Just thought I would offer a report on a trip recently taken aboard the Auto Train.
Left Lorton on March 3, 2006. I must say, compared to the Sanford station, this is a major improvement. All the attendants were extremely professional and helpful. We booked a sleeper and while a bit smaller than anticipated, it served the purpose. I would imagine though a stout individual may have trouble maneuvering in the bathroom located in the sleepers.
After boarding, there was wine and cheese tasting. A very nice touch. For Dinner the selection consisted of beef tenderloin, roasted chicken, salmon or vegetable lasagna. The beef was excellent and prepared as requested. All members of our party were pleased as well with their selections.
The trip down went almost as planed. I say almost because, we arrived in Sanford about one hour late. This due to the unavoidable freight traffic on the rails.
As for the return trip on March 11, that’s an entirely different story. Driving a SUV, we arrived at the station at noon, just to be on the safe side. While loading of the vehicles is suppose to begin at 11:30 a.m., loading didn’t take place until 2:30 p.m.. Not wanting to leave the car unattended in the loading lane, I waited in the vehicle, in the hot Florida sun. I continued to ask several employees who passed by if they had any idea when loading would begin, but all had no clue. Turns out, the delay was caused by the fact that the train coming from Lorton, which is the train we would be boarding, was delayed 3 hours due to main engine trouble. Those people had to wait on the train while another engine was brought to their location.
Upon boarding we learned that they were understaffed. The staff that did show up, was no where near as pleasant as the staff on the trip down. Complaints soon began once we under way. It seems that they had stocked just 12 beers. Needless to say, the beer drinkers on-board were not a happy group. We chose the 7:00 p.m. dinner seating. After being so pleased with the beef on the trip down, I decided to order it once again. Yet another surprise. Upon ordering the beef, I was informed by the attendant that they had run out of beef. Does anyone do any planing ahead of time at Amtrak?
After placing our order, we had to ask 3 times for the drinks. The couple in the booth next to us gave up after 4 attempts and never received their drinks. The response from the server was simply, “I’m doing the best I can”. Sorry, for the price we paid, this just didn’t cut it.
The ride back was less than smooth shall we say. We ask other individuals who have ridden this train numerous time, some more than 10 and 12 times, and all agreed that the train was traveling much faster than on previous trips. This in turn created alot more “sway”.
We arrive at Lorton 45 minutes ahead of schedule, but were not allowed to leave the train due to the fact the Lorton employees had not even arrived at work yet. So there we sat.
Anyway, that’s a brief description. If anyone is taking this trip in the near future and has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Left Lorton on March 3, 2006. I must say, compared to the Sanford station, this is a major improvement. All the attendants were extremely professional and helpful. We booked a sleeper and while a bit smaller than anticipated, it served the purpose. I would imagine though a stout individual may have trouble maneuvering in the bathroom located in the sleepers.
After boarding, there was wine and cheese tasting. A very nice touch. For Dinner the selection consisted of beef tenderloin, roasted chicken, salmon or vegetable lasagna. The beef was excellent and prepared as requested. All members of our party were pleased as well with their selections.
The trip down went almost as planed. I say almost because, we arrived in Sanford about one hour late. This due to the unavoidable freight traffic on the rails.
As for the return trip on March 11, that’s an entirely different story. Driving a SUV, we arrived at the station at noon, just to be on the safe side. While loading of the vehicles is suppose to begin at 11:30 a.m., loading didn’t take place until 2:30 p.m.. Not wanting to leave the car unattended in the loading lane, I waited in the vehicle, in the hot Florida sun. I continued to ask several employees who passed by if they had any idea when loading would begin, but all had no clue. Turns out, the delay was caused by the fact that the train coming from Lorton, which is the train we would be boarding, was delayed 3 hours due to main engine trouble. Those people had to wait on the train while another engine was brought to their location.
Upon boarding we learned that they were understaffed. The staff that did show up, was no where near as pleasant as the staff on the trip down. Complaints soon began once we under way. It seems that they had stocked just 12 beers. Needless to say, the beer drinkers on-board were not a happy group. We chose the 7:00 p.m. dinner seating. After being so pleased with the beef on the trip down, I decided to order it once again. Yet another surprise. Upon ordering the beef, I was informed by the attendant that they had run out of beef. Does anyone do any planing ahead of time at Amtrak?
After placing our order, we had to ask 3 times for the drinks. The couple in the booth next to us gave up after 4 attempts and never received their drinks. The response from the server was simply, “I’m doing the best I can”. Sorry, for the price we paid, this just didn’t cut it.
The ride back was less than smooth shall we say. We ask other individuals who have ridden this train numerous time, some more than 10 and 12 times, and all agreed that the train was traveling much faster than on previous trips. This in turn created alot more “sway”.
We arrive at Lorton 45 minutes ahead of schedule, but were not allowed to leave the train due to the fact the Lorton employees had not even arrived at work yet. So there we sat.
Anyway, that’s a brief description. If anyone is taking this trip in the near future and has any questions, please feel free to ask.
I enjoyed reading it and it reminded me that I should check out the trip reports section of the site a little more often. I always go to this forum and forget about that one. I am sorry to hear that your trip back wasn't quite as pleasant... but arriving ahead of schedule and having to wait (while a bit annoying) is still much better than arriving late. Amtrak's stocking procedure, especially with non-perishable items such as liquor, has always baffled me. I know F&B storage space is somewhat tight onboard the trains, but there isn't any reason they could not stock at least twice as much non-perishable stuff as is normally purchased just in case their is extra demand on one of the trains one day. Running out of items does not help the bottom line when Amtrak is losing money on F&B sales. Obviously the F&B sales could break even if they sold more quantity on the trains but that is another whole issue.
