rmgreenesq
Lead Service Attendant
Monday, January 07, 2008
Greetings from train 48, the Late For Sure Limited. ™ My wife, five year old daughter and I are on our way home from spending three weeks in the Los Angeles Basin over the holidays. This Amtrak adventure started on Friday night at the train station in Fullerton, California. We boarded train #4, the Southwest Chief bound for Chicago. We boarded train #48 last night. We will transfer to train 448 in Albany this afternoon. If the trains are on time, we will arrive home in Worcester, Massachusetts at about 8:00 pm this evening. I have made this exact same trip several times. This trip report is not my usual blow by blow reporting. It is just a quick report giving the highlights of the trip.
Accommodations: My family and I are traveling in a bedroom. I’ve never ridden in a bedroom before. I’ve toughed it out in coach, and ridden in a roomettes. We had the family bedroom on the Auto Train last year. I’ve never had a bedroom, and I could get used to this. I like having my own private shower, even if it is only slightly larger than I am.
The Chief’s sleeping cars were recently refurbished, and everything in it worked. However, I am surprised about how little space there is for carry-on luggage in the superliner bedroom. We have six carry-on bags (two laptop bags, one food bag, one clothing bag, one bag of the kids toys and my wife’s knitting bag) I contemplated storing bags in the lavatory. The viewliner car has lots and lots of room for baggage. There is the space over the hall, the space over the lav, and space under the seat. Most people my find this space tough to use, but at 6’ 7”, I have no problem getting to the bags up there.
The viewliner sleeping car room is a whole lot taller than the superliner. I got the top bunk and I could sit upright in the viewliner’s bunk. The Superliner top bunk gave me that coffin like feeling, and was rather difficult to get out of in the morning, especially when I had to go to the bathroom.
Unlike the recently refurbished Superliner, the viewliner sleeper I’m in now could use some TLC in Beech Grove. The toilet has stopped working, making for a long walk to the john in the café car. The door rattles in its jamb, and the couch I’m sitting on will not lock into the upright position. It wants to slide into the sleeping position.
My observation between the superliner and viewliner cars also holds true of their attendants. Vic, the attendant on the Chief worked his tail off. He greeted us by name as we boarded in Fullerton, had dinner reservations in the dining car for us leaving Fullerton, converted our room quickly, and cheerfully, gave helpful and useful PA announcements. Vic also gave my daughter a cyalume stick to play with. I’m not sure this is exactly kosher given that the safety card lists the cyalume sticks are emergency lights.
Ainsley, the Lakeshore’s attendant is almost the exact opposite of Vic. He introduced himself briefly, explained to me how to unfold the beds and politely suggested that I make up my own room when I’m ready to go to bed. He delivered a copy of the New York Times this morning while I was at breakfast. Other than that, the only time I’ve seen him was on the platform, talking on his cell phone during smoke stops.
Both the superliner and viewliner bedroom have a mirror opposite the couch. I’m not exactly all that thrilled at looking at myself all the way across the country. The couch in the superliner was facing backwards, also not my favorite way to travel.
Timeliness: The Southwest Chief was its usual punctual self. We rolled into Chicago Union Station fifteen minutes early. The Lakeshore Ltd. is also running on time. I think the fact that it is Sunday night going on Monday helps. I don’t imagine that the freight railroads are moving a lot of freight on Sunday night.
The Border Patrol: Not even the Border Patrol is slowing down the train. They came aboard in Erie, PA as we were eating breakfast (more on the food below), and asked everybody onboard if they were US citizens. This is a questionable enforcement tactic as all an illegal alien has to do is tell the Border Patrolman that he/she is a US citizen and he walks on. At least it is better than the last time I encountered my friends in green. They were shining flashlights in peoples faces at midnight and interrogating only those who skin tone fell between Caucasian and African American.
Electronic Toys: My wife gave me a Garmin GPS as a Christmas gift. It works just fine here in the train, and the belt clip attaches to the table here in the room. It is not as accurate as it would be if I were outside, but I really don’t need to know where I am within 11 feet. My GPS is telling me that we are following the shores of Lake Erie at 80.2 mph (tisk tisk) approaching Buffalo, NY. I have left a “breadcrumb” trail across the country. Well almost across the country. The GPS’s batteries died shortly after leaving Kansas City, and the lounge attendant did not have any batteries for sale. I bought more batteries in Chicago and now travel with a spare set in the bag. As nice as it is to know exactly where I am, it does take away from the fun of staring out the window and trying to figure it out.
The Food: Amtrak has recently revised their menu. The chicken fried steak, and Bob Evans breakfast specials are gone. They have been replaced by a real steak and a Belgian Waffle. The steak was very good. It was cooked to order. I also had the fish for dinner, and it was very good. It was a white fish covered in a red sauce. The sauce had a hint of cayenne pepper in it. Amtrak has made definite improvements on the dinner selections.
Breakfast, on the other hand needs some work. All three mornings on the train I’ve ordered the scrambled eggs. I think two of the three mornings, I’ve gotten powdered eggs, and I think the chef was still getting used to the convection or microwave oven as my breakfast potatoes were only slightly warmer than the freezer they were stored in. The heritage dining car is gone. I was served breakfast in a café car with tables where the smoking room used to be. Also there were no pre-printed menus on the Lakeshore Ltd. This wasn’t as big a problem as it might seem. We’ve been eating breakfast on the train for the last three days and pretty well know what to expect.
Rick
Greetings from train 48, the Late For Sure Limited. ™ My wife, five year old daughter and I are on our way home from spending three weeks in the Los Angeles Basin over the holidays. This Amtrak adventure started on Friday night at the train station in Fullerton, California. We boarded train #4, the Southwest Chief bound for Chicago. We boarded train #48 last night. We will transfer to train 448 in Albany this afternoon. If the trains are on time, we will arrive home in Worcester, Massachusetts at about 8:00 pm this evening. I have made this exact same trip several times. This trip report is not my usual blow by blow reporting. It is just a quick report giving the highlights of the trip.
Accommodations: My family and I are traveling in a bedroom. I’ve never ridden in a bedroom before. I’ve toughed it out in coach, and ridden in a roomettes. We had the family bedroom on the Auto Train last year. I’ve never had a bedroom, and I could get used to this. I like having my own private shower, even if it is only slightly larger than I am.
The Chief’s sleeping cars were recently refurbished, and everything in it worked. However, I am surprised about how little space there is for carry-on luggage in the superliner bedroom. We have six carry-on bags (two laptop bags, one food bag, one clothing bag, one bag of the kids toys and my wife’s knitting bag) I contemplated storing bags in the lavatory. The viewliner car has lots and lots of room for baggage. There is the space over the hall, the space over the lav, and space under the seat. Most people my find this space tough to use, but at 6’ 7”, I have no problem getting to the bags up there.
The viewliner sleeping car room is a whole lot taller than the superliner. I got the top bunk and I could sit upright in the viewliner’s bunk. The Superliner top bunk gave me that coffin like feeling, and was rather difficult to get out of in the morning, especially when I had to go to the bathroom.
Unlike the recently refurbished Superliner, the viewliner sleeper I’m in now could use some TLC in Beech Grove. The toilet has stopped working, making for a long walk to the john in the café car. The door rattles in its jamb, and the couch I’m sitting on will not lock into the upright position. It wants to slide into the sleeping position.
My observation between the superliner and viewliner cars also holds true of their attendants. Vic, the attendant on the Chief worked his tail off. He greeted us by name as we boarded in Fullerton, had dinner reservations in the dining car for us leaving Fullerton, converted our room quickly, and cheerfully, gave helpful and useful PA announcements. Vic also gave my daughter a cyalume stick to play with. I’m not sure this is exactly kosher given that the safety card lists the cyalume sticks are emergency lights.
Ainsley, the Lakeshore’s attendant is almost the exact opposite of Vic. He introduced himself briefly, explained to me how to unfold the beds and politely suggested that I make up my own room when I’m ready to go to bed. He delivered a copy of the New York Times this morning while I was at breakfast. Other than that, the only time I’ve seen him was on the platform, talking on his cell phone during smoke stops.
Both the superliner and viewliner bedroom have a mirror opposite the couch. I’m not exactly all that thrilled at looking at myself all the way across the country. The couch in the superliner was facing backwards, also not my favorite way to travel.
Timeliness: The Southwest Chief was its usual punctual self. We rolled into Chicago Union Station fifteen minutes early. The Lakeshore Ltd. is also running on time. I think the fact that it is Sunday night going on Monday helps. I don’t imagine that the freight railroads are moving a lot of freight on Sunday night.
The Border Patrol: Not even the Border Patrol is slowing down the train. They came aboard in Erie, PA as we were eating breakfast (more on the food below), and asked everybody onboard if they were US citizens. This is a questionable enforcement tactic as all an illegal alien has to do is tell the Border Patrolman that he/she is a US citizen and he walks on. At least it is better than the last time I encountered my friends in green. They were shining flashlights in peoples faces at midnight and interrogating only those who skin tone fell between Caucasian and African American.
Electronic Toys: My wife gave me a Garmin GPS as a Christmas gift. It works just fine here in the train, and the belt clip attaches to the table here in the room. It is not as accurate as it would be if I were outside, but I really don’t need to know where I am within 11 feet. My GPS is telling me that we are following the shores of Lake Erie at 80.2 mph (tisk tisk) approaching Buffalo, NY. I have left a “breadcrumb” trail across the country. Well almost across the country. The GPS’s batteries died shortly after leaving Kansas City, and the lounge attendant did not have any batteries for sale. I bought more batteries in Chicago and now travel with a spare set in the bag. As nice as it is to know exactly where I am, it does take away from the fun of staring out the window and trying to figure it out.
The Food: Amtrak has recently revised their menu. The chicken fried steak, and Bob Evans breakfast specials are gone. They have been replaced by a real steak and a Belgian Waffle. The steak was very good. It was cooked to order. I also had the fish for dinner, and it was very good. It was a white fish covered in a red sauce. The sauce had a hint of cayenne pepper in it. Amtrak has made definite improvements on the dinner selections.
Breakfast, on the other hand needs some work. All three mornings on the train I’ve ordered the scrambled eggs. I think two of the three mornings, I’ve gotten powdered eggs, and I think the chef was still getting used to the convection or microwave oven as my breakfast potatoes were only slightly warmer than the freezer they were stored in. The heritage dining car is gone. I was served breakfast in a café car with tables where the smoking room used to be. Also there were no pre-printed menus on the Lakeshore Ltd. This wasn’t as big a problem as it might seem. We’ve been eating breakfast on the train for the last three days and pretty well know what to expect.
Rick
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