- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 4,893
So we're on our way to Grand Junction. We drove 4 hours to catch the Cardinal. Two coaches, one sleeper, one transdorm, one engine. The best Viewliner SCA we've had. Between the conductor and her, they loaded our bags on the train for us without our asking. Wonderful. She then offered to store our big suitcase elsewhere so we wouldn't need to stash it in our roomettes. That was outstanding! We didn't see it until she unloaded it off the train until Chicago. Meanwhile, she offered us a choice of flex dinner in our rooms or in the Diner/Cafe. We chose the latter and picked our meals.
Before leaving for Hinton, since I had read on this forum that the new meals were better than the original ones we experienced pre-Covid in December 2019, we agreed between ourselves to try them. We decided that if it was garbage, I'd order kosher for our return. I ordered the beef short ribs and she went with the chicken with "vodka sauce". For those of you familiar with my opinions of flex, please sit down before going on.
Those meals, while not traditional dining, were not bad at all. We'd have no qualms about choosing them again on our return in two weeks. Yes, they are still full of salt and I'm sure, preservatives, my beef, while it seemed to be tough when I cut it, was tender and the inclusion of a few green beans and carrots and not just a plateful of sauce and potatoes (better than the polenta anyway). The salad was a joke in size and the roll was unheated. She remarked "The chicken is real!" and "It's a real breast of meat!". I asked her if the pasta had turned to mush and she said "No, it is very good!" Interestingly, the bowls were served with the aluminum covers still attached in a way that they could not have been done in a microwave. They had to use a convection oven. Definitely a giant leap upward up from 2019. Breakfast also appeared to be done in a convection oven but my "railroad french toast" looked and tasted like it had been run over by a train and the apple bacon was not much better. Her omelet looked like the typical Fairfield Inn omelets - perfectly formed but without much egg taste. Her potatoes were not crisp and her turkey sausages tasted like the pre-cooked frozen stuff it was. Though I would not ever use their syrup (real maple syrup or nothing), it didn't matter because they had no syrup. Ah, Amtrak, how dost thou doest that? Still, better than the previous breakfast sugar bombs so still an improvement but much further to go than the dinners.
There, I said it. I admit Amtrak can and has made an improvement. Still a long way to go but definitely the right direction. I can't believe I said that about flex food after my previous experiences.
They did actually bring our plates to the table although we had to buss them ourselves. Even the cutlery looked better. Plastic that looked like metal!
In Indianapolis, we temporarily lost power. When I went outside, I saw that in front of our single engine were added a Superliner sleeper, a baggage car and another engine. First time I ever saw P42s in other than together. Apparently, they were being deadheaded from Beech Grove to Chicago.
Upon arrival in Chicago, by the time we got off, everyone's bags were already on the platform, removed by the SCA and her assistant, a trainee. Very nice. Unfortunately, in the rush, I handed a twenty to the assistant (whom we had never seen) and thanked her. Our SCA was on the platform. I didn't want to tell the SCA to get the money from her assistant, so I gave her a twenty also.
Note that right after we arrived, while we were waiting for a redcap, the LSL pulled in on the same platform so now we had lots of passengers from both trains that needed assistance. Then someone came by and told us all that it would be a long wait because there was only one redcap available. I figured, even though we were there first, everyone would try to jump ahead of us so it was either kick out their knees or break their canes and in spite of the fact that with 3 bags it would be slow going with a wife who needs a knee replacement in a few months so we decided to walk slowly.
I wanted to try and check that big bag on the Zephyr which we're not taking until tomorrow (overnight here in Chicago) but there were quite of few in front of us at the ticket counter. It looked like one of those Lounge Stalin Gulag attendants so I figured she would scrutinize our tickets for tomorrow PM and tell us to come back tomorrow or within 24 hours of travel. Just then, the unbusy package storage guy came over and asked if anyone wanted bags checked. After he helped another couple, we went up to him and he didn't even look at our ticket (or weigh the bag) but just put a GJT tag on and gave us the stub. So we got rid of the bag and it should be waiting for us the day before we arrive.
More to come.
Before leaving for Hinton, since I had read on this forum that the new meals were better than the original ones we experienced pre-Covid in December 2019, we agreed between ourselves to try them. We decided that if it was garbage, I'd order kosher for our return. I ordered the beef short ribs and she went with the chicken with "vodka sauce". For those of you familiar with my opinions of flex, please sit down before going on.
Those meals, while not traditional dining, were not bad at all. We'd have no qualms about choosing them again on our return in two weeks. Yes, they are still full of salt and I'm sure, preservatives, my beef, while it seemed to be tough when I cut it, was tender and the inclusion of a few green beans and carrots and not just a plateful of sauce and potatoes (better than the polenta anyway). The salad was a joke in size and the roll was unheated. She remarked "The chicken is real!" and "It's a real breast of meat!". I asked her if the pasta had turned to mush and she said "No, it is very good!" Interestingly, the bowls were served with the aluminum covers still attached in a way that they could not have been done in a microwave. They had to use a convection oven. Definitely a giant leap upward up from 2019. Breakfast also appeared to be done in a convection oven but my "railroad french toast" looked and tasted like it had been run over by a train and the apple bacon was not much better. Her omelet looked like the typical Fairfield Inn omelets - perfectly formed but without much egg taste. Her potatoes were not crisp and her turkey sausages tasted like the pre-cooked frozen stuff it was. Though I would not ever use their syrup (real maple syrup or nothing), it didn't matter because they had no syrup. Ah, Amtrak, how dost thou doest that? Still, better than the previous breakfast sugar bombs so still an improvement but much further to go than the dinners.
There, I said it. I admit Amtrak can and has made an improvement. Still a long way to go but definitely the right direction. I can't believe I said that about flex food after my previous experiences.
They did actually bring our plates to the table although we had to buss them ourselves. Even the cutlery looked better. Plastic that looked like metal!
In Indianapolis, we temporarily lost power. When I went outside, I saw that in front of our single engine were added a Superliner sleeper, a baggage car and another engine. First time I ever saw P42s in other than together. Apparently, they were being deadheaded from Beech Grove to Chicago.
Upon arrival in Chicago, by the time we got off, everyone's bags were already on the platform, removed by the SCA and her assistant, a trainee. Very nice. Unfortunately, in the rush, I handed a twenty to the assistant (whom we had never seen) and thanked her. Our SCA was on the platform. I didn't want to tell the SCA to get the money from her assistant, so I gave her a twenty also.
Note that right after we arrived, while we were waiting for a redcap, the LSL pulled in on the same platform so now we had lots of passengers from both trains that needed assistance. Then someone came by and told us all that it would be a long wait because there was only one redcap available. I figured, even though we were there first, everyone would try to jump ahead of us so it was either kick out their knees or break their canes and in spite of the fact that with 3 bags it would be slow going with a wife who needs a knee replacement in a few months so we decided to walk slowly.
I wanted to try and check that big bag on the Zephyr which we're not taking until tomorrow (overnight here in Chicago) but there were quite of few in front of us at the ticket counter. It looked like one of those Lounge Stalin Gulag attendants so I figured she would scrutinize our tickets for tomorrow PM and tell us to come back tomorrow or within 24 hours of travel. Just then, the unbusy package storage guy came over and asked if anyone wanted bags checked. After he helped another couple, we went up to him and he didn't even look at our ticket (or weigh the bag) but just put a GJT tag on and gave us the stub. So we got rid of the bag and it should be waiting for us the day before we arrive.
More to come.
