I meant to post on my recent Silver Service Amtrak trip. Short story is: everything was fine.
Timeliness was excellent, under 1/2 hour late to Florida, over 1/2 hour early back to New York Penn; Empire Service trains also on time. I felt lucky to miss delays caused by so much of the snow and ice plaguing the Northeast this year--I managed to slip my trips between delay-causing snowstorms. The only difficulty I had in that regard was a snow report coming on the morning I was initially planning leaving; but I just took my Empire Service leg down to New York City a day earlier to avoid that potential problem, staying with a friend in NYC, where that particular storm was not a bad one.
On the trains themselves, staff was mixed, with some really outstanding employees, including one of my sleeping car attendants. Food on the train was excellent, with highlights including the NY strip steak, key lime pie dessert, breakfast omlet & French toast, and pork stew lunch special, which came with salad. I was a little sorry to see the lemon sorbet replaced with raspberry, but I think the lemon was too tart for some passengers, and this one wasn't bad either. Going down we had newly refurbished equipment, but coming back, though the equipment was old, I had no troubles except for some difficulty keeping my curtains closed. The temperature controls worked just like they ought, and that was most important to me.
Trainwise, the highlight of my time in Florida was a visit to the Flagler Museum, which I'd never been to before. There I saw not only the mansion but Mr Flagler's private train car, on display in the fairly recently built Pavilion. The museum entry price was a bit steep, $18 with no senior discounts, but it included a very good audio player/program that you could use in addition to or instead of the guided tour. The gift shop has a lot of train things too, though after paying the entry price, I didn't indulge except for a post card or two.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Thanks for the trip report, Sojourner. It's always good to read a report where there were no surprises. It does seem that Amtrak ought to have a priority of upgrading all viewliner sleepers. I hope the pending funding crises doesn't prevent the delivery of the new cars. Also good to hear the strip steak is back on the eastern trains. The flat iron steak was very forgettable.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
It is a good steak, I had it awhile back. I loved it. I love the heritage diners. YOu
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Sojourner - did you use the Star, Meteor, or both?
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Both, David. I used the Meteor (with roomette) to south Florida and also back up (going coach) for a stopover in northern Florida--that trip was also close to on time too; I forgot to mention it. Then later I used the Silver Star (with roomette) to NYP.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Ms. Sojourner, since you mentioned you visited the Flagler Museum, such is located in Palm Beach. Presumably your "South Florida' destination was West Palm; WPB.
Is your Northern Florida stopover Top Secret?
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Yikes, Mr Norman, how did you guess? I'm not supposed to go there because I'm on Double Secret Probation!!!!
Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
Thanks for the report Sojourner. I've always liked the NY steak; it's good to know that perhaps the omelette has improved!
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
I have the omelette usually once a trip, RR4me, and I'd say three fourths of the time or more it's pretty good (the other fourth or so it can be overcooked). Note that I tend to eat breakfast early when I'm traveling; maybe later when the dining car is busier they omelettes becomes harder to prepare just right?
I also usually liked the new potato-chunk-type home fries quite well, unless they too are overcooked. In the past Amtrak used to served some shredded potato home fry that, when I encountered it, was pretty awful--in fact, after one or two tries, I switched to grits. But I like these potatoes better than the grits when they are made right.
Has anyone had the raisin bread on any of the l-d trains, instead of biscuit or croissant with breakfast? It was offered on one train I took last year, possibly the Empire Builder or Capital Ltd, but I haven't seen it since.