Originally I was booked from Trenton but then learned checked baggage was not available from that location, so Amtrak charged me an additional $17 to depart from Newark which was a very cold (1 degree) Saturday 1/10/04. When I arrived at the baggage counter I was informed there would be no baggage car on #41 – the car was bad ordered. I was informed I could check it via NYC (#49) but was subject to delay. I choose to take it with me. Anyway there were a lot of delays that morning due to the frozen equipment. You would think in this day and age and from experience that Amtrak would be prepared but they were not. Trains were stuck at Sunnyside with frozen switches and other problems.

#41 was scheduled to depart Newark at 12:36pm but actually departed at 1:15pm and #91-Silver Star which was suppose to depart Newark at 11:48am was right behind us in the station. When I checked the status of that train the next day it was 3.5 hours late into West Palm Beach.

I must say I really love the Viewliner sleeper. It is very quiet compared to the standard bedroom on a Superliner. Meaning if someone is talking in a room in front or behind you – the Superliner is like a cheap motel room. So as we traveled backwards to Philadelphia the car next to mine was a Horizon café car, which I was told was improper on this trip. Facing the sleeper was the business class section and the tables on the other end near the coaches. It would turn out to be a busy train due to the fact of returning college students to Pittsburgh/Chicago and every seat out of Philly was sold out (3 coaches). To make matters worse every station excluding NYC and Newark offered checked baggage service and the baggage was placed in the rear vestibule of the sleeper and in the business section of the café car. Very unsafe in this day and age.

In Philadelphia they added 5 Express boxcars and 18 roadrailers (mail), so that boosted our train to 28 cars (3 coaches, café car, sleeper). To bad they could not locate a baggage car. Departing Philadelphia over 1 hour late the sleeper was now right behind 2 engines – and I knew what we were in for. The engineer knew how to use that horn and he was playing sweet sounds with it.

I knew in advance that there was no diner on this train but I do like the route and crew and being a regular Broadway rider in the past. Lunch consisted of anything that was on the regular menu. I selected the very salty Barbequed Chicken sandwich – I was so excited about being on a train again that the hunger passed as I threw out the sandwich and enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie instead. In charge of the Café Car was Dave, he was very cool and enjoyed working with the people. Carrie was our sleeper attendant and another really nice person.

I like when employees have a sense of humor because you really need to have one on the train. In Philadelphia we picked up Katie who would be in charge of “Dinner in the Diner” and other duties beyond that of a regular attendant. She came around to all the rooms to take our meal selections (Salmon or Duck) and told us dinner would be served at 6pm. They had to close the café car to all the coach passengers from 5pm-7pm. I’m pretty sure they were upset because I know I would be. If Amtrak had the right equipment on this train like a full Amfleet lounge, the tables would be on the sleeper side and then they could of kept the coach passengers fed. When we arrived for dinner all the tables had white tablecloths, plastic dishes but real silverware. Rolls and butter along with a salad of just lettuce (no tomato or cucumber) were on the table. I was little disappointed with the meal selections because I don’t like salmon and I would rather had a beef or even a chicken choice instead of Duck. It was 3 pieces of semi-pink meat and that just turned me off. I asked them to nuke it. Also on the plate was some pasta in a saffron sauce. Dessert was a very cold bread pudding with apple slices and raisins. Maybe that would have been better if served warm. All together the meal was disappointing. I was told that an article on the Three Rivers meal service will be in the March issue of Trains Magazine.

When they reopened to the coaches it was just one steady stream of hungry people for hours. I think it all finally calmed down at 10pm. I took sometime to stand by and watch Dave and Katie work as a team to handle the crowd and they did an excellent job. Also it’s a shame that there was no mentioning of the approach to Horseshoe Curve, one of the highlights of this trip even though it was dark outside but with a full moon The rest of the ride to Chicago was fast and smooth with a lot of horn blowing so I’m glad I brought ear plugs for a good nights rest. Breakfast again was anything of the menu I guess you can just eat all morning if you wanted to. I had the cheese omelet on a bagel, with coffee, milk and then a cinnamon bun. It was ok but still not the same as a real diner. We arrived Chicago at 9am, 1hr 15 mins late – thank goodness for the padding in the schedule or we would have been even later. The inbound Lakeshore arrived 3 hours late that morning.

The worst part of course is the layover – which was 11 hours departing Chicago at 8pm. Every train departed Chicago on-time Sunday 1/11, except the Lakeshore. They announced a 1-hour delay due to something wrong with the diner. As it turned out that train finally departed Chicago at 1:00am and was running over 8 hours late into NYC. I think that departure did help the passengers off the Empire Builder since that train was over 7 hours late into Chicago.