Cross Country Trip:JAC-DC
Jacksonville to Washington DC
The Silver Star arrived at 9:40pm and they did some car switching for
departure at 10:30pm. This time I was in coach and I didn't get any sleep
due to my long legs crammed against the seat in front of me. The train was
full so I didn't get two seats to myself. The guy next to me snored
and.....what was that smell? The coach car attendant was real nasty. Cold
as ice and couldn't care less about you. You were just assigned a seat
number on her roster sheet. She COMMANDED me to sit in a certain seat as I
boarded and I'm glad it was a window. To the contrary, I had to climb over
my neighbor to get out to use the restroom. I don't mind coach if it is a
day ride only. I just can't stretch out to sleep. The Amfleet coaches in
the east have television monitors all along the top luggage rack spaced
about 5 feet apart and angled towards the occupants cross aisle to the
monitor. Likewise on the opposite side. A standard pair of walkman headpho
nes is plugged into a jack in the armrest to hear music channels or the
video being shown. Half of the seat headphone jacks and volumes were broken
too! What a low-class train.
April 6th.
Arrived in Raleigh, NC on time and I got off with four hours to kill.
Why did I get off and not ride through to Washington? I have a half sister
in Raleigh and I had made plans to spend a day there to visit with her
and catch following day's Silver Star to Washington DC. With arrangements
made and tickets bought, she called me up four days before my departure
to uninvite me, as she got a last-minute offer to go out of town to a family
reunion for Easter. Great. Couldn't ride straight through to Washington
DC because the train was full after Raleigh, sleepers and all. Best bet
was to get off and catch train #80, The Carolinian at 11:55am. That's what
I ended up doing. In the meantime I decided to explore downtown Raleigh.
It is a nice city except the depot is in a real crummy part of town with
bums loitering about. Four blocks away, downtown Raleigh with tall buildings,
clean sidewalks with no transients in sight. There were no luggage lockers
so I had the station attendant stash my bag in the ticket office so I could
walk around hands free. I weathered my way past the panhandlers outside
the depot and walked around downtown until it was time to go. While downtown,
I bought a postcard and sent it to my half sister to make a point. I didn't
get hassled by the bums on the way back into the depot because the cops
were hauling one of their friends downtown and they had him over the hood
of the police car cuffing him! I scooted on by the scene without looking
back and headed into the station. I must admit, I did NOT bring clothes
for the cold. I just brought some short-sleeved shirts and a light windbreaker
jacket. The Carolinian arrived on time and I was under way once again.
Consist of The Silver Star:
- Amtk 327
- Amtk 365 elephant style
- 2x MHC cars
- 2x Baggage
- 2x Heritage Sleepers
- 3x Amfleet Coaches
- Dinette
- Heritage Diner
- 3x Amfleet Coaches
- Heritage Loch Long Sleeper
It began to rain as we headed north. Most of the trees hadn't begun
to blossom yet so winter was still in the air. Aside from listening to
the scanner and reading All Aboard!, there was nothing much to do on that
train since there was no lounge car. Just a Dinette and I was not hungry
as I was still full after the heavy meal I had in Jacksonville. The train
arrived in Washington DC about ten minutes late and I took the Metro out
to Vienna, VA to my sister-in-law's house where I spent the night. Ahhh,
a non-moving bed and REAL shower! The Metro in Washington was very clean
and easy to find one's way around. The trains accelerated quickly and were
quiet, just like San Francisco's BART.
Consist of The Carolinian:
- Amtk #307
- Baggage
- 2x Amfleet Coaches
- Dinette
- 2x Amfleet Coaches
April 7th.
I didn't wake up until 8am...er, 9am due to the change to daylight savings
time. After a real shower and great breakfast at a local bakery, my brother-in-law
who lives nearby gave me the grand tour of DC in only a few hours! It was
real cold with weather moving in so we just drove around and I would snap
pictures along the way when the usual tourist shots came up. We went to
Arlington Cemetery and saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the
Unknown Solider. Actually there are three of them inside I think. Other
stops included the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol
Building. Got a picture of the whitehouse from a loooong way off because
the street that goes directly in front of it was blocked off when a crazy
man shot up the Whitehouse with an simi-automatic assault rifle. Lastly
we went into the National Aerospace Museum and that took up the rest of
the time we had before heading to Union Station. I was quite surprised
to learn that the museums in Washington DC were free admission. In England
and most of Europe, you are charged at least $10 just to get in. I remember
I wanted to get into the Tower of London and they wanted 30 pounds!!! That's
about, depending on exchange rates, $45!! I'd never pay that to see a museum.
The Smithsonian will have to wait until I can spend a week in DC to go
through it.
Santa Barbara
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Washington DC to Chicago
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