This is topic My first SW Chief trip in forum Amtrak at RAILforum.


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Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
 
I'd been looking forward to this trip for some time - both for a train trip "fix" in general and to ride a route I'd never been on. With plans to visit relatives in Kansas and spread a few of my Dad's ashes, the SW Chief was a logical choice for me. So last Tuesday my daughter dropped me off at the Modesto station, where I caught the San Joaquin to Bakersfield, then bussed to Los Angeles Union Station. All went well, with no significant time delays. This was an unusual 5 car train, and I sat up front right behind the engineer in the empty cab car. He was nice enough, or claustraphobic enough, to leave the door open, so I got to hear the radio traffic and overhear some interesting conversation when a conductor would come forward to talk every so often. Seems Amtrak pays a higher scale to folks who hire/stay in the Oakland district as opposed to Sacramento. So some folks had hired on in Oakland, but were allowed to transfer to Sacramento prior to their Oakland time commitment. But they were paid at teh higher rate for a good period of time. Now Amtrak had caught on, and was lowering their current pay in an effor to recoup - on some people, several thousand dollars. Also heard the engineer refer to the Capitol Corridor route as "capital punishment" - I assume due to the urban routing of most of the route.

Bus ride was uneventful. I check my bag at Union Station, and went over to Phillipe's for the first time - very good beef sandwhich, but I did not try the peach pie, being on a relative diet. That took a LOT of willpower. Walked up and down Olver Street, then just people watched until boarding time.

I had room(ette) 9 in the 430 car of the SW Chief. We left on time, and stayed so until after Lamy, whereafter we lost 15, then 20 then 45 minutes. Food was OK, had steak both nights, un-heated French toast one morning, cereal the next, and a chicken curry for lunch. A Moses and Mike kept up a very efficient dining car. Enjoyed my meal converations, and mostly relaxed and watched the countryside. No one made any mention of any passing sights, so I was kicking myself for not downloading RRRich guides. This train did not have a sightseer lounge car, so I spent most of my time in my room. I wandered around the Albuquerque station, and bought a necklace for my wife. I have to say the scenery is not up to CZ standard, but was enjoyable to me. Kept on a schedule about 1 hour late until outside Osage City, where at 5:30 we hit some "debris", which turned out to be several cows, parts of which knocked out a brake line. We ended up over 3 hours late into KC. I wandered around Union Station (love those grand old refurbished buildings), visited the WWI museum, and ate at Arthur Bryants (not a fan of his sauce, afterall) Spent the next four days visiting around north east Kansas, then the following Monday night got dropped off at the Topeka depot. My mother and a brother were joining me on this ride home. Small world moment when the station agent asked my brother if he knew a man his father had worked with who had the same last name. Turned out he was talking about my uncle. Return trip was again very relaxing, and fairly uneventful. Ate melas with my relatives, but still met a few single travelers who kept the conversation moving. We had a lounge car with the sightseer windows, so we spent several hours there watching the country glide by. Stuck with the steak for dinner, and the cereal for breakfast. Ate off the children's menu for lunch, as I really didn't need three meals, but had to get my "money's worth!". It began to rain by Flagstaff, and during the night we had several slowdowns. This cummulated in a 2+ hour lag in our schedule, but the huge padding between Fullerton and LA eliminated the bulk of that. Due to the delay, my Mom and I had breakfast on board, which we had not planned to do.

We had a two hour layover at LA Union Staion, then ca
ught our bus to Bakersfield. Pervious trips had coped with rain, hail and traffic, but we ahd none of the above, and arrived in Bakersfiled on time. We hopped on the 715, in the lower level, and enjoyed the last leg of our trip. We both ate a sandwhich from the cafe car, and it was again adequate. I detrained in Modesto, and left my Mother to continue to her Martinez destination.

I have only one pet peeve to vent - the restrooms on the train have always squirted sink water all about. How hard can it be to grab a couple paper towels and wipe down the sink when you are done??? And, Amtrak, the lounge car reatroom didn't ahve any towels - again, not ahrd to fillup the dispenser whenever the attendant goes or comes back from break. On both trips the dining car staff was efficient, with only Moses one I considered "friendly". On the trip to KC, I never met the attendant nor learned her name (and did not tip her at the end), and on the return leg, Hak To was again efficient but not obtrusive.

After one night in a stationary bed, I would ahve been happy to hop on another LD train and be off. Unfortunately, not going to happen for awhile.
 

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
 
Thanks so much for the trip report. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself despite the small irritations. But what's this about there not being an observation car? I never heard of this on the SW Chief--does anyone else know anything about this?
 

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Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
 
Nice report.

I too am perplexed about the missing lounge car. I've seen this a few times, but it is pretty rare.

A 37000 series diner/lounge will sometimes fill in. Seen this twice on the Chief.

Hitting animals is a common event on the Chief. I was on a trip that hit an Elk. It knocked out the ATS shoe (Automatic Train Stop).
 

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Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
 
Hmmm ... Mr Buffett's Railroad isn't running to the advertised, and UP is slowing working on their OT rate. Interesting.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
When you say that the SW Chief did not have a Sightseer Lounge Car, do you mean that there wasn't a replacement? Or was there a Cross Country Cafe in its' place?

Also, unless I'm mistaken, I think a 5 car San Joaquin train is normal. Cab car, coach, snack bar, coach, coach (with the locomotive obviously on the opposite end of the cab car).
 

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Posted by RRCHINA (Member # 1514) on :
 
PullmanCo, I am sure know there can be many reasons for 'lateness' including AMTRAK's own problems. weather, hitting an automobile or cattle plus many other things that cannot be attributible to the owner of the track. W/O more details we should withhold judgement.
 

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
 
Smitty, Cross Country Cafe should not be considered a replacement for a sightseer lounge in my book, unless it is there along with a separate dining car (unlikely). Otherwise, there still needs to be a lounge, esp on a two-day l-d train.
 

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Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
 
Ms. Sojourner et al; when I have observed #3 or 5 without a 330XX Lounge, the substitute car is usually a 370XX "Cross Country" or another 380XX Diner.

On rare occasion, I have seen a 4 or 6 without either a Diner or Lounge but I'm willing to guess that was because the car was Bad Ordered en route and had to be set out.
 

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Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
 
Great report, thanks.

Why the delays after Lamy (but before the cattle) going east? Slow orders? Meeting a tardy #3? Equipment problems?

Just curious?
 

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Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
 
Clarifications - Smitty and Sojourner, the diner/lounge was a replacement for the sightseer lounge car; also the 5 car San Joaquin consist was a comment made by the conductor as he noted I was the sole passenger in the cab car. I hopped on in Modesto, and did not pay attention to the cars at that time, nor did I walk the train (I am obviously not at the "fan" level of some forum participants ) I am used to cars numbered 1 to 4 on the San Joaquins, so I have to look harder next time. Notelvis, slow orders accounted for the delays after Lamy.
 

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Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by RR4me:
Clarifications - the diner/lounge was a replacement for the sightseer lounge car

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That sounds more like it. The Chief gets a lot of business in the cafe car. Would be a bad thing if they didn't have snack foods to offer. During the summer I think the boy scouts subsidize this train They are always buying some snack/drink from the lounge any time it is open.
 

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Posted by RRCHINA (Member # 1514) on :
 
Slow orders, of course!! We all seem to have forgotten the recent news item that BNSF has reduced the maximum speed between La Junta and Hutchinson, KS to 60 MPH until AMTRAK decides to spend the money to upgrade the track. Perhaps there were other slow orders between Lamy and LJ which now has only AMTRAK #'s 3 and 4 so Amtrack must pay to have this repaired-maintained.
 

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Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
 
Re: Diner/lounge replacement....Okay, that makes sense. I thought you were saying that they sent the train out with only a diner and nothing else. That would be highly unusual to not have a place to sell snacks on a 2 night/3 day train. Thanks for the clarification.
 

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Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
 
Thanks RR4me but just want to clarify further: You are saying there was a diner/lounge instead of the sightseer lounge, but there was still ALSO a regular dining car, right?
 

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Posted by ehbowen (Member # 4317) on :
 
That's what we had on our Texas Eagle returning from Chicago to Longview; two of the rebuilt Cross Country Cafe dining cars. One was being used as a straight diner, while the other was substituting for the missing Sightseer lounge.
 

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Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by RR4me:
I sat up front right behind the engineer in the empty cab car. He was nice enough, or claustraphobic enough, to leave the door open, so I got to hear the radio traffic and overhear some interesting conversation when a conductor would come forward to talk every so often.

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quote:

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Originally posted by George Harris:
[QUOTE] Hint, if you see the engineer bail out of his seat and start running down the aisle, don't wait, don't ask questions, just do likewise.

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This reminds me of a t-shirt some of my buddies wear. "I'm with the bomb squad. If you see me running, FOLLOW!"
 

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