Overnight on the Silver Meteor Sophie, April 3, 2024April 3, 2024 After our great roomette experience on the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington, D.C., we boarded the Silver Meteor for the final leg of our journey. The roomette came with all of the frills of first-class travel including privacy, meals, and an attendant, now we were back to coach class. Our wait at Washington D.C. Union Station was fine, but a long layover. We boarded the Silver Meteor around 7:00 PM and headed south. The conductor assigned us two seats together and we settled in for the night. Although there is a snack car on the train we chose to eat at Union Station and there was no need to eat on the train. Our travels so far had been coach class on the California Zephyr and first class on the Capitol Limited. When we settled in on the Silver Meteor, we felt like the seats did not have as much leg room as the California Zephyr and of course there was no comparison to the first-class accommodations of the roomette. Although there was less leg room, the seats were comfortable, and we settled in with no problems. The biggest difference was the staff. The staff members of this particular trip were a little harsh. We managed to have a pretty good trip home regardless of the staff since the trip was overnight and we arrived at our destination not long after we awoke. The train did fill up as we traveled south, but it still didn’t feel overcrowded. When we arrived back home we decided to start planning our next rail trip so that we could take advantage of our USA Rail Passes. PROS AND CONS Pros Great way to travel so that your entire party can sleep. Quiet at night. We arrived home the next morning. Cons The staff (this particular crew) was not the greatest. Lights were left on all night so we could not see the cities as we passed through. This trip is mostly overnight, so it is solely transportation – no sites to see. I will note that even though this was the least favorite of our three-part train trip, it was not bad and a necessity to travel by train from our home. And as you will see in later posts, we finished out our rail pass and had better experiences. Trains Uncategorized