# Labor Day Getaway on the CZ



## RailFanLNK (Sep 4, 2006)

Hello Everyone,

Well my trip with my girlfriend and two teenagers (female 17 and male 13) was a success. There was some low moments but also enough "high" moments to know that the trip was considered a success. Our trip began Friday night August 31st, the "kids" got irritated quickly with mom laying out a full page list of what they needed to bring. During the week leading up to departure she prodded, she begged and then finally gave up with making for sure every item needed was packed. The son forgot aquatic shoes, and his sunglasses but survived. Now the wierd part.................................

About a month ago, we noticed we may have "over budgeted" the cost of the trip. We thought about cancelling the sleeping car (family bedroom) on the California Zephyr on the way to Glenwood Springs. The additional cost was $493.00. We are both working class folks, so its not like we are rich. I then decided to "change" the existing reservation and get two roomettes. That was from advice from all of you on this forum. The two roomettes were $116.00 apiece. Total cost: $232.00 compared to $493.00. It saved me $261.00. When I went to pick up the new tickets, the Amtrak agent told me that "its not nice to do that". I asked him, "is it legal? I don't want to make trouble." He asked why we had changed and I told the truth. I said, "when the trip was getting out of control cost wise, it was either cancel the whole trip, change the sleeping accomodations or cancel them." I told him the kids were kinda pysched up for the sleeping car, so we just downgraded. So, he was businesslike but not real thrilled with what we did. I was issued a $261.00 voucher for more Amtrak travel instead of a refund. So we are told that the roomettes are in the transisition sleeper and right next to each other. So..........we show up Friday night and the agent (same guy the week before that told me its not nice to downgrade) says "there's a problem with your sleeper accomodations". My heart starts to sink fast. He says, "there's no transisition sleeper on this set, so we have booked you into a family bedroom with no additional cost to you." Ok........so we now are back in a family bedroom for $232.00, it was the same room we originally had in the first place. Girlfriend was a little bummed since she wanted to take time to re-up our membership in the 79MPH club,  but she just smiled knowing that this was probably the best in the long run.

Now the "cute" part. At the train station in Lincoln NE (LNK) the place was really packed. The #5 was about 1 hour late. Arrival time being 12:18 with the actual arrival being around 1:20am. We all had taken our Tylenol PM and was just wanting to board and go to bed. There was a real young boy, probably 7 years old, and kinda chunky that was "high as a kite" on adrenaline. He was NOT being annoying, but actually quite "cute". (I don't have kids, some kids can make me go from being Pro-Life to Pro-Choice in a matter of minutes) :lol: When the #5 was beginning to "round the bend" he started running and announcing "its here, its here, everyone the train is here!" He even got smiles from my girfriends two very tired teenagers. The California Zephyr was packed my friends! I have never ridden on the CZ with it SO packed. That made me feel good.

We was greeted by one heck of a sleeper car attendent. His name was Ray Chambers. He was out of Chicago. He stuck his hand out and said, "I believe we may be related Mr. Chambers, (thats my last name) My name is Ray Chambers and I'm here to make your trip comfortable". What a way to start out! He was great with my girlfriends kids, and we had a "private" conversation on how to deal with the kids who aren't your own. He has had similar problems in life with his girlfriends kids. He just told me to "hang in there". :unsure: We had a very comfortable ride in the Family Bedroom. Remember folks to always "lock the door". We didn't, we just shut it but a very snippy person who my girlfriend ate in the dining car with the following morning accidently got turned around in the train and just plain walked "right into our room". Glad there wasn't any AmNookie goin' on!!!!!  The "snippy" person was a first time rider and of course was peeved about being "not on time".

Here's some good news again. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner on this trip. The food was NOT horrible. If your new to this forum, there's been alot of discussion about the Simplified Dining. We didn't have one bad meal. The crew on this jam packed train was great. The conductor was Lester out of Denver. He was the conductor that took the time out last winter to explain Amtrak to my girlfriend and I the week before we boarded for our first Amtrak trip. Lester was tops! The dining car was great. A waiter named Craig made for sure we were taken care of. The kids like the food too. I had the Bob Evans breakfast (?) and everything was very good. At lunch I had the Angus Burger and it was cooked to perfection. On the trip back I had the rottisserre baked chicken. The thing was HUGE!!!!!!! On the way back our server in the dining car was "Red". He joked around with my girlfriends kids, he "snuck" into one of our pictures. :lol: And then sat for a second and we got two pics of him with my girlfriend and her daughter. We left Lincoln one hour late and arrived in Glenwood Springs CO in the majestic Rocky Mountains at about 3:30pm. We were about 1 1/2 hours late, but by no means angry at all. We never really told the kids what the "real" times of arrival and departure were from LNK or GSC. If you have children or an adult that is Type A and riding Amtrak for the first time....BS them a little on arrival and departure times. Sure makes for less whining!!!!! :lol:

On our way back on the #6 we were really surprised: The train was NOT packed. The conducter (Bill from Omaha NE) said, "its a holiday weekend, it will be standing room only tomorrow, not today." So we thought "this is gonna be great" and it WAS!!!!! The kids had the idea that "coach" was for the "poor people". Well.....after what we spent getting there, swimming, whitewater rafting, eating, sleeping accomodations, adventure park etc.........well....we were POOR people!!!! :lol: So the kids attitude towards coach was less then "favorable". They both ended up getting there own seat from GSC to DEN. We were put in the second coach car and it was CLEAN, odor free and VERY QUIET!!!!! It was such a blessing!!!! I can't remember her name but our coach attendent was FANTASTIC. There was one trip we took on Memorial Day weekend and we didn't even know we had a "coach attendent". :huh: With the #6 less then full, we had plenty of room to stretch out, lay around, get great seats in the observation car and etc. Also, someone told me on this forum to bring Windex and a small rag to wipe dirty windows.........whomever did that I say, THANK YOU!!!! The windows in the observation car were a mess. I asked the conductor if it was ok to "clean with Windex" and he said, "GO FOR IT!!!! THANKS FOR DOING IT AND THANKS FOR ASKING!!!!" So I let others borrow the Windex and kinda became the "hit" in the Observation Car.

Here's an interesting note: On the Rocky Mountains after you leave GSC, there was a certain point where we saw "metal glimmering" on the side of the Rockies. It was cars that had crashed and tumbled down the mountains. There's a road with a real sharp bend and some people just don't pay attention. The reason we knew this was there was a Rail Guide announcing things in the Observation Car. I loved his insight on the Rockies. There was a station wagon on the side of the mountain perched perilously on the side. 7 teenagers had been in that car. NONE of them died. Also, on the way back we saw the MOON alot. Yes, we were mooned and flashed about 30 times on the way back!!!! We had told the kids this would be happening and we were kinda dissapointed that on the way to GSC, we were never mooned. On the way back, the whole train was rollicking with laughter at the innocent (in my view point) fun!!!!

In a nutshell folks....Amtrak shined on this trip. Not one surly employee and a bunch of hard working Amtrak employees. I had noticed in GSC from a prior trip that there were 3 employees at the GSC station. On Sunday there was only one and she was running her fanny off. I can't say (Amtrak wise) one single NEGATIVE thing. The conducter Bill on the way back sat down with my girlfriend and her kids and visited with them for about 15 minutes. (I was in the observation car) He was so nice and genuine. I was a bit scared of him at first. When we was boarding in GSC for the trip back to LNK, some lady was trying to board before the boarding call had been given. He just plain said, "I'm the conductor and NO ONE boards until I say so!"  (So I thought maybe he had some "ugliness" in him) but it was an individual that I believe was "difficult" and it was his way of "setting the tone" so no other situations would arise.

I will be boarding the #5 California Zephyr in exactly one month from today to go from Lincoln NE to Winter Park CO. My fare is around $100 RT, (I can't drive it for that) and staying at a hostel for $19.00 per night. I can't wait for my next trip. And for any of you that have a desire to take the California Zephyr, the Glenwood Springs Amtrak station has a railroad musuem. It sells a guide book written by a woman who gives you all the "insight" of the whole route from Denver to Emeryville. Its two books, DEN to SLC and SLC to EMY. I bought the DEN/SLC because I ride that alot more. Its very interesting. Lots of good "tidbits" in it. Pick one up if you are interested. Once again, the Amtrak experience was very good, bathrooms weren't dirty either. Both ways we were NOT in re-furbished cars. But that was ok. The train experience was excellent! We left GSC about 2 hours late, we went by UP train after UP train that was either sitting waiting for us or not being operated. We arrived back to LNK about 1 hour late. I can't really remember since the conductor woke us up minutes before we were to de-train. Since we didn't check baggage, we were off the train and home back in bed in about 10 minutes!


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## MrFSS (Sep 4, 2006)

Thanks for the report - you're becoming a real Amtrak traveller!!

Have the kids said if tyhey want to ride, agan?


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## RailFanLNK (Sep 4, 2006)

Since it was 5:30am, not a word was being spoken in the vehichle going home. I will see what there mom says about it. They were good on the train and I think enjoyed it. The daughter has a nice camera and told me she was getting some real good pictures. Time will tell! But I will let everyone know! :huh:


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## 1702 (Sep 4, 2006)

A great trip report! Nice to see some positive comments for a change, instead of tales of woe and despair. One way that I know y'all are great travelers is that you got to know members of the crew and remembered to mention them by name in your story.

Just out of curiosity, when you changed your sleeper reservations from a family bedroom to two roomettes, I assume you cancelled the res. for the family room. If that's the case and you did it seven days or more before your departure date, you were entitled to a refund not a travel voucher. The only downside to getting a refund in your original form of payment (rather than a voucher) is that you're charged a 10% service fee up to maximum of $100. If you accept the voucher instead, you get the full value.


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## RailFanLNK (Sep 4, 2006)

He pretty much just "issued" me the voucher. He then said I would have had to pay the 10% penalty if I chose a refund or whatever. I first I thought this was "incorrect", but then I got to thinking that I will use the travel voucher and since I was downgrading to save money, it didn't make much sense to then pay a 10% penalty. I was already thinking that for a trip to Chicago, I have $260+ and if my girlfriend would book two tickets (for her and 1 kid) if there's still the "kids ride free" AAA thing, we could go pretty inexpensively. I have learned through my job at UPS, that if you call people by name, you can generally get people either in a mood to provide a bit more service to you or when one hears thier name, they know that you have taken an interest in learning thier name and it can make a social occasion alot better. I will also be e-mailing Amtrak and will have specific names to specific jobs for a "pat on the back".


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## 1702 (Sep 4, 2006)

rail rookie said:


> He pretty much just "issued" me the voucher. He then said I would have had to pay the 10% penalty if I chose a refund or whatever. I first I thought this was "incorrect", but then I got to thinking that I will use the travel voucher and since I was downgrading to save money, it didn't make much sense to then pay a 10% penalty. I was already thinking that for a trip to Chicago, I have $260+ and if my girlfriend would book two tickets (for her and 1 kid) if there's still the "kids ride free" AAA thing, we could go pretty inexpensively. I have learned through my job at UPS, that if you call people by name, you can generally get people either in a mood to provide a bit more service to you or when one hears thier name, they know that you have taken an interest in learning thier name and it can make a social occasion alot better. I will also be e-mailing Amtrak and will have specific names to specific jobs for a "pat on the back".



Hmmm......unless you kept both reservations (fam room & roomettes) "in the system" until you picked up your tickets, I can't understand why the ticket agent would even question it. Even if you had done that but had picked up the tickets a week or more before your travel date, it still shouldn't have been a problem.

IMHO, the ticket agent should have offered you the option of the refund or the voucher rather than seemingly making a decision on what you should get. But you're OK with the voucher & the extra 10% & that's what counts.

Many more happy trips!


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## Chi_Train_Fan (Sep 5, 2006)

RailRookie,

Thanks for your trip report! I'm so glad to hear that you had good crews to and from Glenwood Springs. I must say that for the most part I had the same experience this summer while riding the California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, and Empire Builderd (espescially the Builder.) I can't wait to read a report from your next trip.

Cheers,

David Z


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## MadManMoon (Sep 5, 2006)

Wow, talk about coincidences -- I was on the same train, in the same sleeper! My wife and I rode all the way from Chicago to Emeryville. We were upstairs in roomette 5.

I agree, Ray was a fantastic attendant -- kept his spirits up the entire trip, no matter what anyone threw at him!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip. I'll be posting my own trip report soon.

Drew


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## RailFanLNK (Sep 5, 2006)

Drew,

I was with a young woman, attractive and 17 years old, a 13 year old boy kinda heavy set and a woman about 43 with pretty eyes and kinda poofy hair since she didn't do the make-up and hair dryer thing on the train. Did we sit by each other or converse in the observation car at all?

Al

PS. I forgot to tell everyone that coming into Denver on the way back was gorgeous. It was barely nightfall and the city lights were just awesome!!!!!!


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## MadManMoon (Sep 5, 2006)

rail rookie said:


> Drew,I was with a young woman, attractive and 17 years old, a 13 year old boy kinda heavy set and a woman about 43 with pretty eyes and kinda poofy hair since she didn't do the make-up and hair dryer thing on the train. Did we sit by each other or converse in the observation car at all?
> 
> Al
> 
> PS. I forgot to tell everyone that coming into Denver on the way back was gorgeous. It was barely nightfall and the city lights were just awesome!!!!!!


The foursome definitely sounds familiar, but my wife and I didn't spend any time in the Sightseer. I think I probably saw you guys once or twice heading to or from the dining car.

We only rode one-way (flew home due to time constraints), but we're already planning another trip on the CZ for February. Amazing scenery!


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## printman2000 (Sep 7, 2006)

Since you had a voucher, could you have used that towards upgrading to a sleeper on your return trip? It is obviously too late now, but just a thought that came to mind.


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