# Across the USA (and back)



## JayPea (Aug 21, 2016)

Yesterday my uncle and I began our most ambitious trip yet: across the USA and back. Our itinerary:

1) Seattle to Sacramento on the CS

2) Sacramento to Chicago on the CZ

3) Chicago to Charlottesville on the Cardinal

4) Charlottesville to New Orleans on the Crescent

5) two nights and a day in New Orleans

6) New Orleans to Los Angeles on the SL

7) Los Angeles to Seattle on the CS for me as my uncle is getting off the CS at Eugene and catching the southbound CS there and to Los Angeles and catching the TE back to Bloomington.

I will do this report on a train by train basis as I would never be able to remember much of anything by the end of the trip. I'd forget my own name if it weren't on my drivers license :lol: So here is my report for segment #1, Seattle to Sacramento on the CS.

I actually began on Friday with a flight to Seattle from Spokane as my time off from work didn't permit me to take the EB. I left in nice comfortable temperatures in Spokane-mid 80's-to a sweltering Seattle, with temperatures in the upper 90's. My uncle was going to take a Lincoln Service train to Chicago from Bloomington on Monday and catch the EB in Chicago and arrive in Seattle on Wednesday but his train was delayed getting into Bloomington to the point he had to cancel and reschedule, this time catching the CZ on Tuesday to Sacramento and then catch the CS to Seattle arriving Friday. At least my flight went smoothly! The CS was delayed into Seattle by 2 1/2 hours. I waited at King Street Station in sweltering conditions. I have never been so hot in Seattle. At any rate my uncle arrived and we stayed overnight at the Moore Hotel. Yesterday we started on trip on the CS, and our first segment couldn't have gone smoother. We started out on time and arrived early at every station between Seattle and Portland, causing us to wait several minutes in each station. Chris was our SCA, and he is a good one. We had lunch in the Parlour Car as they had a turkey sandwich available which sounded good to us. And it was excellent! We made great time into Portland, and ended up waiting there well over an hour. We were slowed up after Portland as UP put a heat restriction on limiting us to 50 MPH. So we gradually lost a little time, but nothing too major. We lost more time in fact having to wait for #14 and a northbound Cascades train, not to mention one very long freight train south of Eugene. Our one and only meal in the diner was dinner, where the food was good and the serice better. I have had generally miserable dining car service on the CS due mainly having had Tricia as our LSA four different times, Tricia with the non regulation hoodie,her white board to write names on it for meal reservations like we're all a bunch of kindergarten kids, and her surly and abrasive attitude. Not so this time. Sandy was our LSA and couldn't have done a better job. Would it be all LSA'S could be like her.

We continued to lose just a bit of time, departing Chemult a little over an hour late. We made up some time at Klamath Falls where we retired for the night. We lost some more time overnight but arrived in Sacramento about 15 minutes late

Thus endeth segment 1. We are now waiting in the small sleeping car passenger section at Sacramento. Surprisingly it is almost chilly here. We are holding our breath and crossing our fingers and toes for our trip on #6. I have taken #6 twice and as it happens missed connections due to it losing a lot of times both times, the only times I've ever missed connections. Here's hoping!


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## OBS (Aug 21, 2016)

Thanks. Looking forward to hearing more!


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## JayPea (Aug 21, 2016)

One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday  :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 21, 2016)

JayPea said:


> One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday  :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.


Was it all coach pax or just the business class pax?


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 21, 2016)

Tricia worked the PPC last time I rode the Starlight and is the absolute Worst LSA ever!!! 

I'm surprised that Sacramento was chilly and Seattle was roasting!

Hope the rest of the trip goes well, looking forward to your trip reports!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 21, 2016)

Oops, duplicate post!


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## JayPea (Aug 21, 2016)

AmtrakBlue said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday  :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.
> ...


It was the great unwashed from the regular coach section, mixing in with us rich priveleged first class passengers.  :lol:


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## oregon pioneer (Aug 21, 2016)

Thanks for the initial report. I am glad it is going well (so far), and hope for continued smooth travels!


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## greatcats (Aug 21, 2016)

I will be watching. Hope it goes well. My trip from Flagstaff to San Diego the other day went fairly well, including exotic fire caused detour. Let's see how it goes tomorrow returning on the regular route.


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## JayPea (Aug 21, 2016)

So far so good on the CZ. We got on at Sacramento about 25 minutes late as it left Emeryville late. But made up most of that at Reno and are at Winnemucca early. It should be noted that we must have won the dining car crew lottery. I know there has been considerable talk of poor service on the CZ but so far has been great. Joyce is the LSA and Michael our server and both are excellent. And have great senses of humor. Of course there are five meal periods yet to go.  So we shall see.


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## Everydaymatters (Aug 22, 2016)

Bob Dylan said:


> Tricia worked the PPC last time I rode the Starlight and is the absolute Worst LSA ever!!!
> 
> I'm surprised that Sacramento was chilly and Seattle was roasting!
> 
> Hope the rest of the trip goes well, looking forward to your trip reports!


Tricia! Oh yes, she is a real gem, isn't she?


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## JayPea (Aug 22, 2016)

God help us! :lol: Just when I thought I'd seen and heard everything! I'm on #6 currently and everything had been running great. Early once we caught up from starting out about 25 minutes late at Winnemucca, we were early into every station. Until after Glenwood Springs. We came to a stop on a siding, with the announcement we were waiting for a late #5. We waited and waited when the announcement came that #5 was having trouble at Bond, not too far from where we were. Then we waited some more when the announcement came that it was a medical emergency at Bond and no timetable for when the train would pass us. We waited and, finally, after an hour and 20 minutes came another announcement that the medical emergency at Bond was now two emergencies and that 5 was waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. He was in the middle of apologizing for not knowing more when....#5 came whizzing past us!!! Here he was telling us the train needed to wait for emergency personnel and it was going past us!!! :lol: I guess he knew then when the train was coming! We are currently running about 1:45-2 hours late into Granby but with any luck at all should make up a lot of that time into Denver. Full report on this train tomorrow!


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 22, 2016)

JayPea said:


> God help us! :lol: Just when I thought I'd seen and heard everything! I'm on #6 currently and everything had been running great. Early once we caught up from starting out about 25 minutes late at Winnemucca, we were early into every station. Until after Glenwood Springs. We came to a stop on a siding, with the announcement we were waiting for a late #5. We waited and waited when the announcement came that #5 was having trouble at Bond, not too far from where we were. Then we waited some more when the announcement came that it was a medical emergency at Bond and no timetable for when the train would pass us. We waited and, finally, after an hour and 20 minutes came another announcement that the medical emergency at Bond was now two emergencies and that 5 was waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. He was in the middle of apologizing for not knowing more when....#5 came whizzing past us!!! Here he was telling us the train needed to wait for emergency personnel and it was going past us!!! :lol: I guess he knew then when the train was coming! We are currently running about 1:45-2 hours late into Granby but with any luck at all should make up a lot of that time into Denver. Full report on this train tomorrow!


Guess there's a time gap between when the station master at Bond taps-taps-taps the morse code and when your conductor received and translated the taps-taps-taps.


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## jis (Aug 23, 2016)

In that aprt of the country perhaps it is smoke signals :lol:


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## JayPea (Aug 23, 2016)

Nothing else the conductor said on terms of time estimates was accurate either so it was all just part of the trend. Just left Creston, IA little over hour and a half late so should still make the Cardinal without too much trouble barring some unforseen catastrophe. Despite the best efforts of AUers to be as discouraging as possible about the Cardinal   I am looking forward to it.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 23, 2016)

Hope you make your connection to the Card Jeff! Except for the Really Late arrivals into WAS and NYP and the Diner Lite with the Crummy Half "Cafe/Lounge", I've enjoyed all my trips on the Cardinal.

Enjoy the Cornfields on the way to Chicago!


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## oregon pioneer (Aug 23, 2016)

JP, I loved the Cardinal!! Lovely, lovely scenery and interesting people. See my trip report from last November. The food was acceptable for one day, and the staff was delightful.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Aug 23, 2016)

I am enjoying your trip report, hope you don't have a further delay, and will look forward to your impressions of the Cardinal.


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 23, 2016)

jis said:


> In that aprt of the country perhaps it is smoke signals :lol:


:giggle:


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## JayPea (Aug 23, 2016)

Train 2 of 6: the California Zephyr

Well, now, THAT was an interesting trip!

It didn't start out that way though. After my uncle and I arrived on Sacramento off the Coast Starlight we immediately headed to Perko's across the street for breakfast, after which we returned to the Sacramento station to await the Zephyr. Surprisingly it was chilly in Sacramento after sweltering on Seattle. The CZ arrived in Sacramento about 25 minutes late after having departed Emeryville late. After boarding we had lunch with couple who was returning to Pittsburgh. Our SCA was Johnny, one of the best I've ever had. He had a few personal touches like bedtime mints and a basket of candy. We continued to stay about 25 minutes late until Winnemucca when we caught up. And from then on until Granby we got in early to each station. Freight traffic is down and we were never really held up by any freight traffic, and there was no track work to speak of either. After dinner, in which I had the chicken, we retired for the night at Winnemucca. I must say our dining car crew was excellent. Joyce was the LSA, Michael our server, and they were great. They did an excellent job and their humor was exceptional. They were a very fun crew. One of the best I've had.

We arose for the day after the Provo stop. We continued to be early in every station. We had breakfast with a retired Union Pacific employee and a young man who looked too young to be the first man's son and too old to be his grandson. After breakfast we eagerly awaited the trip later that afternoon through the canyon country of Colorado. We were too busy filming and photographing in Glenwood Canyon for the early seating at lunch so we ate later. having lunch with a retired couple from Kansas who was getting off in Omaha. The man won't fly and the woman didn't like the train. I don't know how they will travel in the future; not my problem! :lol:

And them the fun began. First and foremost the incident I described earlier when we waited for over an hour for the late #5, which went rushing by as the conductor was apologizing for not knowing when the train would pass. :lol: And just as we'd gotten up to speed, we had to slow to 10 mph for 4 or 5 miles because of some signal issues. That put us down about 1:45 into Granby. There is time built into the schedule between Granby and Fraser, which unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of as we had to stop for a work crew with whom the conductor was having issues communicating with. By this time we we were having dinner with a man and his young son from the Holdrege area who had been on a last fling in the Colorado Rockies before the son returned to school.

We were still down on the order of 1:40 or so out of Fraser but hoped to make up a lot of time into Denver. Guess what? We didn't. The culprit this time was a freight train in the Denver suburb of Arvada that was hauling a load of logs, when a chain that was holding the logs broke, dragging the chain down the tracks. This created a logjam (pardon the pun) of freights so we stopped awhile, crept awhile, and finally got into Denver over hour and a half late.

Even though we were assured the stop in Denver would be cut sort, it wasn't. So we left an hour and a half late. As I knew we would, we lost time overnight in Nebraska but made that same amount of time up by Omaha, so we were still about hour and a half down into Iowa. We were treated, those of us who were awake, to a thunderstorm in Nebraska. A shortened breakfast seating was shared by another retired couple who had little to say.

We made decent time through Iowa, losing a few minutes here and there but not bad. We actually had gained some time by Burlington---and promptly lost it as we sat for 20 minutes. Once we got going, I prepared to photograph the journey over the Mississippi--only to have a freight train come, leaving me with prize-winning shots of the side of a freight train. :angry:   :lol: We had lunch at this time with a young mom and her cute as a button little girl who turns five next week. They were going home to Michigan.

At this point we were nearly two hours down but was still hopeful of making the Cardinal as I knew there is some padding in the schedule. We made up some time into Galesburg, and were going along well, when we came to a stop outside Princeton. Oh nooo!  . NOW what???? "What" turned out to be an indicator that something was wrong with the train, necessitating an inspection. Fortunately this took only a few minutes and we were on our way. We were further behind than ever but still had a lot of time left before worrying about the connection with the Cardinal.

Once we got to Naperville I knew we had it made. If some dang fool disaster hit we were close enough now. Besides, nothing else could go wrong this close, right? Wrong!!!!  Just out of Naperville we came to stop again. This time came the announcement that due to police activity involving another train, a Metra train was going to be routed onto the track we were on and we were going to have to follow it. Lovely! After a few miles of stop and go and very slow going, we came upon what had happened. A young man on a bicycle had ridden out in front of #4 and paid the ultimate price. Once past here, though, the Metra train was routed onto its proper track and we got up to speed, encountering no further delays. We were in Chicago just long enough to be unimpressed with the new lounge. For one thing, the departure board listed yesterday's departures; for another, the ice machine was worthless, for another, what fool designed that tiny luggage storage room. And for another, once we headed to our track for the Cardinal, we found the way barricaded and the guy standing there had no idea who we were and why we were standing there!  Bottom line, I am on the Cardinal now. So all's well that ends well.

Next up: my maiden voyage on the Cardinal!


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## SarahZ (Aug 23, 2016)

Ha! I've been fooled by Naperville before. My ex-boyfriend and I were on the SWC, with a reservation on that evening's Wolverine. We were on-time into Naperville, so I switched to the earlier Blue Water, which leaves about 45 minutes after the SWC arrives.

Just after I switched, and I mean _maybe_ thirty seconds after I hit the "Purchase" button, we ended up stopped/slowed by a freight near Cicero. We had to run to make the Blue Water.

Now I wait until we're actually in the tunnels.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 24, 2016)

And the Chicago Follies just keep on keeping on!

Hope y'all enjoy the Card, look forward to the next episode of Travels with My Uncle!


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## oregon pioneer (Aug 24, 2016)

Yayyyy! You made the Card!

I remember the nail-biting... since the next one was two days, and if I missed it I'd be riding the Cap again, instead of a new train.


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## JayPea (Aug 24, 2016)

Yes, I made the Cardinal! Three years ago, we tried to make the connection between the CZ and the Cardinal but we were so late that not only did we misconnect with the Cardinal but we missed the Cap Limited too, necessitating a stay over in Chicago. That's why I was sweating bullets.

After the fiasco at the lounge, we boarded the Cardinal. Once we got out there, I was surprised to see an Iowa Pacific engine and several Iowa Pacific coaches at the front of the train. Evidently they were deadheading to Indianapolis. Once we got on board we immediately had problems with our luggage. The cubby hole above the toilet was too small for our big bags. We've had Viewliners before and haven't had any problems with them. We solved the problem by storing our luggage in the business class car, one ahead of us. And by checking our bags tonight to New Orleans on the Crescent. Derek was our SCA, and he is a good one. Once we got settled we went to the cafe car for our first time with the diner lite menu. I was not overly impressed. We were seated with another couple who were getting off at Culpeper, one stop after ours. It took over half an hour to get our orders taken even though some who came after us got served before us. Once the orders were taken it didn't take long for the food to arrive. I had the tilapia and wasn't impressed with it either though the vegetable and rice medley was passable. I had the chocolate brownie for dessert, and while it wasn't the chocolate mousse it was all right.

We retired for the night right after dinner. We awoke right around Ashland and headed for breakfast. We got lucky enough to have the place almost to ourselves and got our orders taken right away. I had an omelet and it wasn't good at all. It was rubbery,not that I have eaten much rubber in my lifetime, and it was cold. If I had wanted a cold omelet I would have undercooked the Jimmy Dean ones I buy. As it was,these weren't as good as Jimmy Dean's. The rest of the food was good. I had potatoes, pork sausage, and a croissant.

After breakfast we went to the lounge to photograph the scenery. It was scenic, all right, but not necessarily photogenic. By that I mean trees obscured most of the view. As far as I am concerned, we could solve the problem of homelessness in this country if the railroads would cut down all the trees extending out 100 yards on both sides of the tracks. A win-win situation: enough wood to home the homeless and us fancy rich folks who have thousands of dollars to spend riding on tourist railroads could have their views.   :lol: What little I could see was indeed very pretty.

We went, with some trepidation, to lunch, and this time it was very good. I had the Italian combo sandwich and it was a very welcome break from Angus beef burgers. After lunch we headed back to the lounge for more (mostly futile ) attempts at photography.

We arrived in Charlottesville a few minutes late and checked our big bags to New Orleans. Afterward we, upon the recommendation of one of the ticket agents, went to a little cafe called Mel's,a couple of blocks from the station. We returned to the station and are now relaxing in cool comfort at the Charlottesville station.

I don't know that I would rush right out and ride the Cardinal again any time soon but wouldn't turn it down either. I don't like the diner lite set up, but think the food is passable. The Cardinal is one of the last long distance trains we haven't ridden. Only the Silver Star and the Auto Train remain, along with the New Orleans-San Antonio segment of the SL, which we will take care of in a few days. Next up: the Crescent!


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## Agent (Aug 24, 2016)

Here's Amtrak #6(21) in Agency, Iowa yesterday.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 25, 2016)

Sounds like your opinions about the Card are about the same as mine! I be always thought that Lunch was the best meal served on this train and that the French Toast "Sticks" and Rubber Omelettes on this Train were the worst thing Amtrak serves except for the Bob Evans Scramble from the bad old days!

I also think the so called "Lounge/Cafe" that shares the car with the Diner Lite sucks!

Hope the Crescent is a good trip,Ive always enjoyed riding it going back to Southern RR Days and of course New Orleans Rocks!


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## Mystic River Dragon (Aug 25, 2016)

JayPea,

Did you get to see the New River Gorge from the Cardinal? Was there any other good scenery that the trees didn't hide?

Out of curiosity, I just pulled up the menu for the Cardinal (it came up saying "Amtrak - Error," which I thought was kind of appropriate after looking at the breakfast and dinner selections :giggle: . I'm glad you got a good lunch!

What were your impressions of the business class car (aside from a handy walk-in closet for your stuff  ?!) Did you find sleeping car passengers were using it as an extra lounge? Or that it was full, empty, or somewhere in between with people riding in it overnight as business car passengers?


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## JayPea (Aug 25, 2016)

I was one of those sleeping car passengers using it as a lounge :lol: Between my uncle and myself and our small bags there was hardly room for us in the the room! There were hardly any passengers in it. There couldn't have been at any time more than half a dozen people using the seating section. They had a rest room in it which to me is much better than the toilet in the room. With so few people in it no one batted an eye when we stored our bags there.

I did somewhat see the New River Gorge amongst the trees. From what I could tell beyond the trees the scenery was great. And I liked the quaint small towns along the route.

The lunch was quite good, which tells me the diner light could be good with the right selections. And our room did rattle incessantly which we cured by not riding in it. :lol:


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## Mystic River Dragon (Aug 25, 2016)

Thanks for the information, JayPea!

Looking forward to your impressions of the Crescent.


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## JayPea (Aug 25, 2016)

My first impression of the Crescent is that the service rates as "not much" though I've seen worse. I think our SCA is going to get a discounted tip.


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## oregon pioneer (Aug 25, 2016)

JayPea said:


> I did somewhat see the New River Gorge amongst the trees. From what I could tell beyond the trees the scenery was great. And I liked the quaint small towns along the route.


I *knew* there was some advantage to taking the trip in November! No leaves on the trees, LOL! :giggle:


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Train 4: The Crescent. After relaxing in the Charlottesville station until the arrival of the Crescent, 20 minutes late, we boarded the traon. We had already eaten at a great little place called Mel's, just a couple of blocks from the station, because we didn't think we'd get dinner after boarding at about 10 after nine. We did get offered dinner, though, so we had four meals. We had asked Grady,our SCA, to put the beds down while we ate and for some reason that request seemed to irritate him. I tried the veggie burritos and found them to be very good. At dessert we got strawberries with our ice cream and chocolate mousse, a nice touch. At all the meals it was a bit different than what I was used too. The LSA, whose name I never did get, filled out the slips, room and car number and all, and had one person sign both tickets. And no reservations: just two or three different meal times and show up when you felt like it. And no companions for meals; we sat by ourselves at every meal.

After dinner we retired for the evening. I usually unhook the straps that hold upper bunk passengers in, but this time I kept then strapped. The tracks were so rough I probably would have been thrown off the train had I not done so. Despite the rough ride I slept soundly until Gainesville, after which we went to breakfast. Getting back to the regular menu was nice after having cold rubber omelets on the Cardinal.

After breakfast we averted a possible crisis. The power was out in our room and Grady showed little inclination to assist us. Between the two of us we got it running again though. I was not at all impressed with the condition of the shower. One dirty towel to use and somebody had stored their luggage in it. I had to move it just to get the door open. I will say this about the service: Ice was available all day and so was coffee.

After breakfast and getting cleaned up for the day it was time to take in the sights and try to photograph things in between stands of trees. We kept good time and only once, at Hattiesburg, were we more than half an hour late.

For lunch I had the marinated salad with the feta cheese and added chicken to it. Big mistake. The chicken tasted like it had died of some debilitating disease.

After lunch Grady finally warmed up and before long we were laughing and swapping yarns like old friends. He redeemed himself in my eyes. As I said timekeeping was good throughout the trip.

After an abbreviated dinner of the Salisbury steak we got into New Orleans right about on time. After collecting our bags we caught a cab to the Drury Inn, our hotel for two nights. In addition to comfortable sleeping, the Drury Inn offered a very good breakfast, superior IMHO to any other hotel I've stayed in, along with free popcorn and soft drinks. In addition, they have a small buffet dinner with a coupon for three alcoholic beverages.

We spent the day yesterday in the French Quarter at the French Market. We caught one streetcar, changed to another one, and got off near the market. I'm not much into trinkets and junkets but found the Market fascinating. By the time we got back, after very slow streetcar traffic due to fans going to the preseason game at the Superdome between the Aints and the Stealers. We had planned to go to Bourbon Street but decided against it. We called it an early night so we would be ready to go this morning on train #5 of 6, the Sunset Limited.

A couple of random observations: We had ice available and coffee all day on both the Cardinal and Crescent. Maybe Eastern trains are less anal about this. And give me Superliners any day! I do not like the Viewliner setup at all. I like the luggage storage in Superliners and hate the toilet in the room. I went to the business class or the coaches to, well, do my business. 

On the SL now, making reasonable time.


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Just went into emergency stop between Beaumont and Houston. Apparently had a trespasser incident. No word on whether the trespasser was 2 legged or 4 legged yet. If 2 legged we will be here stopped about 4 hours. And so it goes.


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Just got word that the trespasser was indeed two legged. The ambulance and police are already here. The conductor says it usually means we will be here a couple of hours. We've been here half an hour already.


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## oregon pioneer (Aug 27, 2016)

Darn! I hate it when they do that!


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Third time in three years it's happened to us.


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 27, 2016)

JayPea said:


> Third time in three years it's happened to us.


*** reminds myself never to travel on the same trains as JayPea ***


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

AmtrakBlue said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > Third time in three years it's happened to us.
> ...


LOL! I'm not the one that pushed the trespassers (it now appears there were two suicidal subjects) on the tracks! The original 2 hour estimate was a bit optimistic; it is now going on three hours. Thank goodness for all sorts of padding in the schedule.


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Just got the go ahead from the local authorities to release the train. Once they run an air brake test we will be on our way. My condolences to the friends and family of the deceased individuals as well as to the train crew, in particular the engineer.


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## Steve4031 (Aug 27, 2016)

You are having a grand adventure. Sorry about the trespasser incident. My condolences too. There is enough padding to make up that time.


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## JayPea (Aug 27, 2016)

Steve4031 said:


> You are having a grand adventure. Sorry about the trespasser incident. My condolences too. There is enough padding to make up that time.


There is all sorts of padding between here and Los Angeles. Tuesday's SL left New Orleans over 4 hours late, was still over 4 hours late out of Houston and got into LA almost half an hour early. No worries.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 28, 2016)

Sounds like New Orleans was fun and I'm with the Viewliner Roomette favoring crowd even though I like Superliners! ( Has to do with Sleeping in the Coffin as opposed to the top bunk in a Viewliner!)

Hope y'all waved as you rolled through Texas, it's a Loooooooong way to El Paso!


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## JayPea (Aug 29, 2016)

Train 5 of 6: the Sunset Limited

Another well,interesting trip. Upon arrival at the New Orleans station. we got the code to the Magnolia Lounge, which is a magnificent waste of space. No amenities other than slightly softer seats and coffee that was constantly out. Among the missing amenities was loudspeakers so we got up to stand in line to board the sleepers in advance. When the attendant went to the Magnolia Lounge to make the boarding announcement he couldn't get in and a passenger had to let him in! Waiting to board the sleeper I saw a first: A young man boarding a sleeper with a bicycle. Efrem was our attendant, very good and efficient. And a flagrant flouter of rules: all day coffee and ice available. :lol:

I was anxious for this part of the route as I had never taken the New Orleans-San Antonio segment before, the only part of Amtrak's long-distance system west of the Mississippi I had never taken. I was especially looking forward to the Huey P. Long Bridge. And it was every bit as magnificent as I had figured, if you are into bridges, that is. I had the old standby, the Angus steak burger for lunch. We ate with a middle aged couple from Alabama who was traveling to Los Angeles, then connecting with the SWC to the Grand Canyon. In a moment that some would find objectionable but bothered us not at all, they asked us to join them in a sort prayer before the meal. I had steak and it was good.

We made good time all the way to Beaumont, until the aforementioned incident where as it turned out a man in his 50's decided it would be a good idea to walk in front of the train. That cost us about 3 hours and 20 minutes, which I put to good use by reading Henry Kisor's excellent book about the California Zephyr. We did make up some of that time, pulling into Houston 3 hours late. We had to wait at the Houston station for 45 minutes for a new crew. So we were a little bit later. We didn't make up as much time into and at San Antonio as we might have because of slow orders and freight train interference. At one point we stopped, waited about 15 minutes, and reversed direction. Given my sunny outlook on life  I was sure another Big Disaster had happened. No, we simply stopped again, then went forward. We made up no time at San Antonio as the stop there took the whole 2:40 scheduled. We had made up some time and departed San Antonio 2 hours late. We lost almost another hour into Del Rio as we had another litany of slow orders, freight interference, and another sit-for-15-minutes-then-back-up move. Past Del Rio, though, we gradually began to make up time as there was no freight interference after that. The diner was almost empty at every meal, even after the cars from the Texas Eagle were added. Ray was the SCA and Karol our server, both efficient and friendly. At breakfast I had the old standby, the omelet; there was a new item on the menu, a breakfast burrito, which by all accounts wasn't that good.

I was surprised at the West Texas scenery. It was lush and green!  . And the purple sage was pretty. I neglected to step out for a break at Alpine; there was a thunderstorm brewing at the time.

We gradually made up more time, eventually leaving Tuscon just over an hour late. And then promptly lost an hour at Maricopa. At dinner, I was by myself with a couple from Modesto who had taken the train to New Orleans to take their daughter to school at Tulane, and my uncle sat with a family whom he had met in the lounge and who he was giving the finer points of Amtrak and it's ins and outs to. We did this for several people on the train this time; people were asking us so many questions I think Amtrak ought to pay us for being ambassadors. :lol:

We eventually arrived this morning in Los Angeles about an hour late. After arrival we checked into the lounge, and had breakfast at Philipe's before returning to the lounge to wait on a Coast Starlight that didn't arrive into the station until past 10:25. So we are now on our way already 40 minutes down. Ah, well!!!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 29, 2016)

Glad to hear that West Texas is Green after years of Severe Drought but there is no excuse for missing the opportunity to walk on the New Platform at the Alpine Station! 

And did y'all get a Green Chili Burrito in El Paso, it's Hatch Chili Season and,as Tony the Tiger used to say, they're Greeeeeeeaaaat!!!!


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## JayPea (Aug 29, 2016)

Jim, after being on a train for the third year in a row that had hit someone, with my luck I figured I would get struck by lightning!  That plus we were so far behind schedule and the stop was very brief. I didn't see the burrito lady; the El Paso stop was very short too and not much time to look around for her


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## FormerOBS (Aug 29, 2016)

NO BURRITO LADY????

Time to demand a refund!

Tom


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## JayPea (Aug 29, 2016)

Well, she MIGHT have been there. Trouble was our sleeper was stopped well away from the station and our dwell time was cut almost in half as we needed to make up time. I'm not sure there would have been enough time to get in line and buy her wares if she was indeed there. I've always wanted to do that too. I did do one thing earlier in this round the US trip I've always wanted to do and that was buy the three part CZ guidebooks on sale at Dave's Depot at Grand Junction. We had all sorts of time at Grand Junction on our CZ part of the trip since we got in there so early.


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## JayPea (Sep 10, 2016)

Train 6 of 6: Coast Starlight

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now, the rest of the story". As previously mentioned, we left Los Angeles 40 minutes behind, raising the ire of a lady in the Parlour Car who was there doing her knitting. I would think knitting would be tough enough without trying to do it on a moving train. At any rate, it was a beautiful day for a trip up the Pacific Coast. Through the early afternoon, we didn't lose nor gain much time. We had lunch in the diner as the Parlour Car offerings didn't sound good to us. We had lunch with a couple returning to their home in San Luis Obispo after a trip to France where they had sampled many of the country's offerings in that country's many vineyards. As it was a beautiful day for a trip up the ocean, so it was for picture-taking up the Cuesta Grade out of San Luis Obispo. Our SCA was Robin, one of the best we've had. And Nancy was the LSA, also very good. We in fact had good to very good service all along our trip, with the exception of the dining car on the Cardinal, and that was due to the limitations that crappy service has to work with.

At dinner we sat with a middle aged man who seemed to be knowledgable about all things railroad. By this time, one would think I was getting tired of the same food, but was able to vary it just enough that it wasn't a problem. I had the steak, something I rarely do, but it was excellent. On a side note, after dinner, I went to the lounge for a nightcap, which for me is a Diet Pepsi :lol: and encountered something that makes me worry about the future of our nation. A young woman was engaging the lounge attendant, Moses, in a discussion, and she told him she was getting off in Albany, and catching a bus to Toledo, OH, arriving in an hour after leaving Albany! :blink: :wacko: h34r: Understandably, Moses was confused. The gal insisted it was Toledo, OH because "there is only one Toledo in the United States!" :help: :help: :help: She of course was ticketed to Toledo, *OR, *which is indeed an hour from Albany. If she is any indication of where our country is headed once people her age come into power, that four hour trip for me to the Canadian border will look better and better!!!   

We had made up maybe 10 minutes into Oakland, arriving about half an hour late. Whereupon the conductor made an announcement that we would be delayed some at Oakland as we were going to pick up a private car. My uncle and I were in the Parlour Car, listening to the Cubs beat the Pirates despite spotting Pittsburgh 6 runs, and Knitting Lady threw another fit, grumbling and bitching about losing all the time and more we'd made up. Considering the last three times we'd taken #14, we'd ended up multiple hours late. By the time we left Oakland, we were about an hour down. Much better than the previous times. We retired to our chambers after Emeryville.

We both awoke at Dunsmuir to find ourselves about 45 minutes down. It was a nice change of pace to have slept through Sacramento, Chico, (with all due respect to Trainman's Daughter  ) and Redding, after, as I said, being multiple hours late on the three previous trips on 14 and being wide awake at those stations in daylight. At breakfast, at which I had the usual omelet, with croissant, potatoes, and pork sausage, we ate with a man who was much more interested in trying to make a phone call and then arguing with us about the reasons he couldn't do so than conversing with us. We were at this point halfway between Dunsmuir and Klamath Falls. We were only 20 minutes late at Klamath Falls, and it looked like for once we were not going to be hours upon hours late into Seattle, or at least I wasn't as my uncle was going to get off at Eugene and catch 11 to Los Angeles and return to Illinois from there. So, naturally, not too far out of Klamath Falls, we came to a stop. The conductor announced there was a freight train ahead of us that was having problems. So, once again, Knitting Lady threw another fit, mad because we had made up time in Klamath Falls only to lose it. By now this was par for the course with us and the CS northbound. At least it solved a dilemma for my uncle: he was debating about having enough time for lunch as the scheduled departure time from Eugene is 12:36 and the earliest lunch seating is noon. That gave my uncle plenty of time for lunch as it turned out. At least it was a pastoral setting for our wait; by a beautiful green meadow with evergreen trees in the background, with a couple of horses and a couple of dogs frolicking in the meadow. After about 40 minutes, the conductor told us that from what chatter he was getting on the radio, the UP freight's problems were just about fixed and it would be probably no more than half an hour before we would be on our way. For once that was overestimated as maybe 15 minutes later the offending freight went by us. And we were soon on our way.

For the trip through the mountains, it was gorgeous. One of the prettiest days I've seen. We arrived in Eugene about an hour and a half behind schedule, not bad since it was more than four hours late at least the last few times we've taken the CS north. My uncle and I said our goodbyes at Eugene and I was left for the remainder of the trip to fend for myself.   The trip went without problems the rest of the way, save for a slllllliiiiiiiggggghhhhhhttttttt miscommunication near Salem. We began to slow down, and the conductor made the announcement that #11 was in the Salem station and we would have to wait about 20 minutes for it to clear. I thought that was odd because it was 3:25 at the time, and that would have indicated #11 would be in Salem about 10 minutes early. I knew that couldn't be the case because I had been tracking it and saw that it was a few minutes late leaving Albany. Sure enough, we began to pick up speed!!!! And when the announcement came we'd be arriving in Salem "shortly", I texted my uncle about the apparent mixup. He reassuringly texted back "I hope there's not a head-on collision!"  Gee thanks!   Turned out to be no collision. We got to the station first, and, sure enough, about five miles outside the Salem station, there sat #11 on a siding waiting for us!

We made up a bit of time into Portland and would have made up more if it were not for several miles of 10 MPH slow orders around Oregon City. The wait at Portland was cut short, and we left about an hour late. At dinner, I had the Salisbury steak. I had dinner with a couple from the Seattle area returning home from a weekend in Portland and a young man from San Antonio who was relocating to Olympia to be near his sons. This man looked to be in his 20's and I was astonished to find out his sons were 14 and 16. Whatever this man's secret was to looking young, I want in on it.!!! The rest of the trip passed without incident and we arrived into Seattle, thanks to padding, about half an hour late. I do hope Knitting Lady got to where she was going without much trouble!!!! :lol:

It was a great trip overall, with great scenery and excellent service for almost the entire trip. Now time to plan next year's Amtrak adventures!


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## greatcats (Sep 10, 2016)

Thanks for the report. I enjoy reading positive reports, not the horror stories.


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## oregon pioneer (Sep 10, 2016)

Glad you had a good trip, JP!


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## Manny T (Sep 10, 2016)

Very enjoyable and well written trip report JP. For some reason, while reading it I had thoughts of the French Revolution, the guillotine, the Reign of Terror, and Mme. Defarge. Could it be the knitting lady? It couldn't be Amtrak!


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## Bob Dylan (Sep 11, 2016)

"All's well that ends well!"

Nice trip Jeff, did Knitting Lady have time to finish whatever she was knitting?


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## FormerOBS (Sep 11, 2016)

Thanks, Jay!

I wonder how much trouble it would be for Knitting Lady to knit a gag for herself.

Tom

(No. I didn't say that. Some unscrupulous imposter snuck into my house and commandeered my computer!)


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## AmtrakBlue (Sep 11, 2016)

FormerOBS said:


> Thanks, Jay!
> 
> I wonder how much trouble it would be for Knitting Lady to knit a gag for herself.
> 
> ...


She should have appreciated all the extra time she had to work on her knitting. h34r:


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## Railroad Bill (Sep 11, 2016)

Enjoyed your train stories and so hope we get back to the West next year for some train rides. Been a while since we were on the CS.


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## PaulM (Sep 14, 2016)

JayPea said:


> Waiting to board the sleeper I saw a first: A young man boarding a sleeper with a bicycle. Efrem was our attendant, very good and efficient. And a flagrant flouter of rules: all day coffee and ice available. :lol:


Which was the flagrant flouter? The bike or all day coffee and ice?

If it was a folding bike, it was perfectly legitimate? As for the rest, when I boarded the eastbound California Zephyr in Denver around 6:00PM a couple of days ago, there was coffee, ice, and juice available. A violation or a change in policy back to better customer service?


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## JayPea (Sep 14, 2016)

The flagrant flouter was the car attendant.  Said tongue in cheek because most SCA's now shut down the coffee in the afternoon and almost all have the ice in their rooms but is available on request. I am glad he had ice and coffee available all day; I wish more SCA's could or would do this. I understand it's hard to convey sarcasm on a forum like this, which is what I was trying to do. 

As for the bicyclist, if his bike was a folding one, he didn't bother with the folding part. He wheeled it right on the train. I didn't see him after he boarded; he wasn't in our car. I don't know how he stored it. At any rate it was no concern of mine nor did it bother me in the least.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Sep 16, 2016)

JayPea,

I finally caught up with the rest of your trip report (I was on a short trip myself the past few days and not always around a computer). I loved this report--you have described the different trains and the differing countryside beautifully, and I really felt like I was there! 

The description of Knitting Lady was funny--I have seen people knitting on the train, and I don't know how they do it. And being able to knit on a moving train and complain at the same time takes real coordination! 

You and your uncle seem like such positive people that you would find good in all the trains you took. But, looking back on your trip, is there one that stands out as a favorite?


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## JayPea (Sep 16, 2016)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> You and your uncle seem like such positive people that you would find good in all the trains you took. But, looking back on your trip, is there one that stands out as a favorite?


Oh, good! We have somebody else fooled! :lol:  Believe me, if the trip had been a disaster, I would have reported on that too. But it wasn't. The downer of course was being on the SL when it hit a trespasser, causing us to lose 3 hours and 20 minutes. But the overall effect was to be late into Los Angeles about an hour, which got us there at 6:30 AM: better than it getting in on time or early, like at 4:30 AM. So even the worst part had as far as I'm concerned a positive for us. Not so, of course, for the family and friends of the man killed.  And while I thought the service was good to great, there are some that wouldn't think so, saying it's nothing to brag about when Amtrak employees are simply doing their job. But without exception, all of the employees we encountered were pleasant, enthusiastic, and were happy to be of service. I have had some that were none of the three. I guess it's the state of affairs these days that I almost hesitated even doing this trip report because of some AU'ers who cast doubt upon any bit of good news about Amtrak trips, going so far as to question people who have them. h34r: I think some people are not happy unless they are not happy.  In fact I had to wonder which AU'er Knitting Lady was. :lol:

As for which train I liked best, I'd have to say it was the California Zephyr. The SCA, Johnny, and the LSA, Joyce, and our server, Michael, treated us and the rest of the passengers like best of friends. It was easy to see they really cared about customer service and about their job. Johnny was a throwback, keeing coffee on all day and having a basket of candy available, not to mention juice and fresh fruit all day. And chocolate mints on our beds after he had made them up for the night. And you can't beat the scenery on the CZ, especially through the Sierra Nevadas and and the canyons and mountains of Colorado. I liked the Cardinal and Sunset LImited, too, as I had never been on the Cardinal nor the New Orleans-San Antonio leg of the SL. It's always great to be able to cross routes of my Amtrak bucket list!


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