I travel regularly to the Ft. Lauderdale to work with clients. Ordinarily, most meetings are scheduled for late morning or the afternoon, necessitating a flight from Tampa, or a drive that, with stops, lasts nearly five hours. Flights can be expensive for meetings called on short notice and no matter how appealing I find the Florida Everglades, the drive is grueling. Today is different. I don’t need to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale before 7:00 PM, making this the perfect opportunity to try another mode of transportation. Considering the round-trip cost is only $61.20 (AAA Rate), I’m pretty excited about taking Amtrak from Tampa.
The response from most people I tell I’m taking the train is the same: really? Yes, really. Here’s my journal from the trip with this bottom line: Really, I’d do it again!
The Tampa Union Station preservation is impressive. Built in the era of the cavernous and needlessly large, it is still beautiful and well lit. I was pleased to learn of free, overnight parking located behind locked gates. Passengers are far less anxious, with no security or lines. Not a single suit or tie in sight like you see at airports. Some people may appear a little more down-trodden but, for the most part, they’re a civilized lot.
We’re instructed to stand on a covered, concrete platform outside as the train backs slowly into the station. Passengers are told to board one car at the rear of the train for Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, another for Miami and all other destinations.
The car is empty and there are plenty of seats, so there is no real need to scramble to be first. Seats are comfortable with outstanding leg room. Most passengers’ legs might not reach the seats in front of them. I was surprised to see two, 120-volt electrical outlets at every seat, but they didn’t work when I plugged in my lap top. Turns out power is only working on the “port side” in this car. One passenger offered to trade seats with me without prompting. My view of fellow passengers immediately stepped up a notch.
Big windows afford maximum view. Guess it is asking too much for someone to wash them more often. The train left the station at 12:53, only eight minutes late, riding through the familiar back side of Ybor City I knew well as a child, though it looks far more gentrified today. We pick up speed pretty rapidly, too. The train is quiet and the air conditioning works well, but you will have to get used to the rocking back and forth on certain parts of the track. No need to pack your noise-canceling headphones, but you can hear the train’s whistle blowing often in the distance, which is a good argument for being seated at the rear of the train.
Not as much chatter from the conductors, like flight attendants on an airplane, but they do have a sense of humor, indicating they will find the stowaways when they collect tickets. Our conductor is a large, bearded man who seems polite, friendly and confident.
As soon as my ticket is taken, I head forward to the dining car. My first impression is less than expected. It’s really more like a snack bar. I indicate to the lady behind the counter that it is my first trip and she kindly advises I should check out the dining car farther forward. It was good advice.
Tables for four with white linen table cloths, glass salt and pepper shakers and real, metal utensils (you won’t find that on a plane any more). Sit where you wish, either alone or join someone at a table already occupied. Apparently this is appropriate train etiquette, as if we’re all the same on this train. I opt to sit with an older woman traveling this train for the third time to visit her daughter in Miami. She has already ordered a Corona.
The dishes are the harder plastic kind that might be reusable, but are still presentable. I’m drinking respectable iced tea before we reach Plant City. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served on this train, and there’s even a children’s menu. The short menu of main courses for lunch include Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings as an appetizer for $7.50, Today’s Warm Sandwich ($8.00), Amy’s Organic Veggie Burger ($7.75), Angus Steak Burger ($7.75), Freshly Made Specialty Salad ($9.00) and the Chef’s Luncheon Special (9.00). Breakfast is reasonably priced, but dinner is going to set you back a bit more, with prices ranging from 12.50 to 22.50. But really, where else are you going to go? All entrees include coffee, tea or milk. Beer, wine and premium cocktails are all available at reasonable prices.
The burger seemed like the safe call, but I’m a sucker for Chef’s specials, so I take a chance, ordering grilled chicken and mushroom sauce over a wild rice medley, served with a small salad and a warm roll. Gourmet it’s not, but my lunch fell squarely in the comfort food category and was quite satisfying. Three baskets of T. Marzetti’s salad dressings, real butter and Promise, condiments and Mini Moos on the table assure you won’t be wanting anything, but the wait staff always seemed to be within eyesight and are friendly and responsive. There are several desserts available that sounded quite nice, including a warm apple crisp with ice cream, but I decline. I’m comforted knowing I can still try the burger on the way back.
About the only down side to the meal is the view. With wide open windows, the dining car affords you both the best and worst Florida has to offer in the way of scenery. Unfortunately, the stretch between Plant City and Lakeland offers little to enjoy, but that is hardly criticism. I am well fed and watered, that battle already won.
The view begins to improve as we approach Winter Haven just after 2:30, passing close to large lakes and over the small canals that connect them. One momentarily unsettling event occurred earlier when the train slowed to a stop and was then passed by another passenger train moving at full throttle. Our train is clearly “the local,” virtually crawling through the city, whistle constantly blowing. I begin to feel sorry for the neighbors. Maybe a couple of passengers disembark at Winter Haven. The train doesn’t stop but for a couple of minutes, at most. Just past the station we cross over another canal-between-lakes. Four people on a pontoon boat wave at the train as it passes overhead. You won’t see that happen from an airplane.
The train doesn’t ever seem to maintain any given speed, and seems to slow more often than ever reach any noticeable speed. Still, I see orange groves, lakes and the wide, open spaces Central Florida is known for, along with white sand ridges covered with the palmetto, pine and oak hammocks that I happen to love. It appears the track is under repair every few miles, with wooden ties strewn along the grade and CSX (the rail line) workers and their equipment found in isolated locations giving reason for the train to slow. We pick up speed again on a straight stretch of track north of Avon Park. With my handy GPS in hand, driven crazy by my constantly driving off the road, I am comforted by always knowing where I am.
As we approach Sebring at 3:25 PM, the scenery improves dramatically with miles of orange groves to my right and big lakes and oak forests to my left. We pass a large RV park, filled with refugees from the cold north, the train, no doubt, something they’ve grown used to. Soon the orange groves engulf us on both sides, just before we pull into a small station on the outskirts of Sebring, the train’s whistle still blowing.
It turns out I was right about all the construction. Apparently it has slowed the train and we are predicted to roll in fifty minutes late to Ft. Lauderdale. At least we can use our cell phones to call ahead and change arrangements. I have to admit that I wouldn’t have known we were late if the conductor hadn’t told us. There is a timelessness to train travel that is dramatically different from air travel. There is a difference between sitting in frustration at an airport, waiting for a delayed flight, and sitting comfortably on a train in motion, largely doing as you please. I don’t think I will feel half as bad about being late by train as I would were I flying Southwest Airlines into Ft. Lauderdale’s airport.
I also learned the conductor isn’t as happy as he first appeared. Apparently “management” has chosen not to maintain the public address system on the train—he claims it hasn’t worked in over two years—so conductors must walk the length of the train, repeatedly announcing the next stop. Unlike airplanes, where you are instructed to stow all your electronic toys before you land, including those that involve headphones or earbuds, a lot of people are missing the announcements about the next stop, and failing to get off the train when they’re supposed to. The conductor was clearly unhappy about this and a little condescending of people who failed to pay attention. I considered his behavior less than professional, and certainly not the best face Amtrak would want to present.
Just short of Ft Lauderdale, the train comes to a complete stop, presumably to allow traffic on the rails ahead to clear. Unlike air travel, train travel is a very linear, two-dimensional concept. This stop affords me the opportunity to confirm gangs are alive and well in Broward County. The back side of warehouse buildings facing the tracks are covered with highly ornate graffiti. If they did not signify some form of lawlessness and danger, I could appreciate the art.
In Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties, Amtrak shares the rails with the Tri-Rail, a local train providing frequent, regular service. The stations take on a stark, open, modern look resembling bus, light rail and subway stations. That’s fine, I think, unless it is raining. As the train pulls into the station at 5:55 PM, about 45 minutes late, my impression of the trip remains strongly positive. I look forward to tomorrow’s return trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment