dedhd
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2006
- Messages
- 55
I've been riding Amtrak whenever possible since the 80's and thouroughly enjoy each trip. My goal is to ride each long distance train at least once. This trip was kind of a last minute thing with my wife talking me into going on short notice. The original plan had me coming back by plane.... more on that later.
Departed Worcester pretty much on time on 3/9 via the LSL. From worc this train is all coach until Albany where it meets up with it's namesake coming from NYP, there it joins and begins travel to CHI. left ALB about 20 minutes late and as usual that escalated to about an hour and a half coming into CHI. Had a great sleeping car attendant-irishman can't remeber his name but he was good with info on the pending changes to Amtrak (none of which I think I like). The dining car was a real trip. It was soooo cold inside, asked why there was no heat and was told that they needed the ventilation or else the car would fill up with smoke. There was one waiter working the whole car and the other attendant was very reluctant to help. Could understand her point, but this dining experience lasted over two hours as the waiter was swamped. This route had not yet recieved the dinner lite, so meal was good. Had a nice chat with another man who had extensive experience with AMTRAK and he told me to try and get in the observation car leaving Denver seated on the left for the best scenery. I was booked into a lower roomette on the Zephyr and was struggling with whether I wanted to try and change it to an upper. I tried in Albany but this request was met with a negative response, she did tell me to try in CHI however. When I got there I was able to change and glad that I did for it moved me to the left side of the train. The remaining portion of the LSL was uneventful, arrived in Chi with a couple hours before Zephyr departure. I left Union Station to purchase a small bottle of alcohol to consume on board rathar than spending $4 a pop. Spent the remaining time in the first class lounge until boarding.
Got the last roomette before the crew's car which was great not much foot traffic. The only complainty about the room was the heat didn't seem to work. No big deal though just shut down the air circulation and used the blanket I had brought "just in case". As always met some very interesting people in the diner and lounge during these two days. My only wish for the diner would be that they could alter the menu's somewhat. Three days of the same choices get's a little boring. Still I think this dining fare is much better than what will be offered in the future.
The Zephyr has the most breathtaking scenery, my camera was out just about all the time. I saw bald eagles and many deer, no elk though. We ran about two and a half hours late into Reno which was ok by me as I needed to check in my hotel at 11:30 or later, which it was. Reno's station is a bit odd being in the state of renovation, you get off in the trench and there really isn't much signage on how to reach the street. Carried my bags up two flights of stairs and finally found the one door leading outside. I will say it is the most convenient location for a station in relation to hotels as many are a short walk away.
I stayed for the three days and didn't like Reno at all. I was excited to be going home but also apprehensive with the flying, not from fear just from the hassle of it all. I had a flight with two layovers and was not looking forward to ti. I went downstairs to the airport shuttle which was scheduled to begin @5 am. I was a bit early so I called my wife-7:30 her time. I told her how I was a bit depressed about the whole flying thing and as she was "online" at the moment I asked her just for kicks to check out Amtrak. She did and told me there was nothing that day....but if I waited till tomorrow I could get booked on return just no bedroom from chi to worc.
So luggage in hand five minutes before leaving for the airport I booked. Went back in and since I hadn't officially checked out went back upstairs and called front desk and got the room for one more day. All of a sudden Reno didn't seem so bad! Picked up my ticket later in the day and even later than that my wife was able to book a roomette for the Chi to Worc portion.
Arrived the next day at the station around 3 only to find out the train was an hour and 45 minutes late. Walked over to starbucks at Harrahs and got a cup of joe and awaited the arrival of the eastbound Zephyr. Got settled in and met Roland the car attendant-cool dude, tipped him and told him I was pretty self sufficient and would take care of my own bed needs. As it was sevenpm was told that if I wanted dinner I should go now. I sat at an empty table and shortly a couple of guys, cousins from Fresno sat mnext to me. They were cool dudes and after dinner we went to the lounge car where we shared some drinks and many laughs. we met this woman from Grand Jucnction who had a sorrowful tale to tell and a couple of woman from Iowa (sisters) who were traveling back home from Reno. They didn't like Reno either! As the miles went on we got later and later but it didn't really matter as we were having fun. At one seating for dinner I met these older gentlemen who had been on the Zephyr two days previous. It seems there was a derailment and 30 miles into their trip they sat for six hours until finally it was decided they could not journey that day. They rolled backwards at twenty miles per hour back to emeryville where they were left on their own like all the other passengers to find lodging.These guys seemed to take it all in stride though and were enjoying the trip.
At any rate we were about three hours lated gettingh into chi. which was all right because the Lake shore was also late. Scheduled departure was for 7:40 but it didn't leave until about 9:30. That train is always late! Worse than that while wainting in the lounge the announcement was made for all passengers with sleeping car reservations in car 12....unfortunately there would be no sleeper. This had happened to my wife and I on a previous trip and it was a real drag. Unlike our trip however they added a coach to accomodate these passengers. Still that is a real slap, but what can you do? Luckily I was in car 11 so I was unaffected. My two friends from the Zephyr were also on this trip with a sleeper in 11 and after dinner we retired to the lounge car. There one thing bothered me immensely. On this trip was a amtrak employee from the zephyr riding home to his place in upstate NY, now my two new friends were black as was he and the amtrak guy started talking about his house in the white suburbs and how is kids are in the white schools and how he tells them to take advantage of every opportunity that they can get and how not to let the white man take advantage of them. I asked him how he would feel if his daughter comes home with a boyfriend who is white. He said he wouldn't approve that he doesn't believe in mixing of races..etc. etc. I told him this was a bit racist on his part, which kind of took him aback. I could tell my new friends were a bit apprehensive by his rhetoric too. This just kind of soured that portion fo the trip and I soon went to bed.
As usual with the Lake shore we ended up being 4 and half hours late.
My wife and I just booked a trip in Jan of 07 let's hope trains are still here,
while surfing the website we saw that a bedroom from LA to CHI was actually cheaper than a roomette- must have been a mistake but we cashed in and scored a bedroom for $500 and some change. Tthe next day the bedroom was listed as over a thousand!
Departed Worcester pretty much on time on 3/9 via the LSL. From worc this train is all coach until Albany where it meets up with it's namesake coming from NYP, there it joins and begins travel to CHI. left ALB about 20 minutes late and as usual that escalated to about an hour and a half coming into CHI. Had a great sleeping car attendant-irishman can't remeber his name but he was good with info on the pending changes to Amtrak (none of which I think I like). The dining car was a real trip. It was soooo cold inside, asked why there was no heat and was told that they needed the ventilation or else the car would fill up with smoke. There was one waiter working the whole car and the other attendant was very reluctant to help. Could understand her point, but this dining experience lasted over two hours as the waiter was swamped. This route had not yet recieved the dinner lite, so meal was good. Had a nice chat with another man who had extensive experience with AMTRAK and he told me to try and get in the observation car leaving Denver seated on the left for the best scenery. I was booked into a lower roomette on the Zephyr and was struggling with whether I wanted to try and change it to an upper. I tried in Albany but this request was met with a negative response, she did tell me to try in CHI however. When I got there I was able to change and glad that I did for it moved me to the left side of the train. The remaining portion of the LSL was uneventful, arrived in Chi with a couple hours before Zephyr departure. I left Union Station to purchase a small bottle of alcohol to consume on board rathar than spending $4 a pop. Spent the remaining time in the first class lounge until boarding.
Got the last roomette before the crew's car which was great not much foot traffic. The only complainty about the room was the heat didn't seem to work. No big deal though just shut down the air circulation and used the blanket I had brought "just in case". As always met some very interesting people in the diner and lounge during these two days. My only wish for the diner would be that they could alter the menu's somewhat. Three days of the same choices get's a little boring. Still I think this dining fare is much better than what will be offered in the future.
The Zephyr has the most breathtaking scenery, my camera was out just about all the time. I saw bald eagles and many deer, no elk though. We ran about two and a half hours late into Reno which was ok by me as I needed to check in my hotel at 11:30 or later, which it was. Reno's station is a bit odd being in the state of renovation, you get off in the trench and there really isn't much signage on how to reach the street. Carried my bags up two flights of stairs and finally found the one door leading outside. I will say it is the most convenient location for a station in relation to hotels as many are a short walk away.
I stayed for the three days and didn't like Reno at all. I was excited to be going home but also apprehensive with the flying, not from fear just from the hassle of it all. I had a flight with two layovers and was not looking forward to ti. I went downstairs to the airport shuttle which was scheduled to begin @5 am. I was a bit early so I called my wife-7:30 her time. I told her how I was a bit depressed about the whole flying thing and as she was "online" at the moment I asked her just for kicks to check out Amtrak. She did and told me there was nothing that day....but if I waited till tomorrow I could get booked on return just no bedroom from chi to worc.
So luggage in hand five minutes before leaving for the airport I booked. Went back in and since I hadn't officially checked out went back upstairs and called front desk and got the room for one more day. All of a sudden Reno didn't seem so bad! Picked up my ticket later in the day and even later than that my wife was able to book a roomette for the Chi to Worc portion.
Arrived the next day at the station around 3 only to find out the train was an hour and 45 minutes late. Walked over to starbucks at Harrahs and got a cup of joe and awaited the arrival of the eastbound Zephyr. Got settled in and met Roland the car attendant-cool dude, tipped him and told him I was pretty self sufficient and would take care of my own bed needs. As it was sevenpm was told that if I wanted dinner I should go now. I sat at an empty table and shortly a couple of guys, cousins from Fresno sat mnext to me. They were cool dudes and after dinner we went to the lounge car where we shared some drinks and many laughs. we met this woman from Grand Jucnction who had a sorrowful tale to tell and a couple of woman from Iowa (sisters) who were traveling back home from Reno. They didn't like Reno either! As the miles went on we got later and later but it didn't really matter as we were having fun. At one seating for dinner I met these older gentlemen who had been on the Zephyr two days previous. It seems there was a derailment and 30 miles into their trip they sat for six hours until finally it was decided they could not journey that day. They rolled backwards at twenty miles per hour back to emeryville where they were left on their own like all the other passengers to find lodging.These guys seemed to take it all in stride though and were enjoying the trip.
At any rate we were about three hours lated gettingh into chi. which was all right because the Lake shore was also late. Scheduled departure was for 7:40 but it didn't leave until about 9:30. That train is always late! Worse than that while wainting in the lounge the announcement was made for all passengers with sleeping car reservations in car 12....unfortunately there would be no sleeper. This had happened to my wife and I on a previous trip and it was a real drag. Unlike our trip however they added a coach to accomodate these passengers. Still that is a real slap, but what can you do? Luckily I was in car 11 so I was unaffected. My two friends from the Zephyr were also on this trip with a sleeper in 11 and after dinner we retired to the lounge car. There one thing bothered me immensely. On this trip was a amtrak employee from the zephyr riding home to his place in upstate NY, now my two new friends were black as was he and the amtrak guy started talking about his house in the white suburbs and how is kids are in the white schools and how he tells them to take advantage of every opportunity that they can get and how not to let the white man take advantage of them. I asked him how he would feel if his daughter comes home with a boyfriend who is white. He said he wouldn't approve that he doesn't believe in mixing of races..etc. etc. I told him this was a bit racist on his part, which kind of took him aback. I could tell my new friends were a bit apprehensive by his rhetoric too. This just kind of soured that portion fo the trip and I soon went to bed.
As usual with the Lake shore we ended up being 4 and half hours late.
My wife and I just booked a trip in Jan of 07 let's hope trains are still here,
while surfing the website we saw that a bedroom from LA to CHI was actually cheaper than a roomette- must have been a mistake but we cashed in and scored a bedroom for $500 and some change. Tthe next day the bedroom was listed as over a thousand!
