Train Transportation #AtoZChallenge

It's "T" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme has been "From Florida to Vermont With Stops In Between". 

But, up to now, I haven't shown you how we are traveling (at least in my imagination) from place to place on my blog.  Are you ready for the big reveal?

Say "hi" to the Auto Train. In real life, the Auto Train runs, once a day in each direction, from Lorton, Virginia (about 20 miles from Washington, DC)  to Sanford (just north of Orlando), Florida, and vice-versa.  It leaves (if it's on time) between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm and arrives at its destination (if on time) around 9am the following morning.

I've written several posts about the Auto Train, but I can't give you any current description because I haven't been on it since January, 2020. But this is my imaginary journey so here we go.

Please note that you can't get off anywhere.  You are on the train nonstop.  The train itself makes one stop (more on that later) but only to change crews and load on supplies.

Today, we are going to take the Auto Train from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia. At one time there was a plan to bring it into Washington, DC but there is a tunnel it would have to pass through and the cars with the auto racks are too tall.

Why the name? In order to ride, you must have a motorized vehicle (car, van, some motorcycles, and, depending on room, a limo) and there is a separate fare for the vehicle depending on what it is.  You don't have access to the vehicle during the journey.

Both stations look basically the same from the inside.  Also, both stations serve only the Auto Train, so only Auto Train passengers and Amtrak personnel are inside the terminal.

Let's board.

One of the cars on the outside.  I'm not a train "geek", so I don't know what the function of this car is.

Ladies and gentlemen, this will be our locomotive.  Actually, there are two of them.

This train is long.  Very, very long.

At full capacity, it holds approximately 300 cars and the passengers accompanying them.  The only place you can see part of the train is around a long curve in Jacksonville, Florida.  In the upper corner, you see part of the front of the train. 

The one stop is in Florence, South Carolina, which is the midway point between Sanford and Lorton.  There is activity, but it's pretty quiet.  It's also a good time to visit the bathrooms because the train is standing still.  Or, if you aren't sleeping, you can enjoy the view of a major medical center.

Sunrise or sunset somewhere.

 And we've arrived in Lorton, Virginia.

Tomorrow is an off day for the A to Z Challenge although I will post a non A to Z post (probably about spring).  

Monday, we resume, with a Music Moves Me musical post devoted to the letter "U".  Join me then!

Shifted to Another Track

I like train travel, which is why I found myself, on New Year's Eve, looking at the Amtrak website for a trip to Florida.

Let me assure my readers, it's an imaginary trip.

I've ridden the Auto Train, which runs from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida, several times.  The first time was with my spouse and son.  The other times were just with my spouse.

Last year's trip in January was exploratory, to find a place to rent for snowbirding.  I was planning to retire in April, 2020.  We signed up with a real estate agent after a long talk with him.  We visited the inlaws of one of my cousins and found another possibility.

We rode the train home, thinking of past trips home on the train, and confident we would make snowbirding happen.

Dunedin, Florida, January 2020

Enter COVID-19. That Florida trip was the last travel (except for two trips this past summer to Ithaca, New York, an hour from where we live) we would indulge in for who knows how long.

Our lives, like everyone else, have been shifted to a different track.

It's a track that can be boring, or full of terror (depending on the day) but it is definitely different than how I planned to spend my retirement.

So, about that trip to the Amtrak Auto Train portion of the website. It's definitely different, and I know something of what to expect from reading this person's experience riding a train in California.

One thing that pleased me was that there was a real time indicator on the website indicating how full the train was (and, I understand the train runs, when "full", at 50% capacity).  But still, we decided against our "imaginary trip". 

It was nice to dream, though.

One year ago today, I took this picture on the way to work.  The sun was rising.

We didn't know what was going to follow in the next months, just as we don't know what will happen in our present 2021 in the next few months, too.

In Florida we ran across a flowering plant called "Yesterday, today and tomorrow".

Right now, all we can do make the best of the train track we've been shifted onto, and learn its lessons.  We won't be snowbirding this year.  Maybe not next year, either.  

But, for now, we must stay safe, so we can enjoy the tomorrows on this new track.

The Train to Florida #blogboost

It's been an experience, raising a son and experiencing him as both a child and an adult.  Sometimes, I like to look back at some of my fondest experiences.

In 2006, it had been 30 years since I last set foot in Florida.

Now it was time to go back.

How much had things changed since I lived in Tampa, Florida between 1974 and 1976?

I remember a lot about what is now called "old Florida" from living there, and from visits in 1966, 1969 and 1972 as a teenager. I remember Busch Gardens in Tampa when it was a free brewery tour followed by a free trained parrot show. I remember Disney World when it first opened (my first visit was 10 months, I believe, after its opening) before you needed a bank loan to visit.

So how did I prepare for this nostalgic visit? By researching it to death. I discovered various Tampa landmarks of my years there were gone-Mirabella's, Maas Brothers - and others had been bought up or had name changes. The Tampa skyline definitely was not what it was (or, more like it, what it was not) back in 1976. But absolutely nothing prepared me for what was to come.

And now...how to get to Florida?  I am scared of flying (a long story).

I remembered seeing ads for the Auto Train in the early 1970's when I still lived in New York City.  It still existed.  So we booked it, myself, my spouse and my then-16 year old son, and our car.

Lorton Auto Train terminal, March 2013

Here's a post I wrote in 2018 about riding on the Auto Train.  It's named the Auto Train, by the way, because you must have a motorized vehicle (which rides in separate cars) to ride on the train.

Once the train pulled out of the station in Lorton, Virginia, there was the amazing sense of getting ready to complete a journey that had started in 1966. Forty years earlier, an Atlantic Coast Line train had brought me home from Tampa, Florida during an airplane strike. Now, in a way, I was taking the return train.

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, we passed near Civil War battlefields we had visited years ago. At Quantico, we went right through the marine base and watched helicopters in flight. We passed over a beautiful lake and had close up views of the countryside. In Richmond, Virginia, we passed so close to a highway we could see the faces of drivers heading in the opposite direction. It was so tempting to wave!

A train (not the Auto Train, but on the same tracks) traveling through Ashland, VA, April 2017

We passed people going home for their supper hour. In one town (Ashland, Virginia) we passed right down the middle of their main street, with driveways backing right into the path of the train.

Even after darkness fell,  I peered out the window every time lights and the start of whistle blowing announced a town. We passed through southern North Carolina as I fell into a fitful sleep. The train seemed to speed up. When a train passed in another direction it felt as if the train would rock right off its tracks.

Finally, we pulled into a well lit station - our one stop, to change crews and do maintenance only: Florence, South Carolina. We stayed there a while, and then traveled on.

At some point I woke up in time to see a huge, well lit billboard for a Crab Shack on Tybee Island and didn't know if it was part of a dream or not. (It was not a dream).

The next thing I knew, it was 6am and time for breakfast. We were traveling through southern Georgia.

As darkness made way to light, my son and I gazed upon a southern green scape. What a feeling it was to share this with my son, pointing out the southern vegetation and  landmarks as we came across them. How awesome is it to share a piece of your life with your teenage son?

The sun was already high in the sky as we crossed over the St. Mary's River into Florida. It glared down with the promise of a broiling August Florida day. After breakfast, we slowly wound through Jacksonville, Florida.  Jacksonville is the largest city (in area) in the United States and the Auto Train gives a very good view, taking a good 20 minutes to pass through.

To my delight I saw names I had not seen in 30 years...Kash and Karry, Winn-Dixie. They had survived the 31 years since I had been last in Jacksonville.

South of Jacksonville, we saw many shade houses on farms, and the conductor announced these were fern growing areas. Certainly nothing you would have seen from the Interstate.

Finally we got to Sanford, and the circle started in 1966 was complete.

It was the last time my spouse, my son and I would take a common vacation until August 2017, when we traveled together (well, in separate cars) to see the total solar eclipse in Columbia, South Carolina. I asked my son if he remembered the trip to Florida.  He did, and said he wouldn't mind traveling on the Auto Train again. 

I hope he does one day.

Have you ever traveled long distance by train?

Day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Amtrak's Auto Train and Adventure Awaits - #Blogboost #AtoZChallenge

Florida, the Sunshine State.

Many, many visit the theme parks that have brought Florida worldwide attention - the Disney theme parks, Universal, Busch Gardens and more.

But how many people see the rest of Florida? The hidden wonders, the sometimes quirky towns, the fascinating history, the wildlife that some travel thousands of miles to see?

For that reason, I hope to bring you the Sunshine State the typical tourist may never get to see.  This month, I plan to show you Florida, outside the theme parks, from A to Z.

Let's take a train ride together on "A" Day - the first day of the 30 day long Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

This is the Lorton station (near Washington, DC) in Virginia where you pick up the Auto Train.

Art work, Auto Train station, Lorton, VA

What is special about the Auto Train?  To ride it, you must bring a motorized vehicle with you - a motorcycle, car, or motor home.

We will board the train in Lorton, Virginia. There is one train each day in each direction. Each is non stop (the one stop is for crew changes and the like) leaving around 4pm and arriving around 9am the next morning.

Near Fredericksburg, VA

The beautiful thing about train travel is how you see things you just don't see from the highway.  Sometimes, you are literally traveling though back yards - other times, through forests or possibly even Civil War battlefields.

Breakfast on the Auto Train

Darkness will fall on our trip as we pass near Richmond, Virginia.  And, in a small world moment, we are seated, in the dining car, next to a couple who owns a couple of rural supermarkets about 15 miles from where I live in upstate New York.  What are the chances?

We will wake up, still in the dark, as we pass through Jacksonville, Florida, and walk into the dining car for breakfast.

Eventually the sun will rise, and Florida will be revealed to us.  When we left, it was winter with snow and cold.  Now, the skies are blue and the plants are green.

We arrive in Sanford, Florida, the other end of the Auto Train route, and wait for our car.

Adventure awaits, as I participate in two memes this month, the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost and "A" day on the #AtoZChallenge, where my theme is "Florida Outside the Theme Parks".

Please join me.  Tomorrow, "B" there or "B" square.

Florida Sunrise - #SkywatchFriday

The Auto Train (a train that goes nonstop from Northern Virginia to Central Florida) provide the opportunity to see scenery you just don't see from the Interstate.

As the sun rises over Florida, we are past Jacksonville and riding through rural land.

We are passing through nursery farms growing ferns.  What you are seeing is the top of shade houses shielding the ferns from the Florida sun.

Below, what you are seeing is frost on the ground on that January morning.  Yes, even in Florida, you can get frost.

Sunrise over Seville, Florida.

Join Yogi and other bloggers for #SkywatchFriday, where bloggers watch the sky and photograph it from all over the world.

Winter Wonders - Escaping Winter

Two weeks ago I had blogged about our first vacation with our now grown son since 2006.  Today, I'd like to share part of that trip with you.

In 2006, it had been 30 years since I last set foot in Florida.

Now it was time to go back.

How much had things changed since I lived in Tampa, Florida between 1974 and 1976?

I remember a lot about what is now called "old Florida" from living there, and from visits in 1966, 1969 and 1972 as a teenager. I remember Busch Gardens in Tampa when it was a free brewery tour followed by a free trained parrot show. I remember Disney World when it first opened (my first visit was 10 months, I believe, after its opening) before you needed a bank loan to visit.

So how did I prepare for this nostalgic visit? By researching it to death. I discovered various Tampa landmarks of my years there were gone-Mirabella's, Maas Brothers - and others had been bought up or had name changes. The Tampa skyline definitely was not what it was (or, more like it, what it was not) back in 1976. But absolutely nothing prepared me for what was to come.

And now...how to get to Florida?  I am scared of flying (a long story).

I remembered seeing ads for the Auto Train in the early 1970's when I still lived in New York City.  It still existed.  So we booked it, myself, my spouse and my 16 year old son, and our 1999 Altima.

Lorton Auto Train terminal, March 2013

Once the train pulled out of the station in Lorton, Virginia, there was the amazing sense of getting ready to complete a journey that had started in 1966. Forty years earlier, an Atlantic Coast Line train had brought me home from Tampa, Florida during an airplane strike. Now, in a way, I was taking the return train.

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, we passed near Civil War battlefields we had visited years ago. At Quantico, we went right through the marine base and watched helicopters in flight. We passed over a beautiful lake and had close up views of the countryside. In Richmond, Virginia, we passed so close to a highway we could see the faces of drivers heading in the opposite direction. It was so tempting to wave!

A train (not the Auto Train) traveling through Ashland, VA, April 2017

We passed people going home for their supper hour. In one town (Ashland, Virginia) we passed right down the middle of their main street, with driveways backing right into the path of the train.

Even after darkness fell,  I peered out the window every time lights and the start of whistle blowing announced a town. We passed through southern North Carolina as I fell into a fitful sleep. The train seemed to speed up. When a train passed in another direction it felt as if the train would rock right off its tracks.

Finally, we pulled into a well lit station - our one stop, to change crews and do maintenance only: Florence, South Carolina. We stayed there a while, and then traveled on.

At some point I woke up in time to see a huge, well lit billboard for a Crab Shack on Tybee Island and didn't know if it was part of a dream or not. (See blog post from yesterday-it was not a dream).

The next thing I knew, it was 6am and time for breakfast. We were traveling through southern Georgia.

As darkness made way to light, my son and I gazed upon a southern green scape. What a feeling it was to share this with my son, pointing out the southern vegetation and  landmarks as we came across them. How awesome is it to share a piece of your life with your teenage son?

The sun was already high in the sky as we crossed over the St. Mary's River into Florida. It glared down with the promise of a broiling August Florida day. After breakfast, we slowly wound through Jacksonville, Florida.  Jacksonville is the largest city (in area) in the United States and the Auto Train gives a very good view, taking a good 20 minutes to pass through.

Frost on grass near Jacksonville, Florida, March 2013

To my delight I saw names I had not seen in 30 years...Kash and Karry, Winn-Dixie. They had survived the 31 years since I had been last in Jacksonville.

South of Jacksonville, we saw many shade houses, and the conductor announced these were fern growing areas. Certainly nothing you would have seen from the Interstate.

Finally we got to Sanford, and the circle started in 1966 was complete.

Fast forward to August 2017, when we traveled together (perhaps for the last time), and I asked my son if he remembered the trip to Florida.  He did, and said he wouldn't mind traveling on the Auto Train again. 

I hope he does!

Alligators and Crab Shacks - FlavoursomeTuesdays

In 2006, my spouse and I rode the Auto Train for the first time. (The Auto Train is a train that runs from Northern Virginia to Central Florida, and vice-versa, not making any passenger stops.  To ride it, you must have a car, which travels on the same train.  It's the only such train in the United States).

I've never slept well on the Auto Train, and something happened on that first trip that has become a tradition.

I woke up from a fitful sleep to realize we were traveling through a city.  We were passing under an Interstate, and some large billboards were visible.  One billboard, lit up, advertised "The Crab Shack. Tybee Island."

I didn't have Internet access on that trip and had never heard of Tybee Island. But I researched it as soon as I could and found it was an island close to Savannah, Georgia.

In March of 2009 spouse and I traveled on the Auto Train again.  I woke up from a fitful sleep, and as my spouse softly snored next to me, I peeked out of the window and saw the very same sign.

It was a sign, that sign!  I was being told to eat at the Crab Shack.

We were supposed to drive through Savannah on the way home but had car trouble, and had to take the Auto Train home.  We swore we would visit Savannah and we subsequently did, but didn't eat at the Crab Shack.

In March of 2013 we rode the Auto Train still again.  This time, we both woke up as we were traveling through Savannah, and my spouse spotted the sign even before I did.  Marveling at this huge (to our sleep-bleary eyes) sign, we decided that yes, we would go to the Crab Shack.  We would fill in this hole in our travels.

And so we did.

From the outside, it looks like a "tourist trap".  But the food (noting I do not get compensated for this or any other review) was good.  My spouse still remembers their soup.

Inside, I noticed the restaurant had open walls to the outside - with only a screen between diners and the great outdoors.  If only I could live in a place like that, said my winter-starved inner voice.

Not so fast, said reality, as I saw movement outside the screened in wall.  Can you see what I saw?

After lunch we went outside, to see some of the 78 alligators the Crab Shack owned. These are all domestic, as in "born in captivity".  The Shack does not tolerate any abuse of the gators by customers, but they were easily accessible (if someone dared) and I hope they have good lives.

Up close, they almost look fake - but they certainly were not fake.

Here's their menu.

So, guess what.  This month we are hopefully riding the Auto Train for the first time since 2013.

 I wonder if we will see the sign again?


Join Bellybytes at Mumbai on a High and Shilpa Gupte at Metanoia for #FlavoursomeTuesdays. If you want to share a food related memory, why not join us?

The Tropicana Train - Music Monday #AtoZChallenge

It's been a while since I've blogged about my love of trains.

I grew up in New York City, and rode the New York subways many times.  Later in life, I was able to take a passenger train occasionally, such as the Autotrain, which runs nonstop between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando), a distance of approximately 900 miles (about 1450 km).

Auto Train poster in Sanford, Florida, 2013

To ride the Auto Train, you must have a vehicle with you.  The vehicles ride in special transit cars while you ride in comfort for (hopefully) the 16 hour trip.

On my trips on the Auto Train, there is one beautiful small town that I fell in love with from the first time I passed through on the train - Ashland, Virginia. 

The train tracks run down the center of town and you get a wonderful view of Railroad Avenue as you pass through the border of a college, a commercial district, and then residential homes.

But I had never seen the town, except from the train.  So, recently, I traveled to Ashland, VA to change that.

A downtown mural, Ashland, Virginia

Ashland calls itself "The Center of the Universe". I don't know about that, but it is an interesting small college town and what is called a "train town".  Yes, the trains run down the middle of the street several times a day.  Some stop.  Some don't. 

Some of the homes you will see if you ride the train through Ashland.

The train station, which doubles as the Ashland visitor center.

A train went through minutes after we arrived at the station.  Part of what the train was hauling was empty Tropicana orange juice train cars.  They fill up in Florida, and return, in what is called the "Tropicana Train".

Another view of the train.

I took this short video of the train coming.

You might say it was a Long Train Runnin'.(Thank you, Doobie Brothers.)

"T" on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge as I "travel through time and space".

Best of AM - The Auto Train as Spiritual Journey Part 2

This is one of the first blog posts I wrote, back in 2009 when I started this blog.  Civil War Sunday is on hiatus - I hope you will enjoy this travel post, instead.  This story will conclude tomorrow.  Join me in this train story, as I go back in time to my childhood.

In July of 1966, my father and I flew down to Tampa, Florida to visit family. It was my first "real" trip outside of the general area around my native New York City and my first time on an airplane. We were supposed to fly back home except...the airlines went on strike. Every single one of them.

My Dad had to get home and get back to work. The way back home turned out to be on an Atlantic Coast Line train. Tampa to NYC. The ride was about 26 hours long.

I was familiar with the NYC subways and had even ridden the Long Island Railroad, but this was something different.

I can still remember portions of the journey 43 years later. A dinner (I remember how expensive the prices seemed), served on china. Many people carrying Atlantic Coast Line bags; how I wish we had bought one. At one point they told people the train was going to split, and if you weren't in the correct car you would end up going somewhere else. But most of all, the scenery stayed with me. When you are on a train, there is an intimacy totally unlike seeing the country from the Interstate. On a train you travel literally through people's back yards. Their everyday lives are yours to observe as you speed past. We traveled through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina. Rural poverty unfolded around me, almost close enough to touch. It wasn't the war on poverty from television. This was reality.

I don't remember much about the big cities, although I know we later traveled through Baltimore and Philadelphia. It's the countryside I remember. And the countryside that called to me the next time I would travel on a long distance train, 40 years later, back to Florida.

Tomorrow, my then-16 year old son and I connect on a train.

Best of AM - The Auto Train as Spiritual Journey Part 1

This series was one of the first things I posted on my blog back in 2009.  In honor of the Labor Day travel season, I post it again.  I took a fourth ride on the Auto Train this winter and - well, one of these days I'll post about that, too.  Enjoy!

Now that spring has come, I can admit that this is actually my second spring of the year.

My first spring was in early March, when spouse and I took the Auto Train to Florida. And, unexpectedly, back again.

For those of you who live on the East Coast and do not enjoy flying, the Auto Train is an alternative. It is an Amtrak train that runs non stop (well, one stop, but not to take on passengers) between Lorton, VA (just south of DC) and Sanford, FL (just north of Orlando). If you are lucky you leave around 4pm (either way) and arrive the next day around 10. In another hour or so, you have your car and you are on your way.

Catches? A couple....
1. You must have a vehicle (doesn't have to be a car-can be a motorcycle, SUV or something large) to ride the Auto Train
2. Planning to sleep? Don't. Expect to be sleep-deprived the next day. Sleep is a bonus. But more on that later.

We have taken 3 trips on the Auto Train. There are some very nice features to it.

1. The sardine-can mentality of the airlines has not hit the Auto Train. You sit two across, and there is a ton of legroom. And, of course, you can move around.
2. Lots more ability to carry luggage on board. There is security, but it is very unobtrusive. To date, we haven't been picked for random searches. On the Lorton end, our car was "sniffed" without us having to get out, my guess was for explosives.
3. Lots of "included in the fare". Free coffee, free water, free fruit (apples, bananas) to munch on, free snacks (a mixture of pretzels, corn chips, cheeze doodles-if you want nutrition there is the fruit) free dinner, free continental breakfast. Free wine with dinner.
4. The crews are very customer service conscious. At least the ones we have traveled with. A lot of snowbirds travel this train and Amtrak is very service conscious on this train.
5. A big plus for us, with apologies to those traveling as families with children - separate cars for family and adults traveling without children. On our first trip, with a 16 year old, we were able to sit in the adult car.
6. There are electric outlets, so you can bring a laptop. A lot of people do that to amuse themselves. There isn't much entertainment, unless you count your fellow passengers as entertainment. Don't depend on the "movie" they advertise-it is in a lounge car, on a small TV screen.

In my next post, more on our travel experiences with the Auto Train, and how I renewed a love relationship with trains that started when I was a young teenager.