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As you probably know, I was on #14 Monday and Tuesday.. Here are a few highlights and bits of info. It was a great trip overall.
First, and I'm sure you're all wondering, YES we had a Parlour Car, and it was often full. I also noticed on Tuesday when we passed #11 near Salem, that it, too, had a Parlour Car. Rumors among the crew regarding the Parlour Car's future, were all over the map. Here are what people said. Remember these are comments from just one crew:
1. "We're writing letters and doing everything we can to keep them." 2. "They're going off on the 1st." 3. "Two Parlour Cars in LA are being repaired for return to service." 4. "Two Parlour Cars in LA are being stripped by employees for souvenirs." 5. "They'll stay in service but won't be staffed." 6. "The new president of Amtrak rode this train last week and says he wants to keep them. There's no money in the budget, but he's going to try to find some."
So, as you can see, nobody really knows for sure.
The Sightseer Lounge was a refurbished Superliner I, with tables and viewing seats on the upper level. The color scheme was a dignified blue.
One of the three sleepers was a rebuilt Superliner I with the new paneling and more spacious bathrooms. It was very nice. More elegant in appearance, and the rest rooms were huge by comparison. The attendent in that car had also laid out a halloween display with a small pumpkin and candy at the top of the stairs. Alas, it wasn't my car.
Alll three sleepers were packed, and this was mid-week off-season! I met one man at dinner from coach who said he wanted a sleeper but couldn't get one. There were four coaches, three occupied about two-thirds full, one empty on the end which was closed off so I couldn't shoot pictures out the back window.
The crew was great all around. One exception was the dining car steward. I was a little irked with her. At dinner she said the car would be open for breakfast from 6:30-9:30, but she made the last call for breakfast at 8:40 when I was still in bed thinking I had 50 minutes. At 9:00 and announced that the diner would close "momentarily." I rushed down and said "I thought you said last night you'd be serving until 9:30. She answered "I said I'd be closing momentarily. I didn't say I was closed." I really got the feeling she was trying to rush people through breakfast without actually going back on her word.
I failed to take everyone's advice and ordered salmon for dinner, based on the stewards recommendation. Horrible. The salmon had no sauce, not even a slice of lemon alongside, tasted "fishy" and dried out as I ate it. There were two stalks of overcooked, lukewarm broccoli and mashed potatoes. The morning's French Toast was pretty decent. I've had a little better and a lot worse on Amtrak. My burger for lunch was the same as before. Pretty tasty. I asked the server (a different one) if the burger or the quiche was better. He said "I always have the hamburger." Hmmmm.
My breakfast companion was a young lady who said she'd been victim of a train robbery. She was on the return leg of her first train trip. On the way down to LA she said someone had broken into the baggage car between Santa Barbara and LA and threw everyone's luggage out the door while the train was moving, then someone in a pickup followed along and grabbed the bags. She said a following Amtrak train recovered some of the luggage, but not hers. Has anyone heard anything about this? Frank in SBA?
Anyway, despite her experience, she said she was hooked on train travel and wanted to do it again.
We were about an hour late departing Salinas and about 1:45 late into Salem. One employee said Amtrak had taken UP to court over the Starlight's timekeeping, and won (might have been an arbitration hearing I read about awhile back). That's why the timekeeping has been so good in recent weeks.
The train was clean, comfortable, and except for the salmon and a slightly pushy dining car steward, it was the perfect trip.
20th Century Member # 2196
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Thanks Mr.Toy.I was happy to read that you enjoyed your trip. Train robbery, huh? I guess there's no security system on the baggage car. Also very happy to hear the train's timekeeping has improved.
PaulB Member # 4258
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The baggage car incident happened several weeks ago. Unfortunately this forum doesn't get all the latest news. Someone threw bags off #11. Train #798, a Pacific Surfliner also going to LA, recovered all the bags they could find that were thrown off. Train #774, another Pacific Surfliner the following day, recovered some bags as well.
CoastStarlight99 Member # 2734
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Great report Mr. Toy, I look forward to your photos. We can only hope theory #6 will pan out!
Those baggage cars rarely have locking capabilities so they are an invitation to robbery.
Enjoy your southbound journey!
Beacon Hill Member # 4431
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Mr. Toy-- I arrived at King Street Station on train #517 shortly after you did. On my trip from Bellingham I overheard 2 people who had just eaten in the diner talking about how good their dinner had been. The chicken was apparently quite delicious. Good to hear that 14 was busy--if you don't mind wind, rain and an early sunset, visiting Seattle during the off season is the way to go. Check out the new Public Library after dark, it becomes a very surreal place with all the lights from outside bouncing around through the windows.
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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Beacon, I got off in Salem, not Seattle. But it is raining here too so I'm not missing anything. One of my sisters is moving to Seattle in a few months, so I'll finally have an excuse to go the rest of the way.
I'm glad the chicken was delicious. Unfortunately, it was all gone by the time I boarded in Salinas.
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