11:30 for lunch. He walked right past me, so I never officialy met the man. I followed the others back to the diner -- we were the first seated, and later heard a brief PA announcement alerting Miles so he could send his pasengers.
I did not hear a general announcement, so they must have only offered the meal to sleeper-car passengers because the train is running late. (thhe LSA-D did later announce to all that the diner car was closed, and thankss those who joined them for dinner and breakfast.) My veggie burger this time was paler, made of grains rather than beans. Tasty enough.
The dad at my table remembered reports of black bears sometimes wandering the vast train yards at Cumberland station. He pointed out the creosote plant later, where tall stacks of untreated wood awaited processing into railroad ties.
THAT EXPLAINS A LOT
2:45 p.m. EST, between West Virginia and Maryland.
TA-SC Miles came up to change out linens in my room and the empty room across the corridor. He said he'd gotten so busy with to-go orders and tending all the rooms in his own car, he forgot he had two rooms in this one. So that's why I've not spoken to Larry -- I was not assigned to him.
When I asked, Miles said only four roomettes, closest to the other sleeper cars, were revenue rooms at first, all others being business travel units for crew. Now, he said, Amtrak is experimenting with making the back half of the car all revenue rooms, eight in total.
... 2:55 p.m. does bammboo count as a tree? I saw some. ...
With the informaiiton Miles provided, I suspect these roomettes do not get an attendant of their own -- not enough revenue to support a full crew mamber. Does anyone know different?
We seem to run more than 2 hours late. Anyone taking the Silver Star to Florida might be in jeopardy of missing a connection, but my Silver Meteor won't leave until close to 8 p.m.
Nothing much to do now but enjoy the scenery, and try for wifi signal to check in with the rest of the world.
3:10 p.m. at Rockville, Maryland, station, scheduled for 12:21 p.m., so we've made up some time.
AN APPRECIATION OF SLEEPER CAR ATTENDANTS
Staying in a half-attended roomette is hardly roughing it, but this leg of my adventure gave me a better appreciation for all the things the attendants may do for passengers:
+ a friendly greeting and direction to the correct space
+ help carrying luggage up the stairs
+ stocking coffee, morning juice, water and optional goodies
+ keeping an eye on the status of the shower room/restrooms to maintain order and cleanliness
+ stopping to chat with one's charges, perhaps getting to know their names on longer trips
+ answering all questions -- some pertinent, others inane
+ taking meal orders and running to the diner for mobility-impaired (and other) passengers
+ quickly arranging the beds, up or down
+ a friendly farewell and a steadying hand down from the car upon departure
Some of these things are their job; some, such as cookies or candy, are voluntary (and probably help to garner goodwill and better tips). Each attenndant has his or her own style, and some even handed me business cards so I know how to contact Amtrak to evaluate their performance.
3:27 p.m. I'd best pack up my tech, as we should be nearing Washington.
3:35 p.m. bonus points to the graffiti artist who added polka-dot bubbles to their unreadable text. I think someone else used sparkly silver spray paint, but it's fading now.
JUST DEW IT
3:56 p.m., safely ensconced in Club Acela: What does Washington, D.C., have against Mountain Dew? Is everyone watching their figures? They could stock diet Dew.
I'll make do with root beer and, if I must, Pepsi. According to the lady with the impressive fingernails at the reception desk, I have until 6:45 to wander around. I'll see if they have a station map to study, but I'll probably hide out in here. Walking throughh the station showed it crowded with passengers waiting to board trains -- probably including the one I just got off.
I don't remember the train ever going backward, but the final coach car was at the end of the line, closest to the terminal. I'll pay more attention next time.
I helped a lady in a wheelchair read the setting on her insulin syringe before she injected it. Her advice: eat healthy, avoid diabetes. We agreed that can be hard to do when traveling.
Tune in tomorrow (or maybe Wednesday, depending on when I get home Tuesday night) for the similarly thrilling final chapter in the adventures of Auntie C.
(these first bits will appear in each post -- scoll down to get to the new stuff)
ORL to WAS = Orlando, Fla., to Washington, D.C., on Silver Meteor 98; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C begins her grand tour"
WAS to CHI = Washington to Chicago, Ill., on Capitol Limited 29; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C gains perspective"
CHI to PDX = Chicago to Portland, Ore., on Empire Builder 27; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C beholds the Empire"
PDX to EUG = Portland to Eugene, Ore, on Coast Starlight 11 coach seat -- "Auntie C arrives at her destination"
return trip
EUG to SAC = Eugene to Sacramento, Calif., on Coast Starlight 11; sleeper car roomettte -- "Auntie C goes to California"
SAC to CHI = Sacramento to Chicago on California Zephyr 6; sleeper car roomette -- "Auntie C cuts through the middle"
Special edition: "Auntie C takes a detour"
CHI to WAS = Chicago to Washington on Capitol Limited 30; sleeper car /b/e/d/r/o/o/m/ now roomette -- "Auntie C roughs it"
WAS to ORL = Washington to Orlando on Silver Meteor 97; sleeper car roomette
I'll not mention cars or rooms until after I've completed that leg of the trip. Nor do I intend to give the full names of Amtrak crew members -- the nametags state first initial and last name, but they tend to introduce themselves by first name.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
I picked these up from other trip reports, and will post atop each of mine to remind myself what terms I should use, adding as I learn more. (Then I'll forget and fail to use them.)
LSA-D lead service attendant - diner
TA-SC train attendant - sleeper car
TA-C train atendant - coach
waiter - other service attendants in diner car, as I'm not sure what the official name might be (I will probably end up calling most all diner staff something else, as I did not notice nametags on either attendant during the first leg of my trip -- likely under the aprons.) Non-gender specific.
Red Cap staff member at stations who helps travelers get to and from trains, the club lounges and, I assume, the outside world. Non-gender specific.
INTRODUCTION
I am a 45-year-old Floridian visiting relatives in Oregon after about five years with little contact and no other big vacations. I'm introverted, so comments about struggling to chat with other passengers should be viewed as my own hangup, not any character flaws on their parts.
I've taken two-plus weeks off work for this, my first Amtrak rail journey, to attend a life event for my niece -- hence my chosen moniker for this forum.
I trust the more knowledgeable members of Amtrak Unlimited will correct any errors I make in describing particuars of the trains, stations or other aspects of rail travel. Thanks in advance, and while I won't take such corrections personally, I also won't likely thank you individually.
My primary audience for this are my parents. Dad's a steam train enthusiast in theory, but as Mom doesn't travel well, they don't take vacations, either. I hope my descriptions help them travel vicariously with me to visit their only grandchild a continent away.
I do not intend to post photos, mostly as I can't figure out how to downsize the images my iPad takes with its cracked screen.
I'll slug all my posts with "Auntie C" this or that, for ease of finding (or avoiding) them.
FORMAT
I'm compiling these trip reports from emails I send to a handful of kith and kin, taking out the duller bits (I hope). For the first leg, I started typing while on the Silver Meteor, so real-time intrusions into the narrative are separated by ellipses and perhaps time signatures. If I continue to type as I go, this format might persist. It makes sense to me, an you are welcome to stop reading if it does not appeal to you.
My Bluetooth keyboard, as I discovered in my first email, tends to double some characters. I doubt I'll be diligent in proofing, so please forgive typos.
return LEG 3: CHI to WAS on Capitol Limited 30, car 3009, roomette 17
CHICAGO UNION STATION
2:04 p.m. Central time Sunday, June 14, 2015
I opted to stretch my legs and find lunch when the Metropolitan Lounge became standing room only as some train ran late and a group traveling in a private car waited awkwardly near the entrance.
Walking through the food court of CUS, I noticed a disproportionate table-to-chair ratio, and gained greated appreciation of the well-run Met lounge. With no place to stash their bags (or unwilling to pay the fee), families camped out in corners, luggage stacked below and atop tables while one member guarded the chairs and others foraged for food. Spare chairs were politely asked for and moved to open tables. I found a space with three two-seater tables pushed together, but only two chairs. The one I did not sit in soon moved to someone else's spot. When I left, I gave my chair to a girl claiming chairless tables and calling/texxting the rest of her group to communicate her location.
Debating how to use the $10 food voucher I received when my prior train ran too late for me to make my connection Saturday, I chose real food over the delights of Nuts on Clark.
Not since the invention of the spork have I seen an improvement on the simplest of eating utensils (not counting chopsticks or fingers): the spoon. The version I received for my soup (yes, as we drove in from the layover hotel this late morning, a digital sign stated it was 72 degrees F outside, but the lounge stays quite cool) had a small notch at the end, useful for draining liquid from chewy bits or, as I discovered, mashing a bit of bread into the bottom of the cup to mop up the last bites.
It could also have been a defective spoon, but I like to think it was deliberate.
A train must have cleared, because I found a seat again after returning to the lounge. The line in the two-hole restroom here is much shorter than what I saw upstairs in the food court.
I picked up a map of the station to study, in case I want to walk around again. Other than the eateries and a news/candy shop, I am not sure there's much to see. Architecture and people, I suppose.
Well, drat. Had I studied the map first, I could have gone to an annex to try Indian/Pakistani cuisine. Or get a manicure, but that would not be covered on the food voucher even if I claimed to bite my nails.
3:25 p.m. for a second or third time the lounge attendant has announced another 30-minute delay fo the No. 5 westbound California Zephyr due to mechaical failure. It is now scheduuled for a 4 p.m. departure, but the attendant warns this information can and will change.
4 p.m., the No. 5 CZ passengers lined up and filed out, making the lounge much quieter. More travelers filtered in, of course.
4:42 p.m. the brand-name, packaged cinnamon rolls are prettier than they are tasty. Maybe if I found a microwave to warm it up, it would be better.
I wonder if management would consider placing signs with arrows at eye level, pointing down to the power outlets? I knew where to find one behind a low table from my prior visit, but I saw people wandering and peering. Each time I need to get up, I carefully pack up my charger and tech, in case someone else needs the outlet. So far, I have beenable to return to the same chair each time -- I need to cut back on the Mountain Dew.
The ladies at the reception desk announced boarding for each train, escorting those passengers to their gate. They also repeated the same explanations of how the lounge works for every new arrival, patiently answering questions and guarding us from anyone trying to walk past them without flashing the correct color of lounge pass for today. I'm not sure I could be that nice to people all the time.
DORM CAR
6:23 p.m. CST, something new: likely due to the overlfow, I am in the sleeper car closest to the baggage car, with a crew lounge where the lower roomettes and family bedroom have been on other Superliners I've seen, and the portion of the car above that labeled "crew only." Thus, my No. 17 roomettte is upstairs.
What I could see of the sky as I walked alongside the train looked overcast. Guuess I did not miss much by not walking to the shopping district. (I think wee might be halfway there just walking to the sleeper car, though.) Union statiion is a feat of engineering, with all these tracks running under the other blocks of businesses and residences. Would they do the same in earthquake-prone areas?
The emergency exit plaque on my wall shows maybe four toilets downstairs and something labeled "women's lounge" in the corner that would be part of the disabled-accessible room on other cars. (I peeked into one on another lef of my trip, seeing essentially a roomette's two seats and fold-down bunk on one side and an open space on the other with the toilet and sink. A drape can pull across for privacy, but it's a sensible way to set up a room for someone with limited mobility.
That must be where the fourth toilet comes from in this car. Where the dressing room/shower would be is an open space. I'll have to ask, but I suspect we'd go to the next sleeper car in line to shower. We passengers must share the upstairs toilet with the crew -- I'll try to be considerate on my wee-hour outings to shuffle downstairs. Or will there be crew in the lounge downstairs I should not disturb? Hmm, better not drink too much liquid with dinner.
This car has the newer non-closet storage slot, easier to drop my travel pillow case into, wedging my suitcase over the rail. The underside of the uppper bunk iis covered with the dark blue carpeting on the walls above the seats and thhe wall of the closet space -- better for me, as I'll inevitably thwap my head on it a few times, standing up.
I'll leave my ticket out on the table when I go to dinner, if the conductor has not made his/her way back to this car yet. Of course, if I'm at the front of the train, that might not be a problem.
I saw no sleeper car attendant when I boarded -- I will again guess the TA-SC for the next car must pull double duty.
Enough with all the guessing. I'll await announcements.
6:49 p.m. we start to roll. Hey, there's even a freight car full of gravel on a far track. Who uses that odd little parking lot tucked in under an overpass just before all the trains go underground? The access road ending there goes a long way past electrical transformers and other industrial areas, so you'd have to know it was there to find it.
There's even some sunlight, now we're out of the shade of the highrises. Ow -- and it reflects really well off a glass wall and into my side of the car.
I'm at the front of the train, btw.
7:01 p.m. the diner attendant came through to confirm dinner reservations. The conductor followed shortly after. I know better than to head for the dining car before the announcement is made.
8 p.m. the diner car has the curved tables I like. I received rice with my vegetarian pasta rather than the vegetable confetti I've come to expect, and my tablemates found their ice cream had melted and crystallized. (I gave them the fresh strawberry atop my cheesecake. I've found I can tolerate the fruit mixed in, but I'm not a fan of the fresh stuff.)
As we left the city, I saw many flatbed rail cars with long, metal shipping containers double-stacked. I never thought about how those things get to landlocked areas.
I've done little but sit all day, yet I'm tired.
... 8:08 p.m., halted outside the Midwest plant of United States Steel (there was a sign) as Ohio rain pattered on the windows, a man's voice anounces we're behind another passenger train and waiting for it to head on its way before we can move again. Seems a good time to brush teeth.
8:18 p.m., the TA-SC fo the car behind this one, Miles, said he and the attendand for the other full sleeper car, Larry, are tag-teaming this one. He explained he'll be back between 8:45 and 9:45 to put down beds, and there is indeed a shower downstairs. (I brshed my teeth upstairs, so I'll investigate in the morning.)
The call buttons won't reach between cars, so Miles told us to find him in roomette 1 in his car if we need him. All attendants have down time from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., he said -- good to know. (So what happens when a train changed time zones overnight?)
There are cups in the bathroom cupholders, hooray. Is it a West Coast thing not to use them?
I'll set my watch ahead now, if the myfi finds a signal.
9:36 p.m. Eastern time -- wow, when there;s nothing on those flatbed rail cars, they make a funny sound in passing. I though we were being buzzed by those flying cycles from "The Empire Strikes Back" until I looked down. Wiish I'd had the presence of mind to record that.
9:47 p.m. passing huge piles of wrecked cars/car parts near a conveyor belt leading to a crusher/grinder -- whatever is done to such scrap to make it scrappier.
9:51 p.m. bed now down, I think I'll bed down now as we approach South Bend, Indiana.
Things one does not normally notice about one's self: I think one ear canal is lumpier than the other. Makes it harder to insert the squished-flat earplug.
SIX STATES AND A DISTRICT
6:21 a.m. Eastern tie Monday, June 15, 2015, possibly somewhere outside of Pittsburgh, Pennnsylvania.
The young man across the hall from me, I thought, was to disembark in Pittsburgh, and he's stil there. We're passing at least four other tracks -- make that many, now the closest freight cars have cleared my line of sight -- and many of the buildings are brick.
I had not paid attention to the schedule when I first took this route: It runs through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennnsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, (back through Maryland) and the District of Columbia.
AGAIN WITH THE POTTY TALK
7:18 a.m. what I thought on the plaque was annother toilet is, instead, a shower -- right next to a toilet. It must have a curtain, as there is no space for a door to swing open. The women's lounge from the plaque is labeled "dressing room" on its door -- I did not look in, yet.
If the open closet are indicates this is a newer model of Superliner, I am not a fan of the faucets. Other cars I've been on have high-necked loops for the spout and push-taps that will dispense water for a brief period of time. The sinks on this car have lever taps one must hold down to keep running and the stubby spout spits out water at high velocity -- causing more spray to splash out and onto me.
During breakfast, my three tablemates from coach said we had to stop a few times overnight to wait on freight trains, causing our train to run late. We pulled in to Pittsburgh station at 6:49 a.m.
The two couples at the next table recognized me -- we'd met in Washington during my outbound trip, and I've given the retired steam train engineer a pin. They asked how my blog was going -- had I remembered pen and paper, I would have written down the AU site for them.
The Capito Limited, it seems, does not believe in Mountain Dew. Sigh. The water dispenser in the dorm car made a funny noice when I tried to fill my travel bottle, so I might venture back to Miles's car to try that water. Then I can use the flavored water enhancer I brought with me to get caffeine.
Freight cars filled with coal or dark gravel stand on nearby tracks, next to other tracks with more types of freight cars -- boxy ones, round tanks, some squat half-rounds that mostly state CSX on the sides, open-top bins filled with railroad ties.
7:45 a.m. this region of Pennsylvania has seen a good deal of rainfall, judging by the large puddles of water, full ditches and muddy, swollen rivers we pass.
I thought I heard one of the TA-SCs chatting with other passengers in this car, but no one has offered to reset the chairs. Probably it was passengers chatting with each other.
... ah, but another crew member (conductor?) saw me typing awkwardly using a pillow to prop up the keyboard, and offered to let me sit at a table in the lounge downstairs -- how thoughtful! I thanked him, but declined. If I get tired of my perch, I'll fold up the mattress myself.
8 a.m. no water in the other car, either. Another passenger said I could just go to the dining car and request one. That would mean interrupting the hard-working crew during breakfast, and I'd have to talk to people. If I get desperate enough, I'll use one of the tiny cups to slowly fill my bottle from the spitty taps.
I did wrestle the seat into position, so I may now type at the pull-out table. Better.
8:50 a.m. word problem: If it takes 9 tiny cups of water to fill a 20-ounce bottle while a train is standing still, how many would it take when the train is moving at top speed?
Answer: The caffeine hasn't kicked in yet; stop bothering me. (Alternate answeer, for Monty Python fans: Are they African or European cups?)
The dressing room appears to be just that: two fixed stools in front of a large mirror, with a door leading to another shower/toilet combination. It does not state it is only for crew, but I would not intrude without permission. I'll plan to shower tonight on my next train, and hope I'm not too whiffy while waiting in Club Acela in D.C.
10:43 a.m. an hour's nap leaves me refreshed as the train moves slowly through large, wet, green hills -- part of the Appalachians? Not enough cell service to brush up on my geography, were I so inclined. The stream on the other side of the train flows downhill with us, with whitecaps over the rocky spots. If I could not see running water, the occasional squeal of the brakes tell me we're descending.
The slops are filled with deciduous trees, to closely packs as far away for me to distinguish -- not than I can tell much other than oak and not-oak, as I don't see magnolias, palms, crape myrtles, banyans, melalucas or longleaf pines. A few evergreens look deliberately planted in the rare yard we pass. Some shrubs look laden with ripening berries, still too green for me to guess at.
The one deer I noticed seems to be normal, not supersized. Doubtless, Northern visitors who see a white-tailed deer in Florida think it petite.
11:32 a.m. stopped at Cumberland, Maryland, station -- scheduled for 9:20. A church sign as we approached stated, "immediate seating available."
This is the station outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, with memorials to fallen members of the armed forces near the tracks.
12:34 p.m. TA-SC Larry came up through the car to tell the other family in this one that the diner was open at 11:30 for lunch. He walked right past me, so I never officialy met the man. I followed the others back to the diner -- we were the first seated, and later heard a brief PA announcement alerting Miles so he could send his pasengers.
I did not hear a general announcement, so they must have only offered the meal to sleeper-car passengers because the train is running late. (thhe LSA-D did later announce to all that the diner car was closed, and thankss those who joined them for dinner and breakfast.) My veggie burger this time was paler, made of grains rather than beans. Tasty enough.
The dad at my table remembered reports of black bears sometimes wandering the vast train yards at Cumberland station. He pointed out the creosote plant later, where tall stacks of untreated wood awaited processing into railroad ties.
THAT EXPLAINS A LOT
2:45 p.m. EST, between West Virginia and Maryland.
TA-SC Miles came up to change out linens in my room and the empty room across the corridor. He said he'd gotten so busy with to-go orders and tending all the rooms in his own car, he forgot he had two rooms in this one. So that's why I've not spoken to Larry -- I was not assigned to him.
When I asked, Miles said only four roomettes, closest to the other sleeper cars, were revenue rooms at first, all others being business travel units for crew. Now, he said, Amtrak is experimenting with making the back half of the car all revenue rooms, eight in total.
... 2:55 p.m. does bammboo count as a tree? I saw some. ...
With the informaiiton Miles provided, I suspect these roomettes do not get an attendant of their own -- not enough revenue to support a full crew mamber. Does anyone know different?
We seem to run more than 2 hours late. Anyone taking the Silver Star to Florida might be in jeopardy of missing a connection, but my Silver Meteor won't leave until close to 8 p.m.
Nothing much to do now but enjoy the scenery, and try for wifi signal to check in with the rest of the world.
3:10 p.m. at Rockville, Maryland, station, scheduled for 12:21 p.m., so we've made up some time.
AN APPRECIATION OF SLEEPER CAR ATTENDANTS
Staying in a half-attended roomette is hardly roughing it, but this leg of my adventure gave me a better appreciation for all the things the attendants may do for passengers:
+ a friendly greeting and direction to the correct space
+ help carrying luggage up the stairs
+ stocking coffee, morning juice, water and optional goodies
+ keeping an eye on the status of the shower room/restrooms to maintain order and cleanliness
+ stopping to chat with one's charges, perhaps getting to know their names on longer trips
+ answering all questions -- some pertinent, others inane
+ taking meal orders and running to the diner for mobility-impaired (and other) passengers
+ quickly arranging the beds, up or down
+ a friendly farewell and a steadying hand down from the car upon departure
Some of these things are their job; some, such as cookies or candy, are voluntary (and probably help to garner goodwill and better tips). Each attenndant has his or her own style, and some even handed me business cards so I know how to contact Amtrak to evaluate their performance.
3:27 p.m. I'd best pack up my tech, as we should be nearing Washington.
3:35 p.m. bonus points to the graffiti artist who added polka-dot bubbles to their unreadable text. I think someone else used sparkly silver spray paint, but it's fading now.
JUST DEW IT
3:56 p.m., safely ensconced in Club Acela: What does Washington, D.C., have against Mountain Dew? Is everyone watching their figures? They could stock diet Dew.
I'll make do with root beer and, if I must, Pepsi. According to the lady with the impressive fingernails at the reception desk, I have until 6:45 to wander around. I'll see if they have a station map to study, but I'll probably hide out in here. Walking throughh the station showed it crowded with passengers waiting to board trains -- probably including the one I just got off.
I don't remember the train ever going backward, but the final coach car was at the end of the line, closest to the terminal. I'll pay more attention next time.
I helped a lady in a wheelchair read the setting on her insulin syringe before she injected it. Her advice: eat healthy, avoid diabetes. We agreed that can be hard to do when traveling.
Tune in tomorrow (or maybe Wednesday, depending on when I get home Tuesday night) for the similarly thrilling final chapter in the adventures of Auntie C.
