posted 03-03-2004 04:51 PM            

We returned home yesterday. Another good ride. We were entertained in the Parlor Car by a pair of musicians returning to their home in the Santa Cruz mountains from the bluegrass festival in Tacoma. From Albany until dinner (south of Eugene) we listened and sang along. About 8:30 or 9:00pm or so we started it all up again and continued until after 11:00pm, somewhere south of Klamath Falls.

My wife graciously took the upper bunk again. I've been dealing with a little inner ear problem and wanted to be able to sit up at night if needed. As it turned out, I slept very well on this leg. But before I went to sleep I was entranced by the view. The moon was about two thirds full, and there was lots of snow on the ground. The sky was partly cloudy, and there was a layer of fog below us in the valley towards the little town of Weed. The distant mountains were solid black against a greyish sky, and fog enshrouded their bases. I can't do it justice here, but it was quite a sight. I suppose Mt. Shasta was on the other side, but not within sight of my bed.

Our attendant was a tall, friendly black (er, African-American) man named Terry. He was generally competent, but he disappeared for a time without a trace between Martinez and Oakland. Otherwise he was on top of things.

For dinner my wife and I both had the turkey medallions wrapped in bacon. Not bad. Very filling. The meat dried out a bit as I progressed through it, though. Breakfast was pancakes for me. Pretty good. Our server was OK, but she didn't smile too much.

Oh, I must mention, we split a piece of cheesecake after dinner. It looks like Amtrak has a new supplier for cheesecake. Though not as good as some I've had, it is much improved over the bland stuff they were serving the last few years. It even had a little color to it, instead of being pale white. I told our server I liked it, and she agreed it was an improvement.

Terry mentioned to me at one point that Amtrak has actually lost money on food service since the went to the standardized national menus. He said the regional menus actually cost Amtrak less. I don't know if that is true or not.

We had a lower level room on this leg, and an upper level room northbound. I wanted to compare ride quality and noise levels. I really didn't notice much difference. I expected the lower to have a little less sway, and the upper to be quieter, but aside from the height of the window, the differences were negligible. Still, the lower room is a bit more private, having less foot traffic in the hall. But the view upstairs is still best.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car

posted 03-03-2004 06:55 PM            

Are there two attendants one up-stairs and one down?

posted 03-05-2004 04:23 PM            

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JONATHON D. ORTIZ

posted 03-05-2004 07:42 PM            

There's one unusual feature about the Pacific Parlour Car that nobody ever mentions: the movie theater on the lower level.

It's equipped with vintage movie theater seats -- a dozen or so. And it still features the old-style window shades that were once common-issue on every North American passenger train.

posted 03-05-2004 07:50 PM            

A.

posted 03-06-2004 03:04 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Houstonia:
Interesting--I just returned from a trip to Vancouver BC, and on the trip from LA to Seattle, there was an older man with a beard and an older woman--both playing guitars and singing music in the parlour car. I wonder if they were the same couple?

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Was that northbound on February 25th and 26th? If so, we were on the same train! I saw a couple fitting your description in the Sightseer lounge at Dunsmuir. He had a big bushy grey beard. They were not in the Pacific Parlour car, though.

The couple entertaining us in the Parlour car on the southbound trip was much younger, probably in their 30s.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy