Recent content by Brian Battuello

This is neither Amtrak or Transit, but one of the most entertaining "train" videos I've ever watched.

I fully agree that anyone under 66 should have wifi 24/7 (being 67 myself). But it will end one of my favorite California Zephyr traditions. The scenery west of Denver is spectacular, but let's face it, east of Denver it can get a little monotonous, unless you really like looking at corn...

That's an amazingly detailed report. Keep us posted on the next chapter!

Wow! Surprised your picture wasn’t on the cover of the Globe this morning. 😀

It could be worse. 40 odd years ago my very smoke allergic girlfriend and I were in a non-smoking lounge car. The conductor walked in, flipped the sign to "Smoking" and lit up, along with half the people in the lounge.

I've been riding Amtrak for 50 years and for 50 years the crews have been hogging tables. Some things just aren't going to change.

Hope you'll forgive an old joke: The new congressman's parents had never been to Washington D.C. So he sent them train tickets with a roomette upgrade. When they arrived, he asked how their trip was. 'We've never been so insulted in our lives! We got on the train and there were lots of nice...

It was a while ago, but I took the Adirondack a number of times to Montreal, always starting at the Croton Harmon station. We didn't need no stinking stickers...

About ten years ago my son and I did a round trip on the Ocean. We got lucky in that apparently every now and then they pull the whole train in for maintenance and substitute a spare "Canadian" consist. It came with the full service, including a Park car, on board host, full dining car and...

Welcome! Sounds like a fun trip, and you'll enjoy the roomette, even though I think neither direction is an overnight. I believe the CONO (as referred here) has a sightseer lounge car that has great views. It also has a dining car but I think they are still doing the "Flexible" meals which...

I interneted some of my favorite places, and amazed how few were still around. The Cliff House is closed, my Little Joes/Baby Joes is gone (although there are some sequels), even my favorite Hunan temple. I'm sure there is still excellent food available, but hopefully someone with more recent...

Glad you were able to extend it. Makes sense as they are unlikely to sell a day-only room from Reno. In my wild youth I would get coach seats for myself and a friend from SF to Reno. We'd spend the whole day in the sightseer lounge anyway. We'd spend the night in the casinos watching the...

If I ever go to Galesburg, I know where to find an expert!

No problem with switching to a room, as long as you book it all ahead of time. Is there any way you can get in the room earlier, so you can get a nice dinner on the CZ? At least you should be able to get breakfast before reaching Reno. The dining car on the CZ is very nice. You aren't...

I'm going to assume that's a typo. I don't think I would stay in a $20 hotel.