Silliest OBS Made 'Rules'

[Linda T]

Any outsider reading this thread could not possibly conclude anything other than this:

Amtrak sucks.

Whine on, folks

I love all the talk about the Texas Eagle's crew, now I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of service I get from CHI to SAS in my roomette! :excl: And then Polly... what can I say. :giggle: This will be an adventure for sure. I'm so gonna make notes and report back at the end of four weeks.

 

[Anderson]

You've just reminded me of the story someone told on here about the "conductor" on the Texas Eagle who was apparently one of the more harmless "guests" at a local asylum. He had a complete uniform and everything...and it was only the "regulars" who knew something was amiss when he went through collecting tickets at an odd time.

I haven't heard that story; but up in NY City we have a guy who likes to drive subway trains, despite the fact that he's not an MTA employee. He once showed up an took an A train out of 207th Street yard making all the stops down the west side of Manhattan like a real pro. He only got caught because he didn't properly handle a grade timing signal which ripped out his air. And when he didn't know how to reset things, the dispatcher realized that he had a problem.

I hadn't heard that story, but it amused me to no end (and really made my evening). Just wondering, but how far did he get (and how did he get control of the train in the first place)?

I think it was jimhudson who reported the Eagle story...IIRC, when the men in white showed up to "collect" him, the OBS was equivocal as to whether he was being taken back home or to a new job at 50 Mass.

 

[white rabbitt]

linda t

i hope i have just as good of a trip on the texas eagle as u have

and the sca are all pleasent and charming and the trip is a joyful one

 

[Guest]

I completely agree families need to seat together but when the train is running almost 50% empty all the way (don't the OBS staff know the number of passengers reserved on a particular run from their manifests? Or is it a company policy too to not use brains and figure out approximate loads from the manifests?) what great sense does it make to bundle all single passengers in one half of the coach and run the other half empty all the way? Of course there is a simple solution to this issue- come out of primitive stone age system and give seat numbers while booking a ticket like the rest of the world does. How difficult is that?

They know how many will be on the train at the time of departure, but of course more people can still buy tickets for stations further down the line. I'm also not sure if the manifest breaks things down by destination however. Meaning that an attendant would have to go count how many people would show up for his car, based upon their going to a destination that would land them in his/her car.

They should be able to figure out how many probable extra tickets will be sold after departure. And why can't they have a manifest broken down by destination? A sorted manifest shouldn't be difficult for a computer to do. Even with Amtrak's ancient computer systems a simple sort and print is 100% possible. There is a lot of information that could be calculated from the passenger database that would be helpful to the attendants if presented correctly.

 

[Trogdor]

Who said the manifest doesn't indicate destination. The only claim was that Alan "wasn't sure" not that it couldn't.

 

[Linda T]

linda t

i hope i have just as good of a trip on the texas eagle as u have

and the sca are all pleasent and charming and the trip is a joyful one

Thanks! I'm kinda looking for adventure this time, to be honest.

The worst SCA I've ever had was on the SB CS. It wasn't so much a rule for us, but for him. When it came time to work he was to disappear where no one could find him. A roomette lady and I tried to hunt him down to prepare our beds but without success -- the dining car staff informed us that he goes off to a "private place" to eat sometimes. We both just retired to our rooms and waited. He finally came and apologized. At that time I didn't know to keep a notebook so I didn't record his name, but he taught me a lesson to always carry a pad and pencil to write down both the good and the bad.

My last long distance trip was my big one, and it went amazingly well. We were on the second #51 to start running again after the Indy bridge was repaired. Our SWC was the first to go through Raton Pass -- the previous day's train was bussed due to flooding. They managed to hold the CS for us, though we got into LAX and it was a sprint. And the #6 we were on was the day AFTER it hit the irrigation system. Yeah, I consider it my turn to have a story, but I hope not for the sake of the other passengers and crew. Though admittedly our shortest trip to Richmond was interrupted by Hurricane Irene, even the airport was closed!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Amtrak DOES suck. Much less so then any other option. But it does suck.

 

[Peter KG6LSE]

The lesser of 3 evils ?

 

[jebr]

Well, four. Either I go through the airport (and deal with the TSA and security theatre, while paying through the nose to be treated like slightly-above-animal status at times), drive (with gas prices these days, along with having to stop every few hours to fill up with gas, eat, and if it's a really long trip pay for a hotel room), take the bus (cheapest, but still not terribly comfortable, and will probably have the strangest people), or train (which I haven't taken the Amtrak yet, but will next weekend).

 

[Texan Eagle]

Well, four. Either I go through the airport (and deal with the TSA and security theatre, while paying through the nose to be treated like slightly-above-animal status at times), drive (with gas prices these days, along with having to stop every few hours to fill up with gas, eat, and if it's a really long trip pay for a hotel room), take the bus (cheapest, but still not terribly comfortable, and will probably have the strangest people), or train (which I haven't taken the Amtrak yet, but will next weekend).

Just to add more to it, Amtrak per se does not suck. It is clean, comfortable, nice amenities and travels well, if there is something that sucks, it's the on-board staff (not all, but some of them). Someone out there in Washington ought to know how the guys whom they pay every month are the ones causing maximum PR damage to the company's image. Agreed all organizations have rotten apples in the basket, but for reasons unknown to me, Amtrak seems to have many more rotten apples compared as a percentage of total employees that interact directly with paying customers. I have come across rude/unhelpful flight attendants on planes and drivers on buses too, but somehow the behavior of some of the Amtrak staff that I have encountered sticks out like a sore thumb in my memories.

Coming to what mode of transport is better or worse, there is no single answer. What I do is this-

If I need to reach somewhere quick and reliably on-time, I take a flight. I don't find TSA theater annoying. I am just indifferent to it.

If I want to relax and enjoy the journey, I take Amtrak.

If the distance to go is under 300 miles and the weather is nice, I hit the road and drive it out (Having a car that gives 40 mpg helps in today's gas prices!)

If there is cheap clean bus service such as Megabus and Boltbus, I take the bus (I would rather stay at home than take the Greyhound)

Simple.

 

[MARC Rider]

drive (with gas prices these days, along with having to stop every few hours to fill up with gas, eat,

and use the restroom.

And the traffic in some places makes driving very stressful.

 

[Donctor]

Amtrak DOES suck. Much less so then any other option. But it does suck.

It is what it is. The important part is that it has been improving.

 

[MARC Rider]

Here's one, I'm not sure who made this rule.

We arrived at NYP several hours before train time. (We were taking a Northeast Regional down to Baltimore.) I had a roller suitcase, and didn't want to be schlepping it all over Manhattan that afternoon, so first we went into the Club Acela, where the attendant recommended that we not store the bag there for more than a short time, because the baggage area wasn't secure. That made sense, so we got into line at the baggage area, and it occurred to me that I might be able to check the bag. After all, the Silver Star, the Crescent, and the Silver Meteor were going to doing that trip, and our train was going to arrive after all three of them, I could check the bag, save myself the $4.00 bag storage fee, and not have to deal with the bag on the train.

No such luck, the baggage agent was quite definite that the baggage cars were only for people riding on that particular train. This seems odd to me, as just a couple of months ago, I checked a bag from Baltimore to Boston on #66, yet I didn't ride up until the next day, and on a completely different train. A few years ago, I checked 3 bags through from Baltimore to Havre, MT three whole days before I actually left.

Maybe there's a difference between checking long-distance bags and bags to Boston and checking them on the NYP-WAS part of the northeast corridor. Or maybe the baggage clerk just didn't want to bother with something unusual. Anyway, I paid the $4.00 for the baggage storage, and also a tip for the red cap, who got us down to find a seat well before the cattle line started. But I sure miss having baggage car service for northeast corridor trains, like they used to have.

 

[Donctor]

No such luck, the baggage agent was quite definite that the baggage cars were only for people riding on that particular train.

The baggage agent should take that up with the baggagemen who have loaded/unloaded my PHL-NYP and WAS-NWK bags time after time.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I disagree strongly, donctor.

 

[rtabern]

I wish some of the Amtrak crews would have more of the attitude of the Canadian VIA crews... but I think it's partially a cultural thing... with Canadians often being more friendly than Americans (It's ok... I'll admit it after a recent trip from Halifax to Prince Rupert on VIA)... OR maybe it's how VIA trains its workers and how they manage things.

Need examples?

Let's look at the dining car staff and their attitude on the Canadian. At breakfast one morning, I ordered the blueberry pancakes and made the comment how delicious the potato pancakes also looked (one of the other entree selections). The server asked if I'd like to sample one... and I said YES. He came back with a full plate of them!! The next morning I asked for a second helping of toast (yes, real toast on a train!) and they were more than happy to obliege. Another morning of the trip my friend who I was traveling with was asked if he'd like bacon, ham, or sausage... he jokingly said all of them... and they actually did it!! NONE of this would happen on Amtrak. I can understand Amtrak being very careful that a person only gets 1 meal in the sleeper, etc to prevent fraud... but seriously... if someone wanted a second baked potato... would that kill them?? It costs like 69 cents. And if I had a second person in my sleeper anyway they would have to give up the potato anyway.

Another example was on "The Skeena" between Jasper and Prince Rupert... the lunch was a bag lunch of a turkey or beef sandwich. That day I wasn't feeling either selection and said I'd pass... and just plan to eat the leftover bagels and danishes in the Park Car. The food service workers actually came back to see if I was "doing okay" and if I changed my mind. Again, you'd never have that personal service on Amtrak (except maybe Acela FC).

Another example was the talks and everything the VIA equivilents of the LSAs did. They were actually enthusiastic about doing narration and explaining things -- from talking about lobster traps on the Ocean... to doing beer and wine tastings and everything... you could tell they were happy to be doing their jobs and enjoying their work. While I have had some good attendants who did wine tastings on the Coast Starlight (Jane, George, etc)... and some good conductors and Trails & Rails people who narrated... most of the attitudes arent as good on Amtrak as VIA. Last March, I actually had attendants on the Empire Builder who said "ok, we have 15 minutes for the wine tasting, so drink up" and they poured all 4 glasses of wine, threw them at you, and didnt say anything about the wine or cheese.

No, Amtrak does not "suck"... I have a lot of friends who work for Amtrak and are hard working and are good people who truely care about passengers first. This especially shown through on January 1st where crews worked their butt off on the Empire Builder to arrange for the surprise proposal of my fiancee in the dining car between Chicago and Milwaukee... but the efforts of the "good guys" are probably contained to a degree by the on-board crews esp who don't care that much... much like any other business in America. Hopefully the lazy, incopotent folks can be weeded out one by one.

 

[NY Penn]

I hadn't heard that story, but it amused me to no end (and really made my evening). Just wondering, but how far did he get (and how did he get control of the train in the first place)?

He got control by simply opening the cab (I think he had a key) and departing when the dispatcher set the switches.

The version I heard is that he got almost a full round-trip from 207 St to Lefferts Boulevard, and that he was tripped by the signal at 180-something St.

That would be around two hours of time on the train.

 

[white rabbitt]

I wish some of the Amtrak crews would have more of the attitude of the Canadian VIA crews... but I think it's partially a cultural thing... with Canadians often being more friendly than Americans (It's ok... I'll admit it after a recent trip from Halifax to Prince Rupert on VIA)... OR maybe it's how VIA trains its workers and how they manage things.

Need examples?

Let's look at the dining car staff and their attitude on the Canadian. At breakfast one morning, I ordered the blueberry pancakes and made the comment how delicious the potato pancakes also looked (one of the other entree selections). The server asked if I'd like to sample one... and I said YES. He came back with a full plate of them!! The next morning I asked for a second helping of toast (yes, real toast on a train!) and they were more than happy to obliege. Another morning of the trip my friend who I was traveling with was asked if he'd like bacon, ham, or sausage... he jokingly said all of them... and they actually did it!! NONE of this would happen on Amtrak. I can understand Amtrak being very careful that a person only gets 1 meal in the sleeper, etc to prevent fraud... but seriously... if someone wanted a second baked potato... would that kill them?? It costs like 69 cents. And if I had a second person in my sleeper anyway they would have to give up the potato anyway.

Another example was on "The Skeena" between Jasper and Prince Rupert... the lunch was a bag lunch of a turkey or beef sandwich. That day I wasn't feeling either selection and said I'd pass... and just plan to eat the leftover bagels and danishes in the Park Car. The food service workers actually came back to see if I was "doing okay" and if I changed my mind. Again, you'd never have that personal service on Amtrak (except maybe Acela FC).

Another example was the talks and everything the VIA equivilents of the LSAs did. They were actually enthusiastic about doing narration and explaining things -- from talking about lobster traps on the Ocean... to doing beer and wine tastings and everything... you could tell they were happy to be doing their jobs and enjoying their work. While I have had some good attendants who did wine tastings on the Coast Starlight (Jane, George, etc)... and some good conductors and Trails & Rails people who narrated... most of the attitudes arent as good on Amtrak as VIA. Last March, I actually had attendants on the Empire Builder who said "ok, we have 15 minutes for the wine tasting, so drink up" and they poured all 4 glasses of wine, threw them at you, and didnt say anything about the wine or cheese.

No, Amtrak does not "suck"... I have a lot of friends who work for Amtrak and are hard working and are good people who truely care about passengers first. This especially shown through on January 1st where crews worked their butt off on the Empire Builder to arrange for the surprise proposal of my fiancee in the dining car between Chicago and Milwaukee... but the efforts of the "good guys" are probably contained to a degree by the on-board crews esp who don't care that much... much like any other business in America. Hopefully the lazy, incopotent folks can be weeded out one by one.

rtabern amen truer words were never spoken

 

[mulveyr]

Maybe there's a difference between checking long-distance bags and bags to Boston and checking them on the NYP-WAS part of the northeast corridor. Or maybe the baggage clerk just didn't want to bother with something unusual. Anyway, I paid the $4.00 for the baggage storage, and also a tip for the red cap, who got us down to find a seat well before the cattle line started. But I sure miss having baggage car service for northeast corridor trains, like they used to have.

I've taken Empire Service trains ( which have no baggage cars ) while my bike took earlier or later LSL trains. The stations were always more than happy to take the bike in, at least one case, two days ahead of my trip.

 

[saxman]

For every rude Amtrak employee I've come across, I bet I can find two more very exceptional employees. It's just the nature of the service industry. You're going to have bad workers. We all have our bad days sometimes.

I've mentioned this guy before, so some of you have probably read about him. It was to the last AU Gathering in Seattle when I was on the Empire Builder inbound. About 30 minutes prior to our arrival, the coach car attendent came on and instructed everyone to start cleaning up and making sure they had everything packed. He also asked everyone to put their seat backs and tray tables up. Okay, no big deal. I always help out the crew and leave with my seat backs up and tray table up before I get off. But it's 30 minutes prior to arrival, I have plenty of time. I have all my bags packed, but I still like having my timetable out, so I had that out on the table, and my seat back, back. I didn't want to sit with my back straight up for 30 minutes either.

Well 5 or 10 minutes go by, and the crew member comes by and reminds me that I need to clean up. I give him the nod and say I got it. Another 5 minutes go by, and I still haven't done anything and he walks by again and actually tells me I need to clean up. He physically takes my timetable off the table and folds it for me, then helps me move my seat up. As soon as he walks off, I fold it down again. He sees me again and scolds me. I tell him I'm not on an airliner. It was one of those incidents where I wished I had pushed things further, but I'm not usually a jerk like that. I'm hoping to come across him again, now that I have his bosses name in my cell phone.

 

[rtabern]

For every rude Amtrak employee I've come across, I bet I can find two more very exceptional employees. It's just the nature of the service industry. You're going to have bad workers. We all have our bad days sometimes.

I've mentioned this guy before, so some of you have probably read about him. It was to the last AU Gathering in Seattle when I was on the Empire Builder inbound. About 30 minutes prior to our arrival, the coach car attendent came on and instructed everyone to start cleaning up and making sure they had everything packed. He also asked everyone to put their seat backs and tray tables up. Okay, no big deal. I always help out the crew and leave with my seat backs up and tray table up before I get off. But it's 30 minutes prior to arrival, I have plenty of time. I have all my bags packed, but I still like having my timetable out, so I had that out on the table, and my seat back, back. I didn't want to sit with my back straight up for 30 minutes either.

Well 5 or 10 minutes go by, and the crew member comes by and reminds me that I need to clean up. I give him the nod and say I got it. Another 5 minutes go by, and I still haven't done anything and he walks by again and actually tells me I need to clean up. He physically takes my timetable off the table and folds it for me, then helps me move my seat up. As soon as he walks off, I fold it down again. He sees me again and scolds me. I tell him I'm not on an airliner. It was one of those incidents where I wished I had pushed things further, but I'm not usually a jerk like that. I'm hoping to come across him again, now that I have his bosses name in my cell phone.

WOW, tray tables up 30 minutes before arrival?? NICE!! That is worse than planes (no offense there! LOL)

It's sorta like the lounge car thing I mentioned earlier -- maybe I want to ride in the upper level of the lounge car all the way into Chicago Union Station. WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL IF THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO??? Besides attendants telling me they have to get everyone out of the upper level of the lounge car because the train is making a "quick turn" (when it's not)... other attendants have told me they kick everyone out of the upper level of the Sightseer Lounge so you can "go back to your seat and get everything organized before our arrival into Chicago in 30 minutes". Well, its a nice gesture, but should be a SUGGESTION not a REQUIREMENT. A lot of the time I travel (except for a couple big trips a year) are day trips down to Lincoln, IL or Galesburg, IL... I might have a small bag with me... if that. I don't need 30 minutes to "get everything organized"... and need to go back to my seat at Princeton or Naperville. I understand I might get "trapped" by the crowd getting off and be stuck at the back of the exit line... but unless I'm making a tight connection, I don't care... leave me alone in the SSL.

 

[rtabern]

For every rude Amtrak employee I've come across, I bet I can find two more very exceptional employees. It's just the nature of the service industry. You're going to have bad workers. We all have our bad days sometimes.

I've mentioned this guy before, so some of you have probably read about him. It was to the last AU Gathering in Seattle when I was on the Empire Builder inbound. About 30 minutes prior to our arrival, the coach car attendent came on and instructed everyone to start cleaning up and making sure they had everything packed. He also asked everyone to put their seat backs and tray tables up. Okay, no big deal. I always help out the crew and leave with my seat backs up and tray table up before I get off. But it's 30 minutes prior to arrival, I have plenty of time. I have all my bags packed, but I still like having my timetable out, so I had that out on the table, and my seat back, back. I didn't want to sit with my back straight up for 30 minutes either.

Well 5 or 10 minutes go by, and the crew member comes by and reminds me that I need to clean up. I give him the nod and say I got it. Another 5 minutes go by, and I still haven't done anything and he walks by again and actually tells me I need to clean up. He physically takes my timetable off the table and folds it for me, then helps me move my seat up. As soon as he walks off, I fold it down again. He sees me again and scolds me. I tell him I'm not on an airliner. It was one of those incidents where I wished I had pushed things further, but I'm not usually a jerk like that. I'm hoping to come across him again, now that I have his bosses name in my cell phone.

WOW, tray tables up 30 minutes before arrival?? NICE!! That is worse than planes (no offense there! LOL)

It's sorta like the lounge car thing I mentioned earlier -- maybe I want to ride in the upper level of the lounge car all the way into Chicago Union Station. WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL IF THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO??? Besides attendants telling me they have to get everyone out of the upper level of the lounge car because the train is making a "quick turn" (when it's not)... other attendants have told me they kick everyone out of the upper level of the Sightseer Lounge so you can "go back to your seat and get everything organized before our arrival into Chicago in 30 minutes". Well, its a nice gesture, but should be a SUGGESTION not a REQUIREMENT. A lot of the time I travel (except for a couple big trips a year) are day trips down to Lincoln, IL or Galesburg, IL... I might have a small bag with me... if that. I don't need 30 minutes to "get everything organized"... and need to go back to my seat at Princeton or Naperville. I understand I might get "trapped" by the crowd getting off and be stuck at the back of the exit line... but unless I'm making a tight connection, I don't care... leave me alone in the SSL.

The biggest "kick out" that got me irritated was with the Great Dome on the Cardinal. The male and female conductor from Indy kicked everyone out of #10031 about 20 minutes before coming into Chicago... when the directive from Washington DC said the car was supposed to be open all the way into CUS.

 

[Ryan]

That sucks. I was very happy that the eastbound crew let us stay all the way until we hit the bridge over the Potomac. Had a plane coming into National pass right over our heads at an insanely low altitude just as we were starting to pack up.

 

[jis]

Even with Amtrak's ancient computer systems a simple sort and print is 100% possible. There is a lot of information that could be calculated from the passenger database that would be helpful to the attendants if presented correctly.

BTW, the alleged ancient passenger information system used by Amtrak is not really that much more ancient than the ones used by most major airlines. Haven't heard people complaining about the ancient systems used by the airlines too much. I guess since it is a railroad it must be using 19th century computers..... Oh wait! :giggle:

 

[leemell]

Even with Amtrak's ancient computer systems a simple sort and print is 100% possible. There is a lot of information that could be calculated from the passenger database that would be helpful to the attendants if presented correctly.

BTW, the alleged ancient passenger information system used by Amtrak is not really that much more ancient than the ones used by most major airlines. Haven't heard people complaining about the ancient systems used by the airlines too much. I guess since it is a railroad it must be using 19th century computers..... Oh wait! :giggle:

Just a little info, the SABRE reservation system was first written for American Airlines and put online in about 1964, in COBOL! This reservation system is still used and services a fairly large number of airlines (about 400) and a lot of other services. At its heart there are still original lines and sections of code. That makes this about a half century old. The Amtrak ARROW system is quite young by comparison being put online in the late 80's.