Recent content by eliyahu

i'm wondering when they'll start getting around to that. i rang amtrak earlier this morning and two of two agents hadn't the foggiest notion what i was on about when i mentioned rebooking us in the boston sleeper for our next HFD->AUS trek in december. we had already booked seats on #449 out...

i am always heartened by comments from regular riders that they encounter more good than bad in employee quality. i suppose i can accept that our family and our friends seem to always get the bad apples for some reason. however -- and this was the point i was trying to make earlier -- i really...

absolutely. one of the things that has always driven me crazy is how amtrak apologists will blame nearly everything related to poor customer service, cleanliness of facilities, or state of repair on 'congress' or 'lack of money' or something else(*). these same people always mention how most...

i couldn't agree more. i can certainly understand why the state of vermont would want daytime schedules on the 'vermonter' for commerce reasons, and for additional utility for local residents, but for people actually wanting to travel through from the tri-state area (or indeed further down...

my mistake, alan. i had thought the CCC car was one of the two 'diner lite' cars (amfleet II lounge-based and superliner diner-based) given its aim to combine diner and lounge services in a single car. i suppose the grills still extant in the lower-level kitchen allows the cooks to do more...

not much more to add here, really. in all three cases (full dining, SDS, and 'diner lite') most of the food is prepared prior to stocking the train from a contractor (currently gate gourmet, i believe). on full dining and the recently revamped SDS trains, steaks, eggs, and some other items are...

welcome! there are two major rail projects being pursued by the city of austin and TxDOT: a commuter rail line between san antonio and austin proper, and a new light rail line connecting the northern/northwestern suburbs like leander and cedar park to the city center. i think you are probably...

well, let's see if we can start something here. i'm hoping others will help me out here if i make any mistakes, but i believe the following is up-to-date as of this posting. just covering the overnight services: auto-train: full service dining; sometimes referred to as 'enhanced dining'...

luggage is a different issue. austin doesn't offer checked baggage service, so everything you have has to go on the coach with you. and while sleeper attendants almost always helped us getting heavy luggage in the car, coach attendants are entirely a different story. we've had both good and...

brandi, before we moved from austin to waterbury last year, we had done this before ourselves. the train is rarely even close to full on #22 northbound from austin, and yes, that's even when there is a lot of traffic. although there will be a fair number of students boarding during spring...

yes. i had to talk with a rep on the phone to have it sent, but the 'amtrak america' brochure for 2007-2008 is out. i don't really see any noticeable difference between this year's and its predecessor, though. most of the photos are recycled from the 2006-2007 version. -- eliyahu waterbury, ct

folks, we'll be taking the #99 from new haven on november 18th to connect to the crescent at penn and on our return will connect from #20 to #176 on november 26th. now here is my concern: we've always traveled via springfield connecting to the LSL, which has through baggage service. since our...

yep. learned this the hard way, too. the solution is call amtrak and order both the system timetable and one of their other publications/brochures, e.g, the 'amtrak america' brochure. they then ship both in a plastic wrap to save on postage, and in this way, your timetable arrives as crisp as...

nope. no bbc five here, i'm afraid (on the plus side, no license fees). most NFL teams have their own 'broadcast networks' where game coverage is simulcasted on multiple MW stations in a given region, but going from california to illinois, you'd be hard pressed to find more than a few stations...

as the busiest travel period of the year is now less than a month away, i'm curious as to how many forum members will be taking amtrak during the week around the thanksgiving holiday. i'd also be interested if any of us will be bumping into fellow forum members on the trains. for example...