Had a Great Trip!!

Got back a few days ago from my trip from Atlanta to N.O. on Crescent; N.O. to CHI on City of N.O.; CHI to DC on Capitol Ltd; DC to ATL onCrescent. Things went quite well. I was in superliner sleepers on both the City and the Capitol. All employees were polite. Food, under the new standard menu was a little dull but it beats the alternative---and it beats those airline peanuts!!! The trains were ,well, reasonably on time. The City of N.O. actually arrived CHI on time. I did not hear a single word , either from employees or passengers,about the Capitol Limited wreck a few days earlier and saw no signs of it. I was pleased with the metrolpolitanlounge in CHI....they actually coordianted luggage layover with that room for first cls baggage Alan B. has described. I checked in at the Metroplitan Lounge, the lady walkedwn the hall with my bags and so I left them there d did enjoy the lounge better than I had in thepast.in the past it had been so rude, so unkempt, etc. I have always liked thelounges in NY and DC. Anyway, I hope Amtrak has a verylong future, but in any case, this trip did go in style!! Employee morale seemed good, etc.

Bill,

Glad to hear that things went well, and you had a good trip. Thanks for the quickie report.

Bill,

I'd also want to welcome you back and am glad you enjoyed your trip .

Bill,

Glad you had a good trip. Please give us more detail and pictures if you have them. I will be taking the same trains that you took plus many more trains and cities on a much longer trip in November. I will start and end in ATL, too.

RKA

Glad you had a great trip Bill. Your experience in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago sounds a lot better than mine back in July.

RKA, I would be glad to give more detail...let me have an idea of what you want....that report was meant to be a grand summation. Your big trip in November may be similar to one I took two years ago, ATl,NO,LA,SF,CHI,BOS,NYC.ATL. I did not take many pictures(have taken many on past trips) butwill be glad to answer any more specific questions.And I certainly hope you enjoy your November trip. Let us know where you are going, also.

Bill, how about menus, real service on and off the train, places to eat and see in NOL, CHI and WAS and did you have time (I know you had a night and half-day in NOL). I will be going ATL, NOL, CHI, EMY, PDX, CHI, WAS and back to ATL.

RKA

RKA,

Click here for the Amtrak's national dining car menu. Due to budget cuts Amtrak had to standardize all their menus. However, some chefs will make adjustments to each entree. It all depends.

RKA,service from sleepinr car attendants was good--they handled my luggage appropriately, served meals in my room the two times I requested it, had good service from all crew members....can't guarantee that you will be as lucky....but they did well by me.I am not an expert onplaces to eat but New Orlelans a is full of them....lots of people, and the internet, can no doubt helpyou with that. My hotel was near the French quarter. There is a standard $10taxi fare from the train station. If you are downtown, the waterfront Jackson Square, the aquariam, the St. Charles Street Car line(I took it to AUdubon Park, i.e. the zoo. IN Chicago, Union Station is downtown. For me I walked to the Natural History Museum, the Shedd Aquarim, the Art Museum, all around the incredibly beautiful Lake Michigan area. ALosd, the Sears Tower is just about a block from the train stationl A big part of my trip is walking...hope you like to walk, becasue taht is what all of my recommendatins ainvolve. In DC I walked to the White House, the basic well known monuments, back to the Capitol and the Supreme Court(which are all quite near Union Station. Guess you know how neat Union Station is--lots of shops, food court, moviees, etc as well as subway trains, commuter trains adn AMtrak. The Metro in DC has a stop at Union Station.A big gap from what I can give you is the eating places in New Orleans---it is famous for them, I am just not a "party animal" so I do not know much about them. But the Crescent's arrival time gives you plenty of time to party if you wish. I did walk around in the quarter for awhile beccaue I knew my time the next day would be limited. I went to Mass at Cathedral of St. Louis so between that and the zoo, that pretty much took care of my morning. Why the zoo, specifically? Becasue I have been to New Orleans many times and have seen just about everything EXCEPT the zoo.Hope all this helps. Any of those lovely cities can give you good info over the net, I am sure. The train stations are "interesting" in all of those cities.. The station in New Orleans was built n 1954, a very late date for U.S. train station.s It accomplished a combination of many smaller stations into one.

RKA_here is a little more information about the on time performance. The southbound Crescent was actually in the station when I got there, it had arrived about 15 minutes early. I live at the Darlington Apartments, just a short walk. It did accumlate some slow orders or other delay and got to NO about 30minutes late. Actaully it was one hour late at ne point but made it up thanks to padding.Next day's City of NO was on time all night but the next morning there was a 30 minute delay for some reason but we made it exactly on time at CHI. The Capitol was reportedly going to leave CHi on time at 7. The very late California Zephyr was not due until 7.40 and I was told we were not going to hold. However, the CZ came in at 6.,50 right next to us, and we did allow those passengers to board and we lleft about 7.15. We made up time quickly and were early into Pittsburgh the next morning. Then a lot of slow orders from Pittsburg and we got to the DC about 30 minutes down. The Crescent that night was promptly on time thought the night but in Spartanburg, I believe, we had to add an "ailing" engine...why, I don't know...guess we were talking it to ATl or someplace where they could worko n it better. ANyway, we, too got about an hour late but thanks to padding from about 35 minutes late in ATL.