MikeM
OBS Chief
I just did a loop trip from Toledo to Chicago and back last weekend. Definitely winter in Chicago. Had planned on doing some shopping downtown, but with all the extreme cold ended up cutting that short. My train into Chicago was several hours late, which in retrospect was wonderful, since it allowed me to travel the whole route from Toledo in daylight.
Which gets me to my main question -- what idiot picked out the grey metal chairs that are in the coach waiting area at CUS? I might complain about the generic black vinyl chairs at most airports, but these blue metal things have to easily be the most inhumane, under-padded, ergonomically tortuous chairs I've ever sat in. Typically I do sleepers through Chicago, so I'm in the Metro Lounge typically. This was a real eye opener. As a bonus gift, the cold air was just pouring through the station, so it was freezing throughout.
The other oddity was when it was close to boarding time, everyone lined up throughout the waiting room, based on an announcement that I did not hear (I think some do it by instinct...), which resulted in folks standing for up to 30 minutes before the boarding started up. Once it got underway, things went smoothly, but the whole front section of the waiting room near the exit doors was kept blocked off and the lines were wild.
I'll strap on my happy face again (and I might add, the train both ways was fine - the dinner on the Cap Ltd back was excellent, and the crew outstanding), but hopefully Amtrak will do something with the waiting room area when the Metro Lounge moves to address the seating and HVAC issues.
As a footnote..on the Cap Ltd, I was told that upwards of 50 passengers missed connections due to the meltdown of the Empire Builder. A dinner companion on the CL told me that his train didn't get into Chicago until 1am that morning, and he was one day delayed in his trip.
Which gets me to my main question -- what idiot picked out the grey metal chairs that are in the coach waiting area at CUS? I might complain about the generic black vinyl chairs at most airports, but these blue metal things have to easily be the most inhumane, under-padded, ergonomically tortuous chairs I've ever sat in. Typically I do sleepers through Chicago, so I'm in the Metro Lounge typically. This was a real eye opener. As a bonus gift, the cold air was just pouring through the station, so it was freezing throughout.
The other oddity was when it was close to boarding time, everyone lined up throughout the waiting room, based on an announcement that I did not hear (I think some do it by instinct...), which resulted in folks standing for up to 30 minutes before the boarding started up. Once it got underway, things went smoothly, but the whole front section of the waiting room near the exit doors was kept blocked off and the lines were wild.
I'll strap on my happy face again (and I might add, the train both ways was fine - the dinner on the Cap Ltd back was excellent, and the crew outstanding), but hopefully Amtrak will do something with the waiting room area when the Metro Lounge moves to address the seating and HVAC issues.
As a footnote..on the Cap Ltd, I was told that upwards of 50 passengers missed connections due to the meltdown of the Empire Builder. A dinner companion on the CL told me that his train didn't get into Chicago until 1am that morning, and he was one day delayed in his trip.