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VentureForth

VentureForth

Engineer
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
6,441
Location
West Melbourne, FL
Train 92 scheduled for a 1:30 AM departure is running 45 minutes late. I got to SAV at 12:45. Ticket man real nice. Gave me some local political fodder to mull over as I wait. 5 of us total scheduled to leave here tonight. Weather has been crazy. Calm now, but lots of rain. Just watched 89 come back turning into the 90 for its early 6:40 AM departure. Ticket man also stated that heat & freight traffic has picked up, squishing Amtrak into available blocks of time. 3 freights have passed. Plenty to see while waiting. I'm just tired...
 
2:10. Got the green light and the boarding call about 5 min ago. Lightning pretty good out here. Still no headlights.

2:27. Pulling out. 57 minutes late. That's why I didn't do the Palmetto. Seats are nice. Amcan II very comfortable. Two power plugs at seat. May not need to get Sleeper upgrade, but will ask anyway. Both conductors real nice. Can't get GPS signal, though. Drat.
 
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Went ahead and got the onboad upgrade. So I got the sleeper and railfare for lowest bucket. Not bad. I do prefer the Viewliner roomette over the Superliner. Much more storage space. Only complaint is that it was untidy. The upper stowage area is full of old time tables, and there were dirty linens that Mario didn't bother to remove or replace. But I did spring it on him. Heard him tell the coach attendant "aww man!" When advied of a new customer. He opened the door and said "there you go". Since it was my first time in a Viewliner, I didn't know how the bed worked, so I asked him to pull it down for me. Well, hey - its 3AM and it was half way through one of his longer stretches. Sorry Mario. Half the buttons don't work in here. Only the reader light for the top bunk and the room light on the bottom bunk. Wondee if the "call Mario" button works? Nah...
 
Due to the heavy glazing on the windows, neither my Garmin nor my Blackberry can tell me where I am right now. We're on one side or another of Camden, SC. Thought the diner opened at 6 so got up to watch the sun crack over the Horizon. Went to the diner and the door was locked. Per the conductor's sign language, I gotta wait til 6:30. Bummer. Could have maybe had 2:30 of sleep by now!

PS: Just passed through the community of Hopewell. Don't have a clue where that is.
 
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Ok...had breakfast. Enjoyed the French toast, but dude across from me had the omlet and it looked awesome. Mario came in for breakfast and didn't acknowledge me whatsoever. Maybe he DOES remember his 3 AM interruption. Anyhow, turns out we made up about 15 minutes, so we should be pulling into Hamlet at around 7:15. I'm going back to bed.
 
9:30. Got about a total of 30 minutes back. Left RGH @ 9:26. Got my NY Times from Mario. Saw the shower room had a big cardboard trash bin in there. Hope its not bad-ordered!
 
Ok - I'm now convinced that Mario is a slacker. Not to say that this is particularly his fault, but no coffee in the coffee machine? He says he can't replenish it. That's either a crock of crap, unions gone wild, or the poorest planning ever by food services. I walked to the other sleeper and noticed that they had a different machine -one with Decaf. The regular button was stuck, but the decaf worked. Also noticed that THEIR SA had ice available for juice.

Mario told me to head towards the diner or cafe for coffee. I'll stick with the decaf in my room.

After some "catching up" speed, we made up about 10 minutes into RMT, but sat in the station for 5 minutes. Now only 25 minutes late.
 
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Don't know how he did it. Got here 4 minutes early!

Had an 11:45 lunch reservation. Contemplated getting 12:15 knowing (at the time) that we were 45 minutes late. Plenty of time to get lunch and a shower. Not. Glad I took the 11:45. It all worked out perfect. Did tip Mario, but perhaps a bit on the low end. Oh well. Returning in T-9 hours.

As for lunch, enjoyed the "hot luncheon" special of the day. Not bad. A spicy braised beef over wild/white rice. Had great company.
 
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Actually, I've tried lo-fi mode, but its not so good for replying and posting. Great for reading. Interestingly, neither mode allows me to go to the first new post. Hmm.

Anyway, I'm on 97, back on my way home. Train was already at RVR when I got to the station, which is a bit nerve racking. Immediately asked about upgrade. Was told shed check on it. Grabbed some wings and a beer. Back to my seat. I think the Meteorhas one more coach and one or two more Viewliners than the Star. This is a freakin' long train. Anyway, saw my conductor at Petersberg and she said she had the call in and was waiting for a call back. Just departed High Point, now 2 hrs & 20 minutes later. She passed by me, but walked to fast for me to get an "excuse me, ma'am" in. Somehow coach seems SO much more uncomfortable on this train. Maybe 'cause I had a sleeper before. Maybe cause I want one now and can't get it. Maybe cause I'm extra tired. Only 6 1/2 hrs to go. Not worth it.
 
To answer the crew change point, for the Silver Meteor SB, its Florence, SC. Scheduled to get in here at 03:20 with a departure of 03:28. Got in at 03:00. Almost a 30 minute layover. This is GREAT because I desparately needed something cold to drink. I was able to run (OK, stroll) into the station where they had a Pepsi machine that had...COKE! Stocked up and am back on bored. Ok - I'm back on happy.
 
VentureForth said:
To answer the crew change point, for the Silver Meteor SB, its Florence, SC. Scheduled to get in here at 03:20 with a departure of 03:28. Got in at 03:00. Almost a 30 minute layover. This is GREAT because I desparately needed something cold to drink. I was able to run (OK, stroll) into the station where they had a Pepsi machine that had...COKE! Stocked up and am back on bored. Ok - I'm back on happy.
Click to expand...
:lol: :lol: Classic In Grand Junction they had a coke machine that mad pepsi so I guess it goes both ways :lol:
 
Well, we pulled into SAV yesterday morning right at 6:44 AM. We got to feel the schedule padding in every station from RVR to Yemassee, arriving between 5 and 10 minutes early at every stop. No real complaints on my return trip. It was in coach, and anytime I can get away with it, I will go sleeper at night. I just couldn't get comfortable in coach. Plenty of pitch between seats, but I couldn't get in a comfortable position. Train filled right up to capacity at Charleston, SC, so I had a seat mate for the last hour and a half. Thought about going to the cafe for breakfast at 6 AM, but figured I could get a better meal at wAwfulle House just one hour later.

So the Meteor must be a more popular train than the Star. It runs a tighter schedule and has more cars - 3 Viewliners (vs 2 on the Star), 4 Coaches (vs 3 on the Star). Add baggage, diner, and legacy diner/lounge.

One beautiful sight to see was the crossing of the Savannah River at daybreak. Previously, it's all been night crossings, but this time it was light, and it was good!

All in All a great trip. Mario was a bit grumpy, and the AC on the return trip should have told me yes or no on the sleeper. Other than that, it was great to experience now all three Atlantic Coast trains (except the Auto Train which will probably never happen).

Finally, what appeared to be street running in Fayetteville, NC was only "median" running. Double tracked main sits inbetween two one-ways, but there is only barely a curb separating the ROW from the ROAD.
 
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