printman2000
Engineer
We left Amarillo at 8:00am. On the way I saw that our train was running an hour and a half late. No big deal. Don’t mind waiting at Lamy.
After grabbing some lunch nearby, we arrive at Lamy around 12:00 to find out our train was not going to arrive until 5:00 (normal departure is 2:24pm). Then the waiting began and the train kept losing time. 5:45, 6:30, 6:45, 7:30, 8:00. The Southwest Chief #3 finally arrived at 8:00pm. Turns out they left Chicago late, which just made them later. Then they came upon a freight train somewhere in Kansas that was unmanned and blocking the rails. Apparently, the Amtrak crew got permission to actually move it out of the way. After that, the trailing locomotive went down.
We got on, went straight to our rooms. After 5 straight trips on Superliner II sleepers, we finally got a refurbished Superliner I. I do really like the new restroom layout. Seems a lot more roomy.
We asked our attendant about dinner and he got us right in. I had the flat iron. It was okay. It was cooked well.
After dinner, we had to stop just outside of Albuquerque to change crews. Not enough time left for the crew that got on in La Junta to make it all the way to Albuquerque. Once changed out, it took us maybe 20 minutes to arrive in Albuquerque, around 10:15.
Once there, they immediately cut the power off and detached the two locomotives and drove them off. They then drove in the protect unit and hooked it to the baggage car. It was rear facing. Then the original two locos came back and hooked on to the front. We departed Albuquerque around 11:00.
We turned in right after departing. I did not sleep too well wondering what would become of our connection to the Coast Starlight the next day.
Because of our lateness, they served a regular breakfast at 6:30am. We went in around 6:45 and enjoyed the French toast. When we were leaving the dining car, the conductor made an announcement that we would be taken off in San Bernardino, bused to Bakersfield, put on a San Joaquin train to catch up to the Coast Starlight somewhere. He was not sure. Course, the thing I was looking forward to the most on this trip was our Northbound trip on the CS. Bummer. They also decided to NOT server lunch on the SWC so we would have to do without.
It was my birthday. I had planned on spending my birthday arriving into LA on the Southwest Chief and then enjoying the ride up the coast on the Coast Starlight. No such luck.
We arrived in San Bernardino around 12:30 and got off the SWC. Be boarded one of two contracted buses and headed out to Bakersfield. The bus trip took about three hours. No stops.
In Bakersfield, our San Joaquin train 717 was already in the station. There was no one there to tell us what to do. A few of us started talking to someone from Amtrak and he confirmed we would not need tickets for 717. We were to go all the way to Martinez to await the Coast Starlight. They also told us to talk to the station agent in Martinez to get our sleeper rooms refunded.
Boarding the San Joaquin was a madhouse. My family and I ended up all sitting alone, close by, but not next to each other. That lasted until the Fresno stop when a bunch of people got off and we were able to get a table together. All I can think about is how this train compares to what we SHOULD have had. My turkey sandwich for dinner instead of a steak. Bummer.
We arrived in Martinez around 9:45 and had to wait a couple of hours for the CS to arrive. Nice station there, but hard benches. The station agent gave all the sleeper passengers some paper that showed a bunch of info I cannot decipher. It did say he could refund me only $102 for our lost sleeper time. He suggested that we call Customer Relations and see if they could do better. I think he was just not wanting to do all the work himself.
The CS arrive on time and we went straight to our rooms and to bed. We were beat. We were again on a refurbished Superliner I. I got up at first light since I wanted to enjoy the CS as much as possible since we missed a whole day on it. It had the Columbia Valley Parlour car. This is my first time to ride in one of these. While it is a nice car, I think I would be just as happy with a sightseer replacement. The swivel chairs are a little too low for the windows. They are also too close to each other when they face out so you end up having to be facing forward or backwards to people can get by. The bench seats on the middle are not the most comfortable and the booths seem to always be unavailable due to being ready for meal service. I love having a sleeper lounge, I just think a Sightseer can do just as well. I would hate, though, for them to stop using these historic cars, but guess it will come eventually.
The trip was pretty uneventful and good. We did have a little longer stop in Klamath Falls due to some passenger getting arrested. Never heard what he did. Also noticed here that our second locomotive was a Cascades engine.
We arrived in Portland a little late, around 4:00. we spent that evening and next morning doing some things around Portland. We got back to Union Station the next day around 1:15 for our 2:50 departure on the Cascades. We checked in and got four seats together in business class and also checked all of our luggage.
While we were waiting, the southbound Coast Starlight pulled in still with the Cascades loco in the second position. It was the same trainset we were on the day before. I had been in contact with ColdRain&Snow here from the forums and I remembered he was on that train. I went to the trackside windows and started watching for him (fortunately he has his picture on here). I saw him walking near the train and was able to flag him down and introduce myself. We had a nice talk before parting ways. As soon as the CS pulled out, they started boarding our train.
We were in the first business class car, which going North was the last car on the train. We had a set of four seats that faced each other. Seats were comfortable. Though, we did not have tray tables since they were all facing each other.
We had dinner on the train from the Bistro car. Would have liked to have eaten our food in the attached dining car, but coach passengers plopped down in there from the start and never left. Not a table open the whole trip. Too bad crews do not kick people out so it can be used for eating. We ate at our seats which was a little problematic since we did not have tables, but we managed.
We arrived in Seattle on time. King Street station does not look very nice right now. I assume they are in the process of refurbing it. Looks like there was a drop ceiling in the main room that was recently removed and what was above it was very ornate. I cannot wait to see it when they finish it.
We collected our bags and went right over to the light rail station where we went south to the airport for our rental car and hotel. We spent three days in Seattle.
On our day of departure, we returned our rental, took the shuttle to the airport, then LINK light rail to downtown and walked over to King Street station. We printed our tickets and checked out bags. The baggage guy had a job as our bags were to be transferred four times on our return trip.
The train pulled into the station at about 9:30 and we boarded shortly after. There was an extra baggage car tacked on to the rear of the trainset. It was the same train we went North on the week before. I had hoped to see a different Parlour car but no luck.
We were in the 1140 car, the transition sleeper. This was our very first ride in the transition car. We got one of the cars that did not have an H room downstairs and did not have a shower upstairs. I had looked forward to trying the upstairs shower, again no luck.
We left Seattle just about on time. We got 12:00 lunch reservations. My two boys and I spent the morning in the Parlour Car playing checkers. It is a very long hike from our sleeper to the dining car. We have to pass through four cars.
At lunch, our server was adequate. I was perturbed that the only dessert they offered was ice cream. I knew they had others but I guess they were saving them for later. Well, we only hade two meals on the CS so I wanted cheesecake!. Oh well. As it turned out on all of our trains, the only cheesecake they had was sugar free. What is up with that?
Shortly after lunch, we stopped in Portland where I walked the train. The set was almost all the same except the second loco was now a P42 (lead unit was the same), one coach and one sleeper car had been changed. There was also that extra baggage car on the rear. While stopped, the tacked on a Horizon business car and two Amfleet I’s to the rear. That made our train like this…
P42 Loco
P42 Loco
Heritage Baggage
Superliner II Transdorm
Superliner I Sleeper
Superliner I Sleeper
Superliner I Sleeper
Heritage Parlour Car
Superliner II Dining Car
Superliner II Sightseer Lounge
Superliner I Coach
Superliner II Coach (former kiddie/arcade car)
Superliner I Coach
Superliner II Coach
Heritage Baggage
Horizon Café/Business Class
Amfleet I Coach
Amfleet I Coach
Also at Portland, was locomotive #156 painted in the Phase I paint scheme. I was very happy to get to see one of the heritage locos. I do not get to ride Amtrak very often so I was fortunate I got to see one.
We pulled out of Portland about 10 minutes behind schedule.
At dinner time, they announced how so many people wanted to eat dinner, they were asking people to take their desserts to go. Our server did not say that and we enjoyed our dessert in the dining car.
We enjoyed our evening, of course, knowing we would not get to enjoy this train much longer. We all turned in after the Klamath Falls stop.
At 5:00am, our car attendant told my wife we would be in Sacramento in 30 minutes. Wouldn’t you know, we have limited time on this train and we are ahead of schedule. When we were pulling in to Sacramento, we went around a curve where I could finally see the end of the train. It was way back there.
When we got to the station, we took our time getting off. Our roomette seats are a lot softer than the station benches. We finally got off and went inside to wait for our Thruway bus to Stockton. We had to wait a couple of hours.
We loaded on our Amtrak California Thruway bus at about 7:45. This is the point I started worrying about our check bags. I did not see them get loaded on the bus.
The bus trip was quick and easy. About 50 minutes and it was not anywhere near full. When we arrived in Stockton, we had about a 30 minute wait for our San Joaquin #712. Again, so checked luggage sighting.
712 pulled in a few minutes late, around 8:20am. I was hoping for a Superliner in the consist to get in, but no luck. We got in the cab car. The train was in push mode so this was the front. We got a table for four. The train was not very full. Lots of options.
Train seemed to run right on time, though I did not watch very closely. We ate lunch from the Café car.
We arrived in Bakersfield only a few minutes late and we went straight to one of the express Thruway buses to LA. They only allowed people making connections onto this bus. This bus was different from the other Thruway. Seats were tighter together and less comfortable than the last. That stank since it was a little over two hour ride. We made it though. Into LA just about on time. Hung around the bus to see if our luggage was in it, still no sighting. I am really worried not. There were two express buses so hopefully it was on the other.
LAUS was very warm that day. Sitting in the waiting room was petty uncomfortable. At 5:45 we went down the tunnel and found out the SWC was delayed about 20 minutes. We went on up the platform and got to see them backing it in. We got another Superliner II sleeper. Seems we might be working on another streak. That is now two in a row.
Our attendant is an older lady but seems very capable. Our car seems loaded with a lot of older folks that do not seemed experienced in Amtrak travel. Within the first five minutes of boarding I heard the attendant buttons going off. In the first few hours on board, I have never heard so many buttons getting pressed. Our attendant has a long trip ahead of her.
The dining car staff on this train was like night and day with the CS staff. The LSA was helping and they had every table going. In the CS, the LSA was nowhere to be found and they only had half of the tables working. They did not start serving until 8:00 so by the time we were done, it was dark and we turned in.
Sometime during the night, right after I returned from a restroom trip. I heard a big air swoosh sound outside and the train began a very fast slow down. I sorta braced myself almost expecting the train to hit something. I felt nothing and the train came to a halt. I was surprised how quickly they could stop the train. I scrambled for my scanner. Turns out our train got a unexpected red light change right as we were approaching the signal. The dispatcher had no idea why it went red and gave us permission to pass it. I saw a light outside my window and it was one of the conductors walking the train. When he reached the rear he declared that everything was still on the rails and we could get going again.
Woke up the next morning around 5:30. Since this was our last bit of time on the train, wanted to start early.
The day went fairly routine. We had breakfast at 6:30 and then an early lunch at 11:15. The stop in Albuquerque was very HOT.
We pulled into Lamy only a little bit late. We waited on the platform to see if our luggage made it. The cart drove by and sure enough, our two bags were there. I have had some complicated routings happen over the years and Amtrak has gotten our bags there every time. We were relieved.
It was a good trip. Our outbound trip was a bit disappointing, but it was okay. We got where we were supposed to be.
I called Customer Relations and they said the refund amount was to be $193.10 for the unused sleeper portion. They also gave us a $100 voucher. They gave me the option of making it an electronic voucher so when I call to make a reservation, they can apply it over the phone. This is great since I live four hours from the nearest station.
I will now begin to look at next year’s trip. We always buy our tickets 11 months out so it is not long till I am due to do that. However, finances are a bit tight right now so I am unsure if we will be able to do a trip next year. We shall see.
I blogged during our trip so family and friends can keep up with us. There are a lot of pictures if you want to see them at http://www.craigmashburn.com/travelblog
After grabbing some lunch nearby, we arrive at Lamy around 12:00 to find out our train was not going to arrive until 5:00 (normal departure is 2:24pm). Then the waiting began and the train kept losing time. 5:45, 6:30, 6:45, 7:30, 8:00. The Southwest Chief #3 finally arrived at 8:00pm. Turns out they left Chicago late, which just made them later. Then they came upon a freight train somewhere in Kansas that was unmanned and blocking the rails. Apparently, the Amtrak crew got permission to actually move it out of the way. After that, the trailing locomotive went down.
We got on, went straight to our rooms. After 5 straight trips on Superliner II sleepers, we finally got a refurbished Superliner I. I do really like the new restroom layout. Seems a lot more roomy.
We asked our attendant about dinner and he got us right in. I had the flat iron. It was okay. It was cooked well.
After dinner, we had to stop just outside of Albuquerque to change crews. Not enough time left for the crew that got on in La Junta to make it all the way to Albuquerque. Once changed out, it took us maybe 20 minutes to arrive in Albuquerque, around 10:15.
Once there, they immediately cut the power off and detached the two locomotives and drove them off. They then drove in the protect unit and hooked it to the baggage car. It was rear facing. Then the original two locos came back and hooked on to the front. We departed Albuquerque around 11:00.
We turned in right after departing. I did not sleep too well wondering what would become of our connection to the Coast Starlight the next day.
Because of our lateness, they served a regular breakfast at 6:30am. We went in around 6:45 and enjoyed the French toast. When we were leaving the dining car, the conductor made an announcement that we would be taken off in San Bernardino, bused to Bakersfield, put on a San Joaquin train to catch up to the Coast Starlight somewhere. He was not sure. Course, the thing I was looking forward to the most on this trip was our Northbound trip on the CS. Bummer. They also decided to NOT server lunch on the SWC so we would have to do without.
It was my birthday. I had planned on spending my birthday arriving into LA on the Southwest Chief and then enjoying the ride up the coast on the Coast Starlight. No such luck.
We arrived in San Bernardino around 12:30 and got off the SWC. Be boarded one of two contracted buses and headed out to Bakersfield. The bus trip took about three hours. No stops.
In Bakersfield, our San Joaquin train 717 was already in the station. There was no one there to tell us what to do. A few of us started talking to someone from Amtrak and he confirmed we would not need tickets for 717. We were to go all the way to Martinez to await the Coast Starlight. They also told us to talk to the station agent in Martinez to get our sleeper rooms refunded.
Boarding the San Joaquin was a madhouse. My family and I ended up all sitting alone, close by, but not next to each other. That lasted until the Fresno stop when a bunch of people got off and we were able to get a table together. All I can think about is how this train compares to what we SHOULD have had. My turkey sandwich for dinner instead of a steak. Bummer.
We arrived in Martinez around 9:45 and had to wait a couple of hours for the CS to arrive. Nice station there, but hard benches. The station agent gave all the sleeper passengers some paper that showed a bunch of info I cannot decipher. It did say he could refund me only $102 for our lost sleeper time. He suggested that we call Customer Relations and see if they could do better. I think he was just not wanting to do all the work himself.
The CS arrive on time and we went straight to our rooms and to bed. We were beat. We were again on a refurbished Superliner I. I got up at first light since I wanted to enjoy the CS as much as possible since we missed a whole day on it. It had the Columbia Valley Parlour car. This is my first time to ride in one of these. While it is a nice car, I think I would be just as happy with a sightseer replacement. The swivel chairs are a little too low for the windows. They are also too close to each other when they face out so you end up having to be facing forward or backwards to people can get by. The bench seats on the middle are not the most comfortable and the booths seem to always be unavailable due to being ready for meal service. I love having a sleeper lounge, I just think a Sightseer can do just as well. I would hate, though, for them to stop using these historic cars, but guess it will come eventually.
The trip was pretty uneventful and good. We did have a little longer stop in Klamath Falls due to some passenger getting arrested. Never heard what he did. Also noticed here that our second locomotive was a Cascades engine.
We arrived in Portland a little late, around 4:00. we spent that evening and next morning doing some things around Portland. We got back to Union Station the next day around 1:15 for our 2:50 departure on the Cascades. We checked in and got four seats together in business class and also checked all of our luggage.
While we were waiting, the southbound Coast Starlight pulled in still with the Cascades loco in the second position. It was the same trainset we were on the day before. I had been in contact with ColdRain&Snow here from the forums and I remembered he was on that train. I went to the trackside windows and started watching for him (fortunately he has his picture on here). I saw him walking near the train and was able to flag him down and introduce myself. We had a nice talk before parting ways. As soon as the CS pulled out, they started boarding our train.
We were in the first business class car, which going North was the last car on the train. We had a set of four seats that faced each other. Seats were comfortable. Though, we did not have tray tables since they were all facing each other.
We had dinner on the train from the Bistro car. Would have liked to have eaten our food in the attached dining car, but coach passengers plopped down in there from the start and never left. Not a table open the whole trip. Too bad crews do not kick people out so it can be used for eating. We ate at our seats which was a little problematic since we did not have tables, but we managed.
We arrived in Seattle on time. King Street station does not look very nice right now. I assume they are in the process of refurbing it. Looks like there was a drop ceiling in the main room that was recently removed and what was above it was very ornate. I cannot wait to see it when they finish it.
We collected our bags and went right over to the light rail station where we went south to the airport for our rental car and hotel. We spent three days in Seattle.
On our day of departure, we returned our rental, took the shuttle to the airport, then LINK light rail to downtown and walked over to King Street station. We printed our tickets and checked out bags. The baggage guy had a job as our bags were to be transferred four times on our return trip.
The train pulled into the station at about 9:30 and we boarded shortly after. There was an extra baggage car tacked on to the rear of the trainset. It was the same train we went North on the week before. I had hoped to see a different Parlour car but no luck.
We were in the 1140 car, the transition sleeper. This was our very first ride in the transition car. We got one of the cars that did not have an H room downstairs and did not have a shower upstairs. I had looked forward to trying the upstairs shower, again no luck.
We left Seattle just about on time. We got 12:00 lunch reservations. My two boys and I spent the morning in the Parlour Car playing checkers. It is a very long hike from our sleeper to the dining car. We have to pass through four cars.
At lunch, our server was adequate. I was perturbed that the only dessert they offered was ice cream. I knew they had others but I guess they were saving them for later. Well, we only hade two meals on the CS so I wanted cheesecake!. Oh well. As it turned out on all of our trains, the only cheesecake they had was sugar free. What is up with that?
Shortly after lunch, we stopped in Portland where I walked the train. The set was almost all the same except the second loco was now a P42 (lead unit was the same), one coach and one sleeper car had been changed. There was also that extra baggage car on the rear. While stopped, the tacked on a Horizon business car and two Amfleet I’s to the rear. That made our train like this…
P42 Loco
P42 Loco
Heritage Baggage
Superliner II Transdorm
Superliner I Sleeper
Superliner I Sleeper
Superliner I Sleeper
Heritage Parlour Car
Superliner II Dining Car
Superliner II Sightseer Lounge
Superliner I Coach
Superliner II Coach (former kiddie/arcade car)
Superliner I Coach
Superliner II Coach
Heritage Baggage
Horizon Café/Business Class
Amfleet I Coach
Amfleet I Coach
Also at Portland, was locomotive #156 painted in the Phase I paint scheme. I was very happy to get to see one of the heritage locos. I do not get to ride Amtrak very often so I was fortunate I got to see one.
We pulled out of Portland about 10 minutes behind schedule.
At dinner time, they announced how so many people wanted to eat dinner, they were asking people to take their desserts to go. Our server did not say that and we enjoyed our dessert in the dining car.
We enjoyed our evening, of course, knowing we would not get to enjoy this train much longer. We all turned in after the Klamath Falls stop.
At 5:00am, our car attendant told my wife we would be in Sacramento in 30 minutes. Wouldn’t you know, we have limited time on this train and we are ahead of schedule. When we were pulling in to Sacramento, we went around a curve where I could finally see the end of the train. It was way back there.
When we got to the station, we took our time getting off. Our roomette seats are a lot softer than the station benches. We finally got off and went inside to wait for our Thruway bus to Stockton. We had to wait a couple of hours.
We loaded on our Amtrak California Thruway bus at about 7:45. This is the point I started worrying about our check bags. I did not see them get loaded on the bus.
The bus trip was quick and easy. About 50 minutes and it was not anywhere near full. When we arrived in Stockton, we had about a 30 minute wait for our San Joaquin #712. Again, so checked luggage sighting.
712 pulled in a few minutes late, around 8:20am. I was hoping for a Superliner in the consist to get in, but no luck. We got in the cab car. The train was in push mode so this was the front. We got a table for four. The train was not very full. Lots of options.
Train seemed to run right on time, though I did not watch very closely. We ate lunch from the Café car.
We arrived in Bakersfield only a few minutes late and we went straight to one of the express Thruway buses to LA. They only allowed people making connections onto this bus. This bus was different from the other Thruway. Seats were tighter together and less comfortable than the last. That stank since it was a little over two hour ride. We made it though. Into LA just about on time. Hung around the bus to see if our luggage was in it, still no sighting. I am really worried not. There were two express buses so hopefully it was on the other.
LAUS was very warm that day. Sitting in the waiting room was petty uncomfortable. At 5:45 we went down the tunnel and found out the SWC was delayed about 20 minutes. We went on up the platform and got to see them backing it in. We got another Superliner II sleeper. Seems we might be working on another streak. That is now two in a row.
Our attendant is an older lady but seems very capable. Our car seems loaded with a lot of older folks that do not seemed experienced in Amtrak travel. Within the first five minutes of boarding I heard the attendant buttons going off. In the first few hours on board, I have never heard so many buttons getting pressed. Our attendant has a long trip ahead of her.
The dining car staff on this train was like night and day with the CS staff. The LSA was helping and they had every table going. In the CS, the LSA was nowhere to be found and they only had half of the tables working. They did not start serving until 8:00 so by the time we were done, it was dark and we turned in.
Sometime during the night, right after I returned from a restroom trip. I heard a big air swoosh sound outside and the train began a very fast slow down. I sorta braced myself almost expecting the train to hit something. I felt nothing and the train came to a halt. I was surprised how quickly they could stop the train. I scrambled for my scanner. Turns out our train got a unexpected red light change right as we were approaching the signal. The dispatcher had no idea why it went red and gave us permission to pass it. I saw a light outside my window and it was one of the conductors walking the train. When he reached the rear he declared that everything was still on the rails and we could get going again.
Woke up the next morning around 5:30. Since this was our last bit of time on the train, wanted to start early.
The day went fairly routine. We had breakfast at 6:30 and then an early lunch at 11:15. The stop in Albuquerque was very HOT.
We pulled into Lamy only a little bit late. We waited on the platform to see if our luggage made it. The cart drove by and sure enough, our two bags were there. I have had some complicated routings happen over the years and Amtrak has gotten our bags there every time. We were relieved.
It was a good trip. Our outbound trip was a bit disappointing, but it was okay. We got where we were supposed to be.
I called Customer Relations and they said the refund amount was to be $193.10 for the unused sleeper portion. They also gave us a $100 voucher. They gave me the option of making it an electronic voucher so when I call to make a reservation, they can apply it over the phone. This is great since I live four hours from the nearest station.
I will now begin to look at next year’s trip. We always buy our tickets 11 months out so it is not long till I am due to do that. However, finances are a bit tight right now so I am unsure if we will be able to do a trip next year. We shall see.
I blogged during our trip so family and friends can keep up with us. There are a lot of pictures if you want to see them at http://www.craigmashburn.com/travelblog
