# Southwest Chief--Chicago to LA



## MTRailFan (Oct 27, 2013)

Traveled Chicago to LA; Departing Chicago 10/22. Overall a very enjoyable trip and the Southwest Chief compared favorably to previous trips on the Coast Starlite and the Empire Builder (four times). While this won't cover every detail; here are some points I noted and one or two (OK Three) suggestions I wish AMTRAK would pay attention to if they are monitoring this site.

Walked into the Metropolitan Lounge the Afternoon on 10/22 as three different trains were in the process of departing (the Texas Eagle, the Zephyr and Empire Builder) and I have never seen such a seething mass of humanity in my life--total zoo and chaos. Eventually the confusion sorted itself it and the Southwest Chief was called. Made the long walk out to the sleepers and had discovered two track inspection cars on the back of the train and two business cars headed to a rail historian gathering in Kansas City. One of the business cars was the Caritas and it was a treat to actually see that beautiful car--pictures do not do it justice.

Left Chicago on time on a stormy fall afternoon, ran into snow a bit more than an hour our of Chicago and stayed pretty much on time all the way to Kansas City. Track ride was smooth, most (if not all) of the ride through Illinois was double track and particularly interesting was the tracks meeting and separating at Galesburg. Only disappointment was that because of time of year and weather we crossed the Mississippi at Fort Madison in total pitch black dark.

Sleeping car attendant was Paul; very capable but not one to hang out and chat with the passengers (which is fine with me). However you could always find him, the car was kept in perfect order, bathrooms were kept clean and what more can one ask (or want).

A word about the dining car & staff and food. The staff was absolutely the best I have experienced on AMTRAK--without a doubt: efficient, pleasant to everybody at every meal and accommodating. Apparently Chicago had loaded the car with food for one menu but provided the wrong menus. Therefore the wait staff had to essentially give you a verbal menu at every meal. This is the type of foul-up that can put the average crew in a foul mood and put service into a tail spin. This crew handled it well.

Food was uniformly excellent and not just mine but also the people I ate with. I would say that with the possible exception of one meal in the Pacific Parlor Car the best food I have had on AMTRAK by a significant margin. Really good and it was pretty clear to me that the kitchen cared about what it was putting out.

Now my first suggestion to Amtrak. This train deserves enhanced diner service--they have earned it and this crew should be rewarded.

Stopped long enough in Kansas City to talk some quick pictures of the depot waiting room and then to bed. Track conditions across Missouri and Kansas were a little rough so sleep was intermittent.

Woke up before the sun; we were more or less on schedule and at the Kansas and Colorado border. We spent this day on the long, slow, sometimes rough trek from Lamar, Colorado to the wye at Albuquerque. The pluses--it was scenic; excellent view of Pikes Pike, the Raton and Glorieta Passes have their own special beauty. The color from the leaves etc. made for some excellent pictures and shopping with the vendors at Albuquerque is a long-time passenger tradition not to be missed. The Native American vendors there sell both economical trinkets and souvenirs as well as some pieces of high-end jewelry created by the artist selling it to you.

The downside--slow, very slow and rough track (when the train was moving fast enough that rough track was noticeable). There is endless debate on whether The Raton route should be maintained. If the criteria is scenery or history the Raton route works; but if AMTRAK is running a mass transportation network then getting to the most efficient route across the west serving the greatest possible population is what the railroad has historically been all about.

We pull out of Albuquerque mostly on schedule, hit the wye south of Albuquerque and join the BNSF transcon. Running speed picks up and the ride is smooth on this well-maintained track. A really enjoyable ride through unique scenery, small towns, interesting sights all the way to Flagstaff. What was interesting here is how AMTRAK failed to provide any communication to the passengers or on board staff (apparently because they appeared to be in the dark as well) about track problems ahead.

The day prior (10/22) two BNSF freights had wrecked taking out both tracks on the transcon. By early evening of 10/23 the BNSF website was predicting that one track would be open by 9:00 p.m. the evening of 10/23 and the other track by midnight. Since the Southwest Chief goes through the wreck site between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. (on 10/24) to me it looked like we would get through but with a monumental jam-up of freights ahead of us it was going to be slow running and we would be late. How late we were going to be would depend on the kindness of the BNSF despatchers and they had their own problems to deal with moving high priority freights. What amazed me is the AMTRAK conductors totally ignored the issue and made no effort to inform passengers or apparently the crew that there was a real possibility of delays during the night.

Consequently the sun finds us in the Mojave Desert somewhere between Needles and Barstow and about 3 plus hours behind schedule. We are tucked in behind a string of freights waiting for the despatcher to clear a bunch of apparently priority container trains on the second track so we can get around the slower traffic ahead. In other words we were about where I had expected to be. The passengers (particularly in coach) are having a fit because they were expecting to be in LA at that time. I think--and this is my second suggestion to AMTRAK--that a little bit of communication the night before explaining the situation would have gone a long way towards improving customer satisfaction. People, generally, do not behave particularly well when they are unpleasantly surprised by a sunrise view of the Mojave desert.

The good news of all this (if you are a railfan) was a daylight trip through the Cajon Pass. Then we got to Riverside and the wheels came off the train (figuratively). I'm sure you guessed it--the crew timed out and the replacement crew was not there yet. So we were two hours and forty five minutes late with about an hour of padding still left in the schedule (in other words doing real well all things considered--and particularly if you are used to the Empire Builder) and we were stopped.

Here is my third rant at AMTRAK. The train had kept perfect time since Barstow. Since 7:30 in the morning AMTRAK had known or should have known that best case scenario the crew would time out at Riverside; worst case at San Bernardino if there was a delay. Nobody should have been surprised and a crew should have been waiting at Riverside. Amtrak had more than two hours notice that it had to get a crew to a particular place and they blew it. I know it is more complicated than just finding a crew they have to be qualified on that particular track etc. etc. but AMTRAK also knew from the afternoon of 10/22 on when the BNSF freights wrecked that there was a very good chance that the Southwest Chief arriving at LAX on 10/24 was going to very late and they blew it.

In the end the train arrived about three hours late; I took the very efficient FlyAway bus to LAX and made it home on schedule.

Without exception an enjoyable trip and I was not inconvenienced because (being used to AMTRAK schedule-keeping) I made sure there was a full 10 hours between schedule arrive and airplane departure. Passengers on a tighter schedule were a bit more distressed and I see their point not because the train was late--these things happen--but because AMTRAK did such a poor job describing the situation and preparing customers for it and then made an unforced error with the crew timing out and not getting them replaced.


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## caravanman (Oct 27, 2013)

Nice report, glad the food was good aboard the train. Lack of info for delayed passengers is a major reason for upsets this side of the Atlantic too!

Ed


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## SarahZ (Oct 27, 2013)

Great report. We take the SWC between CHI and ABQ every year and really enjoy it.

You aren't kidding about the track across Kansas. I leave my bedding tucked in and sleep on my stomach to keep from rocking and getting thrown around during the night. I remember waking one night, somewhere near Dodge City, because I'd stuck my hand out in my sleep and caught the edge of the closet to keep myself from falling out of bed. I was kind of annoyed, but it was pretty amusing as well.

I do love the Raton and Glorieta Passes, but you're right - they are _sloooowwww_. It gives you a great chance to check out the scenery, though.


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## Dave Van (Oct 27, 2013)

Great to have another POV on the SWC so soon after I rode. Went West on 10/5, East 10/17.

I'll skip details on my trip....at the link below if you want to know them.

I had a crew 'age out' on the Cardinal while we were within sight of the Chicago station in a 5 hour delay!!

Amtrak needs a better system tracking crews and their shifts/limits.

Thnaks

http://www.currtail.com


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## oregon pioneer (Oct 27, 2013)

Hubby and some of his siblings have worked the railroads. He says they say the crew "went dead" when they run out of time.

It's happened to us more than once on Amtrak. One memorable trip on the SL, they started out by [putting us on a siding near LAX for five hours while they shuffled freight trains. Things went from bad to worse, and by the time we reached SAS, we'd had three crews "go dead", one in such a remote area that they put the replacement crew on a freight and rolled down the track to find us. We ended up over fourteen hours late. Same thing, you'd think as soon as we had the first five-hour delay, they'd be plotting how to get crew replaced in unusual locations.


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## Dave Van (Oct 27, 2013)

I've heard the 'went dead' term too.....always thought it was......a bit over the top. 'Age out' is more PC I guess.


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## oregon pioneer (Oct 27, 2013)

Dave Van said:


> I've heard the 'went dead' term too.....always thought it was......a bit over the top. 'Age out' is more PC I guess.


Well, it's kind of literal, they absolutely cannot do any work at all once they run out of time! Anyway, that's the term they use on the crew.


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## Dave Van (Oct 27, 2013)

oregon pioneer said:


> Dave Van said:
> 
> 
> > I've heard the 'went dead' term too.....always thought it was......a bit over the top. 'Age out' is more PC I guess.
> ...


I know.....I have an uncle on the NS out of the Logan WV area......I still use Age out with him.


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## AG1 (Oct 27, 2013)

Why not use "Crew timed out" ?


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## oregon pioneer (Oct 27, 2013)

RRRick said:


> Why not use "Crew timed out" ?


Go ahead and ask them why they don't use that! Then you can let us all know... I suspect it's "always been that way."


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## Garethe7 (Oct 30, 2013)

Missouri track on the SWC route is terrible, not looking forward to my upcoming return trip in that direction but at least it won't be at night, that made it much worse.


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## NETrainfan (Nov 11, 2013)

Interesting review. We love the Raton Pass. For us (Easterners) it has been the highlight of the SWC trip. Do understand the drawbacks.

The last time (last Nov.) we were on the SWC, we experienced very good food and sleeper service. Some days it seemed like Amtrak at its best, JMHO.


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## Gary (Nov 26, 2013)

Been taking the Southwest Chief for some 30 years now. Graduated from coach to roomette. Always been a nice ride.


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## chakk (Nov 29, 2013)

I think the original term was "dead on the law" to describe a situation where a crew exceeded the maximum number of consecutive hours allowed on duty. Shortened to "dead" in today's go-go world to say or do as much as possible in as little time as possible.


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## Maury Bredahl (Apr 26, 2015)

I departed from Kansas City at 10:45 (on time) on April 20. Much to my surprise handicapped service was provided upon arrival on the River Runner, and for departure. The station attendant took my small case to my roomette on the upper level. The car number was 330, roomette 10 and was located immediately behind the dining car. The last time I traveled Amtrak was 10 years earlier, in the handicapped room on the lower level.

Slept well across Kansas, which is a good thing, and was awaken by the call to breakfast. I was seated at a table with a well-traveled couple. Our order was scrambled eggs, an omelet with cheese (sorry no cheddar), and an omelet with no cheese. We were served three omelets with cheese! The gentlemen was allergic to dairy so he could eat around the edges. The diner was busy so no opportunity to reorder.

Returned to my roomette to find it had been converted to day travel by Simon the jovial and competent car attendant. Roomettes are flat-out tiny. I would not travel with another passenger.

At a full table for lunch, the others ordered cheeseburgers with no complaints. But, no side salads were available. I had a Caesar salad with chicken and it was quite good.

Not feeling well, so missed dinner. After Albuquerque, as we were running about an hour late, we charged across Western New Mexico on a ride as rough as a roller coaster. On a trip to the bathroom I was thrown so violently against the hall wall that I received a bruise on both arms! But, I did manage to sleep.

An observation, valid or not, is that the Amtrak business model of running fast passenger trains on tracks maintained for freight traffic is not viable!


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