pictures and review of my Amtrak trip

[Anonymous]

we just got back from my trip on the Amtrak Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Kansas City. My Mom and I drove my brothers pickup and 5th wheel camper out to California because he was storing it at my house while he was playing king of the sandbox in Iraq, and kicking some *** with the Marines in Fallujah. they all came home to Camp Pendleton on friday night. it's good to have my brother and all the other Marines home safely. but, back to the Amtrak trip.

we left Los Angeles Union Station on monday night. LA Union Station is very nice. it's good to see thousands of people still using a station that old, the way it was supposed to be. we were in superliner sleeper Florida, in a roomette. let me tell you, if you are over 6 foot tall or weigh more than 200 pounds, fork over the extra cash for a bigger room, the accomidations in the roomette with the beds made are VERY tight. i have more room in the sleeper of my truck[:D]. the sleepers have a set of the bigger rooms on one end, a bathroom, coffee machine, and the stairs in the middle, and the smaller roomettes along each side of the other end. none of the pictures i took of the inside came out except this one looking down the hall twoards the larger rooms:



and a couple of shots out the lounge windows:



we left at 6:45PM and just after we left, they started serving dinner. I dont think there were more than 20 passengers on the entire train. at dinner, i decided to have the steak, it wasnt too bad, but not great. the service was excellent although the oriental woman working the dining car didnt speak english very well. after dinner, i headed for the lounge car to watch the nighttime scenery go by. one thing i noticed is that the lounge and the 2 coach cars rode much better than the 3 sleepers and the diner. must have been the trucks.

here is a shot of the trucks that were on the coach and lounge:


here is the truck type that was on the sleepers and diner:


I cant remember which type is on which style of car (superliner 1 or 2), but the diner bounced and swayed all over the place compaired to the lounge. (by the way, the chocolate cake is pretty darn good[:D]) after dinner i went to the lounge and watched I Robot (with all the cuss words edited out, gotta be kid friendly i guess) then watched the mountains go by. after we got to the top of Cajon pass, i decided to head off to bed. my Mom took the bottom bunk and i had to squeeze my fat, tall butt into the top bunk. not much room up there, but i slept pretty good. I woke up just after the Williams AZ stop and headed for the diner for breakfast as we pulled into Falgstaff. after that, it was back to the lounge. the only problem with this trip is that it follows I-15 and I-40 all the way to Albuquerque. I drive this route in the 18 wheeler almost every week so the scenery gets a bit old. here is a shot of the red cliffs and a westbound stack train:




somewhere around Flagstaff the toilets in our sleeping car stopped working. so we had to go over to the sleeper "New Jersey" to use the bathroom. kinda appropriate i guess(bad New Jersey joke...[:D][:D]) We got into Albuquerque about 30 minutes early, so we had plenty of time to wander around the platform. the new station there is pretty nice looking. I took this opportunity to get some bad pictures of the entire consist[:D]

lead locomotive #205


next loco #16


last loco, a rare sight on long distance trains these days, 8-32BHW #500


baggage car


transition sleeper


sleeper "New Jersey"


sleeper "Florida"


Dining car


Sightseer Lounge


coach


coach #2


and bringing up the rear, a lonely Express Trak reefer.


they fueled up the locos, cleaned and restocked the train, and picked up some new passengers while everyone wandered around and bought some native American goods being sold by various vendors on the platform. I hadnt had a cigarette since we left Los Angeles so i had to smoke a few while i had the chance. as I was out smoking and taking pictures a cop came up to me and flashed his badge, i thought he might be wondering why i was taking so many pictures, but the problem was that the name tag had come off my bag and they were trying to figure out who owned it. gotta make sure no one was trying to plant a bonb or smuggle drugs i guess. before we left, most of us headed to the diner for lunch. i had the chicken sandwich which was pretty good. then it was back to the lounge with my new Dean Koontz book and my camera to watch the mountains go by. we slowly truged uphill in the snow to Raton pass. somewhere in the mountains, we met the westbound Chief. we had to sit a while to make the meet and that messed up the schedule a bit.

here are some pictures from the mountains:





about this time, the cold i had caught was kicking the heck outta me so i headed back to the roomette to take a nap. then it was time for dinner. the special was baked chicken and it was really good. after dinner, i headed back to the room and went to bed in my tiny bunk. we got to Kansas City this morning right on time. as we jumped off, we tipped our car attendant (really nice guy[:D]) and headed into Kansas City Union Station to pick up our checked bags. wow, Kansas City has a beautiful station. and from there, my Dad drove us back to Springfield.

overall, i would have to say it was a great trip. the only problems were the non-working bathrooms and the broken door in the dining car (it was stuck open) and the lack of a smoking car for the addicts like me [:D] all of the people working on the train were very friendly and it was kept pretty clean. i would highly reccommend an Amtrak trip if you ever have the chance and you are not in much of a hurry. but like i said, spring for the bigger room if you are not one of those twig people[:D]

[conrailman]

My family is going on the Southwest Chief in about 2 week Feb.18 Leave on Train 41 from Latrobe, Pa on the 17. Me,Mom and Dad getting 2 roomette going to Needles, Ca then to Las Vegas to Win Big.[:D][:)]

[M636C]

NightCrawler,

The trip report was good and well illustrated.

The trucks under the coaches and lounge car are a German design, called Minden-Deutz, and these are fitted to Superliner I cars. The trucks under the sleeper and diner are more conventional US design trucks. I had been told that the German trucks did not ride as well as the US trucks under the later cars. Perhaps the problems they had earlier have been fixed.

I haven't travelled on a Long distance Amtrak train in many years, not since the Superliners arrived. I'll have to think about it while the trains are still running!

It is unfortunate that Amtrak have removed the smoking rooms. I'm not a smoker, but they did provide smoking spaces, but they didn't have separate ventilation, as is now required. With financial pressure on Amtrak, they couldn't afford to upgrade to separate ventilation for the smoking rooms, so they removed them.

But with all the bad news, it's good to know that servicemen are coming back safely from Iraq, too!

Peter

[FThunder11]

You said that seeing the 8-32BHW was a rare site, but, i live in Colorado and I've only seen the Southwest Chief once and there was one in the consist #505. So mabey its not so rare on he SW Chief???

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing, NightCrawler, great shots!

[locomutt]

Thanks for sharing that,those are great shots!

[Anonymous]

Yes, very nice shots. i was thinking of taking a train ride to somewhere someday and you may have just sold me. Granted I ride on freights all the time, but passenger trains are a different breed of cat.

[mudchicken]

Last pic: Nice shot from the "Doolittle Truss Bridge" in Shoemaker Canyon between Mora and Watrous, NM......know it well. (take the bridge truss out of there and it almost looks like Apache Canyon[:o)])

[Anonymous]

Great Shots. Thanks for the pictures!!

[CShaveRR]

I saw an eastbound Amtrak train on the Racetrack yesterday afternoon (probably the Southwest Chief, possibly the Zephyr). It had your old friend #500 as a third unit.

Thanks for sharing!

[daveklepper]

Thanks. NONE of your pictures that you showed us were bad. They were wonderful for me to look at and revive the memories of the last time I rode that train. I like the straight from the shoulder way to tell the truth about what it good and what should be improved. Looking at the truck designs, and having read something about this subject, I would say either design can provide a good ride if maintained properly. Possibly it is easier to let things go on the General Steel Castings drop equalizer truck, which should be a good truck, and it needs welding-upn in wear spots and general alignment so the sleepers will ride well. Possibly if you let things get out of hand on the German truck, it may just possibly become a safety problem, so Amtrak with its very very limited resource just does what it must. This is just guessing, but that might explain why the German trucks seemed to ride better.

Again, thanks very, very much!

[JoeKoh]

thank you for sharing.awesome pictures.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

The pictures and write up was very good. Much thanks to ya. Were the roomette bunks about the size of those used on the FLD120's or Centurys?

What about drinking water? Were you permitted to carry your own or did the train have it?

Was the dining car sway from being so high off the track? I recall a railfan flat car years ago with high seating that really demanded strong stomaches.

What about the food? Did they hand you the bill or was it part of the fare you paid before getting on the train?

Did the room have enviornmental controls or other features for the passenger? Or just a bed?

I am considering a trip via Texas Eagle via Chicago to Washington DC and that is the reason for the questions.

I am very (painfully) familiar with the I-40 corridor and can almost taste the dust as I read your write up. Keep dirty side down and sunny side up!

[Anonymous]

Nightcrawler,

Many thanks for the post. This is exactly the kind of thing I love to see on the forum and wi***here were more. I wish you had a picture of the new Albuquerque station. The last time I was there the old had just burned down.

High iron, I don't mean to step on Nightcrawler's story, but I can tell you that you can take water if you wish but they certainly have fresh water aboard, that dining car meals are included with sleeping car fares (coach passengers pay a bill) and that there is not really much lateral sway in the Superliners.

[halifaxcn]

Great photos, I enjoyed them. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Ifish, Many thanks. I dont think you stepped on Nightcrawler here.. you helped share the information I was seeking. Thanks to you.

[Anonymous]

The pictures and write up was very good. Much thanks to ya. Were the roomette bunks about the size of those used on the FLD120's or Centurys?

I would say that the bottom bed in the roomettes is about the same size as the top bunk in a century. the top bunk in the roomette is about 6 inches narrower, and both of them are about 6 inches shorter

What about drinking water? Were you permitted to carry your own or did the train have it?

they had a couple of small bottles of water in each room for free when we first got on. i didnt notice if there was any other drinking water taps. but you can bring your own drinks and food on the train. just load up a small cooler and you are good to go.

Was the dining car sway from being so high off the track? I recall a railfan flat car years ago with high seating that really demanded strong stomaches.

I dont know why the dining car rode rough. it might have been the extra weight. but it wasnt too bad.

What about the food? Did they hand you the bill or was it part of the fare you paid before getting on the train?

the food is included if you have a room. you have to pay if you only have a coach seat. and it is pretty expensive.

Did the room have enviornmental controls or other features for the passenger? Or just a bed?

yes, the room has air temp. controls. it also has a small table between the chairs, reading lights, and one outlet if you want to plug in a computer or something.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your answer night crawler. It seems they had a 6 foot person in mind. I could nest in one of those at 6 feet myself but anyone taller whew!

Thanks again for your answers.

[Anonymous]

nice photos

[Anonymous]

Very Nice Post. I have taken the "Chief" twice, from Chicago to Kingman Arizona and back. The first trip was quite pleasant. Not so much the second. We also had "toilet problems" in our coach, along with a nasty smell and I do mean NASTY!! Also some of the crew on the second trip had an "atitude"-maybe cause of the toilet situation. The train was clean and on time for both trips.Am looking forward to another trip someday. Sure wi***hey still had the "Desert Wind" into Las Vegas.

[MP57313]

Nice post; thanks for the pictures and story.

[Anonymous]

The talk about the toilet problems reminded me of the old greyhound stink that started to accumulate after the 8th hour on the bus. 50 people on one toliet can be quite bad.. I wonder if Amtrack cars each have a toilet for all aboard? Or is the toilets in one or two cars for the entire train?