What do you mean by "NO to New Orleans"?
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fdaley
OBS Chief
Even if it only serves flex meals for now, this is a big step up from the abominable, cafe-only endurance run Amtrak has been offering on this route for the past many months.
I made a mistake- I meant no to the trip from NO to Mobile I can do that without food. But not no to food in NO, no one can do NO without food, that’s one of the main reasons to go there. I think I meant no to them having diner. I’m old, I forget!!!lol
Back when the north bound Crescent used to call on CLT at 2am in the morning, I remember it getting delayed bad south of ATL. To the point, it ended up getting canceled. Was supposed to be in a roomette. We were determined to get to NY. I didn't call Amtrak to try and get us a switched to the Carolinian in coach or business. As soon as things went haywire, I went online and booked two tickets in business on the Carolinian. As we left Charlotte, I called Amtrak, and explained the situation. The rep was cool. He said I can give you 100% refund for the roomette, or you can have a credit for the full dollar amount, for future travel. I took the refund. Puts me on hold for a few minutes, comes back and says the refund has been issued. I also gave you 4000 AGR points for the hassle. I figured they were gonna give me the runaround, but nope.
The two seats in business class on the Carolinian, was less than $300. Carolinian became sold out because of the Crescent cancelation. According to the conductor, only about 12 coach passengers from the Crescent were able to get moved to the Carolinian. About another 25 or so were left in Charlotte holding the proverbial bag. Another couple in business class, had done the same thing we did.
The two seats in business class on the Carolinian, was less than $300. Carolinian became sold out because of the Crescent cancelation. According to the conductor, only about 12 coach passengers from the Crescent were able to get moved to the Carolinian. About another 25 or so were left in Charlotte holding the proverbial bag. Another couple in business class, had done the same thing we did.
west point
Engineer
What is going to happen to the Crescent will be determined if the CP / KCS combination happens. With a week to go ( hopefully ) then some comment will be appropriate.
And how might "what is going to happen to the Cresent" be determined by a merger of two railroads that are not involved with its operation?
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jis
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I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps he is thinking of the mythical Crescent-Star which may or may not become reality someday. The rejection of the merger would probably reduce the chance of that happening considerably.
west point
Engineer
My thoughts are that without the merger it will be difficult to get anything done as KCS will be tied up in some litigation about the merger. I would expect that this week just before the closure date is very likely to see some entity to try to find a judge that will delay the merge or find it illegal for any number of reasons.
Any delay IMO will be some form of blackmail to squeeze out some financial compensation. Hopefully that will not happen as I would like to see the three routes starting up. CHI - MSP, BTR - NOL, & this one ATL - FTW.
Also, the route will need cooperation of UP from SHR - Marshall - DAL. IMO The KCS route from SHR - Wylie intermodal and on to DAL is way too slow. Of course It is UP hosting the Eagle Marshall - DAL. Legacy timetable times SHR - MSH on T&P was only about 1:15
Hopefully this is in the right thread! My son is thisclose to choosing Clemson as his school of choice. The first thing I did upon visiting was check out the station and Crescent route from NYP.
Wondering if anyone has any tips on arriving at the station at 6am (assuming it’s on time)? Is there a strong Uber presence that early? If not, can you get inside the station to sit and wait it out a bit until a more reasonable hour?
Thank you!
Wondering if anyone has any tips on arriving at the station at 6am (assuming it’s on time)? Is there a strong Uber presence that early? If not, can you get inside the station to sit and wait it out a bit until a more reasonable hour?
Thank you!
My last trip on the Crescent I had a bedroom, and when the non-attendant made up my bed, she did not get the mattress down, just put the sheets on the seat cushions. Had I seen it when she was doing it, I'd've said something, but in the event, I got the mattress down and made it up right. Generally little attempt on her part to be available for service (which is why I called her the non-attendant), so I saved the tip. I did decide that the flexible salmon was the best entree, and had it twice that trip. The others (two of which I had on the Cardinal) looked like dog food.
On my last trip on the Silver Meteor, I noticed that my SCA, a young woman, seemed a bit confused. I asked how long she had been with Amtrak. She said she had been a car attendant for a few months, but up until then she had worked only as a coach attendant, and that this was the first time she had worked a sleeper.
I can understand an SCA being a bit incompetent when they have worked coach for months after training, and are then suddenly thrown into the role of SCA. If Amtrak is going to move people around among roles, they ought to ensure that recent graduates get a variety of on-the-job experience to reinforce what they've learned during training.
I would've tipped her nonetheless, but she didn't know enough to hang around the exit door until all of her passengers had disembarked.
(That was a trip where I was abandoned with no one around to operate the lift to get my scooter unloaded.)
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jis
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I suppose once in a fit of panic you fire most of your HR and training department staff it takes a long time to get everything fully upto speed again. Of course the Green Horns of the Gardner gang probably did not know this having never really managed anything much
Mystic River Dragon
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I agree. I think all OBS personnel should be cross-trained on the duties of all positions and be able to pitch in wherever and whenever needed.
The best Amtrak crews seem to do this on their own and help each other out.
dadonatrain
Service Attendant
The “station” is only a small interior room that is usually unlocked but I can’t be 100% sure. The entire building is quite often entirely UNoccupied. I don’t even remember if there’s restroom facilities. It’s a stretch, IMO, to call it a “station”. It’s been a few years since I’ve ridden from CSN.
The overall area is near enough to all the usual creature comforts that it shouldn’t be a big deal to sit and wait for life to pick up. And given Amtrak’s usual OTP for the crescent, he’s more likely to arrive well after things are getting going than right at 6ish in the morning!
Taking a trip on the Crescent from Greensboro to NY City in the summer. We have a bedroom on the way up and a roomette on the way down. I wanted the bedroom on the northbound so we can freshen up before we arrive and not waste the first evening in the city. At this point I am guessing there is no discussion within Amtrak of having traditional dining on the Crescent by summertime but it does sound like the dining car will be in place.
We should have time for all three meals but I am not sure what to expect beyond the meals being the flex microwave meals. It sounds like both the 19 and 20 have a dining car as part of the consist now as of a few weeks ago. So our meals could be either in the dining car or in our rooms but the chances of having traditional dining is pretty much zero. Do I have this right? Do we have to eat in the dining car? On my other trips it has been fun to have a table with other travelers and talk for a few minutes over a meal about their travels. I assume that is still an option.
For the bedrooms and roomettes can one spend time in the dining car (when not in use) without being told to return to the bedroom? On the southbound we have a roomette that will be looking east, which is the same view the bedroom will have northbound. I was hoping to have a nice view of the mountains in Virginia before sunset, if we get there in time.) The point of the bedroom is the privacy, so being there is not a bad thing, but it would be nice to be able to see west and east at parts of the trip. In previous trips with a bedroom I never really ventured out of the bedroom except to the dining car and things have changed since my last sleeper trip on Amtrak.
(The Amtrak part is being paid with the sign-up bonus for the Amtrak Guest Reward credit card when it was 40,000 points a few years ago. That was a sweet deal and I think I found out about it on this message board. So thanks!)
We should have time for all three meals but I am not sure what to expect beyond the meals being the flex microwave meals. It sounds like both the 19 and 20 have a dining car as part of the consist now as of a few weeks ago. So our meals could be either in the dining car or in our rooms but the chances of having traditional dining is pretty much zero. Do I have this right? Do we have to eat in the dining car? On my other trips it has been fun to have a table with other travelers and talk for a few minutes over a meal about their travels. I assume that is still an option.
For the bedrooms and roomettes can one spend time in the dining car (when not in use) without being told to return to the bedroom? On the southbound we have a roomette that will be looking east, which is the same view the bedroom will have northbound. I was hoping to have a nice view of the mountains in Virginia before sunset, if we get there in time.) The point of the bedroom is the privacy, so being there is not a bad thing, but it would be nice to be able to see west and east at parts of the trip. In previous trips with a bedroom I never really ventured out of the bedroom except to the dining car and things have changed since my last sleeper trip on Amtrak.
(The Amtrak part is being paid with the sign-up bonus for the Amtrak Guest Reward credit card when it was 40,000 points a few years ago. That was a sweet deal and I think I found out about it on this message board. So thanks!)
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NativeSon5859
Conductor
I am in the 2011 northbound so if there is a "12" car I am guessing I am not in the bag dorm, but you might be. Southbound I am in 1909, though I am wanting to change the roomette southbound to the other side of the car to get a different view, and that may toss me into another car.
I am working this weekend where I can find a place to park safely, eat a biscuit from Bojangles or Biscuitville (I clearly live in North Carolina with a statement like that) and count the cars and see what is going on with the current consist. And that assumes it is somewhat on time or even better for me in not having to get up as early running about 30-40 minutes late. Maybe I can take a video even and post a link.
jis
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I had my reservation on 19 changed too, out in October. I was moved from the Bag-Dorm, which has line number 1909 to the first full Sleeper, line number 1910. Interestingly it was to the same room number in both. Fortuitously that happened to be 6, as they sell 6 roomettes in the Bag-Dorm.
I wonder if this suggests that the Bag-Dorm will be replaced by a full Bag in the off season or what. Only time will tell.
I wonder if this suggests that the Bag-Dorm will be replaced by a full Bag in the off season or what. Only time will tell.
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NativeSon5859
Conductor
I talked to a friend at Amtrak and he told me the 1909/2009 has been renumbered as the 1912/2012. They sell six rooms in the bag dorm on the train. So I’m happy they kept me in that car, will be my first time in a V2 room.
All bag dorms are roomettes and no bedrooms or how does that work? I can find diagrams of Amtrak car layouts on-line but I don't remember seeing a layout for the bag dorms.
jis
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Yeah. I sort of guessed that since they really don't have the available inventory to add an entire additional Viewliner Sleeper to that train.
Bag Dorms have only Roomettes in half the car, the other half being Baggage space., Of the 10 or so Roomettes only 6 are sold to customers on the Crescent. The rest are reserved for train crew.
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So now the question is should I expect to see a V1 or V2 for the Crescent. Does it change every now and then? I think there are 4 Crescent trains in service at a time between the total length of the train and both directions.
For the bedroom I don't think there is much difference but for the roomette there is the public bathroom vs in room bathroom difference.
jis
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Generally all Full Sleepers on the Crescent are V1. Unless there is a last minute bad order substitution on a particular day, you can expect a V1.
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