I'm not exactly sure what time I "woke up," but day started to break when we inched our way into the Savannah station.
Throughout the night we seemed to be hauling along, but then stopped for several minutes outside the Savannah station, before pulling in at a snail's pace. At this point we were running about 2 hours late, due to this delay and the hour we lost in D.C.
Savannah's station, like several on this route, is outside of the downtown area. It also happens to be the meeting point between two north-south routes. The Raleigh-Cary-Columbia route, that this train takes is one. The other runs through Fayetteville, Florence and Charleston. It's used by Amtrak's Silver Meteor, Palmetto and Auto Train.
As the sun began to rise, we made a stop in Jesup, then an hour later got Jacksonville -- our first stop in the Sunshine State. Jacksonville is an extended stop for passengers who wish to briefly disembark and take in some fresh outside air on the platform, while the train is watered and fueled. I took advantage of the opportunity.
Jacksonville's Amtrak station, like Savannah's, lies just outside of town. After departing, our train made its way through a large rail yard. The city skyline was visible, but the route largely avoided the main downtown area.
From there the scenery was largely bland, with mostly just trees through Palatka and Deland. However, my focus intensified shortly before our arrival into Winter Park. The neighborhoods seemed to grow ever more dense and interesting, with palm trees and homes with art deco style architecture woven throughout. Meanwhile the train curved its way through these neighborhoods at a pace slow enough to appreciate their beauty.
Without knowing much about Winter Park, it seemed like a really cool community. From the train window, I could see parks interspersed with a dense retail neighborhood. One park even had a large fountain.
These types of interesting neighborhoods seemed to continue as we twisted our way into Orlando. Just before entering the downtown area, we passed the AdventHealth hospital. We made our way through the city and to the station, which is just outside of the main downtown area. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo of the building, but it is an old, art deco style structure.
After Orlando, we made a stop in Kissimmee before the train headed through Auburndale, where the tracks split at a wye. The Silver Star takes the west fork to Lakeland and then Tampa before turning around (more on that in a minute). The Meteor takes the east fork and continues on to Sebring, Okeechobee, etc...
During this portion of the trip we passed through Plant City, a small town that has an observation platform where people can watch trains. Many train videos that are shot at this tower wind up on YouTube.
The approach into Tampa is an interesting one. It's a whole operation that involves having the train pull onto a spur track on the east side of town, known as Neve Wye. After pulling onto the spur, the train goes into reverse, backing up onto the main line all the way from the wye into Tampa Union Station.
Tampa was the final destination for many on today's train. I took a few moments to take in some fresh Tampa air on the platform. I would have liked to have seen the station, but alas maybe for another trip.
After a medium-length stop in Tampa, we pulled out going forward again back toward Lakeland and Auburndale.
Back in the day Amtrak used to split its trains in two, with half going to Miami and the other half going to Tampa. Sometimes the split would occur in Auburndale and sometimes in Jacksonville. Amtrak ended this practice in the mid 90's, I believe due to financial and practical concerns. In 1996, a third New-York to Miami train called the Silver Palm was added. The Palm went to Tampa and Miami as a single train while the other Silver Service trains went only to Miami. The Palm took a route from Jacksonville that went through Waldo, Ocala, Wildwood and Dade City on its way to Tampa. In the early 2000's the train was renamed the Palmetto, and the route was truncated at Savannah.
Enough with that digression. Our train was delayed further when we made our way back to Auburndale, because the crew had to manually throw a switch onto the eastbound track that we needed to take. There had been a communication problem with the automated system, they said.
After the switch problem was resolved, we continued on through Winter Haven, Sebring and Okeechobee. This portion of the route was considerably more rural.
By the time we entered the northernmost portion of the greater Miami metro area, we were running 2.5 hours late. We passed through the dense communities of West Palm Beach and Delray Beach, paralleling I-95 as we went. At 8 p.m., the train pulled into Deerfield Beach -- my final destination for this ride.
That's all for today. I'm taking an Uber to an old family friend's home about 15 minutes away. Tomorrow I'll be right back at Deerfield Beach to catch the Tri-Rail and head into Miami.
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