Amtrak crew bases discussion

[Sammo]

Which crew bases have the best crews, in your opinion, and why?

I've always felt the SEA/PDX and MSP crews were the best on the Empire Builder, personally.

 

[PerRock]

Not Chicago.

 

[zephyr17]

LA has good crews generally, as does Seattle. Chicago is in the running for worst.

As far as I know MSP is not a crew base, nor is PDX. 7/8 is generally OBS crewed out of Seattle, 27/28 is crewed out of Chicago. Sometimes the difference between the Cafe attendant (Chicago) and the dining car (Seattle) is pretty stark on the Builder.

 

[Cal]

LA has good crews generally, as does Seattle. Chicago is in the running for worst.

I've heard that LA train attendants are good, but that many of their dining crews are poor. I've only had good attendants out of LA that I can think of. I've had two mediocre LSA's on the Chief in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

As far as I know MSP is not a crew base, nor is PDX. 7/8 is generally OBS crewed out of Seattle, 27/28 is crewed out of Chicago. Sometimes the difference between the Cafe attendant (Chicago) and the dining car (Seattle) is pretty stark on the Builder.

While I could see this being true, on my one and only ride on the EB differs, the LSA was fantastic. She has been a railroader all her life and I believed used to be a conductor for the BN (IIRC). She chatted with us and was great. Didn't have many interactions with the cafe LSA, but I don't remember anything special about them.

 

[zephyr17]

I've heard that LA train attendants are good, but that many of their dining crews are poor. I've only had good attendants out of LA that I can think of. I've had two mediocre LSA's on the Chief in 2020 and 2021 respectively.


While I could see this being true, on my one and only ride on the EB differs, the LSA was fantastic. She has been a railroader all her life and I believed used to be a conductor for the BN (IIRC). She chatted with us and was great. Didn't have many interactions with the cafe LSA, but I don't remember anything special about them.

I remember once they didn't open up the cafe until we were almost at Milwaukee.

 

[BlackDiamond]

I'd have to say that although Chicago has a bad reputation, the SCA's on 448/449 have almost always been good and they are Chicago based. There was one who was just OK, pleasant but didn't hustle the way the others did. My favorite was one named Mark on 449 who I got to talk to on the layover at Albany and learned a lot about the SCA life.

 

[fdaley]

I've generally had good experiences with LA-based OBS crews, including the dining car crews, on the Chief and Sunset. And in the pre-flex days, the Crescent had some great dining car crews based out of New Orleans.

Chicago, yeah, I can't think of any great crews that ever told me they were based there.

Not sure where they were based, but the worst diner crew I ever had was 20 years ago on the Zephyr. Bad enough that I avoided that train for years afterward despite the fantastic scenery.

 

[MARC Rider]

I remember once they didn't open up the cafe until we were almost at Milwaukee.

I hope that was on the westbound train.

 

[daybeers]

I find the New Haven, CT and Springfield, MA crews know how to run a train well and are nice.

 

[pennyk]

I am partial to the crews in the Miami crew base. At one time, I knew most of them and thought they were extremely competent. Things have changed in the last couple of years and I do not know most of them, but the ones I have seen recently are very good.

 

[TC_NYC]

One of my favorite trains in the country that consistently has very nice crews is the Downeaster to Maine. Everyone I know says their cafe car is the best in the country and I've seen the train crew do a very nice job assisting passengers and alerting passengers about delays. Also as a passenger, you get a consistent experience every time which is one of my biggest gripes about Amtrak.

 

[fdaley]

One of my favorite trains in the country that consistently has very nice crews is the Downeaster to Maine. Everyone I know says their cafe car is the best in the country and I've seen the train crew do a very nice job assisting passengers and alerting passengers about delays. Also as a passenger, you get a consistent experience every time which is one of my biggest gripes about Amtrak.

Oh, I guess I was thinking about long-distance trains. But the Downeaster crews are all excellent, really in a league by themselves.

 

[Fenway]

One of my favorite trains in the country that consistently has very nice crews is the Downeaster to Maine. Everyone I know says their cafe car is the best in the country and I've seen the train crew do a very nice job assisting passengers and alerting passengers about delays. Also as a passenger, you get a consistent experience every time which is one of my biggest gripes about Amtrak.

Agree - but keep in mind the cafe car is managed by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

 

[BlackDiamond]

One of my favorite trains in the country that consistently has very nice crews is the Downeaster to Maine. Everyone I know says their cafe car is the best in the country and I've seen the train crew do a very nice job assisting passengers and alerting passengers about delays. Also as a passenger, you get a consistent experience every time which is one of my biggest gripes about Amtrak.

Agree - but keep in mind the cafe car is managed by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

IIRC The cafe car attendants actually work for Nexdine which is a catering company located in the Boston area (they also ran the cafeteria for the company I worked for in Bedford MA). One result of this is that they are paid like waitstaff, not union wages like Amtrak employees, so I generally tip them well to make up for that.

 

[jis]

MODERATOR'S NOTE: A number of posts reminiscing about the SFZ/CZ, Pioneer and Desert wind, their consists and operation have been moved to its own thread since it had progressively moved further afield from crew base and crew quality discussion.

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/reminiscing-about-cz-pioneer-and-desert-wind.81902/
Please direct CZ/SFZ, Pioneer and Desert wind operations discussion to this new thread.

Thank you for your understanding, participation and cooperation.

 

[esundheime]

I can't say for certain that they are the best, since I haven't travelled on other lines, but the Auto Train crews are great in my experience. They deal with a somewhat difficult customer base (seniors traveling from the Northeast to Florida and tourists to Disney) and maintain their dignity and grace, not to mention sense of humor. They have always been attentive and helpful to me, and have made my experiences with Amtrak most enjoyable.

 

[tim49424]

MSP crews were the best on the Empire Builder, personally.

That would be SCD crews, there is no MSP crew base. That being said, I agree 100%!

As recent as five years or so ago, the CHI crews were great on the Empire Builder as well. They're now just too new to determine if they're good or not.

 

[zephyr17]

That would be SCD crews, there is no MSP crew base. That being said, I agree 100%!

As recent as five years or so ago, the CHI crews were great on the Empire Builder as well. They're now just too new to determine if they're good or not.

The St. Cloud crews are only operating crews, conductors and engineers that operate between there and Winona.

The Onboard Service crews are based in Seattle (7/8) and Chicago (27/28).

My own experience, having ridden the Builder quite a lot as it is my main way east, is the Seattle based crew members on 7/8 are usually pretty good, the Chicago based ones on 27/28, are a lot more "variable" shall we say. Including the aforementioned cafe LSA who didn't open up on 7 until near Milwaukee (and who also took 3 hour meal breaks).

I've been riding the Builder for 30 years and my impression of the Chicago based people on the Portland section hasn't changed much over that time

 

[tim49424]

The St. Cloud crews are only operating crews, conductors and engineers that operate between there and Winona.

The Onboard Service crews are based in Seattle (7/8) and Chicago (27/28).

My own experience, having ridden the Builder quite a lot as it is my main way east, is the Seattle based crew members on 7/8 are usually pretty good, the Chicago based ones on 27/28, are a lot more "variable" shall we say. Including the aforementioned cafe LSA who didn't open up on 7 until near Milwaukee (and who also took 3 hour meal breaks).

I've been riding the Builder for 30 years and my impression of the Chicago based people on the Portland section hasn't changed much over that time

The OP was asking about crew bases.....not OBS.

 

[zephyr17]

The OP was asking about crew bases.....not OBS.

OBS crew bases are crew bases. Since OBS has much more impact on the quality of passenger experience on long distance trains than conductors, it seems to me that the "culture" of the various OBS bases is more germane to a discussion on passenger experience. OBS crew bases also seem to be the focus of most of the prior posts in the thread.

The conductors Winona-St. Cloud seem fine, as do Chicago-Winona, as do St. Cloud-Minot. For that matter the ones in Albuquerque do, too. The only conductor I've ever had trouble with was based in Albany and that was only one. I've had crappy OBS crew members consistently out of the Chicago OBS crew base.

 

[caravanman]

Not much comment on the "Why" part of the original question?
My own experience of working on British Rail, back in the day, was that one came out of the training school fresh and having been tested on safety and all the other rules and regulations...
When one starts working after training, the reality of how aspects of the job are actually done are made evident through information from, and observation of, ones fellow workers.
Bad habits, cutting corners, are as easily picked up as good customer service, so my take on why one crew base seems better or worse is simply "herd instinct", it's just how we roll at this base!

 

[Sammo]

I remember once they didn't open up the cafe until we were almost at Milwaukee.

When I took the SWC CHI-LAX in early November 2020, the cafe didn't open until we got to Galesburg. The attendant was a sweetheart, though, and apparently the normal provisioning process hadn't been followed prior to departure from CHI, which left her having to get the cafe ready by herself.

 

[Acela150]

Which crew bases have the best crews, in your opinion, and why?

I've always felt the SEA/PDX and MSP crews were the best on the Empire Builder, personally.

I tend to agree with the Seattle Crew Base!

Not Chicago.

LOL!!

That would be SCD crews, there is no MSP crew base. That being said, I agree 100%!

As recent as five years or so ago, the CHI crews were great on the Empire Builder as well. They're now just too new to determine if they're good or not.

Bingo! Although the majority of the T&E crews that work the EB out of CHI are senior guys and gals.

And I'll throw PHL out there as one of the best too! LOL!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Bad habits, cutting corners, are as easily picked up as good customer service, so my take on why one crew base seems better or worse is simply "herd instinct", it's just how we roll at this base!

In the case of Chicago it almost seems to be cultural identity at this point. United Airlines is based there and features service that is on par with Amtrak. None of the places I've visited in Chicago ever struck me as friendly and some were overtly rude. I've been backed-off (lesser form of trespassed) exactly three times in my life and two times were in Chicago, so maybe it just goes with the territory, so to speak.

 

[Chicago1990]

Good afternoon, how often would you say Amtrak changes crews? Also how big would you say the Chicago crew base is? Thanks