15 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

There is a pizzeria Uno attached to the hotel. I had a late snack.

No comparison to the 'real' Pizzeria Uno on Ohio ST (established in 1943) or the companion Pizzeria Due a block away on Wabash Ave.  Had a lot of pizza and beer there in my college days.

[BillMagee]

Decided to save $60 (parking and tolls) and take PATCO to Philly for 70 cents. About a mile walk, then Acela 2251 to Washington. Maybe 50% load in my car (Business).  Assigned seating is great. No scrum to get to seats.  Trip down was uneventful. Uneventful is good.

[KevinKorell]

So my day featured an unplanned extra Amtrak trip.   Since we had agreed to meet for our "meal" (too late for lunch and too early to call dinner) at 2 PM,  I looked into possibly travelling up to Rockville on the Metro Red Line and taking the Capitol Limited back.   The Cap was running about half an hour late, and would still get me back in time for the meal.   I decided I had time to also deviate on Metro and take a spin on the Metro Green Line down to Branch Avenue and back.  I still had plenty of time to spare in Rockville, but the downside was that Train 30 was getting later and later.  Probably some slow orders.  At some point I had to make a decision whether to stick with 30 or take the Red Line back.  The train finally showed up and departed at 1:26 PM, giving me 34 minutes to get to Washington.  The train had to stop around Ivy City yard to enter and cross over the Amtrak mainline to get to a low level track, which cost a few more minutes.  Arrival into Washington was exactly 2 PM, after which I bolted and was only several minutes late in meeting the group in the Great Hall.

 

Lunch at Uno was filling and good, although some only chose to drink rather than eat.   

 

The lounge was crowded, but it cleared out when the westbound Capitol Limited and an Acela boarded.  We had to walk over to the H-L gates to wait for our gate & track assignment and boarding call, which took a long time.

[jebr]

Saturday before the Roanoke train was good. Went out around 10:30 AM to pick up supper and snacks at the grocery store. After that I packed my bags at the hotel, then checked out and went to Ben's Chili Bowl. After a good lunch I decided to take the train to Wheaton to experience the long escalator again. Always a fun time. Afterwards I headed to Union Station and met up with others at Uno.

[Railroad Bill]

 I left CLE at 2:20am on Friday 7/9 after an hour and half drive from my home. CLE lot is free and gated and so I stayed in my van, with the windows down, avoiding mask wearing in the station. Watched several NS freights move through including an interesting 3 train unit of former GP 50s doing yard switching.

Fell asleep until PGH, then watched the remaining route to Cumberland, Md where we were permitted to detrain for the double spot and re-board in coach a few minutes later.  We made good time and my concerns with making the connection to 171 were allayed as we arrived just a few minutes late.  The previous day's #30 had been over 4 hours late and did not make that connection.          Overall a good ride on #30 in roomette, a decent breakfast and nice scenery along the way.  

 

I stored my bag at the lounge in WAS and took a ride on the Circulator Bus around the mall and attempted to do some walking, but the heat index was around 100 and so took the bus back to the station and watched some TV until 171 was finally called around 6 pm, over an hour late.  I had a seatmate until Lynchburg, a rather childish 20 year old girl who had been sleeping in my seat before I boarded in WAS and was upset that I had ruined her sleep at 6 pm. She changed seats off and on, but my main concern was the late arrival time into RNK.  

Tried the Am Cheeseburger on the 171 train, which was not up to quality I remembered. 

Edited by Railroad Bill, 14 July 2021 - 01:39 PM.

[saxman]

 On Friday night, I flew straight from DFW to DCA and found that hotels were reasonable around the area. I booked my hotel because it had a free airport shuttle and was near the Crystal City Metro station. I landed about 10:30 to find that I missed the last Metro train, so I called the hotel to ask for the shuttle. Sorry, we don't run shuttles past 10 pm. Really?! So I had to take a $25 Uber ride to go less than a mile. So that was frustrating. 

 

The next morning, I rented a bike and rode to Gravelly Point. Its the park right north of National Airport and watched a few planes. Being Saturday, the airport was not busy, but the bike trail was packed with people and bikers. I had to be careful. After checking out of the hotel, I boarded Metro and rode to the end of the Yellow Line to Huntington before returning up to King Street Station to meet 147 at Alexandria.