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Just a brief trip report for a brief trip -
I boarded #92, the northbound Silver Star in Winter Park, FL Saturday afternoon and rode overnight to Washington, DC.
The most remarkable aspect about the trip was that we were on-time departing every single station. In several cases we actually arrived 10-20 minutes early. The most observant readers will note that we had the benefit of the time change giving us an extra hour at about 2:00am BUT we were right on time prior to the time change as well.
More remarkable, I was in and out of Union Station in Washington (dodging Marine Corps Marathoners) until about 7:00pm Sunday. The Carolinian and Palmetto also arrived on-time.
I cannot recall the last time I saw three consecutive passenger trains emerge from CSX between Rocky Mount and Richmond on-time. I'm sure Sunday was mostly a fluke BUT it has happened once now and that makes it harder for CSX to explain why it should not happen more often.
But I digress.......about the Silver Star itself - The best surprise was the pleasantness of the on-board staff. My car attendant Leon came by to introduce himself and made sure that I got a dinner reservation even though those had already been made prior to the Winter Park stop. Throughout the trip Leon showed up at just the right time to make the bed down (or return the room to the daytime configuration the following morning). In other words, when I needed something he was right there. When I wanted to read and watch scenery he didn't intrude. Just right.
In the diner the staff did a good job of keeping the tables moving and did not seem to be as overwhelmed as I was afraid they might be with the smaller 'simplified dining' crew. This was my first 'simplified dining' experience and I was relieved to find it 'not awful'. I had the beef ragout with baked potato and carrots for dinner and the french toast for breakfast. The beef ragout was pretty tender and tasted fairly good. The gravy even helped liven up an otherwise dull (but hot) baked potato. I follwed the advice of other rail forum posters and made sure to order something with a sauce or gravy! Yes, I would have rather had a steak and No, I would not feel like I had gotten value for my money if I were in coach and paid $19.00 for that meal. One companion at my table had the Ravioli and agreed with what others have written here....it may as well have been Chef-Boy-R-Dee!
The french toast the following morning was OK but not as good as in the past.....clearly reheated and that was a shame.
Our consist, by-the-way, was two locomotives, heritage baggage car, heritage crew dorm, two viewliner sleepers, heritiage diner, amfleet lounge, and three coaches. While the sleeper space never quite reached 100% capacity, the coach seats were pretty much filled by the time we departed Richmond.
The Viewliners, as has also been reported here, are beginning to get a little ratty. I spotted rust on the frames of the lower 'berth' in my roomette and the car rattled something awful. Of course the CSX track between Columbia and Cary, NC is pretty rough these days too. That may have been the root cause of much of went bump in the night.
So......the Silver Service is still alive. It could use some work and I'd certainly want to rethink the schedules a bit.....and look at spearate Tampa sections rather than have the Silver Star do it's double-back bit. All-in-all, this was a much better trip than the last time I ventured out on CSX.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: Just a brief trip report for a brief trip - The Viewliners, as has also been reported here, are beginning to get a little ratty. I spotted rust on the frames of the lower 'berth' in my roomette and the car rattled something awful. Of course the CSX track between Columbia and Cary, NC is pretty rough these days too. That may have been the root cause of much of went bump in the night.
Eek, I'm taking the SILVER STAR next March New York to Tampa. Last times I took the Silver Service was the SILVER PALM (New York to Tampa) in Nov of 2001 and the SILVER STAR in Nov of 2002 (New York to Ft. Lauderdale). Back in '01 and '02 the Viewliners I rode in were great, I hope it's not going to be horrible in '07.
Posts: 134 | From: New York, New York USA | Registered: Oct 2001
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Eek, I'm taking the SILVER STAR next March New York to Tampa. Last times I took the Silver Service was the SILVER PALM (New York to Tampa) in Nov of 2001 and the SILVER STAR in Nov of 2002 (New York to Ft. Lauderdale). Back in '01 and '02 the Viewliners I rode in were great, I hope it's not going to be horrible in '07. [/QB][/QUOTE]
Here are a couple of suggestions that will help -
1) Bring a sleeping bag or foam pad. Just a little more padding could compensate for bad track.
2) Bring duct tape and ear plugs. The velcro on the curtains isn't quite what it used to be. The duct tape could hold things together to block out unwanted light......and maybe even shore up an unwanted rattle or two. The earplugs are just in case the duct tape doesn't do the job on rattles.
Have a nice trip and let us know about it afterwards.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I use huge diaper safety pins. Three does it,one on top, one in the middle and one at the bottom
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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I actually carry velcro. Cut it to the length needed do the reapirs. Also carry ear plugs and duct tape.
Posts: 70 | From: West Palm Beach, Fl. USA | Registered: Apr 2004
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Curtains? Back in '01 and '02 I had the sliding shutters that worked perfectly on three of the four legs. Only had the curtains once.
No need for earplugs, I ENJOY the sound of the train and the trains whistle in the night, that's part of the whole experience!!! I've never had trouble sleeping on the train, in fact, have slept quite well. I always sleep in the upper berth.
Posts: 134 | From: New York, New York USA | Registered: Oct 2001
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David I think I passed you on No. 67 as we approached Richmond. The crew commented on the on time Silver Star. Sounds like you had a good trip. I was encouraged to read a NARP newsletter that said the LSL and Meteor will retain their heritage diner with only the other viewliner trains getting the modified Am diner-lounge.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I recall passing 67 and remembered at that point that you would be passing through Richmond Sunday.
I'm not sure how much longer the Heritage fleet diners can hang on....but I'm glad they will stay on a couple of trains at least. What I would love to see is Am-diner/lounges that have a lounge on one end and tables for dining on the other. THEN, I would love to see them run two of these cars on each train. The table sections would be on the middle and then you could have one lounge for coach passengers and the other for sleeping car passengers. I doubt that anything that radical would catch on system-wide though!
So what did you do with your layover at Staples Mill Road?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
David, the Capital Limired used to have a separate lounge car for sleeping car passengers and one for coach. The first class one ( as it was called) had very comfortable chairs. We sat around and talked and were served pre dinner snacks and drinks.From there we went into the "first clss" diner and had wine and appetizers while ordering dinner. Those were the days!!!
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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