Welcome to these forums, Tetris!
I also am a foreigner who insists on riding Amtrak. However, I must say that in the past I have found Amtrak very user friendly. Having said that, my last ride on Amtrak was back in 2003 and so I'm not sure if things have changed much over the years. It'll be interesting to see when I go to the States in April.
For me, the best trips have always been on the California Zephyr between Denver and the west coast. This is followed by the Empire Builder between Portland and Chicago. I've also ridden the Chief between Chicgo and LA and the Starlight in both directions. The staff have always been extremely courteous and helpful especially when the train has been delayed outside of Amtrak's control. On one occasion back in September 2001 I was riding #5, and we were delayed by slow orders through Utah and then had to wait for UP to repair a broken rail in the Nevada desert between Elko and Winnemucca. This resulted in the crew being over the 12 hour limit before reaching Sparks. One passenger got very angry when informed that we would be delayed even more by having to wait for a new crew. The Amtrak staff dealt with the situation in a way that prevented it getting out of hand.
My only cause for complaint is that the old West Rail Pass (anywhere west of Chicago) is no longer available and the new USA Rail Pass is almost twice the cost!
My experiences on SW Chief in 2005 were very good. A friend and I took adjoining deluxe bedrooms, neither of us wanted the upper berth, so this way we could have lower sleepers. We boarded in Chicago and arrived at Williams Jct, 4 hours late due to tornados and storms in Kans that caused slow orders or stoppages. We found out later if the wind gets over 60 mph, the train has to stop. But the shuttle bus was there for us and the lady at Grand Canyon RR hotel was up and organized with our tickets for GCRR and stayover at Canyon. On the return trip, we sat in hotel lobby until word came that the train was at a certain spot and we got on the bus. We only waited about 5 minutes at the Jct when the Chief came, it was barely daylight.
The crew were fantastic, some man was reportedly put off the train for smoking between the cars.
Two years earlier, I rode the Empire Builder by myself and that was an awesome trip. We arrived in Portland right on the dot. I'd booked a hotel, because I wasn't sure if we'd make it ok and then I had plenty of time to make the Coast Starlight the following day. Track work was being done on that line, so we had to ride a coach to Eugene and bus to Klamath Falls. But Amtrak provided us with box lunches on the coach and kept the diner open for us at KF, even though it was about 10 pm. As first class passengers, we were entitled to meals, so they took care of us. We'd missed the wine tasting, so the steward gave us complimentary wines with dinner. We were also reimbursed the difference between coach and first class from Portland to KF.
I have nothing but praise for Amtrak, they try the best they can with the conditions they have to work with. I grew up in a RR family, Mom was 3rd generation Frisco and Dad worked for them also, so I'd ridden all over US on passes in my younger days. I even rode the original Calif Zephyr with friends and also the all-Pullman City of LA ran by UP, so I can make comparisons and Amtrak ranks with the best.
I've never traveled in the winter and don't think I ever will. The weather is too unpredictable in this part of the country-Midwest.
(1) Pre-merger, LJ to Newton got some funds and some attention, but it was still down at the bottom of the pecking order. In the political mess that is BNSF, the beancounters and operating supervision rule. Maintenance of way has little say. With no manpower or equipment, the current Dodge City roadmaster has little say in the matter.
(2) Getting rid of ATS and dropping the speed to 79mph dropped the FRA Class of Track down one level. Class 4 is very forgiving and thus the rough ride. 132# jointed rail that is 50-60 years old and lack of an undercutter does not help much either.
(3) Henry H. and the boys on CVR can lust over the west end of the old Middle Division all they want, but they could never afford it. On top of that, LJ to Las Animas Junction is vital (regardless if the Front Range Bypass ever happens, which it probably won't), you have STACNET obligations between Trinidad and La Junta and from Garden/Dodge east, you have tonnage 4-5 months a year. With the house of cards in NM about to collapse (No money from Uncle Sugar), maybe they ought to consider running some priority freight over the old Northern Transcon. (but then again, the new generation BNSF operating culture of drones and button-pushers doesn't really know how to operate a railroad)
SFbrkmnThe track condition around Dodge City is a joke and only will get worse. A few yrs ago, a load of ties was sent to the DDC rdmstr, around 300 of them. He didn't even know on where to pick a spot to begin tie replacement.That bad. Contrary to what one may have said, the La Junta Sub is not for sale. Thats not to say at some future point it could come to that. The shortline in sw KS has made it no secert they would like to have trk from DDC to Hutchinson if not Newton but only time will tell.
Johnny
John, I rode exact same consist CHI-LAX out of CHI on 12/19 and had rmte 4 in the George M. Pullman. I also noticed many areas of bad track quality, but in some cases i can put up with it for the 90 track speed. In any event you'd have been far better off keeping your lower level roomette instead of 10. All the lower rmts are near the center of the car, but 9 and 10 are as far outboard of the truck centers as you can get and consequently the ride is very rough (bad lateral motion especially) and noisy. Only disadvantage to the lowers is slightly more track noise and more commotion due proximity to the entries. Both the Vermont and the diner in that consist are second batch Superliners and I noticed almost dangerous lateral jolts seated at the end table in the diner. First time I've seen major drink spills. I think the lateral dampers on those cars may have probs or the trucks just aren't as good as first gen. Wost part of my trip? We arrived LAX 62 minutes early and had late afternoon flight to BOI. That would be great, anywhere but there!
Hope your next ride goes better.
PS: Things can get worse: my return trip 12/28 SEA-MKE on the Builder was anulled and I had to make emergency flight plans at high cost and all day in the sky SEA-ATL-MKE. Least I got to finish the trip on the Hiawatha service.
Jim
John,
I´m a foreigner who insists in riding on Amtrak every time I have an opportunity to travel to the US. I must say Amtrak is not very user friendly for non Americans, but I´ve enjoyed all the trips I have taken so far.
The best trip I recall was way back in 1997 in the Crescent, from Birmingham to Washington. I got a double bedroom and the food was very nice. The only small downside of the entire trip was a disgusting conductor who´ve boarded in somewhere between our journey and abruptly interrupted my diner with an acquaintance met at the dining car stating I didn´t belong to first class and asking for my ticket.
Thanks God there are the service managers to deal with Amtrak customers....
Thanks, John. I always appreciate reading other peoples' experience in riding trains.
Back in September, I posted some questions about my upcoming trip on #4. I thought some of you may be interested in how it went.
I had been assigned a lower level roomette out of Fullerton,CA to Kansas City for travel on 12/26. Because of Samantha's suggestion, I was able to snag a roomette on the upper level one week before departure(Thank You Samantha). I was assigned to Roomette#10 in car 431. I arrived at Fullerton at 1830 and was told the train would be 45min. late due to mechanical problems at Los Angeles. After more "creeping delay " announcements, at 2000 we were finally told that they found a cracked wheel on the lead locomotive, while still in the yard, and that it would be swapped out for another ,after which the train would be backed into LA Union Station to load passengers with a total delay of 3 hours.That turned out to be a good estimate as #4 arrived Fullerton at 2215..2hr,55min late. The consist was as follows:
2 - P-42's
Baggage
Transition Dorm
2 - Sleepers(#431-Vermont & #430-George M.Pullman)
SIghtseer/Lounge(re-modeled 8 tables+lounge seating)
Diner
4-coaches
Thanks to Matt's directions, I found sleeper #431 right under the pedestrian bridge. Due to the length of the train, they had to make 2 stops(1 for 1st class & 1 for coach) at most of the stations along the route. We managed to make up about 30min. of the delay going into Williams Jct. but lost it again going into Flagstaff account of frozen switches & malfunctioning signals from a 16" snowfall. We gained back another 40min. between Newton,KS and Kansas City primarily from an expedited fuel stop at the BNSF facility just outside Kansas City. All in all, not too bad considering the weather in Arizona and the double stops at most stations.
Of course, the train was jammed packed with the 8 extra rooms in the transition dorm being sold as revenue space and an extra coach tacked onto the rear to accomodate the crowd. The dining car crew seemed to excel in crowd control and kept the diner open for extended hours for each meal period. The vast majority of the passengers took the delay in stride with only a very few saying that they would never take the train again.
My only complaint was the deplorable track conditions between LaJunta,CO & Dodge City,KS. There were times I felt, had I not been able to brace myself between the roomette walls, that I would have been catapaulted right out of the berth. I mentioned this to the conductor and he said that the ex-ATSF line between Trinidad,CO & Newton,KS was up for sale and that BNSF was doing minimal maintenance on it.
Despite the delay & the rough ride, I really enjoyed the trip and hope to do it again sometime in 2009.
John
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