My Amtrak Trip from New Jersey to Georgia: A Ride on Rare Transport

The bell clangs as the train arrives. The horn sounds, and the sound of the rails lulls you to sleep. A trip by train is a unique experience, one that is becoming increasingly rare as Amtrak continues to fight for its existence. I had the chance to take a special trip by train as a resounding finale to a wonderful trip. This time around, the trip would actually begin in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and end in Atlanta, Georgia. A detour to Princeton Junction and Trenton, New Jersey, would be included to practice my hobby of "railfanning" - photographing and recording the numbers of trains.

We arrived at Swarthmore's historic SEPTA station just in time for our R3 train, which would take us into center city Philadelphia. Our train, made up of three Silverliner IV's, arrived on schedule. Onboard, we found seats on the relatively full train, and after an uneventful ride, arrived about on time in 30^th Street station's upper level.

We walked under the tracks to track 3 to await our R7 train, which would bring us as far as Trenton. The two car Silverliner IV train arrived two minutes late, departing again slightly off schedule. We sped through several northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods, stopping at the dilapidated North Philadelphia station, once a major interchange point. Because we had to wait for an Amtrak train before arrival in Trenton, we arrived about five minutes late, giving us little time to make our connection to a New Jersey transit train.

Our NJT local, which departed right on time, consisted of an ALP-44 locomotive and a mix of Comet coaches. We arrived in Princeton Junction's well kept station on schedule, and bought a snack in the café there. While railfanning, we saw and photographed several Keystone and Acela Express trains, along with the ever present New Jersey Transit locals.

Our return NJT local was approximately five minutes late, and had a consist similar to the outbound train. However, we made up most of our lateness, arriving in Trenton on time.

In Trenton, as we waited for the Crescent, we railfanned a bit more, seeing, among other things, the northbound Crescent and NJT's new multi-level cars. Fifteen minutes before our train 19 was due to depart, it was announced. Right after the announcement, however, and NJT local arrived on the same track, puzzling me for a few seconds. Soon after, the Crescent, train 19 bound for New Orleans, arrived on track 4. Train 19(9) had the following consist: an AEM-7AC electric locomotive, a Heritage Baggage car, two Viewliner sleepers, a Heritage Dining car, an Amfleet II Diner-Lounge, and four Amfleet II coaches.

As we boarded our Viewliner Sleeper, car 1910, our attendant, Lester, checked our tickets. We made our way to Roomette 2, located adjacent to the Bedrooms. As we departed on time, we sped down the Northeast corridor, sometimes reaching 114 miles per hour! Our stops in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore were on time. The stretch of running near the Chesapeake Bay north of Baltimore, with many bridges over wide rivers, was very enjoyable.

Our arrival into Washington, D.C.'s Union Station was on time, and we were stopped on track 26 in the lower level. We walked to the door to detrain and stretch our legs, as the Crescent stops for a half hour to change engines and service the train here. During our stop, we watched the engines change from an electric AEM-7AC to two diesel P42DC's, and took a stroll along the length of the train, being quite exhausted by the time we boarded once again.

Our departure was on time, and the train proceeded under the Capitol Hill tunnels and over the Potomac River. We began to lose time once we passed onto CSX's and then Norfolk Southern's tracks, being about twenty minutes late by the time we were called to the diner for our 7:15pm dinner reservations. We had nice conversations with two different couples in the diner, and the Angus Beef Burger and Cheesecake which I had were, although not of five star quality, pleasant.

Returning to our room as the train sped into the night, I saw that we had lost more time, now being a half hour late. Sometime after Charlottesville, VA at about 10:00pm, we put the beds down and tried to sleep, with me sleeping on the upper bunk. I slept only once during the night, waking up fully once we arrived in Charlotte, NC at 3:15am, 55 minutes late. We walked back to the coaches to get a breath of fresh air and a brake from the train's extremely cold air conditioning, boarding again a few minutes before the train departed an hour behind schedule.

After resting for another two hours, we converted the room back into "day mode" around Greenville, SC, where we departed about one hour and fifteen minutes late. Soon after, as the sun began to rise, we heeded the 6:30am call for breakfast, and headed to the diner. I had the Railroad French Toast, which was ever bit as excellent as I remember. Our stops in Clemson, SC and Toccoa, GA were both about one and a quarter hours late. After Toccoa, we returned to our room. The ride into Atlanta was uneventful, and we arrived in the historic Peachtree Station a little over an hour late.

Upon detraining in Atlanta, we started walking towards the front of the train to take a photo of the locomotive. A baggage handler started yelling at us, telling us that we couldn't walk up to the engines, in a very rude fashion. I still can't understand her actions, and Amtrak will be hearing about this in a letter. After the disappointment, we walked up the stairs into the crowded station, and proceeded to the Arts Center MARTA station, ending an overall wonderful trip.

While the trip wasn't perfect, I am satisfied. Every Amtrak employee we met, aside form the baggage handler, was friendly, and our train was not overly late. I would gladly take this trip again, and would recommend it to anyone even considering taking a trip by train!