100 replies to this topic

[pennyk]

As you can see, Penny is graciously tracking timekeeping of the Silver Meteors (97 and 98) in Florida, mainly because of the possibility of some wanting to turn back at a point south of Jacksonville and then returning to JAX for a shorter layover.

If anyone would like to do something similar for the Silver Star (92), Piedmont (75), Carolinian (80), and/or Northeast Regionals 125 and 66, please feel free to do so.

I have added the 92 to 75 connection to my spreadsheet.

[NJCoastExp]

I would seriously advise against doing a turn at Quantico as an option, unless you want to invite visit from Military Police. Station is on military base property. Anybody hanging out on the platform after departure is subject to search and investigation.

[pennyk]

I have a couple of comments about the options for Monday. As Kevin said, Option 2 may be iffy if 97 runs late and a connection is missed in WPK or ORL. It should be noted that I have been tracking 97 and 98 for 2 weeks and each day the connection would have been made from 97 to 98 in both WPK and ORL. I think the main issue is SunRail construction which has, in the past, seriously delayed 97. DeLand is a quaint little town, but the station is not downtown and I believe it may be too far to walk. It should be noted that I have never been to the DeLand train station, although I have been to the City of DeLand many times. Option 3 provides a long layover in Central Florida, and, in my opinion, Winter Park is the nicest place to spend several hours. The train station is small, but it is a stone's throw from a beautiful park and the "business" area of Winter Park, with many stores, restaurants, a museum, bars, etc. The Orlando station is in a business area near Orlando Regional Medical Center, however, there is a city bus that comes once an hour that could take you to downtown (a couple of miles). The Kissimmee station is in downtown and it is walking distance from a beautiful lake and restaurants. The shortest layover is Winter Haven. Winter Haven is a small city in the citrus area of Central Florida. LegoLand (formerly Cypress Gardens) is close by. There is not much to do within walking distance of the station. Last year, I did a points run to Winter Haven and decided to go for a walk from the station. Apparently motorists are not used to seeing pedestrians. Several motorists stopped (in a friendly fashion) and asked me if I needed a ride and were surprised to hear that I wanted to walk. I guess I looked pitiful. The Winter Haven station has a comfortable waiting area. With regard to the options for Wednesday, it appears that Fredericksburg does not have a station building, only a platform (with no restroom facilities). I have never been to Fredericksburg by train, so I do not have personal knowledge of the "station" or surrounding area. Is there anything to do around the "station?" I have been to the Richmond station and "suffered" through a very long layover there. Because it was dark, I did not leave the station, but in day time, I would have gone for a walk. I am leaning towards connecting in RVR, but could change my opinion if the majority favored another option. I do not think Quantico is a viable option based on Piotr's comment.

[KevinKorell]

And a few follow-up comments on what Penny said. E-ticketing makes it more difficult to "play it by ear", as doing a shorter turn than ticketed for could result in you being a "no show" if you haven't been scanned at your ticketed point of origin on the second train. Rail and station construction in most parts of the country "ramps up" in the warmer months; that is, relatively less work is done in the winter when the ground may be frozen. That said, this is Florida, where construction season should be year round. So whatever delays may be caused now by SunRail construction should not get much better or worse in July. I presented Winter Haven as an option, but being the shortest of the connections, it is probably least recommended. The plus, if you do make it, is that you get the Tampa dogleg mileage on 92. Winter Haven is a nice station (I've used it before), IIRC a couple blocks off the main drag but not too much around. But then you wouldn't want to venture too far away anyhow given the quick turnaround. Personally, beautiful parks and beautiful lakes don't do anything for me, though if they manage to work Wifi access into those places they will become more beautiful. With regard to Virginia, I forgot that the Quantico station is within a restricted area, so that coupled with the shorter turnaround time makes it a poor choice. Fredericksburg: Don't forget we will be there on Friday too, turning around from VRE to Amtrak #80. There is a station building, but I don't recall seeing it open during my past visits. I do remember some intricate ramps built to make the pedestrian underpass barrier free. So if you choose to turn there on Wednesday you will at least get to know the place well for our Friday visit. The main source of confusion there is that trains can operate on either track in either direction. Based on how many freights are in the area, and the fact that many VRE stations only have platforms on one side of the right-of-way, trains sometimes run left-handed. With a lack of station personnel to announce the proper track, one can find themselves waiting on the wrong side when the train shows up. Positive: You'll probably be standing there in Fredericksburg when the southbound Auto Train comes through. (Of course you'd also see it later on in Richmond.) The Fredericksburg station is right downtown. So there are stores and small restaurants you could walk to. I recall also once walking to a convenience store a couple of blocks away. I don't think Richmond will cause much suffering. There are strip centers, a large supermarket, and chain restaurants along Staples Mill Road. The longest walk is within the Amtrak property between the station and the street; once along the roadside you can walk a shorter distance to those places. A short walk north of the driveway is a McDonald's. The length of the layover is tough, but you can watch other trains come and go, and again the Auto Train probably close to 6 PM.

[pennyk]

I have a couple of comments about the options for Monday. As Kevin said, Option 2 may be iffy if 97 runs late and a connection is missed in WPK or ORL. It should be noted that I have been tracking 97 and 98 for 2 weeks and each day the connection would have been made from 97 to 98 in both WPK and ORL. I think the main issue is SunRail construction which has, in the past, seriously delayed 97.

Rail and station construction in most parts of the country "ramps up" in the warmer months; that is, relatively less work is done in the winter when the ground may be frozen. That said, this is Florida, where construction season should be year round. So whatever delays may be caused now by SunRail construction should not get much better or worse in July.

As a followup to my post this morning, today (March 29th), according to Amtrak.com, 98 arrived at both the ORL and WPK stations prior to 97. Thus, both the WPK and ORL connections would have been missed today. 97 is running late most likely due to SunRail construction since much of the delay occurred between DeLand and WPK. Additionally, 98 seems to be running pretty much on time today. So much for a pattern.

[KevinKorell]

OK for Wednesday in Virginia I removed Option 4 for Quantico from the list of options.

[steve4031]

I like option 2 for Florida with the evening in jax.

[KevinKorell]

I like option 2 for Florida with the evening in jax.

When I worked out the options last week, this one turned out to be tighter than I thought. Assuming Train 98 gets into JAX on time, I allowed some padding until the next bus downtown. The ride itself takes some time. Then to ride both branches of the Skyway, and have dinner, and by then the buses are post rush-hour and not running as often. It's feasible, but those 6 hours go very quickly.

If 98 is running late, which one wants to be true given the vulnerability of making that connection at Winter Park or Orlando,. then it gets into Jacksonville later too. Perhaps a pizza place can deliver dinner to the station ......

[pennyk]

I like option 2 for Florida with the evening in jax.

When I worked out the options last week, this one turned out to be tighter than I thought. Assuming Train 98 gets into JAX on time, I allowed some padding until the next bus downtown. The ride itself takes some time. Then to ride both branches of the Skyway, and have dinner, and by then the buses are post rush-hour and not running as often. It's feasible, but those 6 hours go very quickly.

If 98 is running late, which one wants to be true given the vulnerability of making that connection at Winter Park or Orlando,. then it gets into Jacksonville later too. Perhaps a pizza place can deliver dinner to the station ......

I have not been tracking 98's arrival in JAX, but have been tracking 98's departure from WPK. For the past 2 weeks, the earliest it has departed WPK was 29 minutes late and the latest was 2:15 late. (It should be noted that the day it was 29 minutes late, 97 was over 2 hours late and the connection would have been missed).

FYI, this afternoon, I was driving not too far from the Orlando station and was thrilled to see 98 traveling north from the station about 50 minutes late. I was thrilled to see the train, not thrilled that it was late.

[pennyk]

Today, (April 4th), 97 was running late and 98 was running almost on time. The connection from 97 to 98 would have been missed in both WPK and ORL. Kevin, I emailed you an updated spreadsheet.