WeekendTraveler

Here’s my report for a trip on Amtrak’s Crescent between NYC and the Southeast:

I take Amtrak sometimes instead of flying because going to NY’s Amtrak station, and heading home from my arrival station, is so easy.

Yes, Moynihan Train Hall and the Amtrak lounge there are very nice, but I just prefer not to deal with Amtrak’s boarding procedures (lining up for no apparent reason), so I walked to the old NY Penn Station and arrived at 1:56 for a 2:15 departure.

Multiple trains were delayed, so the departure board was filled with them. The Crescent was never shown, and I waited for a boarding announcement.

Finally at 2:12, there was an announcement: “Last call for Amtrak’s Crescent train number 19…”, so I ran to the track (fortunately right where I was waiting) and was greeted by X (I won’t post the name, since I assume that Flyertalk rules don’t allow it), who is a wonderful Amtrak employee; always smiling and helpful.

I settled into my room, the train left on time, and X came by to take dinner orders, from the Flexible Dining menu.

As the train raced south, I chilled in my room. I had a Roomette, which I had booked with Amtrak Guest Rewards points. As always, it was relatively quiet and comfortable.

We arrived in Washington on time, and fortunately the time without power (when locomotives are changed, from electric to diesel) was brief, perhaps due to the extreme cold. Inside, all was fine.

After we left Washington, X, always smiling and friendly and professional, served dinner. I had the salmon, which was fine. There was also a “salad”- a small plastic bowl of lettuce with one cherry tomato and Kraft Italian dressing- and a good dessert (a pound cake type thing with a cream cheese middle). It’s better than the blondie or brownie, in my subjective view. I haven’t been served a roll on the last few trips, so I guess they’re gone.

Flexible Dining is OK. Not awful but not great. My main gripe is the presentation (photos below). The entree is served in its original plastic packaging, with a paper label, and the drink is served in a recyclable plastic cup. Can’t Amtrak at least do like airlines do and serve a reheated dinner on china?

I stayed in my room the whole time. There is a cafe car, but when gone to it before, I’ve been yelled at: either for trying to buy something but approaching the counter from the wrong side (there is usually a line from the opposite side as the sleeping cars, so I get in line and am then yelled at for approaching the counter from the coach car side) or for trying to sit at a table (Amtrak crew members usually sit down and take up most of the tables and have yelled at me when I’ve tried to sit down).

So since I expect to be yelled at in the cafe car, I now bring my own food onboard, to use if needed. There is a Chick-fil-A on 34th Street opposite Penn Station, and I usually pick up a cold entree there.
Fortunately since X was in charge of my sleeping car, I was served dinner, so I saved my Chick-fil-A meal for the next day once I arrived.

I went to bed early. I can make my own bed and usually sleep in the upper bunk, which seems to have a smoother ride than if you put the bed on top of the seats.

I had one pillow and a comforter, and the sheets were tightly wrapped around the mattress. It was OK. Note: bring an eye mask and earplugs, since there is some light that comes into your room even if you close the curtains around all of the interior and exterior windows, and there is some rattling.

I slept about five hours, waking up around Charlotte or Gastonia, then dozing off again. Norfolk Southern track is pretty smooth, but there was still some rattling.

X knocked on my door about 20 minutes before arrival, and then about five minutes before arrival. I was already up, but a wake-up call around then seems to be standard operating procedure for Amtrak, and I appreciate it. X and another Amtrak employee helped some other passengers and me off the train (I handed X a $10, but other passengers didn’t), and I walked home (in the dark and freezing cold, but it’s easy to do).

Overall, long-distance train travel has potential:

1. X is awesome, always friendly and helpful. She’s the best in the Amtrak system. I’ve come across some really nasty Amtrak employees and having her, by contrast, is a blessing.

2. Surely with some marketing and low-cost upgrades, Amtrak could take a decent portion of the overall market between NY and my arrival station. The southbound train schedule is convenient, and going to and from the station is much more pleasant than going to the airport, especially in NYC. However:

a. Amtrak stations in the Southeast are really subpar. Upon arrival, all you do is go straight to the parking lot, but my arrival station is just dodgy. Not unsafe, but someone who’s used to flying might question it.

b. Wi-Fi is spotty.

c. Flexible Dining is not a first-class meal. Serving dinner in plastic wrap, with a white label with large lettering on it, printed to look like a 1980s dot-matrix printer printed it, with a pitiful “salad”, just doesn’t cut it.

d. The Amtrak website plays up the on-board experience. But the on-board experience is ok, not great. The Crescent used to have beautiful dining cars, which were later described as “first class lounges”. Big windows, beautiful etched glass with pictures of trains, and nice booths. Gone, replaced with 1982-era lounges that are a step up (maybe) from a high school cafeteria, but since you run the risk of being yelled at at some point if you use them, staying in your room is safer. Amtrak can’t add those dining cars back?

e. Having uninterrupted time in a private room is great, and less stressful than flying.

f. The bedding is fine. I prefer two pillows, since lying with my head between them can block out the rattling, but I was given only one.

So I’m torn. The Crescent has so much potential; upgrading the meals, lounge car and bedding could make it into a true first class experience. And if you have work to do, uninterrupted time in a private room makes the trip much more productive than flying, and the total “wasted” time is much less than flying, particularly on an overnight trip since much of the time is spent asleep. However, the train has so much variability, ranging from a great employee (X) to some shockingly nasty employees who I’ve come across before, who clearly loathe customers, and ranging from a very comfortable and quiet room to mediocre food and dodgy stations.

So I guess if the price is the same as flying, or if you just want some quiet time, or if your origin or destination is far away from an airport (Clemson, Toccoa, etc. all count), then the the train beats flying. And X is awesome. But if you’re traveling between two cities with major airports (or airports with direct flights), or if you are looking for a true first-class experience, or if you encounter some of the malicious employees who work for Amtrak, then there’s no question: fly.

Note to Amtrak: improve the meals, retrain the nasty employees who loathe customers and do some marketing and you could have a booming business.

Flexible Dining photos below (note the label and plastic wrap on the entree, and the “salad”):

JAXPax

WeekendTraveler, thanks for the report. I've used the Crescent for years for similar means. I used to live in the NE and lived 3 blocks from the local Penn Station (helped too that I managed multiple cities and all were on the NEC, so once a week when I visited elsewhere it was a very easy commute). Going to Atlanta frequently, I would sometimes use the Crescent with a nice dinnertime departure and arrive at breakfast time. The northbound schedule has been awful until recently. Next month I need to go from where I now live in North Carolina up to Wilmington, DE, and it's a 6:30am departure and like a 3:30pm arrival. Roomette upgrade was not much at all, and it all works out about the price of an airline ticket to PHL, without need to deal with driving to airport, paying to park, and then on the other end ground transport to Delaware.

But agree with you wholeheartedly with improved meals, the return of the dining car, taking a bit better care of the passenger accommodations, and the right marketing and this is a convenient, reasonably priced option in a few areas outside of the NEC.