Wendy and I just decided spur of the moment this morning to use our Florida railpasses, and took Silver Meteor, (97-31, last 97 of 2008) WPK-WTH, only about 15-20 minutes late, and then Silver Star, (92-01, first 92 of 2009) WTH-WPK via Tampa. Very enjoyable, 92 was either right on time or early; early into Tampa, and early into Orlando, had to wait for departure time before they could leave those two stations.
Shows what Amtrak is capable of when they don't have freight interference. In fact the only delay waiting for another train happened south of Orlando on 97 as we had to wait for 98 to pass by us northbound. Cost us 5-10 minutes.
OBS crew on 92 was really nice. Affable coach attendant, passed out pillows, didn't just disappear as many do... Had a nice meal on 92, crewmember came through asking who would like dinner reservations, and we had no trouble getting an early (5:45 pm) diner reservation, got to the diner 5 minutes early, no problem, immediate seating. Vegetarian Pasta entree was excellent, and hot, veggies were cooked just right, and the dinner rolls were warm, fresh, and tasty. Tablecloth was a felt-sort of paper, and plates were plastic but not bad. Our coach on 97 was refurbed version with outlets at each seat. The diner on 92 was very nice, looked very recently refurbed, clean, attractive, not scarred up.
Cons: Diner interior temp was pretty cold. Next time I'll take a jacket. Maybe they figured since the train was headed for New York that the pax would feel more at home in a frigid diner? The lounge/cafe car on 97 had a rear truck that obviously had some flat wheel spots, vibrated badly at max speeds; The right-side lav on rear of our 92 coach had a door that would not latch or lock, and had not been recently refurbed. The next coach back was a recent refurb, very nice, with seat outlets AND two nice lavs, one large for handicap access, the other was substantially bigger than the usually tiny-broom-closet-size "other" lav, oriented 180 degrees, inside, from the "tiny closet" style; only down side was almost no water coming out of the new-type faucet that you push up on to get water. I guess it is designed to save water and provide a balanced temperature. It certainly saved water, but didn't give enough water to judge the temperature part.
All-in-all, a very pleasant day trip on New Year's Day 2009.
Shows what Amtrak is capable of when they don't have freight interference. In fact the only delay waiting for another train happened south of Orlando on 97 as we had to wait for 98 to pass by us northbound. Cost us 5-10 minutes.
OBS crew on 92 was really nice. Affable coach attendant, passed out pillows, didn't just disappear as many do... Had a nice meal on 92, crewmember came through asking who would like dinner reservations, and we had no trouble getting an early (5:45 pm) diner reservation, got to the diner 5 minutes early, no problem, immediate seating. Vegetarian Pasta entree was excellent, and hot, veggies were cooked just right, and the dinner rolls were warm, fresh, and tasty. Tablecloth was a felt-sort of paper, and plates were plastic but not bad. Our coach on 97 was refurbed version with outlets at each seat. The diner on 92 was very nice, looked very recently refurbed, clean, attractive, not scarred up.
Cons: Diner interior temp was pretty cold. Next time I'll take a jacket. Maybe they figured since the train was headed for New York that the pax would feel more at home in a frigid diner? The lounge/cafe car on 97 had a rear truck that obviously had some flat wheel spots, vibrated badly at max speeds; The right-side lav on rear of our 92 coach had a door that would not latch or lock, and had not been recently refurbed. The next coach back was a recent refurb, very nice, with seat outlets AND two nice lavs, one large for handicap access, the other was substantially bigger than the usually tiny-broom-closet-size "other" lav, oriented 180 degrees, inside, from the "tiny closet" style; only down side was almost no water coming out of the new-type faucet that you push up on to get water. I guess it is designed to save water and provide a balanced temperature. It certainly saved water, but didn't give enough water to judge the temperature part.
All-in-all, a very pleasant day trip on New Year's Day 2009.
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