Silver Star Discussion

In choosing to start a new topic for this thread I looked for and was unable to find a thread solely dedicated to discussion of the Silver Star. Presently the Silver Star is the only Amtrak Long Distance train that serves Raleigh, NC (RGH). Raleigh currently has a major new station funded for improvements and the Silver Star will almost certainly be a major beneficiary of this project. Both NCDOT funded trains, the Piedmont and the "medium distance" Carolinian serve Raleigh as well.

I also have a personal interest in the service as well since my only two trips on Amtrak as a youngster were both on this train and each time we took it from Washington Union Station (WAS) to Southern Pines (SOP). Last year in reply to a thread regarding a former crew change location I posted the following:

My grandparents at one point lived in Southern Pines and we took the train to visit them there. That was the first trip. Uneventful. And I was too young to remember much (although I'm totally certain I remember the F40. To this day I can still hear the engine and because it was dark when we arrived the only image I have is of this monstrous black hulk with its blinding headlight and the flashing of the crossing signal next to the station).

The second trip in the early-mid 90's was a little more interesting. My sister and brother-in-law lived in Sanford, NC, which had lost its Amtrak stop (went right through it on the way there). So we got off at Southern Pines, and visited for Thanksgiving. Still uneventful.

The return trip was a different story entirely. And this is where perhaps I can attempt to answer the posters question as well. We were returning via train and had some kind of scheduled departure time of 4:00 AM +/-. That should give away what train we were on (I can't remember).

We arrived very early at the station and promptly found out (I believe my mother used a pay phone and called Amtrak) that the train was running 4-8 hours or more late due to a freight derailment. We settled in a for a long wait. I will never forget falling asleep on the hard wooden bench. It was a somewhat startling experience for me as this was perhaps the first time in my life I had seen my own family in sort of difficult circumstances.

As I feel asleep and later woke up I remember distinctly hearing an occasional unexplained mechanical sound, not related to the heat or the bathroom (I'm not even sure there was one). Later on an Amtrak crew member (possibly in uniform?) showed up and opened up the room next door to the waiting room. Turns out there was a dot matrix printer in there with a wide sheet paper feed that would occasionally print out several lines of data on to the sheet. I'm assuming this was some kind of communications system related to national operations for Amtrak (perhaps train order bulletins or operations updates).

So, yes, I can confirm to you with a high degree of certainty that in the mid 90's Southern Pines, NC was indeed a crew change point of some kind. Whether it was just the engine crew or the full crew I can't say. I'm guessing it was the engine crew. The train did arrive eventually. Things were difficult onboard and I remember the train being stocked with free box lunches in Richmond of fried chicken which due to the gracious generosity of the diner car staff I took full advantage of (I had at least two). That was probably the first time in my life I can ever remember eating fried chicken with biscuits and I thought it was quite good.

So overall the trip was quite interesting. Those of you who have worked for the company long enough might in fact be able to remember the exact Thanksgiving I'm speaking of.

For reference here are the relevant pages in Wikipedia:

1. Silver Star (Amtrak train) Wiki

2. Seaboard Air Line Railroad (Original Creator of the Silver Star)

3. Seaboard Coast Line - Formed by a merger of the SAL and the ACL (Atlantic Coast Line), briefly responsible for operation of the Silver Star from 1967 to 1971.

Over the past couple of months I have had a number of adventures related to my interest in rail from both a historical and public policy standpoint. Among several delayed reports that I have wanted to write when I was rested and could "do it justice" is this one of my family's trip to North Carolina on the Silver Star during Thanksgiving Week.

This past Thanksgiving I traveled with my family to Raleigh, NC to visit with relatives over Thanksgiving week. Our journey started on the Friday before Thanksgiving with a car trip to Boston (Revere specifically) where we stayed at a Marriott property in the area prior to boarding #195 early in the morning on Saturday. For those who are curious I had in fact examined the possibility of using the Downeaster to get to Boston however the very very late return time for our trip excluded that option.

Boarding was largely uneventful and using the usual "Red Cap" method we were able to secure one set of the four facing seats at the end of one of the Coach cars. During a good part of the journey south of Boston the vestibule door would occasionally jam open, perfectly routine occurrence. What was more interesting about this was the noise of the running gear as we flew south at 125 MPH. Hearing the wheels spin and whirr up to speed as we accelerated and decelerated through the high speed corridor in Massachusetts was one of those moments that made you remember just how much technology and effort went in to running those trains at that speed on a daily basis. Ticket lift was electronic and flawless.

Travel through Connecticut was the usual mix of fast-slow. We went over the new drawbridge in Niantic at what seemed like a reasonable clip. Not especially slow or fast. As we got closer to New York City I started seeing signs of the storm that had just come through weeks before, lines of sandbags along inlets and so forth. I was curious to find out just how much the damage from Hurricane Sandy was going to affect our travel, all the indications I had seen on railroad.net had led me to believe that everything was going to be fine and as it turned out Amtrak had done an excellent job of getting things ready for Thanksgiving travel.

South of New York City there were areas just on the other side of the Hudson where the waters were pretty clearly still elevated from the storm. We passed by what I believe was Substation #41 (Kearny?) which had numerous personnel working there. We then also passed by what looked like some oil refineries which I noticed at that time (and on the return trip) seemed to be running at full capacity, all stacks showing steam and multiple gas flares lit. At the time I believe gas rationing may still have been in effect in New Jersey.

Time wise it seemed that we had lost about 10 minutes going through Connecticut. Still down about 5-10'' coming out of NYP as we raced south to get to Philadelphia. At Newark Penn a woman who had been helping her elderly parents get settled onto the train didn't get off in time and was then told she would have to wait until Metropark to get off. The conductor almost called to stop the train but she was probably a step and a half too late for that. In spite of her obvious mistake he seemed genuinely regretful to inconvenience her. I noticed they didn't require her to pay a fare which seemed very courteous on their part.

Coming into Philadelphia we pulled up to the platform and just across the way I see the unmistakable profile of a Heritage Diner and thought to myself..."hmm, that looks like our train that we're supposed to catch in Washington, D.C.". As it turns out it was in fact the Silver Star with which we would be connecting at WAS. Although perfectly routine it was definitely one of those disconcerting moments when you realize that your itinerary was predicated on catching up to, passing and then arriving in sufficient time to allow you to catch your connecting train at WAS. Anyways, definitely a unique Amtrak experience to go "face to face" with your connection.

We left PHL (prior to the Silver Star!...) and proceeded through Delaware and Maryland. A couple of passengers boarding in Baltimore were only going as far as Washington. Our train also stopped at New Carrollton (NCR). At one time I had been under the impression that only a few trains stopped at New Carrollton but a quick review of the timetables shows that it is a scheduled stop for every single Northeast Regional on both weekends and weekdays. A confused passenger happened to ask if this was Union Station ("no, that's the next stop"). Definitely more than a few people on the train that day who don't use it more than once or twice a year (or perhaps just people who were no longer flying!).

Arrival at Washington Union Station was smooth. We got off the train avoided the escalator and in what would have been a leap of faith 30 years ago took the elevator instead. We got upstairs to the concourse met with a family member who was joining us at WAS on the way to RGH and then proceeded to the gate. The gate was crowded and we had small children, a quick trip over to the nearest Red Cap brought immediate assistance, especially when the inquiry to "K" Tower revealed "91 is in the house on 28". (I seem to think it may have been track 27...) "Let's roll" was the order of the moment and roll we did right back down to the platform we had just come from.

And so there it was the Silver Star getting ready to roll south from Washington Union Station. We were boarded in the last car of the train and were able to secure seats all together. Had we not used the Red Cap service this almost certainly would not have been possible. Curiously enough there was something very palpable about the shift from the hustle and bustle of the Northeast Regional to the Silver Star the car was dead quiet in part because the power shift was being done. But in general everyone seemed a lot more relaxed and there were plenty of folks just catching a nap.

I couldn't help thinking to myself, "this must be what it felt like to get on one of Southern's trains headed south out of Washington back in the day". There was an absolutely wholly different quality about the atmosphere and I'm sure it was more than just the curtains on the windows of our Amfleet II. Of course boarding the train we had met the car attendant (which was the first sign of many that things on the Long Distance trains are "just a bit" different). As we rolled through Alexandria and towards the south I took the time to make my way through the train. I counted 5 Amfleet II coaches, the cafe car, the Heritage Diner (more on that in a moment) and three Viewliner Sleepers. Overall a consist that I knew was ever so slightly longer than normal for these trains.

The car attendants were friendly and casual ensuring to take the time to remind passengers of the essentials. They did a very good job the whole time and could often be seen coming to and fro taking care of the restrooms and emptying the cars of refuse as needed. Ticket lift south of WAS was electronic again and flawless as well. The dining car attendant came through taking supper reservations, which I took advantage of despite being concerned that it was "cutting it close" to our arrival time in RGH (we had the last seating).

By this time of course I had already discovered that we had an "unrebuilt" 'Heritage Diner' in the consist when I spotted a frosted glass motif with the modified "Taijitu" of the Northern Pacific. I was stunned to think I had a real shot at having supper in a "true" classic diner, even if in present form it was a bare shell of its former self. Amtrak #8509 has something of a disputed history among the online rail picture archives. Most give the "heritage" as NP #460, which at one carried North Coast Limited varnish, however the Passenger Car Photo Index per a post on trainweb.org/amtrakpix indicates this was in fact NP #459 (ex-AMTK 8046). This however seemed very unlikely as the Passenger Car Photo Index itself has a listing for NP #459 from rrpicturearchives.net showing the car at the Como Shops in St. Paul, MN in 1978, after Amtrak would have absorbed any equipment for use in their fleets. Consequently the posting on "Amtrak PIX" appears likely to be erroneous. I was slightly surprised to learn that all of these cars were unnamed, especially for a car that had seen service on the great North Coast Limited but perhaps that was routine for cars in that era with only the First Class cars carrying names.

Regardless, after a "law-enforcement situation" that held us up in Petersburg, VA for about 45 minutes we proceeded to the Diner car for our 8:30 PM seating knowing full well that we would probably be delayed with more than enough time to have a leisurely supper before arriving in Raleigh. After some back and forth I choose the chicken breast with the chef's special concotion of barbeque sauce which supposedly received a few extra spices enroute between bottle and plate. My instincts to pick "chicken" and "BBQ" on a train serving North Carolina were apparently right on the mark as the chicken breast was tender, juicy and very well spiced with a smokey flavored Barbeque sauce that was "just right". Truly a memorable experience.

We made up some time between Selma, NC and Raleigh to arrive perhaps only about 10-15'' late. We got off the train and I looked back to see what looked like a wave of people on the platform. I remember thinking to myself, "this must be what it looked like in the old days". The silver steel of the train cars stretched around the curve of the platform as far as the eye could see and everywhere people were coming home for the Holidays on the Silver Star. Absolutely classic.

I will write a second post detailing our trip back to Boston shortly.

Nice report!!!!
Noel Weaver

After spending a marvelous week in North Carolina and enjoying all manner of fine fare, to include a visit to the world famous Lexington Barbecue and a special tour of ex-NH 553 Pullman Sleeper Pine Tree State (PPCX 800236) at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC, we gathered up all of our belongings to return back to Boston (and eventually Maine) via the Silver Star and then Northeast Regional #166.

As with our trip south from BOS these itineraries stretch to the very fullest how far any given passenger can travel on Amtrak in a single day without requiring overnight travel. In short we were about to attempt a very high mileage trip, with a connection required at New York Penn Station on what was one of the single busiest travel days of the year for Amtrak. Having done it the first time traveling south (but in somewhat less crowded circumstances this did not appear to be a problem). The disadvantage this time was that we would be starting on a Long Distance train, originating on tracks not controlled by Amtrak and attempting to make a connection with a train that spent most of its mileage on or relatively close to the Northeast Corridor and was also free of the encumbrance of equipment that couldn't go above 110 MPH.

Mercifully, most of the above simply didn't dawn on me until we were on the train and rolling through the very southern reaches of Virginia.

Arrival at the train station in Raleigh for the morning boarding was uneventful. It was pleasing to be able to show up 20 minutes prior to departure and have few if any concerns about "making it". Had we been flying 'air' we would have had to be at the airport hours ahead of time, especially since we were traveling as a family. Seeing the station during the day made it all the more obvious why NCDOT and the City are going to replace it. Even with a glass and steel enclosure added on to the back of the station towards the tracks things were definitely very cramped. The station agent made plenty of clear announcements including letting everyone know that the train was running a few minutes behind schedule. Offers to check our luggage were understandably rescinded when we explained that we were going all the way to BOS. Interestingly we could have in fact checked our bags but they would have waited at NYP for Northeast Regional #66.

As currently designed the RGH station (with the aforementioned glass and steel addition) was clearly meant for the era of "small Amtrak" when the service was poking along and no one was really paying attention to it. Call it the Amtrak of 2002, ten years ago just when the current growth trends were beginning and perhaps more importantly after a previous era of 10-15 years when the company temporarily lost its focus on quality of service. This humble and unpretentious station, kept clean and well maintained (at least in recent times) served its purpose largely as a place-mark for "railroad station here" during a very long period of time when even places like North Carolina (which is remarkably well served by Amtrak) lost interest in rail travel. Even on a regular day for travel it seemed quite likely that people would spill out from the main building and into the enclosure area which was essentially overflow waiting room space (but comfortably heated along with the rest of the building).

The Silver Star arrived, perhaps 10-20 minutes late and upon arrival a very obvious "change of shift" between a large number of passengers who had been riding, many likely overnight, to get to RGH and a large number who would be riding from RGH to points north took place. Charmingly while the train was in the station an older couple who were riding in the Sleeper Cars stepped off onto the platform to get their picture taken with their car attendant who seemed more than happy to oblige with a sense of grace that recalled the legendary gentlemanly qualities of the old Pullman Porters. As with this situation and several others that I witnessed the Amtrak on board staff were quite simply very decent folks who were more than at ease with absolutely anyone riding their trains. They had few if any reservations about anyone for any reason and that happening in an age that is often described by some as "cynical" was deeply pleasing to see.

Once the train crew were ready we walked down the platform for what seemed like quite a ways (but probably wasn't more than four car lengths) to the boarding point. We were among the last to get on the train, luggage, kids and all after which we were given seats together (again...thanks to the staff) and then set off on our way back to Boston. The morning hours of the trip were quite comfortable and spent taking a few snoozes through the North Carolina and Virginia countryside and of course the usual leisurely pace through Ashland. Someone, I can't remember if it was the on board staff or conductors reported that the railroad was largely clear of freight trains that day and they anticipated an easy and likely close to on time arrival in Washington, D.C. Keeping the tracks clear of freight apparently wasn't the only trick CSX had up their sleeve that day. As we went through a couple of slow orders I noticed that every single time there was a MoW pickup truck from CSX parked wayside. On perhaps the second one I also noticed a MoW worker pickup his radio as soon as we passed him which shortly there after was met by a clear and unmistakable throttle application and increase in speed. So it appeared that CSX was doing their best to ensure Amtrak was going to have smooth running on that day in particular.

So after a while we arrive in Richmond (Staples Mill) (RVR) and then after what seems like an unusual wait I realize that we've probably been there longer than planned. It turns out the crew were having trouble getting a handicapped passenger in a power chair onto the train. At the same time on a track parallel to us a CSX manifest freight was idling in place. We sat for a while longer and suddenly the CSX engines start thundering and the freight starts to move as I think to myself, "Uh oh, we've just lost our slot." Figuring that we really might be toast I started doing some mental math on just exactly how tight our connection at New York Penn Station was going to be. Thankfully we still had time to give, however what had been a comfortable cushion was now turning into a cross platform or cross concourse shuffle.

Finally we pulled out of Richmond Staples Mill and proceeded up the track. Not thinking anything of it we were running "wrong iron" or northbound on the 'left' track. Sure enough about 20 minutes later (or less) we sprinted by the freight and perhaps a few miles after that crossed back over to "right iron" both literally and figuratively. CSX, it appeared was doing everything that they possibly could to keep us as close to running on schedule as they could and I for one was pretty impressed by this. By this time our lunch time reservation for the Diner Car had rolled around, this time in "Temonisa rebuild" #8510. I choose a chicken caesar salad and to my pleasant surprise was rewarded with some very nice cool, fresh and crisp lettuce along with the requisite accouterments of parmesan, croutons and dressing (Newman's Own, tableside). The 'Temonisa' rebuild diner are nice enough. The color scheme is pretty far outside anything you would expect on an American railroad, no question about that. But overall the effect is pleasant enough. The "Viewdiner" or Viewliner Diner design debuted on #8400 Indianapolis will without a doubt wipe away most memories of the Amtrak's "Heritage" Diners in the later years. And for those who might claim that the ambiance isn't important I can say with total certainty that I found dining in the Deutsche Bahn's "Bord Restaurant" on the ICE while rolling through Ulm many years ago to be a highly memorable experience indeed, despite the food itself being perhaps just "Good".

Here I must pause to recount my second memorable encounter with what has to be a legend within Amtrak "Corporate", the National Dining Car Receipt (Long Form). When I first met this colossus we were on our way south to Raleigh. It was almost breathtaking to say the least. Like seeing an endangered species alive in the wild. For those who are not familiar the "Heritage" in Amtrak's Dining Cars apparently doesn't merely extend to 'legacy' era quirks like one-of-a-kind HVAC systems or special parts no longer made anywhere else. No in fact this 'spirit' of tradition carries on in the Form of Forms which is used to record your meal choice for all posterity (in carbon copy triplicate no less) ensuring that many years from now young accountants in training searching through the basement at 60 Mass. Ave. will know that "Mr. O'Keefe, X Coach Passenger, had the X Caesar Salad with X Other: 'Chicken' and X Iced Tea to drink, and paid using X Credit Card: 'Mastercard' on Train 92 on 11/24/12. These forms which are easily greater than 24'' in length are a bureaucrats dream. I was astounded at Amtrak's brash use of the finest in late 1950's printing technology which mind you had their own mechanically stamped stock control serial numbers as well. For reasons that I'm sure many others will be able to explain in plenty of detail Amtrak has up until now studiously avoided the use of electronic point of sale technology in their foodservice operations. Similar decisions, with all the good intentions in the world, were made with the ticketing process which also until just this year was largely processed by hand largely due in part to the perceived unreliability of mobile solutions reliant on intermittent broad-band wireless connections. To be perfectly fair I am certain there is plenty of reason to justify a business case in favor of 'using paper'. I was nonetheless impressed with just how much effort had been spent to create a form which was going to meet all of the operational and accounting needs for the Diner. Beasts such this one are few and far between anymore anywhere.

Unlike supper heading in to Raleigh this time we were seated with strangers who turned out to be some perfectly nice folks from Britain who were 'on tour' through America. Discussion ensued about their experience with Amtrak, which had been relatively good, and some of the troubles their fellow tour group travelers had experienced (luggage left behind in Kissimee, FL). These folks were on their way back to catch the Queen Mary 2 back "across the pond" from New York to Southampton. Overall very nice and without a doubt a pleasant experience.

Coming in to WAS we had fantastic views of the Capitol Dome and the rest of the City. Since it had been so many years since I had made this journey (close to 20) I had either forgotten or didn't realize that the views were going to be this good. In all fairness having spent a good amount of time in DC during my college years I knew the approaches across the Potomac by rail had pretty good views in general from riding the METRO. But they simply don't even begin to compare to the angles seen from the train, especially just prior to the First Street tunnel when you get an extended glimpse of the entire building from ground all the way up to the top of the dome.

I stepped off at WAS to stretch my legs and those of someone smaller than me. Our car attendant was more than happy to engage in some small talk. Turned out that he got called in as an Extra and was going to be stepping off at BAL to catch the southbound Star (he was based out of Florida). The train that day was running 5 Amfleet IIs, the cafe and Diner and three very full sleeper cars. Supper reservations for coach passengers looked unlikely as the dining car crew was going to have all they could do just to feed the sleeper passengers and still be able to shutdown the car and go through inventories by the time they got to NYP.

Our potable water supply refilled we made our way north towards NYP. Passing through BAL our car (the last one) didn't even make the platform. Also at this point almost as if on cue I saw a consist of NJT EMU Arrow IIIs headed south for WAS. I instantly knew these were certainly "far from home", funny to think how these cars just 'fit right in' as if they belonged there. BAL to PHL was uneventful, and then we left Philadelphia... where as described in my posts to the Thanksgiving Extras thread we were held up by yet another "law enforcement situation" (this time quite a bit more serious than last time). Problem being of course that we had now just consumed all of our remaining "pad" time for our transfer to #166 at New York Penn Station. As it turned out everything was okay and #166 was behind us on our way in to NYP. I did notice at the time that for an extended period while traveling through the tunnels there were no emergency lights, it was just pitch black outside the train which was kind of surprising and I'm guessing somehow related to the issues with the substation (maybe....).

As mentioned a very very helpful staff member from Station Services appeared practically out of nowhere while we were waiting on the concourse at NYP, kids and luggage in tow and made sure we got to the right platform. The rest of the trip after that was pretty uneventful. I had yet another crisp and fresh salad, this time from the cafe car, for supper and the train proceeded up the Connecticut coast picking up and dropping off its (mostly) load of college kids one college town after another. We arrived close to on time at a very very cold Boston South Station, which had doors open for passengers from the concourse but otherwise locked at all other entrances. I snuck away as usual to retrieve the car from Necco Street parking, just across the canal and we then made our way back to the Marriott in Revere for a few hours of sleep prior to returning to Maine.

I would to thank again all of the Amtrak staff both on board and at the stations who helped us out on our very long journey. I am very grateful still for all the kindness shown to my family. People like you make Amtrak the comfortable, safe and easy way to travel that it is everyday.

Noel Weaver wrote:Nice report!!!!
Noel Weaver

Thanks Noel. It was a privilege to be able to travel in such comfort.

It was interesting to have the experience of traveling on Amtrak's 'Atlantic Coast Service' just prior to what is likely to be an era of rejuvenation and expansion. I have very little trouble at all imagining a time in the near future when Amtrak's east coast single level trains will look a lot more like their predecessors on the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line, long, luxurious trains running competitive schedules and taking advantage of their ability to run overnight service to and from Florida.

The days of the slow, long drawn out schedules of yore are coming to a close however haltingly.

When, not if, this happens Amtrak is going to be able to realize an enormous 'surge' of new riders onto their trains and as with their Northeast Corridor service they will start to measure their market share in terms of their portion of the total air-rail market.

Thank you for a great trip report. It certainly shows that excellent journeys happen even at busy travel times.

Tony

Albany Rider wrote:Thank you for a great trip report. It certainly shows that excellent journeys happen even at busy travel times.

Tony

You're most welcome!

One impression I certainly got was that Amtrak is without a doubt "up to it" when it comes to high volume travel periods like Thanksgiving. They've got a lot of flexibility built into their system, both explicit and implicit that makes them considerably more nimble in certain ways than their airline competition or even the buses.

I have one suggestion if you do this particular trip again and that is to transfer to a corridor train at Washington on the northbound trip, you will probably be getting on that train at its originating station and you will find Washington a much nicer place to transfer than New York is. Again an interesting report. It is nice to read positive comments regarding Amtrak service which in my opinion is generally very good.
Noel Weaver

As Mr. Weaver said, a very nice report. The Atlantic Coast services, it seems to me, should be among the top performers among the LD trains. There are multiple trains on most sections of the various routes, and there's a very substantial population base.

A few comments on the Raleigh station:

gokeefe wrote:Seeing the station during the day made it all the more obvious why NCDOT and the City are going to replace it. Even with a glass and steel enclosure added on to the back of the station towards the tracks things were definitely very cramped.
*********************
As currently designed the RGH station (with the aforementioned glass and steel addition) was clearly meant for the era of "small Amtrak" when the service was poking along and no one was really paying attention to it. Call it the Amtrak of 2002, ten years ago just when the current growth trends were beginning and perhaps more importantly after a previous era of 10-15 years when the company temporarily lost its focus on quality of service. This humble and unpretentious station, kept clean and well maintained (at least in recent times) served its purpose largely as a place-mark for "railroad station here" during a very long period of time when even places like North Carolina (which is remarkably well served by Amtrak) lost interest in rail travel. Even on a regular day for travel it seemed quite likely that people would spill out from the main building and into the enclosure area which was essentially overflow waiting room space (but comfortably heated along with the rest of the building).

The Cabarrus Street station was built by SOU in 1950 after the original Raleigh Union Station was closed (that building still stands, but is pretty much unrecognizable as a station). Cabarrus Street served only a few short trains, and closed in the early ‘60’s when SOU discontinued service at Raleigh.

Amtrak used the former SAL station (just north of the Boylan Wye) until the mid’80’s, when the Star was rerouted via Selma on account of the closure of the SAL route south of Petersburg. Cabarrus Street was then reopened for the Star. The Carolinian began service a few years later (originally as a section of the Palmetto), and I think Cabarrus Street’s shortcomings, particularly with respect to parking, started to be evident even then. As the Carolinian has grown in ridership and the Piedmonts have begun service, the situation has only gotten worse. NCDOT has made some improvements to the facility, but its location prevents the sort of major improvements that are required. Hence the plan for a new Union Station.

Noel Weaver wrote:I have one suggestion if you do this particular trip again and that is to transfer to a corridor train at Washington on the northbound trip, you will probably be getting on that train at its originating station and you will find Washington a much nicer place to transfer than New York is.

Noel,

I would have preferred as much myself, however, likely due to the heavy Thanksgiving travel, the reservations system took us all the way to NYP. I have a sneaking suspicion this is the "default" setting as it keeps WAS-NYP capacity available for corridor passengers.

Noel Weaver wrote:Again an interesting report. It is nice to read positive comments regarding Amtrak service which in my opinion is generally very good.
Noel Weaver

Thanks very much! Amtrak's staff earned every bit of it.

I have had a request via PM to explain the Red Cap service provided by Amtrak and techniques for doing so.

First, and perhaps most importantly, Red Cap service is only available at major Amtrak terminals. In Boston the only station offering Red Cap service is BOS (Boston South Station). Passengers transferring from the Downeaster via the T to Back Bay (BBY) would have no opportunity to use Red Cap service (and it's attendant advantages).

At major terminals where Red Cap service is available passengers can simply approach the Red Caps (who do in fact wear 'red caps', sometimes ball caps with the Amtrak logo (WAS) and in BOS they are red 'conductor' style caps, similar to those worn by uniformed Amtrak on board train staff) and ask for assistance boarding their train. Red Caps will accept baggage into their custody up to an hour or more ahead of time with baggage checks given for each bag checked. When the times comes to board they will then escort the passengers and their luggage to the platform, they will seat the passengers and they will personally handle all pieces of luggage from the platform onto the train and into either the overhead luggage rack or into the luggage racks at the end of the car. There is no specific fee for using the Red Caps who are basically working for tips. I generally will tip $1 per bag however there are certain special situations which might call for more (unusual excess luggage etc.). I try to have cash in hand ready as soon as the Red Cap is done so that I don't hold them up from their next customers or train.

The major advantage to using the Red Caps is the practice of providing priority boarding before the general public. Especially at BOS, WAS or other train end points this nearly guarantees that passengers will be able to board and get the best seats possible for their party (facing four seats, tables on the Aclea etc.). In other circumstances, for example at LAX this technique would be very useful to ensure "ocean side" seating on the Coast Starlight. I have also seen discussion on these sites that using the Red Caps is the only way to board certain trains at NYP ahead of the general public. One description of which famously involved handing over a briefcase and then following the porter to the train (followed by a $5 tip).

The use of Red Caps by the public and their operational practices in each station vary to a certain degree. In BOS for example they operate almost as if they are required. They will approach practically anyone with excess baggage and inquire which train you're on and then give you baggage checks. For the uninitiated traveler they could easily leave with the mistaken impression that this was the 'routine' or normal practice. It is my opinion that this approach is probably something that Amtrak strongly encourages, especially at BOS in order to ensure all of their trains depart BOS on time. The Red Caps in Boston are not only friendly they're downright genial and seem pretty happy doing their jobs. They are a major part of the smooth operations at BOS and their marshaling of baggage from large parties, families with small children and every other logistical challenge is really rather impressive. They have the highly beneficial effect of corralling luggage off the main floor of BOS which also is an extremely busy terminal for the MBTA.

Thanks for the 'Red Cap' discussion. I have seen them at BOS and assumed some of what you mentioned, but was unaware that they could also board passengers with luggage early, as well as assist with seating This would be especially helpful to families with small children trying to keep together, which at normal boarding time could be a challenge at BOS. It would also be a good reason for Downeaster passengers with lots of luggage to connect at BOS vice BBY.

Your descriptions of your experiences on the Silver Star trips mirrors what I imagined that a nice LD trip would be like. It is encouraging to know that such experiences are still available. It certainly contrasts with the last time I flew to Washington DC (in a flying cattle car).

Thanks for both of your posts.

mr. mick wrote:It would also be a good reason for Downeaster passengers with lots of luggage to connect at BOS vice BBY.

No doubt about it. In this case, especially if there are multiple members of the family the cost difference between taking a taxi from BON to BOS vs. taking the T to BBY would probably be minimal (perhaps less than $10).

mr. mick wrote:Your descriptions of your experiences on the Silver Star trips mirrors what I imagined that a nice LD trip would be like. It is encouraging to know that such experiences are still available.

They most definitely are. Keep in mind of course that our experience was "just coach". Over the next few years we should indeed expect to see improvements in all classes. Additionally Iowa Pacific will likely be running restored Pullman service on several of Amtrak's Long Distance services (mostly on trains based out of Chicago), so in all likelihood there will be no shortage of great rail travel options available over the next few years.

Curious as to wether there were route guides,and or menus in the seat pockets . How was the information / annoncements ?. Pretending you wernt rail savy , do you think it was suffucent ? .