printman2000
Engineer
My family and I arrived in Lamy around noon on June 25th, 2009 for our 2:00 departure on #4, The Southwest Chief. We were headed to New York City and would have 4 full days in the city.
While waiting for our train in Lamy, we heard a train horn and around the bend came a Santa Fe Southern locomotive hauling a PV car.
Unfortunately, it was being put on #3 and not our train. They pulled in and then did a run around to get the loco behind it. When we left, they still needed to wye the car so the observation platform would be on the back. There was a video production team aboard with the owner video taping the trip.
Right on time at 2:00, #4 arrived into Lamy.
Video of the train arriving... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqUWKpS270o
We went straight to our sleeper car, 430, which was a Superliner II named California. Our sleeper attendant met us at the door. She was pretty flustered when we arrived, having trouble speaking what she wanted to say. She did say she was extremely tired. My first thought was to not expect much from this attendant.
Once we settled in our rooms (roomettes 5 & 6), she informed us the toilets in our car were not working properly and they may begin to work after La Junta. Fantastic.
Soon after leaving Lamy, we hit a siding for just a couple of minutes and #3 passed us on the left. I heard (via scanner) the crew on #3 talking about having to get the PV put on in Lamy.
The dining car staff member cam by around 3:30 and took dinner reservations. We chose 5:00 cause our stomachs were still on Central time. They did not give us little reservation cards, he wrote our name on a pad.
They called us at about 5:05 and we were the first ones in. The whole time there were only 3 other people in the dining car on the sleeper end. I had the new flat iron beef dish. After having an absolutely awesome flat iron STEAK on this train last summer, this was a big disappointment. It really just tasted like a pot roast and was very small. The server we had was excellent. She took the time to explain all dishes to us, even the kids menu. I was also surprised that even though this was the second day of the SWC’s trip, all the menu items were available.
We stopped at Raton while eating and as normal, a bunch of boy scouts got on. So many they decided to let people step off while they were loading.
We got into La Junta about 15 minutes late and stayed there for like 20 minutes. We stepped off and stayed off as long as we could.
After La Junta, we made our beds and turned in. About that time, the A/C in our rooms turned from blowing cold air to just blowing air. It was feeling pretty hot. Also, the end door on our car on the roomette end was stuck open. We found out the next morning the air was indeed acting up. Our attendant said both problems (A/C and toilets) had been reported and we should call customer service to get a voucher. The door also closed sometime during the night and the toilets did start working again too.
Interesting observation… Between Lamy and La Junta, there were LOTS of empty container cars being stored on sidings. Could this be due to less cargo being moved and BNSF was storing a bunch of equipment?
My family slept well. Me, I hardly slept a wink. I was not trying real hard either. My first night on the train is always hard for me to settle down. I don’t want to miss anything!
I have traveled the SWC route through Kansas 5 times now and I must say that the tracks from La Junta to Newton are the worse tracks I have ever been on. I even had trouble sleeping on my side cause the rocking would just about knock me over. It is BAD. Just one more reason they should reroute the SWC to stay on the transcon (remember, I live in Amarillo!).
I did not see it, but I heard the conductor (scanner) from the next #3 passing us between Hutchinson and Newton. Must have passed us on the right where I could not see.
I woke up at 5:30 am with my son staring down at me from the upper bunk. Around 6:00, we went ahead and got up and dressed. We arrived into Kansas City at 6:51, 35 minutes early. And that is after we sat in the Kansas City yard for 15 minutes. We were parked at KC Union Station for about 54 minutes. We stepped off and walked the train. There was another train to the left of ours; I assume one of the Missouri trains headed to St Louis.
We reboarded and went to breakfast. Again, great service.
After breakfast we went back to the rooms where a car attendant trainee made up our beds.
North of KC, we hit 90mph for long stretches.
At about 9:05, I heard a noise below our car and then heard the engineer say “What did we hit, Denise?” The conductor said she did not hear anything.
At 9:15 the conductor said they seem to be losing air pressure and must have a loose hose (they think from some debris on the tracks). We then stopped for about 10 minutes. Turned out to be a connection between the baggage car and the transdorm.
At 11:00, the dining car made an announcement of an abbreviated lunch. They said first come first serve and, of course, many people made a mad dash. We were able to get in. There were a couple of menu items not available, but enough. They filled every table at the same time so service was really slow. I got the name of our server cause I am definitely going to write Amtrak about her excellent work.
Noticed lots and lots of people on the platform at Galesburg. I assume they were getting on our train.
We arrived into Chicago 25 minutes early, We checked into the lounge then headed off to Giardano’s. We shared a deep dish and then back to the lounge.
They told us to be back by 7:30pm for boarding. However, there was some delay moving the train from the yard to the station and we did not board until around 8:30. It was weird to see that baggage car on the rear, but I understand why it is there. We dropped our stuff in roomettes 3 & 4 in the NY sleeper 4811 and went to the “dining car” for the reception. We had our cheese and sparkeling cidar and then went back to our rooms and straight to bed.
I slept a whole lot more than the previous night. I set my alarm for 5:00 so I could step off in Cleveland, but I turned it off and went back to sleep. I was tired. The track we are on is so much smoother than the previous night. I also noticed this roomette did not have ANY squeaks or rattles. That is quite amazing. The only noise I heard is the track noise. That is a first for me. If the toilet and sink were not in the room with us, I would say the Viewliner roomette beats the Superliner roomette hands down. However because I do not like the sink and toilet in there, it makes it more equal. With kids, the Viewliner is way better during the day as I can leave the top bunk down and they can stay up there with plenty of room and windows.
I did get up about 6:15 and took a quick shower. The rest of my family got up and we headed to the diner-lite for breakfast. We all had french toast. French toast was good, the sausage, not so good. Much better on the SWC where I assume they cook it as oppose to the heat and serve they use on the LSL diner-lite.
After breakfast, the rest of my family took showers. I decided to let the kids hang out on the top bunks so I put each of the lower bunk matresses up there. On the bottom, I left the seat next to the toilet down and made the chair back on the other side. It is a very comfortable setup for all of us. Kids can lay down or play on the top bunks and my wife and I can be comfortable down below.
We had the first “smoke” stop that we were awake for at Buffalo/Depew. I had planned to walk to the front to take pics of all the cars and locomotives, but that train is really long! I was just hoping I would get a chance sometime to get the loco numbers.
I also saw what I assume to be Buffalo’s old train station. Quite a grand old station. Too bad it is not being used for anything.
We got the Albany’s yard where they stopped us, unhooked the front Boston section of the train, pulled that into the station, hooked a dual mode up to our New York section, then pulled us into the station.
We had about 30 minutes in Albany so we went upstairs, bought some snacks at the store, and headed back to the platform. We pulled out of Albany right on time.
They had a few snacks available in the diner-lite for sale for only 20 minutes after departure. That is the only food service between Albany and New York City. I went in to buy us some bags of chips and the guy told the dining car crew to just give us some chips. The gave us a tray of potato chips to take back to our room. Later I went back to get a some ice for a couple of cups (ours in our car was all melted) and she filled up four cups for me and gave us four of the small soda cans. Not sure why they have the small cans on the LSL but I appreciated it.
We arrived into NYP about an hour early. Our very own AlanB graciously met us at Penn. He showed us around and even rode NJT to Newark Penn with us (our hotel was in Harrison). I enjoyed our conversation and all the useful info. It sure made arriving in NYP for the first time a lot less daunting.
We spent 4 full days exploring NY fully using the Subway and also PATH to get into the city from Newark Penn.
The machines where you buy tickets/passes for the subway only allow two transactions a day per credit card. Here is what happened to us.
I needed 4 tickets on PATH into NYC. It only allows you to buy 1 one ride tickets per transaction. I bought two of those with my main credit card and could do no more for the day with it on PATH or MTA machines (they seem to be connected). I then bought a refillable card (after someone showed me) on my secondary card to get the other two PATH tickets.
Arriving in to NYC, I now needed to buy 4 multi-day passes. Credit card one was used up for the day. Credit card two could only buy one and then it was maxed out on number of uses per day. I had a third debit card from my bank and got two more with it. We then scrounged up enough cash to get the fourth. However, that used just about all the cash we were carrying.
I understand they have this two transaction limit in place to keep people from running up a bunch with a stolen credit card, but for us, it really screwed with us. You would have to have two credit cards just to buy the four passes.
Another issue, I hold all the passes and swipe them letting my family go through one by one. My oldest son did not push the gate fast enough and it locked before he went through. The multi day passes can only be used once every 20 minutes so I was stuck outside the gate while my family was inside. I ran over and bought me a cash ticket so I could get in. That would not happen again.
On top of all that (which was a Sunday), my debit card was not working at ATM’s to replenish our cash. I could not call my bank until Monday (9:00 central time) so we had to be careful as we were down to only $10 in cash. Fortunately, it was okay and the bank cleared it up Monday morning. Apparently, they automatically block transactions in New York and had to unblock it for us.
After that day, everything on the subway and PATH was very smooth. Crowded and HOT, but smooth.
On the day of our return trip, July 2, 2009, we caught a NJT train from Newark to NYP with all of our luggage. Arriving in NYP, I picked up our tickets at a quicktrak machine then headed to the ClubAcela. We were leaving NYP in coach on Regional 141 (this would be our first trip on the NEC), but were getting on the Capital Limited in DC, so no problems getting in.
We hung out there and found out due to there being only one track open north of Manhattan somewhere, our train would be delayed from its scheduled 9:35 departure. A little after 10, the guy in the lounge told us what track. Fortunately, it was not on the board yet so we made it to the platform in time to see the train pull in. Even more importantly, we were on the train with 4 seats together before all the other people showed up.
Our tickets were not picked up till we were almost to Trenton.
The trip was pretty uneventful. Coming into DC I happened to glance out and saw 4 or 5 of the P40’s waiting to go to Beech Grove. Course we were almost to DC before I remembered to pull out the laptop with GPS, I saw us get up to 122 mph.
We arrived into DC just about an hour late. We checked into the lounge and grabbed some lunch in Union Station. After lunch, we returned to the lounge and they called us at 3:30 to board the Capitol Limited #29.
We were in rooms 4 & 5 of the 2900 car. It was another Superliner II sleeper. Our third Superliner II sleeper in a row! (counting last years trip) We are always in the sleeper closest to the dining car (cause I buy our tickets very early) and it seems like they ALWAYS put the nice refurbished sleeper as the second sleeper. I did notice this sleeper had the redone toilets where it has the push button flush as opposed to the close the lid flush like our last one. They had also replaced all the toilet seats with nice big ones like you would find in a home.
Sitting in WUS, I noticed the canopy over the platform that the Superliners were lined up next to looks as if they cut off a portion of it so the Superliners could fit. Guess that limited what platforms they can bring Superliners into.
The CL left right ton time from WUS.
Sometime before we went to dinner, I heard an engineer from some other train tell our train about some people near the tracks and to watch out for them. Our engineer called the dispatcher and asked if we should be slow ordered. There was some talk back and forth about where the Amtrak engineer got the info. Our engineer said “891 sure put us in a heck of a position for liability.” 891 was the other train. O then heard 891 tell the dispatcher he was just giving us a courtesy warning. We ended up going slow for about 20 minutes. Our engineer reported to the dispatcher is was just a couple of elderly folks picking berries. He said technically they were trespassing, but did not think it was a problem.
Soon after getting back to speed, we then had to make a stop because a train in front of us was in emergency stop.
We made 6:00 dinner reservations. This would be my first experience in a a diner-lounge car (or CCC). I must say, the car is horrible as a replacement for a regular dining car. The seating is wacked. Even the “regular” booths are irregularly shaped. It will be a good move to get regular dining cars back on the CL. I again tried the beef dish. Still not very good. Still taste like pot roast, not anything like steak. Real disappointment.
After dinner they announced the smoking stop at Cumberland, MD. They only opened the door to the second coach so there was a long line and we ended up only stepping off for a couple of minutes (holding our breath as much as possible!).
At 8:30 my wife and younger son made their beds and turned in. My older son and I stayed up a while. I really wanted to stay up until Pittsburgh, but I was too sleepy. I turned in around 10:30. I did wake up while we were stopped there, but the good view of the city was on the other side of the train.
I got up about 6:00 and got dressed. I woke up the family and we headed to breakfast. We all had french toast. I spoke with a guy across the isle who said he was also headed to New Mexico and would be on the SWC with us.
We hung out in our rooms for the remainder of the trip. We arrived into Chicago about 30 minutes late.
I had heard on the scanner an odd axle count and sure enough our #29 had three locos up front. I guess maybe they were ferrying one to Chicago. When we walked passed them after deboarding, the third unit was not running.
Now only 6 hours until our SWC #3 leaves. We hung out in the lounge pretty much the whole time as we did not have the energy or the will to get out. We grabbed lunch in Union Station and brought it back to the lounge (free soft drinks!) to eat.
They had us board around 2:45 for our 3:15 departure. Well what do you know, the 330 car that we are in is another Superliner II. Fourth one in a row. AND as always, the other sleeper is a refurbished Superliner I. For this segment, we got roomette #5 and bedroom E. When I booked, it was only $30 more for the bedroom. I gladly gave my wife the larger room and it had nothing to do with the fact I knew my kids would much rather hang out in there than in the roomette with me.
Our car attendant seemed like he was going to be a good one. He even came around offering hot towels. Never had that happen before. He actually introduced himself to the guy across the hall as the PORTER. Everything he did he did nicely even arranging the room after changing back from beds. The car was also nice and cool. First Superliner sleeper on this trip like that. However my wife’s bedroom seemed hot the whole time.
Found a CZ timetable in the room so perhaps this trainset had been used on it recently.
With the kids in the other room, I actually got to have a conversation with the guy across the hall. He was a newbie to sleeper, though he was only going to Kansas City. Traveling with kids and in a group of four, I find it harder to meet people on the train. We take up a whole table in the dining car so no chance to sit with anyone else (my family does not want to break up in to two). We also normally have roomettes across from each other so that makes it more difficult to meet people in the sleepers and with kids we usually keep the doors shut to keep our noise in.
We had another excellent server in the dining car. She was very friendly and very helpful. I had the roasted chicken this time, it was okay. The special was enchiladas and the seafood was salmon.
After a very quick step off in Fort Madison, Ia, we returned to our rooms.
We got up to 90 mph throughout Missouri
About 30 minutes before Kansas City, my son said he smelled smoke. I thought it was just the brakes or something, but I said something to the passing attendant. He knocked on the roomette next to us and the next thing I know he is paging for the conductor. It seems he was intoxicated and smoking in his room. Since he was getting off in Newton, they let him stay on with the warning if it happened again the next stop would be his. The conductor stopped by and said if we had any problems just to let our attendant know and he would take care of it.
My son and I stepped off in Kansas City. We walked the train and got some pics. It had been raining and there was a lot of lighting in the sky. We reboarded and turned in for the night.
I was still awake when we came to Lawrence, KS and since this was a Friday night, they were suppose to be having a party there. It was raining so I think that killed it. I thought I heard some music but from my window, could not see anything. Perhaps my window passed it before I looked out or it was on the other side of the train.
Slept pretty good. Had to make a couple of trips to the restroom during the night. First time no problem. Second time the toilet would not flush. What do you know, another Superliner with toilet flushing issues. Since we paid good money for my wife to have a toilet in her room, customer service will be hearing from me. This is the second Superliner II in a row on the SWC that had the flushing toilet problem in the altitude.
Our dining car was also a Superliner II and I noticed it had an extra work area upstairs I have never seen before. Seems like one of the tables was not there and they added some counter space instead. Not sure if this was added later or if it is how the II’s were built.
I will say it again, the tracks between La Junta and Kansas City are the WORST.
Woke up about 5:50, 10 minutes before my alarm. Went down to shower and someone was using it. I decided just to freshen up and go get dressed instead of waiting. I would be home that night and can shower then.
We all went to breakfast close to 7:00. They sat us on the coach side of the dining car cause there were no coach passengers eating at the time. We again all had french toast with sausage.
After breakfast, back to our rooms to relax and enjoy our final few hours of train time.
We were about 30 minutes late into La Junta. Even though they said it would be an abbreviated stop, the pretty much took the full 15 minutes or more. The conductor that was getting off the train went to the non platform side of our sleeper to see if she could get the toilets working. Sure enough, after La Junta they started working again. It was nice of her to do that. All she HAD to do was get off the train and let the new crew on but she went the extra mile to get it working.
However, before Raton they stopped working again. At the Raton stop where they let us off again, the attendant from the other sleeper opened a door on the side of our car, flipped down a little ladder and climbed inside a little room I had no idea that was there.
They got it working again, but not for long. Oh, well. We were off in two stops anyway.
Between Las Vegas and Lamy there was talk on the radio about picking up some Boy Scouts in Albuquerque and how they should save a whole car for them. Never knew any got on there, thought it was just Raton.
30 miles from Lamy, the sky turn dark and it looked like rain ahead. I don’t mind rain on the train, but really do not want it raining when we get off. Us and our stuff would get soaked.
We came to a crawl at Glorieta, I was assuming to make the pass with #4. Sure enough, about 10 minutes after coming to a stop, she went by.
We pulled into Lamy about 30 minutes late. It was raining so it was a quick dash to the Station (no platform sheds). I waited outside to watch the baggage car. This was the first trip our luggage did not follow us on the same train. I assume it went out on the LSL from NYP. Sure enough, they pulled it off. It was really dirty though. Looked like they had been dragged through dry dirt.
We then drove home from Lamy, about a four hour trip to Amarillo.
A few days later, I called customer service. I first commended our dining car server from #4. She asked me to describe here, but I really did not remember much other than her name. I then proceeded to talk about the A/C & toilets on #4 and the toilets on #3. She put me on hold and came back and told me they were sending me a $700 voucher! I know it is going to be a challenge for me to use it since I live no where near a station, but I will figure something out.
Overall, a good trip. You can read more about our trip with lots more pictures on my travel blog which was done during the trip. It is at www.CraigMashburn.com
While waiting for our train in Lamy, we heard a train horn and around the bend came a Santa Fe Southern locomotive hauling a PV car.
Unfortunately, it was being put on #3 and not our train. They pulled in and then did a run around to get the loco behind it. When we left, they still needed to wye the car so the observation platform would be on the back. There was a video production team aboard with the owner video taping the trip.
Right on time at 2:00, #4 arrived into Lamy.
Video of the train arriving... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqUWKpS270o
We went straight to our sleeper car, 430, which was a Superliner II named California. Our sleeper attendant met us at the door. She was pretty flustered when we arrived, having trouble speaking what she wanted to say. She did say she was extremely tired. My first thought was to not expect much from this attendant.
Once we settled in our rooms (roomettes 5 & 6), she informed us the toilets in our car were not working properly and they may begin to work after La Junta. Fantastic.
Soon after leaving Lamy, we hit a siding for just a couple of minutes and #3 passed us on the left. I heard (via scanner) the crew on #3 talking about having to get the PV put on in Lamy.
The dining car staff member cam by around 3:30 and took dinner reservations. We chose 5:00 cause our stomachs were still on Central time. They did not give us little reservation cards, he wrote our name on a pad.
They called us at about 5:05 and we were the first ones in. The whole time there were only 3 other people in the dining car on the sleeper end. I had the new flat iron beef dish. After having an absolutely awesome flat iron STEAK on this train last summer, this was a big disappointment. It really just tasted like a pot roast and was very small. The server we had was excellent. She took the time to explain all dishes to us, even the kids menu. I was also surprised that even though this was the second day of the SWC’s trip, all the menu items were available.
We stopped at Raton while eating and as normal, a bunch of boy scouts got on. So many they decided to let people step off while they were loading.
We got into La Junta about 15 minutes late and stayed there for like 20 minutes. We stepped off and stayed off as long as we could.
After La Junta, we made our beds and turned in. About that time, the A/C in our rooms turned from blowing cold air to just blowing air. It was feeling pretty hot. Also, the end door on our car on the roomette end was stuck open. We found out the next morning the air was indeed acting up. Our attendant said both problems (A/C and toilets) had been reported and we should call customer service to get a voucher. The door also closed sometime during the night and the toilets did start working again too.
Interesting observation… Between Lamy and La Junta, there were LOTS of empty container cars being stored on sidings. Could this be due to less cargo being moved and BNSF was storing a bunch of equipment?
My family slept well. Me, I hardly slept a wink. I was not trying real hard either. My first night on the train is always hard for me to settle down. I don’t want to miss anything!
I have traveled the SWC route through Kansas 5 times now and I must say that the tracks from La Junta to Newton are the worse tracks I have ever been on. I even had trouble sleeping on my side cause the rocking would just about knock me over. It is BAD. Just one more reason they should reroute the SWC to stay on the transcon (remember, I live in Amarillo!).
I did not see it, but I heard the conductor (scanner) from the next #3 passing us between Hutchinson and Newton. Must have passed us on the right where I could not see.
I woke up at 5:30 am with my son staring down at me from the upper bunk. Around 6:00, we went ahead and got up and dressed. We arrived into Kansas City at 6:51, 35 minutes early. And that is after we sat in the Kansas City yard for 15 minutes. We were parked at KC Union Station for about 54 minutes. We stepped off and walked the train. There was another train to the left of ours; I assume one of the Missouri trains headed to St Louis.
We reboarded and went to breakfast. Again, great service.
After breakfast we went back to the rooms where a car attendant trainee made up our beds.
North of KC, we hit 90mph for long stretches.
At about 9:05, I heard a noise below our car and then heard the engineer say “What did we hit, Denise?” The conductor said she did not hear anything.
At 9:15 the conductor said they seem to be losing air pressure and must have a loose hose (they think from some debris on the tracks). We then stopped for about 10 minutes. Turned out to be a connection between the baggage car and the transdorm.
At 11:00, the dining car made an announcement of an abbreviated lunch. They said first come first serve and, of course, many people made a mad dash. We were able to get in. There were a couple of menu items not available, but enough. They filled every table at the same time so service was really slow. I got the name of our server cause I am definitely going to write Amtrak about her excellent work.
Noticed lots and lots of people on the platform at Galesburg. I assume they were getting on our train.
We arrived into Chicago 25 minutes early, We checked into the lounge then headed off to Giardano’s. We shared a deep dish and then back to the lounge.
They told us to be back by 7:30pm for boarding. However, there was some delay moving the train from the yard to the station and we did not board until around 8:30. It was weird to see that baggage car on the rear, but I understand why it is there. We dropped our stuff in roomettes 3 & 4 in the NY sleeper 4811 and went to the “dining car” for the reception. We had our cheese and sparkeling cidar and then went back to our rooms and straight to bed.
I slept a whole lot more than the previous night. I set my alarm for 5:00 so I could step off in Cleveland, but I turned it off and went back to sleep. I was tired. The track we are on is so much smoother than the previous night. I also noticed this roomette did not have ANY squeaks or rattles. That is quite amazing. The only noise I heard is the track noise. That is a first for me. If the toilet and sink were not in the room with us, I would say the Viewliner roomette beats the Superliner roomette hands down. However because I do not like the sink and toilet in there, it makes it more equal. With kids, the Viewliner is way better during the day as I can leave the top bunk down and they can stay up there with plenty of room and windows.
I did get up about 6:15 and took a quick shower. The rest of my family got up and we headed to the diner-lite for breakfast. We all had french toast. French toast was good, the sausage, not so good. Much better on the SWC where I assume they cook it as oppose to the heat and serve they use on the LSL diner-lite.
After breakfast, the rest of my family took showers. I decided to let the kids hang out on the top bunks so I put each of the lower bunk matresses up there. On the bottom, I left the seat next to the toilet down and made the chair back on the other side. It is a very comfortable setup for all of us. Kids can lay down or play on the top bunks and my wife and I can be comfortable down below.
We had the first “smoke” stop that we were awake for at Buffalo/Depew. I had planned to walk to the front to take pics of all the cars and locomotives, but that train is really long! I was just hoping I would get a chance sometime to get the loco numbers.
I also saw what I assume to be Buffalo’s old train station. Quite a grand old station. Too bad it is not being used for anything.
We got the Albany’s yard where they stopped us, unhooked the front Boston section of the train, pulled that into the station, hooked a dual mode up to our New York section, then pulled us into the station.
We had about 30 minutes in Albany so we went upstairs, bought some snacks at the store, and headed back to the platform. We pulled out of Albany right on time.
They had a few snacks available in the diner-lite for sale for only 20 minutes after departure. That is the only food service between Albany and New York City. I went in to buy us some bags of chips and the guy told the dining car crew to just give us some chips. The gave us a tray of potato chips to take back to our room. Later I went back to get a some ice for a couple of cups (ours in our car was all melted) and she filled up four cups for me and gave us four of the small soda cans. Not sure why they have the small cans on the LSL but I appreciated it.
We arrived into NYP about an hour early. Our very own AlanB graciously met us at Penn. He showed us around and even rode NJT to Newark Penn with us (our hotel was in Harrison). I enjoyed our conversation and all the useful info. It sure made arriving in NYP for the first time a lot less daunting.
We spent 4 full days exploring NY fully using the Subway and also PATH to get into the city from Newark Penn.
The machines where you buy tickets/passes for the subway only allow two transactions a day per credit card. Here is what happened to us.
I needed 4 tickets on PATH into NYC. It only allows you to buy 1 one ride tickets per transaction. I bought two of those with my main credit card and could do no more for the day with it on PATH or MTA machines (they seem to be connected). I then bought a refillable card (after someone showed me) on my secondary card to get the other two PATH tickets.
Arriving in to NYC, I now needed to buy 4 multi-day passes. Credit card one was used up for the day. Credit card two could only buy one and then it was maxed out on number of uses per day. I had a third debit card from my bank and got two more with it. We then scrounged up enough cash to get the fourth. However, that used just about all the cash we were carrying.
I understand they have this two transaction limit in place to keep people from running up a bunch with a stolen credit card, but for us, it really screwed with us. You would have to have two credit cards just to buy the four passes.
Another issue, I hold all the passes and swipe them letting my family go through one by one. My oldest son did not push the gate fast enough and it locked before he went through. The multi day passes can only be used once every 20 minutes so I was stuck outside the gate while my family was inside. I ran over and bought me a cash ticket so I could get in. That would not happen again.
On top of all that (which was a Sunday), my debit card was not working at ATM’s to replenish our cash. I could not call my bank until Monday (9:00 central time) so we had to be careful as we were down to only $10 in cash. Fortunately, it was okay and the bank cleared it up Monday morning. Apparently, they automatically block transactions in New York and had to unblock it for us.
After that day, everything on the subway and PATH was very smooth. Crowded and HOT, but smooth.
On the day of our return trip, July 2, 2009, we caught a NJT train from Newark to NYP with all of our luggage. Arriving in NYP, I picked up our tickets at a quicktrak machine then headed to the ClubAcela. We were leaving NYP in coach on Regional 141 (this would be our first trip on the NEC), but were getting on the Capital Limited in DC, so no problems getting in.
We hung out there and found out due to there being only one track open north of Manhattan somewhere, our train would be delayed from its scheduled 9:35 departure. A little after 10, the guy in the lounge told us what track. Fortunately, it was not on the board yet so we made it to the platform in time to see the train pull in. Even more importantly, we were on the train with 4 seats together before all the other people showed up.
Our tickets were not picked up till we were almost to Trenton.
The trip was pretty uneventful. Coming into DC I happened to glance out and saw 4 or 5 of the P40’s waiting to go to Beech Grove. Course we were almost to DC before I remembered to pull out the laptop with GPS, I saw us get up to 122 mph.
We arrived into DC just about an hour late. We checked into the lounge and grabbed some lunch in Union Station. After lunch, we returned to the lounge and they called us at 3:30 to board the Capitol Limited #29.
We were in rooms 4 & 5 of the 2900 car. It was another Superliner II sleeper. Our third Superliner II sleeper in a row! (counting last years trip) We are always in the sleeper closest to the dining car (cause I buy our tickets very early) and it seems like they ALWAYS put the nice refurbished sleeper as the second sleeper. I did notice this sleeper had the redone toilets where it has the push button flush as opposed to the close the lid flush like our last one. They had also replaced all the toilet seats with nice big ones like you would find in a home.
Sitting in WUS, I noticed the canopy over the platform that the Superliners were lined up next to looks as if they cut off a portion of it so the Superliners could fit. Guess that limited what platforms they can bring Superliners into.
The CL left right ton time from WUS.
Sometime before we went to dinner, I heard an engineer from some other train tell our train about some people near the tracks and to watch out for them. Our engineer called the dispatcher and asked if we should be slow ordered. There was some talk back and forth about where the Amtrak engineer got the info. Our engineer said “891 sure put us in a heck of a position for liability.” 891 was the other train. O then heard 891 tell the dispatcher he was just giving us a courtesy warning. We ended up going slow for about 20 minutes. Our engineer reported to the dispatcher is was just a couple of elderly folks picking berries. He said technically they were trespassing, but did not think it was a problem.
Soon after getting back to speed, we then had to make a stop because a train in front of us was in emergency stop.
We made 6:00 dinner reservations. This would be my first experience in a a diner-lounge car (or CCC). I must say, the car is horrible as a replacement for a regular dining car. The seating is wacked. Even the “regular” booths are irregularly shaped. It will be a good move to get regular dining cars back on the CL. I again tried the beef dish. Still not very good. Still taste like pot roast, not anything like steak. Real disappointment.
After dinner they announced the smoking stop at Cumberland, MD. They only opened the door to the second coach so there was a long line and we ended up only stepping off for a couple of minutes (holding our breath as much as possible!).
At 8:30 my wife and younger son made their beds and turned in. My older son and I stayed up a while. I really wanted to stay up until Pittsburgh, but I was too sleepy. I turned in around 10:30. I did wake up while we were stopped there, but the good view of the city was on the other side of the train.
I got up about 6:00 and got dressed. I woke up the family and we headed to breakfast. We all had french toast. I spoke with a guy across the isle who said he was also headed to New Mexico and would be on the SWC with us.
We hung out in our rooms for the remainder of the trip. We arrived into Chicago about 30 minutes late.
I had heard on the scanner an odd axle count and sure enough our #29 had three locos up front. I guess maybe they were ferrying one to Chicago. When we walked passed them after deboarding, the third unit was not running.
Now only 6 hours until our SWC #3 leaves. We hung out in the lounge pretty much the whole time as we did not have the energy or the will to get out. We grabbed lunch in Union Station and brought it back to the lounge (free soft drinks!) to eat.
They had us board around 2:45 for our 3:15 departure. Well what do you know, the 330 car that we are in is another Superliner II. Fourth one in a row. AND as always, the other sleeper is a refurbished Superliner I. For this segment, we got roomette #5 and bedroom E. When I booked, it was only $30 more for the bedroom. I gladly gave my wife the larger room and it had nothing to do with the fact I knew my kids would much rather hang out in there than in the roomette with me.
Our car attendant seemed like he was going to be a good one. He even came around offering hot towels. Never had that happen before. He actually introduced himself to the guy across the hall as the PORTER. Everything he did he did nicely even arranging the room after changing back from beds. The car was also nice and cool. First Superliner sleeper on this trip like that. However my wife’s bedroom seemed hot the whole time.
Found a CZ timetable in the room so perhaps this trainset had been used on it recently.
With the kids in the other room, I actually got to have a conversation with the guy across the hall. He was a newbie to sleeper, though he was only going to Kansas City. Traveling with kids and in a group of four, I find it harder to meet people on the train. We take up a whole table in the dining car so no chance to sit with anyone else (my family does not want to break up in to two). We also normally have roomettes across from each other so that makes it more difficult to meet people in the sleepers and with kids we usually keep the doors shut to keep our noise in.
We had another excellent server in the dining car. She was very friendly and very helpful. I had the roasted chicken this time, it was okay. The special was enchiladas and the seafood was salmon.
After a very quick step off in Fort Madison, Ia, we returned to our rooms.
We got up to 90 mph throughout Missouri
About 30 minutes before Kansas City, my son said he smelled smoke. I thought it was just the brakes or something, but I said something to the passing attendant. He knocked on the roomette next to us and the next thing I know he is paging for the conductor. It seems he was intoxicated and smoking in his room. Since he was getting off in Newton, they let him stay on with the warning if it happened again the next stop would be his. The conductor stopped by and said if we had any problems just to let our attendant know and he would take care of it.
My son and I stepped off in Kansas City. We walked the train and got some pics. It had been raining and there was a lot of lighting in the sky. We reboarded and turned in for the night.
I was still awake when we came to Lawrence, KS and since this was a Friday night, they were suppose to be having a party there. It was raining so I think that killed it. I thought I heard some music but from my window, could not see anything. Perhaps my window passed it before I looked out or it was on the other side of the train.
Slept pretty good. Had to make a couple of trips to the restroom during the night. First time no problem. Second time the toilet would not flush. What do you know, another Superliner with toilet flushing issues. Since we paid good money for my wife to have a toilet in her room, customer service will be hearing from me. This is the second Superliner II in a row on the SWC that had the flushing toilet problem in the altitude.
Our dining car was also a Superliner II and I noticed it had an extra work area upstairs I have never seen before. Seems like one of the tables was not there and they added some counter space instead. Not sure if this was added later or if it is how the II’s were built.
I will say it again, the tracks between La Junta and Kansas City are the WORST.
Woke up about 5:50, 10 minutes before my alarm. Went down to shower and someone was using it. I decided just to freshen up and go get dressed instead of waiting. I would be home that night and can shower then.
We all went to breakfast close to 7:00. They sat us on the coach side of the dining car cause there were no coach passengers eating at the time. We again all had french toast with sausage.
After breakfast, back to our rooms to relax and enjoy our final few hours of train time.
We were about 30 minutes late into La Junta. Even though they said it would be an abbreviated stop, the pretty much took the full 15 minutes or more. The conductor that was getting off the train went to the non platform side of our sleeper to see if she could get the toilets working. Sure enough, after La Junta they started working again. It was nice of her to do that. All she HAD to do was get off the train and let the new crew on but she went the extra mile to get it working.
However, before Raton they stopped working again. At the Raton stop where they let us off again, the attendant from the other sleeper opened a door on the side of our car, flipped down a little ladder and climbed inside a little room I had no idea that was there.
They got it working again, but not for long. Oh, well. We were off in two stops anyway.
Between Las Vegas and Lamy there was talk on the radio about picking up some Boy Scouts in Albuquerque and how they should save a whole car for them. Never knew any got on there, thought it was just Raton.
30 miles from Lamy, the sky turn dark and it looked like rain ahead. I don’t mind rain on the train, but really do not want it raining when we get off. Us and our stuff would get soaked.
We came to a crawl at Glorieta, I was assuming to make the pass with #4. Sure enough, about 10 minutes after coming to a stop, she went by.
We pulled into Lamy about 30 minutes late. It was raining so it was a quick dash to the Station (no platform sheds). I waited outside to watch the baggage car. This was the first trip our luggage did not follow us on the same train. I assume it went out on the LSL from NYP. Sure enough, they pulled it off. It was really dirty though. Looked like they had been dragged through dry dirt.
We then drove home from Lamy, about a four hour trip to Amarillo.
A few days later, I called customer service. I first commended our dining car server from #4. She asked me to describe here, but I really did not remember much other than her name. I then proceeded to talk about the A/C & toilets on #4 and the toilets on #3. She put me on hold and came back and told me they were sending me a $700 voucher! I know it is going to be a challenge for me to use it since I live no where near a station, but I will figure something out.
Overall, a good trip. You can read more about our trip with lots more pictures on my travel blog which was done during the trip. It is at www.CraigMashburn.com
