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Before I began my epic AGR adventure I took the Carolinian, #80, from Charlotte to Durham. The Charlotte station is located about a mile or so out of uptown which is a pity. The former station is obviously still standing, much closer to town and much more attractive. I wonder why Amtrak moved. Anyway the train left on time and it was a pleasant 2 ˝ hour journey to Durham, lightly populated. I had toyed with the idea of taking the Crescent, #20, GRO to ATL to visit family, but finally opted to fly RDU to ATL, for $84 vs. Amtrak’s $51. Finally, last Sat night I boarded the Crescent #19 in Atlanta. The station is inadequate to the task. There were at least 100 people waiting to board the hour late train. Dinner was offered immediately. We arrived in Washington 2 ˝ hours late, but 1 hour was unavoidable because of the time change during the night. I still had enough time to meet a friend and walk around the mall for a few hours before departure of the Capitol, #29. All was well until we hit the bottleneck in lakeside Indiana where we lost at least an hour. In the Chicago lounge I overheard a couple say they were on the Cardinal the previous night (which is what I had planned and wanted and accidentally scuttled) and it was dark by the time they passed the New River Gorge, so my disappointment was somewhat assuaged. The Zephyr, #5, left on time and fairly full in sleepers. We did pretty well time-wise until the western side of the Rockies. The conductor stopped the train to put off an erring passenger which took some time and then we had a medical emergency which involved a stop in Green River UT, waiting for paramedics and then the same thing again in Helper. We crept across the state of Nevada at about 30 miles/hour or less arriving Reno 4 or 5 hours late. Final arrival in Emeryville ll:20 or so, some 6 ˝ hrs late. We must have been the last #5 to make it all the way due to trestle destruction. It was a great trip and I enjoyed it immensely. It was not too long and I would do it again tomorrow. The food service seemed to be very close to what I’ve been accustomed to with the exception of plastic plates and cups. The menu and quality of the food itself was as per usual. There seemed to be only one cook, the steward and one server. There did not seem to be as many people in the dining car – as a matter of fact, on all three trains the steward only took reservations once – otherwise open seating. Everything worked including the wonderful shower. I think I may have seen Mr. Norman. Shortly after leaving Chicago on Monday, something unconsciously made me peer out the window and look. There on a tawny knoll on the south side of the track, shortly after passing some curvaceous water ways and shortly before entering Naperville, there stood a man looking at the train. There was a blonde Labrador-type *** lying at his feet. Was this he? I think this is the area of Clarendon Hills. This would have been about 2:15pm I guess.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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City of Miami, I'll be meeting up with Gil Norman in Sanford a week from today. I'll ask him if that could have been him doing some train-watching and golden lab-walking on the 12th when #5 went by.
-------------------- Ocala Mike Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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Thanks for the interesting trip, City of Miami.
If you overheard passengers in Chicago who had taken the Cardinal, they went westbound on it, right? If so, I believe the Cardinal is always dark at the New River Gorge, so I'm confused what they were complaining about. I thought that to see it, you must go eastbound.
What is this trestle destruction? I have been away and haven't heard about it.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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The CZ already goes over Donner--did you mean, via the Feather River Canyon?
-------------------- --------Eric H. Bowen
Stop by my website: Streamliner Schedules - Historic timetables of the great trains of the past! Posts: 413 | From: Houston, Texas | Registered: Mar 2006
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My calculation - and I was counting on the time change - was that it was very close. #51 is supposed to get to Montgomery WV just west of the gorge by 7:30 which is right at dusk daylight savings time. But the train was late, getting there after 8:00. As the days pass the margin will grow larger.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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The Charlotte station was built by Southern Railway in the 1960's and the older downtown Southern station was demolished at that time. Amtrak inherited the Charlotte station when Southern joined Amtrak in 1979. Originally SR had freight offices in the northern half of the building. Those moved out and the wall came down to enlarge the waiting room just five or six years ago.
The older station which you saw......just above Tryon Street and the underpass nearer town....was the old Seaboard Air Line RR station. Seaboard had discontinued their last passenger train to Charlotte long before Southern moved out to the newer, smaller station.
-------------------- 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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thanks City of Miami for the interesting report. Sounds like the passengers on the CZ may be down some judging by your comment on the samll number of diners. Hope the chronic lateness doesn't take its toll on this train like the Sunset.
David- What is the latest on the new Charlotte station? Isn't it going in the location of the original SRR station downtown - where Greyhound is now?
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Plans call for a new intermodal station in Charlotte to be built about three blocks from the new football stadium. It would serve Amtrak, Greyhound, and city transit. The site is a little south of where Greyhound is currently located.
Construction has not yet started......maybe by the end of 2008.
Details are available at NCDOT. Click the link for 'station improvements' on the left sidebar and then click 'Charlotte'.
-------------------- 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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Thanks David, we'll check it out next time we're in Charlotte. I believe the location is very near where the Columbia-Charleston line splits from the Atlanta main line. I like the downtown location and transit connections.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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