greatcats
Engineer
Good afternoon, ladies and gents. I have just returned from my trip, which has been mentioned over the past week in another thread. I have napped for a few hours and have just given Amtrak my comments, which were a mixed bag. ( Isn't Amtrak? ) My name is Eric, a former railroad employee in New Jersey. My former employer was New Jersey Transit, where I served for many years as a crew dispatcher and ticket agent. Why I no longer work there is another subject that I don't wish to delve into here. Leaving out other parts of my life history, I now work, for the past nineteen months, as a tour bus driver and guide for Xanterra at Grand Canyon National Park South Rim, and started working here in April, 2005. I truly love my job here and it is great to show people one of the Natural Wonders of the World - I can go on and on. The following report, since trains still interest me and I take them occasionally when they suit my purposes, was my Amtrak trip to San Francsico, where I spent seven interesting nights on paid vacation. This was my first Amtrak trip in two years - the last being Williams Junction to Chicago, and then Greyhound to North Carolina.On the evening of Friday, Nov. 9, having worked three South Rim tours that day, I drove 60 miles south to Williams and had dinner in one of the numerous restaurants along old Route 66. No, I did not take Grand Canyon Railway, which runs in back of the building where I live, on the wye track. Why? While it technically offers connections to those taking Amtrak to and from the west, it is far more expedient to drive oneself down there. About 9:30 I walked into the hotel lobby, which serves as the waiting room and about 10 p.m., the hotel driver took the four passengers headed westbound out to Williams Junction. The " Polar Express " Grand Canyon train had run that evening and the hotel was jumping with families and many children. It was all quiet out at Williams Junction, which must be one of the worl'd most obscurely located stations. There was a station building here from 1960 to 1968, when a new mainline was built with better grades. Amtrak agreed to make a station stop here around 1998, I believe, and it is used, sometimes by only a few, at other times, a full bus and another vehicle may be needed. One is not supposed to bring a private vehicle out to this location, and for sure do not park it here or BNSF would probably have it towed. The arrangement from the hotel to the Junction really works fine. Two freights seemed to be in the way and #3 arrived about 25 minutes late. The sleepers stopped first, letting a few folks off. I asked if it was possible to upgraded to a roommette, which I would have paid that night if the price had been right. The Conduictor asked the car attendant if there was a room made up and was met by a flat NO. Frankly, I don't think she wanted to be bothered. The coaches certainly were not full. When I boarded the coach a minute later, the crew member on that end, who I also encountered this morning, was a real stone face, who just harrumphed seat numbers at us. He could at least offer some form of greeting. My van driver said this a.m. that this guy is one of the less personable crew members.
So, off we went into the night....I was hoping to have a nightcap in the lounge car, but it had closed before 11 p.m. I was dismayed to find the rest rooms in a rather untidy condition - paper towels overflowing all over. The next morning I saw our coach attendant, Candace. I did not speak with her, but the poor lady looked frazzled and exhausted. She may have been in charge of three cars, which may be too much to look after. But my point is, when I boarded, with over 9 hours left of the trip, that the housekeeping was unsatisfactory. Since riding trains at night is no longer in my routine, I did not sleep very well, but did enjoy breakfast, with two selections, early the next morning. The omelet was pretty good, and the hash browns acceptable. Arrival at Los Angeles only about ten minutes late.
This was not my first time at this station, but it is worth admiring. I understand the famous Grand Canyon archietect, Mary Colter, is responsible for some of LAUPT. I hung out in the gardens making phone calls and about 9:50 parked myself within sight of the track board, which read that Train 14, Coast Starlight, was on time, due out at 10:15. At 10 a.m, still no track number and I was about ready to ask some questions. At 10:03 a man went to the information window and asked if Train 14 was boarding. Yes, he was told, on Track 10. I hauled myself over there and asked if I heard that right. The man looked at me and said if I wanted to be on the train, I had better get going. But there was no track number. He went in the back and returned, saying the board was down and being worked on. DUH!!!!!!! So, why wasn't somebody making an announcement? Several other passengers remarked on this, although we apparently did not leave anybody behind Seven years ago I rode this line as far as San Luis Obispo, so I knew what to expect. What I was not aware of was the spectacular mountain routing north of there - this was the most interesting part of this Amtrak trip, for sure. Lunch and dinner were fairly tasty. My main gripe with their food, which is fairly acceptable but not great ( I never thought it was great before the change in format ) is the boring salad. Iceberg, one cherry tomato, a couple of croutons, and packaged dressing. Ho hum. Come to my place and I wil make you a much better salad! The bus connection from Oakland to the Ferry Building was fine.
Wonder of wonders, the Union Pacific performance seems to be improving. My train arrived Oakland almost on time that evening; passing the southbound on the mountain north of SLO that southbound was perhaps an hour off. My train arrived the next night in Seattle on time, and when I left Emeryville yesterday on the San Joaquin, the southbound #11 appeared ot be on time around Richmond. This is encouraging, with all those grim reports that I have read in recent months about the awful UP timekeeping.
As mentioned in the other thread, I stayed seven night at the Hostelling Internation at Fort Mason. Again, the group dorm scene is out of my routine, and took several nights to be able to sleep well, but I met great travelers there. I did various cultural things: great church music at Grace Cathedral, the Symphony, wine tour to Sonoma Valley, etc. Cablecars have fascinated me since I was a child, and I made sure to ride every square inch of tracks, mostly viewed from the running board. And, in order to visit a friend I took the subway over to the Caltrain station and made a one way commuter train trip to Millbrae, which was OK, but nothing worth writing a huge report about.
Yesterday morning I called a taxi to the hostel, as I wanted to arrive comfortably at the Feryy Buuilding and not be rushed. At 6:15 a.m., the Ferry Building waiting room was locked up and nobody showed. No rest rooms - not good....need I say more? Twenty to thirty passengers milled around and we all hopped on the first bus to Emeryville, and the driver Clyde, was a good egg, who called Emeryville and advised of the snafu and numerous unticketed passengers. Emeryville is a very attractive station ( the present one next to Ferry Building location is not ) and there was a fair size crowd waiting for at least three trains, a Sacramento Train, the CZ, and the San Joaquin to Bakersfield, #712, for which I was ticketed. THis was my first trip on this California equipment. Really an attractive train inside, although I wish the seats reclined. The so called dining car has some imagination to it, with the varied seating arrangement and faux antique lamps over some of the tables. The lady attendant, Chiara, was indeed lovely and the omelet she microwaved for me was pretty good, although microwaved hashbrowns do not make it with me. Great scenery, other than the initial part around the Bay to Martinez, is not to be expected on this route. Unless one is in to admiring the many agricultural crops grown in the Central Valley, this route does not have much to say for it in terms of viewing. ( As many of you know, I was on this route, because the southbound Coast Starlight does not connect with the Southwest Chief. ) Everything was fine on this trip, except for a rest room door that nearly smashed my finger and the condition of the rest rooms, with no car attendants, was really disgusting by a few hours into the run. Yuck. Otherwise, this is a very well run service, with six buses meeting the train at Bakersfield, one or two of them go directly to LAUPT, and several others fanning out to various destinations. Our driver had us in Los Angeles in about two hours - no complaints here, either.
I parked myself in the TRAXX bar for a martini and Caesar salad ( not cheap, but enjoyable ) and then, being the well behaved traveler (?) read a book. #4 was announced about thirty minutes before departure. Now this car attendant, Mary Coleman, is exemplary. She obviously enjoys and is proud of her job. Strictly a delightful crew member to encounter. Our LSA was a bit mixed up in his handling of dinner reservations, but they were offering a full menu, not limited selection like I expected. I had the cod, which was OK, and a half bottle of Pinot Grigio and cheesecake, putting a nice finish to my trip. After reading a little more, I curled up with my air pillow, and while I remember stopping at Needles and Kingman, slept very soundly, for a change. I was aware we were 39 minute late out of Kingman, so set the cell phone alarm later than the sceduled arrival. One conductor did wake me, and said we were 20 minutes out of Williams. Within a few minutes, I made my way downstairs to fetch my backpack, and met Great Stone Face, who said we were only a minute from our stop. Come on guys, get your information together. I said goodbye to him, but his style seems to be that of a blank stare. ( I wish Mary had been there to conclude the trip. ) The same GC Hotel driver met me in a fifteen passenger van - two had boarded the sleepers and two of us detrained. He seemed to enjoy my tales of the trip as we wended our way through the sppoky dark roads of Kaibab National Forest.
I am now back at my happy home, Grand Canyon, and will be doing the Sunset tour tomorrow. If any of you should travel to Grand Canyon let me know and I hope you will ride my bus. Cheers.
