R
Rail Rider
Guest
This is my annual trek on the Capital that I've been doing for the past 10 years or so. Here are some observations:
My connecting train from Baltimore n Sunday Oct 3 was NE Regional 195 with a final destination of Richmond. This was sort of a drag becuase I had to manhandle my suitcase down the steps to the lower-level low platform when we arrived at DC. I was also pretty amazed at how full the train was.
I made my way to the Club Acela, checked in and then went downstairs to the food court to get a sushi plate to hold me over until dinner was served. When I returned to the Club Acela, I discovered that they don't let you bring in outside food, and so had to go back out and eat my lunch with the hoi-polloi downstairs. Whatever, they pre-boarded us at about 3:30 PM, the train left from track 16, so we didn't have to hike back down to the lower level, which was pretty common back in the days around the year 2000, when it seemed that the train had more freight cars than passenger cars. I found my roomette with no difficulty and settled in. The car attendant saved himself some time by giving the basic orientation speech over the loudspeaker, but he did come by to talk to each of us personally, and also asked us what time we wanted our beds made up. This must be a new policy, becuase they attendant on the way back did the same thing. I liked it, becuase I found my bed made up at that time, rather than prowling around the car, tired, at bedtime looking for the missing attendant to make up the bed.
I enjoyed a pre-dinner bottle of wine and some cheese I had brought aboard and a nice conversation with the lady in the compartment across the corridor while we ran across Maryland and along the Potomac Valley in West Virginia. At around Cumberland, I went to dinner, and saw that they had full diner service, though they were using the Cross Country Cafe lounge diner configuration with its reduced capacity. My dinner companions were surprisingly untalkative, but I enjoyed the NY Strip steak, which was good, though not as nicely as one a had a couple of nights later in Chicago. I should have ordered the mashed potato instead of the baked, becuase the baked was obviously microwaved and a bit underdone.
My bed was made up at the appointed time, and I went to sleep. I woke up somewhere west of Toledo, it was till dark, which is what one should expect given that it was October, we were on Daylight savings time, and we were in the far western part of the eastern time zone. Our superliner sleeper was one of the ones that had been newly renovated, and had the shower with the door, not the old curtains that don't keep the water in. Anyway, refreshed, I dressed and headed to the diner for breakfast, which was omelet and grits. Then I went to the sightseer lounge to view the exciting scenery of northern Indiana.
(Actually, there are a few views of the Indiana Dunes, the steel mills at Gary and Lake Michigan at Hammond-Whiting. We arrived in Chicago more or less on time, except that they made us go down a side track and back into the station, which wasted about 15-20 minutes. After doing some work in the Metropolitan Lounge, I ventured forth for lunch and found that the governor of Illinois was holding a press conference in the Great Hall, announcing a number of passenger improvements for Union Station. It appears that they're going to enlarge the waiting area for coach passengers (greatly needed) by moving the Metropolitan Lounge to a position near the Great Hall, and they're also going to be installing more restrooms.
When I booked my original trip, the sleepers were sold out for the return leg, so I booked a coach seat, though my last experience with overnight coach travel was unpleasant, as it involved rowdy drunks in our car. I was a bit apprehensive about the prospect. However, on the morning of my departure, I double checked Amtrak,com and found that a roomette was available. Naturally, the website isn't set up to allow you to change your reservations, so I had to call Amtrak. The experience was actually quite a pleasant surprise, as the agent took care of everything quickly. I did have to wait in line at Union Station, however, to get my new ticket and pay the difference in fare. By changing my booking, I seem to have forfeited my AAA discount for the rail fare, but fortunately not the actual base rail fare, which was $80, as opposed to the $130 quoted by the website for buying on the day of travel. With my new ticket in hand, I made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge, and after I dropped my bags, I ventured forth to find a little food to tide me over until a late dinner on the train. This I found in the station food court at Gold Coast Ht Dogs, where I bought a "Chicago Style" hot dog, which I consumed al fresco on the riverside plaza outside the station. After a short walsk through the Loop to work off the hot dog, I returned to the station, and had enough time to retrieve my bags and hand my ticket over to the conductor, which seems to be the practice for Chicago sleeper passengers. (You can also make your dinner reservations in the Metropolitan Lounge before departure.)
They boarded us for out 6:40 PM departure at about 5:45, and as we were settling in, we got the announcement that they were going to hold us so that passengers from the late arriving train #6 (The California Zephyr) from the west could make their connection. That meant we didn't leave until about 7:15 PM or so. I had no more wine, but I did have a half-pint of vodka, and the attendant in the car had thoughtfully put out some ice, so I made myself a screwdriver with the provided orange juice, which I enjoyed for my pre-dinner drink. In the diner, I was seated with a friendly couple from Belgium who regaled me with tales of their holiday trip to the southwest and told me lots about Belgium. Very weird politics they have over there. I had the shrimp scampi, with a chardonnay, which was very enjoyable. It appeared that the dining car was seriously understaffed. (I talked the next day with the dining car manager and he said they were short two waiters and one cook.) Nonetheless, we all got served reasonably efficiently, though I suppose the company helped make the wait more enjoyable.
During the night, we pulled out of the Toledo station, and then stopped for what appeared to be a long time. I'm not sure, becuase I was drifting in and out of sleep. Bur when we arrived in Pittsburgh, it was 7AM, and we were about 2 hours late. The story was a broken switch outside the Toledo station. I got up, showered, dressed, and went to breakfast at about 8:30, and there was a waiting list at the dining car, something I've never experienced for breakfast. I suppose it was a combination of a sold out train, the CCC seating and being short-staffed. The wait wasn't that long, and soon I was enjoying my breakfast quesdailla. When I returned to my room, the bed was made up, which is an improvement over previous trips.
I went to the sightseer lounge and enjoyed the view as we climbed up along the Youghigheny and Cassleman Rivers to the eastern continental divide, though the tunnel at the Sand Patch Grade, and down along Wills Creek into Cumberland. Because we were running late, they laid out lunch for the sleeping car passengers after we left Cumberland, and then, without incident, we arrived into DC Union Station about 2 hours late. This was a bit too late to make it worth my going to the office to drop off my laptop, so I went to the club Acela and checked my e-mail there while waiting for my connection back to Baltimore. One thing about our arrival. We came in on the lower level, as I suppose by 3:30 PM, the westbound Capitol was taking up track 16. However, they unloaded us on a platform where there was a VRE commuter train arriving on the other side. We were all piling out of our train into a bunch of commuters heading in the other direction. Also, at first it appeared the only escalator was bringing the commuters down, and those of us with bags would have to either manhandle them up a steep flight of stairs or wait a long time for an elevator. A bit of walking, however, revealed the hidden up-escalator, but all-in-all, the arrival was a bit disorganized.
I hung around Union Station until 6, working on stuff in the Club Acela and going out to find some dinner (a crabcake and brown ale at the Center Cafe) and rode to Baltimore on Northeast Regional 138. I sprung for a business class to avoid the crush, but business class was pretty crowded as well. But it was only a 50 minute ride, and then my journey was over.
All in all, the service was pretty good, but I'm still waiting for a trip where both my outbound and return trips on the Capitol are on time.
My connecting train from Baltimore n Sunday Oct 3 was NE Regional 195 with a final destination of Richmond. This was sort of a drag becuase I had to manhandle my suitcase down the steps to the lower-level low platform when we arrived at DC. I was also pretty amazed at how full the train was.
I made my way to the Club Acela, checked in and then went downstairs to the food court to get a sushi plate to hold me over until dinner was served. When I returned to the Club Acela, I discovered that they don't let you bring in outside food, and so had to go back out and eat my lunch with the hoi-polloi downstairs. Whatever, they pre-boarded us at about 3:30 PM, the train left from track 16, so we didn't have to hike back down to the lower level, which was pretty common back in the days around the year 2000, when it seemed that the train had more freight cars than passenger cars. I found my roomette with no difficulty and settled in. The car attendant saved himself some time by giving the basic orientation speech over the loudspeaker, but he did come by to talk to each of us personally, and also asked us what time we wanted our beds made up. This must be a new policy, becuase they attendant on the way back did the same thing. I liked it, becuase I found my bed made up at that time, rather than prowling around the car, tired, at bedtime looking for the missing attendant to make up the bed.
I enjoyed a pre-dinner bottle of wine and some cheese I had brought aboard and a nice conversation with the lady in the compartment across the corridor while we ran across Maryland and along the Potomac Valley in West Virginia. At around Cumberland, I went to dinner, and saw that they had full diner service, though they were using the Cross Country Cafe lounge diner configuration with its reduced capacity. My dinner companions were surprisingly untalkative, but I enjoyed the NY Strip steak, which was good, though not as nicely as one a had a couple of nights later in Chicago. I should have ordered the mashed potato instead of the baked, becuase the baked was obviously microwaved and a bit underdone.
My bed was made up at the appointed time, and I went to sleep. I woke up somewhere west of Toledo, it was till dark, which is what one should expect given that it was October, we were on Daylight savings time, and we were in the far western part of the eastern time zone. Our superliner sleeper was one of the ones that had been newly renovated, and had the shower with the door, not the old curtains that don't keep the water in. Anyway, refreshed, I dressed and headed to the diner for breakfast, which was omelet and grits. Then I went to the sightseer lounge to view the exciting scenery of northern Indiana.
(Actually, there are a few views of the Indiana Dunes, the steel mills at Gary and Lake Michigan at Hammond-Whiting. We arrived in Chicago more or less on time, except that they made us go down a side track and back into the station, which wasted about 15-20 minutes. After doing some work in the Metropolitan Lounge, I ventured forth for lunch and found that the governor of Illinois was holding a press conference in the Great Hall, announcing a number of passenger improvements for Union Station. It appears that they're going to enlarge the waiting area for coach passengers (greatly needed) by moving the Metropolitan Lounge to a position near the Great Hall, and they're also going to be installing more restrooms.When I booked my original trip, the sleepers were sold out for the return leg, so I booked a coach seat, though my last experience with overnight coach travel was unpleasant, as it involved rowdy drunks in our car. I was a bit apprehensive about the prospect. However, on the morning of my departure, I double checked Amtrak,com and found that a roomette was available. Naturally, the website isn't set up to allow you to change your reservations, so I had to call Amtrak. The experience was actually quite a pleasant surprise, as the agent took care of everything quickly. I did have to wait in line at Union Station, however, to get my new ticket and pay the difference in fare. By changing my booking, I seem to have forfeited my AAA discount for the rail fare, but fortunately not the actual base rail fare, which was $80, as opposed to the $130 quoted by the website for buying on the day of travel. With my new ticket in hand, I made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge, and after I dropped my bags, I ventured forth to find a little food to tide me over until a late dinner on the train. This I found in the station food court at Gold Coast Ht Dogs, where I bought a "Chicago Style" hot dog, which I consumed al fresco on the riverside plaza outside the station. After a short walsk through the Loop to work off the hot dog, I returned to the station, and had enough time to retrieve my bags and hand my ticket over to the conductor, which seems to be the practice for Chicago sleeper passengers. (You can also make your dinner reservations in the Metropolitan Lounge before departure.)
They boarded us for out 6:40 PM departure at about 5:45, and as we were settling in, we got the announcement that they were going to hold us so that passengers from the late arriving train #6 (The California Zephyr) from the west could make their connection. That meant we didn't leave until about 7:15 PM or so. I had no more wine, but I did have a half-pint of vodka, and the attendant in the car had thoughtfully put out some ice, so I made myself a screwdriver with the provided orange juice, which I enjoyed for my pre-dinner drink. In the diner, I was seated with a friendly couple from Belgium who regaled me with tales of their holiday trip to the southwest and told me lots about Belgium. Very weird politics they have over there. I had the shrimp scampi, with a chardonnay, which was very enjoyable. It appeared that the dining car was seriously understaffed. (I talked the next day with the dining car manager and he said they were short two waiters and one cook.) Nonetheless, we all got served reasonably efficiently, though I suppose the company helped make the wait more enjoyable.
During the night, we pulled out of the Toledo station, and then stopped for what appeared to be a long time. I'm not sure, becuase I was drifting in and out of sleep. Bur when we arrived in Pittsburgh, it was 7AM, and we were about 2 hours late. The story was a broken switch outside the Toledo station. I got up, showered, dressed, and went to breakfast at about 8:30, and there was a waiting list at the dining car, something I've never experienced for breakfast. I suppose it was a combination of a sold out train, the CCC seating and being short-staffed. The wait wasn't that long, and soon I was enjoying my breakfast quesdailla. When I returned to my room, the bed was made up, which is an improvement over previous trips.
I went to the sightseer lounge and enjoyed the view as we climbed up along the Youghigheny and Cassleman Rivers to the eastern continental divide, though the tunnel at the Sand Patch Grade, and down along Wills Creek into Cumberland. Because we were running late, they laid out lunch for the sleeping car passengers after we left Cumberland, and then, without incident, we arrived into DC Union Station about 2 hours late. This was a bit too late to make it worth my going to the office to drop off my laptop, so I went to the club Acela and checked my e-mail there while waiting for my connection back to Baltimore. One thing about our arrival. We came in on the lower level, as I suppose by 3:30 PM, the westbound Capitol was taking up track 16. However, they unloaded us on a platform where there was a VRE commuter train arriving on the other side. We were all piling out of our train into a bunch of commuters heading in the other direction. Also, at first it appeared the only escalator was bringing the commuters down, and those of us with bags would have to either manhandle them up a steep flight of stairs or wait a long time for an elevator. A bit of walking, however, revealed the hidden up-escalator, but all-in-all, the arrival was a bit disorganized.
I hung around Union Station until 6, working on stuff in the Club Acela and going out to find some dinner (a crabcake and brown ale at the Center Cafe) and rode to Baltimore on Northeast Regional 138. I sprung for a business class to avoid the crush, but business class was pretty crowded as well. But it was only a 50 minute ride, and then my journey was over.
All in all, the service was pretty good, but I'm still waiting for a trip where both my outbound and return trips on the Capitol are on time.
