The Journey Starts
September 7-8, 2008
I wake up around 6, shave, shower, have a little breakfast,
and close up my luggage. My backpack is very heavy, at least parents think so,
who meet me and take the subway ride with me to Pennsylvania
(Penn) Station in the city at 34th and 8th
Ave. On my
back, it’s ok. Some weekends, the trains run weird, but not this weekend. Take the F train from Neptune
Ave, transfer to A train
at Jay St, then take that
train to Penn Station.
8:15 am, waiting
for F train. From my train station, I
can see the top hill of the Cyclone rollercoaster in Coney Island.
I arrive at Penn Station at 9:10. Years previously when I had to exchange my
tickets (remember, I was supposed to leave yesterday) for new ones, I waited in
the line like everyone else. What I
didn’t know, I could also do it at the Acela Lounge,
since I am traveling first class, which I did this time. With my tickets exchanged, I sat down and
waited the less then two hours for the train.
I had some soda and a cinnamon bun.
The train should leave 10:50 am. The train is put together in Amtrak’s
Sunnyside Yard in Queens, travels under the East
River in Manhattan to
Penn Station. Sunnyside Yard dates back
to Pennsylvania Railroad days, which this station, and
even the hotel across the street (Pennsylvania
6-5000) are named after.
While waiting, I hear other people talking to the red caps
about the canceled train yesterday.
Everyone was pretty anxious about getting on this train. Yesterday, Amtrak’s website indicated this
train was full. That doesn’t mean that
everyone would board at Penn, but at one point or another, the train would be
full.
At 10:24, they
make an announcement, due to mechanical issues with the locomotive, there will
be a delay. The redcap isn’t too happy
about this. He says something like due
to the hurricane; they may not have extra equipment available. I just hope the delay isn’t long.
At 10:39, problem
resolved, train is leaving the yard heading towards Penn Station.
A couple of minutes before coach are notified, we first class
people are told the gate and we get in line to go down the escalator. Some people rush to get into the line first,
but with reserved seating, why rush? The
train (I hope) won’t leave without us.
Now this I don’t understand?
Before getting on the escalator going down, you need to show your train
ticket. Why people fumble for it the
last moment, I don’t understand, as I have my ticket ready for inspection.
When I get down to the train platform, I ask for train 91,
and they point me to that train. I am in
car 9110. There is a LED display on the
train, but doesn’t say 9110. They
programmed the wrong number on it. I point that out to my car attendant and
tells me, don’t worry, this is the right train.
It is times like this; I remember that Honeymooner episode that Ralph
and Ed get on the wrong train. But this
one is the right train. I keep my
luggage with me on the train since I have the whole room to myself. I place the
luggage on the other seat. Needless to
say, I will be sleeping in the upper bunk.
At 11, I feel the train starting to move. We make it out to daylight, about 34 and 10th
ave, and stop, to let an Acela
go first. The room opposite mine is a
young mother traveling with her daughter, maybe 4 or 5 years old. The car attendant introduces
herself to both of us and discuss dinning options, we both decide to eat
in our room, which was not a issue for her.
Anyone who ever traveled about Amtrak, when eating in the dinning car,
they will sit you with other people. I rather eat in my room, I can relax more.
As the other times, I am in the right side again.
Barely 20 minutes after we first leave Penn Station, we are in Newark, NJ
making a stop to pick up more passengers.
The car attendant drops off menus for me and the mother in the opposite
room. I see they changed the menu for
the better. For lunch I will do the Angus cheeseburger with potato chips, no
deep fryers on moving trains for fries.
And they have ice cream for dessert, no mud pie. For dinner, they have Flat steak; breakfast will
be a cheese omelet. All
in all, a welcomed changes.
On previous trips, I used a mapping software with a GPS
module connected to my laptop to show me where I am, and how fast I am going,
This trip I took my Magellan GPS unit, which is a good thing, since I am having
software issues on my laptop, and I didn’t have enough time to get my new hard
drive fully loaded in time for my trip.
According to my GPS, we are traveling 105 mph, which is normal for
service between New York and Washington
DC.
We are passing Hamilton
train station. It’s about 11:53 am. What the GPS doesn’t tell me, is what city I
am in, so I can just guess by the names of points of interest near by.
12 pm, pulling
into Trenton to pick up more
passengers. It always amazed me how
short of a time we stay in the station before we move out. The train can be late, but you can’t.
12:30, we are in Philadelphia. I didn’t look for the hot air balloon from
the nearby zoo. I finished my lunch of
Cheeseburger, chips and vanilla ice cream for dessert. It’s funny, when asking for soda, how many
people just say coke? Well, on Amtrak, it’s only Pepsi. By the end of the trip, I remember to ask for
diet Pepsi, not coke. Or could I have used the old SNL line, ‘no coke, Pepsi’ ? ;)
1 pm, Wilmington
Delaware.
It does seem that we travel more north of Washington
because the states are smaller. In the 2
hours since leaving New York,
went through New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and now in Delaware. Some states in the south, it will take hours
to cross it.
1:50 pm, Baltimore,
Maryland.
There is this sign I always look for here, a sign pointing this way for Washington,
or that way for New York. I hope the engineer knows the way J
2:27 pm, we are
pulling into Washington DC
for a extended stop, as they switch locomotives here,
from a electric to a pair of diesel locomotives. While they switch locomotives, there is no
power to the cars, no air conditioning or electricity
to power my electronics, but my laptop batter is still good and I continue to
watch DVD’s on it. I like to watch
comedies. I have South
Park, Married with Children, and The Simpsons to help pass
time. Plus the Celebrity roasts to
William Shatner.
40 minutes later, we are leaving Washington
DC station and on the way out of Washington,
I see the top of the Capital, the Smithsonian, Washington
monument and Jefferson memorial.
3:25 pm, we are
pulling into Alexandria VA. In the not so far distance is the George
Washington Masonic building.
5:30pm had dinner
near Ashland, VA.
I had a salad with a light ranch. 8 oz steak, mash potatoes, and mixed veggies.
5:40 pm Richmond
VA I had chocolate Ice cream for dessert.
We left Rocky Mount, NC
about 8:30 pm. According to the schedule they handed out, we
should have left there about 7:30, so
we are running an hour late. Next stop
should be Raleigh, NC
at 9:13, but will probably be closer
to 10:13 pm.
We pulled into Raleigh, NC
at 10:09 pm
Its 2:40 am and we just pulled into
Columbia SC
I feel asleep for a couple of hours. So there is a little gap of times here.
Slept a couple of more hours Its 7:35 am,
and eating breakfast in Jacksonville FL. Sorry Georgia,
I was asleep when we traveled through you. We are still running late, but less
then an hour.
10:29 am, Monday
morning. I am in Winterpark, FL. Next stop is Orlando,
some 20 minutes away.
10:54 am….. Hel-Lo Or-Lan-Do J 24.5 hours
late, but I made it finally.