# First Trip Report!



## jebr (Apr 8, 2012)

Some things that I found/experienced on my first-ever Amtrak trip, from SCD to MSP with my girlfriend:

Before the trip, I checked to see the on-time performance of the train into SCD. By doing so, I noticed that the train is usually late coming into SCD, but usually arrives relatively on-time into MSP. Since we didn't need to be there until 8:30-9 AM, this was fine.

There was a conductor at the station with us, who I believe boarded the train with us at SCD. He took our tickets, had us each sign ours, and gave us our seat check. I kept checking the status through the text tool that a fellow member had posted...it's a wonderful service!

The train rolled in around 6:05 AM. After a minute or two, a conductor came by and directed us to the correct car. We had some trouble finding seating, but the conductor led us to some seats near the rear of the car, which were open.

I was very impressed by the seats, as was my girlfriend. They were very comfortable and could be compared to first class on a plane. There was tons of leg room, which made me especially happy (I'm a fairly big guy: 6' 2" and 250ish pounds.) However, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to operate everything: you lowered the leg rest by pushing down on the lever, but you lifted it up to put it up. The seat back used the button (I believe), and the foot rest needed the lever by it pressed down to be pushed down. Also, the button to shine light on the right-hand seat (mine) was on the left side, whereas the button to shine light on the left-hand seat (hers) was on the right side. That was a bit confusing.

The sightseeing car was nice; however, I would have appreciated bigger seats; the single seat was very tight for me (though I am a big guy). I'd probably want to sit in a double seat. Luckily, they all swivel, which is very nice. People also tend to sleep in the sightseeing car, so I tried to be as quiet as I could when passing through. It looked less comfortable than sleeping in the seat, though you could lay flat (which I'm sure is nice).

The bathrooms were the one major disappointment area for me. While just as good as on a bus, I hoped the bathrooms would be as big/nice as on the Northstar commuter trains. However, they were fairly small, except for the dressing room, which had a women's-only sticker on it (can only women use it?)

We did not have any food in either the lounge car or the dining car, though I did have a few glasses of water. The cups were small, but it wasn't a huge deal.

We arrived into a very busy MSP Midway Station at about 7:30 and walked down to University Avenue to catch the bus. Fairly convenient, though it is a bit of a walk with the construction along University.

But I'll definitely be on it again, and my girlfriend will probably plan on it if it works (it's cheaper than flying, but the schedules are a bit inconvenient to come out and visit me this summer.)


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## Linda T (Apr 8, 2012)

jebr said:


> Some things that I found/experienced on my first-ever Amtrak trip, from SCD to MSP with my girlfriend:
> 
> Before the trip, I checked to see the on-time performance of the train into SCD. By doing so, I noticed that the train is usually late coming into SCD, but usually arrives relatively on-time into MSP. Since we didn't need to be there until 8:30-9 AM, this was fine.
> 
> ...


Glad you enjoyed the trip!


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## OlympianHiawatha (Apr 8, 2012)

The Ladies Lounge at the end of the corridor on Lower Coach is now open to anyone and is usually the cleanest in the car as many folks either don't wander back that far or fear the old sticker still on the door of unconverted Coaches. And do not worry about being noisy (within reason, of course) in the Sightseer as that is a Lounge and* NOT* a Sleeper


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