# First Amtrak trips - SW Chief and Pacific Surfliner



## Guest_abqdave_* (Jun 1, 2008)

Background: I am a daily user of public transportation, back and forth to work. For my vacation I thought I would try using all public transportation, so took the SW Chief to Los Angeles and back, used LA Metro and Dash while there (subway and buses), used the Pacific Surfliner back and forth to San Diego, and SD MTS while there (streetcar and buses).

I have been reading this forum for the last few months for travel tips, what to expect, etc. Combined with my own experiences using public transportation, I think I had realistic expectations of the compromises I would be making. So here goes.

Trip started Saturday May 24 taking ABQRide bus from the corner of my street at 3pm to the downtown transit center, arriving at 3:45pm to transfer to the SW Chief for an overnight trip to L.A. Departure time was scheduled at 4:45PM, train arrived just before 6pm. Passengers said first the train was delayed due to severe storms in Kansas, then it made up some time but got delayed again in New Mexico after hitting some cows.

At the side of the train trying to figure out where to board, minimal instructions from Amtrak staff. I quickly figured out that I should be boarding a specific train car as per the number on my ticket, so started going down the station looking for it. Some cars had numbers, one had a brown paper bag from a grocery store with its number on it written in crayon, one had no number on it (guess who’s car that was).

Lori was our cabin attendant. She came and told us she scheduled our meal for 6:30, as they were unsure what time they would get into ABQ and had already had the passengers on the train from earlier stops eat. I was hungry, so great. We both had flat iron steak, was very good. After that, didn’t see Lori for the remainder of the trip. Visited the observation car after eating, got back to our room at nearly 8:30. Bed not made, no Lori. Figured out how to lower the upper bunk and ‘unrecline’ the lower seats to make it into a bed, then threw our mattresses on and got toiletries ready. Our roomette was on the bottom floor, so walked over to the restrooms. Two were broken, wouldn’t flush, had evidence of people using them before. Very unpleasant. Luckily only had to do something quick so was in and out fast.

The sleeping experience was an adjustment. I was on the bottom bunk, partner on top bunk. I found the noise of the tracks bothered me, as well as sections of the ride were very rough, made the train slam, and would wake me up. I guess my expectations weren’t realistic…I thought it would be a swaying motion like the cruise ship I took to Alaska 3 years ago. The train ride was very harsh.

During the night the train lost 3 more hours due to freight congestion (we were told this via intercom at breakfast the next morning). Antoine, our dining car attendant, must not have had a good sleep either. Trying to get information out of him concerning breakfast was impossible…I was unclear if I could add a meat side order to my omelette. Sorry to be so demanding, Antoine. Breakfast without the meat was good anyway. The last segment of the trip was re-routed; BNSF closed track from Fullerton to LA, so we switched to UP track. This apparently helped, as we arrived at Union Station only about 1.5-2 hours late (sorry I don’t remember the exact time). Lori reappeared at the exit as we left the train. No instructions as to where to go for baggage. No tip for Lori.

Found our way to the Union Station baggage claim area. There was no baggage there or people waiting or signage, which I found odd, so asked an Amtrak attendant if we were in the right area. Her surly response was that we had to give 45 minutes for the train to be unloaded.

I loved LA, it is fun, lots of things to do, good public transportation system. On Thursday took the Pacific Surfliner to San Diego. Got 2 business class tickets on the next train, was on schedule, had complimentary snacks and sodas, everything good. Also enjoyed San Diego. On the Surfliner on the way back on Saturday we went coach. The chair I was in was broken (didn’t recline), didn’t realize it until all seats were full. I was tired and would have like to have reclined. Had about 2 hours to wait until the SW Chief was heading back, so explored El Pueblo across the street.

SW Chief was on time leaving, and guess who our sleeping car attendant was again? This time our roomette was on the top floor, and the car was different (older as Lori told me later on). It actually was in better condition…the bathrooms worked and the car rode better. Had dinner shortly after boarding, steak again (good again), Antoine again. Went back to the room, made my room up (what exactly does Lori do, anyway). Took PM aspirin so slept this time. Had a different dining car attendant next morning (brought 3 cups of coffee!), Lori came by as I was changing it from sleeping to sitting (and gave me advice that it was an older car and the foot release lever would work harder, thanks Lori). Arrived in ABQ on time. Lori greeted us on the way out. Since she did make dinner reservations, and brought a newspaper in the morning, I did give her a tip ($20 for the 2 trips). She apologized for the bathrooms and said she hoped we would give Amtrak another chance. After leaving train, no indication where baggage area is in station, asked Amtrak employee, whose…surly…response was I had to give them 20 minutes for the baggage to be unloaded…boy did this seem familiar.

When I got home, I went to the new Amtrak Guest Rewards website. It wouldn’t take any of my trip information (that I entered directly from my tickets) for credit for future rewards. Unbelievable.

So, my conclusion. First, the good, which is to thank everyone on this forum for all the help and good advice. I know a number of you work for Amtrak, so I feel badly with the next part of this post. My Amtak experience was terrible. Horrible. I think I had realistic (low) expectations and a clear understanding of equipment not being new because of the railroad being underfunded, people not having raises for years and not to expect them to be whistling and skipping down the aisles, etc. I expected it to not be perfect.

But I wasn’t prepared for so much to be so bad. From staff who were mostly rude, or absent, to being trapped on a train with multiple broken bathrooms, to near total lack of help or instruction. If I hadn’t done so much research here, the lack of help Amtrak employees gave would have been a real problem.

I am still committed to pubic transportation, and as planes have a far higher carbon output per passenger mile, I may consider Amtrak in the future. But I don’t think many other people who had an experience like mine would.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jun 1, 2008)

I have ridden Amtrak many times, and I will tell you that I have had some total jerks as OBS people on the trains. I will tell you as well, however, that most of them are some of the best service workers I've ever met. You had the same crew both ways. Had you had different crews, perhaps you would realize that your first was... an exception. Less of an exception than it should be, but an exception nonetheless.


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## RTOlson (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Reading from the trip report, it seemed like you did make the best out of a difficult situation.

Two things:

- It sounds like Lori and the rest of the staff should've been more helpful (and present). Just so I can get a better picture, did you use the "Call Attendant" button in your sleeper? Yes, Lori should've been there (especially for putting the beds together) but especially so if you had paged her.

- For Amtrak Guest Rewards, you shouldn't have to do anything if you entered your membership ID when you purchased the tickets. Your trip information will be updated on the Web site within a couple of weeks of the trip.

Why is it so slow? I don't exactly know, but I think it's because Amtrak has to hand the information over to the company that manages the program.

If you didn't enter your member ID when you bought the tickets, you would need to fill out a trip claim form. I don't exactly know how that works, but I'm sure the people in the guest rewards forum would be willing to provide information.


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## MrEd (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks for the report.

a broken restroom is not fun.

I am not sure the explained this when you boarded, but on the sleeper you can press the Yellow call button, and your car attendant will eventually come to assist you.


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## p&sr (Jun 2, 2008)

Guest_abqdave_* said:


> I am still committed to pubic transportation, and as planes have a far higher carbon output per passenger mile, I may consider Amtrak in the future. But I don’t think many other people who had an experience like mine would.


Thanks for the detailed report. I'm sorry you did not enjoy the Long-Distance Amtrak Train. Apparently the Surfliner and other Rail Transportation within California went OK.

My own approach to riding Amtrak, particularly Long Distance Trains, is a little different. I like to think of it as an adventure, "Roughing It", just like Camping Out would be.

Camping Out has certain attractions... exotic places and scenery, a sense of adventure and facing the unknown. On the other hand, it can be absolutely miserable, getting dirty, fussing with the Tent, eating raw eggs for breakfast over a failed campfire in the Rain, feeling rocks poking in your back all night long... little things like that.

Riding the Train is just like Camping Out, with none of the aforesaid disadvantages! It's actually the Best Way to enjoy the Great Outdoors while staying comfortably Indoors.

Here are a few of the Secrets:

First, travel light, and never check your luggage. The last time I checked my luggage was for a business trip (by air) in 1980. While nothing was actually "lost", some of the items took over a Year to catch up with me. Makes waiting 45 minutes for the Train to unload seem a little better by comparison.

Second, always travel Coach. Much simpler with no beds to make up and no toilet to go bad. The trickiest job for the Coach attendant is Passing out the Pillows, and they usually get this right. You can even ask for a second pillow (when everybody already has their first one), good for back support trying to relax in those funny seats. And each car has LOTS of toilets downstairs, most of which will work at any given time. If not, there are lots of other Coach Cars nearby, surely something is working somewhere.

Third, I find breakfast and lunch in the Diner to be overpriced, and bland, and lacking in any interesting variety. Safer to head for the Snack Bar and pick up a nice Hot Dog and Pepsi. For variety, you can even get Cup-O-Noodle Soup or a bag of Chips! Dinner in the Diner is a sacred ritual, to recall the Days Gone By when things were truly wonderful. With the right frame of mind, you can still taste echoes of those Days in every meal. Especially if you don't order anything weird like Vegetarian Lasagna, or anything unreliable like a Steak Dinner (might be good, might be bad, depends on purchasing and on preparation so you never know until it's too late).

Travelling Coach, you never need to ask for directions to your Car when boarding. Just follow the Crowd. If the staff wants you to go to a different Car, fine, they can say so. But for a first guess, any Car is good enough.

Count on not getting much sleep. If you sleep, you miss all of the night-time scenery! Better to open your eyes every little while and try to figure out where you are. If eventually you discover that you "accidentally" slept through several station stops, then fine, you won't be quite as exhausted next day as you might have been.

Just as many folks advise not to schedule anything time-critical right after a Long-Distance Trip (in case, perish the thought, the Train should be delayed!), I would advice not to schedule anything requiring full wakefulness or sober judgement, till say the next day when you have caught up on sleep back on Terra Firma. Granted, the feel of a "Land Cruise" by Train will be Very Different from a Sea Cruise. But Boats lack all of that reassuring clickety-clack and that familiar blowing of the Whistle all night long for every road crossing. When the appreciation begins to dawn on you, there is really nothing else that can compare with "the Romance of the Rails".

Especially if the Trip can be set up as either an Exotic Escape (for one or for two), or to enable some kind of Special Rendez-Vous at the Destination.

But those are just my own notions. I suppose everybody travels with their own reasons and goals in mind. If those goals are compatible with what Rail Travel has to offer, then every trip can be a success!


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## Green Maned Lion (Jun 2, 2008)

Amtrak with a good crew can be a magical experience. Sometimes, you don't get such a crew.


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## the_traveler (Jun 2, 2008)

What I do (because I'm cheap  ) is usually travel coach, and I only have dinner and breakfast in the diner. As far as sleeping in coach, including the (small) pillow you get (and once everyone gets one, you can ask the CA for another one), I find either long sleeves or a sweater is good covering. I also find a rolled up coat or sweater against the window is great! And if 2 are next to each other, if the one by the window recline his or her seat 1 or 2 clicks less, that gives the other person a place to rest his or her head at night. (And the other person may not even notice a difference!)

I find the ride on the upper level of a Superliner is much smoother than on the lower level.

For lunch, you could either skip it, or get something light from the snack bar. I find lunch in the diner to be unimpressive.


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## jackal (Jun 2, 2008)

p&sr said:


> [snip] But those are just my own notions. I suppose everybody travels with their own reasons and goals in mind. If those goals are compatible with what Rail Travel has to offer, then every trip can be a success!


Written like a true railfan! (For better or for worse, I think most of us around here identify exactly with p&sr's explanation...)

However, I think I might have been spoiled by my recent (brief) excursion in sleeper.

And I'm glad to hear people say that lunch in the diner is unimpressive--good thing I chose lunch in the PPC! I was worried about missing the chance to try something on the lunch menu. Looks like I didn't miss much.


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## dan72 (Jun 7, 2008)

Sorry to hear things didn't go all that great. My first time out on the Chief, we had a Lori for our attendant and she was wonderful. Sounds like you didn't get the right Lori. :blink:

The toilets were an issue this last March when I was on the Chief, although, out attendant, Mike was great about resetting them and told people to let him know if there were any problems.

Anyway, I hope you future experiences are much better.

Dan


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## Railroad Bill (Jun 8, 2008)

Very sorry to hear of your bad experiences on Amtrak. We wish you had been on the next day's #3 as we were. We arrived in ABQ on May 25 on our way to Fullerton and had a good crew. Nina was our car attendant, very friendly, kept things clean downstairs, made up the beds on time, etc. Our dining crews on all our trains--SWC-Coast Starlight and Empire Builder were all fantastic. Great sense of humor, food was generally good. Two great steaks, one not-so-good.

We too have had a crew from Hell-- California Zephyr Summer 2007, but survived for another day.

It is the lack of consistency among crews that drives you nuts sometimes. But I guess it is human nature. Some workers are highly motivated, while to others--its just a job!.

I would hope you will try again. Since you've already used up Lori twice, your odds are much much better now 

Of all of our Amtrak trips, only the CZ has been a nightmare ride. The others more than offset that bad experience. Still loving Amtrak and can hardly wait for next trip on CONO in Oct.


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## Steve4031 (Jun 9, 2008)

This was an unusually bad crew. There is a trip survey that you could have submitted with in 3 days of your trip on Amtrak's website, or by phone. You can still contact guest relations. Your sleeping car attendant failed to her job in not being available to help you with the bed. However, her effort to make a dinner reservation mitigated this somewhat. The dining car crew had no business being uncommunicative, and not answering your questions.

Based on your trip report, your expectations were realistic. I think most trips on Amtrak would have exceeded them with a decent crew and working bathrooms. The motion of the train would take getting used to, but as you noted you had a smoother ride on the upper level on the return trip.

I hope you try Amtrak again.


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## VentureForth (Jun 10, 2008)

Mitigated, schmitigated. That's all part of their job! Wow. I'm impressed - $20 tip to make a dining reservation? Sorry if I'm coming across harsh, but the bad OBS's need to be reported. They are there to make your bed, set up your seats, ensure that you know where your beverages and water are located, etc. From a bed preparing standpoint, they're even required to latch the netting to the ceiling (which then he tells you that you can removed).

Sleeper attendants are usually given their jobs because of seniority and exceptional performance in Coach. They should be the creme of the crop. To have a lazy lori is definitely disheartening. So far, the ones that I've had ranged from good to great. One that merely ranked 'good' was a womanizer who decided to give me my dining reservation, followed by a 15 minute chat (while sitting!) with the single female traveller across from me. That woman got so upset with his "extra attention" that she totally stiffed him.

Sorry for your experience. I loved taking the Chief, but if I ever do again, and if I ever get Lori, I'm gonna move rooms.


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## abqdave (Jun 26, 2008)

*Update to my story. * I though Amtrak had ‘blown me off’, as they had not responded to an email I sent them shortly after my trip (the email was largely the same story as above). I was surprised and pleased that they called me today.

A very nice lady on the phone listened, apologized, and is sending a travel voucher. She said they take complaints they receive seriously, and that the managers of that train would review all the issues with the employees involved.

I thought that was a great response. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I am planning my Christmas-New Years vacation, so will chalk-up this past trip as a ‘trial run’ and consider giving Amtrak a second try.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jun 26, 2008)

Glad to hear that! Make sure you take two different crew-sets though. That way, if you get a bum group one way, you won't be stuck with them again. Not that you should.


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