On April 6 at 5:35am, I departed on train 180, from WAS to Philadelphia. I was familar with the route as I ridden from Richmond, VA to Philadelphia about 4 weeks prior. The excitement was riding a train rather than the scenery. Union Station is a great station. The cab picked me up at 4:30am so the day started very early. The first things I noticed upon departing DC was the comfort and condition of the rails and the trains ran very closely on time.

I arrived in Philly at 7:30am and then boarded train 43 to Pittsburgh at 8:30am. In all my years of train travel (15), this was by far my most disappointing rail trip.

I was traveling by business class for the first time. The conductor that came on board from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh was apathetic and listless and unhelpful. He did mention Horseshoe Curve (my main reason for taking this trip) and gave a short narrative of the project. It was my saving grace on this leg.

I have found if the conductor is weak or lazy, so are the other staff on trains. The lounge attendant almost always was lounging in the lounge and not at his station. It flet like a hassle to him to have to get up to service the customers. And I am playing first class for this?

I walked through the train to stretch my legs and saw the conductor sleeping. As a rail fan, I can overlook it but this is why others can have a low opinion of a governemnt subsidized transportation system.

The tracks in and around Harrisburg are the roughest I have ever traveled on. The train literally rocks from the condition of the rails. For at least 45 minutes, we lumbered rocking from side to side.

Pittsburgh was a very modest and older station. The Ramada Conference Inn was $99 per nite and only a 5 block walk. Very nice facility and highly recommended. This is where the Amtrak staff stay as I rode the van to the station with them on April 7.

Unfortunately, the Pirate game was rained out so I went to the hotel lounge and watched the NCAA final game. I made the best out of a situation.

Returning back to Philadelphia the next morning (Pillies vs. Braves on April 7th) was even worse. The lounge attendant was rude and I am in business class. He refused to use any politeness. No "Hi", "May I help you", or "hello". It was a blank stare with a glazed look. He would raise his eyebrows as his way to address me.

After two trips to his station and two eyebrow lifts, I asked him what the eyebrow lift was and he said, "how can I help you" and I said, "thanks, that is a lot better". He then smirked and said "ah man" and walked away not serving me. I was pissed. This is not about an Uncle Tom attitude (he was black and I am white), this is about someone being in a service position and resenting his job, and me. I departed saying, "I did not mean to bother you".

I went back to my seat and got a fellow passenger to go up and get me a breakfast croissant and tuna luncheon. I thought I had better get both meals since I was on the train for another 5 hours. I did not want to interact with him anymore and I was fuming all the way to Philadelpia.

At Philly, I did go into the Amtrak Customer Service and verbalized a complaint about both legs of the trip (PHL-PGH). It was really poor. I mentioned the sleeping conductor and the lounge attendants attitudes.