greatcats
Engineer
This is a continuation of my report of May 7 - this time headed west. I am pleased to say that my entire Amtrak trip was a success and I wish to make it clear that I encountered nothing but good to exemplary employees, who really made the journey worthwhile. I did not encounter any employees who who could be deemed turkeys - not at all!
I had spent 11 days with a rental car visiting old friends in New Jersey,( staying with a family in Montclair - an interesting time in itself ) attending my 35th college reunion in Princeotn, NJ ( Westminster Choir College ) and drove to and from Washington, DC. Now I know you are all asking why I drove. There were logistical reasons for this, but frankly getting in and out of DC by car and paying a huge fee to park for two nights was not a pleasure. But the little Mercury Milan from Hertz, which I picked up and returned to Montclair, NJ, served me well. Last Thursday, I took NJ Transit from Walnut Street, Montclair back to New York Penn Station and took Acela 2155 to DC. I paid for a first class ticket. Comments on this trip: In terms of fast service and convenience, it is great. The interior of the first class car is fairly nice, although a little too bright and not what iIwould call luxurious. The attendants provided prompt service. I had the vegetarian curry dish. It was OK - but resembled an airline meal. Nothing wrong with the two beers! We were on time into Washington.
I hauled myself over to the hostel for my second stay there in a week by Metro. This was a bit nostalgic, having stayed there many times since around 1990. I walked all the way up to Washington National Cathedral - over three miles - took in the wonderful Evensong service ( having also attended the Pentecost services there the previous Sunday)
and then walked down Wisconsin and had a classy French dinner in Georgetown. The next day was spent at the new museum, the Newseum, on Pennsylvania Avenue, an impressive place devoted to interactive exhibits on the news media. Time well spent.
Then I hauled myself via Metro back to Union Station and boarded #29, the Capitol to Chicago. I have not ridden this train in 26 years, which was eastbound from Pittsburgh to Washington. The scenery through West Viginia and out through Maryland was gorgeous. Living in Arizona, I marvelled at how green everything was, but the Potomac River and tributaries were in flood stage. I stayed in the lounge car until it was dark as we snaked up the B & O. Dinner was pretty good, although there was a service problem in the diner. They were short one server, leaving the LSA, Judith Martin ( not the one from the etiquette column ) and server Quent to handle a crowded dining car. They tried hard to please and to cope with the crowd, but the situation was less than ideal and numerous things went wrong. I had the Game Hen, which was good. But I have something to praise in terms of the menu. I don't know how many others have commented on the salads, but on my trip to California last November I made pointed comments to Amtrak about the boring, blah iceberg lettuce with one cherry tomato. Now we have romaine or what is called Spring Mix in supermarkets! A great improvement! Thanks! My sleeper, with attendant Nate, was one of those recently remodeled, with different bathroom configurations. It was much better than the somewhat tired car encountered on the SWC the next night. I enjoyed the farmland across northern Indiana the next morning and we arrived Chicago about 55 minutes late, mainly having to do with freights. Another thing I notice is that on a long distance passenger train, it used to be the norm to have senior men as the train crews. Not any more - there are a number of ladies and the Assistant Conductor from Toledo to Chicago was a young man who looked sharp in his uniform, but he could have passed for a junior in high school! This is not a criticism - everyone seemed to do their jobs competently, I'm just saying the nature of the crews have changed.
I walked around downtown Chicago on a beautiful day, but really did not do anything worth mentioning. I was going to go up Sears Tower, but with a 30 minute wait, the timing would have been too close with my train departure. Boarding my sleeper, I was greeted by Sharon Bauman from Los Angeles, a true gem, along with Anna Maria from my eastbound SWC. Sharon was truly a delight, and did her utmost to make sure her guests were comfortable and happy and to contend with equipment problems, such as our temperamental toilets. She discussed her job and life history at length with me. These are not easy jobs to perform well and the work schedule certainly is not for everybody. She had retired from a previous career and then her husband passed away, so later in life found herself working for Amtrak. Our diner crew, with LSA Ardis, and servers Cora and Mae, were also very professional. This diner also was doing a roaring business, and while things became a bit hectic at times, they worked like beavers to adequately serve their customers. Now we all know about funding and budgets but these large diners really could use another person to make things run more smoothly. On my last dinner, there was no dessert available, and other items had run out. Not that I needed it, but it would seem a little better planning needs to be done in stocking food supplies. I won't go into every menu item I sampled, but will mention the Taco Salad for lunch - quite good. The Sightseer lounge car on this train, where I spent most of my waking hours, was quite tattered looking. We had arrived early into Albuqueque, but were delayed 20 minutes upon leaving, apparently due to a passenger who fell and cut his head on the platform, and our crew administered first aid, and a baggage delay made us about 35 minutes late at Flagstaff. Not a problem.....Sharon and I exchanged cordial farewells before Williams Junction, and upon arriving at the hotel by the shuttle bus I then drove a couple from Wisconsin to their B & B in Williams, prior to them taking the Grand Canyon Railway the next day, where I saw them again as I loaded my tour bus. So, there completes my 5000+ miles on Amtrak - for the most part a fine journey. Sure, I would do it again, but that probably will be awhile. Thanks for reading.
I had spent 11 days with a rental car visiting old friends in New Jersey,( staying with a family in Montclair - an interesting time in itself ) attending my 35th college reunion in Princeotn, NJ ( Westminster Choir College ) and drove to and from Washington, DC. Now I know you are all asking why I drove. There were logistical reasons for this, but frankly getting in and out of DC by car and paying a huge fee to park for two nights was not a pleasure. But the little Mercury Milan from Hertz, which I picked up and returned to Montclair, NJ, served me well. Last Thursday, I took NJ Transit from Walnut Street, Montclair back to New York Penn Station and took Acela 2155 to DC. I paid for a first class ticket. Comments on this trip: In terms of fast service and convenience, it is great. The interior of the first class car is fairly nice, although a little too bright and not what iIwould call luxurious. The attendants provided prompt service. I had the vegetarian curry dish. It was OK - but resembled an airline meal. Nothing wrong with the two beers! We were on time into Washington.
I hauled myself over to the hostel for my second stay there in a week by Metro. This was a bit nostalgic, having stayed there many times since around 1990. I walked all the way up to Washington National Cathedral - over three miles - took in the wonderful Evensong service ( having also attended the Pentecost services there the previous Sunday)
and then walked down Wisconsin and had a classy French dinner in Georgetown. The next day was spent at the new museum, the Newseum, on Pennsylvania Avenue, an impressive place devoted to interactive exhibits on the news media. Time well spent.
Then I hauled myself via Metro back to Union Station and boarded #29, the Capitol to Chicago. I have not ridden this train in 26 years, which was eastbound from Pittsburgh to Washington. The scenery through West Viginia and out through Maryland was gorgeous. Living in Arizona, I marvelled at how green everything was, but the Potomac River and tributaries were in flood stage. I stayed in the lounge car until it was dark as we snaked up the B & O. Dinner was pretty good, although there was a service problem in the diner. They were short one server, leaving the LSA, Judith Martin ( not the one from the etiquette column ) and server Quent to handle a crowded dining car. They tried hard to please and to cope with the crowd, but the situation was less than ideal and numerous things went wrong. I had the Game Hen, which was good. But I have something to praise in terms of the menu. I don't know how many others have commented on the salads, but on my trip to California last November I made pointed comments to Amtrak about the boring, blah iceberg lettuce with one cherry tomato. Now we have romaine or what is called Spring Mix in supermarkets! A great improvement! Thanks! My sleeper, with attendant Nate, was one of those recently remodeled, with different bathroom configurations. It was much better than the somewhat tired car encountered on the SWC the next night. I enjoyed the farmland across northern Indiana the next morning and we arrived Chicago about 55 minutes late, mainly having to do with freights. Another thing I notice is that on a long distance passenger train, it used to be the norm to have senior men as the train crews. Not any more - there are a number of ladies and the Assistant Conductor from Toledo to Chicago was a young man who looked sharp in his uniform, but he could have passed for a junior in high school! This is not a criticism - everyone seemed to do their jobs competently, I'm just saying the nature of the crews have changed.
I walked around downtown Chicago on a beautiful day, but really did not do anything worth mentioning. I was going to go up Sears Tower, but with a 30 minute wait, the timing would have been too close with my train departure. Boarding my sleeper, I was greeted by Sharon Bauman from Los Angeles, a true gem, along with Anna Maria from my eastbound SWC. Sharon was truly a delight, and did her utmost to make sure her guests were comfortable and happy and to contend with equipment problems, such as our temperamental toilets. She discussed her job and life history at length with me. These are not easy jobs to perform well and the work schedule certainly is not for everybody. She had retired from a previous career and then her husband passed away, so later in life found herself working for Amtrak. Our diner crew, with LSA Ardis, and servers Cora and Mae, were also very professional. This diner also was doing a roaring business, and while things became a bit hectic at times, they worked like beavers to adequately serve their customers. Now we all know about funding and budgets but these large diners really could use another person to make things run more smoothly. On my last dinner, there was no dessert available, and other items had run out. Not that I needed it, but it would seem a little better planning needs to be done in stocking food supplies. I won't go into every menu item I sampled, but will mention the Taco Salad for lunch - quite good. The Sightseer lounge car on this train, where I spent most of my waking hours, was quite tattered looking. We had arrived early into Albuqueque, but were delayed 20 minutes upon leaving, apparently due to a passenger who fell and cut his head on the platform, and our crew administered first aid, and a baggage delay made us about 35 minutes late at Flagstaff. Not a problem.....Sharon and I exchanged cordial farewells before Williams Junction, and upon arriving at the hotel by the shuttle bus I then drove a couple from Wisconsin to their B & B in Williams, prior to them taking the Grand Canyon Railway the next day, where I saw them again as I loaded my tour bus. So, there completes my 5000+ miles on Amtrak - for the most part a fine journey. Sure, I would do it again, but that probably will be awhile. Thanks for reading.
