It has been a busy past few days as we try our best not to overtax each other with all there is to do and see in Washington DC, so the little report I have is a touch delayed. Lets just say, there could not be a better Amtrak trip in terms of On-Time Performance even if our travels had occurred 80 years ago on a Legacy Railroad. One for the record books!
Our travels started on the morning of Friday, December 7th. Mrs. Blackwolf and myself ordered up a taxi to take us from our home to the local Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station, where we would catch the Gold Line into downtown and to the Southern Pacific depot. Aside from the strange looks one gets when carrying large amounts of baggage onto light rail, it was an uneventful journey. We checked our one large suitcase through to WAS (something that caught us a very amusing expression from the bag agent as he then had to go and spend a few minutes rummaging through his drawer for the correct tag; seems WAS is a destination that SAC only gets about two or three time a year!) and spent the 45 minutes of wait time we still had enjoying a Starbucks inside the old REA building next door.
As a side-note, restoration efforts on the old SP depot itself has very much begun. Workmen are crawling all over the roof repairing the brickwork and parapet wall outside, while you can see shadows of people working in the old station offices through the stained glass inside the waiting room. Finally!!
We wandered out to Platform #5 about 10 minutes before the train arrived, and watched as P42 #81 (in desperately rough cosmetic condition) lead its consist into the station right on-time. We walked up to the 0631 sleeper (Superliner I Indiana Dunes,) and met SCA David at the door. He let us know our #12 roomette was awaiting us and welcomed us aboard. The train pulled free from SAC smack on-schedule and eastward we went.
The route over Donner Pass was lovely as is usual, and the weather could not have been better: crisp cool blue skies and at least 20-mile visibility from the higher overlooks. Little to no snow at all, except on the highest peaks, due to the last round of weather which was mostly rain thanks to the tropical influence. I was a touch more aware of Reno than normal, thanks to the reports of increased police activity aboard the trains, and was ready with my department ID and badge should an officer show up at our door. No such event happened, nor did it occur in Omaha. We'll try our luck again with the return westbound trip starting Sunday.
The only low note was the quality of the food in the CZ's diner. While not bad, persay, it was not stellar either. The steak, usually a powerhouse when it comes to other menu items, was absolutely dismal. I could not finish mine the first night, it was shoe leather and a putrid grey color when it arrived. Flavor was bland and required liberal dousing in A-1 sauce in order to eat. I instead resorted to finishing Mrs. Blackwolf's brazed shortribs, which while tender, were mostly BBQ sauce and nothing else in the taste department. The rest of this train's food service proved to be only mediocre in meal quality. At least the service was in the OK realm under the watchful eyes of LSA John.
By early morning on day 2, it was obvious we were running remarkably early. Our arrival into Salt Lake City was under by 20 minutes, which meant a small stroll on the platform was possible after I woke to grab some water. It got even better; by Denver, we were under-schedule by 40 minutes and had to wait in the BNSF yard for nearly 15 of that because the dispatcher was not expecting the hand-off from the UP so early; he had a freight train on the connecting track still. We left Denver on-schedule and continued east, then continued our early streak into every singe station further down the line. Omaha was 35 minutes early, and by Naperville we were a full hour under schedule. We had to wait again at Chicago for a platform to open up, and we stuffed into #28 so early that the whole OBS crew were remarking time and time again over the PA that this was a record for everyone aboard; the earliest arrival they had experienced into CHI. No one was complaining!
We headed into the Metro Lounge, day-checked our bags, and headed for deep-dish with a fellow sleeper passenger who had just discovered Amtrak for the first time. He was connecting to a Lincoln train heading for St. Louis, while were were going further east on the Capitol Limited. Back in the Metro Lounge, they did not call for #30's boarding for sleepers until only 10 minutes before scheduled departure, something about an issue with a locomotive at the last minute. Seems the fix for that one was to slap on another P42, for a total of 3, and call things good. We met our SCA, Techelah, and settled into the #11 roomette of car 3000 (Superliner II Georgia.) We nabbed a great dinner in an amazing fresh out of rebuild diner that was immaculately clean and efficiently ran. Conversation with our dinner mates ended up running several hours long, and soon it was not only time for the diner to close up for the night, but it was time to head to bed as well.
Monday, December 10th, had us arriving into DC. In a second stroke of amazing luck, we were again running early! By the time we were pulling into the yards at Union Station, we had to wait once more for a platform to open up because the train was 50 minutes earlier than it is scheduled.
And that is the trip so-far when it comes to trains! The Washington DC MetroRail has not been as nice as Amtrak, and dealing with grumpy station agents more interested in reading their Cosmopolitan magazine than helping a well-dressed passenger was less than fun. Ah well! In all honesty, I think my 'hometown' BART trains back in the San Francisco Bay Area are a more impressive and efficient system. I guess no one can be as good as the original!
Our travels started on the morning of Friday, December 7th. Mrs. Blackwolf and myself ordered up a taxi to take us from our home to the local Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station, where we would catch the Gold Line into downtown and to the Southern Pacific depot. Aside from the strange looks one gets when carrying large amounts of baggage onto light rail, it was an uneventful journey. We checked our one large suitcase through to WAS (something that caught us a very amusing expression from the bag agent as he then had to go and spend a few minutes rummaging through his drawer for the correct tag; seems WAS is a destination that SAC only gets about two or three time a year!) and spent the 45 minutes of wait time we still had enjoying a Starbucks inside the old REA building next door.
As a side-note, restoration efforts on the old SP depot itself has very much begun. Workmen are crawling all over the roof repairing the brickwork and parapet wall outside, while you can see shadows of people working in the old station offices through the stained glass inside the waiting room. Finally!!
We wandered out to Platform #5 about 10 minutes before the train arrived, and watched as P42 #81 (in desperately rough cosmetic condition) lead its consist into the station right on-time. We walked up to the 0631 sleeper (Superliner I Indiana Dunes,) and met SCA David at the door. He let us know our #12 roomette was awaiting us and welcomed us aboard. The train pulled free from SAC smack on-schedule and eastward we went.
The route over Donner Pass was lovely as is usual, and the weather could not have been better: crisp cool blue skies and at least 20-mile visibility from the higher overlooks. Little to no snow at all, except on the highest peaks, due to the last round of weather which was mostly rain thanks to the tropical influence. I was a touch more aware of Reno than normal, thanks to the reports of increased police activity aboard the trains, and was ready with my department ID and badge should an officer show up at our door. No such event happened, nor did it occur in Omaha. We'll try our luck again with the return westbound trip starting Sunday.
The only low note was the quality of the food in the CZ's diner. While not bad, persay, it was not stellar either. The steak, usually a powerhouse when it comes to other menu items, was absolutely dismal. I could not finish mine the first night, it was shoe leather and a putrid grey color when it arrived. Flavor was bland and required liberal dousing in A-1 sauce in order to eat. I instead resorted to finishing Mrs. Blackwolf's brazed shortribs, which while tender, were mostly BBQ sauce and nothing else in the taste department. The rest of this train's food service proved to be only mediocre in meal quality. At least the service was in the OK realm under the watchful eyes of LSA John.
By early morning on day 2, it was obvious we were running remarkably early. Our arrival into Salt Lake City was under by 20 minutes, which meant a small stroll on the platform was possible after I woke to grab some water. It got even better; by Denver, we were under-schedule by 40 minutes and had to wait in the BNSF yard for nearly 15 of that because the dispatcher was not expecting the hand-off from the UP so early; he had a freight train on the connecting track still. We left Denver on-schedule and continued east, then continued our early streak into every singe station further down the line. Omaha was 35 minutes early, and by Naperville we were a full hour under schedule. We had to wait again at Chicago for a platform to open up, and we stuffed into #28 so early that the whole OBS crew were remarking time and time again over the PA that this was a record for everyone aboard; the earliest arrival they had experienced into CHI. No one was complaining!
We headed into the Metro Lounge, day-checked our bags, and headed for deep-dish with a fellow sleeper passenger who had just discovered Amtrak for the first time. He was connecting to a Lincoln train heading for St. Louis, while were were going further east on the Capitol Limited. Back in the Metro Lounge, they did not call for #30's boarding for sleepers until only 10 minutes before scheduled departure, something about an issue with a locomotive at the last minute. Seems the fix for that one was to slap on another P42, for a total of 3, and call things good. We met our SCA, Techelah, and settled into the #11 roomette of car 3000 (Superliner II Georgia.) We nabbed a great dinner in an amazing fresh out of rebuild diner that was immaculately clean and efficiently ran. Conversation with our dinner mates ended up running several hours long, and soon it was not only time for the diner to close up for the night, but it was time to head to bed as well.
Monday, December 10th, had us arriving into DC. In a second stroke of amazing luck, we were again running early! By the time we were pulling into the yards at Union Station, we had to wait once more for a platform to open up because the train was 50 minutes earlier than it is scheduled.
And that is the trip so-far when it comes to trains! The Washington DC MetroRail has not been as nice as Amtrak, and dealing with grumpy station agents more interested in reading their Cosmopolitan magazine than helping a well-dressed passenger was less than fun. Ah well! In all honesty, I think my 'hometown' BART trains back in the San Francisco Bay Area are a more impressive and efficient system. I guess no one can be as good as the original!
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