B
blinkie
Guest
Hello all,
This is my first trip report so my apologies if it doesn't read very well. Suggestions are naturally appriciated.
On Thursday afternoon I found out that my office would be closing early so I casually decided to check out the Amtrak website and see what sort of trip I could concoct for a weekend trip.
It had been over a year since my last long distance trip and I defiitely felt I was overdue to treat myself to one.
The route I came up with was Rockville, MD - Elyria, OH on the Capitol Limited Elyria, OH - New York, NY Penn Station on the Lake Shore Limited and then back down to Washington, D.C. on a Regional Service.
All in all it would be 32 straight hours of Amtrak travel - what bliss!
Leaving work early I headed up on the D.C. metro to catch my train from Rockville.
I still needed to print my tickets out (I only had the reservation confirmation E-Mail) so I looked around to find one of usual Amtrak E-kiosks.
After a good 10 minutes of Circling the platform, metro station, and surrounding areas - nothing!
Strangely enough there were no Amtrak signs anywhere, all the signage was for MARC (Maryland Commuter Trains).
After swallowing my pride and asking a stranger where the ticket machine was I found my "waiting room" equipped with a ticket kiosk and uh... other pleasant aromas.
Needless to say Rockville is one of the less glamorous stations to depart from!
Unfortunately I was in the middle of a sandwich when the Capitol Limited showed up early so I didn't have a change to catch a shot of her pulling in - so no photo of that!
So as not to be completely sleep deprived on the Lake Shore Limited I had decided to spring for a sleeper on the first leg of the trip.
While very clean and comfortable, it is clear that the Superliners are starting to show their age.
We pulled out right on time and made our way towards Harpers Ferry, WV
I had been to Harpers Ferry the week before and was excited to see it from inside the train this time. However just as we crossed the bridge a CSX Auto Rack passed and blocked the fantastic bridge view.
I spent much of the afternoon in the Lounge car chatting with newly made friends and enjoying the fantastic West Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania scenery pass by.
During a smoke stop in..... I went out to stretch my legs on the platform - but just as I was stepping off the the train started rolling again! The car attendant looked just as confused as everyone else as the train pulled up an extra 200 feet or so. Clearly some miscommunication between the attendants and the engineer!
My 7:30 dinner was called rather late at around 7:50, unusual in my experience of Amtrak dining - in fact I had quipped earlier that the one consistently on time aspect of Amtrak are their dinners! So much for that.
To be continued....
This is my first trip report so my apologies if it doesn't read very well. Suggestions are naturally appriciated.
On Thursday afternoon I found out that my office would be closing early so I casually decided to check out the Amtrak website and see what sort of trip I could concoct for a weekend trip.
It had been over a year since my last long distance trip and I defiitely felt I was overdue to treat myself to one.
The route I came up with was Rockville, MD - Elyria, OH on the Capitol Limited Elyria, OH - New York, NY Penn Station on the Lake Shore Limited and then back down to Washington, D.C. on a Regional Service.
All in all it would be 32 straight hours of Amtrak travel - what bliss!
Leaving work early I headed up on the D.C. metro to catch my train from Rockville.
I still needed to print my tickets out (I only had the reservation confirmation E-Mail) so I looked around to find one of usual Amtrak E-kiosks.
After a good 10 minutes of Circling the platform, metro station, and surrounding areas - nothing!
Strangely enough there were no Amtrak signs anywhere, all the signage was for MARC (Maryland Commuter Trains).
After swallowing my pride and asking a stranger where the ticket machine was I found my "waiting room" equipped with a ticket kiosk and uh... other pleasant aromas.
Needless to say Rockville is one of the less glamorous stations to depart from!
Unfortunately I was in the middle of a sandwich when the Capitol Limited showed up early so I didn't have a change to catch a shot of her pulling in - so no photo of that!
So as not to be completely sleep deprived on the Lake Shore Limited I had decided to spring for a sleeper on the first leg of the trip.
While very clean and comfortable, it is clear that the Superliners are starting to show their age.
We pulled out right on time and made our way towards Harpers Ferry, WV
I had been to Harpers Ferry the week before and was excited to see it from inside the train this time. However just as we crossed the bridge a CSX Auto Rack passed and blocked the fantastic bridge view.
I spent much of the afternoon in the Lounge car chatting with newly made friends and enjoying the fantastic West Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania scenery pass by.
During a smoke stop in..... I went out to stretch my legs on the platform - but just as I was stepping off the the train started rolling again! The car attendant looked just as confused as everyone else as the train pulled up an extra 200 feet or so. Clearly some miscommunication between the attendants and the engineer!
My 7:30 dinner was called rather late at around 7:50, unusual in my experience of Amtrak dining - in fact I had quipped earlier that the one consistently on time aspect of Amtrak are their dinners! So much for that.
To be continued....
