Riding Amtrak

[NW Mailing List]

 I grew up in Bluefield,W. Va. in the 40's and 50's, and like Gordon, I rode the N&W passenger trains, because that was our mode of transportation to visit family in Norfolk, Salem, Tazewell, and Columbus. My Dad was an engineer on the Pokey Div. which allowed us free pass anywhere on the N&W. I cannot add anything more to what Gordon said about the service except to mention the delicious  fried chicken that my Mother packed into the brown bags for our trips. During my Navy days in the late 50's I rode the trains on weekend liberty from Norfolk to Bluefield at a whopping cost of $14.00 round trip( Military coach rate), even then the brown bags of  fried chicken was still provided by Mom.
I have ridden Amtrak a number of times from Williamsburg to Philadelphia and Boston over the years and I guess being a Rail fan, I couldn't find anything to complain about. The crews were helpful and friendly, and I can't say anything but good about the friendliness of passengers. Each trip has its own good story of people that I met and traveled with.  It did seem some what strange to sit on siding while freight trains went by. 
I took one overnight trip to Indianapolis. The train only ran round trip on Wednesday's and Friday's, and to avoid a 6 hr. layover in D.C. we drove to Charlottesville and caught the train there. Return trip provided daylight, a beautiful mountain ride through New River Gorge, down to Hinton, W. Va., White Sulfur Springs, and over to Goshen through Stanton then back to Charlottesville. The rest rooms were never cleaned between stations, that was somewhat of a problem especially for the ladies. The coach class hot dogs, French fries, and drink could not compare to the brown bags of fried chicken.
I believe Amtrak is improving and is our hope for the future.

Gene A.
Gloucester Va.  
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