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Totally bummed we missed this guy last week! Our eastbound Cardinal did not switch sides near Hawk's Nest as planned, it stayed on the south side of the gorge, so the best view of the bridge was out the left side. We almost missed it because I was waiting for the crossover first. We were in the...

Agreed! Sorry to misread/mischaracterize. (I'm supposed to be working on a book deadline but keep seeing AU alerts, haha, so was rushing through some posts.) The SSL and cafe (unlike the diner at mealtime) would be a total mix and in fact may have more coach people than sleeper people. Of the...

Agreed on the phones. If you travel as a couple and sit together in coach, then the only way you meet people is in cars other than the coach. In the diner they used to seat couples on one side of the booth and make strangers sit across from you. You have to talk. It's awesome. Same in the SSL...

Agreed, Amtrak coach seats are very comfortable. But I don't get how another poster in this thread was able to meet more people in coach as compared to sleeper. Nearly all the great encounters and conversations we had were because we were seated with strangers in the dining car, or by sitting in...

If you have at least two nights in a town or city between legs on the train, you will be able to catch up on the sleep deprivation and take walks. We did not suffer from the Amtrak food last week, there was plenty of it, not great, but filling. (Assuming you are traveling by roomette or bedroom...

Hello! Trip planning is so much fun. You are getting some great advice already. I can add a few things, as I've taken these routes: The Chief westbound in 1985 to Lamy (Santa Fe) and 2019 to Flagstaff, the Chief eastbound 2019, the Empire Builder Westbound to Seattle 2017, the Zephyr eastbound...

Wow I'm honored! There must be an AUer who has been there more than twice, or who even lives there! But it's true I do feel extremely "experienced" after the amount of research I did and the amount of sleep I forwent. Seriously, it's a beautiful town especially if you admire traditional...

Just to clarify, the scratches or crackles on the cafe car window weren't from anything like window-cleaning – they were a uniform texture all over. Just age I guess. I certainly will write to Customer Relations to complain. Sure it's kind of funny to see some of us doing this, but it's a...

Thanks everybody for putting your smart minds to this problem! In urban planning we call it the "last mile" and it's a common conundrum. We are back home in RI now, and yes I'll write up a Cardinal trip report with pictures, stay tuned. We ended up walking both ways. It was fine, though I'm...

This is a good point. The windows are Lexan. In our cafe car this week, you could see they were covered with little scratches.

Back home from a good Cardinal trip, report to follow sometime this week. For now, here's a squeegee picture for this thread! I am 5'6" and the device (hard rubber squeegee on short pole) is 20" and it reached the top of the Viewliner roomette window from a regular platform. Also had non-ammonia...

No problem at all being in roomette maskless in the Cardinal this week, DC to Maysville. SCA was nicely chill about things. Projectile sneezers are supposed to stay home anyway. However, I wasn’t thrilled to see Amish couple hanging out in cafe car maskless, chatting away. I’m guessing they...

Leaving on sleeper NER 67 in a few hours, and Cardinal 51 tomorrow morning, no food email. Did get the pre-Covid checkoff email for each leg (we reserved them separately). Also got our BidUp for a Cardinal bedroom declined.

Don't underestimate the value of the Aisle. It's a big reason I prefer Bedrooms to Roomettes no matter what. You can even see out that side a bit from your seat in the bedroom, just leave your door open. Then if the ocean shows up you can scamper into the aisle for a wider view. And, don't you...

Yes, thank you very much. My own town is half the population of Maysville so I'm familiar with taxi problems. I also saw Geno's and may call them, but really don't want them to get dragged out of bed or wait up, as you point out. What I was hoping was there would be a taxi or two just waiting...

Thanks, it's an airbnb and I don't expect the host to stay up all night to keep track of a late train and pick us up. They might not even be in town. Visitors bureau is a good idea.

Ack, hope that wasn't the inside!

Our Cardinal arrives in Maysville around midnight, anyone done this? Any taxis around? Plan B is a 15-minute walk but we'd rather not drag the luggage. We can try Lyft but we are first-time users, not sure if they'll respond.

Take some black gaffer/darkroom tape (not duct tape, too sticky) and clothespins to close curtains and cover lights. Eye mask and earplugs too. Prepare to not sleep much anyway, but it's worth it. The Zephyr is awesome. Enjoy!

Thanks! I guess we should ask first, might need to use their stool to reach anyway.