mike g. posted:Nice guys!
So Bob, let me get this right, you ride the train down south and they also haul your car down there for you? If that's the case what a great deal!
It's not bad Mike. The car usually costs about $500.00 round trip and the coach fare for the 4 of us is around $1500.00. Fares vary depending on when you book. The earlier the better. Trip includes dinner and breakfast and they have a lounge/ bar car open till 11 PM on the first night.
The train departs Virginia around 4:00 PM and should arrive in Florida by 11:00 AM the next day, same on the return. The big issue for Amtrak is that they run on CSX track and sometimes get stuck behind slower freight traffic. The video I shot was from our last trip 2 years ago. The train was just arriving at 3 PM (5 hours late), due to a fatality on the tracks the previous trip south. A CSX freight hit someone and it closed the line for hours. Amtrak runs the same train back and fourth so any delays have a ripple effect for the next few trips until they catch up. There are no scheduled stops except for a crew change and fuel in Georgia around 3 AM. The seats are not the most comfortable for sleeping but we manage. They do offer sleeper berths but its not worth the extra money for us.
The car gets dropped off when you arrive at the terminal, and they load it and unload it. They use a simple numbering system with magnetic signs that they put on the cars to identify them. Totally random and they call the numbers as the cars come off the train. Kind of like hitting the lottery if your car comes off early. One trip we were one of the final 10 cars to be off loaded. The best part is we pack the car once and everything stays with the car except for a couple of overnight bags and pillows and blankets we take on the train with us.
It is supposed to be the longest regularly scheduled train running in the US, sometimes almost 3/4 mile long. Its a nice ride for a train nut such as myself, they run through some big yards on the trip and its neat to see all the equipment along the way.
Bob
PS- the bridge looks great! Did you have a ground breaking ceremony for the first track installation? 
