rrdude
Engineer
The scariest part about traveling on AutoTrain (AT) is the thought of getting to your terminal late, and missing the train. They take the last car check-in at 3:00pm, and want the last SUV checked no later than 2:00pm. It's not like you can just "hang out" in Lorton, VA or Sanford, FL and "catch" the AT the next day. At least not during their busy season you can't. You miss it? Enjoy the drive.
Two Sets of Pix of Sanford, FL AutoTrain Station
That is just a little more stress than I'm used to traveling Amtrak, as I am usually arriving at the station less than ten minutes before my train is scheduled to depart. Smart? No way. But that's me.
As it was, DC traffic last Friday wasn't too hateful, and we arrived with our Honda Pilot, and rear-mounted-bike-rack at 2:15pm. In time for the train, but too late to get a good dinner seating. After turning over our Pilot to the Amtrak car jockeys, we waited with the rest of the Mouse-Bound hordes until about 2:45pm. Boarding with AT is always smooth, as everyone seems to know exactly where to go, and the signage on the platforms in both Lorton and Sanford are pretty accurate.
With our un-welcomed 9:00pm dinner reservations in hand, we boarded our Deluxe Sleeper, the Graham Claytor Jr., and soon found our double bedroom was ready, with the partition between the rooms hidden away.
I quickly popped my trusty power strip into the wall, and soon all of the kids iPod's were charging up. The Lorton station's wireless worked well, until we departed, about a half an hour early.
Our SCA came by, asked if we'd traveled on the AT before, and after informing him that we did, he excused himself and left to attend other passengers. What I forget was that the AT's lounge was now open, and serving wine and light snacks. We finally traipsed down there, and were lucky enough to find a booth for the five of us. After several glasses of the complimentary wine, we retired back to our bedroom(s), to await the call for 9:00pm dinner.
I had to wake up everyone in my family for dinner. The twins, eleven, were just plain tired, the wine had taken it's toll on my wife, and my teenage son never misses an opportunity to "nap".
My wife ordered the fish "Turbo" for dinner, took one bite, and asked for something different. I ordered the Beef Tournados, medium rare, and they came VERY well done. As is par for most of Amtrak's diners, the veggies were so overcooked neither my wife or I touched them. When my wife's replacement Beef Tournados came, hers was done medium rare, just as she asked, the veggies were, well, what's the point.
Kids enjoyed their meals, especially desserts, Jello, cheesecake, hard to go wrong with those choices. It was a short dinner, and after tipping twenty bucks for the five of us, we returned to our bedrooms, which had been made up in our absence.
Track seemed smoother to me than in the past, maybe it was the wine......
Breakfast was uneventful, bananas, dry cereal, muffins-rolls, OJ, and coffee. Again, we were early arriving into Sanford. The new station is beautiful, and WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT.
While we've always been lucky with our Honda Pilot or Van being unloaded rather early, this time lady luck was not on our side. We were the fourth from last car unloaded. Since we were early it didn't matter that much, as we still had 3+ hours to go to Ft. Myers Beach, FL.
Two Sets of Pix of Sanford, FL AutoTrain Station
That is just a little more stress than I'm used to traveling Amtrak, as I am usually arriving at the station less than ten minutes before my train is scheduled to depart. Smart? No way. But that's me.
As it was, DC traffic last Friday wasn't too hateful, and we arrived with our Honda Pilot, and rear-mounted-bike-rack at 2:15pm. In time for the train, but too late to get a good dinner seating. After turning over our Pilot to the Amtrak car jockeys, we waited with the rest of the Mouse-Bound hordes until about 2:45pm. Boarding with AT is always smooth, as everyone seems to know exactly where to go, and the signage on the platforms in both Lorton and Sanford are pretty accurate.
With our un-welcomed 9:00pm dinner reservations in hand, we boarded our Deluxe Sleeper, the Graham Claytor Jr., and soon found our double bedroom was ready, with the partition between the rooms hidden away.
I quickly popped my trusty power strip into the wall, and soon all of the kids iPod's were charging up. The Lorton station's wireless worked well, until we departed, about a half an hour early.
Our SCA came by, asked if we'd traveled on the AT before, and after informing him that we did, he excused himself and left to attend other passengers. What I forget was that the AT's lounge was now open, and serving wine and light snacks. We finally traipsed down there, and were lucky enough to find a booth for the five of us. After several glasses of the complimentary wine, we retired back to our bedroom(s), to await the call for 9:00pm dinner.
I had to wake up everyone in my family for dinner. The twins, eleven, were just plain tired, the wine had taken it's toll on my wife, and my teenage son never misses an opportunity to "nap".
My wife ordered the fish "Turbo" for dinner, took one bite, and asked for something different. I ordered the Beef Tournados, medium rare, and they came VERY well done. As is par for most of Amtrak's diners, the veggies were so overcooked neither my wife or I touched them. When my wife's replacement Beef Tournados came, hers was done medium rare, just as she asked, the veggies were, well, what's the point.
Kids enjoyed their meals, especially desserts, Jello, cheesecake, hard to go wrong with those choices. It was a short dinner, and after tipping twenty bucks for the five of us, we returned to our bedrooms, which had been made up in our absence.
Track seemed smoother to me than in the past, maybe it was the wine......
Breakfast was uneventful, bananas, dry cereal, muffins-rolls, OJ, and coffee. Again, we were early arriving into Sanford. The new station is beautiful, and WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT.
While we've always been lucky with our Honda Pilot or Van being unloaded rather early, this time lady luck was not on our side. We were the fourth from last car unloaded. Since we were early it didn't matter that much, as we still had 3+ hours to go to Ft. Myers Beach, FL.
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