My First Amtrak Experience

Here is my long overdue travelogue from my first trip on Amtrak. I took this trip from Pittsburgh , PA into Lynchburg, VA for my nieces wedding. Being a last minute decision, this was by far the cheapest way to go. You can view all of the pictures I took on the trip here. You can click on them 2 times to bring them up to full screen.  Most of them are low quality due to the weather and because I was just so excited about the ride.

Also, for anyone new to riding the rails or even if you are a veteran aboard Amtrak, make sure to come on over to the Amtrak Unlimited forums.

The trip consisted of 2 legs. The Capitol Limited #30 from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. and the Crescent #19 from D.C. to Lynchburg. The return trip was the #20 on the Crescent and #29 on the Capitol Limited.

Being my first train trip, I couldn’t sleep the night before as it was and had scheduled a taxi to get me to the station in Pittsburgh by 5:00 a.m. With the CL’s historical performance of being delayed, made worse by a storm that night, scheduling a taxi the evening before was a mistake. The CL is scheduled to arrive into Pittsburgh at 5:30 a.m. and depart at 5:45 a.m. So, I sat for 2 and a half hours waiting on the train to get in. When the train did pull in, there was a mad panic of people rushing to make it on to the Pennsylvanian before it departed. We ended up pulling out of Pittsburgh at around 7:30. It was a pretty rainy and dreary day aboard the train, however I still enjoyed the experience. I spent most of the slow going trip in the lounge car chatting with new found friends.

I do have to say that CSX does a poor job of maintaining their tracks, at least in Pennsylvania. The already delayed trip was made worse by CSX trains clogging up the tracks. The ride was bumpy going as slow as we were limited to so I couldn’t imagine trying to walk through the cars with the train going at a better speed.

Shortly after leaving Pittsburgh I headed to the diner to have some breakfast. I ordered the scrambled eggs with hash browns and toast. While the meal wasn’t the best I have had, I have eaten worse. After breakfast I returned to the lounge where I spent most of the remainder of the trip chatting with other passengers.

We got into D.C. a little more than 2 hours late, which shortened up the layover a bit. I did walk around Union Station and was awed by the architecture. After exploring the station and going outside for a smoke break and to get a quick view of the city, I went back in and got some lunch/slash dinner at McDonald’s. After eating I relaxed until it was time to board the Crescent.

The Crescent didn’t seem to have a problem keeping up its speed and staying on schedule after getting outside of Washington. I stayed at my seat for most of the trip only going to the cafe for coffee since I needed it after only getting a couple of hours sleep the night before. We pulled into Lynchburg on time and by this point I was completely exhausted, however my day was far from over. My ride from Lynchburg ended up being over an hour late so I was forced to sit there waiting and trying not to fall asleep.

THE RETURN TRIP

Once again, I had to wake up at a very early time to get to the station for the return trip. This time though, the train was only about 20 minutes behind schedule. Once again, I headed to the diner shortly after boarding the train and had an omelette. I then headed back to my seat for the remainder of the trip into D.C. After getting to D.C. I stored my carry on at the counter, this cost about $10 for the time I would be in D.C. Then I headed to the front of the station and got a pass for the Old Trolly Tour to do some sight seeing in the city. For around $30, you get a pass that you can use for 24 hours and get on and off of the trolly as many times as you like around town, so I highly recommend this if you go to D.C.  You can view the pictures I took while in D.C. here, once again be sure to click on the images to make them full size.

After spending the day walking around the city, I was glad to get back to the station. Leaving D.C. On the CL, we were already a half an hour behind schedule and speeds were slower than normal, but I don’t remember what the hold up was. About 6 p.m. I went to the diner for my final meal aboard this Amtrak trip. I head the flat iron steak which I was amazed was worth the money. During dinner we came to a complete stop for around half an hour do to a previous freight train derailment. What made matters worse was that the 2^nd track was closed for repairs and I guess it took some negotiating to get permission to use that line instead. I don’t understand why this wasn’t handled in advance but I’m sure it was political. After backing up and switching tracks were were on our way again, albeit slowly. The rest of the trip of course just kept racking up delays- thanks CSX. Once a train gets behind, it seems that CSX makes sure that it only gets even further behind. By the time we got into Pittsburgh, we were 2 and a half to 3 hours late. Luckily, I called during dinner to cancel my ride home. To make matters worse, Yellow Cabs radios were down, so I wasn’t able to get a cab to the hotel I reserved until 4:30 am. I finally got into my room and got a shower at about 5:30.

In reflection, I have to say that I don’t recommend the Capitol Limited for your first trip on Amtrak. The return trip on it by far was hell, only made worse by Yellow Cab. Having said that, I still enjoyed the trip and look forward to my next ride, which may be in the next 2 weeks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Amtrack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.