How has the Southwest Chief been lately? The last time I rode (6/01) some of the crew were pretty rude, the guy in the snack bar in particular. There were no movies. They ran out of food and on the menu there were no childrens choices, we were told that was discontinued. (any comments)
Does the Onboard tour guide still come aboard in Gallup/Alburqurqe?
Still a beautiful view. We will be travelling on the Chief again this June.
Posted by Kairho (Member # 1567) on :
I was on it April 29-30 from Los Angeles to Raton. The crew was quite good, there was plenty of food and movies. And these was a good tour guide from Gallup to ABQ. I enjoyed it immensely.
Posted by Eric (Member # 674) on :
I rode the Chief on Feb. 9-10 '02 between FLG and ABQ, and everything was great. I got the much-talked-about French toast for breakfast and steak for dinner (very good!), and the dining car crew was friendly and helpful. There was a movie (I didn't watch it) in the Lounge, but the microphone for the guide in NM wasn't working, so I didn't get to hear the presentation. The snack bar attendant had some Steely Dan playing, and I enjoyed listening to it as it rose to the upper-level. The Chief has an 85-90% on-time performance as well- one of the best for the Western long-hauls. Have a great trip, and please post a report when you return!
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
From my experience with the Chief all I can say is it's hit or miss. Either its a great trip or everything that can go wrong does go wrong! Recently the Chief has performed extraordinary with its on time performance. It was just a few months ago when it was lucky to have a 50% on time performance. Now its the best! Way to go
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Residing in Clarendon Hills, IL, it seems to me that #4 more likely than not is "on time enough" to make all connections.
As for the absence of movies noted by "Mr. Powers", who needs 'em?
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
My son and I travelled the Grand Canyon at Christmastime.
We were roundtrip KC-LA, First Class tickets, and Compartments each way for accomodations.
Downside: Whereever the trainset last saw service, be it Chicago or further east, the coach yard had not pumped the sewage out. Every last tank was beyond full by Victorville.
Downside, not of Amtrak's origin: Some d###-fool kids went crusing the right-of-way between Lamy and Albuquerque. Stuck their pick-em-up in between the tracks. The train crushed the truck; thankfully the kids were out of it.
Upside: Good food, good service.
Upside: The train crews all busted tail, and we did make the advertised ... even after accounting for the slack in the schedule. After the wreck, we were 5 hours late into Albuquerque.
BTW, yes, I called it the Grand Canyon. This is a M/E train with a passenger consist tacked on now, not one of the premier trains in the nation.
Mind you, there is nothing wrong with a working M/E train with a passenger consist. That was how the railroads made money on their Passenger Traffic Departments before the end of the Railway Mail Service (well, factoring in a whole bunch of "goodwill" in the accounting for the SEC helped too)
John
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
Posted by CHIEFAN (Member # 1593) on :
About a month ago I took the Chief from Fullerton to Chicago and back again. The crew on Train 4 outbound from Fullerton to Chicago was somewhat surly, yet I am sure the attendant had been already over many more miles than I had traversed. I didn't like the food on outbound train 4, the cook was new and his cooking showed it. Talk about bad! And the regimented nature of the sitting in the dining car was a little much. My cabin steward was a great guy however.
Train 3 on the way back from Chicago to Fullerton was completely different. The cook was incredibly good, the dining car stewards excellent and fun, and the entire tone of the trip was much more relaxed.
I can see the food is either very good or very bad. Train 4 needs a cook that has lessons; I picked up Pepto Bismol on Chicago thinking all food on trains was bad. When I sat down to dinner out of Chicago back to Fullerton I couldn't beleive the difference!