First up: Our own Union Station. Love the old benches:
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is actually an oncoming train:
Let’s see: Janitor with broom, or devil with pitchfork?
State-of-the-art Room Dimming Device. The conductor placed Emergency Instructions in an overhead light for us sleepers, because we boarded past midnight.
First light, in Ashland Kentucky. Starts out as a very gray day:
Ashland’s pretty big:
We stopped in Huntington and Charleston, but I couldn’t take any decent pictures there. This is Montgomery, WV:
Random waterfall:
Montgomery again. Old-school furniture store:
This may have been the biggest treat for me. The train stopped for a smoke break in Prince, WV. I departed to take some pics of the station. How cool is this place?
Next stop, Hinton:
Alderson, WV:
White Sulphur Springs, WV. A former resort town trying for a little year-round holiday magic:
Clifton Forge, VA:
Staunton, VA. This town was picture perfect. It looked almost like a movie set:
I believe this is Charlottesville:
I know this is Charlottesville. Looks like a fun dive bar:
Don’t think we stopped here:
Culpeper, VA:
Manassas is basking in DC’s glow. Beautiful town:
Finally, we arrive in DC about 3 hours behind schedule. As expected. I like this design:
A few more randomly placed photos from the trip back:
Tiny little town in WV:
Charlottesville station:
Union Station, DC:
Didn’t stop here, but I like it:
Finally, proof of DC’s new bike-sharing program:
Great series of pics – I’ll definitely have to peruse in more detail.
It’s been my experience that any “Union Station” still standing anywhere is usually a wonderful place.
In the case of DC, the vaulted ceiling shown so well in your photo is the inspiration for the wonderful DC Metro stations.
(Sigh. Makes me want to live back East again. All that history. All those trains and subways.)
That Prince station is so cool!
Very nice. Aside from the modern light dimmers and being 3 hours late, how did you feel about the train trip?
Oh, I enjoyed the heck out of the trip. You get to see the older parts of America which have a lot of character, and not as much sprawl.
As far as the actual train, cabin temperature was cold. Kinda bumpy ride in places. The chairs had a lot of wear but were just comfortable enough. Amtrak needs money. Yesterday.
The train was pretty packed both ways, especially near DC. It was great to see such a diverse group of people enjoying the ride and chatting with each other.
I used to take Amtrak from college in Massachusetts to my parents’ home in northern Indiana over holiday breaks. Sometimes we were delayed by more than 12 hours, which made the trip twice as long. I wouldn’t call the trips pleasant, and as soon as we figured out that planes weren’t much more, I flew. But I did stash a guinea pig in my duffel and that’s hard to do on a plane!
Glad for the experience, but I much preferred sleeper cars from London to Edinburgh to Amtrak coach across the eastern U.S.
Oh ya, trains in Europe leave Amtrak to dust. I might post my story from Germany if I ever need something to post and can’t think of anything.