Recent content by walker46

Not a surprise Amtrak has a crook on the payroll, every company has a few bad apples. But I'm puzzled. Read this article about an employee selling Amtrak's chainsaws. What I can't figure out is why does Amtrak have a big stash of chainsaws? Anybody know? AP news article...

According to this news article in the local paper, it sounds like just 25 people took the train: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/a-special-journey/article_6b3acaa8-3db8-5db8-8dd1-4d469297fa43.html

Unlike for the other presidents, there's a museum for Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids that is separate from the Gerald R Ford Library in Ann Arbor. Unless you intend to do research, I'd say the museum is what you want. As Seaboard92 noted you can get to Grand Rapids round trip from Chicago on the...

It doesn’t have the decadent ambiance of a French Quarter hotel but I’ve stayed at the Staybridge Suites Inn at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Poydras a couple of times. It’s three or four short and safe blocks from Canal Street and the French Quarter and also close walking distance to other...

Since that statement was sort of aimed at me, let me say that I am a member of a group that advocates for the disabled and am well aware of the difficulties people have getting around if they do not or cannot drive for whatever reason. But rerouting the Pere Marquette isn’t likely to help...

Four thoughts: No normal person will ever take a train from Holland to Kalamazoo via Grand Rapids since it would easily take twice as long as driving. Of course train buffs like the people who post here might once or twice for the fun of it. Similarly, no normal person in Holland will take a...

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/03/25/train-blamed-deaths-hundreds-crows-michigan/82255998/

You are absolutely right that Michigan pays the entire bill for all the trains that go to Chicago from Michigan including also the Pere Marquette and the Blue Water. This has always annoyed me in that Chicago benefits from these trains as much as Michigan and maybe more so. In a perfect world...

There’s a great huge bookstore, both new and used books, a block over from Denver’s Union Station, “The Tattered Cover Bookstore” on 16th Street.

A couple of weeks ago I was walked from the lounge to the pre-board area for 370. Not sure if my experience was standard operating procedure since there seemed to be some confusion since the train was not ready for boarding when we got over there. I wasn't Business Class, I was in the lounge...

I was on 370 last night so I peeked behind the curtain in business class. They've installed leather seats. Only two passengers in business class though while the rest of the train was pretty much full as it usually is on a Sunday night.

Thanks Hessjm and Navy for the info (and Palmetto for the guess.) I realize that there are always trade-offs but one of my concerns is that adjusting the schedule for maximizing equipment usage rather than for maximizing it for customer convenience might drive away customers. Amtrak certainly...

So my son and I have reservations for a trip in May from Grand Rapids to New Orleans connecting of course in Chicago. I get an e-mail from Amtrak saying the return trip from Chicago to GR has been changed from leaving Chicago at 4:55 PM to leaving at 6:30 PM. OK, fine I think, I don't care and...

In the first car all seats were facing what would be the front of the train. In the second car the seats were facing both ways split in the middle. I cant' remember because I only went in the third car to go to the cafe but I think they were facing toward the engine at the end. So in the...

So I'm back from my trip and you are right. The train backs out of the station and doesn't turn around, it just goes forward on the mainline after it clears the siding. So the front of the train is facing the station and if you want to sit on the Lake Michigan side you need to sit on the right...