What a great trip. I am moving to LA soon and decided to take my father in law to the Mission via Amtrak. We took, Metro blue, green, and red line from LAX airport to Union Station, had a delightful breakfast (nothing more than bagels) at the station then boarded the train. Very busy station. Saw another posting about Homeland Security requires such and such. You line up at a door with your train listed. They then drop the rope and tell you which track (9-B for this trip) to go to and board. They only check the tickets after the train starts rolling. Anyway, coach was very nice with nicely padded seats and large windows. Went to the Cafe Car and the prices were really not that bad. The San Juan station is two blocks from the mission. We finished early and took an earlier train back with no problems. According to the Station Agent, had we had been in Business, it presents a problem, but coach just show up. In the consent (I think that is the correct term) in the coach set was a dimely let leather seated car. I wonder if that is business that inadvertantly got mixed up into the coach set. Very nice trip all together and considering gasoline is $3.45/gal in some places in LA...this is worth it.
Posted by PaulB (Member # 4258) on :
Glad the trip was good. Were you on a double-decker "Surfliner" train set, or a single-level set? The reason I ask is because your description of a "a dimely let(sic) leather seated car" in the consist (that's the correct term) intrigues me. Frequently a Business Class Surfliner car shows up in the coach section due to lack of available Coach cars...in that case, the Business Class car is treated like a regular coach car. However, these cars have green cloth seats. I heard rumors that leather seats would be installed, but I didn't hear an ETA for that. So, you may have seen a Business Class car that had just been refurbished.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
"Consist" is the word for the combination of cars plus engines that make up of the train.
Posted by tommers207 (Member # 3930) on :
they've been using Superliner cars on some Surfliner sets as well. They are usually have less light in them. Don't know about leather seats though.
Posted by railrev (Member # 2640) on :
quote:Originally posted by tommers207: they've been using Superliner cars on some Surfliner sets as well. They are usually have less light in them. Don't know about leather seats though.
That's probably right. A couple of Surfliner sets have a Superliner mid-consist. Usually a good place to sit since people think it is business class and don't stay there. But, you have to remember to go to a Surfliner car to de-train as the Superliner doors do not open.
Posted by ScottC4746 (Member # 3323) on :
It was a single level. I probably am using the term leather out of school. I should refer to it as vinyl or pleather (plastic leather).
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)