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My son and I have made a summer train trip since he was 6 years old. He is now 18 and preparing to start at The Ohio State University in September, and I was afraid this final year would be missing the Father/Son trip due to summer classes at the local community college and the schedule of a teenager.
But alas, an opening was found in August, and we are going to visit a friend who lives in L.A. I usually book these summer trips 6 months in advance and was worried that booking an August trip in June would be a problem. It was not, and actually the cost had changed little since I checked back in the winter.
We depart on August 4 from Pittsburgh on the Capitol Ltd., and then the Southwest Chief on to L.A. The return trip is on the Texas Eagle (422 cars) through to Chicago, and the Capitol to PGH. We decided to be adventurous and try the Sunset/Eagle return, we have no time factor or restraints in case of extreme lateness.
We have a roomette all the way, on the Capitol they seemed inexpensive. The cost was exactly the same for sleeper on the Chief as the Sunset/Eagle, even though it is a day longer. Does this mean trains have a lot of capacity unsold?
We are in Room 5 on Car 2901 and Room 7 on Car 0330 going out; and Room 6 on Car 2230 and Room 3 on Car 3000 on the return. Those seem rather standard assignments, glad everything is upstairs. I know sleeper rooms have been discussed here before, and varied opinions have been expressed, but yeech, we disliked the one time we had a downstairs roomette.
PS, we ate at our local Bob Evans Restaurant this morning, and they have nothing on the menu that even resembles the breakfast offering on Amtrak. Too bad they can't package one of their other great meals for the train.
Posts: 76 | From: Steubenville, OH | Registered: Oct 2004
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I tried the Bob Evans Breakfast Scrambler on the California Zephyr in April, 2005. I didn't feel well and was downright sick by lunch time (admittedly the scrambler had nothing to do with that but I still remember it as a bad start to what turned out to be a really bad day.....the normal UP delays were nothing compared to what we experienced when one of our locomotives failed west of Winnemucca.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Its been a long time since I ate at a Bob Evans restaurant. We don't have them in my area. I remember it being very good. I can only speak about the "Bob Evans Scrambler" offering from Amatrak since I had it 3 times on the Southwest Chief. It was pretty good. Was it worth the money if I had to pay for it straight up? Probably not. Then again anything "packaged" like Amtrak is doing now is not going to be as good as fresh cooked.
-------------------- Chuck
“Adventure is just bad planning.” - Roald Amundsen Posts: 80 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Feb 2007
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If I recall from our vacation trip last summer, AMTRAK's "Bob Evans Scrambler" was NOT very good.........
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Enjoy your trip here to LA, it will be hot and humid from the monsoonal flow from Mexico so pack alot of Hawaiian shirts.
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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