Waterloo to San Juan Capistrano

[D.P. Roberts]

My wife and I visit our relatives in California every summer, and we've always wanted to take the train instead of flying. However, finances & the lengthy travel times have always prevented us. Last winter, we signed up for Amtrak Guest Rewards, and got the AGR credit card. We quickly started accumulating points, and combined with the bonus points for signing up we soon found ourselves with enough points for a one-way trip to California in August 2011.

We've only taken one other long-distance Amtrak trip before - the Coast Starlight from LAX-Oregon. We took that trip in a roomette, and really enjoyed it. However, that was only for one night; we knew that the SWC would be two nights out to LA. So, we bought enough points to upgrade from a roomette to a bedroom for our trip this summer.

Our first question was where to start our trip. We live in central Ohio, hundreds of miles from any Amtrak station. This meant meeting the Capitol Limited or Lake Shore Limited somewhere in northern Ohio. We'd then take one of those trains to Chicago, to meet up with the SWC, which we would take to LAX, and then the Surfliner to SNC. We knew we'd have to fly back, and then take the CL or LSL back to Ohio. We considered starting in Toledo. Toledo is a staffed station, and we could have flown directly there on the return trip. However, both Toledo and Sandusky looked iffy in terms of long-term parking; the long-term lot in Toledo is closed, and the station (like Sandusky) is not in a good part of town. We decided we didn't want to risk leaving our car in that area for a week. This narrowed our choices down to Bryan, Ohio or Waterloo, Indiana. We chose Waterloo because it gave us the option of taking the later LSL out of Chicago on the way back.

So, our itinerary looked like this:

1) Leave Columbus at 3:00 am on Friday. Drive 3 hours to Waterloo.

2) Take the Capitol Limited to Chicago.

3) Take the Southwest Chief from Chicago to LAX.

4) Take the Surfliner from LAX to San Juan Capistrano.

5) On the return, fly from LA to Chicago.

6) Take the LSL from Chicago to Waterloo.

7) Drive from Waterloo back to Columbus.

This is probably a lot more about our itinerary than most people put in their trip reports. However, I think it highlights one of the problems with Amtrak's limited routes and schedules - sometimes, you just can't get there from here. I think only someone who REALLY wanted to ride a train would consider this route as an option. Anyway, on to the trip...

Friday, August 5th

After sending texts and checking the train's status online, it appeared that the CL was going to be on time into Waterloo. So, we left our house at 3:00 am and arrived in Waterloo at 6:00 am. The boring drive through dark cornfields isn't one I'd like to do again. However, we arrived in Waterloo without incident. By then, the CL was running late, and arrived at about 7:30.

When the train pulled in to the station (by "station" I mean "Amshack" bus stop), there was some confusion among the 30 or so passengers who were waiting about which train this was, as the LSL was due in about then too. Everyone started walking towards the train, and the conductor had to sort out who was on this train, and who had to wait for the LSL. It appeared that the train had to be double spotted. It stopped for sleeper passengers first, and the SCA announced our names - it appeared that we were the only sleeping car passengers boarding at that stop. So, the train was basically sitting there waiting on us! We hurried onboard.

The first thing I noticed when we got onboard was that we were in a refurbished Superliner 1. I was really excited about this, as I hadn't ridden in one of these cars before (our previous trip on the Coast Starlight occurred two days after its "relaunch" a few years ago. The relaunched CS was supposed to have the refurbished cars, and it didn't - on either leg of our CS trip). We were assigned to bedroom A, which is smaller than the other bedrooms. It has been the last bedroom on the train, so we were glad to have it.

We quickly explored the room and found places to store all our stuff. I was glad to see that our suitcases fit under our seats, allowing us to store them in our room instead of in the luggage area downstairs. After stowing our stuff, we headed off to the dining car, hoping to get some breakfast.

The dining car was still open, and we had breakfast as the sun rose over Indiana. I ordered the French toast. I had heard a lot of good things about the Railroad French Toast on this forum, and I was eager to try it - especially since our trip was going to include 3 breakfasts (along with two dinners and one lunch). The French toast wasn't very good. It was cold, fairly flavorless, and the bread tasted strange. The bacon that came with it was pretty bad as well.

After breakfast, we headed back to our room. Our sleeper was the middle one of three, two cars ahead of the diner. As we walked through the other sleeper, I noticed that it was an unrefurbished Superliner II. I pointed out some of the differences to my wife on the way back - dingy carpet instead of wood paneling, airline sink instead of faux-granite counters, etc. We were in the 2931 car on this train, and the 0331 car on the SWC. From what I've read, the CL becomes the SWC in Chicago, so I knew we'd be assigned to the same car. I was glad we were getting the same refurbished sleeper on the SWC.

When we returned to our bedroom, the long night without sleep started catching up to us. We couldn't find our SCA, so we tried to pull out the bed ourselves. We ended up just folding the couch flat & sleeping on that on our way to Chicago. I also tried out the swivel seat, and found it to be quite comfortable.

I woke up a few hours later, and saw that we were on the outskirts of Chicago. I had never been to Chicago before (except for a million layovers at O'hare), so I was quite excited. We passed by U.S. Cellular field, and saw the Willis Tower off in the distance. Waking up in a strange place and looking out the window to figure out where you are is both a disorienting and exciting feeling, and it's one of my favorite parts of train travel.

The CL arrived in Chicago about an hour late. We had about 5 hours until the Southwest Chief departed, so we made our way to the Metropolitan Lounge. It took a while to check in there, since the same person had to check people in and staff the luggage room. Also, lots of people just tried to walk into the lounge, not understanding that they had to check in before they could take a seat. We eventually got that sorted, and headed off to explore the city.

As we left Union Station, we immediately saw the Chicago River and the Willis (a.k.a. Sears) Tower. We took a bus to the Shedd Aquarium, and spent several hours there. Having another hour to spare, we walked around the lakefront by the museum campus and had lunch outside, enjoying the lovely weather. I decided that layovers in Chicago were FAR more fun when taking the train than when flying through O'Hare! We eventually took the bus back to Union Station and got ready to board the Southwest Chief.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

When we got to our train, I was quickly disappointed to discover that car 0331 was not the same car we had been in on train 29. Instead, the sleepers had been switched - the refurbished car was the one closest to the diner, and we had an unrefurbished Superliner II. I didn't make note of the car numbers on train 29, so I don't even know if they were the same cars, or even the same train. Either way, I was quite bummed - I had really been looking forward to the refurbished car. On the positive side, we were now in Bedroom B (instead of A on train 29). It was quite noticeably bigger than bedroom A. Over the course of the trip, we noticed many of the problems that others have posted, like the splashy sink (when washing my hands I managed to splash my wife, who was seated by the window!) The main problem, however, turned out to be the swivel seat. I had found the swivel seat on the refurbished car to be quite comfortable, and even managed to nap in it for a little bit. The unrefurbished seat was as hard as a rock, and neither of us wanted to sit in it for any length of time. This leaves the bedroom with only one window seat. I did discover that sitting at the other end of the couch allowed me to watch out both windows at the same time, which was nice. On the whole, I think I'd rather have an unrefurbished bedroom B than a refurbished bedroom A, and both of those were preferable to a roomette.

Our SWC departed on time, and we were soon on our way out of Chicago. The conductor came on the intercom and made a long announcement about train safety, most of which was about how not to get your toes cut off when traveling between cars. Our SCA, Mary Beth, also came on the intercom and told us a bunch of stuff about her services and how not to get our toes cut off. The lounge attendant then spoke at length about lounge drinks and snacks and operating hours, as well as (you guessed it) how not to get our toes cut off. The dining car steward then came on, and the toes came up in her announcement too.

We met the dining car attendant shortly thereafter, as she came through the car asking for dining car reservations. I asked her what times were available, and she got quite exasperated - she had explained the dining car times in her announcement! I apologized for not paying attention, and managed to get a reservation for 6:00. She then left in a huff. I never got her name, but this particular steward was not one of Amtrak's best employees. She routinely was abrupt, and downright cryptic in her announcements. My favorite announcement occurred one morning when she announced during the breakfast service that the dining car would be closing on Central time, and not Mountain time. Since it was first thing in the morning, and we hadn't been at a stop since we had woken up, we had no idea where we were or what time it was, let alone what time zone we were in (or were supposed to be in), or what time breakfast was supposed to stop! If breakfast service was going to end in 45 minutes, why not just say that? It would be a lot clearer for everybody, especially newbies like us.

Anyway, it was soon time for our first dinner. We had chosen 6:00 in the hopes that we'd cross the Mississippi during dinner. I had crossed the Mississippi many times at 36,000 feet, and once by car many years ago, but never by train. The idea of eating a lovely meal while looking out the window at the Mississippi River just sounded like an elegant way to celebrate our trip across the country.

When we got to the dining car, the train was still on time. We had dinner with a nice young couple who were visiting relatives in Colorado. I had the vegetarian pasta (spinach lasagna), and my wife had the steak. My lasagna was quite tasty, and my wife really enjoyed her steak. I tried some of her dinner, and liked the steak (which I normally don't). I also really liked her mashed potatoes, which were buttery and slightly spicy. We both had the ice cream for dessert - I had the chocolate peanut butter, which was very good. Just as dessert was served, we looked up and saw the Mississippi! The sun was just setting, and we were enjoying a lovely meal aboard a train - it was a perfect moment.

After dinner, we headed back to our room. We were both quite tired after our previous night without sleep. We soon found our SCA, Mary Beth, and she made up our beds. Mary Beth was very friendly and extremely helpful. She normally staffs the CS, but she said the SWC is frequently looking for replacements and she picked up this shift during her time off. She had quite a rough trip (I'll explain more later), but she stayed positive throughout and I'm glad she was on our train. I'll be writing a thank-you letter to Amtrak about her shortly.

I slept in the top bunk. Unlike the roomettes, I didn't feel like I was in a coffin in the top bunk. Getting into the bunk was somewhat of a challenge, but it wasn't too bad. We hadn't brought duct tape, towels, or anything else to silence the squeaks and rattles of the bedroom, but we discovered that folded-up Kleenexes worked really well. We put one in the bathroom door and a few other sqeuaky places. The door to our little closet wouldn't shut properly - the metal catch inside wouldn't hold the latch. We ended up borrowing a screwdriver from another passenger (thank you, guys in the downstairs roomette!), and bent the latch back into place. I think I'll bring duct tape and a screwdriver next time. I had heard that there were rough tracks in Kansas, but I never noticed & it didn't wake us up.

We woke up Saturday morning in western Colorado. We had passed through corn fields all day on Friday, and I was hoping we were done with them. Nope. More corn. We headed off to breakfast, and I ordered the French Toast again. After the excellent dinner the night before, I was hoping that the SWC crew would do a better job on the French Toast than the CL crew did. The SWC crew did not disappoint - the French Toast was great! The bacon was better too. More props to the chefs on the SWC!

After breakfast we headed to the lounge car. We hadn't seen the lounge car yet, and I wanted to take a look. I assumed that the car would be full, but we were pleasantly surprised to find empty seats. We sat in the lounge through the Raton Pass, and into the desert beyond. The desert scenery was nice, but not quite what I was expecting. It was mostly flat scrub grass and cattle grazing land, when I had been hoping for more red rocks and mountains. While I enjoyed the trip, I don't think I'd take the SWC for the scenery again, as I would with the CS.

We then went back to the room and showered. My wife tried the shower in our bedroom, while I went to the one downstairs. I thought the downstairs shower was fine, except for the handle, which was really hard to turn (especially with soapy hands). My wife found the shower in our bedroom to be fine. We didn't notice that it steamed up our room or anything.

It was soon time for lunch. I had the burger, which was good - while the beef patty is nothing special, at least Amtrak chefs cook it well, toast the bun, and generally serve it to you hot and well prepared. My wife had a salad, which she enjoyed. We headed back to our sleeper, and spent the rest of the day reading and enjoying the scenery. I found the tracks to be somewhat rougher than on the CS, making it difficult to read. I am EXTREMELY prone to motion sickness (I get sick or very queasy on almost all plane flights), but trains normally don't bother me. However, reading was too much. I had been reading on my Nook, and decided to try increasing the font size, hoping that would make a difference, & it really did. I was able to read all day & that night, even tossing around in the dark, without a hint of queasiness.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

We made late dinner reservations. I was concerned that if the train started running late we'd be stuck in the diner and miss our chance to get out at Albuquerque. We did arrive in Albuquerque a little late, and only had about 20 minutes to walk around. We quickly perused the jewelry stands, then just walked around for a while before getting back onboard. On our previous trip on the CS, the crew let us get off and stretch at every stop. On the SWC, they made it clear that most of the stops were for detraining passengers only, so we had been onboard the whole time until ABQ. I wasn't really itching to get off the train - I think being in a bedroom helped with that.

We headed for dinner, and since it was rather late we were seated by ourselves. I must say that I really enjoyed this. I don't really mind the communal dining, but I don't enjoy it either. Also, since the dining car was starting to empty out (but many others were still eating), we didn't feel like we were rushed. When we were given the chance to eat by ourselves, and to enjoy our meal at a leisurely pace, dinner took on a whole new aspect. I wish we could eat by ourselves at every meal. I ordered the steak (they were out of the spinach lasagna I had enjoyed the night before - one of the downsides of a late dinner), and it was as good as it was the night before. I actually finished the whole steak, which I rarely do. We had the ice cream again for dessert.

During dinner, the steward had a long conversation with the conductor. Apparently, some passengers had been complaining about her service, and reported her to the conductor. They had a conversation (at the end of the car, but near our table) for quite some time. I'm not at all surprised that someone had complained about her, and the conductor seemed to do a pretty good job sorting her out.

As we were enjoying our dinner, our SCA Mary Beth was carting dinners to those who chose to eat in their bedrooms. It looked like half the train was eating in their rooms! Mary Beth had to box up all the entrees, drinks, desserts, and even coffees for each different room. One time, she got all the way back to the car when one of the bags broke and dropped the whole meal on the ground! I felt so bad for her. Again, I know that many people on this forum like the communal dining, but clearly there's a large group of people who can't or won't eat in the dining car, and another group (like us) that would prefer to eat by ourselves if given the chance.

After getting all the diners sorted, Mary Beth made up our beds. It was my turn on the bottom bunk, and it was nice not having to climb the ladder. I had been planning on staying up for a while - long enough to get off the train for a bit at Flagstaff - but we suddenly stopped for some mechanical problems with the air brakes. After waiting for an hour or so, I gave up and went to bed.

When we woke up the next morning we were still running about an hour late. Crew members told us that there was enough padding in the schedule to allow us to arrive on time. We went to the dining car for breakfast, which had a limited menu. However, the French Toast was still there. I assumed it was going to be a reheated/premade version, possibly like on the CL, but was pleasantly surprised to find it as good as the previous day.

We then went back to our car and I tried the in-room shower, while my wife tried the shower downstairs. Since we were due to arrive in just a few hours, I thought there would be a line for the showers, but she was able to walk right in. My shower was somewhat difficult due to the lack of room in the shower (for example, there's no way to wash your feet, as the shower handle doesn't come completely off the wall), but I really didn't mind.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

We soon arrived at San Bernardino. This is where the schedule finally went off the rails, and it wasn't remotely Amtrak's fault. First of all, some passengers in coach started becoming unruly. According to our crew, they had been harassing the poor coach attendant throughout the whole trip. They were supposed to detrain at San Bernardino, but for some reason they refused to leave. The conductor had to call the cops to get them off the train. As that was going on, an elderly woman fell down the stairs. I didn't see it happen, but I heard Mary Beth's page over the intercom: "Assistance to the 31 car - and please hurry!" We were stopped at the station & weren't moving, but apparently a woman had tripped as she was trying to carry her luggage downstairs & hit her head quite badly. As she was taken off the train by the paramedics, we saw that her entire face was swollen & bandaged up. We also noticed that she was wearing high heels! I can't understand why an 82 year old woman would wear high heels while descending a tight staircase while carrying luggage!

By now it was almost 8:00, and were clearly not going to make it to LA on time. We went through Fullerton and Riverside, and finally arrived at LAX at 9:45. We had tickets for the southbound Surfliner at 9:45, but when we finally arrived at LAX it was 9:50 and the Surfliner had already left. We got tickets for the 11:00 Surfliner, and spent some time relaxing in LAUS.

If you've never been to LAUS, you really should. It's an absolutely gorgeous building. The passenger waiting area is beautiful, and there are at least 2-3 large gardens outside, complete with fountains, flowers, trees, and lots of tables and benches in the shade. It's a wonderful place to hang out, especially in the warm southern California weather.

We got on the 11:00 Surfliner, and were headed to San Juan Capistrano. When we got to the first stop, we both laughed - it was Fullerton! We had just been at Fullerton a few hours ago! If we would have known - and if the Conductor would have let us (or told us), we could have gotten off the SWC in Fullerton and easily made the earlier Surfliner. Considering how often Amtrak bustitutes people to make connections, I'm not sure why they didn't try that with us. I guess they know that there are Surfliners every few hours, so it's not a big deal. Still, it would have saved us quite a bit of time.

We finally made it to San Juan Capistrano, where my family was waiting for us. We spent a nice week with them before flying back to Chicago. We flew into O'Hare, and then caught a train to Chicago Union Station. Since we had several hours before the LSL was due to depart, we decided to go to dinner. I had read many good things about Giordano's on this forum, so we went there. Their deep dish pizza was quite good, but I'm not sure I quite like the Chicago crust - I've had deep dishes from other places I liked better. Still, it was miles better than anything we could have gotten from a food court if we had been flying.

We boarded the LSL on time, but then sat in the station for over an hour. Our attendant told us that we couldn't leave until the crew had finished its mandatory break. I'm not sure why we boarded on time and then sat - we could have just boarded an hour later, and spent more time wandering around Chicago. I had hoped that the seats would have leg rests that fold out (as we had seen on coach on the SWC), but they didn't, so the seats weren't very comfortable (especially when you're trying to sleep). I did get to peek in some of the Viewliner sleepers, which I had not done before. I like how the Viewliners have the upper window - I'll bet their upper bunks don't feel quite as claustrophobic. Plus, there's all that storage above the roomette, & especially in the bedroom. I think I see a Viewliner trip in our future, especially the whole East Coast is only one zone for us.

Anyway, our initial delay (combined with a few other stoppages) meant that we arrived in Waterloo around 3:00 am, almost 2 hours late. We then did the 3 hour drive home to Ohio. Overall, we really loved our trip, and would definitely do it again. The only really hard part was the long drive to the station in the middle of the night - I think next time we'll stay at a B&B in Waterloo, or maybe the Toledo parking situation will have been sorted out by then.

Sorry we don't have any pictures yet - they're still on my wife's camera. I'll try to post some soon.

 

[Steve4031]

Enjoyed the report. Thank you.

 

[TraneMan]

Thanks for sharing the trip!

 

[jb64]

Nice report. Thanks for mentioning about motion sickness. My husband will be joining me on a trip to California in March and he is very prone to motion-sickness and we have been worried that he will get sick (why he hates to fly, or sail, etc). Nice to know that it did not bother you, even on the second level of the superliners.

 

[amtkstn]

Great story. A friend of my who made a trip back in April took Boonee for motion sickness which made the trip much more enjoyable.