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  1. Nick Farr

    Trip Report: California Zephyr #5 CHI-TRU

    Wooooow. That was the best dinner I ever had on Amtrak. The steak was really great quality, cooked perfectly rare. The cheesecake was perfect. Along with the presentation, it's way better than Traditional Dining prior to the Flex Dining switch.
  2. Nick Farr

    Trip Report: California Zephyr #5 CHI-TRU

    On time departure! Our party of three is in two roomettes across from each other in the 540 car (Transition Sleeper) from CHI to GSC, when we switch to a Regular Bedroom. For now, we're in car 39039, a Superliner II transition Sleeper. Grandpa has been a huge model railroad fan but has never...
  3. Nick Farr

    Trip Report: California Zephyr #5 CHI-TRU

    Mommy and Baby love the Pennsylvania Room!
  4. Nick Farr

    Trip Report: California Zephyr #5 CHI-TRU

    So excited to be taking my not-quite-one-year-old on their first Amtrak trip with their Mom and Grandpa! Looks like the Metropolitan Lounge is kind of back in business. Canned sodas, chilled and sparkling water on tap. Coffee from the urn, but the espresso machine was not running. Seeing...
  5. Nick Farr

    Exceptional Employees

    The conductors on the Zephyr between Denver and Glenwood Springs (or wherever the crew switch is) are always my favorite. I think Robert once took off his conductor hat and let my partner and I take pictures with it on. We still cherish those memories and hope to see Robert again on our trip!
  6. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    If you were on Aeroflot metal, I'm not at all surprised. Search "Kennedy Steve" and Aeroflot for some interesting ATC conversations.
  7. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Columbia Heights, Foggy Bottom, Silver Springs and Pasadena. I've flown at least 200k FF Miles out of BWI, DCA and IAD combined. Just because you'd never do a thing doesn't mean it isn't a practical option for others. I will give you that if you live there your knowledge of the group situation...
  8. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Once ATC modernized maybe 5-6 years ago, this stopped being as much of a problem. Also, the procedures in London have to do with EU law. Airline passengers have more rights on the EU. I'm not certain how Brexit changes that.. What year was that?
  9. Nick Farr

    Ugliest and Soul-less Amtrak Stations Used in Metropolises Today

    I'll believe it when I see it running again. I'm hard pressed to think of another public transportation service that shut down completely because of COVID. Even prior to COVID it had frequent and unexplained delays in service or days where it just didn't run at all. I think in the 5 times I...
  10. Nick Farr

    Ugliest and Soul-less Amtrak Stations Used in Metropolises Today

    A light rail connection to a service that hasn't operated in over a year. At least the Ann Arbor station has a restaurant next door, in the old train station, on top of more foot traffic and public transportation that's actually running with some frequency. Oh, and trees and a view of...
  11. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    COVID likely wiped them out. All in all it comes down to whether or not you prefer driving for two hours or a layover.
  12. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Parking at IAD isn't much better and you have to pay for the Dulles toll road. Also, it's a really awful drive from Baltimore even when traffic isn't horrible. At least BWI has more budget options and, theoretically, they could take a relatively inexpensive Uber there. It's still personal...
  13. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Yes, especially after they became a state-owned airline. Heathrow is also just a poorly managed international airport. It's been universally dreaded by international travelers except elites on OneWorld.
  14. Nick Farr

    How much would it cost Amtrak to build its own tracks/right of way in areas where it gets a lot of pax?

    Yes, and I'm sure many folks here wouldn't mind it either--but the point remains that the vast majority of voters in the US do not want new rail running through their backyard (i.e their neighborhoods). This is what makes new rail difficult, beyond the cost.
  15. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Says someone who has probably never flown Aeroflot, Air China, Air Koryo or Copa I would also say that Delta international beats all but a dozen or so exceptional flag farriers as far as "niceness" in general. KLM can get pretty surly. If you want to know what awful service on Air France is...
  16. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    LGA has actually gotten a lot better and is a lot nicer than it was, even just before COVID. However, there are no flights to Europe from LGA. It's actually very rare that you'd ever have to change terminals at JFK flying on the same airline. Newark we can agree on. This is not the typical...
  17. Nick Farr

    Where should one change planes? London or New York? or somewhere else?

    Driving over there, assuming you're parking your car at DC Union Station, would cost more than flying. Given the parkway and navigating DC there, it's probably not necessarily easier unless you really, really prefer driving.
  18. Nick Farr

    Disobedience on Amtrak

    I think all of us agree that we're obligated to follow their instructions. Maybe it's semantics, but I don't believe anyone is entitled to automatic respect. However, based on my experiences with Amtrak conductors, they're probably the closest I ever come to automatic respect having earned it...
  19. Nick Farr

    Nostalgic and Historic Amtrak Stations Still Used Today

    It's manned during the two times of day it has a train, but there's really no reason to have someone there during the day.
  20. Nick Farr

    Ugliest and Soul-less Amtrak Stations Used in Metropolises Today

    Yes, by Detroit standards it's probably not an awful neighborhood. By almost any other metric, surrounded by parking lots with no foot traffic, very few walkable services and those that are there have attendants behind bulletproof glass all combine for "awful" when compared with the rest of the...
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