# Lengthy Report on Round Trip Chicago to Vancouver BC



## Everydaymatters (Sep 18, 2008)

Thurs. 9/7/08 Left on the Westbound Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, then via Amtrak bus to Vancouver. In Minneapolis we were re-routed as we were not allowed to be within a certain perimeter of the Republican Convention, where McCain was speaking as we passed by.

Somewhere along the line we were 2 hours behind, but were able to make it up and arrived on time in Seattle.

The train was packed and before Malta, Montana, while I was in the lounge car eating lunch with the lady who had the seat next to me, the train attendant gave our lower level seats to an elderly couple. After he did that, he came down to the lounge car and asked us to give up our seats and move upstairs. I told him I didn’t want to, but he informed us that he had already given our seats away. So, what can I say. We gave up our seats. We went down, gathered our belongings, and followed him upstairs to our new seats, which had broken leg rests.

That brings up another problem. Our original seats had one working leg rest, the seats across from us had both leg rests in non-working condition, and then our upstairs seats had broken leg rests. One working out of six is not indicative of good maintenance.

I believe there are six washrooms on the lower level. The locks on three of them did not work. What was formerly the lady’s “Parlor” had been changed to a uni-sex changing room – with no lock on the door! What had formerly been the men’s changing room is now also a uni-sex changing room, also with a broken lock.

Our train attendant was John. A very pleasant person, even in asking us to move from our lower level seats. After moving us, he brought my seatmate a lunch as I had just had lunch in the lounge. He brought us bottles of cold water and comped my dinner that evening. After my seatmate left the train in Havre, he put up a sign that there were 2 people sitting in the double seat so that I could have the entire seat to myself. It wasn’t a very restful night and working leg rests would have been nicer when trying to sleep.

The first day I ate sandwiches I made at home. The 1st morning I had the Railroad French toast and the 2nd morning I had scrambled eggs. The 2nd evening I had the salmon and it was very good.

We arrived in Seattle on time and the transfer to the Amtrak bus to Vancouver was smooth. There was no delay at the Canadian border. We had to fill out customs forms, get off the bus, talk to the crossing guard, get back on the bus and go on to Vancouver.

On the Sept. 14 return trip from Vancouver to Seattle, I took the Quik Shuttle, which picks up passengers right at the pier. It was easier for me as far as handling the suitcases and it’s considered a “sealed” bus, so there were no problems crossing the border back into the U.S. We didn’t have to get off the bus at all and the border guard got on the bus and looked at all of our passports, got off and sent us on our way.

The return trip from Chicago to Seattle started out smooth, but got complicated. Somewhere before Havre, Montana, there was a rumor that we were going to be bused from Minneapolis to Chicago due to track and bridge work. We asked the lounge car attendant and he said he was just taking orders for food and he didn’t know anything.

It gets a little complex here, so I hope I can explain this clearly. We asked our Train Attendant about the rumors. She said that those who had stops between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused, but the rest of us would stay on the train, which would be re-routed. I asked if that would make us late. She said Amtrak advised the crew the train would be 60 to 90 minutes late however other crews had told them they ran 3, 4 and up to 6 hours late.

Before we arrived in Minneapolis a general announcement was made that those passengers who were traveling between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused to their destinations. The passengers traveling to Chicago would stay on the train and the train would arrive at 5pm, which would make it an hour late. At that point, the train was already an hour behind schedule, so the announcement would have been accurate if there was nothing else going on. The train was supposed to arrive at 3:55pm, so being an hour late would make it close to a 5 PM arrival.

After Minneapolis, the train followed the Mississippi River for about 5 hours. Somewhere along there, there was a change of some of the crew. Finally, around Savannah, Illinois, the train headed east toward Chicago. Around the time it turned off toward the east, there was an announcement by the conductor that we had been given wrong information and that the train would arrive at 7pm. Later, the time was revised to 7:15 p.m., which proved to be accurate.

Passengers were outraged that Amtrak had not advised us about the work and the delay. The materials for the work had not just been ordered and scheduled. They knew days before that there would be delays. Some were angry because they felt the passengers should have been given the option of getting alternate transportation. Nobody was given that choice.

For me, the delay wasn’t as much a problem as the fact that they had been deceitful in not telling us in the first place and in being untruthful by announcing a 5pm arrival, knowing full well that it was a distortion of the truth.

Anyhow, other than that, because of the crowded conditions, and because the diner hostess didn’t get to our part of the car to take dinner reservations until the very end, there were never openings in the diner until 8 or 8:30 pm, so I opted to eat earlier in the lounge car. I had a soggy tuna salad sandwich for lunch the first day and an extremely greasy cheeseburger the second day. I’ve never seen so much grease and ate only about half of it. Each day I ate breakfast in the diner. The first day I had the Continental Breakfast, which I feel is a good deal for the money. The 2nd day I had scrambled eggs, which were ok. I can’t remember what I had for dinner either Sunday or Monday.

The leg rests on the seats and the locks on the washrooms all worked, so that was a good thing. Unlike the trip to Seattle, the ladies “Parlour” was still for ladies and the men still had their own changing room.

So now I’m home and thinking about where to go for my next trip.

Betty


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## MrFSS (Sep 18, 2008)

Everydaymatters said:


> So now I'm home and thinking about where to go for my next trip.
> Betty


Thanks, Betty - there is still time to make plans for the *LA Get Together*!!!


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## Rail Freak (Sep 18, 2008)

MrFSS said:


> Everydaymatters said:
> 
> 
> > So now I'm home and thinking about where to go for my next trip.
> ...


Nice report Betty.

Wasn't 9/7/08 on a Sunday?


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## Cascadia (Sep 18, 2008)

Thanks for the trip report! You were on my home turf out here. I do that border crossing into Vancouver all the time.

You went on an Alaska cruise, didn't you? If you would write about that, I would love to read it and would appreciate hearing about it, I'm sure others would too. We've had a few people posting who were doing what you did, taking the train out here and then going on the cruise. What a great vacation! Broken leg rests notwithstanding (yikes, that would be hard to sleep without them). Someone was saying they had a special hard case that was the right height to hold the leg rest up. Could come in handy.


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## hello (Sep 19, 2008)

Great report, Betty -- enjoyed reading it.


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## Everydaymatters (Sep 19, 2008)

Cascadia said:


> Thanks for the trip report! You were on my home turf out here. I do that border crossing into Vancouver all the time.
> You went on an Alaska cruise, didn't you? If you would write about that, I would love to read it and would appreciate hearing about it, I'm sure others would too. We've had a few people posting who were doing what you did, taking the train out here and then going on the cruise. What a great vacation!


This cruise wasn't as great as my first cruise to Alaska. On the 2nd day at sea, which was calmer than the first day, during a tour of the bridge we were told that the waves were about 12 to 14 feet. That explains why I was sea sick for the first couple of days. I was actually sliding feet first out of the bed at night. The highlight for me was that I sat at the Captain's table on the 2nd formal night. Another thrill was seeing a breached whale. My first Alaskan cruise was in May and we had more sitings of whales and eagles this time. Better weather in May, but better wildlife in September. We tendered from the ship to Sitka in a lifeboat. I don't know many people who have ever been in a lifeboat, so that was a neat experience. I always pictured them as being wood with oars. I suppose there are oars somewhere, but the body is made of fiberglass and it's powered by motors instead of oars. (I get motors and engines mixed up, so if motors is wrong, please excuse it.) The food on the ship wasn't as good as the first time. Sign of the times, I suppose. The singers and dancers were spectacular. I don't know how they were able to dance since the passengers were hardly able to walk with the high seas.


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## Cascadia (Sep 19, 2008)

Hey thanks for the update about your cruise. How long ago was the first one you went on?

I would like to know if there were lots of people on the cruise from other countries. Seems like I've run into Germans and Japanese that were on their way to take the Alaska cruise. Did you have many international fellow passengers or was it mostly Americans and Canadians?


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## Everydaymatters (Sep 19, 2008)

Cascadia said:


> Hey thanks for the update about your cruise. How long ago was the first one you went on?
> I would like to know if there were lots of people on the cruise from other countries. Seems like I've run into Germans and Japanese that were on their way to take the Alaska cruise. Did you have many international fellow passengers or was it mostly Americans and Canadians?


The first one was also 7 days. On each cruise we went to Juneau and Ketchikan. The 2006 cruise also included Skagway. This cruise included Sitka.

Americans were in the minority. There were many Indians, Asians, British. It was a rare thrill to hear an American. Our tablemates were from New Zeland. They spoke English, but I had difficulty understanding them.


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