Chessie Hokie
Train Attendant
For my current trip (right now I'm laying-over in PDX awaiting tomorrow's EB to CHI) I determined to leave behind my trusty stuffable VT stadium blanket in favor of purchasing an "official" Amtrak souvenir blanket to use during the voyage. Upon departing CVS on the Cardinal last Friday I went to the lounge car to procure a blanket (particularly important as the AC was in high gear), only to be told by the attendant that he didn't have any and that they were being "phased out". Ugh.
So I tried again on the CZ soon after leaving CHI on Sunday. Again, the snack bar attendant in the lounge said he had none and that the commissary was out of them. I related what the Cardinal attendant had said about them being phased out...he hadn't heard that, but said it doesn't make sense, as normally they sell quite well, adding that they sell better in the summer when people aren't prepared for sometimes overpowering AC on some cars.
Finally, on the CS from SAC to PDX today (boarded last night) I noticed one of the treasured blankets in a display case in the Pacific Parlour Car, so I snapped it up. It was the only one they had left...the attendant said the CS was supposedly to receive a new style and color blanket with a CS logo sometime (thus no more of the generic Amtrak logo blankets to be carried), but he didn't know when that would happen. He didn't know about a blanket shortage on other trains.
So I tried again on the CZ soon after leaving CHI on Sunday. Again, the snack bar attendant in the lounge said he had none and that the commissary was out of them. I related what the Cardinal attendant had said about them being phased out...he hadn't heard that, but said it doesn't make sense, as normally they sell quite well, adding that they sell better in the summer when people aren't prepared for sometimes overpowering AC on some cars.
Finally, on the CS from SAC to PDX today (boarded last night) I noticed one of the treasured blankets in a display case in the Pacific Parlour Car, so I snapped it up. It was the only one they had left...the attendant said the CS was supposedly to receive a new style and color blanket with a CS logo sometime (thus no more of the generic Amtrak logo blankets to be carried), but he didn't know when that would happen. He didn't know about a blanket shortage on other trains.
