Typing tonight from a hotel near the Providence, RI airport. Here's how I came to be so far from home on another one of my 'uber-quick' road trips.
Yesterday mid-morning I drove to and parked at the Charlotte airport then boarded a US Air Shuttle for Atlanta. We sat for 40 minutes at the gate and then spent another 30 minutes in line on the tarmac for a 40 minute flight.
On the ground I caught MARTA to the Arts Center Station and transferred to the what is now the 110 Bus known as 'The Peach' up Peachtree Street to the Amtrak Depot. Between a late flight and heavy traffic I didn't reach the train station until about 7:40pm. I wasn't panicking though because Julie had already let me know that the Crecent had been delayed about 40 minutes itself.
I love the classic appearance of Southern's former northern suburb depot here BUT it is woefully inadequate for the crowds that descend each evening for the northbound Crescent.
Ironically - tonight's lead locomotive on #20 was #20! Behind it was a second locomotive and the 'standard' Crescent consist - Baggage Car, two viewliner sleepers, heritage diner, amcafe, and four amcoaches.
We boarded at about 8:25pm and were underway 35 minutes late at 8:38pm. My room (#3 in the 2011 sleeper) was certainly adequate for one person and everything worked as it should. The thermostat, the toilet, the bed...... this particular car was in better shape than I had expected to be honest..... and our attendant, a gentleman named Claude, was absolutely engaging and charming..... particularly with several elderly passengers traveling alone. He seemed to be available any time anyone needed him but at the same time not obtrusive on anyone enjoying the privacy they sought in first class.
The diner did put on one final seating for dinner though the crew seemed worn a bit thin by that time. The wait staff overlooked our table with the salad and dinner roll but as 9:00pm was a bit later for dinner than anyone at our table was accustomed to, no one saw fit to complain. Now if I had been in coach shelling out the new menu price of $25.00 for the flat iron steak you know I would have asked for the bread and salad.
Desert was a decadent chocolate caramel torte.
I slept reasonably well...... not like home of course... but not badly. The working thermostat enabled me to get the room warm enough as we headed north on a chilly evening. I remember being awake and glimpsing the High Point and Lynchburg stations out my window BUT did sleep through Greenville, Spartanburg, Gastonia, Charlotte, Salisbury, Greensboro, and Danville.
I woke up at daybreak and made my way to the diner for breakfast as we arrived back on schedule into Charlottesville. It was here that the only two disappointments of the trip materialized.
First, Claude came through and handed out copies of the newspaper du jour, the USA Today, to those diners who were in the 2011 sleeper. As has been discussed in another thread- many of us prefer local newspapers as opposed to the USA Today on our train trips.
Second, There was NO FRENCH TOAST offered for breakfast in the diner! What?!!? No french toast? Seems like on the Crescent now French Toast is served southbound only. Northbound that menu slot is fulfilled with 'Sweet Potato Pancakes.'
Now I was born in the south just barely (Louisville, KY). I grew up in North Carolina. I attended graduate school in Maryland which, by virtue of falling below the Mason-Dixon Line, is technally a southern state...... but in spite of this, I never really acquired a taste for sweet potatoes.
I'm sure those pancakes were just fine but I didn't want to take the chance. I didn't complain and had a perfectly acceptable, if not exciting, cheese omelette instead.
We remained on time.....even 10-15 minutes early once we departed Washington. A quick 'first and last' call to lunch was done at 11:00am where we were offered the cheeseburger, veggie burger, salad, or pizza...... with so many people already off the train or not wanting lunch that early, turnout in the diner was sparse and the wait staff didn't even bother with putting out the menus.
I left the train in Philadelphia having not been in 30th Street Station in 15 years. It is still one of the grandest remaining railroad terminals in the country and I enjoy seeing it though I have never, NEVER, passed through the Philly station without being panhandled at least twice.
After a 90 minute layover I boarded an on-time Acela trainset......schedule #2164 to continue my trip to Providence. The Acela's are still quiet, smooth, and incredibly popular. We were sold out north of both Philadelphia and again upon leaving New York though the turnover rate in our coach was about 90%..... only a handful of us riding through New York today.
This particular schedule runs non-stop between New York and Providence making it very popular with the willing to spend a whole lot more money for the illusion of arriving a whole lot faster. Kind of odd since the famous Metro North rail congestion limits the Acela's crack speed, we only ran full out for about 10-15 minutes east of New Haven. This 'express' schedule only shaved may 35 minutes off the time the standard regional trains take and, frankly, had I been spending cash instead of AGR points, I likely would have opted for business class on a conventional train.
Once in Providence I grabbed a quick 15 minute trip back towards New Haven on the MBTA train.....just long enough to get me to the TF Greene Airport where I'm spending the night in an airport hotel and renting a car in the morning. I'll fly back to Charlotte from Providence Sunday evening.
All in all - a pleasant enough trip. More positives than not and I have no regrets from this trip. Still, I think I'll search for a diner with french toast in the morning!
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Two reports this week (soujourner's midwest trip) that seem pretty positive about Amtrak experiences. Good to see, maybe Amtrak is finally getting some consistency in service levels.
Sorry about the sweet potato pancakes, David. But I guess that is fitting for a deep south train. However my preference would have been the country ham and grits that the L&N used to feature.
Only a few places that have the proper 'gravitas' for starting a great long distance train trip. Philadelphia is certainly one of them, Peachtree station - not so much. Growing up 30 miles from Philly we made frequent trips on the PRR and B&O for shopping and ballgames (long before I-95). It was always a little awe inspiring to ride up the escalator into its great hall.
Enjoy new england - hope you get to check out the Essex steam train.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Thanks for the great trip report, David! Sounds like you had a good trip. Sorry about the French toast.......
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Although only having a supporting role in the production, here is video of Mr. Presley's #20(17) taken earlier during the day at Tuscaloosa:
Regarding the change of trains at Phila rather than NY, some itineraries at the Amtrak webpage will call for the change to be made there. It is far the better alternative than to change at Penn if traveling through to New England. After all, if you don't like you seat (mate?), you can always get one of your choice during the station (dwell) time at NY.
I first noted that virtual "clean out" at Penn during the '50's when riding the PRR-NH Colonial.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
David,
You should have given the sweet potato pancakes a try. Sweet potatoes are addictive. But, then West Tennessee / North Mississippi are more firmly in sweet potato territory. One of the nice discoveries in Taiwan were the places that served sweet potato french fries.
Buy the roundest ones in the bin. They are less likely to be stringy, Boil for about an hour or until they feel soft, break them open, add butter and cinnimom. Food to die for.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
I don't know about the rest of the country but sweet potato fries have been very trendy here on the West Coast for a couple of years. Trader Joe's even has them frozen and bagged.
Frank in sunny and cool SBA
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Same here ,Frank. Not only can you get the fries at our local grocery but Trader Joe also has sweet potato chips/ Different from regular ones but not quite as tasty
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Thanks for your trip report, David. I'm glad to hear your only 2 complaints--USA Today and no French toast--are pretty non-major as far as Amtrak service goes! And while I agree 100 percent about USA Today, I do have to ask (tongue in cheekily, of course), what kind of American are you, not liking sweet potatoes a few weeks before Thanksgiving? I suppose next we'll be hearing you hate cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie . . .
I'm afraid I love French toast AND sweet potatoes too, and I'd have loved to try the sweet potato pancakes if I ever see them. The best sweet potato pancakes I ever had were in Charleston SC, btw, at a wonderful breakfast place downtown . . . I'll have to look up the name. . .
I have one bit of confusion re your trip. What is the MBTA you took for 15 minutes from Providence to New Haven? I thought (a) MBTA runs in Boston area, including to Providence, but not New Haven; and (b) it was more than 15 minutes from Providence to New Haven. . . . .
Did you have a chance to see anything of Providence? I enjoyed what I saw of it a few years back. . . .
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Actually Sojourner, I don't particularly like cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie either. For Thanksgiving I would just as soon have oatmeal raisen cookies for dessert.
Sweet Potato French Fries are offered on the menu at a local deli billed as a 'healthy alternative' to french fries...... I've tried them and will pass next time.
I suppose I'm an American who is pickier than I realized.
Keeping this on-topic........ the MBTA is Boston though one of their lines offers commuter trains to Providence and continuing 9 miles further to the Providence Airport. It's this route which I rode back to my hotel near the Providence Airport.
GBN - boarding Acela in Philadelphia so that I could have my choice of seats (window on the water side) departing New York was a primary consideration in planning my itinerary.... and I had to lobby Amtrak (plus spend an additional 8,000 AGR points) in order to do so.
I did not sightsee in Providence (though I had an enjoyable visit there 8-10 years ago) but have had an enjoyable late afternoon sightseeing today in Groton, CT.
A final thought - I'm just a little too young to have experienced the L&N's Country Ham and Grits..... but I did once have real fried chicken in a former ACL diner south of Birmingham on Amtrak's 'Floridian' in the late 1970's. Can I get partial credit for that?
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
All this yammer (pun intended) about sweet potatoes led me to the Wikipedia entry on the subject, which astonished me in both its length and breadth. I had NO idea that the tuber was taken so seriously.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I've just watched GBN's video..... that certainly was an interesting meet with 19 backing out after 20 headed north.
Anyone have any information on the heritage of those Heritage Diners being used on the Crescent in this video?
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
For anyone who wanted to know, I looked it up, and the place in Charleston SC with the delicious sweet potato pancakes was called Joseph's, 129 Meeting St, 843-958-8500. Not sure if still open. The sweet potato pancakes were more pancakey than sweet potatoey, and delicious with syrup and butter . . .
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by notelvis: Anyone have any information on the heritage of those Heritage Diners being used on the Crescent in this video?
Ex Northern Pacific; Budd 1959 - the last six Dining Cars (actual ownership: 5 NP, 1 Q) to be delivered to a Class I road. One remains with the BNSF for its Executrain fleet; how many are in Amtrak's Heritage Fleet beyond the two shown in the linked video, I know not.
When these cars were delivered, TRAINS had a Railroad News Photo of their interior which was captioned "New passenger cars actually exist in 1959....". DPM knew even eleven years before A-Day (and my guess is somewhere during the mid-50's), the writing was on the wall.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
I was wondering about that heritage diner also. I thought Amtrak stopped using them entirely, but I guess my info was not correct. Those cars are great--really roomy interiors.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. Smith, Amtrak had plans, as part of the Bush administration "micro-management", under its Simplified Dining Service initiative (aka Diner-Lite), to retire the Heritage Diners and replace same with Lounge Cars that had slightly expanded Kitchen facilities (some kind of warming ovens to store catered food). These cars were assigned to 48-49, Lake Shore (LSL), but that is about as far as the initiative got. Now Lake Shore again offers Dining service in Heritage cars that were rebuilt using ARRA '09 funds. One such car included the prototype Viewliner 8400. That car had various crew ergonomic issues, but was rebuilt addressing those issues and has become a "test bed" for the 25 single level Diners presently on order.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
quote:Originally posted by sojourner: For anyone who wanted to know, I looked it up, and the place in Charleston SC with the delicious sweet potato pancakes was called Joseph's, 129 Meeting St, 843-958-8500. Not sure if still open. The sweet potato pancakes were more pancakey than sweet potatoey, and delicious with syrup and butter . . .
Looks like it recently closed, sojourner. Too bad, it looked like a good one. Try this one for breakfast on your next trip: Hominy Grill. No trendy health food here! It is so good but may require a nap afterward.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Actually, I've been to Hominy Grill too, Palmland, and indeed, it was excellent--very interesting breakfast (or brunch) menu, as I recall, that even included red rice. Only problem was that it was not walking distance of the tourist area, I don't think; at any rate, I went to it with a car (when I met friends with a car in Charleston).
I am sorry to hear that Josephs closed, though; it was very conveniently located and quite nice too. I was thinking I might stop in Charleston again this winter/spring but as I am now probably going to Miami I probably will not . . . have to see how things work out. Charleston is not only lovely and full of things to see but also definitely a wonderful restaurant town.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Mr. Smith, Amtrak had plans, as part of the Bush administration "micro-management", under its Simplified Dining Service initiative (aka Diner-Lite), to retire the Heritage Diners and replace same with Lounge Cars that had slightly expanded Kitchen facilities (some kind of warming ovens to store catered food). These cars were assigned to 48-49, Lake Shore (LSL), but that is about as far as the initiative got. Now Lake Shore again offers Dining service in Heritage cars that were rebuilt using ARRA '09 funds. One such car included the prototype Viewliner 8400. That car had various crew ergonomic issues, but was rebuilt addressing those issues and has become a "test bed" for the 25 single level Diners presently on order.
Very interesting--thank you for that information. I would LOVE to take a trip just for the purpose of dining in one of those cars. They don't build 'em like that any more!
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Neglected to mention this in my initial report though it is of interest to the car-spotters -
I observed what appeared to be the 8400 Viewliner Diner (still wearing it's circa 1991 red-white-blue window striping) sitting out of service at the Bear, DE Amtrak shop Friday morning b-t-w.
Don't know if it's in for a little fix or if it has developed some new issue and been withdrawn from service. (I'm guessing it was the diner..... unless one of the sleepers went long-term out of service before the latest logo and scheme were applied.)
I did have the opportunity to have supper in the Viewliner Diner once...... in December 1991 travelling westbound on the Cardinal in the neighborhood of White Sulpher Springs, WV. The smaller upper windows created a nice after dark ambiance...... might not have been so nice in a bright morning sun though.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. Presley, 8400 has been reported at other sites as assigned to 48-49; Lake Shore. A report further noted it was in consist of 48(19).
8400 is liveried in Phase IV and has been named "Indiana'; the Phase III liveried car you observed when passing Bear was likely 2300 - one of the two original Viewliner Sleepers, as all Viewliners in service are liveried Phase IV.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Ah..... thank you Mr. Norman.
Upon thinking after posting - I did realize that given the amount of interior work 8400 was receiving, that it was unlikely they wouldn't have updated the exterior livery as well.
I wonder whether the original sleeper at Bear could be returned to service? Amtrak could use every piece of rolling stock they can get their hands on.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
"I've heard"
Now with that preface out of the way that connotes anything following is other than solid factual reporting, they were simply two oddballs in a world of "standardization'.
Budd delivered three "shells', no HVAC, to Amtrak - two Sleeper and one Diner. From there, Amtrak design took over; and what ended up was a monstrosity designed by committee. Naturally Amtrak being Amtrak, the committee was comprised after having played Musical Chairs, or how about King of the Castle, all too often; the whole thing ended up an Abbott and Costello "Who's on First' skit.
Somehow, the boys and girls put together something for the Sleepers out of which there was ten years of revenue service realized. When the one of a kind components died, and even though there was plenty of economic life remaining in the "shells", it wasn't worth it to have the cars rebuilt.
The Diner fared better; even though it was withdrawn from service before the Sleepers. With the ARRA 09 funding it was awarded, it became a test bed to properly address ergonomic issues for the 25 new Diners on order. It is also my understanding that various interior mock ups were placed in the 'shells' for the twenty five new Sleepers, which would suggest to me their interior configuration will not be identical to the existing Viewliners.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I would hope that the new Viewliner Sleepers will be short on gadgetry on long on durability.
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
David, I enjoyed your trip report also. I echo the comment that hopefully the new Viewliner sleepers will be an improvement over the current ones. First off, they need curtains that fully cover the exterior and interior windows and that block out light better. Secondly, the rattles need to be decreased, especially the partitions between Bedrooms A & B. Most of all, the a/c systems need to be made more reliable and crews taught how to reset the system when it goes down.
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
Never seeing the 2300 or 2301 was one disappointment as I've seen every other Viewliner and Superliner sleeper in the fleet and ridden in about half. Glad to see a name has been applied to the 8400 diner but I'm surprised as that flies in the face of Amtrak's recent trend of removing names from sleepers.
Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :
notelvis with only 7 more to reach 3.3 then on to 4; I love the way you hop a train go hither and yon, then back again. "I have these points and thus acrued what better thing to do than use what I have earned to take a break. A train, and FREE! That'll ice the cake." Perhaps, staying thus in penta meter, there's only one thing sweeter than taking a free ride when one can, and that, of course, is a tasty yam... I trust there are amongst us those who would point out what I already knows: yams ain't sweet potatos. I've not forgotten you eat them candied, but not au gratin. Save me please from those retorts. 3.3 a comin. Keep up the reports.
David - Hope you have a happy thanksgiving. I travel vicariously when you take these little excursions.
Ira
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Loved your poem, Ira.
Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :
Thanks sojourner!!
Ira
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Ira, I don't know how you think of such things but they are great. Keep writing
Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :
Thanks Train Lady. I don't know how I think of such things either, train lady. I am only grateful that the muse visits me. I grew up in a family where playful, clever banter and word play were valued and encouraged. And I was not an english major as an undergrad, but a religion major. A zealot for poetry perhaps.
I
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Ira - a Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you as well. I am flattered to have been an inspiration.
FWIW - I've got my eye on Colorado in July 2012. I'm past due to visit the narrow gauges and I need to eyeball how things are at Denver Union Station......