Before we knew about Hurricane Helene, I had planned to visit my folks for two weeks to help out after my dad got out of the hospital for a back ailment. I took Amtrak’s 97 Silver Meteor from NYC to Jesup, Georgia (Sept. 24-25, 2024), and returned via the 98 Silver Meteor from Jesup to NYC (Oct. 8-9, 2024). Here are some pictures of the trains, sleeper car rooms, and meals.
97 Silver Meteor (NYP to JSP)
The 97 Silver Meteor sleeper cars didn’t have a toilet in the room as my previous Amtrak ride from JSP to NYC. Otherwise, the car seemed of newer construction. However, the room door rattled constantly. I should have asked for something to wedge into the door to eliminate that noise (and sleep better as a result). I liked how the in-car sink had turn knobs, which work much better than the push button faucets (either too little water or an explosion of water). Because the dining car was full, I asked for dinner in my room. It came with all the trimmings and was delicious! The worst part of the trip was someone in my car was going to bridge between cars to smoke. They left the door open, smoke entered the car, and set off the smoke alarms in unoccupied rooms and mine when I went to investigate. The culprit did not reveal him or herself.
98 Silver Meteor (JSP to NYP)
The Silver Meteor from JSP to NYP was much like my previous ride from SAV to NYP. The roomette was very similar–toilet in the room, push-button sink controls, older construction, and less vibration noise. I had breakfast in the dining car close to 7:00am. The omelet and fixings hit the spot! The downsides to this ride was that the water pressure was far too high on the sink faucet and the air conditioning was warm despite changing the thermostat.
