Rail Freak
Engineer
Well, after 7 months of planning, anticipation & pestering the hell out of the AU Forum Folks, it's SHOW TIME!!! 
This trip is scheduled to take me from Clearwater/St. Pete by bus to Orlando where I depart on Amtrak #98 Silver Meteor to Washington DC - #29 Capital Limited to Chicago - #7 Empire Builder to Seattle - #11 Coast Starlight to Sacremento - #6 California Zephyr to Chicago - #30 Capital Limited to Washington DC - #97 Silver Meteor to Orlando - Bus to Clearwater/St. Pete. I started this jouney Labor Day (Sept. 1st) and returned Sept. 11th.
My youngest brother picked me up at 7:30 am & we headed toward the bus station to see exactly where it was. Didn't want to miss that baby, but since the station was 10 miles away and the bus didn't leave til 10:05 I'd say it was safe to say we had time for breakfast. I ordered but it was hard to eat with all the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach!
We arrived at the bus station around 8:30 & waited in the parking lot til the agent arrived at 9am. The agent printed all my tickets & had me sign them all as he was giving me pointers such as "those tickets are like cash, you lose them & it will ruin you're whole day! Gottcha!!! :huh: While waiting, I went over my check list, put tickets,cash,note pad,pens and cell phone in my PacSafe,a pouch you wear around your neck. An AU member told me about them and was it ever handy! The bus starts in Fort Myers making a few stops on the way to us and then we stop in Tampa & Lakeland before we arrive at the Orlando Station. A 2 1/2 hour bus ride for me. The bus was comfortable except for the part where something that looked like a bumper was in the middle of I-4 coming into the Disney traffic. Cindy, our driver did a good job of avoiding the bumper & all the swerving vehicles trying to do the same!
We arrived at the sation as the southbound SM #97 was pulling in. The train looked filthy, but if I ran from NYC to Orlando I'd look a little weathered too, I bet! With about 20 minutes to kill, I went inside to see what a train station looked like. Looked just as I imagined but a lot older lol. While outside we were told the sleeper pax stand here to board pointing at a yellow mark on the asphalt. Then, in the distance I saw this light approaching & those butterflies felt like they were doing aerobatics, now!!! That engineer put my car #9810 directly in front of me, that dudes good.
Boarded at 2pm, on time, & my H Room was the 1st door. I went in dropped my bag & looked around at what was gonna be my home for the next 18 hours! Matthew, my train attendant, as he liked to be refered, gave me the quick version of
H Room 101 & took off to do the same to the other pax, I guess. Didn't really see him much after that except in the diner car and the stops along the way. We were in time to catch lunch so I wanderd to the diner where I was seated with Teresa & her teen age son Mike. They were returning to Jersy from a visit with her sister in Florida. Teresa & I ordered a open faced beef sandwich with gravey and Mike, a hamburger. Our Diner Attendant, Neville, was very courteous & made sure we didn't need anything. The lunch hit the spot but the mashed potatoes had this liitle bit of a strange taste to them. Instant, I'm sure.
Back at my room, inspected a bit closer. It definitely is not refurbished,I hope. A little dirty and worn. The windows weren't really dirty but hazy as some windows do with age. One I couldn't see out of. I had wondered how loud the horn/whistle would be & it wasn't bad at all, pretty cool actually. & I can hear a bit of clickity clackin goin on! Noticed The intercom didn't work in my room, so I would open my door to hear from the hallway speaker. At our Jax stop, I asked Matthew about the intercom, he said they disconnected them when they took out the TV! On the platform I met Joe from Albany, NY who was returning from Miami, where he had been repairing damage to his house from Hurricane Fay. Joe has been an Amtrak employee for 25 years and travels free and frequently since his wife has a great paying job & lives in Miami!
At dinner I was seated across from I believe was a Greek Ortodox with the long black robe, cross around his neck & a long beard. He was absorbed in his I POD as he didn't even look up as I slid into my seat. After a couple of minutes I figured I'd break the ice & asked where he was from. After a few seconds he looked up without moving his head. Said New York & back to the I POD. I felt a little uncomfortable but, heah, some folks aren't as outgoing as I can be. While I waiting on Neville to take my order, my dinner partner went from the I POD to a magazine without looking up once. This guys gonna give me a complex! :mellow: Neville came & took our order ( I had the Tilapia, excellent ) & my dinner buddy ordered without looking at the menu and not even looking up when ordering! Is it me or is this weird? Neville brought our salads and after I doctored it up with the usual salt, pepper and dressing and as I tried to cut into the little cherry tomato with the butter knife, IT HAPPENED The tomato juice and seeds shot out like a water pistol, left its mark all across the table cloth up my best buddies arm and back again! OH MY God, where do I hide? lol :blush: Got his attention with that move! I appologized and came close to busting a gut! Needless to say, I scarfed down the Tilapia left a tip for Neville appologized again for the tomato shower and off to my room for a stiff drink!!! (TRUE STORY)
Matthew my SA/ TA whatever didn't show up to let down my bed til after 10pm & by then I was sawing logs and told him I was fine, as I sleep on my back with my legs elevated and usully don't move an inch when I sleep. Well, train sleeping is a whole different story, isn't it? In a plane I would call it heavy turbulance, on a train I call it "Rock & Roll Hutchie Koo"
One minute it feels like we're standing still and the next minute like we're about to derail. I thought that was a challenge until I took my 1st shower on a moving train. I've never laughed that hard in my life! :lol:
As I was having the famous French Toast for breakfast, I remembered a couple of threads on AU. 1) my car attendant collected my ticket and 2) I only showed my ID at the bus station. French Toast was delicious, but too much. We now pulled into The Alexandria station for a quick stop and DC is 15 minutes down the line.
What A Trip!
Looking forward to Was Union Station!!! B)
This trip is scheduled to take me from Clearwater/St. Pete by bus to Orlando where I depart on Amtrak #98 Silver Meteor to Washington DC - #29 Capital Limited to Chicago - #7 Empire Builder to Seattle - #11 Coast Starlight to Sacremento - #6 California Zephyr to Chicago - #30 Capital Limited to Washington DC - #97 Silver Meteor to Orlando - Bus to Clearwater/St. Pete. I started this jouney Labor Day (Sept. 1st) and returned Sept. 11th.
My youngest brother picked me up at 7:30 am & we headed toward the bus station to see exactly where it was. Didn't want to miss that baby, but since the station was 10 miles away and the bus didn't leave til 10:05 I'd say it was safe to say we had time for breakfast. I ordered but it was hard to eat with all the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach!
We arrived at the bus station around 8:30 & waited in the parking lot til the agent arrived at 9am. The agent printed all my tickets & had me sign them all as he was giving me pointers such as "those tickets are like cash, you lose them & it will ruin you're whole day! Gottcha!!! :huh: While waiting, I went over my check list, put tickets,cash,note pad,pens and cell phone in my PacSafe,a pouch you wear around your neck. An AU member told me about them and was it ever handy! The bus starts in Fort Myers making a few stops on the way to us and then we stop in Tampa & Lakeland before we arrive at the Orlando Station. A 2 1/2 hour bus ride for me. The bus was comfortable except for the part where something that looked like a bumper was in the middle of I-4 coming into the Disney traffic. Cindy, our driver did a good job of avoiding the bumper & all the swerving vehicles trying to do the same!
We arrived at the sation as the southbound SM #97 was pulling in. The train looked filthy, but if I ran from NYC to Orlando I'd look a little weathered too, I bet! With about 20 minutes to kill, I went inside to see what a train station looked like. Looked just as I imagined but a lot older lol. While outside we were told the sleeper pax stand here to board pointing at a yellow mark on the asphalt. Then, in the distance I saw this light approaching & those butterflies felt like they were doing aerobatics, now!!! That engineer put my car #9810 directly in front of me, that dudes good.
Boarded at 2pm, on time, & my H Room was the 1st door. I went in dropped my bag & looked around at what was gonna be my home for the next 18 hours! Matthew, my train attendant, as he liked to be refered, gave me the quick version of
H Room 101 & took off to do the same to the other pax, I guess. Didn't really see him much after that except in the diner car and the stops along the way. We were in time to catch lunch so I wanderd to the diner where I was seated with Teresa & her teen age son Mike. They were returning to Jersy from a visit with her sister in Florida. Teresa & I ordered a open faced beef sandwich with gravey and Mike, a hamburger. Our Diner Attendant, Neville, was very courteous & made sure we didn't need anything. The lunch hit the spot but the mashed potatoes had this liitle bit of a strange taste to them. Instant, I'm sure.
Back at my room, inspected a bit closer. It definitely is not refurbished,I hope. A little dirty and worn. The windows weren't really dirty but hazy as some windows do with age. One I couldn't see out of. I had wondered how loud the horn/whistle would be & it wasn't bad at all, pretty cool actually. & I can hear a bit of clickity clackin goin on! Noticed The intercom didn't work in my room, so I would open my door to hear from the hallway speaker. At our Jax stop, I asked Matthew about the intercom, he said they disconnected them when they took out the TV!
On the platform I met Joe from Albany, NY who was returning from Miami, where he had been repairing damage to his house from Hurricane Fay. Joe has been an Amtrak employee for 25 years and travels free and frequently since his wife has a great paying job & lives in Miami!At dinner I was seated across from I believe was a Greek Ortodox with the long black robe, cross around his neck & a long beard. He was absorbed in his I POD as he didn't even look up as I slid into my seat. After a couple of minutes I figured I'd break the ice & asked where he was from. After a few seconds he looked up without moving his head. Said New York & back to the I POD. I felt a little uncomfortable but, heah, some folks aren't as outgoing as I can be. While I waiting on Neville to take my order, my dinner partner went from the I POD to a magazine without looking up once. This guys gonna give me a complex! :mellow: Neville came & took our order ( I had the Tilapia, excellent ) & my dinner buddy ordered without looking at the menu and not even looking up when ordering! Is it me or is this weird? Neville brought our salads and after I doctored it up with the usual salt, pepper and dressing and as I tried to cut into the little cherry tomato with the butter knife, IT HAPPENED
The tomato juice and seeds shot out like a water pistol, left its mark all across the table cloth up my best buddies arm and back again! OH MY God, where do I hide? lol :blush: Got his attention with that move! I appologized and came close to busting a gut! Needless to say, I scarfed down the Tilapia left a tip for Neville appologized again for the tomato shower and off to my room for a stiff drink!!! (TRUE STORY)Matthew my SA/ TA whatever didn't show up to let down my bed til after 10pm & by then I was sawing logs and told him I was fine, as I sleep on my back with my legs elevated and usully don't move an inch when I sleep. Well, train sleeping is a whole different story, isn't it? In a plane I would call it heavy turbulance, on a train I call it "Rock & Roll Hutchie Koo"
One minute it feels like we're standing still and the next minute like we're about to derail. I thought that was a challenge until I took my 1st shower on a moving train. I've never laughed that hard in my life! :lol:
As I was having the famous French Toast for breakfast, I remembered a couple of threads on AU. 1) my car attendant collected my ticket and 2) I only showed my ID at the bus station. French Toast was delicious, but too much. We now pulled into The Alexandria station for a quick stop and DC is 15 minutes down the line.
What A Trip!
Looking forward to Was Union Station!!! B)
