D.P. Roberts
Conductor
I always mean to write trip reports for our Amtrak journeys, but by the time we get home & get the photos organized I have forgotten many of the details. So, this time I thought I'd write one "in progress" and add the photos whenever we have time and wifi.
Our journey is as follows:
Waterloo, Indiana - Chicago on the Capitol Limited
Chicago - Sacramento on the California Zephyr
Sacramento - Portland on the Coast Starlight
Overnight in Portland
Portland - Whitefish, Montana on the Empire Builder
Stop for a week in Montana
Return home via the Empire Builder and Capitol Limited
We started this morning at Waterloo, Indiana, and the newly redesigned station. The old platform and waiting area are still there, but they moved the old abandoned station closer to the tracks & opened part of it up for public use. The best thing about this was the newly paved parking area - we used to have to park on a hill covered in gravel & weeds, so that's a big improvement. It's also great to have restrooms! We didn't see much of the station today, as we arrived about 20 minutes before the CL arrived - it was running about an hour late.
Due to the short trip from Indiana to Chicago (and the fact that I napped the whole time), I didn't take any photos of the meals or that part of the trip. However, we had a great breakfast - the Railroad French Toast was brilliant as usual. My spouse had the "Engineer Special", which was interesting in that the potatoes have peppers in them and are a lot spicier than they used to be. I forgot to ask if they had the other special - the biscuits with spicy gravy. I might try that some time on the next leg if it's available.
We arrived into Chicago about an hour late. We had planned on trying to visit the Field Museum during out layover, but unfortunately the hour delay from the CL just doesn't leave us enough time. So, we went straight in to the new Metropolitan Lounge.
The new lounge is great! I thought it looked rather sparse in the pictures, and it's certainly not a very colorful place. However, there are many different types of seating areas, and outlets / USB ports everywhere. The check-in desk, baggage area, and the food are all downstairs, & so far the downstairs has been more crowded. We headed upstairs, and are now in the comfy chairs overlooking Canal St. There's another entrance to the lounge here, but it's not currently staffed. So, I was able to leave via that door, but not re-enter.
The food and drink options are a big upgrade over the old lounge. There's a soda dispenser with many choices and even flavor add-ins, if you want a shot of lemon, lime, or vanilla in your soda. They also have coffee and tea, as well as a dispenser with cold and sparkling water. Shortly after we arrived they set up a table with bags of pretzels, cookies, and fruit - there doesn't appear to be a separate counter for food set up yet, I don't know if they will set up new tables every day or what. They also have another drink station upstairs - no sodas, but they have the coffee and water there too.
Additionally, the attendant told my spouse that they will have sandwiches and wine (!) between noon and 2:00 pm. I don't know yet whether that means today, or every day, or what, but we'll see.
My one quibble so far is with the check-in- it's just as time-consuming and awkward as always. There's not enough room inside the door for everyone to wait to check-in. The baggage area is in a room off to the right, and although there are plenty of shelves it's a rather small and crowded space. Plus, when you enter or leave the baggage area you have to cross through the line of people checking in, so it's kind of a traffic jam by the door. I think a lot of that is due to the crowds that surge whenever a train arrives, so next time we might wait a few minutes to enter the lounge.
There's plenty of seating available right now, so we'll see how crowded it gets in a few hours.
Our journey is as follows:
Waterloo, Indiana - Chicago on the Capitol Limited
Chicago - Sacramento on the California Zephyr
Sacramento - Portland on the Coast Starlight
Overnight in Portland
Portland - Whitefish, Montana on the Empire Builder
Stop for a week in Montana
Return home via the Empire Builder and Capitol Limited
We started this morning at Waterloo, Indiana, and the newly redesigned station. The old platform and waiting area are still there, but they moved the old abandoned station closer to the tracks & opened part of it up for public use. The best thing about this was the newly paved parking area - we used to have to park on a hill covered in gravel & weeds, so that's a big improvement. It's also great to have restrooms! We didn't see much of the station today, as we arrived about 20 minutes before the CL arrived - it was running about an hour late.
Due to the short trip from Indiana to Chicago (and the fact that I napped the whole time), I didn't take any photos of the meals or that part of the trip. However, we had a great breakfast - the Railroad French Toast was brilliant as usual. My spouse had the "Engineer Special", which was interesting in that the potatoes have peppers in them and are a lot spicier than they used to be. I forgot to ask if they had the other special - the biscuits with spicy gravy. I might try that some time on the next leg if it's available.
We arrived into Chicago about an hour late. We had planned on trying to visit the Field Museum during out layover, but unfortunately the hour delay from the CL just doesn't leave us enough time. So, we went straight in to the new Metropolitan Lounge.
The new lounge is great! I thought it looked rather sparse in the pictures, and it's certainly not a very colorful place. However, there are many different types of seating areas, and outlets / USB ports everywhere. The check-in desk, baggage area, and the food are all downstairs, & so far the downstairs has been more crowded. We headed upstairs, and are now in the comfy chairs overlooking Canal St. There's another entrance to the lounge here, but it's not currently staffed. So, I was able to leave via that door, but not re-enter.
The food and drink options are a big upgrade over the old lounge. There's a soda dispenser with many choices and even flavor add-ins, if you want a shot of lemon, lime, or vanilla in your soda. They also have coffee and tea, as well as a dispenser with cold and sparkling water. Shortly after we arrived they set up a table with bags of pretzels, cookies, and fruit - there doesn't appear to be a separate counter for food set up yet, I don't know if they will set up new tables every day or what. They also have another drink station upstairs - no sodas, but they have the coffee and water there too.
Additionally, the attendant told my spouse that they will have sandwiches and wine (!) between noon and 2:00 pm. I don't know yet whether that means today, or every day, or what, but we'll see.
My one quibble so far is with the check-in- it's just as time-consuming and awkward as always. There's not enough room inside the door for everyone to wait to check-in. The baggage area is in a room off to the right, and although there are plenty of shelves it's a rather small and crowded space. Plus, when you enter or leave the baggage area you have to cross through the line of people checking in, so it's kind of a traffic jam by the door. I think a lot of that is due to the crowds that surge whenever a train arrives, so next time we might wait a few minutes to enter the lounge.
There's plenty of seating available right now, so we'll see how crowded it gets in a few hours.