Well, exactly a week from today I will be on the zephyr from CHI-SAC in a standard bedroom. Very excited, as this will be my first amtrak trip on this route, out of my 20,056 amtrak miles. I was curious to know if they are running sleepers for SAC up front, or are they sticking them in the rear?
Thanks
------------------ ~Late train+more time on the train=The best trains~
I was on # 5 from Chi to Den and the sleepers were up front. On the return on #6 they were on the rear. This was about two weeks ago.
Posted by snake (Member # 2430) on :
Hope yer train's late. Posted by Amtrakman (Member # 2403) on :
Thanks snake!
------------------ ~Late train+more time on the train=The best trains~
But not too late. Posted by rmiller (Member # 341) on :
I worked #5 a week ago, two sleepers were on the rear and one was on the front. There was no transition sleeper for the crew so they were scattered throughout the sleepers. On the return, all sleepers were on the front, again, no crew car. I'm working number 5 again today, so we'll just have to see what's up.
Heard a rumor a fourth sleeper will be added soon and suspect there will be no transition sleeper for the summer. The crews are not taking kindly to this turn of events.
Unfortunately, I'll still be on the road when you leave, so won't be able to give you any late info.
rick
Posted by Geoff Mayo (Member # 153) on :
I saw three consecutive days worth of CZs last week. They were inconsistent in having sleepers and coaches a particular way around. There was a suggestion a while ago that sleepers are very slightly more likely to be on the Chicago end of the train though, but don't hold me to it.
Geoff M.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
I just got off the #6 that arrived in CHI today (6/5)and the sleepers were on the rear. I also heard one was 'bad ordered'.
By the way the #5 was 7 hours late thru Colorado on 6/4. I always wanted to see SLC-Winnemucca by daylight because some parts of it looked pretty interesting by moonlight. Any stories on this delay?
Posted by Amtrakman (Member # 2403) on :
Less than 5 days to go! I leave for Chicago tommorow to spend a few days before leaving on #5. Plan to ride the Metra BNSF line up to Naperville, and spend the day train watching.
------------------ ~Late train+more time on the train=The best trains~
[This message has been edited by Amtrakman (edited 06-07-2003).]
Posted by Amtrakman (Member # 2403) on :
Ok well just got off #5.
Was a great trip and everything went very smooth except for one thing. 10 Miles outside of Winnemucca, NV we stopped suddenly. I could see outside the window that a freight train was on our track shortly beyond our red signal. I heard over my scanner that a freight train lost its breaks and had backed up 3 freights behind it, making us train 4 in the back up. We sat in the desert for 2 hours watching te sun slowly rise behind the moutains, untill things finally cleared up. We arrived Winnemucca running about 3 hours and 30 minutes late (having only been running about 40 minutes late prior). After a few more freight-followings (stuck behind slow moving freights) we finally arrived into Sacramento, CA on june 13 2003, 4 hours and 14 minutes late. Trip was great, I can now add to my about 22,280 Amtrak Miles. I should mention that I dont mind the train running late (note the signature )
(A full account, including photos will be posted on my website in the coming week!) ------------------ ~Late train+more time on the train=The best trains~
[This message has been edited by Amtrakman (edited 06-13-2003).]
Posted by foamer13 (Member # 2024) on :
An interesting thing happened on the Zephyr when I rode it from Salt Lake City to Chicago a few years ago. Our sleeper car's attendant failed to awaken two passengers because he was asleep himself. He claimed that he'd taken medication for a cold. Any-way, the mistake was discovered shortly after we'd pulled out of Salt Lake City. The conductor radioed for a cab to meet the train in Provo, at a cost of $60.00. The train waited at Provo for about 20 minutes, but the cab hadn't showed. An older man and a young woman got off to wait in the darkness and we went on. I later learned it was a BNSF engineer, traveling with his daughter, and he was HOT! I never learned what happened to the errant crew member. He did seem to have an attitude problem and I was told by other crew members that he had a history of problems; when I talked to him afterward, he was smoking in the vestibule, which had No Smoking signs all around, and bitching about his job, the management, etc.. I want to stress that this was the only Amtrak employee I met on our three-week trip through the West that wasn't extremely friendly, positive, and helpful!
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