greatcats
Engineer
As promised, here is the first section of my trip, which was quite enjoyable, written from where I am staying at an old friend's home in Montclair, NJ. Saturday, May 3: awoke in the middle of the night at my dorm at Grand Canyon National Park ( I am the tour bus driver/guide ) and drove the Toyota 4 Runner 58 miles to Williams, parking in the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel lot. Two of the four boarding passengers could not be located ny the front desk, not answering their room phone. - they finally turned up....they had arrived on Amtrak, but they had no idea that they were to report to the front desk to be transported by bus back out to the Junction, even though they came in that way. They had been standing out in the cold and the darkness next to the locked up Grand Canyon Railway station next door and were all flustered. The driver, who recognized me from my November trip to the West Coast, took us down the spooky forest roads out to Williams Junction and the SWC pulled in about 30 minutes late. I was cheerfully greeted by my sleeping car attendant, Anna Maria Vella, who was a big plus to Amtrak the entire trip to Chicago. I climbed in bed for awhile and enjoyed the sunrise over Humphrey's Peak approaching Flagstaff. This was the first time that I have taken an Amtrak sleeper in over eight years. Yes, I have paid a sizable sum for this trip, and I felt entitled to good service and was prepared to tip well if delivered, which, happily was the case the entire trip. I'm not going to go into detail on the scenery observed from these trains, which has been covered by others, and I napped through a fair portion of it between Lamy and Raton. I was awake going over the pass, and enjoyed the view out of the back of the coaches on long arrow straight stretches of single track east of Trinidad, heading east away from the mountains at high speed.
I was more than satisfied with the food service on the Southwest Chief, whatever version of SImplified Dining Service this is considered to be. Yes, the plates are plastic, although wine was served in a glass Breakfast: French toast with Chicken Apple Sausage - fine. Lunch: Greek Salad with Chicken - fine. Dinner: Half bottle of red wine and steak - other than the dinner could have been served a tad warmer ( which I told them about ) it was excellent. The steak was a good cut of meat, very tasty. Key Lime Pie and cheesacke - very good. Of course, this is not stuff baked on the premises, but at least they are not dealing with inferior products. Next day: breakfast of California Omelet and lunch of Turkey Salad Sandwich on whole wheat bread - virtually no faults that I can recall. I had the same server at all of the five meals, Cynthia, who was friendly and folksy. Excellent coffee in the diner and sleeper. I awoke west of Topeka the next morning, having had a fair amount of sleep, but not great - different sleeping environment. The trip into Chicago was uneventful, arriving ten minutes early. I must say that this was the most nearly perfect Amtrak trip I've ever taken.
Depositing my large backpack that I had purchased years ago in New Zealand in the Metropolitan Lounge, I then used the Internet provided there and had a btainstorm. Since I am a musician by training and a choir singer in Flagstaff, I quickly looked up where I could find an Episcopal Evensong service. Aha! Church of the Ascension on LaSalle, 4 pm. It was 3:45 and I ran out of the station, hopped in a taxi, and made the very elegant and high service with time to spare, with excellent music and chants. Perfect. I then walked back to the Loop area. Being a regalar user of this form, I had planned to visit Giordano's Pizza on Jackson, or else lose any respectablity! Thin crust spinach pie with anchovies and two beers. Indeed very good! Returning to Union Station, we were allowed to board #48, the Lakeshore at 8 p.m. Yes, they delivered on the wine and cheese reception. A few dozen sleeper passengers descended on the diner and it was all very cheerful - interesting people to talk to and I must give this diner crew credit for being hospitable, especially Mr. Kwame Howard. While the cheese selection is nothing unusual, the wine poured is of good quality;this idea is really a nice touch and started this trip off right. A young man from New Jersey, Will, was my sleeper attendat, and he too was into his job, being accomodating and helpful to me and the other passengers. Only two years service, but also a credit. I am pleased to be able to say this about the onboard service crews from Arizona to New York. Sleep this night in the Viewliner was little better, in spite of bumpy track. The car was very clean, but the Viewliners are showing wear in tear - one of the lights was out and I had to ahve crew members unjam my door twice.
Next morning, simple Continental breakfast, which was OK and at lunch I paid extra for the Spring Rolls appetizer ( fair ) and the Burger platter was very good. Again, the crew made the difference. ( Not enough tea baa bags to make iced tea - huh? ) Now for some criticism - what do I think of the car, this so called recently reconfigured Diner Lounge? Not much. It looks like a diner, with the tables and flowers, but with the kitchen resembling a big messy snack bar in the middle of the car. It appears that the kitchen area is not big enough to handle what needs to be done, with equipment piled in booths, or an entire table removed, with folded cardboard cartons where the table should be. Tacky. The lounge car, one of those narrow windowed Horizon cars, I believe, has the snack bar in the middle, and all tables, which are really not great for leisurely viewing. Also tacky looking and rundown in appearance. These makeshift food arangements, while pretty good in quality, detract from this train. We were on time out of Cleveland, but encountered several delays east of there - the usual waiting for freights, signal trouble, etc., and we pulled into Albany two hours late, but were there only about twenty minutes while engines were changed. The schedule called for us to run nonstop to Crton, but since the connecting train for these stops had been missed, we made stops at Hudson, Rhinecliff, and Pougkeepsie, arriving New York one hour late with the padding. Not bad. The ride down the Hudson at sunset was great, although this was not the first time I have been on this route. I had an animated conversation with a lovely lady from Greenwich Village all the way down the river. Only Will was around as the last crew member - otherwise, the last part of this trip besides the view was anticlimactic.
The purpose of this trip is to visit in New Jersey, my home state where I have not been in four and a half years. Yesterday was excellent - I had called three ladies from the SWC in Illinois and asked them out to lunch. These are folks with whom I worked in the Crew Dispatchers office in Hoboken Terminal years ago. Arlene, Lillian, and Louise are now all retired. We sat in a resaturant in Montclair and had a good old time. This is unusual for me to spend vacation time in a manner like this, but I'm glad that I've altered my travel style. I then took a train down to Hoboken Terminal to see who I might encounter. Six years ago I resigned from New Jersey Transit in an ugly dispute and it took a couple of years for the anger I felt at management ( not a nice story ) to work out of my system. While many employee faces are new, I ran into ten or twelve engine and train crews out on the platform, with much laughter. I still remember some of their phone numbers from twenty-five and thirty years ago. The other purposes of my trip will be to attend my 35th reunion at Westminster Choir College in Princeton New Jersey and to spend three nights in Washington, D.C., where I will return from on May 16. So, that's my first report from this trip. It was so much more interesting than flying!
I was more than satisfied with the food service on the Southwest Chief, whatever version of SImplified Dining Service this is considered to be. Yes, the plates are plastic, although wine was served in a glass Breakfast: French toast with Chicken Apple Sausage - fine. Lunch: Greek Salad with Chicken - fine. Dinner: Half bottle of red wine and steak - other than the dinner could have been served a tad warmer ( which I told them about ) it was excellent. The steak was a good cut of meat, very tasty. Key Lime Pie and cheesacke - very good. Of course, this is not stuff baked on the premises, but at least they are not dealing with inferior products. Next day: breakfast of California Omelet and lunch of Turkey Salad Sandwich on whole wheat bread - virtually no faults that I can recall. I had the same server at all of the five meals, Cynthia, who was friendly and folksy. Excellent coffee in the diner and sleeper. I awoke west of Topeka the next morning, having had a fair amount of sleep, but not great - different sleeping environment. The trip into Chicago was uneventful, arriving ten minutes early. I must say that this was the most nearly perfect Amtrak trip I've ever taken.
Depositing my large backpack that I had purchased years ago in New Zealand in the Metropolitan Lounge, I then used the Internet provided there and had a btainstorm. Since I am a musician by training and a choir singer in Flagstaff, I quickly looked up where I could find an Episcopal Evensong service. Aha! Church of the Ascension on LaSalle, 4 pm. It was 3:45 and I ran out of the station, hopped in a taxi, and made the very elegant and high service with time to spare, with excellent music and chants. Perfect. I then walked back to the Loop area. Being a regalar user of this form, I had planned to visit Giordano's Pizza on Jackson, or else lose any respectablity! Thin crust spinach pie with anchovies and two beers. Indeed very good! Returning to Union Station, we were allowed to board #48, the Lakeshore at 8 p.m. Yes, they delivered on the wine and cheese reception. A few dozen sleeper passengers descended on the diner and it was all very cheerful - interesting people to talk to and I must give this diner crew credit for being hospitable, especially Mr. Kwame Howard. While the cheese selection is nothing unusual, the wine poured is of good quality;this idea is really a nice touch and started this trip off right. A young man from New Jersey, Will, was my sleeper attendat, and he too was into his job, being accomodating and helpful to me and the other passengers. Only two years service, but also a credit. I am pleased to be able to say this about the onboard service crews from Arizona to New York. Sleep this night in the Viewliner was little better, in spite of bumpy track. The car was very clean, but the Viewliners are showing wear in tear - one of the lights was out and I had to ahve crew members unjam my door twice.
Next morning, simple Continental breakfast, which was OK and at lunch I paid extra for the Spring Rolls appetizer ( fair ) and the Burger platter was very good. Again, the crew made the difference. ( Not enough tea baa bags to make iced tea - huh? ) Now for some criticism - what do I think of the car, this so called recently reconfigured Diner Lounge? Not much. It looks like a diner, with the tables and flowers, but with the kitchen resembling a big messy snack bar in the middle of the car. It appears that the kitchen area is not big enough to handle what needs to be done, with equipment piled in booths, or an entire table removed, with folded cardboard cartons where the table should be. Tacky. The lounge car, one of those narrow windowed Horizon cars, I believe, has the snack bar in the middle, and all tables, which are really not great for leisurely viewing. Also tacky looking and rundown in appearance. These makeshift food arangements, while pretty good in quality, detract from this train. We were on time out of Cleveland, but encountered several delays east of there - the usual waiting for freights, signal trouble, etc., and we pulled into Albany two hours late, but were there only about twenty minutes while engines were changed. The schedule called for us to run nonstop to Crton, but since the connecting train for these stops had been missed, we made stops at Hudson, Rhinecliff, and Pougkeepsie, arriving New York one hour late with the padding. Not bad. The ride down the Hudson at sunset was great, although this was not the first time I have been on this route. I had an animated conversation with a lovely lady from Greenwich Village all the way down the river. Only Will was around as the last crew member - otherwise, the last part of this trip besides the view was anticlimactic.
The purpose of this trip is to visit in New Jersey, my home state where I have not been in four and a half years. Yesterday was excellent - I had called three ladies from the SWC in Illinois and asked them out to lunch. These are folks with whom I worked in the Crew Dispatchers office in Hoboken Terminal years ago. Arlene, Lillian, and Louise are now all retired. We sat in a resaturant in Montclair and had a good old time. This is unusual for me to spend vacation time in a manner like this, but I'm glad that I've altered my travel style. I then took a train down to Hoboken Terminal to see who I might encounter. Six years ago I resigned from New Jersey Transit in an ugly dispute and it took a couple of years for the anger I felt at management ( not a nice story ) to work out of my system. While many employee faces are new, I ran into ten or twelve engine and train crews out on the platform, with much laughter. I still remember some of their phone numbers from twenty-five and thirty years ago. The other purposes of my trip will be to attend my 35th reunion at Westminster Choir College in Princeton New Jersey and to spend three nights in Washington, D.C., where I will return from on May 16. So, that's my first report from this trip. It was so much more interesting than flying!
