A short note on our experience with Amtrak Guest Reward. We worked on Amtrak points with a Amtrak Master Card. We scored a roomette for two from CHI to Lamy NM (Santa Fe). The Metra Lounge at Union Station seemed a nice perk from the front side waiting area for coach class, which we usually sit. I think we were escorted to our train car before the coach class folks. The lounge seemed quiet and very clean. Newspapers, laptops and coffee etc.. there was some confusion as to which car to board as it was very loud from diesel engines roaring and a misprint on car numbers, but we managed. We were shown our roomette by another patron who knew the train (a regular) it was very small but we did not care. Take the virtual tour for a hint. My wife and I checked our luggage but as I entered our car I noticed luggage racks right at the front of the entrance of our car. Our train was on time and we headed west. Dinner is announced via intercom. I myself thought dinner was great. Check the web for Amtrak's menu. Our meal's were free and the service did, in my opinion, deserve tips.Our staff was up front and friendly. They shot off some jokes and had lots of smiles. I slept like a log , my wife had problems with the bunk beds. woke up in east Colorado as the world whizzed by. I liked the large roomette window. Breakfast, same as above. People seem to try harder to talk and let loose on the train than on the plane. You will be seated with someone you don't know in the dinning car, but don't let it scare you. Dropped off at Lamy NM in the mid afternoon. The shuttle bus was right there to pick us up. Some people had tickets to ride, why didn't my wife and I? Did I screw up somehow? $40.00 later we made our hotel. All in all I want to do it again. Lot's of pics and memories. I felt it was a great trip.I would say our train was maybe 30 minutes late at Lamy due to stops for freight trains. Thanks.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
quote:Originally posted by grin: ...there was some confusion as to which car to board as it was very loud from diesel engines roaring and a misprint on car numbers...
Did they number the sleeper 0430 or 0431 instead of 0330 or 0331? Happens all the time. I look to the last number for a match with my tickets. Meaning you're either in the 0 or the 1.
quote:Dropped off at Lamy NM in the mid afternoon. The shuttle bus was right there to pick us up. Some people had tickets to ride, why didn't my wife and I? Did I screw up somehow?
Typically if you want to go to Santa Fe from Lamy via Amtrak, you'll purchase a $20.00 Amtrak bus ticket. It's a separate ticket to your train ticket.
Is it a bus or more of a van? I was ticketed for it once but I turned in the ticket for a partial refund before I boarded the train because my friend came to pick me up at Lamy...he wanted to see the old station. So I never actually saw the "bus". It wasn't there when I got off.
quote:I would say our train was maybe 30 minutes late at Lamy due to stops for freight trains.
Sounds about right.
The Southwest Chief is typically on time or close to it. BNSF tends to favor the Chief and gives it priority, surprisingly even when it is woefully late.
quote:All in all I want to do it again. Lot's of pics and memories. I felt it was a great trip.
I'm glad the Chief treated you well and you had a great trip.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by grin: The Metra Lounge at Union Station seemed a nice perk from the front side waiting area for coach class
Mr. Grin, Metropolitan (Amtrak Sleeper waiting room) Lounge vice METRA (Chicago area rail commuter agency).
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 4724) on :
Nice report. Congratulations! And Welcome!
We never had a honeymoon, so we made up for it last year. We took the SWC in a roomette for our 25th last year. From Milw to LA, then bus to Bakersfield, San Joaquin to Fresno, rental car to Yosemite.
quote:The Metra Lounge at Union Station seemed a nice perk from the front side waiting area for coach class, which we usually sit. I think we were escorted to our train car before the coach class folks.
When we were there is was actually more crowded and chaotic than the coach waiting area. We ended up sitting on the floor until several earlier trains departed. 1st class passage always gets to board earlier than coach. Its one of those little perks you get for paying the premium. What I like best about the Metro lounge is that there is a place to check bags so that you can wander around or leave the station.
quote: People seem to try harder to talk and let loose on the train than on the plane. You will be seated with someone you don't know in the dinning car, but don't let it scare you.
This was one of the more apprehensive aspects of the trip for us. Yet it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. We met a lot of interesting people.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by Doc Brown: When we were there is was actually more crowded and chaotic than the coach waiting area. We ended up sitting on the floor until several earlier trains departed. 1st class passage always gets to board earlier than coach. Its one of those little perks you get for paying the premium. What I like best about the Metro lounge is that there is a place to check bags so that you can wander around or leave the station.
Since any Amtrak trip originating in Chicago I have made during this century, save a March 2005 trip to Milwaukee (and a possible upcoming Dec trip to Mendota) have been in Sleeper, one would expect I am reasonably familiar with the "Metro" Lounge.
I'm really not; I simply prefer to sit in the now-named "Great Hall' (that's an Amtrak-era term - never once heard it during my years in the industry); there is enough light during daylight hours for elderly eyes to read - there certainly is not in the Metro.
However I agree that if you are "transiting' Chicago, it is indeed a convenience to have it there to place (as distinct from "check") your bags while doing whatever (hopefully getting out to see some of a world class city) during the layover.
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 4724) on :
quote:I'm really not; I simply prefer to sit in the now-named "Great Hall' (that's an Amtrak-era term - never once heard it during my years in the industry); there is enough light during daylight hours for elderly eyes to read - there certainly is not in the Metro.
Ahh. We would have prefered the same. Unfortunatly, both times we departed on trains leaving from Chicago, the Great Hall was being prepared for private functions. The second time we were there we were enjoying a little something at the bar just outside the Great Hall. I left my friends there for a bit while I went to do something else, and was refused entry back to where my friends were! After some argument with the security guard, I was let through, albeit under a VERY watchful eye. I think I still have scares from the burns on my back.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Dr. Brown, even if you and your friends still at the Harvey Gift Shop (that's what that area once was) both had cell phones, they have a way of not working too well underneath Canal Street.
Off rails, your incident reminds me of one a few years ago attempting to drive to a Symphony matinee. I was heading North on Lake Shore Drive and the Police were shutting down every access accross Grant Park to get to Orchestra Hall. Needless to say "it was my fault I didn't anticipate whatever the event was" (I think Columbus Day parade) when I asked a cop how to get over to Michigan (ended up going North to Navy Pier, W on Grand then S on Michigan)?
Suffice to say, we were late for the concert.
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 4724) on :
Mr. Norman, thanks for the link! I really enjoyed looking through those.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
I also did my honeymoon on the Southwest Chief in 1977. Then they had through sleepers that were switched from the National Limited to the SW Chief in Kansas City. We took one of these sleepers from Missouri so we could have the layover in KC -walk around town and settle in before the train left.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Not quite a honeymoon, but the route of the Chiefs was important to me too. I was married in AZ. As an easterner, the only way to get to the wedding was to take the Super Chief to Flagstaff. Not surprisingly I remember a lot of details of that trip.
Since it was the holiday season (1969) the Super Chief was running as a separate all pullman section ahead of the El Cap. Some of the highlights included: cocktails in the dome, checking out the Turquoise room, watching the semaphore signals drop as the long string of pullmans snaked through the canyons and of course the impeccable Santa Fe service.
While the SWC is no Super Chief, it's still a great way to travel. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
I too, enjoyed the pictures. Do you know when they were taken. From the dress of the patrons I am guessing around 1930's
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
It's threads like this which make me really appreciate Graham Claytor's tenure as president of the Southern Railway and his decision not to join Amtrak. (The Crescent became an Amtrak train in 1978.....shortly after Claytor left Southern)
While the Southern Crescent of the 1970's was no Super Chief, it did permit me the experience (and have a point of reference for) of riding a first class pre-Amtrak passenger train.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
While I'm certain you are aware of such Mr. Presley, and your comment regarding SRY opting out of Amtrak was only meant to note that it gave you at least one opportunity in this life to ride 'the real deal", SRY opting out of Amtrak was simply dollars and cents.
The reason is that the SRY had been successful with "self help' between the CY 1969 measuring period and A-Day, in that they had discontinued a number of trains during 1970. With the entry fee fixed on a base of 1969 losses (200% of avoidable or 100% of fully allocated), they would not receive the same return on their investment as would a road that had not been as successful compared with a road that had not been able to discontinue services during CY 1970.
SRY was as aggressive as the next guy in getting rid of trains. They invented the stunt of parsing services into a series of intRAstate runs, such as Fort Mill Warrenville SC with the remnant of the Augusta Special. Apparently they found that State regulatory agencies were more sympathetic and off came the trains. The architect of this strategy - none other than WGC.
That they chose to run a "class act" with the Crescent was simply some "gravy" and reflected a philosophy that "well we've chosen to be stuck running it, so it may as well be run right; maybe a few more will show up to ride than if we let it go the way of all too many others.'