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We had lunch somewhere near Galesburg. I got the Amburger again, and for the first time in my Amtrak life they actually warmed up the bun! I love that. Melting the cheese & warming up the bun makes a huge difference to a cheeseburger. I can't say much for their steak cooking skills, but these...

I woke up this morning shortly before we arrived in Kansas City. I usually sleep very well on the train, but not so much on the Southwest Chief. I think it's for two reasons: very rough tracks, and the constant horn. I don't mind the sound of the train's horn, but on the SWC the sleepers are in...

So where was I? Oh yeah, dinner last night. I would have posted it last night but the internet connection in Kansas is NONEXISTENT. Every other state has been great, but Kansas gets a big fat F. I had the gnocchi for dinner, followed by the raspberry tart. Both were still pretty good, but for...

I googled it afterwards & found out that the guys who are restoring it hope to reopen in another year or so: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/life/features/new-life-for-la-casta-eda-in-las-vegas-n/article_d221c794-fc03-5aab-8b12-ec0bc8fe6377.html

Crazy Intercom Person is at it again. Let's just say I would NOT want to be the people in seats 37 A and B in the coach car behind the lounge right now! Between their personal belongings stashed in the wrong spot and their "fake" seat check, I'd be afraid to go back to my seat if I were one of...

It hasn't been 100%, but probably 90%+. I've mostly used my own hotspot because it's a touch faster, but it has been getting just as good a signal every time I checked it. I've had something going on the internet almost constantly since I woke up about 12 hours ago, and I've only been maybe...

We just left Las Vegas, NM, and I got yelled at over the intercom! On our way west we had several minutes to stop at Las Vegas. I got out then & took several photos. At this stop they didn't mention whether it was a "smoke break" stop or not, so I headed downstairs & asked our attendant before...

To make up for my lack of photos today, I'll add some from roughly this portion of the trip last week. The Ute Park Fire started the day we left, and was really starting to spread the moring we went through New Mexico. Since it was fairly new & we were stuck on the train we hadn't heard about...

After Albuquerque we went to lunch. I had my first Amburger of the trip, and it was actually not too bad. The patties usually taste very premade and frozen, but they were better this time. My wife got the entree salad, which she especially enjoyed since they got her order right - this diner crew...

Due to not getting enough sleep last night & getting up early to see the Arizona scenery, I napped through Albuquerque. I normally like to detrain there since it's such a long stop, but we just went through there on #3 last week & got a good look around.

We left Gallup about an hour late. I'm not sure what to make of the schedule at this point: of the Southwest Chiefs en route, yesterday's #3 is basically on time, we're an hour late, but the #3 and #4 trains that departed on Friday are 4.5 hours and 2 hours late respectively. It could be that...

After breakfast we went through Gallup & a lot of pretty scenery. I finally got some photos of the cave-like holes in the rock that some Native American people used to live in - I saw them on the way out, but didn't have my camera handy at the time. That's one of the things I love/hate about the...

After departing Winslow we headed to breakfast. As with dinner last night, the dining car crew is not running smoothly. IMHO, the dining car staff isn't doing its job, and the LSA is trying to do both jobs. For example, the LSA brought over one table's breakfast (like he did last night) saying...

Back to the blog... I really wanted to see Flagstaff & Winslow this morning, so I set my alarm to wake up early. I knew we were running a little late the night before, so the first thing I did was to check our location on my phone. The printed schedule said we were scheduled to arrive in...

The more I look around, the more problems I see on the Superliner IIs. For example, when you lock the bathroom door a little sign is supposed to read "Occupied" (or some such). On this train, they're all worn off, so there's no way to know whether there's someone in there or not. Furthermore...

Here's the card they handed out (front and back) as well as the signs posted in the hallway. Based on the network name & password, I assume they use the same cards on the Coast Starlight & Southwest Chief. I'm tempted to ask the service attendant if I can add AU to the handwritten sign

Okay, back to the beginning... We arrived at LAUS at around 4:30 pm & returned our rental car (conveniently located right next to the Metropolitan Lounge). We took the elevator up one floor to the Metropolitan Lounge, where we were informed that the SWC would be boarding around 5:30. I had some...

It's much better than when we tried to use it 2 years ago - it never worked for us then. It's fine for email and general web surfing, but it buffers/freezes quite a lot when trying to stream video. I checked out a wifi hotspot from my local library before we left, and it's faster than the...

I usually forget to write trip reports, and now that we have decent wifi on the train, I figured I'd use this opportunity to write one as it happens. Also, this trip may be a bit more of an adventure than most of our trips - and by "adventure" I mean we may miss our connection in Chicago, but...

Oooh, we're departing Train 4 on Saturday (6/9). They said "at least 3 days"; it will be interesting to see if we're affected.