Well, the trip started out in Atlanta where I flew to Chicago and then to Milwaukee. There, I took the 3:10pm Hiawatha down to CHI and connected with #30 to WAS. No problems there...on time run through the frozen tundra on a very full train!
I had a Roomette on #30, room 4 in the 3000 car. Boarding started at 6:00pm and I had dinner at 6:30pm. The diner was not too full. I had the "nightly special" as I have sort of made it a tradition to do so when on Amtrak. Unfortunately, they didn't have any gravy for the steaks or for the mashed potatoes. And when it was time for dessert, no fruit was available, since they only stocked enough for breakfast. Service was generally good the whole way, as was the timekeeping: only 30 min late into WAS. The refurbished cars were very nice and clean. It was my first time on #30 and although the weather was pretty nasty (think mist and fog the whole way between Pittsburgh and D.C), the scenery was nice. Oh and BTW, lunch before arrival into D.C was an abbreviated version...offered a choice of three sandwhiches and a salad, and no dessert.
I had coach back to ATL on #19. Train was sold out until Charlottesville. From there on South I had two seats to myself and the ride was smooth and comfortable. The train was less that half full. Dinner was a ham and cheese sandwhich from the lounge (an old, unrefurbished Amfleet lounge with the brown seats), and I called it a night after we left Lynchburg. I slept all the way until we arrived in Toccoa one hour behind schedule.Made up some time between there and ATL and arrived ATL about :30 down. The coach attendant on the trip was excellent...very friendly and seemed to be genuinely enthused about doing his job.
Overall, it was a nice trip, with the exception of the dining experience on the Capitol. No reason to not stock the train fully when it leaves its originating city, IMO. Everything else was fine.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Native Son - glad you had a nice trip. Thanks for sharing your report!!! I'm glad to see that #30 is able to keep fairly decent time now, even during the winter with its weather challenges. I agree with you about AMTRAK needing to do better with stocking of food.
Posted by Railroad Bill (Member # 5097) on :
Yes, we had the same lunch experience in October on the Capitol with two sandwich choices, no salad or dessert. Probably should send off a note to Amtrak about this poor lunch offering on their LD eastern train.