IEN3 wrote:I will be riding AMTRAK from Atlanta, GA to Hartford, CT in August and then back again a week later. Any suggestions, advice, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks!
Bring a DVD player, good book, 6 pack of your favorite soda and any snacks you might want. Pick up a copy of Amtrak's National Timetable at the station. Bring a scanner if you have one and program in the AAR channels. Bring an earphone. This way you will be able to hear about any delays enroute. They are a lot easier to take that way and you'll learn some interesting things about how RRs work in the process.
You will be riding the Crescent from Atlanta to NYC Penn I assume. Change there for your train to Springfield. Will you have a sleeper(recommended)?
LC
IEN3 wrote:I'm being very brave (or stupid) and I'll make the entire journey from a chair. I do plan to take a Scanner of perhaps a handheld HAM Radio to hit repeaters along the way.
I'm too poor to afford sleeper cars. I've done Miami to Philadelphia in a chair, and Philadelphia to NOL on another trip. It's not the most comfortable trip, and I'm sure it would be better in a sleeper, but it's doable.
Since you are getting on at NOL, u may want to make sure u get a window seat
AmtrakRider wrote: IEN3 wrote:I'm being very brave (or stupid) and I'll make the entire journey from a chair. I do plan to take a Scanner of perhaps a handheld HAM Radio to hit repeaters along the way.I'm too poor to afford sleeper cars. I've done Miami to Philadelphia in a chair, and Philadelphia to NOL on another trip. It's not the most comfortable trip, and I'm sure it would be better in a sleeper, but it's doable.Since you are getting on at NOL, u may want to make sure u get a window seat
I think he is getting on in Atlanta, not the Big Easy...
Sounds like fun. It's been nine months since my last trip from Washington, DC, to Dallas. At that time they told me that they quit showing movies because the movie studios charged them over $1000 each. Imagine that!
I can't get comfortable sleeping in the seat, so I usually stretch out on the floor of the lounge with a big (full size) pillow. Even though I've traveled on AMTRAK at least once a year for the last ten years, I still spend most of my time with my nose pressed to the window or taking pictures/videos and sleep only about four hours each night.
The passenger cars on the Northeast Corridor usually have several electric outlets, so you may be able to find a seat with one. Makes it easier if you have a lot of electronic gadgets like I do. I was surprised (and it was my only complaint) that the cars on the Texas Eagle and the Capitol Limited did not have outlets. Everyone went to the lounge car to share the couple of outlets there to charge laptops, cell phones, etc. On one trip a church youth group had a long extension cord to run from one of the few outlets in the car to where they were all seated. The outlet they used was at my seat, but they had anticipated that and had a multi-outlet plug so I could still get power while their cord was plugged in. Worked out well.
I usually travel with my scanner, GPS, a laptop (does movies and music, too), cell phone, and cameras, so electricity is important. The GPS once recorded 124 MPH on a normal (not ACELA) AMTRAK electric train between Wilmington and Philadelphia.
I use a pair of comfortable headphones rather than a single earphone. It's good manners always to use an earphone/headphones with a scanner while on board.
I always try to buy a meal outside the train and bring it aboard for supper and midnight snack. I'm particularly fond of Subway, Blimpies, and Chinese. In Washington, DC, Union Station there is a food court downstairs with a wide variety of fast foods. There are coffee/doughnut places and McD's at the gate area.
I wish you a very enjoyable trip. Let us all know how it went.
One other thought that I found useful in my younger days. A small cooler for the drinks (perhaps one of those insulated lunch box type things that is collapseable and my favorite, a U.S. Army issue poncho liner. They are a great warm blanket and are quilted so they fold into a great pillow too. Takes up less space in luggage than a pair of jeans. You can find them at most surplus stores or on the web.
Limitedclear wrote: IEN3 wrote:I'm being very brave (or stupid) and I'll make the entire journey from a chair. I do plan to take a Scanner of perhaps a handheld HAM Radio to hit repeaters along the way.One other thought that I found useful in my younger days. A small cooler for the drinks (perhaps one of those insulated lunch box type things that is collapseable and my favorite, a U.S. Army issue poncho liner. They are a great warm blanket and are quilted so they fold into a great pillow too. Takes up less space in luggage than a pair of jeans. You can find them at most surplus stores or on the web.LC
Can't believe I forgot the lunchbox <g>.
Hmmm . . . Getting on at ATL, u should be going into a completely or at least relatively, empty car (the one the NOL - ATL passengers got off). U might still find a window seat available. Depending on your service personnel, you may be able to ask to move to another car if no windows are available where u are orginally placed.
I'm going to look for the poncho liner thingy. I could use one of those this summer.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
Oh, yeah. At least a couple of unread magazines for when your nose gets too sore to press against the window any more.
If you need an excellent (yet expensive) grip, check this stuff out it is awesome.
http://www.redoxx.com/
Limitedclear wrote: If you need an excellent (yet expensive) grip, check this stuff out it is awesome.LChttp://www.redoxx.com/
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
IEN3 wrote:Also curious as to what happens if a delay cause you to miss a connecting train...Also...a portion of my trip is restricted to two carry-on bags of a certain size. Are they picky about the size of things? My laptop isn't included in the carry-on items.Thanks for all of the information so far. Please keep it coming.
Northbound, should the Crescent be very late, you can just catch the next train to New Haven with it's Springfield connection. Southbound, it's hard to imagin the NEC being so screwed up you'll miss the Crescent.
I believe the connection at New Haven is one where the Springfield train will hold for the connection - in both directions.
Definitely bring a light blanket and pillow if you're travelling in coach. Also, try to get a seat toward the middle of the coach - the ride is better. Out over the trucks, it can be a bit bumpy.
The Crescent does pretty well between Atlanta and DC on NS. It fairs less well between NOL and Atlanta, so you NB trip may be a bit late out of ATL but won't get any later going north. Your SB trip has a pretty fair chance of being on time or very close to it. In fact, the biggest problem is getting hung up in the Atlanta terminal area. Have you considered being picked up at Gainesville?
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
IEN3 wrote:$359.00. I didn't check on Sleeper prices.
Roomette for Atlanta to Washington is $275 in each direction for a total added fare of $550. So your total with roomette both ways would be $909.00. Of course you could sit up on the way and return on the sleeper for only $634.00.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.