Sorry for the delay in writing this. It's been a busy time.
Ever since I first heard of Amtrak's first-annual National Train Day event in Washington, I had a desire to check it out. As time progressed, Amtrak added more and more things to the event in DC, and it continued to become that much more inviting. I eventually succumbed to my desires and I threw the idea around with a buddy of mine about going up for a weekend trip for National Train Day and a little sight-seeing, and a few days later we booked our trip.
Both being from Aiken, SC, we had many choices of how to get to DC. Aiken is less than 3 hours away from Atlanta, Clemson, Charlotte, Yemassee, Charleston, and Florence, and only an hour from Columbia, so we had a few options on which train to take:
-Crescent from ATL, CSN, GRV, or CLT.
We used Crescent when we went to DC 2 years ago, with Clemson as our station because of area familiarity and the train's schedule. (That was our first LD train trip, and suffice it to say, we didn't get much sleep on that first overnight leg
) I also took Crescent over Thanksgiving that year, so we knew for a fact that 19/20 were safe bets.
-Carolinian from CLT.
Carolinian and Piedmont are (so far) my favorite trains to ride, and I had ridden 79/80 many times. Very well run trains.
-Silver Star from CLB.
I attend USC, and being the railfan that I am, I have observed the arrival/departure of 91/92 many a time there, so I knew what to expect from that station.
-Silver Meteor and/or Palmetto from YEM, CHS, or FLO.
I had never ridden on either of these trains, although I had seen them in action a few times before.
However, we did have some schedule windows to work with. My friend's last day of work at his co-op was May 9th (a Friday), and my first day of my summer internship was May 12th (that following Monday). Because of this, we chose to use the Florence station and take 98 Silver Meteor on Friday night, arrive early Saturday morning, tour all day, spend the night, and then take 89 Palmetto back to Florence the next day. I know, I know, all that traveling and planning just to spend a day in DC. I have to say, though, that it was definitely worth it.
Now on to the trip itself.
If you've never been to the Florence station, allot a few minutes to find it, especially at night. The station is not signed from the road from the direction I came, and it is located behind a hospital in its back parking lot. Amtrak might want to at least put a sign with an arrow on one of the busier roads. The station itself is pretty average looking, but the inside was well lit, clean, and bustling with passengers waiting for 98. My friend and I went around the station to stand at the back of the platform because of the number of people on the inside, and the fact that 98 wasn't expected to arrive for another 20 minutes or so. I then remembered that Florence was the sole stopping point for AutoTrain on its overnight trek, and sure enough, a few minutes later, I see and hear #53 coming through the yard to the station. Shortly thereafter, the station's intercom announces that 98 would be arriving shortly. We go back into the building to get in the line to go out onto the platform, and a few minutes later, 98 slides into the station, 35 minutes late. The consist was as expected:
2 P42s, units 185 and 7
Baggage
3 Viewliners
Diner
Cafe
4 Amfleet IIs
Now having ridden trains in the past and having boarded at both busy staffed stations and lighter unstaffed stations, I thought I knew the drill. However, instead of just releasing the passengers onto the platform, a station agent walked the entire boarding group down to the train. It was almost as if I was on a field trip in elementary school with how much he babied us. Although friendly and having good intentions, I did not appreciate being told "Stay behind me!," "Don't get too close to the train now!," "We're almost there!" (we boarded in the last coach car). He also walked too slowly. But in his defense, there were 2 ladies in front of us who were probably first time riders, so I'll let it slide. Just a minor gripe, that's all. We were assigned a pair of seats, and we were about 3 rows or so from the rear of the car. AutoTrain was still there when we sat down, but it completed its station work and highballed while we were still at the station. 98 departed FLO at 12:22, 37 minutes down. After getting an approach signal and a brief stop signal at FY, we ran on clears all the way through Fayetteville (with the exception of an approach limited and limited clear for the crossover at WN), where I fell asleep for a little while. Now having never ridden on Amtrak over CSX rails south of Selma, I suppose that I should have expected a somewhat rough ride, especially after being pampered by NS ROW for many of my trips and seeing the condition of the ROW in Yemassee and North Charleston. I couldn't have been more correct. The ride was a lot rougher than I thought it would be, especially over switches. There were even a few that shook my head enough to wake me up. Suffice it to say, I am not impressed with the quality of CSX ROW on the A-Line. On a side note, I did recognize something just north of Fayetteville. It was a rough ride, just as it had been up until then, but then it got extremely smooth, and the car had a different sound to it. Speed hadn't decreased at all (we were still riding clear signals), so I'm guessing that they were either concrete ties, new rails, or the result of a recent rail grinding. Unfortunately, this smooth ride only seemed to last for probably about 10-12 miles or so, and then it was back to the rough ride. Any guesses on what that could be?
I feel asleep at that point until I was awakened between the DI and Charlie Baker signals in Rocky Mount. This time it wasn’t a switch, but rather the rumbling of another freight train’s engines. As luck may have had it, 98 on Track 1 was racing Q174 on 2. It was pretty cool to watch from the last coach car as we overtook 174 all the way to the point that I could see his headlight right outside our car’s windows. However, it gradually began to inch up and accelerate past us as we slowed for the station stop at RMT. Needless to say, there were some slightly startled passengers from the noise of 174’s engines, especially the lead GEVO’s prime mover and horn, since it was right beside us for about a minute. After 98 finished business at RMT, we flew by 174 at the College Crossing signals. 174 would file in behind us at Battle, the next signal up. I feel asleep here again, and woke up a few minutes before we pulled into Richmond station at 5:45 AM, 51 minutes down, at which point I remained awake for the rest of the ride. Here's where 98 lost much of its time. North of Ashland, CSX was having signal problems on track 2. Thanks to my scanner in hand, I heard all the chatter between the dispatcher and the head end. About 15 minutes later, a member of the crew made the announcement. We were given restricted speed signals through 4 or 5 signals, meaning we were flying along at a brisk 15 mph for about 10 miles while we should have been doing 79. Oddly enough, the head end's cab signal picked up a clear signal at the Guinea signal, even though the wayside signal said otherwise. Thankfully, our next signal at County Line was a high green, and the engineer punched it up to track speed pretty quickly.
My friend and I ventured up to the dining car at around 7 AM or so, and were seated across the table from a friendly lady who was going to Newark (or was it Trenton?) all the way from West Palm Beach. She voiced her opinion on how much more convenient it was for her to take the train than to drive, with congestion on I-95, the need for a hotel room, and gas prices. She also mentioned possibly taking AutoTrain in the future. However, she was not pleased about the frigid temperature in her coach car. (I have to agree with her on that one, her coach car was pretty chilly). I ordered the cheese omelet with a biscuit, breakfast potatoes, and apple juice, and my friend ordered the scrambled eggs with breakfast potatoes, and a Coke I think. I was very satisfied with my cheese omelet. I thought it tasted great, I could actually taste the cheeses, and it was pretty decently sized. The potatoes were…well, average. They could have been hotter and they could have given more of them, but it was ok. The biscuit was average as well: somewhat dry and only warm. Free refills on the apple juice though! (Something I didn’t expect). Overall, it was a good, satisfying meal. We returned to our seats for the remaining 20-30 minutes of our trip.
We arrived into WAS at 8:46 AM, an hour late on the dot, and were greeted with less than favorable weather, consisting of light rain and 50 degree weather. Good thing we came prepared with some light jackets. WUS was already setup and alive for National Train Day. I must say, folks, that Amtrak marketing really pulled off a great event at WUS. I thought it was very well organized, had relevant and professionally run exhibits, and very friendly staff. Not to mention the amount of people that were there. Amtrak was well prepared for the first annual NTD, for sure.
Since our touring outside of NTD isn’t really relevant to this forum, I won’t post about it, although I do recommend the Newseum. Sunday came around and due to the late departure from our hotel room out at National Airport and our missing of a crucial Blue Line Metro train, my friend and I had to board 89 at Alexandria. Not really a big deal though, as the station is across the street from the Metro station. 89 arrived on time into Alexandria behind P42 178, where quite a few people were boarding for points south. We were seated in the middle-forward section of the 3rd coach car, just another Amfleet II. Oddly enough, our coach car (25043) was the same car that we rode in for our first LD train trip to DC on Crescent 2 years prior. Small world. Being pretty hungry from not having time to eat breakfast, I ventured to the Café car, and ordered the Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwich and an apple juice for $4.75. Try the Jimmy Dean sandwich people! I genuinely think it tasted better than an Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s. For lunch, I had the cheeseburger, a bag of Munchies, and a bottled water, all good as well. We made pretty good time on 89, and we only stopped once at a signal around Elm City to wait for 90 to finish up its work at the Wilson station. For some reason, the ride seemed a little smoother than it did on 98. It could have just been me, though. We arrived Florence about 15-20 minutes down, so I can’t complain.
Overall trip ratings:
Onboard personnel: 8/10. 89’s Café employee seemed kind of arrogant and not very outgoing. He was at least friendly, though. 98’s crew for the most part was friendly, although not outgoing. I also found it pretty cool that 98’s conductor out of Florence was wearing a NTD button.
Equipment: 10/10. Both of our coach cars were clean and the temperature was right-on. Same goes for 98’s diner and 89’s Café car.
OTP: 8.5/10. 98’s 60 minute-late arrival into WAS didn’t really hurt us much, since our plan was to stick around WUS until NTD began. We couldn’t have been more pleased with 89’s OTP, though.
Ever since I first heard of Amtrak's first-annual National Train Day event in Washington, I had a desire to check it out. As time progressed, Amtrak added more and more things to the event in DC, and it continued to become that much more inviting. I eventually succumbed to my desires and I threw the idea around with a buddy of mine about going up for a weekend trip for National Train Day and a little sight-seeing, and a few days later we booked our trip.
Both being from Aiken, SC, we had many choices of how to get to DC. Aiken is less than 3 hours away from Atlanta, Clemson, Charlotte, Yemassee, Charleston, and Florence, and only an hour from Columbia, so we had a few options on which train to take:
-Crescent from ATL, CSN, GRV, or CLT.
We used Crescent when we went to DC 2 years ago, with Clemson as our station because of area familiarity and the train's schedule. (That was our first LD train trip, and suffice it to say, we didn't get much sleep on that first overnight leg
) I also took Crescent over Thanksgiving that year, so we knew for a fact that 19/20 were safe bets.-Carolinian from CLT.
Carolinian and Piedmont are (so far) my favorite trains to ride, and I had ridden 79/80 many times. Very well run trains.
-Silver Star from CLB.
I attend USC, and being the railfan that I am, I have observed the arrival/departure of 91/92 many a time there, so I knew what to expect from that station.
-Silver Meteor and/or Palmetto from YEM, CHS, or FLO.
I had never ridden on either of these trains, although I had seen them in action a few times before.
However, we did have some schedule windows to work with. My friend's last day of work at his co-op was May 9th (a Friday), and my first day of my summer internship was May 12th (that following Monday). Because of this, we chose to use the Florence station and take 98 Silver Meteor on Friday night, arrive early Saturday morning, tour all day, spend the night, and then take 89 Palmetto back to Florence the next day. I know, I know, all that traveling and planning just to spend a day in DC. I have to say, though, that it was definitely worth it.
Now on to the trip itself.
If you've never been to the Florence station, allot a few minutes to find it, especially at night. The station is not signed from the road from the direction I came, and it is located behind a hospital in its back parking lot. Amtrak might want to at least put a sign with an arrow on one of the busier roads. The station itself is pretty average looking, but the inside was well lit, clean, and bustling with passengers waiting for 98. My friend and I went around the station to stand at the back of the platform because of the number of people on the inside, and the fact that 98 wasn't expected to arrive for another 20 minutes or so. I then remembered that Florence was the sole stopping point for AutoTrain on its overnight trek, and sure enough, a few minutes later, I see and hear #53 coming through the yard to the station. Shortly thereafter, the station's intercom announces that 98 would be arriving shortly. We go back into the building to get in the line to go out onto the platform, and a few minutes later, 98 slides into the station, 35 minutes late. The consist was as expected:
2 P42s, units 185 and 7
Baggage
3 Viewliners
Diner
Cafe
4 Amfleet IIs
Now having ridden trains in the past and having boarded at both busy staffed stations and lighter unstaffed stations, I thought I knew the drill. However, instead of just releasing the passengers onto the platform, a station agent walked the entire boarding group down to the train. It was almost as if I was on a field trip in elementary school with how much he babied us. Although friendly and having good intentions, I did not appreciate being told "Stay behind me!," "Don't get too close to the train now!," "We're almost there!" (we boarded in the last coach car). He also walked too slowly. But in his defense, there were 2 ladies in front of us who were probably first time riders, so I'll let it slide. Just a minor gripe, that's all. We were assigned a pair of seats, and we were about 3 rows or so from the rear of the car. AutoTrain was still there when we sat down, but it completed its station work and highballed while we were still at the station. 98 departed FLO at 12:22, 37 minutes down. After getting an approach signal and a brief stop signal at FY, we ran on clears all the way through Fayetteville (with the exception of an approach limited and limited clear for the crossover at WN), where I fell asleep for a little while. Now having never ridden on Amtrak over CSX rails south of Selma, I suppose that I should have expected a somewhat rough ride, especially after being pampered by NS ROW for many of my trips and seeing the condition of the ROW in Yemassee and North Charleston. I couldn't have been more correct. The ride was a lot rougher than I thought it would be, especially over switches. There were even a few that shook my head enough to wake me up. Suffice it to say, I am not impressed with the quality of CSX ROW on the A-Line. On a side note, I did recognize something just north of Fayetteville. It was a rough ride, just as it had been up until then, but then it got extremely smooth, and the car had a different sound to it. Speed hadn't decreased at all (we were still riding clear signals), so I'm guessing that they were either concrete ties, new rails, or the result of a recent rail grinding. Unfortunately, this smooth ride only seemed to last for probably about 10-12 miles or so, and then it was back to the rough ride. Any guesses on what that could be?
I feel asleep at that point until I was awakened between the DI and Charlie Baker signals in Rocky Mount. This time it wasn’t a switch, but rather the rumbling of another freight train’s engines. As luck may have had it, 98 on Track 1 was racing Q174 on 2. It was pretty cool to watch from the last coach car as we overtook 174 all the way to the point that I could see his headlight right outside our car’s windows. However, it gradually began to inch up and accelerate past us as we slowed for the station stop at RMT. Needless to say, there were some slightly startled passengers from the noise of 174’s engines, especially the lead GEVO’s prime mover and horn, since it was right beside us for about a minute. After 98 finished business at RMT, we flew by 174 at the College Crossing signals. 174 would file in behind us at Battle, the next signal up. I feel asleep here again, and woke up a few minutes before we pulled into Richmond station at 5:45 AM, 51 minutes down, at which point I remained awake for the rest of the ride. Here's where 98 lost much of its time. North of Ashland, CSX was having signal problems on track 2. Thanks to my scanner in hand, I heard all the chatter between the dispatcher and the head end. About 15 minutes later, a member of the crew made the announcement. We were given restricted speed signals through 4 or 5 signals, meaning we were flying along at a brisk 15 mph for about 10 miles while we should have been doing 79. Oddly enough, the head end's cab signal picked up a clear signal at the Guinea signal, even though the wayside signal said otherwise. Thankfully, our next signal at County Line was a high green, and the engineer punched it up to track speed pretty quickly.
My friend and I ventured up to the dining car at around 7 AM or so, and were seated across the table from a friendly lady who was going to Newark (or was it Trenton?) all the way from West Palm Beach. She voiced her opinion on how much more convenient it was for her to take the train than to drive, with congestion on I-95, the need for a hotel room, and gas prices. She also mentioned possibly taking AutoTrain in the future. However, she was not pleased about the frigid temperature in her coach car. (I have to agree with her on that one, her coach car was pretty chilly). I ordered the cheese omelet with a biscuit, breakfast potatoes, and apple juice, and my friend ordered the scrambled eggs with breakfast potatoes, and a Coke I think. I was very satisfied with my cheese omelet. I thought it tasted great, I could actually taste the cheeses, and it was pretty decently sized. The potatoes were…well, average. They could have been hotter and they could have given more of them, but it was ok. The biscuit was average as well: somewhat dry and only warm. Free refills on the apple juice though! (Something I didn’t expect). Overall, it was a good, satisfying meal. We returned to our seats for the remaining 20-30 minutes of our trip.
We arrived into WAS at 8:46 AM, an hour late on the dot, and were greeted with less than favorable weather, consisting of light rain and 50 degree weather. Good thing we came prepared with some light jackets. WUS was already setup and alive for National Train Day. I must say, folks, that Amtrak marketing really pulled off a great event at WUS. I thought it was very well organized, had relevant and professionally run exhibits, and very friendly staff. Not to mention the amount of people that were there. Amtrak was well prepared for the first annual NTD, for sure.
Since our touring outside of NTD isn’t really relevant to this forum, I won’t post about it, although I do recommend the Newseum. Sunday came around and due to the late departure from our hotel room out at National Airport and our missing of a crucial Blue Line Metro train, my friend and I had to board 89 at Alexandria. Not really a big deal though, as the station is across the street from the Metro station. 89 arrived on time into Alexandria behind P42 178, where quite a few people were boarding for points south. We were seated in the middle-forward section of the 3rd coach car, just another Amfleet II. Oddly enough, our coach car (25043) was the same car that we rode in for our first LD train trip to DC on Crescent 2 years prior. Small world. Being pretty hungry from not having time to eat breakfast, I ventured to the Café car, and ordered the Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwich and an apple juice for $4.75. Try the Jimmy Dean sandwich people! I genuinely think it tasted better than an Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s. For lunch, I had the cheeseburger, a bag of Munchies, and a bottled water, all good as well. We made pretty good time on 89, and we only stopped once at a signal around Elm City to wait for 90 to finish up its work at the Wilson station. For some reason, the ride seemed a little smoother than it did on 98. It could have just been me, though. We arrived Florence about 15-20 minutes down, so I can’t complain.
Overall trip ratings:
Onboard personnel: 8/10. 89’s Café employee seemed kind of arrogant and not very outgoing. He was at least friendly, though. 98’s crew for the most part was friendly, although not outgoing. I also found it pretty cool that 98’s conductor out of Florence was wearing a NTD button.
Equipment: 10/10. Both of our coach cars were clean and the temperature was right-on. Same goes for 98’s diner and 89’s Café car.
OTP: 8.5/10. 98’s 60 minute-late arrival into WAS didn’t really hurt us much, since our plan was to stick around WUS until NTD began. We couldn’t have been more pleased with 89’s OTP, though.
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