SWC Trip Report

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bpb1970

Train Attendant
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Messages
15
We took the SWC on Wednesday August 1st. We had a bedroom suite in rooms D and E. It was a good trip but there was a sewage smell that would come and go during the whole trip. I told the SCA and he said that he had already informed the conductor. It really made an otherwise good trip somewhat regrettable. I submitted a complaint through amtrak.com so we will see if they respond.

Some observations and notes:

- The train left Chicago on time and arrived an hour late which worked out great because they kept serving breakfast. That was the only meal we took in the room.

- No major food outages. They did run out of one of the desserts for the second dinner and only had eggs & pancakes left for the that final breakfast but that was fine considering that we were going to skip it rather than get up early.

- The SCA Michael was good. He had put out candy for the car, business cards with Wi-Fi info (spotty for most of the trip but no big deal), got me ice when needed, and was all around friendly and accessible.

- The bedroom suite was great other than the awful smell. Plenty of room for a family of four and very quiet.

- The scenery on the SWC was nice. We took the CZ a years ago and I would agree with those that say that is a more scenic route especially from Denver to Emeryville.

- Overall the food was good but for some reason I feel like it was better on the CZ. The breakfast pancakes and sausage was my favorite meal. The burger was OK but the bun was the cheap kind that you find at groceries stores for .89 cents for a bag of 8. I'm pretty sure they were decent quality kaiser rolls on the CZ trip. All four of us got the steak both nights with three of us also getting the seafood cake the first night. The second dinner only one person wanted the seafood cake. I'm not sure exactly what it was but neither me or my wife cared for the flavor. My teenage son liked it but he will eat anything. Service was good for all meals.

- The new lounge in Chicago was great for beverages but the veggies and dip were not very appetizing. We went to the food court only to find out that we could not bring outside food into the lounge so we had to eat on the seats outside the lounge.

- The lounge in LA was packed. There was a line 10 deep when we arrived waiting to get in. It did not help that the elevator was also broken. I had to pick up a rental car at a hotel so I left my wife and daughter at the lounge and they said that they eventually found seats once a couple of trains departed. The attendant also gave them giant chocolate chip cookies which was nice.

- We got off at Albuquerque but there was not much to see. Only a few vendors were set up and no burrito lady (does she even still show up anymore?).

- My favorite scenery was during and after dinner on the second day. I stayed up late the first night to watch the country go buy but I think the second night would have been more worthwhile but I was too tired to stay up both nights.
 
- The new lounge in Chicago was great for beverages but the veggies and dip were not very appetizing. We went to the food court only to find out that we could not bring outside food into the lounge so we had to eat on the seats outside the lounge.
Agreed. I was at least hoping for some bags of chips or pretzels or something, but nope, just veggies. When it comes to food, ClubAcela is way better.
 
The Burrito Lady is now in El Paso, and meets the Sunset Ltd. outside the Station entrance ( they won't let her on the Platform now!) with her delicious,filling and really affordable treats!
Can confirm, I saw the burrito lady meet the east bound Sunset Limited in El Paso a couple of weeks ago. She was doing pretty good business.

Ainamkartma
 
The Burrito Lady is now in El Paso, and meets the Sunset Ltd. outside the Station entrance ( they won't let her on the Platform now!) with her delicious,filling and really affordable treats!
That's awful to hear they aren't letting her onto the platform to sell burritos, now!
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Why the heck is Amtrak not letting her do that? At least she does still sell burritos, albeit that you have to go to the station entrance(near the street and parking lot, I assume) to find her. And I'd assume with the 25 minute station stop in both directions, that one would have more than enough time to walk up to where she's selling burritos, and still make it back to the train with a brief bit of time to do a short walk on the platform.
 
The Burrito Lady is now in El Paso, and meets the Sunset Ltd. outside the Station entrance ( they won't let her on the Platform now!) with her delicious,filling and really affordable treats!
Can confirm, I saw the burrito lady meet the east bound Sunset Limited in El Paso a couple of weeks ago. She was doing pretty good business.

Ainamkartma
Does she have any good vegetarian burritos?
 
The Burrito Lady is now in El Paso, and meets the Sunset Ltd. outside the Station entrance ( they won't let her on the Platform now!) with her delicious,filling and really affordable treats!
That's awful to hear they aren't letting her onto the platform to sell burritos, now!
default_sad.png
Why the heck is Amtrak not letting her do that? At least she does still sell burritos, albeit that you have to go to the station entrance(near the street and parking lot, I assume) to find her. And I'd assume with the 25 minute station stop in both directions, that one would have more than enough time to walk up to where she's selling burritos, and still make it back to the train with a brief bit of time to do a short walk on the platform.
Maybe Amtrak just doesn't feel that burritos are contemporary enough.
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That's awful to hear they aren't letting her onto the platform to sell burritos, now!
default_sad.png
Why the heck is Amtrak not letting her do that? At least she does still sell burritos, albeit that you have to go to the station entrance(near the street and parking lot, I assume) to find her. And I'd assume with the 25 minute station stop in both directions, that one would have more than enough time to walk up to where she's selling burritos, and still make it back to the train with a brief bit of time to do a short walk on the platform.
Maybe Amtrak just doesn't feel that burritos are contemporary enough.
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Seeing as the El Paso station is in fact not owned by Amtrak but rather the city of El Paso, your ire is probably directed the wrong way.
 
That's awful to hear they aren't letting her onto the platform to sell burritos, now!
default_sad.png
Why the heck is Amtrak not letting her do that? At least she does still sell burritos, albeit that you have to go to the station entrance(near the street and parking lot, I assume) to find her. And I'd assume with the 25 minute station stop in both directions, that one would have more than enough time to walk up to where she's selling burritos, and still make it back to the train with a brief bit of time to do a short walk on the platform.
Maybe Amtrak just doesn't feel that burritos are contemporary enough.
default_wink.png
Seeing as the El Paso station is in fact not owned by Amtrak but rather the city of El Paso, your ire is probably directed the wrong way.
It sounded like a joke. It was written like a joke. It even included a smiley just in case you didn't know what a joke looked like. What more did you need to clue you in?
 
Ah, this legendary Burrito Lady. I'd love to try one of her burritos.
It's a fun diversion, a culinary curiosity if you will, but I wouldn't sweat it if your train is late or she simply isn't there. Sometimes our forum gets a little overzealous about relatively minor variations from one train or station to the next. The first few times I purchased her famous burritos I enjoyed them, but over time the quality waned and the last time I tried some they were nothing to write home about. In fact they were rather bland and dry. Where I live you'll sometimes see random people selling tacos out of their cars and pickup trucks just to make ends meet. The burrito lady is offering a similar service where the quality and flavor can be expected to ebb and flow from visit to visit.
 
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