posted
This past weekend I was on the Palmetto again for a roundtrip between Florence and Richmond. This was a getaway to see a basketball game with several of my old college buddies.
It was a rainy and cold weekend but CSX and Amtrak had their act together throughout. Some highlights:
The train crews were excellent. They made regular announcements, including "we were delayed for CSX trackwork between Savannah and Charleston causing us to run at restricted speed". This caused us to be 35 min. late out of Florence on the NB trip. I lost count of the number of freights we passed that were sitting on sidings and we negotiated that tough Rocky Mount-Richmond corridor in good shape arriving Richmond on time. On the southbound trip they were hustling passengers to board for an on time departure and really seemed to be energized - a quality usually lacking at Amtrak. On that southbound trip we flew into Florence 20 min. early.
On the southbound trip a passenger in a wheelchair was boarded in Selma with a Fayettville destination. He was ticketed for a connection there with the northbound Meteor later that night. A sharp station agent in Fayetteville pointed out to the crew that they were closed from 6-10pm and he would be in the cold. So, she and the crew hustled him back onto the train to make the connection in the open Florence station. She got his name to call ahead to give the Florence agent a heads up. That was worthy of the superior service the Seaboard and ACL used to give on this route.
The onboard crew was good. Pleasant attendant in the cafe car and the coach attendant was actually working throughout the trip (no prolonged cafe lounging). I was walking through the coaches and saw her coming out of the bathroom with cleaning tools and later she came to the BC car and cleaned that. My compliments to her resulted in a big smile and I intend to call customer service with a positive report.
I never cared for the announcement 'the cafe is closed while the attendant is on break'. Thankfully it has been replaced by 'the cafe is closed for restocking'.
Wi-Fi was proudly advertised with s "your seat is now a hot spot' sticker on the BC window. Unfortunately, it wasn't working northbound causing some grumbling by the BC passengers. Supposedly they were told it worked north of Richmond. But on the southbound trip it worked ok throughout, with a few dropped connections.
Business class car was worth the extra money as the 4 coaches were crowded (3 were packed southbound as the 4th was closed). On my return, I hopped on No.67 for the short ride from Ashland to Richmond and connection to the Palmetto and sat in those nice seats of the 2/1 BC Cafe car for the short ride. I do miss them on the Palmetto but the extra seats of the AMII coach were needed as I counted 22 in BC on the NB trip. Soft drinks and the Sunday NY Times were ready for me when I boarded the southbound train in Richmond.
I had the chicken panini sandwich northbound, while it tasted ok, the bread was definitely on the soggy side after getting nuked. The cold beer helped. Southbound, I carried on a sandwich from the nice little snack shop in Staples Mill station.
I was quite interested to see if any progress had been made on the new connection between the NS and CSX near Petersburg. This is supposed to be built for the new Norfolk-Washington/Boston train. And, yes the connection in the northeast quadrant (NS passes under CSX there) has been graded, with track and ballast in place. The actual connection has not been made as the track stops part way through the curve but track equipment sitting there indicates that it will be ready by the recently revised start date now at the end of this year. It is encouraging to see how quickly a project like this can get underway when the local/state government and the railroad works together. A far cry from most Amtrak/federal projects with their years of study with often little results.
Amtrak considers the Palmetto a long distance train. And I guess it is as it takes almost 15 hours for the 700+ mile trip. But there are no diners or sleepers. While that would have been nice, I suspect this will be more typical of the LD trains of the future than what we have been used to. Judging by the full loads in coach and some of my fellow BC passengers (a real estate agent on the phone/computer throughout, and a video photographer returning from a conference in Charleston) this may be what's needed for Amtrak to survive.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
I'm glad to hear of visible progress in Petersburg.
Sounds like Norfolk will be the next city to regain rail passenger service thanks to the VADOT.
I'm curious whether this train will merely be an extension of one which currently terminates in Richmond or if it will constitute an additional frequency between Richmond and Washington.
-------------------- 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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David, according to this article from the Norfolk area Virginian Pilot, it sounds like a 5am departure from Norfolk with a 9am into Washington. Same 4 hour schedule for the expected 3pm return. This should tie in nicely with one of schedules for the existing Richmond trains. I don't see this as an additional Richmond-DC train.
If I read this right, sounds like a slightly faster schedule than the Newport News train even though a longer route. Since the route from Norfolk/Petersburg would use the Richmond yard bypass, this should go a long way towards avoiding some of the delays the N. News trains encounters between Main St. and Staples Mill stations.
It'll present a new opportunity for a circle trip: Richmond to Norfolk, perhaps for a Norfolk Tide baseball game (the stadium is in walking distance of the new station). Then catch the morning Thruway bus/Newport News train back to Richmond.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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