I rode the Southwest Chief from LAX to Chicago Oct 22-24. Very disappointed that LA Union Station had no First Class Lounge for its passengers with Sleeper tickets. The station is 70 years old, is a "historic" bulding and badly needs some improved amenities for those of us who spend the extra bucks to not sit and sweat. I will say the "Traxx" restaurant in the LA station is pleasant with good food. Otherwise, don't plan an extended wait at this location - men's restrooms are dismal and filthy due to frequent misusage by street people.
The Chief started rolling on time - 6:45PM. By Flagstaff AZ the 2nd day we were 1 hr 55 min late. Some BNSF shenanigans - trying to say our engineer rolled a blacked out light, but the review of the tape showed he did a full stop and go per the regulations. That wasted over an hour. But the 44 hour schedule has some slack and we rolled into Chicago only 10 min late a day later so no connections were lost.
The scenery in the southwest especially east of Lamy NM through Apache Canyon is spectacular. Worth the trip alone. Tore through Kansas at night (making up time…??) and Illinois is table flat farmland most of the way until you get closer to Chicago. Interesting to note - my ears did "pop" quite a lot because of the elevation changes across the route.
My roomette #8 was fine. Everything worked, the wheels underneath me had no flat spots, and I slept reasonably well despite having a CPAP machine in the roomette with me. Anyone interested in how I rigged that up and still had room to move can PM me - too much to explain that here. The lavatories and the showers all worked fine and stayed reasonably clean thanks to either the car attendant or considerate other passengers...
One sour note. The dinner menu was a big letdown after traveling the Empire Builder last year. The EB menu was superb. But this years menu on the Chief was (1) a miserable attempt at a burrito (or something like that) which came out as a lump of slime next to very tired rice, (2) trout, which smelled and tasted like it was caught last year (I tried but could not eat much of it, and (3) pasta shells with cheese and Alfredo sauce, which I didn't try. In balance, lunch and breakfast were great (the grits were actually very good! and the Angus burger is the best). So c'mon Amtrak - fix that miserable SW Chief dinner menu and put some choices that will survive the prep process onto your passenger's plates and still look fresh and be tasty.
Service was mostly pretty good. My sleeping car attendant got a nice tip as he was always friendly and responsive. The dining car steward was less than friendly however; a bit too curt, and was overheard by me and a few other passengers berating some of his assistants, who seemed to be trying to be a bit more courteous to the passengers to make up for his lack thereof. Redcaps at both LA and Chicago were superb.
Overall - I recommend this trip if you have not seen the southwest by train. Any questions?
The Chief started rolling on time - 6:45PM. By Flagstaff AZ the 2nd day we were 1 hr 55 min late. Some BNSF shenanigans - trying to say our engineer rolled a blacked out light, but the review of the tape showed he did a full stop and go per the regulations. That wasted over an hour. But the 44 hour schedule has some slack and we rolled into Chicago only 10 min late a day later so no connections were lost.
The scenery in the southwest especially east of Lamy NM through Apache Canyon is spectacular. Worth the trip alone. Tore through Kansas at night (making up time…??) and Illinois is table flat farmland most of the way until you get closer to Chicago. Interesting to note - my ears did "pop" quite a lot because of the elevation changes across the route.
My roomette #8 was fine. Everything worked, the wheels underneath me had no flat spots, and I slept reasonably well despite having a CPAP machine in the roomette with me. Anyone interested in how I rigged that up and still had room to move can PM me - too much to explain that here. The lavatories and the showers all worked fine and stayed reasonably clean thanks to either the car attendant or considerate other passengers...
One sour note. The dinner menu was a big letdown after traveling the Empire Builder last year. The EB menu was superb. But this years menu on the Chief was (1) a miserable attempt at a burrito (or something like that) which came out as a lump of slime next to very tired rice, (2) trout, which smelled and tasted like it was caught last year (I tried but could not eat much of it, and (3) pasta shells with cheese and Alfredo sauce, which I didn't try. In balance, lunch and breakfast were great (the grits were actually very good! and the Angus burger is the best). So c'mon Amtrak - fix that miserable SW Chief dinner menu and put some choices that will survive the prep process onto your passenger's plates and still look fresh and be tasty.
Service was mostly pretty good. My sleeping car attendant got a nice tip as he was always friendly and responsive. The dining car steward was less than friendly however; a bit too curt, and was overheard by me and a few other passengers berating some of his assistants, who seemed to be trying to be a bit more courteous to the passengers to make up for his lack thereof. Redcaps at both LA and Chicago were superb.
Overall - I recommend this trip if you have not seen the southwest by train. Any questions?
