4/23/98 11:20 am-When we arrived at the station, Route 128, the announcer came on saying the train would be 30-40 minutes late due to mechanical failure. Then later, probably 8 minutes, the announcer came on saying the train left only 12 minutes late. The train arrived the station 10 minutes late. I have finished my breakfest. I got on at Rt. 128 station. The Club Car was at the end of the train. Our train arrived at Route 128 station 12 minutes late, so I suspect we are running about 10 minutes late now. At first the Club Car looked like coach, but then I noticed the 2 and 1 seats. The seats are wide, and recline lots! They have large arm rests. We have seen lots of ocean. This car has Club in the back, a Cafe Car exclusive for Club Passengers, and then the other half Custom Class. Our attendent, Michell, a nice man, got us breakfest. I had a very good ham and cheese on a bagel sandwich. My dad and step mom both got a chili omelet with salsa. They said it was great. I am going to sleep some now. 4/23/98 2:58 pm- We are running 20-30 minutes late. For lunch I had a hot pastrami sandwich, with cheese. It was very good. My dad got a spinach salad , and my step mom got a turkey roll up. All of the food was very good, except the turkey roll up. The service in Club is much better then in coach. We will be in Philadelphia pretty soon. In the Custom Class car half there is a Rail Phone booth which charges lots. Just like an airplane phone, you swipe your card and then pay tons of $$$$. The bathroom is located in the Custom Class half of the car which is nice, so it doesent stink up the Club Car. In the bathroom there is a fold down sink. Club Class really is worth the extra money, unlike airplanes which charge way to much more for a First Class ticket. The ailes in this car are very wide. In this part, NYC-PHL, the train goes very fast, 125 m.p.h. It is smooth too. I am going to take a nap now. 4/24/98 morning (not on a train) As I think about the first leg down we did have a old Club car. Some of the foot rests did not work. We arrived at Philadelphia 30th Street Station 5 minutes late. Michel the attendent we had was nice, but was not the first class type of person. He needs some training to learn how to handle first class. I do not recall seeing lap top plug ins, but I could be wrong, I did't look that hard. 4/24/98 7:30 pm (not on a train) Not tommorow, but the day after, the 26th, we leave and head back to BOS. We will leave some time to go to the Metropolitin Lounge. From what I have heard the lounge is very nice. It should have free drinks, phones, PC's with AOL, and comfy chairs. 4/25/98 5:45 pm (not on a train) Tommorow we head back. On the way back I hope we are ontime, we have a new Club Car with leg rests, the metropolitin lounge is nice, and the service is good. I also hope the meals are good. 4/26/98 12:25 pm- The Metropolitin Lounge- I walk into the station and under the train departure board there is a large sign that says, "Amtrak's Metropolitin Lounge, located behind stairway 1." I walk to staiway 1 and then there are plenty of gold signs that say which way to the lounge. The lady infront of us hit the bell on the glass door, and the attendent unlocked the door. The lady at the desk then greated us, took are tickets, told us are train is ontime, and told us we would be getting on elavator 2 at 12:38 pm. In the time I had at the lounge,I got a Pepsi, I sat down in a large comfy chair, looked at a magizine, and then got up and tried to find a computer with AOL. I did- I signed on as a guest and checked my mail. AOL worked fine. Then the attendent made an announcement, got us and put us on elavator #2. She told us are platfrom is #4 and the section is C. That put us at the last car of the train, where they said the Club Car would be. **(to learn more about the Metropoliton Lounge you can read other travel logs where I have viseted them, and go into Inportant Amtrak Information, where you will find a section marked Metropolitin Lounges. That area will give you a deatiled description of the lounges.** 4/26/98 1:15 pm- Club Class Train # 174- At first I thought this train would be the same as the one coming down, but I was wrong. This Club Car was much nicer, it has had leg rests, huge arm rests, and bigger seats. It also has big head rests with the Club Class logo on it. This attendent, John, is a pro at this. He greated us nicely asked us if we would like a drink, and then offered us lunch. Again, I got the hot pastrami sandwich. This trip so far feels much more classy. We were greated with chocolate mints. I said I liked them, so John brought a whole cup full of them. 4/26/98 1:55 pm- We just stopped at Metropark, NJ. The meal was very good. This time we got dessert. It was a chocolate mousse pie. It was the best part of the meal. The food is better, the service is better,and the seats are more comfortable. 4/26/98 3:20 pm- We have just left New York City. We were given more drinks, chocolate, and lemon squares which was very good. This is an unreserved train (see Amtrak Inportant Information for more info) Train 174, so lots of people are standing up in coach. Some people are angry in coach, but back here we are not affected. A person from coach, just upgraded to Club. Here in Club we are being offered drinks and food. I am pretty sure we are running ontime. I left the schedule at the Metropolitin Lounge. 4/26/98 4:00 pm- We are running 20 minutes late. I don't really know why, because we have been going pretty fast. We spent about 8 minutes x-tra in Philadelphia. We did stay in NYC some x-tra time. We are due in New Haven, Connecticut at 4:00 pm and depart at 4:10 pm. We switch engines there so there is no time we can make up. I just over heard a conducter say that it is a zoo in coach. This train is fully sold out. We passed Brigeport, Connecticut, 5-8 minutes ago, so we should be in New Haven soon. 4/26/98 4:42 pm- We have just left New Haven, and we were meant to leave at 4:10 pm. I hope we can make up some time here. We are pretty slow leaving New Haven. I got out, to try to watch the engine change, but this train is so long I couldent even see anything. So, I decided to head back to the car because, first I couldent even see anything really, two it is raining, three I did't want to be left behind. I decided to walk through the carts. What a mess!! It smells in coach, people are sitting and standing, evreywhere, and there are no seats. The connection in-between seats is blocked up with people, so I knew this won't work, which leadt me to decide to walk outside the train to the last cart. I ran to the Club Car, and I arrived with plenty of time. 4/26/98 6:09 pm- I have just fineshed a great meal. The meal consisted of a baked chicken, which cooked for 20 minutes in a oven!! The chicken was tender and juicy, something I did not expext. The chicken was also served with mashed patatoes and a dessert which was a marble cheescake. The dessert was rich, and very good. Over the intercom I just heard the Cafe car has sold out of all food and drink. he in the Club Car we have tons of food and drink. We just arrived at Westerlie at 6:13 pm. Maybe we have made up some time. I don't know. We are all ready departing. At New London we had to stop twice, because are train was so long, and because there was so many people. New London is the only station we had to stop twice. I met a very nice man who is into trains. He has been all over Europe, North America, and Canada. He has done lots of Amtrak routes and the Orient Express. Custom looks like heaven probably to those standing Coach passengers, never mind Club. As I look around my seat I do not notice any laptop outlets My dad gave the attendent a 20$ tip. 5$ per person for great service. My dad said how great the service was and the attendent said, I'll give you better service next time.We arrived 30 minutes late. That was fine. Lots of people got off at Rt. 128. Thank you Amtrak and John for a very nice trip.