I want to share some observations from my first time on the City Of New Orleans train. This is the last leg of my SEA-SAC-CHI-NOL trip.
When we boarded the CONO about 7:30, they announced first and last call for the diner, although they did make another "last call" about 8:15.
The menu out of Chicago was an "Express Menu" which had fewer options. I think the only options for dinner were the burger, the pasta (three-cheese lasagna) or the half-chicken. No steak or fish. Is this because it's a CCC instead of a full diner?
I was pleased to see real flatware at breakfast. On the CZ they used plastic flatware at breakfast and lunch. Also, there was a cloth tablecloth with paper placemats.
Recalling the earlier discussion about rough track, I have to agree that the CONO route has some really rough track. The most disturbing is the jarring jerks to one side or the other. I normally put my carryon bag on the roomette stairs, but I was afraid it would dislodge and fall on my head during the night. There was also quite a bit of up-and-down motion which reminded me of driving over frost heaves on the highways in Alaska. This was kind of interesting because the floor would drop from under your feet as you were walking down the hall. Fortunately I was able to shower while we were in Memphis because I think it would be impossible otherwise.
Finally, the engineer south of Memphis was unbelievably whistle-crazy. He sounded the horn between seven and twelve times for each crossing. At first I thought it must have been a lot of multiple crossings, but then I watched and saw it was just single crossings. They were also almost all long blows, with the shorts being almost indistinguishable.
But we're running pretty much on time and the service is great, so I have no real complaints.
When we boarded the CONO about 7:30, they announced first and last call for the diner, although they did make another "last call" about 8:15.
The menu out of Chicago was an "Express Menu" which had fewer options. I think the only options for dinner were the burger, the pasta (three-cheese lasagna) or the half-chicken. No steak or fish. Is this because it's a CCC instead of a full diner?
I was pleased to see real flatware at breakfast. On the CZ they used plastic flatware at breakfast and lunch. Also, there was a cloth tablecloth with paper placemats.
Recalling the earlier discussion about rough track, I have to agree that the CONO route has some really rough track. The most disturbing is the jarring jerks to one side or the other. I normally put my carryon bag on the roomette stairs, but I was afraid it would dislodge and fall on my head during the night. There was also quite a bit of up-and-down motion which reminded me of driving over frost heaves on the highways in Alaska. This was kind of interesting because the floor would drop from under your feet as you were walking down the hall. Fortunately I was able to shower while we were in Memphis because I think it would be impossible otherwise.
Finally, the engineer south of Memphis was unbelievably whistle-crazy. He sounded the horn between seven and twelve times for each crossing. At first I thought it must have been a lot of multiple crossings, but then I watched and saw it was just single crossings. They were also almost all long blows, with the shorts being almost indistinguishable.
But we're running pretty much on time and the service is great, so I have no real complaints.
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