bitburgr

Last year, my family of four spent a week in Hilton Head and had such a great time that we wanted to do it again this summer. However, a 13+ hour drive from eastern PA to the southern tip of South Carolina (each way) wasn't any fun and I met with lots of resistance about repeating that drive again this year (resistance primarily coming from those who rode in the back seat of our mid-size SUV).

So, having plenty of Amtrak points in the bank, I looked at my options to get us from Philly to someplace near Hilton Head…which basically comes down to only three choices: The Palmetto, the Silver Star or the Silver Meteor. The Palmetto wasn't a likely option as it only has coach seating and I don't think my family was up for that. The Silver Star has bedroom options (part of this trip is for the adventure…and I think a bedroom on an Amtrak train, even of this duration, qualifies as a bit of an adventure). The problem with the Silver Star is the arrival time, an absolutely no fun 4:30 am (not sure how well that would go over). So the Silver Meteor was our choice as it had a 5:00-ism (pm) departure time and a 6:45 am arrival time (into our destination of Savannah, GA).

Coming home, the options were the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor. The Silver Star leaves at 1:30 am (!) so the Silver Meteor it is, again, with a reasonable 8:00 pm departure.

Looking at my available points, it seems that I'll be able to do one bedroom and one roomette each way. I don't recall reading too many Amtrak trip reports here on FT, but got some valuable information from "On-Track-On-Oline". In hindsight, this guy was right on target with just about everything he said. But for some reason, the size of the roomette didn't really register in my head when doing this research.

The day before we leave, I check out the Amtrak website and find some little animated apps that show the size of the bedrooms and roomettes on Viewliner equipment. I know I looked through their website during the planning and don't remember seeing these. The bedroom looks good and it's pretty neat how they convert from daytime seating to nighttime sleeping. But the roomette? I get out a tape measure and realize that these are the same size as my kitchen table. Uh oh.

AMTRAK Silver Meteor 97: PHL-SAV
The train is running about 15 minutes behind and it isn't until we board that we find out that our accommodations are in different cars. The attendant helps us get our luggage onto the train and settled into the roomette. Per "on-track-on-line", there are four theories on tipping (upfront, at the end, everyday in the morning, or never). I go with the upfront option and ask if we can be put together on the same car. The attendant disappears for about 2 minutes and confirms that yes, indeed, we can.

Bedroom:










You can see that there is plenty of "overhead" storage in the bedrooms. There is space for two or maybe three 22" rollaboards in a cubby next to the top bunk and space for a ton of stuff over the combined toilet/shower. We were within our carry on limits but there would have been no way to get all our stuff stowed if we had two roomettes. (Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the roomette in the daytime position.)



Very comfortable in the daytime seating position. There is a cubby for up to two 22" rollaboards next to the top bunk and there is space for some flat items to go under the seats. And that's about it. You'll also notice the presence of your toilet…it's rightthere. If you have any privacy issues about "going" in front of anyone, this is not the option for you. But you have to give credit to whoever designed these…there isn't an inch of wasted space anywhere.

We have immediate seating for dinner. The dining car isn't nearly as big as I expected, with only about 10 tables that can hold four people each. But the booths are fairly comfortable and the big windows provide plenty a great view of the passing scenery.

The food is pretty good. We each got something different and it was all substantial and tasty, with prices that are reflective of what you would see in your average family restaurant. (Our meals were included with our bedroom accommodations so we didn't have to pay anything extra.)



There are short stops in Wilmington and in Baltimore and then about twenty minutes in DC (where we can get off to stretch our legs but are requested to stay "train side"…meaning, don't go into the station…stay out on the platform). A great opportunity for people to power smoke. Apparently this is where they switch the train from electric power to diesel power as we continue south.



About the time we were ready to turn in, which was well south of DC, our attendant converted the rooms to nighttime sleeping.





Once the bedroom gets converted, there is very little room to walk. So if you want to wash your hands, it's a tight fit to stand between the bottom bunk and the sink.




(see, the toilet is right next to the lower berth)





Seriously, no wasted space. But now that I'm laying in the bottom bunk, I realize that the new private suites on Singapore, Qantas, etc… are probably the same size as this roomette. And those go for thousands and thousands of dollars. Sure, you get AVOD and fancier food on the airline, but the physical space has to be similar (based on very unscientific research…reading trip reports here on FT). I find this a little ironic.

Anyway, the bed is firm and comfortable. The pillows are a little thin as I like to prop up, but I'll survive. My son, who is sleeping on the top bunk, may or may not be tossing about. These are so solid, and with enough ambient train noise, that you really can't hear much…even people walking the hallways. Now, if you're a light sleeper, you may have trouble with that ambient train noise and all the normal train jostling, but this is a pretty good way to travel. I don't know that I'd want to go cross country (yet) but I'm generally pleased with the setup.

Around 6:00 am, the attendant knocks on our door to let us know that we're about 45 minutes out from SAV. Plenty of time to clean up and get our bags down. However, as the dining car doesn't open for breakfast until 6:30 (first come first serve), we miss this.

bitburgr

Amtrak Silver Meteor 98: SAV - PHL

Not much different can be said about the train ride north than what we experienced on the train ride south. I found that boarding later and having a later dinner time was a nicer way to enjoy the train experience (for us).

I can say that there is absolutely nothing to do in the SAV train station. It is clean. It is safe. It is comfortable. It has plenty of room. There is exactly one snack machine inside the station (and two outside). You can return your Hertz rental to the Amtrak agent (which is important because the nearest Hertz rental counter is at the airport…a $30+ cab ride away). Beyond that, there is nothing around.

Dinner was just as good as on the way down, although we did sit next to a family that thought that just about everything was laugh-out-loud funny and that using the name of the dining car attendant in every sentence was important (Hi, Joe. I'll have a Sierra Mist, Joe. I'll have the crab cakes, Joe, and the mashed potatoes instead of the baked potato, Joe. Thanks, Joe. Where are we, Joe?)

I found that having a later dinner time made the experience better. Why? I don't know…just did.

In the morning, we got to the dining car around 7:00 for breakfast. Menu prices are pretty good as compared to something like an IHOP. Rail fans seem to recommend the french toast so that what I went with. And they were right, it was pretty good. The dining car attendant overhead my wife and I talking about having the car attendant put our rooms back together and he was nice enough to relay the message.

During our stop in DC, I made my way to the coach cars to see how those folks were making out. The coach passengers I saw pulling their luggage certainly didn't look very happy. And I could see why. There was junk all over the floor. The bathrooms didn't smell great. It was warm. The seats themselves looked ok. They looked like regular Amtrak coach seats with real footrests and lots of legroom. Geez, now that I think about it, it was almost like international business class seating (without the food). Funny how perspective changes.

So all-in-all, it was a great trip and a wonderful experience. We would definitely do this again if I had the points. If I had to pay cash, though, I think it would be cheaper to fly down.

sobore

Thanks for the report! A rare Amtrak treat! ^

camsean

I love travelling by train, so thanks for taking the time to write this report.

CarsTrainsPlanes

Hi, bitburgr.

Nice to hear that you had a nice experience on Amtrak. How was the on-time performance, by the way? I have heard that Amtrak trains perform poorly out of the Northeast Corridor and frequently they are hours late. As I have only taken Amtrak between PHL and NYP and WAS (not on Acela), I have no idea if that claim can be substantiated or not.

Thanks for the report. Very nice indeed.

bitburgr

For the trip south, we left PHL about 15 minutes late but arrived in SAV just about on-time.

For the trip north, however, we left on-time but then had numerous long stops along the way (stops that weren't at stations). We ended up arriving close to an hour late in PHL. And any time we asked an attendant about our schedule, we were always assured that we were on schedule yet were clearly not. Not really a big deal, just not sure why they wouldn't be up front with us.

JayBrian

Thanks for the great report.

I still think of the The Three Stooges episodes and Marx Brothers movie where they travel by train when I think about what overnight train travel is like. I guess that was in the 30s. Train travel hadn't seemed to change that much by the time Some Like it Hot was made in the 50s.

CMK10

Great report! It sure gets me excited for my Los Angeles to Portland, OR trip this October. I also agree that the French Toast is the way to go for breakfast.

roadwarriorafrica

Great report bitburger. Good to see a non-standard report. Thanks^

snod08

nice to read an Amtrak TR, and also great pics of accommodations!

bitburgr

Thanks. It's tough to get pictures without a wide-angle lens since the space is so small.

auntla

Nice to read an AMTRAK trip report, we did Tampa - Washington in April this year in a bedroom - 27 hours with delays, but it was great fun we met and talked to so many different people, a very social way to travel (but not the best nights sleep I've ever had!)