WINDY CITY TO SUNNY FLORIDA BY RAIL
By Jack M. Turner
Our four hour layover in Chicago passed quickly thanks to the
comfort of the new Metropolitan Lounge. A few teething pains
accompanied the first week of the new lounge as sleeping car passengers
who were not using red cap service blocked the foyer between the
waiting rooms and the gates to the tracks. The old Metropolitan
Lounge was very close to the boarding gates allowing an Amtrak agent to
escort sleeping car passengers to the platform. At the time of
our visit sleeper passengers were left to navigate Union Station’s
crowded corridors resulting in a crush of passengers approaching the
boarding gate. This blocked the path of the carts driven by the
red caps until an Amtrak employee took charge and herded the non-red
cap assisted folks into the old coach waiting room. This was the
one flaw of the new lounge that we noticed but likely will be corrected
with some revised procedures.
The Capitol Limited consisted of ten cars including three Superliner
sleepers and a transition sleeper as usual. For the fourth
straight time on this trip Christine and I occupied roomettes 3 and 4,
this time in car 32034 immediately ahead of the dining car. We
had made dinner reservations in the Metropolitan Lounge as is customary
for train # 30.
Car 32034 (our sleeper) displays the wrong line number “5555” at Chicago
Our 6:58pm departure from Track 22 was 18 minutes late and moments
later we passed the Amtrak yards and shops. A string of Heritage
fleet dining cars stood on a nearby track reportedly destined for
retirement. Almost immediately our 7:00 dinner seating was called
and we headed to diner 37010 which was one of a few cars that had been
converted to a cross country cafe earlier this decade. These cars
have since lost their curved banquette seating in favor of traditional
booths which have a slightly curved appearance which, along with the
37000 series number, makes them identifiable.
Leaving the Windy City we passed the Chicago White Sox baseball stadium
and passed a maze of railway junctions and yards before turning east
and passing a series of old steel mills around Gary, IN. Dinner
was slow in coming thanks to a disorganized and disinterested dining
car crew who were the total opposite of the excellent dining crews
aboard the Empire Builder and California Zephyr. My steak was up
to the standard set by those trains but Christine’s crab cakes were
lacking. Meanwhile, I was concerned that the conductor never came
by to scan our tickets as I have heard stories that if a ticket is not
scanned, a passenger’s reservation will cancel out after the next
couple of station stops. With fears of being awakened by a knock
on the door at 2:00am or our rooms on the next night’s train to Florida
being sold out from under our feet, I searched out the conductor.
His reply that he had verified with our car attendant that all
passengers had boarded and automatically done the scan was somewhat
reassuring but left me wondering how a passenger would know that had
been done.
Passing the Chicago White Sox stadium on Chicago’s south side
Freight traffic was heavy which slowed us down as did waiting for
marine traffic to clear the drawbridge over the shipping canal west of
Gary. As a result, we were over one half hour late at South Bend,
the first stop on our overnight journey. We still were just over
30 minutes late a couple stops later at Waterloo when it was time to
turn in for the night. Though it took awhile to fall asleep, the
smooth rails induced a restful night that lasted until 9:00am when we
were descending Sand Patch grade. As lunch would not be served,
we had waited until 9:15 to eat breakfast and the painfully slow server
pushed the meal back even farther. Once our orders were taken,
the meals came quickly though without the friendly interaction of the
crews out west.
The morning scenery was familiar but interesting with mountains,
rivers, farms, and small towns sliding by our windows. Station
stops in Cumberland, MD, Martinsburg, WV, and Harpers Ferry allowed
snapshots of historic communities that have retained traces of their
origins. Of these, Harpers Ferry is most notable as the town is
designated a National Historic Park due to its role in the Civil
War. Located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah
Rivers, Harpers Ferry stands at one of the region’s most scenic
settings. Upon departing that station stop, the Capitol Limited
ducked into a tunnel leading to Maryland, a state already visited when
the train paused at Cumberland.
The Capitol Limited descends curving Sand Patch Grade on July 3, 2016
The menu on the Capitol Limited
Arriving in historic Harpers Ferry, WV
Crossing the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry; the adjacent bridge
carries a branch line to Winchester, VA and a hiking trail allowing
river views
The Washington, DC suburbs enveloped the railway as we drew within
35 minutes of the nation’s capitol and soon Metro subway trains could
be seen parallel to our line. After stopping at Rockville and
passing through Silver Spring, the Capitol Limited reached the end of
its journey at Washington, DC at 1:13pm, just 8 minutes late. We
made our way upstairs to the first class Club Acela for the six hour
wait for the Silver Meteor. A late lunch and walking around Union
Station’s stores, restaurants, Great Hall, and portico interspersed by
simply hanging out in the Club Acela made time pass until the boarding
call for train # 97 was made,
Washington Union Station’s Main Hall
The Club Acela first class lounge in Washington; the lounge will be moved to the second floor in the future
The Silver Meteor was pulled by a pair of P42 engines and its consist
included a Viewliner baggage car, three Viewliner sleepers, prototype
Viewliner diner 8400, an Amfleet II lounge, and five Amfleet II
coaches. The presence of the 8400 brought me full circle as it
had been included in the Gulf Coast Inspection Train back in February
(see “All Aboard the Gulf Coast Inspection Train” linked below).
For this trip we occupied roomettes 1 and 2 in car 62049 “Winter View”
located immediately ahead of the dining car.
Departure from Washington was on-time at 7:25pm and shortly we left the
District of Columbia via the CSX bridge over the Potomac River.
Fortunately we were able to be seated in the dining car for dinner and
the on board service crew was excellent, especially our affable waiter
who was originally from Jamaica. We both enjoyed our steaks along
with the views of Alexandria, VA, the Auto-Train terminal in Lorton,
and Quantico Marine Base a few minutes later. We also noted
excellent wi-fi service on this train with instant access to a train
status page showing a map tracking our train’s location.
Viewliner dining car 8400
Potomac River near Quantico
After the station stop in Fredericksburg, site of a Civil War battle,
the Meteor continued down the former Richmond, Fredericksburg &
Potomac Railroad a key north-south link. We sailed through
Ashland and Randolph-Macon College then rolled to a stop in Richmond in
a light rain. There was time to walk to the rear of the train and
take a look at private car “Silver Foot” which had been added at
Washington, bound for Jacksonville and transfer to its storage yard in
Orange Park.
Richmond, VA Staples Mill Station during the Silver Meteor’s nighttime stop
Private car “Silver Foot” at the rear of the Silver Meteor at Richmond
The lighted drumhead on the rear of the Silver Meteor
Late night in Richmond: a Northeast Region train lays over (right) while the southbound Silver Meteor (left) works the station
On the south side of Richmond we crossed the tall bridge over the James
River and continued to our stop in Petersburg. I discovered a
maintenance issue when I visited our sleeper’s shower room as the
hand-held shower wand fell off. I managed to improvise and rinse
off using the hose that normally delivers water to the spray
wand. As we entered North Carolina I knew it would be a long
night as my roomette was warm and got hotter by our next stop in Rocky
Mount. Inconsistent temperatures have long been an issue in
Viewliner sleepers as a zone cooling system seems to sometimes make
certain rooms too hot while others are perfectly fine. Thankfully
this issue hit us on our final on board night rather than on a two
night segment. I woke for three of our four subsequent station
stops, a stark contrast from the prior trains when I generally slept
through the night.
Breakfast in the dining car came as the Silver Meteor stopped in Jesup,
GA and was accompanied by early morning views of lazy tree lined rivers
in southeast Georgia. A few rail fans greeted the train as we
breezed past the rail fan pavilion at Folkston just after 8:30am.
Soon we crossed the St. Marys River into Florida and a half hour later
we pulled into our destination of Jacksonville. Our journey was
not yet over as we had to take an Uber ride to the airport to pick up a
rental car then make the drive back home.
A morning river crossing in southeast Georgia
Private car “Silver Foot” at Jacksonville
Overall our trip had been a success with mostly excellent train
travels, great sightseeing in the West and some fine lodging during our
visit to three western states. Once again the convenience of rail
travel in combination with national park visits was underscored.
We look forward to our next adventure.
