We have reservations for dinner at 7:30, but we are called at 7 and only three of the 10 tables on our side of the dinning car are occupied. I heard talk about dining cutbacks on the Capitol Limited; that talk is reality as the New York strip is not available tonight nor will it be in the future, according to our server, as they change the menu. I have the country fried steak instead and it is mediocre, at best. My girlfriend gets the chicken, which has always been good in my experience. While my food is average, the service ia very good, something that doesn’t always happen.

While we are eating, the power goes out briefly in the dining car. I see the dining car cashier walking towards us, so I say loud enough for him to hear: “This is the other dining car cutback.” He smiles as he walks past our table.

As we finish eating, we stop in Cumberland, Maryland to change engineers and take a five-minute smoke break. When we leave Cumberland at 8:05 p.m., we are 56 minutes behind schedule.

Throughout West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, my Verizon wireless card does not receive service. Ironically, these three states are part of Verizon’s alleged home territory and for some reason, the wireless works 10 times better in the middle of New Mexico, as I found out in a previous trip.

We stop in Connellsville, Pennsylvania at 10:28 p.m. and remain 56 minutes late. Connellsville also features a wireless signal for the first time in hours and I quickly update the blog before I lose the signal. I’m not quick enough. As the blog is attempting to publish, I lose the signal. I have to wait until the outskirts of Pittsburgh to get another signal.

At 4:13 p.m. an announcement is made that baggage from the delayed train is still being transferred and it will be another 10 minutes until we depart. We finally leave at 4:30 p.m., which is the official departure time on the scanner. We are already 35 minutes behind schedule.

As we leave Washington, D.C., we maintain a speed of only 24 mph. According to the scanner, we are stuck behind a MARC train. Finally, after crossing the Washington Beltway, we pick up a cruising speed of 71 mph. As we pull into the station in Rockville, Md. At 5:01 p.m., we lose another seven minutes and are now 42 minutes behind schedule.

Here is the consist for Capitol Limited 29:

1). Engine 52
2). Engine 44
3). Baggage car 1264
4). Transition sleeper 39019
5). Sleeper 32053 (Car 2901)
6). Sleeper 32044 (Car 2900) – We are in Room 5
7). Dining car 38047
8). Lounge car 33034
9). Coach 34008 (Car 0411)
10). Coach 34024

The train is scheduled to leave at 3:55 p.m. However, an announcement is made that a connecting train was late and we will depart 15 or 20 minutes late.