Hiawatha Service trip report

I went on my first Amtrak trip yesterday (Hiawatha Service), and the train I rode in both ways had the new Venture cars. The seats, while narrow, were not all that uncomfortable. They even had a place to rest your head so you could take a nap. The recline, however, was so small that I thought, "Why even bother to recline in the first place." The southbound trip had a few minor delays caused by freight train interference, causing us to be about 5-10 minutes late into Chicago Union Station. The northbound trip was on time. On the northbound train, one of the shelves for overhead luggage was rattling for part of the trip. I eventually got used to the noise and tuned it out.

Overall, I have to rate this experience with the Venture cars a 4 out of 5 stars. Because of the fact that we were late getting in to Chicago Union Station, as well as the rattling luggage shelf, I had to remove a star from the rating.

So glad to hear that you were able to enjoy (for the most part) the Hiawatha route.

That route is a fun route to take a train on and I'm glad that you had a good experience on the venture cars. I'm sorry to hear about the rattling though. On one of my most recent train trips, the unoccupied seats in front of me rattled as well for a while, so I fully know how that it is. I'm glad that it didn't impact on your overall experience.

I'm glad that the freight train interference didn't delay you too much. Sometimes, they can be quite lengthy.

Did you take the route all of the way from the intermodal station or some place in between?

chadamfleetrailfan said:

So glad to hear that you were able to enjoy (for the most part) the Hiawatha route.

That route is a fun route to take a train on and I'm glad that you had a good experience on the venture cars. I'm sorry to hear about the rattling though. On one of my most recent train trips, the unoccupied seats in front of me rattled as well for a while, so I fully know how that it is. I'm glad that it didn't impact on your overall experience.

I'm glad that the freight train interference didn't delay you too much. Sometimes, they can be quite lengthy.

Did you take the route all of the way from the intermodal station or some place in between?

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I boarded the train at the Milwaukee Airport station.

I just took another Hiawatha Service trip to Chicago with my friends on Saturday, March 16th. This time, we boarded from the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and took an earlier train so we could spend more time at our destination in Chicago (Museum of Science and Industry) than we got to last time. In addition, taking an earlier train allowed me to experience both the old and new equipment in the same day. I found pros and cons to both. The southbound trip was on the Horizons, which had larger, but comparatively comfortable, seats, than the Venture cars I rode in last September. However, the Horizons were more dimly lit and felt more cramped than the Ventures, largely because of the low ceiling over the seats, something the Venture cars don't have. The northbound trip was on the Ventures, and because of it being allowed during the rollout period of the newer trains, I tried the Business Class car, which had comparatively comfortable and sized seats as the Horizons, and was more brightly lit and less claustrophobic than the Horizons. As with the Venture coach cars, the reclining of the seats leaves much to be desired. I was also disappointed to see that the tray table for the seat one of my friends was sitting in was missing. It's really sad how little respect people have for the features of the services they and other people use nowadays, as evidenced by this problem. If these trains are going to last as long as the Horizons and Amfleets did, they are going to have to be maintained better.