VentureForth
Engineer
Did my trip today. Nuthin' special, but I had a lot of fun. I got on in KAN, took Business Class on #80 to Selma-Smithfield and then BC on #89 on into SAV. Talked to a conductor who said that CSX generally takes holidays off now to keep from having to pay their yard crew overtime. Doesn't sound good for CSX, but it was pretty good for us. We were exactly on time into SAV. Both trains were on average of 20 minutes late. #89 found some padding South of Dillon and arrived at Florence right exactly on time.
A couple words about business class. On train #80, they use a regular Amfleet coach. No special seats. It was a blue refurbished coach, so every seat had power. Seat pitch was identical to coach. In fact, they didn't have newspapers delivered, ran out of cranberry juice after two stops, and every seat was filled. So what did I pay extra for? Admittedly, I only paid $8 for the upgrade, but it was a push to get that value in canned drinks - even at Amtrak prices.
The nice (but very bossy and impatient) car attendant was a bit too much "This is my world, don't crap on it". She did, indeed, say that it was her living room away from home and to keep everything tidy and that the netting on the back of the seats was absolutely NOT a trashcan. She was extremely argumentative with passengers who brought on luggage that should have been checked because the station staff told them it would be ok. On passenger had the seat next to her filled with a huge suitcase. The SA told her that she would need to clear the seat because the train was full and that the seat would be needed. The passenger didn't like that and so the SA had to grab the conductor who told her that she had to clear her stuff.
Now, in front of me was a single gentleman sitting in the aisle seat with the window unoccupied. No one ever sat with him all the way to Raleigh. No one ever asked if he could have a seat mate. Why? He was given extra special priviledges because he's a volunteer host and everyone from the SA to every conductor that stopped by knew him. They'd rather harrass a lady with extra bags.
As asked in another thread, I decided to go ahead and layover in Selma. To ride extra miles would have been fun, but unnecessary and also $34 more (for just coach). Instead, I decided to see what all Selma has to offer the occasional transient tourist on a National holiday - not much. All I wanted was a bite to eat. Didn't care to eat out of the snack car. If they had a diner on either the Carolinian or the Palmetto, that'd been different. Finally found a pizza joint that had lasagna. Got it to go because they didn't have anywhere to sit. Not that there was anywhere for me to take it to go...except back at the station.
Waited for about 2 hours in the station at Selma. Beautiful station. I can't believe that there are 8 trains that pass through there, 4 that stop, and they only refurbished it in 2003 after 4 years of being condemned and being nothing more than a platform stop. Many many cudos to North Carolina to get the funds to refurbish ALL the stations that are being used in that state! A lesson for the rest of out-of-corridor states!
Got the 2-1 seating on #89. Had a seat mate for the first 1/2 hour or so. Then got a double wide to myself. Very nice leather seats. Much more worth the $35 upgrade on that route. Had a paper. Got drinks when I wanted - well sorta. The Snack Car attendant was about the worst. And I'm not going to say that it's all his fault. He gave me every excuse why I couldn't get a juice (despite the several that were sitting there - "sell stock") or a rootbeer ("You can buy one, but I didn't get any of them either"). Grrrr.........
Both trains were pretty packed. #89 pretty much finished clearing out at Charleston. I was the only occupant of the Business Class car for the last two stops.
Over all, a pretty nice experience. Got bored when the outside lights turned off (got dark), had a couple doses of uniformitis, but over all a very pleasant ride. 200 AGR points! 4800 to go this year!
A couple words about business class. On train #80, they use a regular Amfleet coach. No special seats. It was a blue refurbished coach, so every seat had power. Seat pitch was identical to coach. In fact, they didn't have newspapers delivered, ran out of cranberry juice after two stops, and every seat was filled. So what did I pay extra for? Admittedly, I only paid $8 for the upgrade, but it was a push to get that value in canned drinks - even at Amtrak prices.
The nice (but very bossy and impatient) car attendant was a bit too much "This is my world, don't crap on it". She did, indeed, say that it was her living room away from home and to keep everything tidy and that the netting on the back of the seats was absolutely NOT a trashcan. She was extremely argumentative with passengers who brought on luggage that should have been checked because the station staff told them it would be ok. On passenger had the seat next to her filled with a huge suitcase. The SA told her that she would need to clear the seat because the train was full and that the seat would be needed. The passenger didn't like that and so the SA had to grab the conductor who told her that she had to clear her stuff.
Now, in front of me was a single gentleman sitting in the aisle seat with the window unoccupied. No one ever sat with him all the way to Raleigh. No one ever asked if he could have a seat mate. Why? He was given extra special priviledges because he's a volunteer host and everyone from the SA to every conductor that stopped by knew him. They'd rather harrass a lady with extra bags.
As asked in another thread, I decided to go ahead and layover in Selma. To ride extra miles would have been fun, but unnecessary and also $34 more (for just coach). Instead, I decided to see what all Selma has to offer the occasional transient tourist on a National holiday - not much. All I wanted was a bite to eat. Didn't care to eat out of the snack car. If they had a diner on either the Carolinian or the Palmetto, that'd been different. Finally found a pizza joint that had lasagna. Got it to go because they didn't have anywhere to sit. Not that there was anywhere for me to take it to go...except back at the station.
Waited for about 2 hours in the station at Selma. Beautiful station. I can't believe that there are 8 trains that pass through there, 4 that stop, and they only refurbished it in 2003 after 4 years of being condemned and being nothing more than a platform stop. Many many cudos to North Carolina to get the funds to refurbish ALL the stations that are being used in that state! A lesson for the rest of out-of-corridor states!
Got the 2-1 seating on #89. Had a seat mate for the first 1/2 hour or so. Then got a double wide to myself. Very nice leather seats. Much more worth the $35 upgrade on that route. Had a paper. Got drinks when I wanted - well sorta. The Snack Car attendant was about the worst. And I'm not going to say that it's all his fault. He gave me every excuse why I couldn't get a juice (despite the several that were sitting there - "sell stock") or a rootbeer ("You can buy one, but I didn't get any of them either"). Grrrr.........
Both trains were pretty packed. #89 pretty much finished clearing out at Charleston. I was the only occupant of the Business Class car for the last two stops.
Over all, a pretty nice experience. Got bored when the outside lights turned off (got dark), had a couple doses of uniformitis, but over all a very pleasant ride. 200 AGR points! 4800 to go this year!
