BST:5 - Leavin' on a big train...

Its amazing how your least in the mood to travel when you most have to.

The morning was spent getting together a backpack full of crap so I wouldn't have to leave my seat during the ride. Tapes, batteries, notebook, camera, snacks, the useful stuff. I was packing nothing, no clothes, no supplies. This was an end-run for the final yard. Had to travel light.

Escorted to the Long Island RailRoad station, into Penn Station, and onto the train itself by my Da. A dizzying experience to say the least. I was seated immediately on the Amtrak train, Crescent Southbound out of NYP to LYH, Train 19. The crew could not have been nicer, having been informed as to my situation upon arrival. They kept a close eye on me during the trip. The attendant even allowed me to jump off for a smoke at every opportunity, knowing I probably couldn't make the trip to the smoking lounge.

The doors closed, and I said goodbye to NY and everything and everyone I knew and loved. The first lurch of the train, then a barely perceptible transition to acceleration. We were off.. Through the tunnel under the Hudson, and blasting out into the light of what I remember to be a grey, dreary day.

This was my first long-haul trip on Amtrak in years. The time prior was a trip to Disney in Orlando, via Amtrak. I remember that trip mainly because I was up all night, staring out into the blackness. I learned the sound of the horn keening into the night, the staccato blasts that meant we were coming upon a crossing.

Its a nearly 8 hour trek south, which I found out much later that if it only takes 8 hours you should consider yourself lucky. But hell, I was on a train. Happy at that. I found a position which was somewhat comfortable, and dug in for the ride.

The nice thing was that most of the trip was made by daylight, which meant I had a view. Newark and Trenton went fairly quickly, as I spent endless amounts of good eyesight on staring out at the passing world. Philly was the first big stop with a layover. Granted, unlike in the airline industry where 'layover' usually means next time you are in a plane you'll be collecting social security; this layover was only about 20 mins while they futzed with the engines or something. For someone who was in bad shape, I was having a pretty good time. Just me and my walkman, a few pieces of literature. Some gum.

I've always liked traveling by myself, even if it was just on the subway. No need for small talk, or trying to shout above the sound of the train. Just syncing the music in my head with the scenes in my eyes. Deep in thought about anything, but still making progress in the world.

Wilmington, Baltimore, and then DC. The NE Corridor is a busy busy place. Multiple rail lines use it, from commuter rail like MARTA, to freight ops like NS and (whatever is left of) Conrail. There are even points nearing DC where suddenly the DC Metro system is a sneeze away from heavy rail.

I remember my one time on the DC Metro - I thought the stations were huge, but the old lady playing with her dentures on the train made me a wee bit nervous. That's DC for ya.

The longest layover is at DC, which can easily be a half hour to fourty five minutes, if all goes smoothly. Its where they swap engines from the silly catanery overhead electric engines to the big, ballsy diesel engines that are limited in speed.

Wait, what? Ok- sidenote rant here. Acela is a electric engine. Runs off overhead power. Top speed on the overhead electric is roughly 150mph. Where they can run that fast that is. Thats the speed limit enforced on the overhead electric side of the rails. Once you swap down to straight diesel, or even diesel/electric - your limited to 85mph.

Why? Those trains can blow 85mph without sweating. Given a good run, a diesel can pull a 100mph run with ease. Anyway - politics of train engines. Bah.

So what stands out in my head from this half the trip? Well, I would have to say the big neon sign on the bridge in Trenton which reads: "Trenton Makes, The World Takes."

The sudden crush of city as you pull into Philly. You were just in a fairly rural part of Jersey, now you have the highway about arms length from the train.

The Baltimore skyline, the bridges - big and small, The Baltimore Zoo from the back end.

What really impressed me the most however was probably the most unexpected. Wilmington, DE. A city not unlike Roanoke. Large businesses, fairly large buildings - Amtrak East HQ, a downtown area being revitalized. Centrally located train station. Just like Roanoke, only with more water.

I think we hit DC around 7pm or so, I still have the schedule from that trip somewhere. We were due in Lynchburg around 11p, so there was still more to see.

Oh - coolest thing, pulling out of DC you go through a century old tunnel - one can pratically see the old steam engines pushing through, considering the soot is still on the walls.

I will post the rest of this journey later on today. Maybe have it up by 11pm - try and stick to the actual timeline of the train.

But the journey was the easy part, it was the stop at WalMart that was hard.