Northeast Direct, Capitol Limited, California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight
January 27 - February 3, 2000 Section 1 of 3
by
Northeast Direct NYP-WAS
It's about 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2000, and
I've just arrived at Penn Station in Newark for my first Amtrak
trip of this millennium. I will be taking a Northeast Direct
train to Washington, where I will connect with the Capitol
Limited to Chicago. I had reservations on Train #95, scheduled
to leave at 11:25 a.m., but my friend Geraldine picked me up at
9:30 a.m., and we arrived in plenty of time to make the earlier
10:36 a.m. train.
After entering the main waiting room, I obtained my ticket
from a ticket machine. I had made my reservations for the trip
via Amtrak's web site on the Internet, and had already purchased
my tickets with a credit card. When I tried inserting the Visa
card that I had used to purchase the tickets, the machine said
that the card appeared to be invalid. So I tried using my Master
Card instead. This card worked, and merely by entering the
reservation number, I was able to obtain the prepaid tickets.
(This is an interesting feature of the Amtrak ticket machines
which I learned a few months ago -- you need not insert the same
card you used to purchase the tickets; rather, any credit card
will work, as long as you enter the correct reservation number.)
Since my train was not scheduled to depart until 10:36 a.m., I
decided to wait for a while in the beautifully restored main
waiting room. I noticed on the departures board that a number of
northbound trains were significantly delayed. One Northeast
Direct train from Washington to Boston, which had been scheduled
to arrive in Newark at 8:34 a.m., was running two hours late, and
the Silver Meteor, scheduled to arrive at 9:18 a.m., was reported
to be three hours late.
At about 10:25 a.m., I decided to go upstairs to the waiting
room between Tracks 3 and 4. A few minutes later, the delayed
8:34 a.m. northbound train arrived on Track 2. I walked over to
the train arrival monitors at the end of the waiting area, and
noticed that my Train #185 was shown as "delayed." But soon, at
10:35 a.m., an announcement was made that the train had just left
Penn Station in New York, and would be arriving in Newark in
about 12 minutes.
Our train finally arrived on Track 3 at 10:45 a.m. Today's
Train #185 is pulled by engine #934, painted in the new, very
bland, Acela colors, and seven Amfleet coaches, none of which are
refurbished into the new Acela scheme. There are two food
service cars without tables on the train, but only one of them is
being used for food service. I boarded the fifth car of the
train, where there were plenty of empty pairs of seats. After we
departed, I walked through the train and counted a total of about
140 passengers in the seven cars of the train (with a total
capacity of over 400 passengers).
The first part of the trip to Washington was quite
uneventful -- with one exception. The ground was covered with
snow, and the blowing snow got into all the vestibules, which
became coated in white. In some cases, the electronically-
operated doors did not close tightly, and several inches of snow
accumulated in the vestibules between the cars, making the walk
between the cars rather treacherous. I was wearing my snow boots
on the train, and they really came in handy when walking from car
to car! I took a picture of the vestibule of my car with my
video camera when we arrived at the 30th Street Station in
Philadelphia. I did briefly step off the train here, but since
we were still running a few minutes late, I didn't walk upstairs,
as I sometimes do. When we left Philadelphia at 11:54 a.m., we
were nine minutes late.
After our stop in Wilmington at 12:15 p.m., I went to the
cafe car, got a cup of coffee, and took it back to my car, where
I had lunch. I had brought a tuna fish sandwich from home, and
ate the lunch at a different pair of seats so as to avoid any
possibility of the coffee spilling on my computer. Then, at
12:30 p.m., just north of the Bacon Interlocking, we started
slowing down considerably. The conductor promptly made an
announcement over the public address system as to the reason for
the delay, but the announcement was inaudible, so I went back to
the last car to ask the conductor what was happening. He
explained that the line here was single-tracked due to switching
problems associated with the cold weather and snow, and that we
had to wait for two northbound trains to pass. The two trains
passed us in rather quick succession, and within ten minutes we
were moving again, (Parenthetically, I should add that the
conductors on this train were very friendly and were extremely
diligent about making the announcement of the reason for our
delay.)
We arrived in Baltimore at 1:11 p.m. During our station
stop here, I heard the conductor requesting that when we arrive
in Washington, we be assigned a track with a high-level platform,
since the vestibules of the cars were all full of snow, thus
making it very difficult for passengers to detrain at a low-level
platform, where they would have to descend the snow-covered
steps. When we departed three minutes later, we were only 15
minutes late (I had thought that our stop to let the northbound
trains pass would have resulted in our being even later than
this).
Our next stop was BWI Airport, where we arrived at 1:27 p.m.
Here, we passed the northbound Metroliner #114, which radioed us
that a door on the east side of the train (not facing the
platform) was open. It seems that the exact opposite problem was
occurring on the other side of the train, since I heard on the
scanner that some doors would not open and that passengers
detraining here had to be escorted to other doors. As a result,
our stop here lasted for four minutes, and we were 19 minutes
late when we departed.
Apparently, the open door was not easily closed. First, I
heard the assistant conductor being asked to go to the rear to
assist in closing the door. Then I heard the conductor tell the
engineer to bring the train to a safe stop so that the door could
be closed. At 1:37 p.m., just north of the Odenton MARC station,
we paused for a minute. The conductors finally succeeded in
closing the door, and we were soon on our way again.
After stopping at New Carrollton, we arrived on Track 23 at
Washington Union Station at 2:01 p.m., sixteen minutes late.
Despite our conductor's request for a high-level platform, we had
been assigned a low-level platform on the lower level of the
station. The steps at the end of my car were, of course, covered
with several inches of snow. Thankfully, the conductor, Mr.
Clark, assisted me by handing my two pieces of luggage to an
employee on the platform. I usually don't need such assistance,
but it would have been very dangerous to attempt to descend the
snow-covered, slippery steps without carefully holding on to the
railings. I walked down the platform and took the escalator up
to the station, where I went over to the Metropolitan Lounge.
My trip from New York to Washington was quiet and relatively
uneventful, but the presence of the snow in the vestibules added
a little interest to the trip. Now I am looking forward to the
first long-distance part of my trip -- Washington to Chicago on
the Capitol Limited.
Capitol Limited WAS-CHI
It's about 2:05 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2000, and I've
just arrived at Washington Union Station on Northeast Direct
Train #185. Soon I will be boarding Train #29, the Capitol
Limited, on my way to Chicago.
I proceeded immediately to the Metropolitan Lounge, where I
was welcomed by the attendant on duty and informed that the
boarding call for my train, scheduled to depart at 4:05 p.m.,
will probably be made at about 3:40 p.m. After checking my phone
messages and making some phone calls, I signed onto AOL, using a
phone with a data port in the back of the lounge. (Unlike the
situation in other Metropolitan Lounges, you could not make even
local calls from this phone without a credit card, so I had to
use AOL's 800 number.) I sent the story of my trip from New York
to various friends, and then I downloaded all of my messages for
subsequent reading on the train. Next, I walked out to the main
station and went into the Great Train Store. I didn't buy
anything, but was pleased to see that although the emphasis at
this store increasingly appears to be model trains and "choo-
choo" trains for little kids, there was a very good selection of
SPV Rail Atlases available. I then walked into the main hall
and, about 3:30 p.m., returned to the Metropolitan Lounge to
await the boarding call for my train.
A boarding announcement was made at 3:42 p.m., and we
proceeded through the west door of the lounge to Track 16. I was
greeted by Cliff, the attendant of my car #2901, and left my
belongings in my Room #3. Then I walked down the length of the
platform to record the consist of the train.
Today's Capitol Limited is led by Genesis P-42 engine #31,
with F-40 #275 trailing. It includes a baggage car, a transition
crew sleeper, regular coach #34065, a smoking coach, a Superliner
II Sightseer Lounge car, a diner, two sleepers, three express
cars, and an MHC at the rear. Interesting, engine #31 was on the
Capitol Limited the last time I took it, in June 1999 (as was
coach #34065). And my sleeper, Superliner I #32066, was on the
inaugural run of the Kentucky Cardinal last month! The other
sleeper, the Superliner II car Florida, was at least half full,
but my sleeper was almost entirely empty, with only three economy
rooms being occupied by passengers leaving Washington. At one
point, I was informed that there were only 19 sleeping car
passengers on the entire train. Clearly, all the passengers
could easily have been accommodated in one sleeper.
Soon after we departed Washington at 5:07 p.m., two minutes
late, Cliff came by to explain that there was soda and orange
juice available for passengers in the car, and that ice was
placed in a crate in Room #4, opposite my room. Then the On-
Board Chief came by to take my dinner reservation. I made a
reservation for the 6:30 p.m. sitting.
We encountered a slow order just after Silver Spring and, as
a result, we were ten minutes late for our stop at Rockville. We
paused here for less than a minute and were soon on our way.
Since it would soon get dark, I decided to go the Sightseer
Lounge car, where I could get the best view of the beautiful
scenery. I stayed there until after Harpers Ferry, watching the
train pass by snow-covered fields and small towns. Although I
have been along this portion of the Capitol Limited route many
times before, I always enjoy seeing it again, and the snow made
the scenery particularly interesting. I took some pictures with
my video camera of the passing scenery. I also walked through
the coaches, which were about two-thirds full. A copy of the
manifest that I saw indicated that there were about 90 coach
passengers aboard.
After we departed Harpers Ferry at 5:25 p.m., I walked back
to my room and updated these memoirs. I also took some video
pictures as we stopped at Martinsburg, W. Va. Although we made
two stops here (to permit a couple to board my sleeper), I did
not attempt to get off the train to take a picture. It was
pretty cold out, and it was getting dark. When we left
Martinsburg at 5:52 p.m., we were eleven minutes late.
At about 6:40 p.m., I went to the dining car for dinner. On
the way, I passed by an elderly woman in the first sleeper who
was traveling to Sacramento and wanted her bed to be made up.
The attendant was not in his room, so I offered to make up the
bed for her. But as I was about to start, the attendant appeared
and, of course, I let him take care of the woman's request.
When I arrived at the dining car, I was seated opposite a
couple from St. Louis who were returning from a visit to the
husband's sister in Alexandria. They had a deluxe bedroom, and
were enjoying the trip very much. We had a very interesting
conversation, and we enjoyed each other's company for the meal.
During dinner, we made a brief stop at Cumberland.
About 7:50 p.m., I returned to my room, then walked through
the train again. A movie was being shown in the lounge car, and
it seemed that quite a number of people were watching it. When I
came back to my room, the detector at milepost 218.5, near
Garrett, Pa., reported that the temperature outside was 14ø. For
part of the time, I turned off the lights in my room and watched
as we went around the numerous curves that are found on this
segment of the route.
I spent most of the remainder of the evening in my room,
doing some work on my computer and catching up on some reading.
I also obtained a can of orange juice from the supply in the car.
My car was quiet, and the ride was uneventful. Indeed, we
arrived at the Amshack in Connellsville at 9:37 p.m., two minutes
early -- and left on time.
Although I couldn't see very much out the window, listening
to the scanner gave me some idea where we were. Before I knew
it, we passed through the Panther Hollow Tunnel, joined the
Norfolk Southern (former PRR) tracks, and arrived at Penn Station
in Pittsburgh at 11:10 p.m. -- twenty-four minutes early! Other
than the slow orders leaving Washington, we had encountered no
delays along the route. This was rather amazing, especially
considering that quite a few freight trains passed us along the
way. It looks like CSX may be beginning to get its act together.
Since we were not scheduled to depart until 11:59 p.m., I
detrained (for the first time since we left Washington) and
walked down into the rather undistinguished basement station. I
checked my phone messages, mailed a few letters, and then went
back upstairs, reboarding the train about 11:30 p.m. The
attendant had been asking whether I wanted him to make my bed, so
I decided to have him do so at this point. Since the car was
virtually empty, I moved some of my belongings, including my
computer, to the adjacent Room #5, and sat down there, updating
these memoirs. By 11:45 p.m., I heard over the scanner that both
mechanical and baggage work had been completed. But, of course,
we could not depart until our scheduled time of 11:59 p.m.
When we departed Pittsburgh at midnight, I went back to my
room, which the attendant had made up for night occupancy, and
climbed into bed. I watched as we crossed the Ohio River, with
the skyline of Pittsburgh in the background, and then began to
parallel the river. It took me a while to fall asleep, though.
I was still awake when we arrived at Alliance, Ohio, at 1:36
a.m., two minutes early, and departed there on time. Shortly
after we left Alliance, I finally fell asleep.
I next awoke about 2:50 a.m., during our station stop in
Cleveland. Over the scanner, I heard the dispatcher telling our
train that we should wait about five minutes past our scheduled
departure time of 2:49 a.m., since there were several passengers
who had driven from Akron and were almost at the station. The
engineer (or conductor) of our train protested, commenting that
we were now running on time, but if we waited for these
passengers, we would miss our "window," and further delays would
ensue. However, the dispatcher then stated that the passengers
were already in the station parking lot, and it seems that we did
wait for them, since we did not depart Cleveland until 2:55 a.m.,
six minutes late.
I promptly fell asleep again, and slept through the
scheduled stop in Elyria. I next awoke at about 4:50 a.m., when
we came to a stop on the bridge over the Maumee River leading
into Toledo. Here we sat without moving for half an hour. Since
I did not have my scanner programmed to the correct channel, I
was unable to hear any communications related to our train.
Finally, at 5:20 a.m., an eastbound single-level Amtrak train,
headed by Genesis P-42 engine #70, passed us to the left. I
subsequently found out that this was the Lake Shore Limited,
scheduled to depart Toledo at 12:50 a.m. but delayed for over
four hours due to problems with head-end power. Due to the
present configuration of the Toledo station, it can accommodate
only one train at a time, so even though we were ready to pull
into the station no later than our scheduled arrival time of 5:02
a.m., we had to wait for the Lake Shore to depart before we could
enter the station. We finally arrived at the Toledo station at
5:25 a.m.
I remained awake for a few minutes, and at one point felt
the jolt of additional cars being coupled onto the rear of our
train. I fell asleep again before we left Toledo, and finally
woke up for good about 7:20 a.m. By now, we were using a channel
that had been programmed into my scanner, and I heard that we
were about to approach our next stop, Waterloo, Indiana. I also
heard a defect detector announce that we now had 104 axles (or 26
cars) on our train. That is a significant increase from the 56
axles, or 14 cars (including the two engines) that we had until
now, and resulted from the coupling on of a number of additional
freight cars in the rear of the train. I also noticed that a
copy of today's Toledo Blade -- whose masthead advertises it as
"one of America's great newspapers" -- had been slipped under my
door.
We arrived at Waterloo at 7:35 a.m., and when we departed
six minutes later, we were 50 minutes late. Waterloo is a crew
change point, so we made two stops here -- one to permit the
engine crew to change, and the other for passengers and
conductors. A small frame house adjacent to the station has been
converted by Amtrak into a crew base.
After we left Waterloo, I went downstairs to take a shower.
I observed that the conductor who boarded in Waterloo decided to
appropriate the handicapped bedroom in my car as his office.
When I went into the shower, I noticed that there was no soap
available. I asked the conductor if he knew where there was any,
but of course he didn't. However, the On-Board Chief soon showed
up, and he woke up Cliff, my car attendant, who took out some
soap. The water in the shower was at best lukewarm, but it was
refreshing nonetheless. Then I went back upstairs and got
dressed.
At 8:31 a.m., we arrived at the Elkhart station. There is a
sweeping curve approaching this station, and from my room I could
see both the front of our train and the many express cars that
had been added at the back. Then I went to the dining car for
breakfast. The car was not at all full, and I was assigned a
table to myself (the couple who sat opposite me last night were
sitting at the table behind me). I ordered the "American"
breakfast, which included orange juice, coffee, a very large
fresh fruit platter, a bowl of Raisin Bran, and a bagel with
cream cheese. It was quite a large breakfast, much more than I
usually eat in the morning. I took my time eating the meal,
while reading a copy of this month's Railpace magazine, and did
not finish my breakfast until 9:30 a.m. An announcement had been
made about 9:10 a.m. that the dining car was now closed, and I
was the last passenger left in the dining car.
I returned to my room, updated these memoirs and then
gathered my belongings together. (I had left my two suitcases
downstairs in the luggage rack, so I brought some of my things
down there.) At 8:58 a.m. (Central Time), we arrived at Hammond-
Whiting, the suburban stop for Chicago. When we departed three
minutes later, we were 49 minutes late.
The schedule allows one hour and 23 minutes to cover the 16
miles from Hammond-Whiting to Chicago. Some of this represents
make-up time, but a significant amount of this time is normally
needed to allow for a back-up move to permit the dropping off of
express cars and the repositioning of the train so that it faces
forward leaving the station. This is necessary because the
equipment from our train is used for this afternoon's Southwest
Chief. But today, much to my surprise, we did not make any back-
up move. At 9:32 a.m., we stopped briefly outside the station to
uncouple all the express cars in the rear, and then we pulled
straight ahead into Track 22, where we arrived at 9:39 a.m. --
only four minutes late!! I was truly astonished that we had
arrived at our final destination so quickly. Indeed, it took me
a few minutes to gather together the remainder of my belongings
and detrain. I gave a $5 tip to my attendant Cliff, who was very
nice and did perform some services for me, and walked down the
platform to the station. (One disadvantage of the straight pull-
in move was that my sleeper was at the rear of the train, and I
had to walk down the entire platform to reach the station.) I
went straight to the Metropolitan Lounge, where I stored my
luggage, plugged in my computer, and finished these memoirs.
On the way, I passed by the arrivals monitor, and noticed
that the Three Rivers was "represented by buses/see agent" and
would be arriving on Canal Street at 12:30 p.m., over four hours
late. The Lake Shore Limited. scheduled to arrive at 11:15 a.m.,
would not be arriving until 3:30 p.m., with passengers coming
from Toledo or Cleveland being bussed instead. Was I lucky in
choosing the Capitol Limited for this trip! Had I chosen either
of the two other New York-Chicago trains, I would either have had
to suffer a bus trip for a significant part of the journey on the
Three Rivers or,in the case of the Lake Shore, would have arrived
significantly late. I don't understand why these trains
encountered so many problems, since we had a very smooth and
uneventful ride. (I subsequently found out that the Three Rivers
had problems with the water and toilets freezing, so it was
annulled at Pittsburgh, where it had arrived at 4:05 a.m., and
that the Lake Shore left New York late due to various cold-
weather-related problems.) I am certainly very glad that I chose
not to take either one of these trains.
Since my cousins were not home, I remained in the
Metropolitan Lounge for over four hours. Here, I was able to
take advantage of a phone jack that permitted you to plug your
computer in and make local calls for free. I read all my mail,
and sent a few messages to the All-Aboard List. I also walked
around the station a little, and noticed that all the benches had
been removed from the old waiting room, with a carousel installed
at one end of the room. Then I took the 2:35 p.m. Metra Fox Lake
train to Edgebrook, where my cousin Debbie picked me up.
My trip on the Capitol Limited from Washington to Chicago
was peaceful, quiet and delightful. Its on-time performance was
remarkable, with the one significant delay we encountered en
route being attributable solely to Amtrak, rather than the
freight railroads. And our ultimate arrival in Chicago was only
four minutes late. I could definitely see an improvement in the
attitude of the on-board crew, something that others on the All-
Aboard List have noted, too. I'm looking forward to the next
part of my trip -- the ride from Chicago to Sacramento on the
California Zephyr.