We called to board at 9:22PM, which is the earliest I have ever been called to board a train, one hour and eight minutes before departure. We were in compartment B in the second sleeping car and our attendant was Ken, who epitomized the old time rail attendant. He was courteous, polished, respectful and kept an eye out for us, which was good, since he would be with us for the next three days. Our car was a newer Superliner II, built in 1993 and recently refurbished, so it was nice. Ken had the beds already open for us and after having visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley during the day, we were tired and happy to see the beds ready for us. Despite our early boarding and true to the SL less-than-timely tradition, we did not leave until 11:40PM, as we maneuvered repeatedly to add freight cars to the back of the train. Of course, I was just pouring some cranberry juice in the refreshment area when the first set of cars was coupled; the jolt caused me to spill juice all over my shirt. But that is all part of the fun and adventure of train travel...

This train was also packed, with the greatest number of passengers going to New Orleans. Ironically, all five of the deluxe sleeper families in our car were going to Orlando. Next to us was a high-powered attorney who had quite an array of electronic toys with him, including a GPS-equipped laptop computer that precisely pinpointed our whereabouts on the North American continent. He could see where we were and then zoom in, à la Mapquest, to our exact location, down to the street and landmarks. He could tell us the speed of the train and how many miles/yards/feet we had until the next state line or anywhere else. Some system!

We headed east through the deserts of California, Arizona and New Mexico. As always happens on the SL, the delays for freight trains were considerable. We saw literally hundreds of freight trains during the course of the trip. When we reached El Paso, we were already three hours late. We fully expected this and did not mind in the least. We were planning to spend the night in Orlando before returning to Miami, just as we had done when setting out.

Our departure in El Paso was delayed because of an incident in the dining car. We did not witness the beginning of it, but we arrived to see the latter part. An older couple that had 7:30 reservations came early and demanded to be seated. I do not know on what grounds they did this, but I was told that when they were refused service before their reservation time, the husband became quite belligerent and pounded on the table. We arrived to witness the latter part of the confrontation between the dining car steward Joy, a true professional, and these folks. I would have originally given the benefit of the doubt to the couple because of their age, but the man's intransigent behavior would not listen to reason--the couple declined to give up their seats and refused to leave the dining car. This refusal was inconveniencing many other passengers arriving for their 7:00 seating. The conductor was called, but the couple still refused to move. An Amtrak representative from the El Paso station boarded the train and attempted to reason with the couple, but they were defiant. They were not loud at this point, but their defiance was delaying the departure of this already late train. Next Union Pacific Police boarded (we were in a UP yard), and the couple was facing eviction from the train. The man even held out his wrists and told the officer to arrest him. Needless to say, those in the dining car were eager to have this incident end. The UP officer escorted the man from the dining car and I do not know what happened next, but the couple was ultimately spared being put off the train. They ate at the very end of the evening, after having caused an additional hour's delay. This couple was staying in our sleeping car.

From Houston to New Orleans the Trails on Rails volunteer (from National Park Service) was on board and provided commentary along the route. He and his wife are from New Orleans, so much of his talk promoted that town. He is a retired principal and teaches graduate school now, so I enjoyed talking with him.

Somewhere east of Houston, we stopped at a crossing. This was late at night, and I happened to be passing through the lounger car on my way to bed. I noticed that we were stopping at a crossing gate, at which a police car with its flashing lights was waiting. Remembering the car we struck while on the Silver Meteor, I jokingly said aloud, "OK, what did we hit now?" The other passengers explained that there was an unruly, intoxicated passenger on board, another fellow in our sleeping car (poor Ken!). Sure enough, two police officers boarded the train and removed the malefactor. Not bad--two police responses on one run.

By the next morning, we were six hours behind, which was still within what I had expected us to be. Then we began moving very slowly. The conductor came on and informed us that Tropical Storm Bertha was off the coast of Louisiana and a tropical storm warning had been issued. Under federal regulations, all trains within such an area must operate at 15MPH, which we did for the next three hours. This was quite a trip for our travel diaries, I thought. I also realized that we would not need to stay overnight in Orlando; we would probably end up arriving in the wee hours. I also suspected that we might end up detraining in Sanford, rather than Orlando. When the SL is very late, this is sometimes done to save time, since the train normally drops passengers off on Orlando, then rides deadhead back up to Sanford (two stops, forty minutes away) for servicing. The next afternoon it does back to Orlando to begin its run. With an early morning arrival and a 1:45PM departure, I thought, Sanford is a likely possibility.

I kidded with both Ken and Joy about Sanford. I teased them that I would tell everyone on the late train that we would not even be detraining at Orlando. Joy is not regularly assigned to the SL; she is a floater out of Los Angeles and divides her time between the SL, the Southwest Chief and the Coast Starlight. She said both of the two previous times she rode this route she was very late, but had not detrained in Sanford. Ken knew this was a possibility, but did not admit it until later. Sure enough, as we prepared to go to sleep on our fourth night on the SL, Ken said the decision would be made in Jacksonville, but that Sanford looked likely. At that point we were ten hours late. Either way he would awaken us. It was difficult to sleep, knowing that we would be getting up early, without knowing what time.

At 6:20 Ken knocked on our door, saying that we would arrive in 30-40 minutes. We wondered where we would detrain, but within five minutes we stopped at Deland, so I knew the next and final stop would be Sanford. As we stopped in Deland, the conductor came on an announced that the train would terminate at Sanford and that passengers would be bused to Winter Park and Orlando stations. He made this announcement very quickly, so much so that showering or even groggy passengers could easily have missed it.

A Martz bus was waiting for us when we arrived in Sanford. Our luggage was put on the bus for us and we were off. There was much traffic going into Winter Park, so that ride took forty minutes by itself, then it was another fifteen minutes to Orlando. We arrived there at 8:35, nearly twelve hours late, and six hours after I had expected us to arrive. However, for us this was no problem, since the Silver Star for Miami was due at noon. We checked our luggage and went for breakfast at the same diner we had eaten breakfast on the way out. The employees there remembered us and eagerly asked about our train trip. They did not get as nearly a detailed report as you all received! We even used the same taxi driver to get us back to the station, as we had kept his card.

To be concluded...

And I chatted with the Rails on trails gal! Prolly the same couple, older, lived in NOL...we couldnt find the huge marker that says here's a battlefield. We saw 3 slugs in the rail yard too! I was thrilled to see those!

quote:

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Originally posted by CHATTER:
Finally, our trip in Los Angeles was over and we would head home on train #2. The train did not depart until 10:30PM, but we had to have the rental car back to the Hertz desk at Union Station by 6PM, or else return it at the airport, which would have been extremely inconvenient. Our hotel was four blocks from the station, so it was convenient to bring the car back there. We planned to return the car, have dinner at Traxx, a very nice restaurant in the station, and check out the newly renovated station and the subway station. If anyone has opportunity to be at Union Station, I strongly recommend Traxx. It is the only restaurant in the station and admittedly, it is not inexpensive, but the food and service are both excellent. Amy and Todd were great servers, knowledgeable about the menu, and generally outgoing, which I like in servers.

We called to board at 9:22PM, which is the earliest I have ever been called to board a train, one hour and eight minutes before departure. We were in compartment B in the second sleeping car and our attendant was Ken, who epitomized the old time rail attendant. He was courteous, polished, respectful and kept an eye out for us, which was good, since he would be with us for the next three days. Our car was a newer Superliner II, built in 1993 and recently refurbished, so it was nice. Ken had the beds already open for us and after having visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley during the day, we were tired and happy to see the beds ready for us. Despite our early boarding and true to the SL less-than-timely tradition, we did not leave until 11:40PM, as we maneuvered repeatedly to add freight cars to the back of the train. Of course, I was just pouring some cranberry juice in the refreshment area when the first set of cars was coupled; the jolt caused me to spill juice all over my shirt. But that is all part of the fun and adventure of train travel...

This train was also packed, with the greatest number of passengers going to New Orleans. Ironically, all five of the deluxe sleeper families in our car were going to Orlando. Next to us was a high-powered attorney who had quite an array of electronic toys with him, including a GPS-equipped laptop computer that precisely pinpointed our whereabouts on the North American continent. He could see where we were and then zoom in, à la Mapquest, to our exact location, down to the street and landmarks. He could tell us the speed of the train and how many miles/yards/feet we had until the next state line or anywhere else. Some system!

We headed east through the deserts of California, Arizona and New Mexico. As always happens on the SL, the delays for freight trains were considerable. We saw literally hundreds of freight trains during the course of the trip. When we reached El Paso, we were already three hours late. We fully expected this and did not mind in the least. We were planning to spend the night in Orlando before returning to Miami, just as we had done when setting out.

Our departure in El Paso was delayed because of an incident in the dining car. We did not witness the beginning of it, but we arrived to see the latter part. An older couple that had 7:30 reservations came early and demanded to be seated. I do not know on what grounds they did this, but I was told that when they were refused service before their reservation time, the husband became quite belligerent and pounded on the table. We arrived to witness the latter part of the confrontation between the dining car steward Joy, a true professional, and these folks. I would have originally given the benefit of the doubt to the couple because of their age, but the man's intransigent behavior would not listen to reason--the couple declined to give up their seats and refused to leave the dining car. This refusal was inconveniencing many other passengers arriving for their 7:00 seating. The conductor was called, but the couple still refused to move. An Amtrak representative from the El Paso station boarded the train and attempted to reason with the couple, but they were defiant. They were not loud at this point, but their defiance was delaying the departure of this already late train. Next Union Pacific Police boarded (we were in a UP yard), and the couple was facing eviction from the train. The man even held out his wrists and told the officer to arrest him. Needless to say, those in the dining car were eager to have this incident end. The UP officer escorted the man from the dining car and I do not know what happened next, but the couple was ultimately spared being put off the train. They ate at the very end of the evening, after having caused an additional hour's delay. This couple was staying in our sleeping car.

From Houston to New Orleans the Trails on Rails volunteer (from National Park Service) was on board and provided commentary along the route. He and his wife are from New Orleans, so much of his talk promoted that town. He is a retired principal and teaches graduate school now, so I enjoyed talking with him.

Somewhere east of Houston, we stopped at a crossing. This was late at night, and I happened to be passing through the lounger car on my way to bed. I noticed that we were stopping at a crossing gate, at which a police car with its flashing lights was waiting. Remembering the car we struck while on the Silver Meteor, I jokingly said aloud, "OK, what did we hit now?" The other passengers explained that there was an unruly, intoxicated passenger on board, another fellow in our sleeping car (poor Ken!). Sure enough, two police officers boarded the train and removed the malefactor. Not bad--two police responses on one run.

By the next morning, we were six hours behind, which was still within what I had expected us to be. Then we began moving very slowly. The conductor came on and informed us that Tropical Storm Bertha was off the coast of Louisiana and a tropical storm warning had been issued. Under federal regulations, all trains within such an area must operate at 15MPH, which we did for the next three hours. This was quite a trip for our travel diaries, I thought. I also realized that we would not need to stay overnight in Orlando; we would probably end up arriving in the wee hours. I also suspected that we might end up detraining in Sanford, rather than Orlando. When the SL is very late, this is sometimes done to save time, since the train normally drops passengers off on Orlando, then rides deadhead back up to Sanford (two stops, forty minutes away) for servicing. The next afternoon it does back to Orlando to begin its run. With an early morning arrival and a 1:45PM departure, I thought, Sanford is a likely possibility.

I kidded with both Ken and Joy about Sanford. I teased them that I would tell everyone on the late train that we would not even be detraining at Orlando. Joy is not regularly assigned to the SL; she is a floater out of Los Angeles and divides her time between the SL, the Southwest Chief and the Coast Starlight. She said both of the two previous times she rode this route she was very late, but had not detrained in Sanford. Ken knew this was a possibility, but did not admit it until later. Sure enough, as we prepared to go to sleep on our fourth night on the SL, Ken said the decision would be made in Jacksonville, but that Sanford looked likely. At that point we were ten hours late. Either way he would awaken us. It was difficult to sleep, knowing that we would be getting up early, without knowing what time.

At 6:20 Ken knocked on our door, saying that we would arrive in 30-40 minutes. We wondered where we would detrain, but within five minutes we stopped at Deland, so I knew the next and final stop would be Sanford. As we stopped in Deland, the conductor came on an announced that the train would terminate at Sanford and that passengers would be bused to Winter Park and Orlando stations. He made this announcement very quickly, so much so that showering or even groggy passengers could easily have missed it.

A Martz bus was waiting for us when we arrived in Sanford. Our luggage was put on the bus for us and we were off. There was much traffic going into Winter Park, so that ride took forty minutes by itself, then it was another fifteen minutes to Orlando. We arrived there at 8:35, nearly twelve hours late, and six hours after I had expected us to arrive. However, for us this was no problem, since the Silver Star for Miami was due at noon. We checked our luggage and went for breakfast at the same diner we had eaten breakfast on the way out. The employees there remembered us and eagerly asked about our train trip. They did not get as nearly a detailed report as you all received! We even used the same taxi driver to get us back to the station, as we had kept his card.

To be concluded...

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