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This section seems to have dried up of late. And its not only here. The passenger rail travel board at AOL is likewise lacking in activity. Are people being scared away from train travel by all the bad press about Amtrak, or is the economy discouraging travel, or maybe a little of both?
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Naw, Mr. Toy. I just did a Flagstaff-La Junta trip a few weekends ago, and it was great (for the most part). There seemed to be quite a few other people travelling. Train 4 was running about an hour late, but that was okay (it was still 6 AM). The conductor was really nice, and I was going to get his name to send it to Amtrak HQ, and let them know that there are still good employees out there. I had the French Toast for breakfast, of course, and it was great, as usual. I occupied the front, left seat in the coach, in front of the vent. The sliding door crapped out around Gallup, and people had to squeeze through a narrow opening. It was kind of loud, but the sound of the wheels on rail added to the experience. We got into ABQ almost on time, and left near schedule. I hadn't been past ABQ since '96, so it was new scenery. Along the way, the conductor made announcements whenever we were about to stop, even if just for a few minutes. I think that really helps; keeping the passengers informed. I got into La Junta about 45" early, and had a helluva fun time finding a hotel. I had reservations, but there is no taxi service in LAJ, so I had no way to get there. I ended up staying in the hotel where BNSF and Amtrak crews stay after their tour of duty (which turned out to be a nice place). The next morning, Train 3 got in about 50" early, but I got there later, and only had about 15 minutes before it left, so I couldn't hang around very long. I had lunch and dinner with some nice people, and someone in the diner was turning 70, so we all sang happy birthday, and he got a free "Amtrak Signature Dessert." I used up two rolls of film on the dozens of horseshoe curves between Trinidad and Glorietta. I got a lot of nice shots of our four units making their way around the curves. There was a beautiful sunset between ABQ and Gallup, with a double rainbow. Between Grants and Gallup, there were signal malfunctions due to a thunderstorm, so we had to creep along at about 25MPH until the dispatcher could put us in the parade. After that, we got up to track speed, and it stayed that way all the way to East FLG, when we just- stopped, and sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. No announcements were made, but I had my scanner on, so I discovered that there was a malfunctioning crossing arm at one of the crossings in West FLG, so there must have been a backup of freight traffic. I went to the vestibule, and talked with the coach attendant and another passenger from Germany. I let them know what was going on, and the coach attendant asked me how the heck I knew so much about railroads. I explained to them about being a railfan, and a future Amtrak employee. A lady came down the stairs and asked what was going on, and the car attendant just said, "I have no idea." The lady said, "where's that young man with the radio. I think he works for Amtrak." She looked at me and didn't recognize me, which the car attendant said was good, because she was a little bit "nutty." She seemed normal enough to me, though. But apparently she told people in the coach that there was a “crack in the track, and it’ll take two hours to fix.” We finally got an approach, and the car attendant let me open the window in the door and hang my head out while we cruised through town. It was very cool! We got into FLG about 2 hours late (1 hour sitting in East FLG). All in all, it was a good trip. I didn’t mean to turn this into a trip report, but it just kind of happened! Even though there were some problems (ha ha!), I had a really good time, and I’d still recommend Amtrak to anyone.
[This message has been edited by Eric (edited 09-22-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Eric (edited 09-22-2002).]
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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Mr. Toy, I don't know where the travelers are! I rarely get a chance to ride the long distance trains, and the corridor trains I go on (Surfliner) are usually uneventful. But they are train journeys just the same.
Eric- The Auto Club book lists the Stagecoach Inn in La Junta as having a 'train station'. Is it close to the station? You might want to post the place you stayed at RailHotels.com (see Train Web home page)
MP
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Hey Eric; We were on the same train and sitting at the same table as the birthday boy. We got off at Flagstaff 2 or so hrs late. I also had my scanner on and heard about the crossing gate, I dont know why somebody couldn;t give a short notice over the intercom why the train is being delayed. I must say we noticed change of attitude on both trains we were on this time (Lake Shore-SW Chief)for the better. We were also 2hrs late leaving Chicago heading home to Bos. again there was no explanation for the delay. Flagstaff is a great place to watch trains. I called Amtrak when we got home and gave them the name of sleeping car attendent we had on the Lake Shore who was great, they seemed to be surprised I had no complaints. We are now planning our next Amtrak trip. Maybe we will end up on the same train again sometime!! Jack M
Posts: 25 | Registered: May 2002
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Hey Striperjack! I must have seen you, and maybe you saw me. I was the 6'3" teenager with the navy blue hat on. My mom and I, and a Japanese couple, sat at the table across from you! Do you know the man who had the birthday? He looked kind of embarrassed! Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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Everyting I've read says that summer travel must be booked way in advance if you want sleeping car space, but when I was on the SW Chief Aug 15th, there were still sleepers available on the day of departure and coach was only about half full. You'd think summertime would mean higher occupancy.
And both the westbound and eastbound trains had a bad door in my car. All night long the door was open. The atendant tried his best, but could not fix it. He could close it manually by manipulating the mechanism inside, but then someone would come along and open it and it would stay that way.
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Hey Eric; No we did not know the birthday boy, but that is part of the fun of train travel, meeting new people. We travel often and meet some great folks I wish we had a chance to talk to you and your Mom. Maybe next time I should wear a hat or shirt with a RR logo, anyways I;ll keep my eye out for you. I will post my next trip here. Jack M
Posts: 25 | Registered: May 2002
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MPALMER: Yeah, the Stagecoach Inn. It's a nice place, and the registration office has a BNSF calendar and the "Amtrak's Chicago" print hanging up, which features an F40, Dash-8, and P40 with the Sears Tower in the background. The owners are very nice, and the rooms are decent and clean. It's only about a half mile from the station, and they picked us up at the station that night and dropped us off the next morning. The main street where the hotel is parallels the tracks, but I only saw one freight. Not much for "The Junction", but I wasn't really near the RR overpass, so I'm sure there was quite a bit more traffic which was out of my view.
Hey Jack, Well, it's pretty cool that we were on the same train sitting across from eachother, anyway! A man who was sitting at the table in front of me had a BNSF Rochelle, IL train shirt on, but I didn't have a chance to talk with him, either. When are you planning your next trip for? I like to do a short stretch (FLG-ABQ, or FLG-LAJ) every few months, but it'll probably be next March before I will have a chance again, and I'll most likely be heading West.
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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Eric I saw the guy with the Rochelle T shirt also, small world!! I was starting to make plans for next trip when I saw the news about the new budget games being played in DC. We are still hoping to go somewhere this winter. I will post my plans here and keep my fingers crossed. I will also send E-mails to my Congressmen and Reps. Good Luck and nice talking to you Jack M
Posts: 25 | Registered: May 2002
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It was nice talking with you, too! I hope your plans work out, and the folks in DC get their act together. They've been playing this game for almost 32 years now, and Amtrak has always been able to pull out, so I'm (mostly) optimistic.
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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Just got back from my first coast to coast trip in about 32 years(I am 41 now). Went by way of the LSL,SWC and Surfliner. From Holyoke, Ma to Oceanside,Ca. I grew up in California(Cardiff-by-the-Sea) and was back for the first time since I left in 1981. Well anyway the trip out was fine, I will not go by coach again though, Sleeper for sure next time. Coming back whe had some excitement though. In Alb. NM. we had some undercover agents come on and escort a man who looked of middle eastern decent off the train. Don't know where they got the tips from but he was found with 7 ID's all different, lots of credit cards and lots of money.They handcuffed him and took him away. They agents stayed on till the next stop to make sure all the baggage was accounted for. Then they had to stop the train for a medical emergency then again for a power failure. We were told the cable from the engines to the cars came apart and the train ran over them. But beleive it or not we still made it to Chicago ontime!! The LSL to Springfield was 2 hrs late though. A train in front of us broke down in the middle of the night and held us up. Then to make matters worse our luggage missed a connection somewhere so we didn't get it till the next day, luckly we were home and didn't need the things in the luggage. The coach seat in the eastbound SWC were hard as a rock(looked like a older car,the leg rests had bar that folded down to hold it up). But all in all it was a good trip. The crew on the eastbound LSL was much better than the ones we had on the westbound leg. my trip was on Sept 18-21 there and Sept 29-Oct 2 back. If anyone was on this train I would like to here your thoughts. Sideout1961
Posts: 15 | From: Holyoke, Ma. ,Usa | Registered: Jan 2002
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Between my 18 night Amtrak trip in May and last week I managed to squeeze in 3 weeks in Papua New Guinea. But as they have no trains in the entire country I guess it doesn't count.
But yesterday I completed plans to introduce my wife to Amtrak in June. We will fly to Denver and visit the Colorado Rail Museum. Then, board the Zephyr west (coach seats) to Glenwood Springs. After a week there, participating in a cattle drive no less, we reboard (sleeper this time) for the trip to Sacramento. A day at the museum there and fly home.
I'm pretty sure that will whet her appetite for more in the future!
Posts: 363 | From: Southwest North Central Florida | Registered: Apr 2002
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Sideout, that was an interesting story! Stuff like that doesn't make the headlines, but your anecdote tells me that our homeland security people are doing something right.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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The travelers are still there. I'm going to travel on the Empire Builder to MKE during the first weekend of November. For me, it was the choice of making a 5 hour drive (one way) vs. a trip on the train. I should point out that many people get what they consider a poor value for the dollar when they ride coach on Amtrak, and also there is Amtraks reputation of being late "All the time." The Empire Builder has a reputation of 80 - 90 % on-time performance, but there will always be those who show up on the 1 trip in 5 that its delayed and then exclaim that Amtrak is always late. Much of this reputation for tardiness is caused by the performance of the trains to and from Florida. Also, I think some people have expectations that all customer service should be like Disney World levels, and that is something that Amtrak has never been able to achieve. I look forward to my trip next month, but I have some difficulty explaining my perference of Amtrak to relatives who have come to expect almost absolute perfect customer service for their travel dollar.
Posts: 506 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Mar 2002
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