# First time experiences on Amtrak



## Jim D (Aug 9, 2012)

Just returned from 5 weeks on honeymoon in the US and Canada. 3 trips on Amtrak, varying standards of service.

Detroit - Chicago (Wolverine) That's one basic station building in Detroit! Train arrived a little late, but made up time en-route. Incredibly friendly conductor wrote down dinner recommendations for us in Chicago, two of which we tried and they were excellent. A good start.

Chicago - Grand Junction. (California Zephyr) Liked the lounge in Union Station, but as others have commented, no working wi-fi. Roomette was comfortable enough, though looking a little tired. Not very easy to get hold of the attendant in our cabin. Nice food (and company) in the dining car, though pretty much impossible to get a seat in the observation car. Snack bar attendant looked like she hated her job!

Anyway, a few hours in we hear that a freight derailment in Nebraska has blocked our line, so we will have to divert north on to another line on our way to Denver. The conductor said he was confident the new route would be at least as quick as the normal route. After a fitful sleep we woke up to hear that we were 7 hours behind schedule. Not great. By the time we got to Grand Junction the delay was around 8 hrs. Some others on the train had quite short connections to flights in Californa, and were getting seriously worried.

Final trip - Minneapolis to Buffalo (Empire Builder and Lake Shore Limited). Received an email the night before our scheduled departure asking me call Amtrak. Looked online first and found that the train was running 4-5 hours late. Upon calling Amtrak I was told a bus was laid on from Minneapolis to Chicago, and that if we chose to wait for the Empire Builder, we would most likely miss our connection in Chicago.

By the time we got to the Amtrak in MSP the next morning, it was stated that the train was 6-7 hours later, and might lose more time. Thanks to well-organised boarding, a pleasant driver and a nice stop at Wisconsin Dells, the bus journey was not as bad as it could have been. However, if I wanted to take a bus, I would have booked Greyhound. We actually arrived in Chicago ahead of schedule. There were a lot of elderly passengers but promised kerb-side help with baggage in Chicago did not appear.

No wi-fi (except for a very brief spell) in Chicago, again. Whilst having our cheese and wine in the dining car, we noticed that we hadn't departed as scheduled. In fact, we left over an hour later. Why? To wait for the Empire Builder, which was still running 6 hours late!! Very frustrating that we could've boarded the train in Minneapolis around 2pm, had a long lie instead of 5.45am start and still made our connection. The dining car staff told us that this had happened several times recently.

I'm sure any connecting people on the Empire Builder were pleased that the train was held, but it did seem a strange policy. Needless to say, the Lake Shore lost more time in the night, and we arrived in Buffalo around 4 hours late.

Anyway, in general Americans should be proud of their beautiful country. We had a great time, and almost everyone we met was really friendly. Yellowstone, Arches and Monument Valley are incredible.


----------



## jb64 (Aug 10, 2012)

Thanks for the report. I would have been annoyed, too, if I had gotten up early and riddent a bus when I could have ridden the train as originally planned. And thanks for the complements on our country and our citizens.


----------



## amamba (Aug 10, 2012)

I am glad to hear that overall you had a nice trip. I agree that it is frustrating that you had to take the bus when you could have possibly taken the train and still made the connection to the LSL, but on the other hand, it was probably better to be safe and take the bus.


----------



## NY Penn (Aug 10, 2012)

At the time when the buses were being arranged, it was probably not known that the EB would make the connection.

There are often times when the EB gets delayed further in MN or WI and the connection is not made.


----------



## NW cannonball (Aug 12, 2012)

One thing that makes me prefer the rail trip to the bus from MSP to CHI is that the bus misses the stretch of river from Hastings to LaCrosse.

Sorry that you missed that part of the rail trip.

Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons and the river bluffs and backwaters - all less than 10,000 years old when the melting glaciers cut that gorge.

Love that part of the country. Hope you get a chance to see it sometime. Glad most of your trip went well. Hail Canada and all that. It is good for us here to have those good neighbors up north. Hoping to ride VIA sometime soon.


----------

