# PVD - NYP roundtrip on acela



## amamba (Mar 13, 2011)

I have a full report of my trip on my blog:

trainsacrossamerica.blogspot.com

I had a fabulous trip on the acela!


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## the_traveler (Mar 13, 2011)

Nice report!

One question - How do you get I blog?




I WANT ONE TOO!



(I'm to lazy to look!



)


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## amamba (Mar 13, 2011)

Go to www.blogspot.com - or any free blog site (like wordpress, etc). Click sign up! It is FREE. You can pick the name, etc. It is linked to my google account, too. I think it might be a google product? I am not sure. But I have friends and family that want to follow my trip and they want pictures, so I thought it would be easiest to do on a blog and then just send you the guys the link to read my trip report


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## Acela150 (Mar 13, 2011)

The_Travelers user name would be The_Penthouse! :lol: Anyway looked like a great trip! That lasagna looked killer! Hopefully it's on the menu in a few weeks when I return from Boston on 2255! That would be my lunch choice!


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## the_traveler (Mar 14, 2011)

Acela150 said:


> The_Travelers user name would be The_Penthouse! :lol:


No it wouldn't!





It would be "A View from the_penthouse"!


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## amamba (Mar 14, 2011)

The lasagna was good. It was no Daniel Boulud bone marrow, though  . However, I had the vegetable strata over President's Day weekend and also a chicken dish, and the lasagna has so far been by the best food I have had on the acela for dinner/lunch.

I also was slightly disappointed with the car attendants on the southbound trip on Friday. The best crew I have had was the same crew I had going north and south in February. It was two women, both with darker skin tones (I am not sure of exact ethnicity). They weren't wearing nametags, but the one who did the forward facing stuff (taking orders, delivering food) had her hair cut very short, almost in a men's style, and she was amazing. She kept my drink full the entire way! :wub:


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## the_traveler (Mar 14, 2011)

amamba said:


> She kept my drink full the entire way! :wub:


You mean there was a leak in your glass?


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## Pastor Dave (Mar 14, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Acela150 said:
> 
> 
> > The_Travelers user name would be The_Penthouse! :lol:
> ...


Or perhaps, "a view from the_the penthouse while nursing a cocktail with a harem of beauties taking care of my every need."


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## the_traveler (Mar 15, 2011)

Pastor Dave said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > Acela150 said:
> ...


Not a harem. I believe 38 is enough!



(I don't want to over do it!



)


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## AlanB (Mar 15, 2011)

Mr. Johnson is one of the best FC attendants that Amtrak has. I think the only attendant that I would rank higher than Mr. Johnson is a fellow named Wilson. Wilson always remembered what I drank and the second he saw me boarding, he'd be walking down the aisle with my glass of white wine.

But Mr. Johnson is also top league. I'm actually a bit surprised to hear that he forgot about a drink for you, but hey, everyone makes mistakes once in a while. My mom and I had Mr. Johnson on a ride back from Boston last fall where our train had major problems that forced it to stop twice between Providence and New Haven to deal with the issues. Once we got rolling, Mr. Johnson went forward to consult with the conductors about what this had done to our scheduled arrival times at New Haven, Stamford, and NY.

He returned to our car and did a private announcement to update everyone with those estimated times. Oddly enough, the conductor that Mr. Johnson spoke with never felt compelled to make a similar announcement to the rest of the train. So only those in FC actually knew what to expect. 

I also had Mr. Johnson several years ago on the last run ever of the old Metroliner service. In fact Trogdor was with me for that run. Amtrak downplayed the entire thing, almost like they wanted it to just be gone. Mr. Johnson however made it a point to tell all of his charges in FC that day that they were essentially making history by being on that train.

If Mr. Johnson isn't involved in training new FC attendants, he most certainly should be! If every Amtrak employee took away even half of Mr. Johnson's attitude and work ethics, Amtrak would be a different world and could probably cut customer complaints by half. About the only thing left to complain about would be bad equipment and late running trains, as customer service would be fixed!


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## amamba (Mar 16, 2011)

What I really liked about Mr. Johnson was that he took the time to learn everyone's name - and I was on a pretty much SOLD OUT car, but he still used them. It was actually sort of funny, though, when he first greeted me and took my ticket, he called me "Miss First name". After he carded me for a drink and I think saw my wedding ring, he switched to calling me "Mrs Lastname."

He made such great announcements, which I think was really nice as well. He said things like, "Please keep your first class feet off the first class furniture." (there were some kids jumping around in the seats). He had the entire car laughing. He made the plea for people to keep off their phones, which was great, and he also made an announcement before they began the lunch service. He apologized in advance that the car was full so that he might run out of some of the entrees. He announced what entrees he had and how many of them, and he also explained the ordering process (from the back of the car forward) and the delivery process.

I asked him for a second bourbon when he was collecting my tray from lunch, and I did specify "when you have a chance," but I assume that he was busy with cleanup and then maybe just forgot. It was a very full car - only 3 or 4 open seats. I made the request about an hour south of Providence. It wasn't that big of a deal, he walked past me a few more times, and I certainly could have flagged him down if I was that desperate.

With the luggage - he came and took my bag out of the overhead above my seat, brought it down to the end of the car, and then unloaded it onto the platform in PVD. That was a really nice gesture as well.


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