WASHINGTON – Perhaps the best perk of traveling by sleeper car on Amtrak is that you get to use the rail system’s equivalent of frequent-flyer club lounges. I’m not a member of any airline lounge clubs, nor do I travel on Amtrak enough (believe it or not) to qualify for the SelectPlus status that would get me in the lounge for any trip.
So this was only the third time I’ve ever been in a ClubAcela lounge – the first was many years ago with an aunt who was in town and traveling back to New York, and the second was this morning in Philadelphia.
Ever since I first set foot in Union Station many years ago growing up in D.C., it’s been one of my favorite buildings anywhere. From its imposing archway entrance to the soaring interior, it is one of those buildings that always makes you want to linger an extra second or two when walking through it.
Unfortunately, my computer decided to not cooperate with me while I was in there, so I couldn’t upload any more photos. I’m working on that now, and hopefully my aircard won’t drop the signal while the files are moving.
I’m writing now from what will be my home this afternoon, tonight and early tomorrow morning: a sleeper car onboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited train to Chicago. You can see some photos of the car at right, and just for good measure here’s a bigger version of one of them:
And just as I finish writing this, we’ve started rolling. I’m going to go take some more pictures of the train and see what this thing is like.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: acela, airlines, amtrak, capitol limited, clubacela, frequent-flyer clubs, new york, philadelphia, train, union station, washington d.c.
Great photo of the Union Station interior — nice job. Union Station is a remarkable building and more Americans should visit it, and those who are already passing through it should pay more attention to this impressive structure.