PHL to WPB -- Silver Meteor

[mrbudman24]

Well, I am fairly new on this board, but figured I would post a trip report from our trip Sunday/Monday to Florida.

Got to 30th St Station about an hour early to make sure there were no problems. Had 2 bags to check, they weighed them as they were heavy. One bag was 49.5lbs and the other was 60lbs. I had to pay for another small box to take out enough things to get below 50lbs. I figured they would charge me for the excess weight, so I didn't mind moving some things over.

Silver Meteor was only 5 minutes late, so that was fine. We were directed to the 2nd from the last coach car, I think the number was 25115. I thought he was putting all the people going to WPB in the last car, but he didn't. He had us next to people getting off in every stop along the way. I had asked at the station how many people were getting off at WPB and there were 49 scheduled. The car was extremely hot, to the point that everyone asked to have the air turned on. The other cars were cold, but not ours. All the other cars had electrical outlets, except ours. One of the lights above us would not turn off, the button was pushed in all the way and was stuck. I asked the conductor about it and he said "sorry, I can't do anything". The heat never turned off, it was like an oven in the car. I asked for my wife and I to be moved, but he told us that he had to keep us there as it was going to be a completely packed train. Right after we got on the train, someone came through asking about dinner reservations. There were only 2 spots left at 8:45pm. We signed up. Not sure why they start at the front of the train (after the sleepers) when they were grouping the people going all the way to Florida in the back. The last car never had the chance to have dinner in the dining car.

Dinner was OUTSTANDING. We got there at 8:45 and was immediately seated. We got our salad/bread/tea right away. They forgot to take our order until almost 9:30. We weren't complaining as it was more comfortable in the dining car and we were seating by ourselves. We both ordered the steak and baked potatoe. My wife and I are picky steak people (in fact, tonight we ate at Outback and they couldn't cook the steak right), but the steak on the train was cooked perfectly and was delicious. We both had the Creme Bruele (sp) and were blown away with how good it was.

Went back to the car (walking through the airconditioned cars before us) to the sweatbox of our car. Tried to sleep but between the heat and the light on above my head, it was impossible. My wife put a pillow over her face to sleep. At every stop, after everyone got off, the conductor (or whomever it was) would go around waking people up to check to see how far they were going, despite the fact that each of us had a paper above us saying WPB 2 or whatever. This went on throughtout the night. Finally after Richmond, my wife moved to the seat in front of us that had just been vacated. I informed the conductor, he said okay. At 1:30am, I finally had to sleep so I moved all of our stuff to the seat in front of where my wife was (2 seats in front of where we were). I again informed the conductor as to why I moved, again he was fine with it. At 3am, he put someone in the seat with the light broken and then when they asked to move, he wouldn't let them as he said they have been there the entire time and that he had to get things straightned out. I, as politely as I could at 3am with no sleep, informed him that I was in that seat but moved because of the light and had told him so. He had no idea what I was talking about and got visibly confused and frustrated. At 4:30 was woken again to tell me that I needed to move to the seat with my wife as they were getting a large number of people at the next stop. I was fine with that as I didn't want anyone sitting with my wife. The conductor continued to wake people up asking where they were headed to instead of reading his own card above the seats. For the life of my, I still can't figure out why he didn't put all 49 people on the same cars and be done with it.

Lights were turned on at 7am to again check where people were heading to. Got up to go to bathroom and most of the bathrooms on the train were not working correctly, so that was discusting. I felt like I was using a port-a-potty at a Nascar event (I am a Nascar fan, so I am not picking on anyone). Went up to the dining car about 8:45am and was sat down immediately. Again, did not have tablemates (we did sit next to each other to allow others to sit). It wasn't packed at all. Had the French toast and 2 sausage patties. DELICIOUS. I was surprised to say the least, but breakfast was a definate pick me up.

Stopped at Jacksonville for about 40 minutes, so I had time to go clean up in a real bathroom. Aircondition problems + bathroom issues = DISCUSTING SMELLS. After getting back on in Jacksonville, I moved up to the lounge car directly behind the dining car, as I was told they would come through around 11am to take lunch reservations. I was the first one after the sleepers. Stayed up there until lunch time at 1:15 as it was much cooler and more comfortable. Lunch was again very nice change of pace. We had the cheddar burger. I have to say that the 3 meals we had in the dinning car were the highlight of the entire trip and that if it wasn't for them, that would have been an even longer 24 hours.

Never went back to our car the rest of the trip. While sitting in the lounge card, about 30 minutes from WPB, I mentioned to my wife that I couldn't believe that the car was that hot and that I got the impression that no one cared. The new (after Jacksonville) conductor told me that a circuit blew while he tried to fix it and that he had told everyone in the car that they could move to another car. It had rained most of the way there and between every car they had water pouring in to the point they had to put cardboard down so people could walk.

We got into WPB only 5 minutes late. Got our luggage with no problems.

It was a VERY long and uncomfortable 24 hours. For the life of me I can't figure out why they would put an older car in with a bunch of refurbed cars. There were a total of 4 coach cars, only one that was old (ours). I also don't understand the sitting arrangements they put us in. I would think that you would put the people going to destinations past the morning time (Jesup) in one or two cars so that those people can sleep without interuption.

Well, we have another trip back on the 25th on the Silver Star starting in Miami. That trip is a 29 hour one. Any suggestions to make it a more pleasant trip?!?

Mike

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Prey to the god of train travel, Penslyvaniusrailroadus, that you don't have an incompetant buffoon for a TA/Conductor.

 

[AlanB]

Mike,

I understand why they would put an unrefurbished cars with a bunch of refurbishes ones. Simply because Amtrak doesn't have enough cars to go around, so they have to use everyone they've got. Maybe with more stable funding from Congress though there wouldn't be anymore unrefurbished ones. But in any event, you can't tell from the outside which cars are refurbished and which ones aren't. Only by looking inside, or looking up the car number on a computer can one tell. And the crew building the train wouldn't care anyhow; their only job is to make sure that they have the correct types of cars in the correct quantity in the train.

Next it sounds like that was your car attendant, not the conductor (since the conductor changes every 8 to 10 hours or so. Why the attendant didn't know how to read the seat checks I can't imagine. Or maybe he's just had too many people switching seats on him without telling him, that he no longer takes chances and just bothers everyone. I'm not saying that's acceptable, just offering thoughts on his strange behavior. And I definitely find it odd that you weren't seated in a car with people going to Orlando. Sounds like they did no planning what-so-ever.

Thanks for the trip report. Let us know if the return goes better.

 

[Shotgun7]

I definately have to agree with you on the fact that it's retarted to wake everybody up in the middle of the night and to truely not care about the passengers' comfort with matters as simple as a light left on. I ride the Meteor whenever I get the chance so I've got a few ideas for what you can do your next trip down here to Florida. For one, be sure to bring tape, cardboard (or index cards) and those night shades that completely hide your eyes. I've found that even on refurb cars, light fixtures are always broken in some way. Cover the light fixture with the cardboard and tape it down when your attendent's not looking. If he can't notice your discomfort, he won't notice a little improvisation. Also, sleeping people are way less approachable when they have their eyes covered.

On second thought though, you might want to consider just sleeping in the lounge car overnight. They're typically the coldest car on the train and at night they're pretty much nobody there so you shouldn't be disturbed. The larger booth seats should be easy to lay sideways in and seem a little more like a real bed. (I've haven't tried laying down in those seats yet, but it seemed like a good idea). And finally, if you have any problems at all with any aspect of the train, be it crew, air or whatever, the conductor and assistant conductor can almost always be founded seated in the cafe car just before the door leading to the diner. (You'll notice the conductor by the yellow epillette on his shoulder). When on Amtrak... especially in Florida... I've found that coach attendents can't do all that much for you. Save your concerns for the conductor.... and if he's nasty then hey, there's another one in a few hours.

And on a side note, the Amtrak station in Miami is not the kind of place you wanna hang out at for any length of time. It's a very nice building, but the location is sort of in the ghetto of downtown Miami and you're gonna want to find the first cab to get yourself the hell out of that particular area. It's funny... some of Florida's worst parts of towns tend to be centered around CSX tracks. But apart from that, have fun and have a fantastic ride down here.

-Paul

 

[RidesOften]

Mike,
I understand why they would put an unrefurbished cars with a bunch of refurbishes ones. Simply because Amtrak doesn't have enough cars to go around, so they have to use everyone they've got. Maybe with more stable funding from Congress though there wouldn't be anymore unrefurbished ones. But in any event, you can't tell from the outside which cars are refurbished and which ones aren't. Only by looking inside, or looking up the car number on a computer can one tell. And the crew building the train wouldn't care anyhow; their only job is to make sure that they have the correct types of cars in the correct quantity in the train.

Next it sounds like that was your car attendant, not the conductor (since the conductor changes every 8 to 10 hours or so. Why the attendant didn't know how to read the seat checks I can't imagine. Or maybe he's just had too many people switching seats on him without telling him, that he no longer takes chances and just bothers everyone. I'm not saying that's acceptable, just offering thoughts on his strange behavior. And I definitely find it odd that you weren't seated in a car with people going to Orlando. Sounds like they did no planning what-so-ever.

Thanks for the trip report. Let us know if the return goes better.

Alan Your are absolutely right sometimes people hop around like bunnies in there. I remember finding a person under seats 3 and 4 asleep lol Need to say how surpise I was.....

This sounds like a car which couldn't turn the floor heat off. wish we had a Magic ball to make these folks better....

I can't Understand not moving to FLA Car rear is usually SC.NC and etc Once in awhile orlando is in rear WPB hummmmmm

Once again sorry for the problems they encountered.