Blogger takes the Starlight

I rode Amtrak's Coast Starlight the wrong direction. I still loved it.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/11/i-rode-amtraks-coast-starlig.html

Not sure how he managed to travel EMY-LAX in the dark.

When I was on the Starlight 11 going south last month we arrived at Lompac ontime about twenty minutes prior to sunset. So most of the coast was after dark.

I got this far:
". . . but on my journey the 1% bastards in sleeper cars sucked up all the fine wine. . . "

Sounds like an 'entitled generation' comment, and I would guess the blogger didn't do the basic math.

The CS can accommodate something like 120 people in sleeper cars. The Pacific Parlour car can accommodate something like 52 people if you count the downstairs seats.

That reminded me I had read boringboring once before, a couple of years ago.

Read #2 was no better, though Amtrak gets some positive press.

Couldn't help but notice that the writer's most effusive praise -- in addition to the amount of space his traveling party had in business class -- is for the Amtrak employees. "The staff are all wonderful people," for example.

Quite a change from what we often hear on AU.

Enjoyed the read, nice to have an upbeat account!

Ed.

trainman74 said:

Couldn't help but notice that the writer's most effusive praise -- in addition to the amount of space his traveling party had in business class -- is for the Amtrak employees. "The staff are all wonderful people," for example.

Quite a change from what we often hear on AU.

Click to expand...

Business car attendants on the Coast Starlight can be very good, and make the business car a real upgrade from coach. Not all, though. It's uneven. Some get you seated, give you the cafe voucher, ask if you want water or a pillow and, sometimes, get you into the PPC for drinks (not just the wine tasting). They'll periodically check on you and generally make you feel welcome and comfortable. Some just do what they do in coach, though -- tell you to take a seat upstairs (the lower level business class seats are a favorite hideout) and disappear.

When Amtrak is good, it can be very good. The problem is the wide variance in effort, diligence and quality of service.

Maybe the CEO can find a way to spread the very good consistently across the company. Other companies do it, so it is possible for Amtrak.