ND76

I had a great trip on Amtrak on 22-23 April 2012, Elkhart, Indiana (EKH) to Washington Union Station on Train #30, the Capitol Limited. I wanted to share a quick trip report.

I needed a one way ride back from northern Indiana, where my in-laws live, to my home in the DC area. I had been on the road for over a week, having flown to LAS on Delta to attend a convention, and having flown east to JAX to pick up my Roadtrek RV which spent the winter in Atlantic Beach, and drive it north.

I purchased a ticket through the AAA website, where I got a $20 member discount, and was able to buy a roomette for $219 all in (substantially less than the $350+ that Amtrak wanted a few days prior). The Capitol Limited is scheduled to depart EKH at 2053, and, at the twilight’s last gleaming around 2057, it pulled in to the old New York Central station at the south end of Elkhart’s downtown. I was quickly aboard car 3000, and the courteous car attendant helped me with a heavy suitcase and showed me to my compartment. He told me he had made a reservation for me for the late dinner seating, and I took my seat in the dining car while passing through Goshen, the Elkhart County seat. I had three excellent dinner companions; a husband and wife headed home to central Virginia; and a gentleman who had started his train trip in Albuquerque and was headed to the nation’s capital. I ordered the crab cakes, and they were delicious. The dining car staff threw us out (with a smile) when we stopped at Toledo almost two hours later; they had taken very good care of us.

When I returned to my compartment my bed was made, and I was under the covers as the train reached the Maumee River bridge just east of Toledo station. I slept peacefully until Connellsville, Pennsylvania, about 7 hours later. In contrast to the fantastic weather I had experienced during the preceding week, we experienced the Nor’easter’s effect in the Allegheny mountains, and by the time we reached the tunnel just east of the towns of Confluence and Rockwood there was at least four inches of snow on the ground. The snow did not deter the twin locomotives hauling the train, and, as we headed down the mountain, the snow let up, and, by Cumberland, Maryland, there was no snow on the ground.

After dining on sausage patties and a biscuit in the dining car (washed down with a couple decent cups of coffee), I moved down to the observation car, which had been renovated; half of the upstairs portion was now filled with tables and booth seating, as opposed to the seats that are parallel to the glass window walls which are still in the other half of the car. There were two electrical sockets on the wall just below the table top. I set up my laptop and my AT&T Elevate wifi hotspot, which worked quite well in the vicinity of Cumberland, 15 miles on either side of Martinsburg, and between Brunswick and Rockville, Maryland. I got some work done and got involved in some great conversations.

We pulled into Union Station 17 minutes early at 1223. I hadn’t been on an Amtrak sleeper in a couple of years and had forgotten how much fun it is to ride. I’ll be back soon.