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I see a further report on another list that appears to indicate that 449 (28) had no Boston sleeper. Perhaps there has been a mistake in dates or perhaps the Boston sleeper has been discontinued without fanfare.

I see on another list there is a post indicating that 448/48 (27) had no Boston sleeper. If correct, it will be interesting to see if today's train - 449 (29) - has a Boston sleeper since there is apparently no spare kept in Boston.

Amtrak must be the only form of transportation where you need to pray for rain. Maybe people will start showing up at stations offering to squeegee your window for a tip.

In dealing with Amtrak it appears that you have to have a bag of tricks and one of the items in the bag of tricks is to know that you are apt to get better compensation from Amtrak Customer Relations than from Amtrak Customer Service. Customer Service doesn't inform customers about this so it...

It is distressing to read about the problems that occurred on your trip and the fact that Amtrak let you down. If Amtrak was a legitimate business entity, you would be receiving a call from someone in senior management and an investigation would be undertaken to find out just what went wrong...

I rode the Crescent as a sleeping car passenger from New Orleans to New York in 2011 and again in 2012. Then my wife and I were sleeping car passengers on the Crescent in May 2019 after the Crescent got a brand new viewliner 2 dining car (It was no. 68018). The food was great on every trip but...

I understand from some posts on other lists that Anthony Haswell, founder of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, has passed away at the age of 94. He was certainly an instrumental figure in the preservation of railroad passenger service when it was going down the tubes fast . He...

Let me see if I understand this correctly. The Crescent will have a new viewliner 2 dining car with table cloths and fresh flowers and will be serving flex meals on plates. Are we supposed to be impressed? Is this some type of a joke?

I remember that I avoided riding the Texas Eagle for a number of years. I didn't think the scenery would be very good. I expected the ride to be long, tedious and boring. But then I finally took the Eagle. What a nice train and what a pleasant ride. Good crew. Great dining car with nice...

Third world railroading at its best. When are they going to add a gondola with folding chairs to the consist?

I will second the suggestion of the Powell - Hyde cable car line. It has been quite a while since I boarded at Powell St. and I can't recall how long the wait can be there. Be aware that the wait at Fisherman's Wharf can be long and tedious, up to a couple hours in my experience so factor that...

There is no traditional dining on the Texas Eagle (except west of San Antonio) unless it has been miraculously restored. I assume that Aramark has a facility in San Antonio which might help if Amtrak cared to ask. Probably Sysco also.

According to a post on the RPA hotline which I saw after my initial post, National Train Day was started by Amtrak in 2008 and continued each year until about 2015 when it was dropped from Amtrak's official marketing budget. It is still celebrated by a number of organizations but is not...

Happy National Train Day! Some may remember it. It usually took place on or around May 10th.

Back in the day, pre-Amtrak and pre-VIA, and in the early days of those entities, it was customary for the conductor, usually accompanied by a trainman, to set up shop in a set of seats in one of the coaches and they took care of their paperwork there. The other benefit is that they tended to...

As I recall, Amtrak grits are plain grits but are often served with a big glob of butter in the middle of them which I like since I fortunately don't have allergies to butter. I assume you can request grits with no butter added. Hopefully some of the grits experts in this group can provide...

We are told in discussions on the NEC that many people, especially in Europe, don't seem to mind riding backwards. I doubt this would go over well on the Ocean.

As late as 1987, if I recall the date correctly, the Ocean was turned, car by car, on a turntable near the VIA station in Halifax. This was a tedious process and I believe it was discontinued when the loop track at the container terminal became available.

This must be Amtrak's version of "Chutes and Ladders" if I can recall the name of the game correctly. At least Amtrak is providing passengers with "alternative transportation" right back to where you started just as if you never left. A true time machine.

There is an Amtrak Alert concerning the Southwest Chief: "Service Disruption: As of 2:54 PM MT, due to a freight derailment, Train 3 will terminate in Albuquerque. Customers due to travel past ABQ should deboard in Lamy and board Train 4 back to their original destination."