# Pere Marquette & Southwest Chief



## debmep (Mar 30, 2012)

We left GRR on time for our 4 hour ride to Chicago. The station is GRR was crazy busy because the ticket keosk was not working. People without printed tickets had to check in with the conductor & show ID, then she handled more paperwork once everyone was on board. I believe that anyone without a printed ticket had to stop in Chiago at a ticket window. GRR is not a staffed station. I had printed off our tickets last month, so we were all set. The train ride to CHI was uneventful & we arrived 45 minutes behind schedule.

Once we arrived in CHI we checked in at the Metropolitan Lounge, stored our luggage and headed out into town. We had to stop at the closest Fannie Mays Candy Store which was 3 blocks from Union Station. I use to work at a Fannie Mays years ago, so we picked out our own 1/2lb assortment for the train trip. Our second stop in CHI was the French Market a few more blocks away. We walked around deciding what to purchase for lunch. We ended up with take-out Middle Eastern Food which we carried back to the Metropolitan Lounge. It was sunny and in the 70's in CHI that day. The lounge was filling up by this time. We had about 2 hours before it would be time for us to board the SWC. Spent the time reading free newspapers, The New York Times was a treat. It was soon time to be escorted to our train. We had a pretty big group of people including a special-needs person with a big golden/lab mix service dog.

We found our sleeping car without any problem but the door was locked. There were about 25 of us that ended up waiting 10minutes (I timed it) for our SCA to open the door. "Pinky" finally arrived and we were allowed to board after she checked us in. We found our #2 roomette and settled in. The train was soon on its way. Our destination was ABQ for the weekend. Pinky stayed busy for 2 hours setting the car up. We never got an introduction to the roomette, we met her at the coffee pot. It was over an hour before the coffee was ready. Pinky said she was known for her coffee blends, and it was flavored with something, Pinky was not overly attentive to her passengers. The car seemed to be mostly senior citizens and it seemed like a lot of calls to Pinky went unanswered. I know that I called twice to have our bed put down that evening, she never responded. Finally around 10PM, she made a trip thru the car and I caught her attention. We slept OK the first night. I had the upper berth and my only issue was that the bed was so hard. I didnt mind the climb or the crawl into bed. A window would have been nice but gosh there isnt much padding. I was impressed with the pillows. They were about 1/2 size of a normal pillow but pretty comfortable.

We both woke up at 6AM and it was still dark out. We got coffee and both sat on the lower bed to watch the sun come up. Bkft started at 6:30, so we ate early. After bkft we sat in the observation car for about 30 minutes but it was freezing in there. There were 3 people from coach sleeping on the floor of the car, so that was a bit strange. We returned to our roomette and people were up moving around. Our roomette hadnt been made up yet, a grandmother and granddaughter next to us said they been calling for Pinky but so far she had not arrived. The coffee pot was empty.  We really wanted to sit in our seats, so the granddaugher from next door helped us fold up the top bed and rearrange the lower seats. Pinky finally arrived in the car at 8:15 to make coffee, I heard many people requesting her service to fold up beds etc. Soon after that the dining steward came thru to get lunch reservations.

We didnt make much time for some reason. There was a scheduled crew change in Las Animas which took 30 minutes. We started seeing wildlife around La Junta. Lots of prairie dogs sticking their heads out. The moutains were also visable out in the distance. We also began to see antelope. By Trinidad we were 45 minutes behind schedule. We arrived in Abq 70 minutes behind schedule. This was our stop so we disembarked, and said our Thanks to Pinky. Her tip reflected her lack of services.

I havent talked about our meals yet, so let me say that on this part of our trip the food was excellent. We both had the steak at our meal the first evening. Breakfast was French Toast for husband, the continental for me. Too much food for me, I ate the oatmeal (which was actually good) and gave the fruit, and biscuit to hubby. I left the yogurt at the table. Lunch: I had the hamburg, hubby had a cold sandwich. We noticed that most people did not leave any tips. We always tipped but most did not. We enjoyed meeting our table mates, we got along with all of them.

I will continue to post as a reply, 2nd installment later today.


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## river (Mar 30, 2012)

I enjoyed your trip report! Can picture it well. The bottom berth in the roomette is more comfortable to be sure--the mattress is on top of the flat seat cushions so there is extra padding. Were you able to try the bottom berth on the return trip back?

We had an absolutely wonderful SCA (Tony) on the California Zephyr. Coffee always on. Water and juice always iced. Beds made up without even needing to ask and just as we stated we preferred. Always smiling and friendly. We noticed him talking with other passengers in a smiling and friendly way as well. He clearly enjoys his job and yet also took the work aspects of it seriously. On the other hand, the SCA on our Coast Starlight trip was not to be seen the entire trip after greeting us when we boarded--at least he did that. He never even bothered to make coffee at all when we boarded at around 8:30am in Emeryville. Coffee pot was unplugged the entire trip. No iced juices or water either.

SCA's sure vary in their work ethic and expectations for themselves.

Looking forward to your next entry.


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## Dovecote (Mar 30, 2012)

Congrats on your 30th anniversary and thanks for an informative trip report. Do you know the car number you traveled on? I have a trip planned on the SWC in mid-May. SCA usually work the same car each trip they make. Hopefully I will be lucky and not get stuck with Pinky on my trip!


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## jb64 (Mar 30, 2012)

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. We had a really nice TA-S (SCA) on SWC a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I cannot recall his name.


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## debmep (Mar 30, 2012)

Albuquerque

We left the Transportation Center and soon arrived at the Holiday Inn Express Old Town. We've visited Abq twice previously, so I knew we wanted to stay near Old Town. We like Holiday Inn Express and so the choice was easy. We were greeted personally at the desk, still dont know how they knew who we were. The staff wished us "Happy Anniversary" and checked us in. I had reserved a normal 2 bed room, and was so surprised to open the door on the third floor to find a king suite with great views of the mountain. On the desk in the room was a gift basket with a hand signed card from the staff wishing us Happy Anniversary. What a nice touch. We loved the room. After unpacking, it was 7PM and we were starved. I had previously planned to have dinner at the Indian Pueblo Visitors Center across the street and that worked out fine. It was upscale mexican/native american indian food and very good. It was not busy at all and service was attentive. We waddled back to the hotel and soon called it a day.

Saturday morning we were up and ready for a day of shopping. The hotel was packed but the breakfast area is large with good flow. No more waffle makers, now the big thing is fresh pancakes that come spitting out the end of a machine.If you dont have a plate ready, the pancake lands on the floor. We had a great view of people learning a quick lesson. After breakfast we walked to the front of the hotel to catch the city bus to Old Town. We were approached by a panhandler who had a bit to much to drink, but we certainly didnt feel threatened in any way. Hubby is retired law enforcement and just gabbed with the guy for quite a while. We honestly might have given him a buck or 2 but we didnt have any small bills at that point. Our bus arrived right on time and it was a quick 20minute ride to Old Town. We were in Old Town by 10AM and the town was just waking up. I wont go into great detail but I found everything on my list. Hubby got a new inlay turquois wedding band. I came home with lots of jewerly and other things. We ate downtown at a restaurant, watched a wedding in the square, then Indian dancers celebrating a new store opening. I did buy 3 different pieces of jewerly from a Native American blanket vendor who I really liked. We probably only saw about 1/3 of Old Town. It was sunny and 80. The altitude really affected us, we drank water non stop and had to take lots of short breaks.

We called family that live in Abq, they picked us up in Old Town. We had to make a quick stop to take a picture of a house in the 'burbs. Hubby and son are big fans of the cable TV show "Breaking Bad" which is filmed in Abq. We had to find the house of the main guy on the show and take a picture if it. Found the house without a problem, its a typical Abq ranch on the outside, son said its a sound stage on the inside. There was a car in the driveway. We spent the evening with family, then were returned to out hotel around 10PM.

Sunday was our day to catch the SWC to return to CHI. Hubby got a automated call at 7AM while he was in the exercise room. Our train was delayed 6 hours due to a "track incident". So we didnt need to hurry to the transportation center. I know hubby made some phone calls and we found out that a women had walked in front of the train in Barslow CA about 10PM CA time the night before. The train crew had been swiched and the train was moving and in route but very delayed. So we called family members back and ended up checking out of the Holiday Inn Express and driving over to the Rio Grand Nature Center. Did some walking and birding, but didnt have the right equipement to see a whole lot. We did some OK pictures of a great horned owl on a nest. Family took us out to eat again at a restaurant near the University- I cant recall the name. Something western I believe. The Frontier possibly...

Very much a mixure of cultures & personalities in the restaurant. It was counter service, order your foood then have a seat until your number shows up. Then go pick up your food. The food was OK but we kinda lost of appetite before finishing. Hubby and I were next to eachother in a booth. Down a few booths and in our direct vision was a women who looked rather "tough" with tattoo's, beached hair, etc. She was not a small women and was dressed in a one piece blue dress, low cut in the front with almost everything visable. Not a big deal but she also sat with her legs spread wide open, dress hiked up way to her bottom, and everything visable if you know what I mean............ there was nothing left to wonder about, absolutely nothing! Hubby had to get up and leave the table. Now he's seen most everything in his line of work, but not while trying to eat his lunch. I pitty the poor person that had to sit in the booth after that women left. We kinda lost our appetite, so we left soon afterwards. We certainly saw enough that day. I have no idea what her intentions were but she was certainly advertising something, but we were not interested.

Family dropped us off at the Tranportation Center and we spent 4 hours waiting for the late SWC to arrive. It finally came at 4:50PM after the west bound SWC pulled away. Both trains met in ABQ that day. 3rd installment coming............


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## debmep (Mar 30, 2012)

Dovecote said:


> Congrats on your 30th anniversary and thanks for an informative trip report. Do you know the car number you traveled on? I have a trip planned on the SWC in mid-May. SCA usually work the same car each trip they make. Hopefully I will be lucky and not get stuck with Pinky on my trip!



Our west bound car was 330 roomette #2. Eastbound was car 430 roomette #5. The 30 cars are the closest to the dining car.


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## debmep (Mar 30, 2012)

Return to CHI.

We finally boarded the Eastbound SWC at 4:50PM Sunday. Our 2 SCA's quickly introduced themselves and we had a nice review of the roomette. "Chris" was the leader, his trainee was "Art". Boht men were attentive and really worked hard the return trip. Once everyone got settled the train started moving at 5:50PM. Unfortunately it was going the wrong way, we headed west about 1/2 mile I think. Chris mentioned that the train had to be moved to a cleaning area so that the engine and underside could be washed. We understood what that ment, which is rather sad when you think about it. It wasnt long and we started moving again this time the correct way back east. Chris had made dinner reservations for us at 6:15 which was fine. We sat with a nice couple from southern New Mexico who wanted wine with their meal. Unfortunately NM is totally dry on Sunday, so Amtrak could not sell any alcohol in the state of NM on Sunday. Dinner was fine but our waiter the entire trip back to CHI had much to be desired of. He did only what he had to do which was take the order and deliver the food. He spoke with a heavy accent, the little we heard him talk. We joked with the couple that we ate with, that we were going to sit in our booth for as long as it took him to bring us dessert & more coffee. We finally got sick of talking and sitting, so we finally got his attention from where he was sitting. The return train was not nearly as full as the sold out west bound train was on the trip to Abq. We never had a full diner on the return car to CHI, altho we saw a lot more food being carried out by the SCA's than the previous trip. Chris&Art were always busy taking meals back and forth. There were empty roomettes, and bedrooms on the return trip but not the westbound trip.

In ABQ I did inquire about an upgrade from our roomette to a bedroom but was quoted a price of over $400 to upgrade. Both the ticket agent and myself laughed and I declined. Hubby and I decided not to bring it up with the conductor after we got on the train. We decided that they had had enough stress during the trip and we didnt know what we would find in CHI as far as getting us back to MI. We decided to save our money and stay in the roomette. It was soon dark so we didnt see much of the Raton Pass or anything else. Our first stop was Lamy at 7:45PM. The return trip to CHI was fine, highlights were watching so many people waving at the train. One highlight was an Amish farmer bareback on a large work horse waving like crazy. I hope he knew someone but it brought a smile to my face. I slept much better on the return trip. The upper bunk was still hard as a rock but it was fine.

We had 2 mechanical breakdowns on the return trip, both were hose related. The second one was in the Chicago area where we had the fastest train stop we have ever felt. It was enough to slam all the roomette doors shut that were open. We even smelled burning brakes. We were told that some hose broke and the train had to emergency stop. Both breakdowns took about 1/2 hour to fix. We arrived back in Union Station about 9:45PM which I believe is just shy of 7 hours late. Amtrak had no information available on the train about connections once we hit Union Station. They did pull off one family at a stop in ILL. I only know this because they were eating dinner in the diner and the conductor found them. They were being pulled off, then bussed to a city to catch a southbound train, which they missed in CHI.

Amtak did announce that the coach passengers would be receiving sandwiches for both the noon meal Sunday, then again in the evening. We saw "Subway" deliver the evening sandwiches, I dont know about the noon meal. For the sleeper passengers we were asked to come to the dining car Sunday evening and given a choice of anything that was left. We had a choice of steak or chicken with mash potatoes. Nothing else. The train was running out of food already at breakfast. French toast but no syrup. By noon all th soda was gone except for Siara Mist. There was other food that was not available but by this time I was sick of taking notes. We said good-by to our 2 SCA's and tipped them before we left the train. I knew it would be crazy in the station and it was. Interesting observation is that on the return trip we saw no other people leave a tip for the dining staff. None of our table mates did. We had a discussion with the first couple we ate with weather or not to tip our waiter. Since he really did not do a good job, we decided to keep our karma good and decided to leave him 1/2 of what we planned on. So each meal we tipped according to his service which did not improve as we headed east, but we still left him something at each meal. We had the same waiters each meal in either direction.

Once we got back to Union Station it was a mad dash to inside the station. Amtrak held up one east bound train for many people to catch. There were agents just inside the sliding door directing people. For many of the east bound passengers they went directly to the waiting train & didnt enter the big part of the station. We were asked our destination and then told to go to "Guest Services". We were met my a very nice person who took our names and said to just have a seat for a few minutes. She went into the office and came back within 3 mintues and said "We have a bus warming up to take you back to Grand Rapids". We waited for one other person to show up who needed to go to Holland. We were escorted up close to the big hall, took a turn and ended up in an underground parking garage. There was a 12 passenger van waiting for us. A large group of Kalamazoo, Detroit people were escorted to another location to catch a different bus. We were in route home by 10:30 or so. The driver wasnt a talker and we made great time. We got to Holland MI in 2 1/2 hours from Union Station, it was another 30mintes to the Amtrak station downtown GRR. The driver pulled right up to our van. My husband tipped him our last $20, which he seemed to really appreciate. We arrived back home just before 3AM Tuesday morning. The normal arrival time of the Pere Marquette to GRR is about 10:20PM.

Before we loaded ourselves into the van in Union Station, the Guest Services rep told me to be sure and call Amtraks Customer Services number in the morning. She told me that we would be compensated for our missed train. I really didnt know if I believed her as we did get transportation back home. But I did call Tuesday afternoon. It took about 30minutes to get a real person. I explained the situation and that I was told to call. He asked a few question, the second one was if we had received transportation home. I told him that we did. He put me on hold for abou 5 minutes and when he came back on he told me that we would have a $200 credit to use on any further travel in the next year. Something is coming in the mail within a week or 2, and it needs to be redeemed or processed at a ticket agent staffed station, which I know the closest is Kalamazoo. I really didnt understand everything he said but its fine if we need to go to Kazoo to process whatever we get. So maybe some hot summer day, we take a quick trip from GRR to CHI again. We have done a day trip many times to CHI, which is why we finally wanted to do a long distance trip.

Over all we had a wonderful experience. We loved the whole train trip and would do it again in a heartbeat. The roomette was fine, but I can see now how much nicer a bedroom would be. There is much to be said for private bathrooms. My husband said that train travel is a lot like camping, you really need to be organized and think every step out. Roomettes are teeny tiny, especially for 2 people. But we really enjoyed it. Knowledge is everything, and I went into this knowing what to expect. I would be happy to answer any questions.


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## Railroad Bill (Mar 30, 2012)

Enjoyed all of your trip reports. Glad you enjoyed most of your trip. We unfortunately had Pinky a few years ago. Sounds like her work ethic has not changed much. It is very unfortunate that Amtrak tolerates the poor employees they have. 

We love ABQ as well and the Chief is a nice train, especially when it is on time :giggle:


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## white rabbitt (Mar 30, 2012)

debmep said:


> Return to CHI.
> 
> We finally boarded the Eastbound SWC at 4:50PM Sunday. Our 2 SCA's quickly introduced themselves and we had a nice review of the roomette. "Chris" was the leader, his trainee was "Art". Boht men were attentive and really worked hard the return trip. Once everyone got settled the train started moving at 5:50PM. Unfortunately it was going the wrong way, we headed west about 1/2 mile I think. Chris mentioned that the train had to be moved to a cleaning area so that the engine and underside could be washed. We understood what that ment, which is rather sad when you think about it. It wasnt long and we started moving again this time the correct way back east. Chris had made dinner reservations for us at 6:15 which was fine. We sat with a nice couple from southern New Mexico who wanted wine with their meal. Unfortunately NM is totally dry on Sunday, so Amtrak could not sell any alcohol in the state of NM on Sunday. Dinner was fine but our waiter the entire trip back to CHI had much to be desired of. He did only what he had to do which was take the order and deliver the food. He spoke with a heavy accent, the little we heard him talk. We joked with the couple that we ate with, that we were going to sit in our booth for as long as it took him to bring us dessert & more coffee. We finally got sick of talking and sitting, so we finally got his attention from where he was sitting. The return train was not nearly as full as the sold out west bound train was on the trip to Abq. We never had a full diner on the return car to CHI, altho we saw a lot more food being carried out by the SCA's than the previous trip. Chris&Art were always busy taking meals back and forth. There were empty roomettes, and bedrooms on the return trip but not the westbound trip.
> 
> ...


deb when u say the roomette is teeny just how teeny is teeny and do u see the metropolitian lounge

what do they have in the lounge


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## GG-1 (Mar 30, 2012)

wabbitt said:


> debmep said:
> 
> 
> > Roomettes are teeny tiny, especially for 2 people. But we really enjoyed it. Knowledge is everything, and I went into this knowing what to expect. I would be happy to answer any questions.
> ...


Aloha

Teeny tiny, Nah they are about 3 phone booth in size and superman changes in 1.  :giggle: :help: :wub: :lol:


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## debmep (Mar 31, 2012)

wabbitt said:


> debmep said:
> 
> 
> > Return to CHI.
> ...


"teeny-tiny" can mean different things to different people. Youtube has lots of video's and explanations about roomettes. There is also lots of information on line about the metropolitian Lounge in Chicago. Its a very nice spot to spend a few hours. Lots of chairs, couches, TV's, wifi, and self serve snack area.


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## Dovecote (Mar 31, 2012)

debmep said:


> Dovecote said:
> 
> 
> > Congrats on your 30th anniversary and thanks for an informative trip report. Do you know the car number you traveled on? I have a trip planned on the SWC in mid-May. SCA usually work the same car each trip they make. Hopefully I will be lucky and not get stuck with Pinky on my trip!
> ...


My westbound trip will be in the 0330 car. Say a pray that the trainset I am on will not have Pinky assigned to it! Thanks for the additional installments to your trip report. Happy to hear that you will be riding Amtrak again in the future.


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## jb64 (Apr 1, 2012)

I had the 330 car and didn't have Pinky, so I have my fingers crossed for you. I can't recall his name now, but he was a very nice man, not obtrusive but there when you needed him.


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## Dovecote (Apr 1, 2012)

jb64 said:


> I had the 330 car and didn't have Pinky, so I have my fingers crossed for you. I can't recall his name now, but he was a very nice man, not obtrusive but there when you needed him.


Thanks for your well wishes. The odds are in my favor that I will miss this slacker since the SWC has five trainsets and the multiple crews involved in each of these trainsets. BTW, I enjoyed your blog/trip report on your recent journey. Sorry for this tardy thank you.


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## Michigan Mom (Apr 11, 2012)

Having finished doing taxes...with a little "spare" time, can't think of anything that could be more fun right now than reading trip reports. I must say.. the one thing I would find unforgiveable, no coffee at 8:30 in the morning.

Enjoyed reading this adventure and all the others on this page :lol:


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