Everydaymatters
Engineer
Thurs. 9/7/08 Left on the Westbound Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, then via Amtrak bus to Vancouver. In Minneapolis we were re-routed as we were not allowed to be within a certain perimeter of the Republican Convention, where McCain was speaking as we passed by.
Somewhere along the line we were 2 hours behind, but were able to make it up and arrived on time in Seattle.
The train was packed and before Malta, Montana, while I was in the lounge car eating lunch with the lady who had the seat next to me, the train attendant gave our lower level seats to an elderly couple. After he did that, he came down to the lounge car and asked us to give up our seats and move upstairs. I told him I didn’t want to, but he informed us that he had already given our seats away. So, what can I say. We gave up our seats. We went down, gathered our belongings, and followed him upstairs to our new seats, which had broken leg rests.
That brings up another problem. Our original seats had one working leg rest, the seats across from us had both leg rests in non-working condition, and then our upstairs seats had broken leg rests. One working out of six is not indicative of good maintenance.
I believe there are six washrooms on the lower level. The locks on three of them did not work. What was formerly the lady’s “Parlor” had been changed to a uni-sex changing room – with no lock on the door! What had formerly been the men’s changing room is now also a uni-sex changing room, also with a broken lock.
Our train attendant was John. A very pleasant person, even in asking us to move from our lower level seats. After moving us, he brought my seatmate a lunch as I had just had lunch in the lounge. He brought us bottles of cold water and comped my dinner that evening. After my seatmate left the train in Havre, he put up a sign that there were 2 people sitting in the double seat so that I could have the entire seat to myself. It wasn’t a very restful night and working leg rests would have been nicer when trying to sleep.
The first day I ate sandwiches I made at home. The 1st morning I had the Railroad French toast and the 2nd morning I had scrambled eggs. The 2nd evening I had the salmon and it was very good.
We arrived in Seattle on time and the transfer to the Amtrak bus to Vancouver was smooth. There was no delay at the Canadian border. We had to fill out customs forms, get off the bus, talk to the crossing guard, get back on the bus and go on to Vancouver.
On the Sept. 14 return trip from Vancouver to Seattle, I took the Quik Shuttle, which picks up passengers right at the pier. It was easier for me as far as handling the suitcases and it’s considered a “sealed” bus, so there were no problems crossing the border back into the U.S. We didn’t have to get off the bus at all and the border guard got on the bus and looked at all of our passports, got off and sent us on our way.
The return trip from Chicago to Seattle started out smooth, but got complicated. Somewhere before Havre, Montana, there was a rumor that we were going to be bused from Minneapolis to Chicago due to track and bridge work. We asked the lounge car attendant and he said he was just taking orders for food and he didn’t know anything.
It gets a little complex here, so I hope I can explain this clearly. We asked our Train Attendant about the rumors. She said that those who had stops between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused, but the rest of us would stay on the train, which would be re-routed. I asked if that would make us late. She said Amtrak advised the crew the train would be 60 to 90 minutes late however other crews had told them they ran 3, 4 and up to 6 hours late.
Before we arrived in Minneapolis a general announcement was made that those passengers who were traveling between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused to their destinations. The passengers traveling to Chicago would stay on the train and the train would arrive at 5pm, which would make it an hour late. At that point, the train was already an hour behind schedule, so the announcement would have been accurate if there was nothing else going on. The train was supposed to arrive at 3:55pm, so being an hour late would make it close to a 5 PM arrival.
After Minneapolis, the train followed the Mississippi River for about 5 hours. Somewhere along there, there was a change of some of the crew. Finally, around Savannah, Illinois, the train headed east toward Chicago. Around the time it turned off toward the east, there was an announcement by the conductor that we had been given wrong information and that the train would arrive at 7pm. Later, the time was revised to 7:15 p.m., which proved to be accurate.
Passengers were outraged that Amtrak had not advised us about the work and the delay. The materials for the work had not just been ordered and scheduled. They knew days before that there would be delays. Some were angry because they felt the passengers should have been given the option of getting alternate transportation. Nobody was given that choice.
For me, the delay wasn’t as much a problem as the fact that they had been deceitful in not telling us in the first place and in being untruthful by announcing a 5pm arrival, knowing full well that it was a distortion of the truth.
Anyhow, other than that, because of the crowded conditions, and because the diner hostess didn’t get to our part of the car to take dinner reservations until the very end, there were never openings in the diner until 8 or 8:30 pm, so I opted to eat earlier in the lounge car. I had a soggy tuna salad sandwich for lunch the first day and an extremely greasy cheeseburger the second day. I’ve never seen so much grease and ate only about half of it. Each day I ate breakfast in the diner. The first day I had the Continental Breakfast, which I feel is a good deal for the money. The 2nd day I had scrambled eggs, which were ok. I can’t remember what I had for dinner either Sunday or Monday.
The leg rests on the seats and the locks on the washrooms all worked, so that was a good thing. Unlike the trip to Seattle, the ladies “Parlour” was still for ladies and the men still had their own changing room.
So now I’m home and thinking about where to go for my next trip.
Betty
Somewhere along the line we were 2 hours behind, but were able to make it up and arrived on time in Seattle.
The train was packed and before Malta, Montana, while I was in the lounge car eating lunch with the lady who had the seat next to me, the train attendant gave our lower level seats to an elderly couple. After he did that, he came down to the lounge car and asked us to give up our seats and move upstairs. I told him I didn’t want to, but he informed us that he had already given our seats away. So, what can I say. We gave up our seats. We went down, gathered our belongings, and followed him upstairs to our new seats, which had broken leg rests.
That brings up another problem. Our original seats had one working leg rest, the seats across from us had both leg rests in non-working condition, and then our upstairs seats had broken leg rests. One working out of six is not indicative of good maintenance.
I believe there are six washrooms on the lower level. The locks on three of them did not work. What was formerly the lady’s “Parlor” had been changed to a uni-sex changing room – with no lock on the door! What had formerly been the men’s changing room is now also a uni-sex changing room, also with a broken lock.
Our train attendant was John. A very pleasant person, even in asking us to move from our lower level seats. After moving us, he brought my seatmate a lunch as I had just had lunch in the lounge. He brought us bottles of cold water and comped my dinner that evening. After my seatmate left the train in Havre, he put up a sign that there were 2 people sitting in the double seat so that I could have the entire seat to myself. It wasn’t a very restful night and working leg rests would have been nicer when trying to sleep.
The first day I ate sandwiches I made at home. The 1st morning I had the Railroad French toast and the 2nd morning I had scrambled eggs. The 2nd evening I had the salmon and it was very good.
We arrived in Seattle on time and the transfer to the Amtrak bus to Vancouver was smooth. There was no delay at the Canadian border. We had to fill out customs forms, get off the bus, talk to the crossing guard, get back on the bus and go on to Vancouver.
On the Sept. 14 return trip from Vancouver to Seattle, I took the Quik Shuttle, which picks up passengers right at the pier. It was easier for me as far as handling the suitcases and it’s considered a “sealed” bus, so there were no problems crossing the border back into the U.S. We didn’t have to get off the bus at all and the border guard got on the bus and looked at all of our passports, got off and sent us on our way.
The return trip from Chicago to Seattle started out smooth, but got complicated. Somewhere before Havre, Montana, there was a rumor that we were going to be bused from Minneapolis to Chicago due to track and bridge work. We asked the lounge car attendant and he said he was just taking orders for food and he didn’t know anything.
It gets a little complex here, so I hope I can explain this clearly. We asked our Train Attendant about the rumors. She said that those who had stops between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused, but the rest of us would stay on the train, which would be re-routed. I asked if that would make us late. She said Amtrak advised the crew the train would be 60 to 90 minutes late however other crews had told them they ran 3, 4 and up to 6 hours late.
Before we arrived in Minneapolis a general announcement was made that those passengers who were traveling between Minneapolis and Glenview would be bused to their destinations. The passengers traveling to Chicago would stay on the train and the train would arrive at 5pm, which would make it an hour late. At that point, the train was already an hour behind schedule, so the announcement would have been accurate if there was nothing else going on. The train was supposed to arrive at 3:55pm, so being an hour late would make it close to a 5 PM arrival.
After Minneapolis, the train followed the Mississippi River for about 5 hours. Somewhere along there, there was a change of some of the crew. Finally, around Savannah, Illinois, the train headed east toward Chicago. Around the time it turned off toward the east, there was an announcement by the conductor that we had been given wrong information and that the train would arrive at 7pm. Later, the time was revised to 7:15 p.m., which proved to be accurate.
Passengers were outraged that Amtrak had not advised us about the work and the delay. The materials for the work had not just been ordered and scheduled. They knew days before that there would be delays. Some were angry because they felt the passengers should have been given the option of getting alternate transportation. Nobody was given that choice.
For me, the delay wasn’t as much a problem as the fact that they had been deceitful in not telling us in the first place and in being untruthful by announcing a 5pm arrival, knowing full well that it was a distortion of the truth.
Anyhow, other than that, because of the crowded conditions, and because the diner hostess didn’t get to our part of the car to take dinner reservations until the very end, there were never openings in the diner until 8 or 8:30 pm, so I opted to eat earlier in the lounge car. I had a soggy tuna salad sandwich for lunch the first day and an extremely greasy cheeseburger the second day. I’ve never seen so much grease and ate only about half of it. Each day I ate breakfast in the diner. The first day I had the Continental Breakfast, which I feel is a good deal for the money. The 2nd day I had scrambled eggs, which were ok. I can’t remember what I had for dinner either Sunday or Monday.
The leg rests on the seats and the locks on the washrooms all worked, so that was a good thing. Unlike the trip to Seattle, the ladies “Parlour” was still for ladies and the men still had their own changing room.
So now I’m home and thinking about where to go for my next trip.
Betty
