Dovecote
OBS Chief
My wife and I recently completed a visit to Los Angeles (LAX) to see our daughter and her family. The trip consisted of a dreaded flight to LAX from Atlanta (ATL) in early February and a much more pleasant return in late February via Amtrak. The rail portion of the trip consisted of routes on the Southwest Chief (SWC), the Capitol Limted (CL), and the Crescent. The travel to Albuquerque (ABQ) was a paid fare while the remainder of the trip was an AGR two zone redemption award in bedrooms.
After an enjoyable three week stay with our daughter we started our train trip back to Georgia on the SWC from Fullerton (FUL). This is the first stop on the route after leaving LAX. FUL is a full service station and after debating with my wife for several days on whether we should check our luggage we decided to go for it and check our bags. As it turned out it was a good decision as the baggage was successfully transferred both in Chicago (CHI) and Washington, DC (WAS). Getting our tickets was a little time consuming considering we had two reservations (one for the paid fare to ABQ and the other for the AGR redemption). On the paid portion from FUL to ABQ we were in a roomette. I elected to get a roomette for this portion of the trip as it was at the low bucket fare and a lot cheaper than getting a bedroom. On both reservations I made it a point to be in the same car. This would make it a lot easier when it was time to move from the roomette to the bedroom. Before printing the tickets, the agent asked for my ID and my AAA card. Presenting my AAA card was a first for me in all of my many Amtrak trips. The agent also asked for Mrs. Dovecote ID and this was a first as well in all of the rail trips we have traveled together.
The train arrived on time and we walked to the front portion of the consist to the sleeping car section. Our sleeping car attendant (SCA) greeted us, collected our tickets and directed us to our roomette. The consist consisted of a transdorm, sleeper, sleeper, dining car, sightseer lounge car, coach, and coach. (Yes, only two coach cars instead of the usual three). After departing FUL, our SCA did the usual introduction at our roomette and gave us a dining slip for dinner reservation later that evening. After the introduction, I informed the SCA of our eventual relocation from a roomette to a bedroom in ABQ. The SCA checked the passenger manifest and made note of that. About ten minutes later the SCA returned (after having a discussion with the conductor) and told us that we could relocate to our bedroom. We quickly moved to our bedroom as we were hoping all along that this would play out this way. It seems the passenger load was going to be light (especially to ABQ) and the SCA was proactive in changing our room. We were very grateful and tipped the SCA a nice amount for that at the end of the trip.
We enjoyed our two night bedroom stay on the SWC. This was the first time we were in a bedroom. It was nice to have the sink, bathroom, and shower in the compartment. Our sofa faced the direction of travel. This was a plus as well. In the dining car we had a very efficient Lead Service Attendant and the servers were friendly and competent. All of our meals were tasty and delicious. Our dinner selections consisted of the steak selection, bbq ribs, and chicken. The lunch selections we had were the veggie burger and chicken curry. Breakfast selections we sampled was the Continental breakfast (big portion) and eggs cooked to order. We sat with some very interesting folks in the dining car. There was a couple traveling to Naperville (heading to Lake Geneva, WI) from LAX, one couple traveling to CHI from LAX, and yet another couple starting in Needles and concluding in Toledo. There were two coach passengers traveling from San Diego. One was going to Milwaukee and the other to NYP. We also had a nice breakfast on our final day with a retired teacher. Her trip started in LAX and concluded in Galesburg. She then was going to drive to her home in Columbus, Ohio.
Sightseeing during the trip was topnotch. During the first morning we hung along side of old Route 66 seeing Winslow, Holbrook, and Gallup. There was a lengthy service stop in ABQ and we took advantage of shopping trainside for Navajo jewelry. There were only two vendors operating outside the station but one of the vendors was Veronica Yellowhorse. She came highly recommended on this website and had a good assortment of handmade jewelry. Veronica was a very pleasant person as well and without hesitation pointed out her own handmade selections. We purchased a nice green torquoise necklace and a sterling silver link bracelet with multicolored stones. The route past ABQ was very scenic along the Sandia Mountains and past Lamy. We unfortunately were not able to see the Raton Pass during the day due to the train running late. The following morning our highlight was seeing about a dozen or so bald eagles along the Mississippi River after departing Ft. Madison.
The train arrived in CHI on time around 3:15 PM. We proceeded directly to the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for our next train, the CL. Upon checkin we were assigned a dinner seating and watched the local news.
(End of Part One)
Dovecote
After an enjoyable three week stay with our daughter we started our train trip back to Georgia on the SWC from Fullerton (FUL). This is the first stop on the route after leaving LAX. FUL is a full service station and after debating with my wife for several days on whether we should check our luggage we decided to go for it and check our bags. As it turned out it was a good decision as the baggage was successfully transferred both in Chicago (CHI) and Washington, DC (WAS). Getting our tickets was a little time consuming considering we had two reservations (one for the paid fare to ABQ and the other for the AGR redemption). On the paid portion from FUL to ABQ we were in a roomette. I elected to get a roomette for this portion of the trip as it was at the low bucket fare and a lot cheaper than getting a bedroom. On both reservations I made it a point to be in the same car. This would make it a lot easier when it was time to move from the roomette to the bedroom. Before printing the tickets, the agent asked for my ID and my AAA card. Presenting my AAA card was a first for me in all of my many Amtrak trips. The agent also asked for Mrs. Dovecote ID and this was a first as well in all of the rail trips we have traveled together.
The train arrived on time and we walked to the front portion of the consist to the sleeping car section. Our sleeping car attendant (SCA) greeted us, collected our tickets and directed us to our roomette. The consist consisted of a transdorm, sleeper, sleeper, dining car, sightseer lounge car, coach, and coach. (Yes, only two coach cars instead of the usual three). After departing FUL, our SCA did the usual introduction at our roomette and gave us a dining slip for dinner reservation later that evening. After the introduction, I informed the SCA of our eventual relocation from a roomette to a bedroom in ABQ. The SCA checked the passenger manifest and made note of that. About ten minutes later the SCA returned (after having a discussion with the conductor) and told us that we could relocate to our bedroom. We quickly moved to our bedroom as we were hoping all along that this would play out this way. It seems the passenger load was going to be light (especially to ABQ) and the SCA was proactive in changing our room. We were very grateful and tipped the SCA a nice amount for that at the end of the trip.
We enjoyed our two night bedroom stay on the SWC. This was the first time we were in a bedroom. It was nice to have the sink, bathroom, and shower in the compartment. Our sofa faced the direction of travel. This was a plus as well. In the dining car we had a very efficient Lead Service Attendant and the servers were friendly and competent. All of our meals were tasty and delicious. Our dinner selections consisted of the steak selection, bbq ribs, and chicken. The lunch selections we had were the veggie burger and chicken curry. Breakfast selections we sampled was the Continental breakfast (big portion) and eggs cooked to order. We sat with some very interesting folks in the dining car. There was a couple traveling to Naperville (heading to Lake Geneva, WI) from LAX, one couple traveling to CHI from LAX, and yet another couple starting in Needles and concluding in Toledo. There were two coach passengers traveling from San Diego. One was going to Milwaukee and the other to NYP. We also had a nice breakfast on our final day with a retired teacher. Her trip started in LAX and concluded in Galesburg. She then was going to drive to her home in Columbus, Ohio.
Sightseeing during the trip was topnotch. During the first morning we hung along side of old Route 66 seeing Winslow, Holbrook, and Gallup. There was a lengthy service stop in ABQ and we took advantage of shopping trainside for Navajo jewelry. There were only two vendors operating outside the station but one of the vendors was Veronica Yellowhorse. She came highly recommended on this website and had a good assortment of handmade jewelry. Veronica was a very pleasant person as well and without hesitation pointed out her own handmade selections. We purchased a nice green torquoise necklace and a sterling silver link bracelet with multicolored stones. The route past ABQ was very scenic along the Sandia Mountains and past Lamy. We unfortunately were not able to see the Raton Pass during the day due to the train running late. The following morning our highlight was seeing about a dozen or so bald eagles along the Mississippi River after departing Ft. Madison.
The train arrived in CHI on time around 3:15 PM. We proceeded directly to the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for our next train, the CL. Upon checkin we were assigned a dinner seating and watched the local news.
(End of Part One)
Dovecote
