For years I have wanted to take the Zepher route thru the rockies.
MY last trip on Amtrak was seven years ago. I needed to go from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Not exactly the route of the Zephyr. I decided to fly to Chicago,take the Zephyr to Oakland and fly that evening to los Angeles. I Booked the trip on the Amtrak website. I booked for 2/15 departure with coach costing $125 and a economy room costing $219. With a AAA discount the total came to $332. A good deal with Meals included. As I waited to board trepidation about the trip came over me. Amtrak has been way under funded lately. What would I find? I have read articles about dirty broken down cars for lack of maintenance. Backed up toilets. Bad sevice with a crew that could care less. Amtrak was being described as a broken down decrepid railroad.I would be stuck on the hell train for three days if lucky. WHAT WAS I GETTING INTO. The first good sign was the personal in the first class lounge. Cheerful and organized. They led us to our cars when it was time to board. I was met at the door by our sleeper attendant Tremane. Thirty nine years on the railroad. Started with the Santa Fe. He is retiring in five more trips. I wonder how many of the pre Amtrak guys are left. His sevice thru out the trip was great. To my relief the cars were just fine. clean and well kept. The only sign of wear was missing vinyl on the tip fo my armrest. Big Deal. The lower level of the lounge car was showing its age with neon colors but that was about it. Mike was the LSA at the snackbar. Great guy and went the extra yard for his customers. Dinning car crew was good. Euopean style service. Not always a smile but good efficient service. Food was fine. Had a great conductor between Denver and Glenwood springs. Doubled as a tour guide thru the rockies. I feel the crew on this train did a fine job. They were professional and worked hard at providing good sevice. When there was a long delay the counductor would keep the passengers informed on the P.A. In a nutshell the trip was a great experience with spectacular scenery.
A few tips. For long distance trains Treat the timetable as a suggestion and plan accordingly. I had a backup plan for a late train.
Plan A was to arrive in oakland at 5:30 pm and transfer to the airport for a evening flight to Los Angeles. The train was running five hours late due to freight delays. Plan A was out. Plan B was to detrain at Sacramento which was originally scheduled for 230pm arrival. Arriving five hours late at 730pm I still had time to reach the airport and fly to Los Angeles. I had a southwest refundable ticket from oakland to LA. so it was no big deal and no extra cost to switch the ticket to Sac-LA. Plan C if needed would have been staying over night in Sacramento and flying out the next mourning. I also kept handy the numbers I might need such as southwest, hotels and car rental. All the changes were easy to make on the train with my cellphone.
Second bit of adivise . If service is good be generous with your tips.
Unlike a restaurant you will see the dinning car staff for up to seven straight meals. I would tip twenty percent on what my bill would have been. (meals for sleeping car passengers are free) Some sleeping car passengers did not tip at all. Its funny how a few things started to change. I was seated twice with a couple of beautiful woman. One night there were some screaming kids. I was given my own table on the otherside of the car. Extra orange juice with out asking. Offers on seconds for dessert. You get the picture. Take extra care of the crew and they will take extra extra care of you.
In closing Amtrak exceeded my expectations. I hope this is the case on most trains. These are trying times for Amtrak. As I told a crew member, just do the best you can and we will write the politicians.
Dave
MY last trip on Amtrak was seven years ago. I needed to go from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Not exactly the route of the Zephyr. I decided to fly to Chicago,take the Zephyr to Oakland and fly that evening to los Angeles. I Booked the trip on the Amtrak website. I booked for 2/15 departure with coach costing $125 and a economy room costing $219. With a AAA discount the total came to $332. A good deal with Meals included. As I waited to board trepidation about the trip came over me. Amtrak has been way under funded lately. What would I find? I have read articles about dirty broken down cars for lack of maintenance. Backed up toilets. Bad sevice with a crew that could care less. Amtrak was being described as a broken down decrepid railroad.I would be stuck on the hell train for three days if lucky. WHAT WAS I GETTING INTO. The first good sign was the personal in the first class lounge. Cheerful and organized. They led us to our cars when it was time to board. I was met at the door by our sleeper attendant Tremane. Thirty nine years on the railroad. Started with the Santa Fe. He is retiring in five more trips. I wonder how many of the pre Amtrak guys are left. His sevice thru out the trip was great. To my relief the cars were just fine. clean and well kept. The only sign of wear was missing vinyl on the tip fo my armrest. Big Deal. The lower level of the lounge car was showing its age with neon colors but that was about it. Mike was the LSA at the snackbar. Great guy and went the extra yard for his customers. Dinning car crew was good. Euopean style service. Not always a smile but good efficient service. Food was fine. Had a great conductor between Denver and Glenwood springs. Doubled as a tour guide thru the rockies. I feel the crew on this train did a fine job. They were professional and worked hard at providing good sevice. When there was a long delay the counductor would keep the passengers informed on the P.A. In a nutshell the trip was a great experience with spectacular scenery.
A few tips. For long distance trains Treat the timetable as a suggestion and plan accordingly. I had a backup plan for a late train.
Plan A was to arrive in oakland at 5:30 pm and transfer to the airport for a evening flight to Los Angeles. The train was running five hours late due to freight delays. Plan A was out. Plan B was to detrain at Sacramento which was originally scheduled for 230pm arrival. Arriving five hours late at 730pm I still had time to reach the airport and fly to Los Angeles. I had a southwest refundable ticket from oakland to LA. so it was no big deal and no extra cost to switch the ticket to Sac-LA. Plan C if needed would have been staying over night in Sacramento and flying out the next mourning. I also kept handy the numbers I might need such as southwest, hotels and car rental. All the changes were easy to make on the train with my cellphone.
Second bit of adivise . If service is good be generous with your tips.
Unlike a restaurant you will see the dinning car staff for up to seven straight meals. I would tip twenty percent on what my bill would have been. (meals for sleeping car passengers are free) Some sleeping car passengers did not tip at all. Its funny how a few things started to change. I was seated twice with a couple of beautiful woman. One night there were some screaming kids. I was given my own table on the otherside of the car. Extra orange juice with out asking. Offers on seconds for dessert. You get the picture. Take extra care of the crew and they will take extra extra care of you.
In closing Amtrak exceeded my expectations. I hope this is the case on most trains. These are trying times for Amtrak. As I told a crew member, just do the best you can and we will write the politicians.
Dave
