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Hello Railforum Gang, Thanks to your great advice over the past months my wife and I had a wonderful time on our summer excursions on Amtrak. I will note a few things about our trips but not bore you with the fine details. We started out on July 22 from Sandusky, Ohio on the LSL. The train was about an hour late but it gave us time to meet some interesting young men from Singapore who were traveling across the country. They had been to Cedar Point Amusement Park and were now heading to Toledo and a connection to Ann Arbor, MI. We had a bit of a problem when we boarded the LSL because there were no pairs of seats available and my wife and I were forced to sit as singles until we reached Waterloo, IN. But after some help from the car attendant we managed to move and sit together for the trip to Chicago. Having never been to downtown Chicago I was impressed with all the great architecture and especially the Great Hall at the Union Station. We enjoyed the Metro Lounge although it was very crowded with people waiting for the CZ,SWC,&EB and so we decided to check our bags and walk around the city. Found a neat deli with sandwiches and met a man who was planning to take the EB to Montana and meet his son who was traveling across the country on a bike for charity. We boarded the EB at the scheduled time but unfortunately, the lead locomotive had electrical problems and we sat on the tracks for nearly two hours while they requisitioned another loco. Met a nice lady from LA who was traveling to Portland for a connection to the Coast Starlight and then home. She had traveled a lot by train and enjoyed it immensely. We had some local parks reps on our lounge car and they spoke about the history of the northern suburbs of Chicago and southern Wisconsin. Very interesting. We were in Roomette #8 and found it to be small but cozy. Kind of like camping out as my wife said. I am 6'6" and the upper bunk was a bit cramped but I was so tired from excitement and being up at 3am that I fell to sleep rather quickly. Food was great. Had the steak-cooked to perfection and the cheesecake-yum. Unfortunately the delays in leaving Chicago meant we reached LaCrosse, WI at dark and we did not see the Mississippi River route to St Paul. A great light show from a thunderstorm ensued and we watched until we both fell asleep. Then of course, we had the dilemma of no working restrooms in our sleeper car starting overnight. Our car attendent was Dennis and he was great. He apologized for the inconvenience, which meant everyone had to use the coach restrooms in the next car for the remainder of the trip. Overnight we lost more time, which meant we were able to see some cities that normally were passed in the darkness of night and missed some as well. Stops in Minot and Havre were great to get some air and walk around. It was over 100 degrees in central Montana and the air conditioning on the train felt good when we returned. Seems like we did lots of eating and enjoying the scenery. Had a nice wine and cheese tasting in the lounge. Cheese from Wisconsin and wine from Washington. The train was unable to make up much time across Montana and therefore we did not get to see Glacier National Park as well. Slept right through it at 1am. Another big disappointment but the staff on the train, from dining car to conductors to car attendants were so great and friendly that most of the passengers were understanding!!. We did get to spend some time in Spokane since it was 6am when we arrived and got some great photos of the train split between our 27 to Portland and 7 to Seattle. One of the best parts of the trip was the Columbia River Gorge. Beautiful scenery, Mt Hood in the background, tunnels, deserts, mountains, etc all in about 200 miles of track. We arrived in Portland about four hours late which meant our trip up the Columbia River by car was saved for another trip. We stayed at a great Comfort Suites in Portland and next morning started on the land part of the trip. We rented a small SUV and traveled for a week down the Oregon coast-Astoria to Eureka, CA--beautiful beaches, lighthouses, Redwood trees, etc. Could write a book about that week in OR & CA. Worked our way to Sacramento and stayed at Comfort Suites over on Jibbon ST. near Old Sacramento. Took the Capitols train to San Francisco for a day. Walked until we ran out of shoe leather and enjoyed our first trip to SF. Spent a day of sightseeing in Sacramento including a ride on the train in Old Sac. a tour of the California Railroad Museum (quite impressive), a tour of the capitol building (the Governator was not in that day!!) the art museum, Wells Fargo museum, etc. We love Sacramento!!!!. Aug 1 we left on the California Zephyr for home. Had Roomette #4. Enjoyed all the great scenery through Donner Pass, met some very nice people on the train, Reno and the deserts of Nevada. Train lost a little time but seemed like UP was cooperating big time by letting us pass by their trains on sidings. We were lucky to be traveling on Thursday so we used the route via Colorado Rockies rather than the Wyoming route. Our sleeper was an older car but did not rattle. Restrooms did work and food was pretty good,especially the RR French toast, the Angus burgers, and the beef ragoutte. The Rockies were one of the most impressive bits of America we had ever seen. But as opposed to the friendly and competent staff that we encountered on the EB, the dining car staff on the CZ was terrible. They were yelling at passengers, told my wife to go sit down and be quiet when she asked about our dinner reservation. (6:30 scheduled. 8:00 when we finally ate. Some did not get supper until 10pm, many just gave up and went to lounge car for a sandwich. Our car attendant was o.k, but he had to spend much of his time in the dining car trying to help the dining staff serve meals. It is true that the staff was short handed and that according to the Dining Car Steward, "Amtrak left them without enough help and 147 people to serve". I tried to be understanding of their plight, but the attitudes needed to be readjusted. There were lots of complaints and I think this crew needed to find another job. The trip across Nebraska (mostly at night) and Iowa, great cornfields and small towns, was interesting, but how can you beat Colorado??. We arrived in Chicago only half hour late, which called for major celebrations!!. Spent time walking around Chicago, enjoying great music and wild cab drivers until our LSL left at 10pm. Got back to Sandusky around 5am Still, my wife and I love Amtrak and have scheduled two more trips. Washington DC on the Capitol Limited in the fall. and a return trip to California and Arizona on the CZ and SW Chief this winter. As most of you have said, riding Amtrak is an adventure and you have to go with the flow. It was a great retirement trip and the positives far outweighed the negatives in our opinion. Long Live Amtrak. Hope to have some more reports on our future trips and we always monitor this site looking for good advice and great stories about Amtrak trips. Best wishes. Railroad Bill & (Mrs. Railroad Bill) ***smile
Posts: 87 | From: Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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The bad attitude of the dining crew on the CZ is ,unfortunately nothing new. There were problems with them long before all the recent changes. Naturally this is not all of the crew but enough to be noticed. There was one trip 10 years go that was so horrid we were sent a $250 voucher. I am glad you are not turned off by this. We drove down the entire coast (US 1) from Tillimuk (sp) to San Francisco. It is one incredible trip. I hope you can go the rest of the way next time.
tilli
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Hello Trainlady, Yes, we are going to take Coast Starlight and Surfliner in January on our winter trip. Then a quickie over to Kingman. Some time at the rock shows in Quartzite and a day in Vegas before returning home on the SWC. California is an interesting place and not nearly as "offbeat" as some of us in Ohio think. Smile*** Best wishes Bill
Posts: 87 | From: Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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Thanks for the interesting trip report. How unusual that it was your Empire Builder that was so late and your California Zephyr that was nearly on time. (Esp the latter!!!) I took the same trains this past May (with Coast Starlight in between) and had the opposite and more typical experience--EB virtually on time, CZ way late getting into Chicago. But the crew on the CZ wasn't bad at all the days I rode. In fact, I don't recall any crew problems on any of the trains I took, though we did have a toilet problem on the LSL eastbound on the last leg of my trip (the only part I went coach), and an a/c problem on (of all things) the Cascades train I took from Seattle into Oregon.
I am so sorry you missed Glacier Park--you'll just have to do yet another trip! I recommend the EB eastbound in May, June, or July, then you can be sure of seeing Glacier Park and the Mississippi for sure! You might look into another trip I did based on recs here--with Seattle, Victoria (access by boat), and Vancouver. You could even try to fit in an Alaska cruise too! Just leave yourself a few nights cushion time (in Seattle, Victoria, or Vancouver) before the cruise begins, in case of any train troubles getting out west.
But your CZ and SW Chief trip sounds fabulous. I did something similar last year, meeting my friend (who did not have time for trains) in San Francisco and going down the coast with some stops. I loved San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. Liked San Luis Obispo quite well too. Really, it was a wonderful trip.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Glad you enjoyed your trip. We also love Sacramento, spent time there in 2005 and 2006. It's a great place for train watching and the museum has a marvellous bookshop. My son spent a year at university in San Francisco and we had such a fantastic time when we visited him that we came back the following year. Sorry to hear about the bad dining crew. On our first trip on the CZ we had a wonderful crew, they really made the trip truly memorable. That was before the crew numbers were reduced. Other crews have been OK; I felt great sympathy with the CZ crew on our last trip when we were 8 hours late into Sacramento; they were exhausted but still did their best to feed us! Sadly it was dark over Donner Pass. Enjoy your future trips! John
Posts: 41 | From: Yaxham, Norfolk, UK | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by train lady: The bad attitude of the dining crew on the CZ is ,unfortunately nothing new. There were problems with them long before all the recent changes. Naturally this is not all of the crew but enough to be noticed. There was one trip 10 years go that was so horrid we were sent a $250 voucher. I am glad you are not turned off by this. We drove down the entire coast (US 1) from Tillimuk (sp) to San Francisco. It is one incredible trip. I hope you can go the rest of the way next time.
tilli
It's spelled Tillamook I believe and it's a great little town. My friend has a beach house at Cape Meares and we have to pass through Tillamook to get there.
From what I've been told, the dining car staff gets paid quite well and should have no reason to be short with customers even if they're understaffed. On my last CZ trip they were a little snippy on the first night of the trip. They were running about 45 minutes behind on reservations and I was barked at when I inquired when the 6:30 reservations would be called since it was 7:00. I pretty much avoided the dining car after that until we reached Utah. I think the staff was different by that time and they were great and very personable. I regret I didn't get the attendant's name and forward a "thumbs up" to Amtrak. Our Cafe car attendant was also great on this trip.
Posts: 45 | From: Fullerton, CA | Registered: Jun 2005
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Thanks Tommers. I could hear the name in my mind but couldn't remember how to Spell it. (obviously!!!) It is a great town. We took a tour through the cheese factory and then had lunch there. Cape Meares is great too. In fact the whole Oregon Coast is super and I'd go back in a heart beat. We took the train from DC to SF, rented a car and drove up Rte 5 to Portland. From there we went to the coast and back to SF. And that is one advantage of LD trains. We never could have driven it all and I don't do airplanes!!
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Yeah, I make it a point to only buy Tillamook butter and cheese at the supermarket when I can. I wish they sold the ice cream down here in SoCal as well.
-------------------- Remember no matter where you go, there you are - Buckaroo Bonzai Posts: 45 | From: Fullerton, CA | Registered: Jun 2005
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