posted
Last weekend I made a solo train ride cashing in some of the Guest Reward Points I squirrel away for just when the opportunity arises.
The itinerary was not complicated - I woke up Friday morning leaving my home just before a winter storm rolled in and drove 75 miles south to the Greenville/Spartanburg airport. My wife and daughter were flying to Florida, I was flying Southwest Airlines to Chicago Midway.
Opinions here vary as to the level of service Southwest affords BUT when flying by myself I have no issue with Southwest. I have never experienced a flight delay of more than 15 minutes with SWA...... I appreciate that reliability.
At Midway I made the long walk to the RTA platform and was happy to find a warm train waiting on a 3 degree day. The three block surface walk when I reached the loop was exhilerating in a very cold kind of way. The corner entrance and escalator down to the subterranian section of Union Station never more inviting.
When I began thinking about this trip around Thanksgiving, I had initially thought to fly to Denver on Friday and catch the California Zephyr to the west coast from there on Saturday morning. However, when I called Amtrak, there was no roomette available for sale from Denver on Saturday morning. Oddly enough, there was a roomette available for the entire trip to the west coast from Chicago on Friday afternoon. Yield management does strange things sometimes.
By 11:45am I had stowed my single bag at the Metropolitan Lounge, purchased a pseudo-asian mixture of chicken, broccoli, and rice in a styrofoam container, and settled in for lunch on a bench in the massive great hall. After lunch I moved back to the Metropolitan Lounge and settled into a corner seat with a book to while away the remaining hour until train #5 boarded.
There was some commotion in the lounge. There was a 40-plus person tour group from Trains Unlimited assembling near the desk area. To myself I thought "Bet these folks are going out with me on #5." They were..... and that explained why demand for sleeper space on #5 this day had been so in demand weeks earlier.
By 1:15 or so the tour group had been assembled and redcaps summoned. With their group leader they made their way out the door and over to track 12 where the California Zephyr was waiting. Once they group was clear, an Amtrak agent called for anyone not in the group who was departing on #5 to assemble at the front of the lounge. This turned out to be just myself and one other person.
I was in roommette 10 of the 532 car..... the last roommette in the last car on the train. Remarkably, the train ride itself was less eventful than the getting to the train. We departed Chicago on-time and remained on-time or, in some cases where the padding is thickest, arrived as much as 20-30 minutes early at every station all the way to Sacramento.
The roomettes in the 532 were never full for the entire trip. Number 9 across the aisle was occupied only Grand Junction-Sacramento. Number 7 was occupied Chicago-Denver and then by a pair of day-riders Reno-Sacramento. Numbers 5 and 6 were empty until Denver. The bedrooms were another story. They were all occupied by members of the tour group as were some roommettes. Tour group members were located in both sleepers at the rear as well as in the transdorm.
The service in the diner was a bit erratic. The upstairs was staffed by steward who took care of business but was not assisting with any food service and two servers. One of the servers was clearly more efficient as he was able to move his half of the car through a seating in one hour. The other half of the car was taking closer to 90 minutes for a seating...... even at breakfast. We were not in a hurry so it wasn't a bad experience. No one was surly with the passengers and even the less efficient server was pleasant. I would say that her tips likely suffered compared to the other server BUT since only a handful of us were actually tipping, this was likely not the case. The tour group members had a 'all gratuities included' clause in their arrangements and I was, in fact, having dinner with the tour leader one evening when the steward came to settle up for the Saturday tips.
The food was really very good this trip. I had the steak twice, a pasta and meatball lunch special one day, hamburger the next, pancakes one morning, and omelette the next.
With our 20 minute early arrival in Denver, I had the chance to get a little closer and gaze at the massive construction project at Denver Union Station. Crews are now well-along erecting an ultra-modern trainshed behind the historic station. A bus transfer station has been located beneath the trainshed and extends toward the Platte River two blocks where it is anchored on the other end by a light rail station. Only the light rail station is in service at this juncture. This is a project which I have kept up with online for some time now and I most look forward to commuter trains connecting Union Station with the Denver Airport in two or three years.
By contrast, in Sacramento new platforms are in place and scaffolding is all over the waiting room as renovations to the old Southern Pacific station ar underway. The new platforms are nice and afford a much closer view of the old locomotive shops but they are about a five minute walk from the station. Not an improvement in that regard but not unreasonable considering the distance to the gates at most airports.
In front of the Sacramento station, a new entrance to the parking lot protected by traffic lights has been constructed mid-block which shortens the length of the walk with safe-crossing one must make to reach the Vagabond Inn. The Sacramento Vagabond Inn is still maintained nicely and clean..... additional security fencing has been located around the property since my last visit to Sacramento. Still lodging worthy of a recommendation here.
The following morning I had an early wakeup call, checked out, and caught the Yolo Bus (route 42B) to the Sacramento Airport for a flight home using United. First leg of the flight was fine, second leg less so as our plane arrived two hours late and then, once boarded we sat on the tarmac for another forty minutes or so waiting for a relief pilot to arrive, the first pilot having 'died on the law' to use a railroad term.
I'll include a link for my Facebook Album where some of the snapshots I took on the trip are displayed should anyone be interested. One is for you GBN...... looking back just west of Clarendon Hills!
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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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: Opinions here vary as to the level of service Southwest affords BUT when flying by myself I have no issue with Southwest. I have never experienced a flight delay of more than 15 minutes with SWA...... I appreciate that reliability.
Mr. Presley, wasn't there a "mite bit more" than a fifteen minute delay on your KMDW-KATL "experience" when we met up a year ago?
Last year, I had two trips by air; one to KHPN and the other KRIC with both on United. From my house, KORD/KMDW access is a toss up (you knoiw it first hand to KMDW), but their "cattle chute" boarding is simply "underclass". OK, you can check one bag for free, but when did I last check a bag....uh, try 1985.
My attachment to United is simple; I know my way around Terminal #1 @ KORD.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
David -- I got a "This Copy is Temporarily Unavailable" message from your link -- I am not a Facebook member, so maybe that has something to do with it?
I'm glad the SAC and DEN renovations are nearly complete -- when I rode the CZ last summer eastbound (like you, also early or on time at most stops), SAC was right in the middle of the renovation. I'm also glad to hear that it is easier to walk to the Vagabond from the station now!!
Good report, as always ---
RR Rich
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Nice report, David. Couple questions: was it a 'real' steak, like sirloin, or one of those flank steaks that are of questionable origin. And in Denver I had thought the tracks were going to be over a subterranean bus area. Sounds like trains and buses are both on the surface.
I too will welcome a rail link to the airport. Is that under construction now? ETA?
And on a CZ trip a couple years ago we too had a tour group. We, and the crew, were glad when they departed in Sacramento. Several elderly ones were wandering the aisle in a state of confusion and definitely slowed things down in the diner. There was a time when a large group like that would have been accommodated in an extra sleeper.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Last year on the Zephyr going and coming, my wife and I had the "signature angus steak," described in the Amtrak web site as flat iron steak. It was very good, although it was not sirloin or any of the other expensive cuts. I found it quite tender.
I suspect the sous-vide method of precooking renders the flat iron steak tender and juicy. Properly finished by a trained chef, it's excellent, in my view.
posted
Good report, David, and I'm glad your trip went well. Although it's a bit of a p.i.t.a. to deal with all the station construction projects out west, it is a sign that there is a serious commitment being made to the future of passenger rail transportation. Believe it or not, Uncle Fred has called in a few more cousins and the Seattle King Street Station project may actually get done in time for the summer travel season. And sometime in the foreseeable future, Amtrak in Tacoma will move to the local transportation hub at Freighthouse Square.
As for Southwest Airlines, I don't find their boarding procedures much different than Amtrak's; but that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with either. My journey last month included an overnight trip on Amtrak, a short trip on Southwest Airlines and a longer trip on Alaska Airlines. Both air segments were on 737-700s, but somehow AS managed to load an almost full plane in a calm and efficient manner while the not-even-half-full WN flight seemed like it was very chaotic. I am a FF with both AS and WN, but I always give AS first crack at my business.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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Did you, by chance, hear anything regarding the possible renovation of the historic train depot in Grand Junction? I really would like to see it restored to its 1906 splendor.
The latest I've read is that some woman bought the building, about a year ago. She says she wants to restore it, more or less, to its historic roots but with some changes.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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GBN - I recall my unpleasantness with SWA a year ago as more an issue of having a low 'boarding lottery' number. There may have been a delay but I had no one waiting for me nor another train or flight to catch on the other end. My eye was not as much on the clock as it was earlier that day waiting out the sticky bridge at Hammond/Whiting.
I am OK with SWA when going alone...... when traveling with the family, not as much. I will say that I have been more than satisfied with United Customer Service when it has been neccessary to change arrangements enroute due to missed connections.
RRRich - I suspect that you have identified why the link doesn't work for you. I'm sorry that I'm not young enough to have grown up with computers and able to offer you a quick shoofly around that.
Palmland - the beast I consumed was billed as the 'signature angus steak'. It was a boneless piece of meat served in a dark brown sauce with a consistency much like pot roast. Not really tenderloin but, as Henry notes, very satisfying none-the-less.
My apologies for being unclear in describing the bus terminal in Denver. (I was typing while my 7-year old daughter was talking non-stop to no one in particular.) Yes, the buses will be underground. That terminal was constructed by excavating a two-block long trench, building a concrete 'bus-box', and then covering it over. This phase of the infrastructure is complete though the terminal won't be passenger ready until 2014 at best.
The rail station at the Denver Airport is under construction now along with, I believe, a hotel complex. The line is expected to be operational in 2016. The trains are supposed to be 'heavy rail vehicles' as opposed to light rail though I'm not sure whether they will be some type of locomotive hauled rolling stock or some sort of DMU.
I actually had at least two and often three members from the group seated with me at every meal. Most were retirees with time enough for an 11-day rail tour. Many had never been on an overnight train trip before and many were having a great time. One couple had decided to bail and fly home from San Francisco because they didn't like 'how regimented' everything was...... everything in this case being the 5:30pm dinner seating which most of the group had been arbitrarily assigned (by the group leader) because some members needed to eat at that time to keep their medication schedule from being thrown off.
Vincent - I have often wondered why airlines don't simply load from back to front. There must be some reason why they do not because surely, as simple as my idea is, someone has thought of it, tried it, and abandoned it already. Getting the Seattle station completed might just be the impetus I need to work the Empire Builder back into a future itinerary.
Finally Yukon, I have seen the report that you reference regarding the station in Grand Junction. We arrived early and had about 25 minutes on the ground during the service stop there. I walked all the way around the former D&RGW station peeking through chain link fences and peering in windows. I could not find anything that would suggest renovation is underway...... or even on the drawing boards. No sign with artist rendering announcing great plans or anything.
The door to the old station did display fading painted lettering indicating 'Amtrak Station Hours' which caused me to wonder for the first time how long Amtrak did use that building before moving in to the less inspiring facility next door.
-------------------- 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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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: David -- I got a "This Copy is Temporarily Unavailable" message from your link -- I am not a Facebook member, so maybe that has something to do with it?
Same same here; save three weeks during March 2011.
Farcebook, what do I need you for?
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: Hello Everyone -
Palmland - the beast I consumed was billed as the 'signature angus steak'. It was a boneless piece of meat served in a dark brown sauce with a consistency much like pot roast. Not really tenderloin but, as Henry notes, very satisfying none-the-less.
My apologies for being unclear in describing the bus terminal in Denver. (I was typing while my 7-year old daughter was talking non-stop to no one in particular.) Yes, the buses will be underground......
Ah, the pot roast (which was my wife's term for it too); I forgot it was billed as Angus steak. We had it this past summer and it was quite good. The critter I recall as flank steak (but may have been the flat iron that Henry mentions) was absolutely inedible. If it really is the same cut, it is vastly improved.
That's amazing that much has been done on the Denver station. In August it was just a dirt construction site. Wish all transit projects had that speed.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Nice CZ pictures on your FB page, David. How did you get them to have that "hue" to them? It's as if they look like old-fashioned photos.
I didn't recognize Denver Union Station at all! Wow, a lot sure has changed there. And at SAC, I guess I didn't realize that they built the new tracks/platform so close to the old SP shops. It looks like they're almost right up against them. That is a LONG haul (by foot) to the actual station itself. Weird.
Glad you had a nice trip.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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Short answer is that I ramped up the 'contrast' knob on the 'fix' feature on my Toshiba laptop. One person actually thought that I was shooting color slides and had scanned them.
Here's why I did that -
I was using honest to goodness 35mm film in a 'beginner' model Canon on this trip as my wife had the 'good' digital camera with her in Florida (a going-away fest for her brother being transferred overseas by the USAF).
There were obstacles - the film being a couple of years old (and not Kodak) for starters, the scratchiness of my roomette window, and the dirt on the rear door window of my sleeper..... well.... the original prints came out fairly dull. The low light in Denver at 7:30am was another issue. I was simply trying for something a little more attractive to the casual viewer.
And yes - In Sacramento the new platforms are right along the old SP shops. For comparison sake, I walked right about the same distance from the platform to the waiting room as I did to reach my gate after clearing security at the Sacramento airport the following morning.
-------------------- 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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-------------------- My new "default" station (EKH) has no baggage service or QuikTrak machine, but the parking is free! And the NY Central RR Museum is just across the tracks (but not open at Amtrak train times. . ..) Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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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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