I had accumulated a good many Amtrak Guest Reward Points and decided to plan a quick trip to see how things are trending for Amtrak this season. As is often the case when I am making the trip alone, I am about being on the train and not sightseeing otherwise, although I am on the lookout for interesting destinations to revisit with the family.
I began my Western Foray by driving to the Atlanta Airport and catching an AirTran flight non-stop to San Diego. The plane was a pretty new 737 and I noticed that my seat in coach was razor-thin……a slab of plastic covered by an equally thin swatch-covered cushion. Upon landing I found San Diego’s airport to be pleasant and easy to navigate. The route 992 city bus makes frequent stops just outside the terminal and it’s a cheap ($2.25), easy (10 minutes tops) trip downtown to the classic Santa Fe Amtrak station which more and more looks like an anachronism surrounded by modern office towers and high-rise condominiums. I had nearly three hours before my Surfliner was scheduled to depart so I took a quick turn to San Ysidro on the San Diego Trolley.
Back at the Amtrak station boarding commenced for Surfliner 583 and I found a window seat on the ocean side in the Business Class Car. We departed right on-time but immediately began to leak time stopping to meet a pair of Coaster commuter trains and a southbound Surfliner. By the time the we arrived in Los Angeles we had been held for about a half-dozen opposing trains, including a couple of freights. With the good Business Class car staff bringing around a snack and soda the only time I left my seat was to toss my garbage away. It was a comfortable ride and I’m happy to report that the Pacific Ocean is still there……right where it was when I last saw it in 2006! The trip was not as ‘quick’ as I had envisioned (not a complaint…..just an observation) and with the delays I had only about twenty-five minutes before the eastbound departure of the Southwest Chief.
I walked up the concourse to quickly check out LA Union Station, make a dinner reservation on the Chief, and hopefully pick up a few provisions in the station store. This plan was dashed when I saw a throng of people waiting outside the little shop and about a dozen police officers moving about talking to bystanders. I overheard that someone had attempted to holdup the station store and decided that now would be a good time to just go quietly board my train instead of shopping! I returned down the concourse to track 11 and boarded the Southwest Chief……the #4 roomette in the 431 car which, for this trip, would be on the left or north facing side of the train. Our train was the typical consist one finds on both the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr these days……2 locomotives, baggage car, Transition Sleeper, 2 Sleepers, Diner, Sightseer Lounge, and 3 Coaches. Revenue sleeping space (8 additional roomettes) in the Transition Sleeper was available to the public which is good but the fact remains that this train could easily support an additional sleeper and an additional coach……if Amtrak could or would add capacity.
The dining car crew (and sleeping car attendants – I had Ron) were all efficient and pleasant for the entire trip. Turns out they were Los Angeles based and all displaced from the truncated Coast Starlight. Lower seniority on-board folks have been laid off until that train returns and I am concerned that not all of the experienced on-board folks will still be available when that time comes. Amtrak’s western long-haul trains might find themselves breaking in new people as the summer travel season heats up.
The quality of the meals on the Chief was slightly higher than on my last overnight trip and it’s apparent that Amtrak has made an effort to improve them. During the trip I had the Flatiron Steak, Vegetable Lasagna, Cheeseburger, French Toast, and lunch special of sliced roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy. The main courses were all satisfactory. The vegetable medley served on the side was a little bland but then we couldn’t have the side be more memorable than the entrée, can we? I didn’t like the prepackaged salads at all and will remember on my next trip to just ask for no salad. The desert offerings were limited to red velvet cake, ice cream, and cheesecake. I’d like more choice but will always manage so long as there is cheesecake. Again, the dining car crew did an impressive job of moving folks in and out of the diner as scheduled, keeping us fed, and keeping us happy.
The track was smooth and I slept well both nights. It seemed to me the first night that we were not moving as quickly as we were and that’s a tribute to first-rate BNSF maintenance. We were on-time or early at every station as far east as Dodge City, KS. We lost about 90 minutes during the second night. We were told that a track crew member had been struck and killed by a freight train earlier in the day and that traffic had gotten backed up by the line being shut down for a few hours. Our arrival in Chicago was ultimately 70 minutes late but all connections were made.
Other assorted Southwest Chief notes - At about 4:20pm Friday (March 28) I may have spotted the elusive Gilbert Norman from my room. (Remember my room was on the north-facing side of the train…) Between the 19 and 18 mileposts as we neared Chicago I spotted a distinguished looking gentleman wearing a brown overcoat and walking a golden retriever kind of dog. Admittedly they were a block north of the tracks and walking away from us however, as we sped by, they stopped walking and the gentleman leaned down to seemingly attend to the dog but actually looked back to discreetly check the train and note that, yep, still only two sleepers on #4……..much the way I have imagined that Mr. Norman does his train-spotting in post 9-11 Chicagoland.
Stations – Hooray. Amtrak is no longer homeless in Albuquerque. The shared space with Greyhound is attractive and clean and hopefully it will stay that way. It would be cool if the lunch counter had some Amtrak items to display along with the Greyhound Bus banks and better food comes from the sidewalk vendor if you really, really still need to eat when you reach Albuquerque.
Now that the La Posada in Winslow has become a success does anyone wish that someone would come in and rescue the classic Harvey House trackside in Las Vegas, NM? I wish that. The Raton station is looking OK still and the good news is that on April 1st the bus connection to Denver from Raton is supposed to be restored.
Sadly, in the name of progress the Trinidad, CO station has been demolished and a pillar for a new highway overpass stands in it’s place. Amtrak passengers have the use of a 6 x 12 utility shed and a porta-john sitting at the edge of a muddy construction site. In recent years Trinidad has done a nice job of preserving it’s historic downtown and is becoming a tourist destination. Perhaps when the highway project is complete someone with foresight will think to lobby for the construction a small train station that, frankly, replicates stations more historic and attractive than the one which was bulldozed. A paved station parking lot, which would be a first for Trinidad, might be a nice touch.
Equipment – both sleepers were of the unrefurbished Superliner II order. I was pleased to be in the sleeper ‘Kentucky’ having been born in Louisville and being a fan of Kentucky’s athletic teams. In all of my Amtrak trips this was the first time I can remember being housed in a sleeper named for a state that I have actually lived in. Being Superliner II’s, the toilets managed to fail around Albuquerque and were spotty most of the way to Ft. Madison, IA where, at lower altitudes, they seemed to fix themselves. The sightseer lounge was from the initial superliner order 30 years ago now and had been ‘hastily’ renovated. The newer booths at one end were in place. The car was done in the newer blue tones BUT had Superliner I brown on the stairs along with some Superliner I duct tape holding a stair tread in place. Most interestingly, the walls inside the upstairs window had been painted blue but in places the original brown paint seemed to be blistering through the newer paint. Nice to see the effort being made but the overall effect was borderline tacky.
Towns en route that I’d like to spend more time in if I weren’t trying to get the most nights possible out of my 20,000 Guest Reward Points – Flagstaff, Winslow, Trinidad, La Plata, and Ft. Madison.
Chicago…….oh……Chicago. The sun was out but the temperatures were cold and the wind was…..well……brisk. I hustled up the platform and got to the Metropolitan Lounge where I checked in, stowed my bag, and had a free soft drink. I was advised that first class passengers for the City of New Orleans would be boarded from the lounge at 6:45pm and that we could go to the diner for supper at 7:00pm, a full hour before departure.
I took a short walk over to the Sears Tower, considered going up to the observation deck but decided not to wait in line (or, more precisely, through the slideshow that you have to sit through before you can go to the elevators), walked back to Union Station and made what turned out to be a prudent decision to have an eggroll from one of the food court establishments. I strolled around Union Station and was saddened to see that the huge wooden benches from the Great Hall have been removed. Is this temporary or permanent I don’t know. What I do know is that hanging out on those benches with a book used to be the most pleasant way to kill a layover in Chicago when the weather wasn’t good for going outside. The Amtrak general waiting area is a zoo and the metropolitan lounge is full of faux elitists many of whom are only about “Thank goodness we’re not out there with those people.”
By now it’s about 6:00pm local time and I thought I’d check in with my wife. I reach into my pocket for my cell phone and find it missing. A few moments later I have checked every pocket in every layer of clothing and there is no question that I have definitely left my cell phone behind……..somewhere. I last had used the phone from my room on the Southwest Chief while we made our station stop in Galesburg. (I called ‘Julie’ to see whether the westbound California Zephyr was on time and to estimate at what point our trains would meet.) Retracing my steps I realized that the odds of reuniting with my cell phone were pretty slim. It could be anywhere from the Amtrak coach yards to the Sears Tower to the Metropolitan Lounge to the Union Station Food Court or anywhere in between. I report my loss to Amtrak Customer Service and to the Desk folks in the Metropolitan Lounge. I made a collect call home to advise my wife of the missing cell phone. It’s now 6:45pm so I reclaim my bag and join the line of first class passengers resigning myself to having to jump through the hoops of replacing a lost cell phone.
Aboard the City of New Orleans I find my roomette #18 in the 5909 car…….this is my first time ever in one of the Transition Sleepers and we are in the first car of a pretty short train. Tonight’s consist is a single locomotive, the transition sleeper, a Superliner I sleeper that has received the renovations, the ‘new’ café/lounge configured former Superliner diner, and three Superliner Coaches, one of which had a baggage compartment instead of downstairs seating. For those of you keeping score, that’s a total of six cars.
Standard Comment – Amtrak needs to concern itself with expanding capacity systemwide. This pared down City of New Orleans left Chicago as a sold out train. The crew was making announcements about moving luggage out of the seat next to you and sharing with a stranger so that families could sit together as early as 7:40pm, twenty minutes before departure. So, yes…..it was a Friday night in March and a week after Easter but……..if this train was this busy now, it’s clear that once summer comes people looking for an alternative to spending $4.00 per gallon are going to be turned away.
But I digress – I made my way to the diner/lounge car and was seated with two other passengers at one of the inward-facing three seater tables. This was actually a good thing because it gave me elbow room for eating with my left hand that I don’t always have in a regular four-seater. The car had been refurbished nicely and was very attractive. Having said that, I hope that the experiment of combining lounge and dining functions in the same car…….at least in this way……spreads no further. I could see a lounge car being used for lounge service upstairs and sit-down dining at a half-dozen tables downstairs but that’s about it.
So…….we were seated for dinner and about every sleeper passenger was there having been told in the Metropolitan Lounge to go to the diner for dinner at 7:00pm. All of the available table space in the dining end of the car was taken by sleeper passengers expecting dinner. Our showing up all at once seemed to catch the one waiter by surprise. “Who told you we were serving dinner at 7:00pm?” he asked warily. Turns out that the one food prep person downstairs had not expected a dinner crowd until 8:00pm. Being troopers though, our one waiter called in an additional body, the chef fired up the grill, and dinner orders were taken beginning at 7:15pm. Coach passengers are boarded. The train departs on-time at 8:00pm. The lounge side of our car opens for business and a long line of coach passengers builds. Some meals begin appearing around 8:15pm. Some others do not. The waiter apologizes for the delay saying that there is only one person downstairs and she is having to try to fill our dinner orders while at the same time fill the orders which are coming in from the ‘all day menu’ on the café side. Some people finish their meals and begin eating desert at about 8:40pm. The three of us at my table (and thank goodness they were delightful, interesting and, by now, somewhat hungry people) received our dinner at 8:50pm. My steak, ordered medium, was chilly and pink on the inside…..I’ve sent meat less rare back to the kitchen in non-moving restaurants before. I tore into it and ate anyway because I had a 5:15am wake-up call and I was afraid that if I sent it back I would not see it again until 10:00pm.
Let me say at this point that the Amtrak crews I encountered on this trip were as consistently pleasant and genuinely helpful as any I have ever seen. It seems that the attitudes among on-board service people I’ve met have improved in the last two or three years. The horrendous delay in service on the City of New Orleans was not at all the fault of the on-board crew. It was a case where the service plan in place (and flawed car design) is simply not adequate to supply the needs of even the six-car City of New Orleans when the train is sold out. Yes, maybe having some of the dinner items warmed up and plated prior to the boarding announcement would have helped BUT it is not reasonable to expect three people to provide both lounge service and sit-down full meal service on this train which produces the lightest ridership of any of the Superliner trains. The experiment could be made workable with a little tweaking…….I would suggest one extra person in the kitchen as far as Champaign and then returning on the northbound City the following morning…….but I think it would be a mistake to try this on the other Superliner equipped trains. I’ll add that my dinner mates make an annual trip from Minneapolis to New Orleans on the train and they were deeply saddened to not see the sightseer lounge…..even though the scenery on the City of New Orleans route is not that great.
Going back to my roomette with a belly full of raw meat was quite an experience but my night was about to get worse. My room was very comfortable and I liked that it was still in very new condition…..remember that these roomettes in the transition cars have only been used as revenue space for the last couple or three years. The room temperature controls worked wonderfully and I was able to get just the right mixture of warm air coming from the window area and cool air coming from the ceiling vent. It was great. I’ll add that room #18 is directly above the rear wheel truck assembly of the transition car.
I stretch out as our mini-City of New Orleans accelerated through Central Illinois. This train moves like a rocket ship here. I remember thinking back to the accident at Bourbonnais, Ill and hoping that no renegade trucker tried to beat us at an unmarked grade crossing. That’s when we slammed across the first turnout at what felt like 90mph. KER-WHAM goes my car. My body is flung left and then right. The unopened bottle of water by my knee flies across the room and hits me in the head. The amazing thing is that we had this much lateral movement and DID NOT leave the track. It happened again a little later…..and again…..and again. I was reminded, harshly, that CN’s track is nothing like BNSF’s. I spent a fretful night listening to the train’s horn (which I much enjoyed) and being concerned that at the speeds we were moving we might not stay on the track as we clattered over one rough turnout after another. We did arrive in Memphis 30 minutes early BUT that was due mostly to a padded schedule south of Fulton, KY rather than to any modern day Casy Jones at the throttle. My ride could have been better but it was not bad……..just an adventure.
The fact is that even ‘back-in-the-day’ the City of New Orleans was a blue collar train and one that would not compare favorably to the Chief. There is nothing wrong with that. There is the issue (for me) that the City of New Orleans could better serve it’s traditional ridership base by adding capacity. I suggest that anyone contemplating a ride on the City of New Orleans book early and secure a room mid-car. Eat dinner before boarding too.
Finally, Memphis – I love that the station here has been restored and that Amtrak’s space has moved upstairs to track level. I think that they should have allowed more area for a waiting room BUT there is more space with the grand old benches just down a flight of stairs for overflow. There is plenty of covered space outside which is mostly taken over by smokers in warmer weather so essentially it works. Except that it was cold and rainy in Memphis Saturday morning. I waited for the train to leave and walked across the street for a good southern breakfast in the Arcade Diner when it opened at 7:00am. The Arcade has been in business in that location since 1919 but the discerning patron will be happy to know that the place was renovated and modernized…….in about 1958. You sit there watching traffic go by. A streetcar trundles down to the end-of-the line……which is right outside the window…..and changes direction. The trolley isn’t taking passengers this early on a Saturday morning but a new operator is being trained. It’s so much a moment out of the past that I would not have been surprised had a young Elvis Presley walked in for breakfast. I hope that I don’t offend anyone here now but I lived in Memphis for a year back in 1983 and it seemed to me then, as it did on this trip, that Memphis has always sensed a need to move forward but not knowing how to do that without offending any particular group. While racism is a part of that, it isn’t the only part. Even before the 1960’s I think that Memphis always kind of had one foot stuck in ‘the way we’ve always done it.’ What’s neat is that in some quarters the city has managed to embrace that and turn it into something marketable.
So, with the weather bad and the day just grim, I decided not to take a morning spin on the streetcars when they began operation at 9:30am and instead just caught a city bus at 8:15am for a ride up the riverfront, over to the medical center, out Union Avenue, down by the Mid-South Coliseum, and on to the airport arriving there around 9:20am. Lot’s of sightseeing for just $1.50. I had hoped to maybe sneak onto an earlier AirTran departure than my 3:09pm to Atlanta. Sadly, I discovered that on Saturdays AirTran does not have an earlier flight to Atlanta from Memphis…….well…….except for the one that was boarding at the same time the City of New Orleans was arriving at 5:55am. I checked in, bought a newspaper, went through security, walked all the concourses, read my paper, had lunch, and scraped up enough quarters to call home from a pay phone to let my wife know I was safely in Memphis and would be home around 10:00pm. As soon as she answered, she blurts out “Amtrak found your cell phone!” Turns out a conductor working the Pere Marquette to Grand Rapids (which had backed in from the coach yard on the adjacent track just before #4 pulled in) found it on the platform where I dropped it. He turned it in but I was already on my way south by the time Chicago processed it and tried to get it back to the right person. They are mailing it to me. I am impressed and very relieved.
So……another trip in the books and it was OK. I know that there are some Amtrak folks out there who just plain fall short of doing the job. Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any of those this time…..just those who go about doing their jobs and are decent about it. I’m glad of that! And there is the one who I didn't meet at all - the one who went through the trouble of picking up a lost cell phone and taking the proper steps to maybe reunite it with it's righful owner. He didn't have to do that. He could have acted like he didn't see it and just gone about the business of getting ready for his run to Grand Rapids. But he didn't.
Amtrak will be getting a nice letter of commendation soon.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Yes Mr. Presley, Casey was visiting me (even if she now lives in Orland Park), it appears as if you had a great trip and that Amtrak Guest Rewards "rocks".
Actually, I'm not as elusive as some might think; by my count, I know some ten Members here "face to face".
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Yes Mr. Presley, Casey was visiting me (even if she now lives in Orland Park), it appears as if you had a great trip and that Amtrak Guest Rewards "rocks".
Actually, I'm not as elusive as some might think; by my count, I know some ten Members here "face to face".
'Elusive' may have been a poor choice of words as there were no pre-arranged plans to attempt a GBN sighting!
I am curious though...
"Were you out about 4:15pm Friday and did you linger for a moment to look back when #4 passed?"
If so then I will count Friday as an official spotting!
I was trying to note things like mileposts and Metra Station names but we were on the middle track and moving quickly trying to make up time.
I recall seeing the 19 milepost. Then in the next minute or two there was an outbound Metra train, a dog having a stroll with a walker, and the Hinsdale station.....can't remember the order of these last three but I was conscious that we were in your neighborhood.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Mr. Presley, all I can add to this synopsis is that, even though I don't think too many here think of me as a railfan, I do look up when anything on the BNSF passes.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Mr. Presley, all I can add to this synopsis is that, even though I don't think too many here think of me as a railfan, I do look up when anything on the BNSF passes.
I see how it is - I have a few facts and it's up to me to draw my own conclusions.
When I was in the Army deployed to Saudi Arabia back in 1990-91 our unit came to agree that if a loved one back home believed that they spotted us in a picture in Newsweek or USA Today that it was best let it go rather than disappoint them with a different reality....(ie: the 531st is in Kuwait right now, that could not have been me in that picture.)
In other words, we concluded that it was better to let them believe what they needed to believe.
I'll believe that you and Casey had an outstanding walk on a sunny but cold March afternoon and that you thought that #4 looked reasonably OK when it sped by.......even though we were late and you had given up on us and started for home.
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
Nice report and information---thanks!
By chance, did you get to walk over to Coldstone Creamery while stopped in ABQ? I LOVE that place!
Regarding the refurbished Superliner I lounge car, unfortunately, all of the SI lounge cars look like that. I'm not sure what they were thinking, but I have been on a few that were only a few days out of the shop and the paint job looked bad even then. The color is also "weird"----it's just not right. So the new (bad) paint job, combined with the old brown torn-up floors and other strangeness, just make those cars a very odd duck in my opinion.
And about the "dinner at 7PM' thing.........ugh.........This is one of the many things about Amtrak that continues to mystify me!!!!! How long have they been doing this now?? Since the early 1970's?? And they STILL can't figure out how to get all of the employees on the same page, for trains that arrive and depart all year long? I can't tell you how many times an Amtrak employee will tell passengers one thing, and then you get somewhere else with a different Amtrak employee and they act shocked, surprised, and stunned that anybody would have told you such a thing. I just don't understand that company sometimes.
With that said, that's great that your cell phone was turned in! Kudos to an astute employee who took the extra initiative to do the right thing.
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Great report David and glad to hear you are a proper left handed person like me. I am holding out on canceling my Starlight AGR trip for May 8th in hopes that the route will be back in place at least two weeks before that. Otherwise we will be driving LA to SEA.
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
Up to your usual standards, David. thanks
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by HopefulRailUser: Great report David and glad to hear you are a proper left handed person like me. I am holding out on canceling my Starlight AGR trip for May 8th in hopes that the route will be back in place at least two weeks before that. Otherwise we will be driving LA to SEA.
Vicki -
As so many things are, this one is unconfirmed as yet BUT I am hearing that the Coast Starlight may return sleepers and diner with service to Klamath Falls and bus bridge beyond on April 21st.
Again, this may be just rumor BUT this would be a case where I might accept the bustitute.
Now an overnight bus from Sacramento? That would be out of the question.
Smitty -
I visit the Coldstone Creamery in ABQ when my wife is along. I did not go in on this trip because I don't enjoy ice cream......never have really but especially avoid it now because it bothers my dental work. (My wife considers ice cream to be one of the basic food groups and, for all I know, she might be right.)
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
David, I loved your report. And I have to agree with you about Amtrak personnel being much nicer and friendlier--I'd say in the last three or four years. Although I did have a few losers on the SW Chief (of all trains) this past January. Not my sleeping car attendant; she was nice. I hope she wasn't laid off!
I was sad to hear the CONO has no observation car. Is this permanent? I am planning a trip on it for 2009 and a friend may be coming for a first Amtrak trip so I hope it's not! Also, there has been all this talk about new "New Orleans" food on the CONO; is that not in place yet? poorly done? Goodness I hope they can iron out the kinks. . . . though I must say, I myself prefer dining in Chicago.
I think we will stop in Memphis and Jackson as well, another capital. Wonder what that is like.
So glad you got your cell phone back!
BTW, though in DC and NYC lounges I've encountered the species you've mentioned (elitists, faux or otherwise), I've never encountered them in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago--just a lot of tired people, and some rather timid ones who spend the whole time there and are afraid to go out! I did notice that the place is getting rather shabby compared to some of the other lounges, esp DC. But the thing I like about all these lounges is not the eliter status or even the more comfy seating--it's the convenient luggage storage. In Chicago it is esp good because they even check it.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Great report, as always, David! I'm glad you got your cell phone back. To digress, the same thing happened to my wife last summer -- we had flown to Chicago for her high school reunion, and on the way back, her cell phone fell out of her purse and ended up underneath the seat of our rental car. She didn't realize it was missing until we got onto the shuttle bus and back at O'Hare. She called the rental car place, and told them what car we had, but that car had already been checked out to someone else. To make a long story short, after a few calls, someone finally tracked down the guy who rented the car we had, he found the cell phone and just happened to be staying at a hotel near where my wife's daughter lived. After more calls from my wife and her daughter, my wife's daughter went to the hotel where the guy was staying, and sure enough, he had left my wife's phone at the front desk for her daughter to pick up and ship it back to us in Florida.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Hi Sojourner,
The new menu was in place on the City of New Orleans. It includes breakfast selections, all day selections, appetizers, and dinner selections that are available from 5 to 9pm only.
Sleeper passengers can order complimentary meals from the breakfast and dinner menus. The appetizers ARE NOT complimentary and must be paid for even if you are in 1st class. I don't remember whether or not the 'all-day' items are complimentary because by the time the server was explaining that part I had gotten confused and stopped paying attention.
The confusing thing is that EVERYTHING is on the same menu and I could not find any written explanation of what was or was not complimentary. I played it safe (I thought) and ordered the steak off the dinner menu. That was the item that arrived 95 minutes later (and 110 minutes after being seated) way undercooked.
That's the kind of thing that happens when you have only one person downstairs trying to prepare 32 sitdown dinners and at the same time keep up with the steady flow of coach passengers ordering off the all-day menu.
Downtown Memphis has much to offer a tourist......Beale Street, the Peabody Hotel, the Convention Center, the Orpheum Theatre, Mud Island Park, the Riverfront, a nice minor league baseball park are all accesible from the Trolley which begins operating earlier on weekdays....I was there on a Saturday morning. The Civil Rights Museum located at the hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated is less than three blocks from the train station as well.
Given the City of New Orleans' schedule, one could actually visit Memphis without having to stay in Memphis. Arrive at 6:30am and leave again back to Chicago at 10 something PM. I'm afraid that the absence of the lounge car on the CONO may be permanent......for now. But this is 2008 and by April 2009 we may have an entirely different permanent in place.
I agree with your assessment of the lounge in Chicago. I must have encountered just a few too many pushy folks in a row. It is populated by a good many tired and timid people as well......and no other Metropolitan Lounge sees as many people on extended train trips day after day as Chicago.
I still prefer the Great Hall in Chicago and hope that the huge wooden benches return. Perhaps they were just out for a special event.
Rich - Thanks for sharing your cell phone experience. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person who lost one because it just fell out somewhere.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by smitty195: And about the "dinner at 7PM' thing.........ugh.........This is one of the many things about Amtrak that continues to mystify me!!!!! I can't tell you how many times an Amtrak employee will tell passengers one thing, and then you get somewhere else with a different Amtrak employee and they act shocked, surprised, and stunned that anybody would have told you such a thing. I just don't understand that company.
The thing is, the waiter on the CONO wasn't feigning shock at all. He was genuinely mystified that all of these people just showed up at 7:00pm. He also worked very hard trying to please us from that point forward....none of that "this is news to me so deal with it" attitude.
Posted by Dixie Flyer (Member # 4640) on :
If you go to Amtrak's website, select ROUTES , then select CITY OF NEW ORLEANS , then in the paragraph about Cross Country Cafe select LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CROSS COUNTRY CAFE , you will find the following:
quote: One of America's most storied trains, the City of New Orleans, starts a fresh chapter with a new onboard experience that includes a taste of its namesake city and the region.
A new food service car called the "Cross Country Café" offers a menu that includes Red Beans & Rice, Jambalaya, Bread Pudding Pie, pre-departure dining an hour before the train leaves Chicago each night for sleeping car passengers, (bolding added) lounge service for casual food and beverages until the late evening and continuous food service the next day.
I don't remember when the Cross Country Cafe service began, but it certainly wasn't just last week. It is hard to see how all of the dining staff could have been unaware of this, unless this were their first trip on CONO. Looks like a management problem to me.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
You're right Richard -
The new menu was in place before Christmas.....maybe even a month or two sooner.
The surprised waiter was VERY young.....quite possibly the youngest on-board person I've ever seen. Same can be said for the young man running the cafe counter.
You'd think they would send someone with experience out instead of just turning a brand new crew loose unassisted on a Friday night though.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by notelvis: You'd think they would send someone with experience out instead of just turning a brand new crew loose unassisted on a Friday night though.
That, Mr. Presley, is known as the "older heads' very simply have "bid off' which meant that someone who had "just hired on" was likely 'force assigned the job'.
There is also the possibility that the regularly assigned employee had to "lay off', and whoever stands first out on the Extra Board will be called.
Good luck passengers, and for that matter...employee!!!
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 4724) on :
Nice report David! Concerning the Metro Lounge in Chi, our only encounter there was to take the Chief to LA. It was not bad, I mean we didn't run into the elitests that is. To us, it was as much of a madhouse in there though as it was every where else. VERY crowded, we ended up sitting on the floor until several trains boarded.
Posted by Railroad Bill (Member # 5097) on :
Great report David. Brought back great memories of our Jan trip on the SWC. What great scenery, the new station setup in ABQ in nice, and the food was very good except--as you noted--the salads were bad and I believe contributed to my upset stomach that evening--will definitely pass on those. We like the Chicago Metro Lounge but at times it is so crowded with weary travelers that one just finds some empty floor space along a wall and in front of a TV monitor. Hope the situation in the Great Hall is temporary. We like to just sit in there and dream about what it must have been like fifty years ago. We are planning our trip on the CONO in October to celebrate 30th anniversary and now have some qualms about how the meal situation will go. Doesnt sound like the new combo diner-lounge is a good idea and will cause lots of delays in getting supper at the 7:00 hour. Good advice might be to head for Giardanos before we board that evening. My supervisor at work came from Memphis last year and she had good and bad things to say about the city. We look forward to spending couple days in New Orleans before boarding the Crescent for a Rewards trip back to Cleveland. Still loving Amtrak!! Railroad Bill
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Hi Bill,
My trip on the CONO may have been the exception with a green crew. I certainly didn't leave angry......just feeling that the experiment with the CONO isn't working well enough to warrant trying on other trains.
IF the diner folks are expecting the sleeper passengers for dinner at 7pm, there is no reason why they couldn't get those folks served before the train departs and the cafe section opens.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
As always, a good report David. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Charleston while my wife takes relatives on a tour of the town after a week seeing our 'low country' so your report was particularly good to see.
Sounds like the SWC continues to be a consistently good performer for Amtrak in all respects. We'll be heading out west this summer and may well stop in Las Vegas, NM to see the old Harvey House - good idea.
The worst news on your trip has to be the removal of the benches from the Great Hall. Maybe I should write a letter to the junior Senator from Illinois to get them back!
Too bad about the CONO dining. Maybe a northbound trip would be better since there are lighter loads out of New Orleans. Your suggestion to eat before the train is a good one given the many good restaurants in Mr Norman's city and the uneven, at best, food on Amtrak. I thought the CN had a major track maintenance program underway, but it doesn't sound like it.
My last ride on the CONO was excellent with great food and of course the lounge. Seems Amtrak is trying to cut corners to the point where I may come around to Mr. Norman's view of trips on Amtrak. Yet they're going to spend money to fix up the starlight. Doesn't make sense.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
And a PS -
My cell phone arrived in the mail today. If any of you ever have a trip to/from Chicago and wind up with David Pryor as your conductor, tell him you've heard he's a really good guy.
(I've already patched an email singing his praises off to Amtrak)
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by smitty195: By chance, did you get to walk over to Coldstone Creamery while stopped in ABQ? I LOVE that place!
While it appears that Cold Stone Creamery has a fan or two around here, it doesn't appear to much of a fan base with a former franchisee or two:
I learned of this from viewing a documentary on franchising that aired on CNBC last evening; just as glad I never fell into the trap with one or another franchise for small accounting firms:
There is a Cold Stone outlet in Hinsdale; is it really worth my while to go over there and try 'em out? (especially in view of that "my dimensions' limit the amount of that stuff I can have).
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Gil, there is a Cold Stone outlet store here in Ocala, and it's reportedly a favorite stop of local resident John Travolta (yes, THAT John Travolta). I've been there a few times, but I never bumped into him.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
The first time I had ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery was in downtown Flagstaff; it was also the first time I went to any ice cream place that did that sort of rolling-pin-mix-up-the-ice-cream-with-stuff-you-pick-out deal. I liked it quite well. The second time was in Seattle, on Pike Street near the market (maybe the other side of 2nd); it was OK if perhaps not quite as good (could be what I picked out); recently I noticed that that place has since gone out of business. We quite enjoyed the one in downtown Springfield IL. In Reno I attempted to go to a Coldstone Creamery downtown per bus driver directions, but it turned out to be out of business too; of course, I'm not sure anything stays in business in that part of downtown Reno other than pawn shops. Finally, I believe I went to one in West Hartford CT and perhaps another in downtown Santa Fe NM, but my memory on those is less certain--I may be confusing those with another ice cream place.
In Washington DC I went to another chain rolling-pin-mix-up-the-ice-cream-with-stuff-you-pick-out place, up in Adams Morgan; called something like Maggie (or was it Mary?) Moos. It was very good too. I believe it is a rival chain to Coldstone Creamery, though smaller.
I would say in general that none of these chain stores is worth going far out of your way, Mr Norman, but if you are in an area, they are OK for stopping in. And the ice cream itself seems richer and better to me in Ben n Jerrys and Haagen Daaz shops (try the chocolate therapy in BnJ, the cinnamon dulce de leche or Mayan chocolate in HD). Storebought of these is not the same in my experience, I'm not sure why; but if you are buying in a supermarket, Godiva makes a very good chocolate macadamia nut (or did; it's a long time since I had it).
In contrast to all the chains, there are places with their own homemade ice cream that ARE worth going out of your way some, IMO. The Student Union in Madison WI is a pretty good one (though by no means the best). There are some particularly good ones in the Boston area. In NYC there is that custard in Madison Square. Some Indians restaurants make fantastic kulfi (others buy some more mass-produced type not good at all). Some gelato is also excellent. . . But, for me, probably the best ice cream I ever had was a chocolate with stuff in it at a chocolatier (not an ice cream shop) in downtown San Luis Obispo.
In Chicago, Mr Norman, I thought the ice cream sold in season near the fountain in Grants Park (beyond the foot of Jackson St--is that called the Franklin Fountain? I forget) was pretty good (depending on the flavor, of course). (I also remember being very disappointed at the lack of decent ice cream in Union Station! The place that had been there was gone. . . )
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