We boarded the train about 2:30 PM, after saying "bye bye" to our Mercedes at the terminal. If you have never traveled by Auto Train, they video tape the entire car to ensure there is no damage to the car before it is placed on the train. That took all of about 10 seconds for some woman with a miniature video camera. As fast as she was walking around all the cars, that camera couldn't have recorded a missing fender.
The train departed Lorton about 4:00 PM, and the seats were fairly comfortable, about the size of first class seats on a plane, and plenty of leg room. The meal wasn't bad in the dining car, but walking down the aisles of the cars to get to the dining car was like flying in very rough weather. Had to share a dining table with a man and woman traveling by themselves. The guy was on his way to the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in West Palm Beach, FL. He was going down to sell a Corvair Greenbriar van that he had restored. He was interesting to talk to and I saw the car the next day when they off-loaded it from the train. Hope he made a little money from the sale. Sheila, on the other hand, can talk to anyone, and she made a new best friend with the woman that sat with us.
The following is a photo of the 1964 Corvair van the guy took to the auction. I checked it out on the Barrett-Jackson website, and it sold for over $31,000.
Rough night trying to sleep. the tracks are rough and the seats became less and less comfortable as the night wore on. Did manage to get some sleep, but we were both sore and tired the next morning. Arrived in Sanford, FL, about 1 1/2 hours early, but the local crew hadn't expected us to be early, so we spent the next hour or so waiting for them to get ready and to detach the train cars that held all the cars and move those cars to the unloading ramps.
Once they started unloading cars, people piled into their cars and off they went. Only had to wait about 45 minutes until the Mercedes pulled up and off we went toward Orlando. K
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