greatcats
Engineer
Here are my musings on last night’s trip, which was OK in some respects and sad in other ways. I had been in New Orleans for 6 days at the National Association for Interpretation National Conference ( meaning park guiding topics ) and had flown Southwest from Phoenix to New Orleans. It is way to cumbersome to try and reach New Orleans from Flagstaff by train.
After attending the morning service at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral on St. Charles Avenue, I ordered a Lyft to go to the train. While I really like those Perley Thomas streetcars, they were crowded and heaving my luggage was less preferable than a door to door trip in an Infiniti. The New Orleans Terminal, while not exactly a grand building, is clean and well maintained, shared with Greyhound and Megabus. Our seven car train left on time, a dorm-sleeper, sleeper, CCC diner, Sightseer lounge, and three coaches. A sizable crowd boarded at New Orleans and many people seemed to be fairly local, having taken the train from Mississippi or Memphis for the weekend. The ride through the marshes and west side of Lake Ponchartrain kept my interest.
I had a good opinion of the two folks providing food service, Enrique and Alice - really nice people. SInce I was in coach, Alice suggested I come at 7 pm, which was fine with me. Having had dinners that week at such famous places like K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen and the famous Antoine’s, I knew I would not be in for fabulous cuisine, having heard many negatives about the food on this train. But, I wanted to see how good or bad it is. Now, I am not complaining, as I had used miles for this trip and was getting a free coach trip, and I could see what the prices were: 2.25 for iced tea ( OK ) $22.75 for the Asian Noodle dish ( outrageous ) and $6.50 for the cheesecake, which was a commercial creation but of OK quality. The noodle dish was actually pretty good, but the total bill for this was $31.50 and I did leave a tip. This is not good value. The management will tell us that they need to cover costs, blah blah blah. But this is not very good dining. No salads or soups are available. ( and no alcohol this night, as it cannot be served on Sunday in Mississippi. ) I would have received better value for more money had I arranged a takeout order from Antoine’s! Only two other people were in the dining end of the car at 7pm - she apparently had been busier earlier, starting at 4 pm. As a coach passenger, I tried the offerings, but would hesitate to pay that much money again for such mediocrity.
It turns out that the lower level of the Sightseer car is closed. I had used the rest room in the afternoon - nobody down there, with closed up snack bar - and this morning went down there to be chased out by the train crew. It turns out that this is their office. Yes, there are signs, which I had not noticed. All that empty space riding around the country put to no use. Rather sorry.
One of the good features was that my coach car upstairs was clean, comfortable, and at a proper temperature. I did get several hours of sleep, but was awake at the 3am stop at Carbondale. The coach attendant was a nice lady, but she could have taken better care of the rest rooms. I went in one of them to find two rolls of toilet paper, but a leather seat cover which did not raise and the flush button removed. Strange.
Arrival in Chicago was 40 minutes early, backing in. Overall, this train did a fairly efficient and comfortable job of transporting me 934 miles. I would term it one step above a bus trip - more spacious and comfortable, but with a minimum of amenities, which as we know have declined drastically, due to the wisdom of the management. Friday will return to Phoenix on Southwest - they are not exactly elegant but do a good job for the type of operation they are.
After attending the morning service at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral on St. Charles Avenue, I ordered a Lyft to go to the train. While I really like those Perley Thomas streetcars, they were crowded and heaving my luggage was less preferable than a door to door trip in an Infiniti. The New Orleans Terminal, while not exactly a grand building, is clean and well maintained, shared with Greyhound and Megabus. Our seven car train left on time, a dorm-sleeper, sleeper, CCC diner, Sightseer lounge, and three coaches. A sizable crowd boarded at New Orleans and many people seemed to be fairly local, having taken the train from Mississippi or Memphis for the weekend. The ride through the marshes and west side of Lake Ponchartrain kept my interest.
I had a good opinion of the two folks providing food service, Enrique and Alice - really nice people. SInce I was in coach, Alice suggested I come at 7 pm, which was fine with me. Having had dinners that week at such famous places like K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen and the famous Antoine’s, I knew I would not be in for fabulous cuisine, having heard many negatives about the food on this train. But, I wanted to see how good or bad it is. Now, I am not complaining, as I had used miles for this trip and was getting a free coach trip, and I could see what the prices were: 2.25 for iced tea ( OK ) $22.75 for the Asian Noodle dish ( outrageous ) and $6.50 for the cheesecake, which was a commercial creation but of OK quality. The noodle dish was actually pretty good, but the total bill for this was $31.50 and I did leave a tip. This is not good value. The management will tell us that they need to cover costs, blah blah blah. But this is not very good dining. No salads or soups are available. ( and no alcohol this night, as it cannot be served on Sunday in Mississippi. ) I would have received better value for more money had I arranged a takeout order from Antoine’s! Only two other people were in the dining end of the car at 7pm - she apparently had been busier earlier, starting at 4 pm. As a coach passenger, I tried the offerings, but would hesitate to pay that much money again for such mediocrity.
It turns out that the lower level of the Sightseer car is closed. I had used the rest room in the afternoon - nobody down there, with closed up snack bar - and this morning went down there to be chased out by the train crew. It turns out that this is their office. Yes, there are signs, which I had not noticed. All that empty space riding around the country put to no use. Rather sorry.
One of the good features was that my coach car upstairs was clean, comfortable, and at a proper temperature. I did get several hours of sleep, but was awake at the 3am stop at Carbondale. The coach attendant was a nice lady, but she could have taken better care of the rest rooms. I went in one of them to find two rolls of toilet paper, but a leather seat cover which did not raise and the flush button removed. Strange.
Arrival in Chicago was 40 minutes early, backing in. Overall, this train did a fairly efficient and comfortable job of transporting me 934 miles. I would term it one step above a bus trip - more spacious and comfortable, but with a minimum of amenities, which as we know have declined drastically, due to the wisdom of the management. Friday will return to Phoenix on Southwest - they are not exactly elegant but do a good job for the type of operation they are.
