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Round Trip on the Silver Meteor and a Week in Florida
March 20-30, 2003 By Adam Reich
Part 1 of 3

Part 1- Travel to Newark Penn Station and the Silver Meteor #97
Day 1- March 20, 2003

Thursday March 20th was a day I looked forward to for the longest time. It had been about 11 months since my last Amtrak trip. The taxi came to our house around 4:30pm. The driver placed our bags in the trunk, and we were off. The weather was rain, which was coming down at a moderate rate. Not much to tell about the ride down aside from seeing a MidTOWN DIRECT train with a Comet III cab and Comet V coaches meet a train of Arrow III's at Newark Broad Street. We entered the station and once getting in, I looked at the Departure board and notice they've been implementing the change of Acela Regional trains to Regionals. We immediately headed for Bentley's in the Gateway Plaza across from the station. I highly recommend it for anyone who finds the time for a stop in Newark.

In Bentley's, my mom, little brother David, and I ordered drinks while we waited for my dad to arrive. My
mom got an Iced tea; my brother and I got Coke's. To occupy ourselves, my brother drew a T-Rex, and I started to write my trip report, using my trusty Acela fisher space pen. My mom went to get David crayons, while he started eating his Chicken Tenders. After a few minutes, she returned with crayons, and went to get a coloring book for him. Once she came back, we ordered white bean vegetable soup, which was very good. Dad got to Bentley's at 6:00, he ordered an iced tea, the soup and smoked chicken. Mom and I got Chicken Caesar Salads, The salad was good, but I should give the warning that you can hear the karaoke from the bar next door, if you eat late. I had a little coffee, and then we went to the platform around 7:00. The Silver Meteor #97, got in by 7:20, which was a little early for the train. The consist was:

904- AEM-7-AC, Acela Paint Scheme with "Three Sheets" logo NYP-WAS
188- P-42, Phase V "Shamu" Scheme WAS-MIA
1261- Heritage Baggage Car, Phase III
2500 "Pine Brook"- Heritage Dorm Lounge Phase IV*
62021 "Morning View"- Viewliner Sleeper Phase IV (Refurbished)
62025 "Northern View"- Viewliner Sleeper Phase IV (Unrefurbished)
62040 "Summer View"- Viewliner Sleeper Phase IV (Unrefurbished). <-------- I rode here.
8505- Heritage Diner- Phase IV, Temoinsa Rebuild
28005 "Chicago Club"- Amfleet II Lounge Phase IV (Concept 2000)
25118- Amfleet II Coach, Phase VI (Concept 2000)
25115- Amfleet II Coach, Phase IV (Unrefurbished)
25111- Amfleet II Coach, Phase IVB [Red Safety Stripe] (Concept 2000)
25086- Amfleet II Coach, Phase IVB [Red Safety Stripe] (Concept 2000)

Note: "Refurbished" Viewliner refers to cars that have had the White Shades on the windows replaced by purple curtains. The curtains do not do as good a job of keeping light out at night. The locks have also been changed to a Superliner style lock, from a lock that just required turning a knob. The original doors could also be locked from the outside. The Superliner style lock is a latch that is pushed down from the inside to lock the door can't be locked/unlocked from the outside.

The train left Newark about 2 minutes late, roughly on time. Our Sleeper was 62040 "Summer View" in Room "B". On Track 4, was the Acela Express, running an hour late, pulled in shortly after our train. That track is normally used by Southbound NJ Transit trains, but the Acela had to use that track since our train was obviously on Amtrak's Track 3. Our attendant was Paul, who was very nice, and was our attendant on our trip last April. Sean Gilliam was wrong about 62011 being in our consist, as he predicted a day earlier. We went past Trenton and Philly while in the diner. For dinner I had a roll, a salad, Filet Mignon, mashed potatoes, and Chocolate Mousse for desert. After dinner I bought a souvenir blanket and playing cards from the lounge. I also noticed "Chicago Club" had 2-1 booth seating, rather than the 2-2 I was used to. I walked through the first coach. Later I photographed the conductor, who was also very friendly, and gave him my website's URL. I also gave it to Paul at Wilmington. At each station we lost HEP for 5-10 seconds to brake the train. We left Wilmington about 19 minutes late.

1-1& 2 Standard Bedroom Room "2" (Viewliner Sleeper #62040 Summer View")

1-3 Standard Bedroom Hallway (Viewliner Sleeper #62040 Summer View")

1-4 Shower/Bathroom in Our Room (Viewliner Sleeper #62040 Summer View")

1-5 Coffee Station in Viewliner Sleeper #62040 Summer View"

1-6 Interior Shot of (Temoinsa Refurbished) Heritage Diner #8505

At 9:45, we had Paul make up the beds. David and I went on the upper berth, Mom the lower berth. I got a call from Dad a little later. We left Baltimore 18 minutes late (approx), ready for bed. We arrived in D.C. 14 minutes late, after stopping outside the station for a few seconds. I saw a lot of cars in Ivy City, as well as seeing AEM-7-AC #908, coupled to #935 in the station, with several other parked trains. Across from us was Amfleet I #82060 in Phase V paint. Behind it was 82505 (Phase V), HEP came back at 11:06. We left at 11:14. 20035, 82071, and several other Amfleets were ahead. At 11:19, I saw the glorious Capitol Building, and at 11:21 we passed VRE's L'enfant Station. At 11:24, we passed the magnificent Washington Monument. At 11:28, I believe we reached the Potomac River. At 11:20, I heard the first of many CSX equipment defect detectors, a welcome sound. We reached VRE's Crystal City station at 11:35. At 11:53, we passed VRE/Amtrak's Alexandria, Va., station. I fell asleep shortly after passing Washington Metro's Franconia-Springfield station, the last station on the Blue line.

Day 2- March 21, 2003

I woke up around 7:00am, Friday morning, shortly after which, we passed Selma, NC, a stop on the Carolinan. We soon went to breakfast. I had the French Toast, which was very good, with Orange Juice and Coffee. I overheard that we had engine #188 on the scanner. We then returned to the room, and learned we were about 2 hours, 40 minutes late because of flash flood warnings between Washington and Richmond. At 7:54, we arrived at Fayetteville, NC. We left there around 7:58. At 8:46, we passed the Dillon, SC station. I stepped off in Florence for a second, to get photos of the Diner and Sleepers. We departed at 9:25. Next, I took David to the lounge for a snack, there were no seats, so we headed back to the room. Later, we had to stop for a northbound CSX train to pass. We started moving at 9:52. We arrived, and quickly departed Kingstree, SC, at 10:14.

1-7   Viewliner Sleeper #62040 "Summer View" (ours) on Train #97 in Florence, SC

1-8   Another Shot of Viewliner Sleeper #62040 "Summer View" in Florence, SC

1-9   Viewliner Sleeper #62025 "Northern View" on The Silver Meteor #97 in Florence, SC

1-10 & 11 Heritage Diner #8505 in Florence, SC on The Silver Meteor #97 in Florence, SC

1-12 Double Leaf Vestibule Doors of Viewliner Sleeper #62025 "Northern View"

1-13 Double Leaf Vestibule Doors of Viewliner Sleeper #62040 "Summer View"

Around 10:30, I took a walk through the coaches to write the consist down. I then returned to the room. At 11:10, David and I went back to the lounge for another snack. While waiting, we stopped in Charleston, SC. We left at 11:23. Mom and David watched "Sweet Home Alabama," in one of the Standard Rooms, because of problems with the video system in the B end of the car.

1-14 Painting Inside Amfleet II Lounge #28005 "Chicago Club" (First Concept 2000 Refurb)

1-15 Food Service Area of Amfleet II Lounge #28005 (Attendant was on Breakfast Break)

At about 12:10, the engine died, we lost HEP, and were merely coasting, with the momentum we had. At 12:16, we came to a stop. At 12:31, the power came back, and we began moving at 12:35. Next, we ate in the diner and we passed Yemassee, SC. I had a Chicken Caesar Salad, which was ok (frankly, I was a little disappointed with it). I drank a Pepsi. For dessert, I had some good Vanilla Ice Cream and Coffee. By the time we finished, we were in Savannah, Georgia. The Coaches got 2-3 minutes worth of water, which hopefully would last them until Jacksonville. In Savannah, I stepped out for a second then Reboarded the train. We pulled out around 1:25. We left Jesup, Georgia at 2:28. While the town looks fairly nice, the station looks ready for demolishment, it looks so run down, and there's yellow caution tape around the building.

I'm happy to say at that point of the day I learned something about the dining car crew, which I had encountered on my two previous trips to Florida, as well as this trip. It happened on a walk through the Coaches. I must say I got the wrong impression of the head of the diner, Andre, at first. Originally (in my two trips in 2002), he did not seem very friendly, but as it turns out he's very nice, and also a railfan! He's worked for Amtrak for about 28 years. He mentioned some of the things he had, including a wrench from an old steam locomotive, which seemed pretty cool. I showed him my keys, conductor badge, and gave him my website's url. The chef, also was nice to me in a similar way. Originally, he too wasn't friendly; however, that changed once I started talking trains with the head of the diner, he too "opened up" he even offered to show me how to cook and was willing to let me take pictures of the diner (the night before, he wasn't that happy about me photographing the diner.) This just goes to show you that a person can really be nice once you get to know them.

1-16 Waiter's Station in Heritage Diner #8505 (Temoinsa Rebuilt Interior)

1-17 Seats For Waiting Passengers in Heritage Diner #8505 (Temoinsa Rebuilt Interior)

1-18 Lunch Counter Used as Prep Area in Heritage Diner #8505 (Temoinsa Rebuilt Interior)

1-19 Tables in Heritage Diner #8505 (Temoinsa Rebuilt Interior)

1-20 Kitchen in #8505 on Train #97

Getting back to the trip, when I returned, David was crying because his "Evil Zurg" figure (relates to Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story), had been left at home. We got him to fall asleep after Jesup. I moved into Room 11, where I did some writing, and charging my scanner.

The next stop was Jacksonville, where I got off for photos, and a quick run to the station. We pulled in on track 1, the one closer to the station, which was unusual as that is typically the northbound track. We left Jacksonville at 4:15. As we were about to leave, the northbound Silver Meteor, #98 pulled into the station. I got a partial consist:

#49- P-42 Diesel Locomotive, Phase V
Heritage Dorm Lounge, Phase IV
1751- Heritage Fleet Baggage Car (ex-Coach), Phase IV
62030- Patriot View (Refurbished) Viewliner Sleeper, Phase IV
62028- Palisades View (Unrefurbished), Viewliner Sleeper, Phase IV
Viewliner Sleeper, Phase IV
Heritage Diner
Amfleet II Lounge Phase IV
Amfleet II Coach Phase VI
Amfleet II Coach Phase VI
25053- Amfleet II Coach, Phase IV
25030- Amfleet II Coach, Phase IV

1-21 Heritage Baggage Car #1261 and Dorm Lounge #2500 "Pine Brook" in Jacksonville, Florida on Train #97

1-22 & 23 Heritage Dorm Lounge #2500 "Pine Brook" in Jacksonville, Florida on The Silver Meteor #97

1-24 & 25 Amfleet II Lounge #28005 "Chicago Club" in Jacksonville, FL on The Silver Meteor #97 (First Concept 2000 Lounge)

1-26 Amfleet II Coach #25118 in Jacksonville, FL on The Silver Meteor #97

1-27 Amfleet II Coach #25111 in Jacksonville, FL on The Silver Meteor #97

1-28 Amfleet II Coach #25115 in Jacksonville, FL on The Silver Meteor #97

1-29 Amfleet II Coach #25086 in Jacksonville, FL on The Silver Meteor #97

1-30 Concept 2000 (Refurbished) Amfleet II Coach Seats on Train #97