Probably, but it would still be a suite ride! :lol: :lol:I think even the Bedroom suite would get a little crowded with all of us in there!!!
2 forum members on 9000 mile 10 day Amtrip
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the_traveler
Engineer
The penthouse suite is still suite-r!Probably, but it would still be a suite ride! :lol: :lol:I think even the Bedroom suite would get a little crowded with all of us in there!!!
rtabern
Conductor
Greetings all on the wee hours of the morning on Day #5 of the trip... writing this from the 4th floor of the Metro Plaza in LA.
So, let's rewind to where Mike and I left off... Portland.
Mike went for a walk around downtown PDX while I wrote the posting... we met up around 11:45AM and boarded the Northbound Cascades #506. Part of me wanted to stay in Portland, but part of me also wanted to do a quick ride on the Cascades since the only ride on the Cascades I did before was a super quick jaunt from SEA to Tukwilla back in 2007. I think the deciding factor was that normally you couldnt take #506 even for a quick ride with the normal connection time between #27 and #11... we were only able to do it with the later Starlight schedule.
Anyway, the attendant in the PDX Metro Lounge was great. I wish I remembered his name, but very friendly and very helpful in getting the WiFi up and going. Props to him!!!
We boarded #506 BC and quickly headed North... the conductors didnt get our tickets to after VAN, which only gave us about 40 minutes to enjoy wandering #506. Mike and I opted for the cafe car... I had some good mac & cheese and Mike had some chowder (surprise, surprise, he's from Boston) -- and I guess surprise surprise with me too with the mac & cheese being from Wisconsin.
I ended up buying 4 tins of mints with the Cascade logo on them... and 1 bottle of water with the Cascades on them too.
Just as we were finishing... it was almost time to de-train already in Kelso-Longview. We had about an hour before the Starlight. We spent the time checking out the old Northern Pacific depot... and then walking around the town. It was quite dumpy... the odd thing was people had falling down houses, but often had classic cars sitting outside. Just odd -- Mike is into classic cars and pointed out a lot of the models to me... pretty neat to hear some info about all of that. We also spend a good chunk of the time visiting gas stations in the town... the lounge car guy on #506 said there was a Washington State Lottery Scratch-off game featuring the Talgos... and even had one he showed us, but not a single gas station we walked into in Kelso had the game. UGH!
We made our way back to the depot and #11 arrived just a few minutes late.
Since we were traveling AGR, we had sleeper tickets CHI-PDX on #27 and PDX-LAX on #11. So we ended up getting a $12.60 coach ticket on #11... hoping we'd be able to sweet talk the conductors into letting us get into our bedrooms early and not sit in coach for 30 minutes from KEL-PDX. The first person I asked about that was the coach attendant and he said we had to sit in coach until PDX. As he said that, the Parlour Car attendant was calling people into the PPC for the wine tasting... we ran into the conductors and they were cool and let us into our rooms early at KEL... even though from KEL-PDX we were engaged in the wine tasting.
(To be contiuned in the morning)
So, let's rewind to where Mike and I left off... Portland.
Mike went for a walk around downtown PDX while I wrote the posting... we met up around 11:45AM and boarded the Northbound Cascades #506. Part of me wanted to stay in Portland, but part of me also wanted to do a quick ride on the Cascades since the only ride on the Cascades I did before was a super quick jaunt from SEA to Tukwilla back in 2007. I think the deciding factor was that normally you couldnt take #506 even for a quick ride with the normal connection time between #27 and #11... we were only able to do it with the later Starlight schedule.
Anyway, the attendant in the PDX Metro Lounge was great. I wish I remembered his name, but very friendly and very helpful in getting the WiFi up and going. Props to him!!!
We boarded #506 BC and quickly headed North... the conductors didnt get our tickets to after VAN, which only gave us about 40 minutes to enjoy wandering #506. Mike and I opted for the cafe car... I had some good mac & cheese and Mike had some chowder (surprise, surprise, he's from Boston) -- and I guess surprise surprise with me too with the mac & cheese being from Wisconsin.
I ended up buying 4 tins of mints with the Cascade logo on them... and 1 bottle of water with the Cascades on them too.
Just as we were finishing... it was almost time to de-train already in Kelso-Longview. We had about an hour before the Starlight. We spent the time checking out the old Northern Pacific depot... and then walking around the town. It was quite dumpy... the odd thing was people had falling down houses, but often had classic cars sitting outside. Just odd -- Mike is into classic cars and pointed out a lot of the models to me... pretty neat to hear some info about all of that. We also spend a good chunk of the time visiting gas stations in the town... the lounge car guy on #506 said there was a Washington State Lottery Scratch-off game featuring the Talgos... and even had one he showed us, but not a single gas station we walked into in Kelso had the game. UGH!
We made our way back to the depot and #11 arrived just a few minutes late.
Since we were traveling AGR, we had sleeper tickets CHI-PDX on #27 and PDX-LAX on #11. So we ended up getting a $12.60 coach ticket on #11... hoping we'd be able to sweet talk the conductors into letting us get into our bedrooms early and not sit in coach for 30 minutes from KEL-PDX. The first person I asked about that was the coach attendant and he said we had to sit in coach until PDX. As he said that, the Parlour Car attendant was calling people into the PPC for the wine tasting... we ran into the conductors and they were cool and let us into our rooms early at KEL... even though from KEL-PDX we were engaged in the wine tasting.
(To be contiuned in the morning)
You were a day too early! Those lottery games only went on sale on the 8th and if I'm doing my calculations right, you were in Kelso on the 7th.
As an interesting side note, some of the proceeds from the game will go into the Cascades service. The story can be found here.
rtabern
Conductor
Alan, interesting stuff about the lottery ticket thing... wish he mentioned that. You wouldnt imagine the weird looks you get when you walk into a gas station all excited asking about an Amtrak scratch-off ticket... and the clerk having no idea what the heck you're talking about!!! :wacko:
Back to the blog...
So from KEL-PDX we ended up doing the wine tasting. It was a good time as always, but I was a little sad to see they replaced the cheese from the past couple of years... They had this really really good purple moon cheese for a couple of years on there that I couldnt get enough of... and they replaced it with jalepeno pepper cheese and some burnt/smoked cheddar thing. I found the pepper cheese not very edible and the burnt/smoked cheese just okay. The wines were good though... as nice as ever.
We had 2 Parlour Car attendants the first day. Our "real" attendant was named Michelle Orr... and she was assisted the first day by Alan, who I guess was in the diner the second day training someone. Michelle was one of the nicest PPC attendants I had. She really did her research on the wine tasting and had a lot of nice things to add. She admitted she wasn't a "wine person", but did her research on-line about wine for the PPC wine tastings. I think that was cool. I have had some good wine tastings (especially with PPC attendants Richard and Jane)... and some lousy ones (like on the Empire Builder on this trip where they did the wine tasting too late and rushed us to drink 4 glasses of wine ina bout 20 minutes). Michelle was very nice -- one of Amtrak's best.
For the 8th time in a row (not bragging or anything :blink: ) I won a wine trivia question. The prize was a free glass of wine at dinner. I was hoping to win a Coast Starlight teddy bear like in years past or one the pewter spoons or something -- but I guess they are out of a lot of that stuff now and are just giving away glasses of comp wine.
As the wine tasting finished up we rolled back into Portland, OR. Mike and I stored our bags in the Met Lounge in PDX because it was easier to do. My friend Brandon's friend lived in PDX and he wanted us to meet him... so we did a quick "hello" in the main area of the station before re-boarding #11.
Rolling southbound, we passed the falls in Oregon City. I poined them out to Mike and mentioned a little how they were officially "the end" of the Oregon Trail. I am trying to remember how I heard of that before -- either someone with Trails & Rails on the train one time -- or the fact that I was obsessed with playing the 1980's video game "Oregon Trail" during computer class.
By the time we got to Eugene-Springfield, it was dark... and it was dinner time. I ended up just having the rice and vegetables (I find myself not too hungry with the wine tastings)... and Mike had the beef. Mike and I decided it was a good idea to try and eat all our meals in the PPC instead of the diner -- because we liked the PPC selection -- and since we still had several days of ahead of us with the regular Amtrak menu on the Southwest Chief, City of New Orleans, Crescent, and for me the Capitol Limited back to Chicago.
We ended up socializing with some of the crew... who seemed very happy it wasn't summer yet... and that they could sit down for 30 minutes and swap stories and enjoy some tea with us. We are also quite amuzed with this 20-something year-old girl (very cute BTW!)... who was starting to freak out because she couldnt get a WiFi connection and her cell phone didn't work... as we were climbing up the pass at Chemult, OR. Everyone tried to explain that the reception of the WiFi in the PPC was based on cell phone signal and that we probably wouldnt get service until around Klamath. I guess she was a grad student from the Bay Area, but was originally from Canada. She just kept freaking out worse and worse until she finally got a signal -- it was bizarre -- but I hate to say -- slightly amuzing to us and the crew how connected to technology people are. Yes, I would have liked to get a signal to get this blog up sooner -- but jeez -- the reason Mike and I are doing the long train trip -- is partially to get away from technology and stress -- and just to enjoy the scenery.
I think we headed back to the room around 11PM and ended Day #3.
I got up around 6:30AM on Day #4... We weren't supposed to get into Sacaramento until around 8:10AM, but at 6:30AM, I noticed on my GPS that we were only 21 miles out. I knocked on Mike's door because he seemed awake... and advised that either my GPS was really off... or we'd have an hour or more to kill in Sacaramento, CA. We quickly got dressed and were ready to de-train in SAC at 7:10AM or so when we rolled in.
We decided our game plan was to hit the Starbucks. We wanted a Starbucks Hot Chocolate... and I also collect the "city mugs" that Starbucks puts out... they have the name and outline of the city... and I knew there was a Sacramento mug I didn't have. So the first Starbucks we hit didnt have one, but the second one in sorta an in-door/out-door mall had one. From there, we did a quick walk over to the California State Capitol and got a picture of us there. We sorta lost track of time... it was after 8AM already... so we did a quick walk back to the train. Turns out we had plenty of time... so we did a little photo shoot next to the Cap Coordior train.
At the next stop, my friend Brandon joined us for a couple of hours. He used to be a conductor friend of mine on the Chicago-St Louis cooridor trains, but moved out to San Franciso in 2008 to be a conductor for Cal-Train. He's since become an engineer for Amtrak and runs to Reno on #5 and #6... and also down to Merced on the Cap Cooridor trains. Brandon rode with us in the PPC from Davis down to San Jose. He's a great guy... and pointed out all of the scenery and railroad history as we passed through the Bay Area stops of Oakland, Emeryville, Martinez, and San Jose.
We parted ways with Brandon at San Jose... made a quick jump into the station to buy a bag of popcorn (the whole crew was doing it)... and we were on our way.
Lunch... Mmmm.... lunch!!! Mike and I both had the eggplant paramesian. It was THE BEST... THE BEST... THE BEST... meal I have ever had on Amtrak. I guess they load some of the PPC meals on fresh at some of the service stops... and this meal was loaded on in Oakland. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. Michelle in the PPC was so nice to set an extra meal aside and I had it for dinner too. I wish this could be shared system-wide.
We stopped in Salinas... and held there for over an hour because of track work. This is a good time to mention that ORIGINALLY, Mike and I were going to take #11 to EMY and then go home on #6 with spending part of the day in the Bay Area. However, a "little birdie" who works for Amtrak tipped us off that this #11 was going to probably detour over the Techapi (? spelling) Pass because of track work... so we extended the trip into LAX. It turns out that we didn't detour. We knew this before leaving, but decided just to keep the train plan to the same... we didnt mind going into LAX for the extra time in the PPC... and Mike and I are talking about a trip now possibly to the Bay Area in early 2012 anyway. So, yeah, we held in Salinas for an extra hour because of the track work. Of course the conductors wouldnt "gurantee" that we would be there for any given time... so we played it safe and stayed around the station. FOLKS -- if you ever have the chance -- go inside the Salinas station!!! It's amazing!! It looks like you stepped back 30-70 years. They have Amtrak posters from before I was born (1979) up still in the station --- and the coolest thing was they have a picture of the 4449 in the tile... from the original SP days.
We made our way down California... the highlight was the sunset just as we were going around the Horse-shoe Curve north of SLO.
We got a little nervous about how long it would take us to get into LAX when we met #14 at SLO. It was 7PM... meaning... did it take them 6 hours and 45 min just to reach SLO?? That would put us in the very very wee hours of the morning if they left on-time. #14 was pulling out of SLO as we were pulling in... it was kinda cool.
They conductors announced that we were going to do a "safety stop" at Goleta, CA -- because I guess the crew at Oakland forgot to do the train's 24 hour inspection and it had to be done before Midnight. However, it was later decided that they would blow through Goleta in hopes of making it to LAX before Midnight. My thinking there was some UP dispatcher in Omaha laughing that the train would go dead at 11:59PM right before making the platform... BUT NO... We ended up getting into LAX at 11:40PM with about 20 minutes to spare.
From there, it was a quick walk over to the Metro Plaza... where I started the blog... went to bed ending Day #4... and now Mike and I are just getting up here... I'm finishing the blog while he's in the shower.
The game plan for today (Day #5) is for some breakfast, a quick day trip on the Surfliner down to Solana Beach... sit on the ocean for 2 hours... and then head back to LAX to catch #4 out at 6:15PM.
Thanks to everyone for following our trip!!!
Back to the blog...
So from KEL-PDX we ended up doing the wine tasting. It was a good time as always, but I was a little sad to see they replaced the cheese from the past couple of years... They had this really really good purple moon cheese for a couple of years on there that I couldnt get enough of... and they replaced it with jalepeno pepper cheese and some burnt/smoked cheddar thing. I found the pepper cheese not very edible and the burnt/smoked cheese just okay. The wines were good though... as nice as ever.
We had 2 Parlour Car attendants the first day. Our "real" attendant was named Michelle Orr... and she was assisted the first day by Alan, who I guess was in the diner the second day training someone. Michelle was one of the nicest PPC attendants I had. She really did her research on the wine tasting and had a lot of nice things to add. She admitted she wasn't a "wine person", but did her research on-line about wine for the PPC wine tastings. I think that was cool. I have had some good wine tastings (especially with PPC attendants Richard and Jane)... and some lousy ones (like on the Empire Builder on this trip where they did the wine tasting too late and rushed us to drink 4 glasses of wine ina bout 20 minutes). Michelle was very nice -- one of Amtrak's best.
For the 8th time in a row (not bragging or anything :blink: ) I won a wine trivia question. The prize was a free glass of wine at dinner. I was hoping to win a Coast Starlight teddy bear like in years past or one the pewter spoons or something -- but I guess they are out of a lot of that stuff now and are just giving away glasses of comp wine.
As the wine tasting finished up we rolled back into Portland, OR. Mike and I stored our bags in the Met Lounge in PDX because it was easier to do. My friend Brandon's friend lived in PDX and he wanted us to meet him... so we did a quick "hello" in the main area of the station before re-boarding #11.
Rolling southbound, we passed the falls in Oregon City. I poined them out to Mike and mentioned a little how they were officially "the end" of the Oregon Trail. I am trying to remember how I heard of that before -- either someone with Trails & Rails on the train one time -- or the fact that I was obsessed with playing the 1980's video game "Oregon Trail" during computer class.
By the time we got to Eugene-Springfield, it was dark... and it was dinner time. I ended up just having the rice and vegetables (I find myself not too hungry with the wine tastings)... and Mike had the beef. Mike and I decided it was a good idea to try and eat all our meals in the PPC instead of the diner -- because we liked the PPC selection -- and since we still had several days of ahead of us with the regular Amtrak menu on the Southwest Chief, City of New Orleans, Crescent, and for me the Capitol Limited back to Chicago.
We ended up socializing with some of the crew... who seemed very happy it wasn't summer yet... and that they could sit down for 30 minutes and swap stories and enjoy some tea with us. We are also quite amuzed with this 20-something year-old girl (very cute BTW!)... who was starting to freak out because she couldnt get a WiFi connection and her cell phone didn't work... as we were climbing up the pass at Chemult, OR. Everyone tried to explain that the reception of the WiFi in the PPC was based on cell phone signal and that we probably wouldnt get service until around Klamath. I guess she was a grad student from the Bay Area, but was originally from Canada. She just kept freaking out worse and worse until she finally got a signal -- it was bizarre -- but I hate to say -- slightly amuzing to us and the crew how connected to technology people are. Yes, I would have liked to get a signal to get this blog up sooner -- but jeez -- the reason Mike and I are doing the long train trip -- is partially to get away from technology and stress -- and just to enjoy the scenery.
I think we headed back to the room around 11PM and ended Day #3.
I got up around 6:30AM on Day #4... We weren't supposed to get into Sacaramento until around 8:10AM, but at 6:30AM, I noticed on my GPS that we were only 21 miles out. I knocked on Mike's door because he seemed awake... and advised that either my GPS was really off... or we'd have an hour or more to kill in Sacaramento, CA. We quickly got dressed and were ready to de-train in SAC at 7:10AM or so when we rolled in.
We decided our game plan was to hit the Starbucks. We wanted a Starbucks Hot Chocolate... and I also collect the "city mugs" that Starbucks puts out... they have the name and outline of the city... and I knew there was a Sacramento mug I didn't have.
So the first Starbucks we hit didnt have one, but the second one in sorta an in-door/out-door mall had one. From there, we did a quick walk over to the California State Capitol and got a picture of us there. We sorta lost track of time... it was after 8AM already... so we did a quick walk back to the train. Turns out we had plenty of time... so we did a little photo shoot next to the Cap Coordior train.At the next stop, my friend Brandon joined us for a couple of hours. He used to be a conductor friend of mine on the Chicago-St Louis cooridor trains, but moved out to San Franciso in 2008 to be a conductor for Cal-Train. He's since become an engineer for Amtrak and runs to Reno on #5 and #6... and also down to Merced on the Cap Cooridor trains. Brandon rode with us in the PPC from Davis down to San Jose. He's a great guy... and pointed out all of the scenery and railroad history as we passed through the Bay Area stops of Oakland, Emeryville, Martinez, and San Jose.
We parted ways with Brandon at San Jose... made a quick jump into the station to buy a bag of popcorn (the whole crew was doing it)... and we were on our way.
Lunch... Mmmm.... lunch!!! Mike and I both had the eggplant paramesian. It was THE BEST... THE BEST... THE BEST... meal I have ever had on Amtrak. I guess they load some of the PPC meals on fresh at some of the service stops... and this meal was loaded on in Oakland. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. Michelle in the PPC was so nice to set an extra meal aside and I had it for dinner too. I wish this could be shared system-wide.
We stopped in Salinas... and held there for over an hour because of track work. This is a good time to mention that ORIGINALLY, Mike and I were going to take #11 to EMY and then go home on #6 with spending part of the day in the Bay Area. However, a "little birdie" who works for Amtrak tipped us off that this #11 was going to probably detour over the Techapi (? spelling) Pass because of track work... so we extended the trip into LAX. It turns out that we didn't detour. We knew this before leaving, but decided just to keep the train plan to the same... we didnt mind going into LAX for the extra time in the PPC... and Mike and I are talking about a trip now possibly to the Bay Area in early 2012 anyway. So, yeah, we held in Salinas for an extra hour because of the track work. Of course the conductors wouldnt "gurantee" that we would be there for any given time... so we played it safe and stayed around the station. FOLKS -- if you ever have the chance -- go inside the Salinas station!!! It's amazing!! It looks like you stepped back 30-70 years. They have Amtrak posters from before I was born (1979) up still in the station --- and the coolest thing was they have a picture of the 4449 in the tile... from the original SP days.
We made our way down California... the highlight was the sunset just as we were going around the Horse-shoe Curve north of SLO.
We got a little nervous about how long it would take us to get into LAX when we met #14 at SLO. It was 7PM... meaning... did it take them 6 hours and 45 min just to reach SLO??
That would put us in the very very wee hours of the morning if they left on-time. #14 was pulling out of SLO as we were pulling in... it was kinda cool.They conductors announced that we were going to do a "safety stop" at Goleta, CA -- because I guess the crew at Oakland forgot to do the train's 24 hour inspection and it had to be done before Midnight. However, it was later decided that they would blow through Goleta in hopes of making it to LAX before Midnight. My thinking there was some UP dispatcher in Omaha laughing that the train would go dead at 11:59PM right before making the platform... BUT NO... We ended up getting into LAX at 11:40PM with about 20 minutes to spare.
From there, it was a quick walk over to the Metro Plaza... where I started the blog... went to bed ending Day #4... and now Mike and I are just getting up here... I'm finishing the blog while he's in the shower.
The game plan for today (Day #5) is for some breakfast, a quick day trip on the Surfliner down to Solana Beach... sit on the ocean for 2 hours... and then head back to LAX to catch #4 out at 6:15PM.
Thanks to everyone for following our trip!!!
rtabern
Conductor
Hi Penny!
Just a quick addition, the PDX attendant was Ken, and he did a fine job.
Thanks for following along and for your comments and well wishes.
Now off to the Surfliner
Mike
Just a quick addition, the PDX attendant was Ken, and he did a fine job.
Thanks for following along and for your comments and well wishes.
Now off to the Surfliner
Mike
the_traveler
Engineer
Please give me credit where credit is due!
Don't forget the_traveler knows everything - especially the area around CTW!
TraneMan
Conductor
Thanks for sharing these photos!
I am itching to take a LONG trip like this.
I am itching to take a LONG trip like this.
rtabern
Conductor
Greetings... We are just about to leave chicago on 59... We wrote super long blogs in Word but couldnt post due to lack of wifi in chi met lounge... Hope to post if we get a signal going thru mem or when we get to nol tomorrow... Thanks again for following us.
Ha! I'm in photo 103_3597.JPG ! (Barely.) I like the framing -- patriotic flag, patriotic bags of chips... Wish I'd know we had "visiting firemen" on 11 that day, I'da said hi.
rtabern
Conductor
Still without good wifi so trip report updating will have to wait... Just doing a quickie on the iphone... Rolling into meridian md on 20. Will be joined by bill haithcoat from birmingham to atlanta.
rtabern
Conductor
Had a nice afternoon with Bill Haithcoat... Just leaving atlanta on northbound 20
rtabern
Conductor
Well, Mike and I have officially parted ways... with Mike continuing Northbound on #20 to NYP where he is catching the Acela to Boston... while I have about 6 hours to kill in Washington, DC to catch the Capitol Limited/Hiawatha back to Milwaukee.
I'm at Club Acela at WAS now writing this.
Below I am going to upload the trip report from LAX to CHI that I wrote followed by the trip report Mike wrote.
We were hoping to upload it in Chicago, but couldn't because of no WiFi in the Met Lounge there.
It's a nice day in WAS and I'm itching to walk around the monumnets and such instead of sit here in the lounge... so I am going to work on the eastern half of our trip report and will hopefully have that up later in the week when I get back to Milwaukee... but we did have a nice time on the "eastern leg" of the 9,000-mile trip.
I'm at Club Acela at WAS now writing this.
Below I am going to upload the trip report from LAX to CHI that I wrote followed by the trip report Mike wrote.
We were hoping to upload it in Chicago, but couldn't because of no WiFi in the Met Lounge there.
It's a nice day in WAS and I'm itching to walk around the monumnets and such instead of sit here in the lounge... so I am going to work on the eastern half of our trip report and will hopefully have that up later in the week when I get back to Milwaukee... but we did have a nice time on the "eastern leg" of the 9,000-mile trip.
rtabern
Conductor
Robert's trip report from #4 Southwest Chief: Los Angeles - Chicago March 9-11, 2011
Well, its about time for an update on Mike and I’s cross country adventure... as we finally got Wireless Access here at Chicago Union Station.
But, of course, let’s back-up a bit... to the morning of Day #5 where we left off.
We started off Day #5 (March 9, 2011) by waking up at the Metro Plaza Hotel. Mike and I briefly decided to part ways to run a quick errand – I wanted to mail back the 4 bottles of wine that I bought on the Coast Starlight and Mike wanted to drop off his laundry at a laundromat he found along the way. I like wine... and like brining home wine from the Coast Starlight. It’s a real treat since normally I fly home from riding the Coast Starlight and dont check bags – so I cant usually bring CS wine home. However, I also didn’t want to drag it the remaining 6,000 miles of our trip if possible. Well, I walked to the main post office annex across from the Metro Plaza – and after boxing the wine up – was told that since 9/11, USPS couldnt ship wine or any other alcohol. I was a little surprised... but then got to thinking... when I briefly joined Vinesse Wine Club for the points it came via UPS not the USPS. UGH! So I was pretty much out of luck there and walked back to the hotel. A few minutes later Mike arrived – also with a failed errand. Apparently the laundry he was planning to use only shipped the clothes out and they wouldnt be ready to the next day – so no help to Mike – as we were leaving LAX that night at 6:15pm on #4.
After a discussion, Mike decided to skip the trip down to Solana Beach on the Surfliner... with plans to head over to Hollywood and find a laundry mat there where he could do his wash. I guess he didnt have enough clothes to get to Chicago – so that idea wasnt do-able. I was kinda sad because it was a perfect day (80 degrees and sunny in SoCal)... and I could tell Mike really wanted to go too. But, he skipped out of the trip – and headed to Hollywood (he’ll have to write his own blog to tell what he did during the day there...)... and I stored my bags and walked over to LAUPT to get some breakfast. Of course, one of my favorite places to eat is Union Bagel. I love the variety there. I have to admit – I was dispaointed though... they cut back on the number of bagel choices. They had a really good “salt bagel” which I never had anywhere before... but they said they scaled back the flavors. I settled for an egg and a garlic and headed out catch Southbound #768.
I was glad to find that Business Class wasnt totally packed... I was worried this train might be full because it was coming all the way from Goleta... so I was figuring I wouldnt get an “ocean side” single seat to myself... but it worked out great!! I did have to bug a business man and ask what side of the ocean was on... hahaha. But now I know... going NORTH, you want to sit on the side facing away from the station area... and going SOUTH, you want to sit towards the station side. It makes sense I guess if you figure the station ends with stub tracks and then the train either have to turn going north or south. I had a cinnamon roll – and some apple juice. The ride south was nice... lots of people along the beach and enjoying the ocean front parks... esp in San Juan Capistrano.
Even though I had a ticket on #768 to San Diego, I decided to hop off in Solana Beach and spend the time going down to the Pacific Ocean. I wouldnt have really had time to do that in San Diego with the quick turn-around... nor do I know if there is a beach in downtown proper.... or more just like docks? Anyway, Solana Beach it was. I found that the Amtrak/Coaster station was just 2 blocks from the Ocean a couple of years ago when I took the Surfliner down from LA, where I was visiting my best friend from high school. I wanted to use Amtrak to get to the beach and found Grover Beach on the north end of the Surfliner route... and Solana Beach on the south end... to be great jumping off spots for that. Anyway, I had exactly 2 hours between trains in Solana Beach. After getting off the train, I made the 7 block hike up the main drag in town to hit a Starbucks. One of my guilty pleasures whenever I am on the road is picking up a Starbucks “city mug” as my souviner.... I also collect Hard Rock Hurricane glasses. So, I got the mug... and then walked back down to the beach where I spent 1 hour and 10 minutes just walking along the beach... and of course checking out at the California hotties in their bikinis...
From there it was a 2 block walk back to the train station where I caught #583 back to LAX. The trip was pretty uneventful... I spent the first part of the ride back looking at the ocean again... and then after Irvine I spent time editing some of my pictures. Got the white wine and snack pack as I was once again Business Class on the Surfliner.
I arrived on Track #11 at LAUPT at 4:05pm, right on time. I guess there was some sort of service disruptions that day with the other Surfliners because something to that effect was mentioned on the intercom – and there were a lot of people waiting to get on the train – and I think Amtrak was turning that train set back to San Diego ASAP. I had just enough time to snap a couple of quick shots at the front of the engine there before more and more crowds kept coming. I was guessing that the Southwest Chief, which Mike and I would be getting on in about 2 hours, was also going to either be on Track #11 or Track #12 because there were piles of juice and SWC route guides sitting on the platform.
As I was heading thru the station, there was Mike waving me down... I thought we were going to meet back at the hotel, but he did a ride on the red line and was at the station anyway... We ended up making a V-line for Philippe’s (? – spelling). Mike ended up having the French Dip Beef and I had French Dip Turkey... we also picked up some mustard for a certain forum member in the Twin Cities who decided to come and visit us on #27 earlier in the week. We took our time... went back to the hotel... and got our baggage.... and headed over to LAUPT.
The last time I was at the station was in Sepetember 2010, and it surprised me all the new shops and things going in there... very cool.
I told Mike I thought #4 would be coming in on Track #11... so we headed out there around 5:35pm. We saw the conductors, engineers, and Red Caps on the platform, but no train. We got to chatting with the engineer... who along with a co-engineer go all the way from LAX to Kingman, AZ... said the yard crew was running late, and it would be out around 6pm. He was right... the station backed into the station around 6:00pm, and left just a few minutes late. They did a good job of hustling everyone on.
For the first part of the trip on the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight, Mike and I had ajoining Bedroom suites on the train – but we didnt want to burn that many points doing that for the rest of the trip... so we decided to share a Bedroom on the Southwest Chief, City of New Orelans, and Crescent (and I have my own roomette on the Capitol Limited going back). So, we boarded... and headed to Bedroom C in the #0431 car. We sat with the lights off for awhile watching the lights of LA fade as we passed through Fullerton and San Bernardino. We finally went to the diner... Originally we were only going to get dessert because of the late lunch at Phillippe’s... but decided to have a full dinner... esp after Mike found out the special was crab cakes. Can’t blame him I guess being a New Englan’dah. (sorry, Mike!)
We came back to the room around 8:30pm... Mike said he was pretty tired from his thrilling day in Hollywood and thought he’d go to bed early. So, he volunteered to take the top bunk... so I could sit up in the seats in the lower section and continue to work on my laptop and look out the window.
Well, that’s when the “fun” started with the bed.
The support rod on the upper bunk wouldnt latch into the ceiling bracket. Our attendant, Vanessa, tried... NOPE. I tried... NOPE. Mike tried... NOPE. Another 2 attendants tried... NOPE. Vanessa was going to try and get the conductors to try, but they were getting passengers off in Victorville, CA by then. Vanessa did get the sledge hammer from the emergency kit in the bottom of the Superliner car, but again... no luck even with that!!!!!
Another attendant went to talk with the conductor about what we should do because the bed wouldnt go down and you couldnt use the upper bunk. The other attendant said that we could move down into “Room A”... I wasn’t too thrilled with that because as I am sure most of the people on the forum here know, Room A is smaller than Rooms B to E. And to me, it seemed silly that we had to move everything into the smaller Room A just because the bed wasn’t working... esp when there were plenty of other rooms on the train. Our attendant was pretty insistant that we move into A, however I thought a compromise up... We get to keep Room C... and then during the night... I’d be able to use a roomette to sleep in. I dont think our attendant liked that idea too much – but she probably finally went along with it to probably get me to stop bitching... hahaha... Anyway, so for the day parts of the trip, Mike and I spent time in Room C... and then at night... Mike used the lower bunk in Room C, while I went and slept in Roomette #2 which was open all the way from LAX to CHI.
What got me a little upset was that the attendant acted like putting me in a roomette was “too much work”... When I first suggested the idea, she said, “Oh, I can’t just put you in a Roomette... it’s a lot more complicated than that”... I was like, “Yeah, I know... I ride a lot... you just have to ask the conductor to block out a roomette”. She was VERY surprised I knew that and knew it wasn’t “a lot” of work to have that be done. Then she almost acted like there were no more rooms open... NOT TRUE. I got a peak at the manifest – there were several roomettes open all the way... PLUS... the attendant decided to move into Room A, which was open all the way from LAX to CHI.
I dont think what I was asking for was unreasonable – I just don’t think Mike and I should have been moved to a smaller Bedroom because of a problem that was out of our hands.
Anyway, honestly, the rest of the trip on the Southwest Chief was pretty un-eventful. We ended up getting off at ABQ... where we had about 45 minutes due to an early arrival and the nomal dwell time there. We were going to walk over to the Starbucks and get a New Mexico mug for me... but the closest location didnt have them (called ahead), but one about a mile away did. It was questionable if we could do the walk, get the mug, and get back in time... so we decided to cab it over to the Starbucks. Ironically, an AUF member was our cab driver... Kim... I think her handle was Roxanne 64 or something like that. (She gave me a card, but it’s packed away now). She mentioned she checked the forum a lot, had a daughter who worked at the station – and almost made it to the gathering in Boston. She was really nice – I told her I’d buy her some pizza if she and her daughter ever came through Chicago. I would definetly come down from MKE to see you gals.
Had some nice weather going over the mountains... Mike got some good shots from the room and I made it back to the “rail fan window” in the back of the last coach just in time to get us coming out of the Raton Tunnel and entering Colorado.
We were actually running early into La Junta, CO and switched our dinner time to an early dinner time so we’d have more time to get off in La Junta. Using my GPS, we found a railroad themed bar right across from the station. We sat there for 40 minutes, which was just enough time to go in the bar and get Mike and I’s signature drink when we travel together – a Long Island Ice Tea. He sorta got me hooked on it and whenever we travel, we have to try and have atleast one a day, The bar was nice... had railroad stuff all over the walls – even a logo from the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee. After the drinks, Mike and I ended up chatting until around 9pm when we hit the Colorado-Kansas border.
I sorta dozed off between Garden City, KS and Dodge City, KS, but got up to use the bathroom as we were pulling into Dodge City. The conductor let me off for just about 2 minutes... just enough time to snap a picture, but not really enough time to get a good look at the cool station there. It looked like it might have had a Harvey House or hotel at some point... From there... lights out until just before Kansas City. I awoke about 6 miles west of Kansas City sititng in the yards there. It was kinda funny... right out my window was a Santa Fe freight engine in its old colors. I actually had to close the windows to change in the morning because the loco of the Santa Fe engine with 2 engineers was right next to my window... Hahahaha.
Anyway, I found Mike (who was up already) and we decided to explore the Kansas City station, since we were again 40 minutes early. I was only there once before... and was not able to make it to the gathering in STL when most of you were there. I loved the old hall... and thinks its very cool how they restored it and everything. I wish more cities would take suit!!!
From there, it was back on #4 for the final stretch into Chicago. I decided to re-organize thing in my suit case and spent much of the time between KCY and La Plata doing that. My hope here is that we can store my bigger of 2 suitcases (now filled with dirty clothes) somewhere at Chicago Union Station and I can just pick that up on Tuesday when I am back in town... No point in dragging all that half way around the country on the Eastern portion of the trip which begins shortly. So we shall see... havent asked the nice folks in the lounge yet.
Then, I hopped off in La Plata, MO real quick to say “hello” to Bob Cox, who is the station attendant at La Plata... and also runs the Silver Rails Gallery in La Plata. I went to the hotel there and the gallery and met Bob last fall... and am working with him on getting some of photos displayed later this year in his art gallery in La Plata. Since La Plata wasnt a smoke stop, I was allowed to get out... get a pic with Bob... and get right back on the train. Maybe 90 seconds, but it was nice of the conductors to let me hop.
From there, it was a quick stop at Fort Madison, IA... where I again jumped off an got a quick photo.
Then... actually got some rare mileage... or should I say... a rare MILE?? BNSF was doing some track work on Cameron Junction... which is the double wye... where the Southwest Chief jumps off the old Santa Fe route and swings on the old CB&Q route into Chicago. Because of the track work on the wye, our train had to proceed about a mile down the old Santa Fe route... then back through the wye... so we got about a mile of rare mileage on the old Santa Fe route and then 2 rare legs of the wye. You can check out some of the photos – Mike and I tried to document this as best as we could. It was pretty cool though... but the whole process took about 30-40 minutes more than normal. As you recall, the Southwest Chief used the old Santa Fe route until the mid-90’s (I believe) – and now shares the same route as the California Zephyr from Cameron Jct (MP 170) into Chicago.
Then... thu Galesburg, Princeton, Mendota, Naperville, and a pretty much on-time-ish arrival into Chicago...
We have some time to kill between now and 8pm when we leave for the eastern half of our trip though Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Washington. From there, I head back to Chicago/Milwaukee via the Capitol – and Mike gets home on the Acela.
C’ya in the Big Eah’Zee, my friends...
Well, its about time for an update on Mike and I’s cross country adventure... as we finally got Wireless Access here at Chicago Union Station.
But, of course, let’s back-up a bit... to the morning of Day #5 where we left off.
We started off Day #5 (March 9, 2011) by waking up at the Metro Plaza Hotel. Mike and I briefly decided to part ways to run a quick errand – I wanted to mail back the 4 bottles of wine that I bought on the Coast Starlight and Mike wanted to drop off his laundry at a laundromat he found along the way. I like wine... and like brining home wine from the Coast Starlight. It’s a real treat since normally I fly home from riding the Coast Starlight and dont check bags – so I cant usually bring CS wine home. However, I also didn’t want to drag it the remaining 6,000 miles of our trip if possible. Well, I walked to the main post office annex across from the Metro Plaza – and after boxing the wine up – was told that since 9/11, USPS couldnt ship wine or any other alcohol. I was a little surprised... but then got to thinking... when I briefly joined Vinesse Wine Club for the points it came via UPS not the USPS. UGH! So I was pretty much out of luck there and walked back to the hotel. A few minutes later Mike arrived – also with a failed errand. Apparently the laundry he was planning to use only shipped the clothes out and they wouldnt be ready to the next day – so no help to Mike – as we were leaving LAX that night at 6:15pm on #4.
After a discussion, Mike decided to skip the trip down to Solana Beach on the Surfliner... with plans to head over to Hollywood and find a laundry mat there where he could do his wash. I guess he didnt have enough clothes to get to Chicago – so that idea wasnt do-able. I was kinda sad because it was a perfect day (80 degrees and sunny in SoCal)... and I could tell Mike really wanted to go too. But, he skipped out of the trip – and headed to Hollywood (he’ll have to write his own blog to tell what he did during the day there...)... and I stored my bags and walked over to LAUPT to get some breakfast. Of course, one of my favorite places to eat is Union Bagel. I love the variety there. I have to admit – I was dispaointed though... they cut back on the number of bagel choices. They had a really good “salt bagel” which I never had anywhere before... but they said they scaled back the flavors. I settled for an egg and a garlic and headed out catch Southbound #768.
I was glad to find that Business Class wasnt totally packed... I was worried this train might be full because it was coming all the way from Goleta... so I was figuring I wouldnt get an “ocean side” single seat to myself... but it worked out great!! I did have to bug a business man and ask what side of the ocean was on... hahaha. But now I know... going NORTH, you want to sit on the side facing away from the station area... and going SOUTH, you want to sit towards the station side. It makes sense I guess if you figure the station ends with stub tracks and then the train either have to turn going north or south. I had a cinnamon roll – and some apple juice. The ride south was nice... lots of people along the beach and enjoying the ocean front parks... esp in San Juan Capistrano.
Even though I had a ticket on #768 to San Diego, I decided to hop off in Solana Beach and spend the time going down to the Pacific Ocean. I wouldnt have really had time to do that in San Diego with the quick turn-around... nor do I know if there is a beach in downtown proper.... or more just like docks? Anyway, Solana Beach it was. I found that the Amtrak/Coaster station was just 2 blocks from the Ocean a couple of years ago when I took the Surfliner down from LA, where I was visiting my best friend from high school. I wanted to use Amtrak to get to the beach and found Grover Beach on the north end of the Surfliner route... and Solana Beach on the south end... to be great jumping off spots for that. Anyway, I had exactly 2 hours between trains in Solana Beach. After getting off the train, I made the 7 block hike up the main drag in town to hit a Starbucks. One of my guilty pleasures whenever I am on the road is picking up a Starbucks “city mug” as my souviner.... I also collect Hard Rock Hurricane glasses. So, I got the mug... and then walked back down to the beach where I spent 1 hour and 10 minutes just walking along the beach... and of course checking out at the California hotties in their bikinis...
From there it was a 2 block walk back to the train station where I caught #583 back to LAX. The trip was pretty uneventful... I spent the first part of the ride back looking at the ocean again... and then after Irvine I spent time editing some of my pictures. Got the white wine and snack pack as I was once again Business Class on the Surfliner.
I arrived on Track #11 at LAUPT at 4:05pm, right on time. I guess there was some sort of service disruptions that day with the other Surfliners because something to that effect was mentioned on the intercom – and there were a lot of people waiting to get on the train – and I think Amtrak was turning that train set back to San Diego ASAP. I had just enough time to snap a couple of quick shots at the front of the engine there before more and more crowds kept coming. I was guessing that the Southwest Chief, which Mike and I would be getting on in about 2 hours, was also going to either be on Track #11 or Track #12 because there were piles of juice and SWC route guides sitting on the platform.
As I was heading thru the station, there was Mike waving me down... I thought we were going to meet back at the hotel, but he did a ride on the red line and was at the station anyway... We ended up making a V-line for Philippe’s (? – spelling). Mike ended up having the French Dip Beef and I had French Dip Turkey... we also picked up some mustard for a certain forum member in the Twin Cities who decided to come and visit us on #27 earlier in the week. We took our time... went back to the hotel... and got our baggage.... and headed over to LAUPT.
The last time I was at the station was in Sepetember 2010, and it surprised me all the new shops and things going in there... very cool.
I told Mike I thought #4 would be coming in on Track #11... so we headed out there around 5:35pm. We saw the conductors, engineers, and Red Caps on the platform, but no train. We got to chatting with the engineer... who along with a co-engineer go all the way from LAX to Kingman, AZ... said the yard crew was running late, and it would be out around 6pm. He was right... the station backed into the station around 6:00pm, and left just a few minutes late. They did a good job of hustling everyone on.
For the first part of the trip on the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight, Mike and I had ajoining Bedroom suites on the train – but we didnt want to burn that many points doing that for the rest of the trip... so we decided to share a Bedroom on the Southwest Chief, City of New Orelans, and Crescent (and I have my own roomette on the Capitol Limited going back). So, we boarded... and headed to Bedroom C in the #0431 car. We sat with the lights off for awhile watching the lights of LA fade as we passed through Fullerton and San Bernardino. We finally went to the diner... Originally we were only going to get dessert because of the late lunch at Phillippe’s... but decided to have a full dinner... esp after Mike found out the special was crab cakes. Can’t blame him I guess being a New Englan’dah. (sorry, Mike!)
We came back to the room around 8:30pm... Mike said he was pretty tired from his thrilling day in Hollywood and thought he’d go to bed early. So, he volunteered to take the top bunk... so I could sit up in the seats in the lower section and continue to work on my laptop and look out the window.
Well, that’s when the “fun” started with the bed.
The support rod on the upper bunk wouldnt latch into the ceiling bracket. Our attendant, Vanessa, tried... NOPE. I tried... NOPE. Mike tried... NOPE. Another 2 attendants tried... NOPE. Vanessa was going to try and get the conductors to try, but they were getting passengers off in Victorville, CA by then. Vanessa did get the sledge hammer from the emergency kit in the bottom of the Superliner car, but again... no luck even with that!!!!!
Another attendant went to talk with the conductor about what we should do because the bed wouldnt go down and you couldnt use the upper bunk. The other attendant said that we could move down into “Room A”... I wasn’t too thrilled with that because as I am sure most of the people on the forum here know, Room A is smaller than Rooms B to E. And to me, it seemed silly that we had to move everything into the smaller Room A just because the bed wasn’t working... esp when there were plenty of other rooms on the train. Our attendant was pretty insistant that we move into A, however I thought a compromise up... We get to keep Room C... and then during the night... I’d be able to use a roomette to sleep in. I dont think our attendant liked that idea too much – but she probably finally went along with it to probably get me to stop bitching... hahaha... Anyway, so for the day parts of the trip, Mike and I spent time in Room C... and then at night... Mike used the lower bunk in Room C, while I went and slept in Roomette #2 which was open all the way from LAX to CHI.
What got me a little upset was that the attendant acted like putting me in a roomette was “too much work”... When I first suggested the idea, she said, “Oh, I can’t just put you in a Roomette... it’s a lot more complicated than that”... I was like, “Yeah, I know... I ride a lot... you just have to ask the conductor to block out a roomette”. She was VERY surprised I knew that and knew it wasn’t “a lot” of work to have that be done. Then she almost acted like there were no more rooms open... NOT TRUE. I got a peak at the manifest – there were several roomettes open all the way... PLUS... the attendant decided to move into Room A, which was open all the way from LAX to CHI.
I dont think what I was asking for was unreasonable – I just don’t think Mike and I should have been moved to a smaller Bedroom because of a problem that was out of our hands.
Anyway, honestly, the rest of the trip on the Southwest Chief was pretty un-eventful. We ended up getting off at ABQ... where we had about 45 minutes due to an early arrival and the nomal dwell time there. We were going to walk over to the Starbucks and get a New Mexico mug for me... but the closest location didnt have them (called ahead), but one about a mile away did. It was questionable if we could do the walk, get the mug, and get back in time... so we decided to cab it over to the Starbucks. Ironically, an AUF member was our cab driver... Kim... I think her handle was Roxanne 64 or something like that. (She gave me a card, but it’s packed away now). She mentioned she checked the forum a lot, had a daughter who worked at the station – and almost made it to the gathering in Boston. She was really nice – I told her I’d buy her some pizza if she and her daughter ever came through Chicago. I would definetly come down from MKE to see you gals.
Had some nice weather going over the mountains... Mike got some good shots from the room and I made it back to the “rail fan window” in the back of the last coach just in time to get us coming out of the Raton Tunnel and entering Colorado.
We were actually running early into La Junta, CO and switched our dinner time to an early dinner time so we’d have more time to get off in La Junta. Using my GPS, we found a railroad themed bar right across from the station. We sat there for 40 minutes, which was just enough time to go in the bar and get Mike and I’s signature drink when we travel together – a Long Island Ice Tea. He sorta got me hooked on it and whenever we travel, we have to try and have atleast one a day, The bar was nice... had railroad stuff all over the walls – even a logo from the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee. After the drinks, Mike and I ended up chatting until around 9pm when we hit the Colorado-Kansas border.
I sorta dozed off between Garden City, KS and Dodge City, KS, but got up to use the bathroom as we were pulling into Dodge City. The conductor let me off for just about 2 minutes... just enough time to snap a picture, but not really enough time to get a good look at the cool station there. It looked like it might have had a Harvey House or hotel at some point... From there... lights out until just before Kansas City. I awoke about 6 miles west of Kansas City sititng in the yards there. It was kinda funny... right out my window was a Santa Fe freight engine in its old colors. I actually had to close the windows to change in the morning because the loco of the Santa Fe engine with 2 engineers was right next to my window... Hahahaha.
Anyway, I found Mike (who was up already) and we decided to explore the Kansas City station, since we were again 40 minutes early. I was only there once before... and was not able to make it to the gathering in STL when most of you were there. I loved the old hall... and thinks its very cool how they restored it and everything. I wish more cities would take suit!!!
From there, it was back on #4 for the final stretch into Chicago. I decided to re-organize thing in my suit case and spent much of the time between KCY and La Plata doing that. My hope here is that we can store my bigger of 2 suitcases (now filled with dirty clothes) somewhere at Chicago Union Station and I can just pick that up on Tuesday when I am back in town... No point in dragging all that half way around the country on the Eastern portion of the trip which begins shortly. So we shall see... havent asked the nice folks in the lounge yet.
Then, I hopped off in La Plata, MO real quick to say “hello” to Bob Cox, who is the station attendant at La Plata... and also runs the Silver Rails Gallery in La Plata. I went to the hotel there and the gallery and met Bob last fall... and am working with him on getting some of photos displayed later this year in his art gallery in La Plata. Since La Plata wasnt a smoke stop, I was allowed to get out... get a pic with Bob... and get right back on the train. Maybe 90 seconds, but it was nice of the conductors to let me hop.
From there, it was a quick stop at Fort Madison, IA... where I again jumped off an got a quick photo.
Then... actually got some rare mileage... or should I say... a rare MILE?? BNSF was doing some track work on Cameron Junction... which is the double wye... where the Southwest Chief jumps off the old Santa Fe route and swings on the old CB&Q route into Chicago. Because of the track work on the wye, our train had to proceed about a mile down the old Santa Fe route... then back through the wye... so we got about a mile of rare mileage on the old Santa Fe route and then 2 rare legs of the wye. You can check out some of the photos – Mike and I tried to document this as best as we could. It was pretty cool though... but the whole process took about 30-40 minutes more than normal. As you recall, the Southwest Chief used the old Santa Fe route until the mid-90’s (I believe) – and now shares the same route as the California Zephyr from Cameron Jct (MP 170) into Chicago.
Then... thu Galesburg, Princeton, Mendota, Naperville, and a pretty much on-time-ish arrival into Chicago...
We have some time to kill between now and 8pm when we leave for the eastern half of our trip though Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Washington. From there, I head back to Chicago/Milwaukee via the Capitol – and Mike gets home on the Acela.
C’ya in the Big Eah’Zee, my friends...
rtabern
Conductor
Mike's Trip Report - written aboard the Southwest Chief 3/11/2011
As Rob mentioned in his last post, this is my report on my day in LA:
I brought the remainder of our luggage down to store behind the desk at the Metro Plaza after Rob left for Solana Beach. I spoke with the manager about laundry, and he provided me a Google-map of local laundromats. I had to explain that I arrived by train, and had no automobile; he then gave me directions for the bus.
I had to walk a few blocks northof the hotel, then board a #2 bus. The bus driver knew where the shops were, and pointed out the stop I should take. Of course, I had to buy laundry detergent at the shop next door, and at that point I realized I should not have chosen French in high school .
After finishing my laundry chores, I took the bus back downtown, and repacked it into my bags. Since I now had to go with Plan B, I went over to LAUPT and boarded a red line train towards North Hollywood. I rode to the Hollywood and Vine stop, and walked over a couple of blocks to Sunset. I was headed for the In & Out Burger, which I vaguely remembered was on Sunset Blvd. After walking about 1000 numbers down Sunset, I realized I should have rode one more stop on the subway
I enjoyed a double/double with fries, which was pretty good. The kids of a friend of mine had visited I & O when they were here, and insisted I try it the next time I was in California. From In & Out I walked up to Hollywood and continued on to the Chinese Theatre area and the Hard Rock cafe. I figured while at the Hard Rock, I would enjoy an adult beverage.
From the Hard Rock, I hopped back on the Red Line to Union Station, and waited for Rob to come in from the beach trip.
So, all in all, I had a wonderful day in So Cal ;-)
Thanks again for following along on our adventure.
Mike
As Rob mentioned in his last post, this is my report on my day in LA:
I brought the remainder of our luggage down to store behind the desk at the Metro Plaza after Rob left for Solana Beach. I spoke with the manager about laundry, and he provided me a Google-map of local laundromats. I had to explain that I arrived by train, and had no automobile; he then gave me directions for the bus.
I had to walk a few blocks northof the hotel, then board a #2 bus. The bus driver knew where the shops were, and pointed out the stop I should take. Of course, I had to buy laundry detergent at the shop next door, and at that point I realized I should not have chosen French in high school .
After finishing my laundry chores, I took the bus back downtown, and repacked it into my bags. Since I now had to go with Plan B, I went over to LAUPT and boarded a red line train towards North Hollywood. I rode to the Hollywood and Vine stop, and walked over a couple of blocks to Sunset. I was headed for the In & Out Burger, which I vaguely remembered was on Sunset Blvd. After walking about 1000 numbers down Sunset, I realized I should have rode one more stop on the subway
I enjoyed a double/double with fries, which was pretty good. The kids of a friend of mine had visited I & O when they were here, and insisted I try it the next time I was in California. From In & Out I walked up to Hollywood and continued on to the Chinese Theatre area and the Hard Rock cafe. I figured while at the Hard Rock, I would enjoy an adult beverage.
From the Hard Rock, I hopped back on the Red Line to Union Station, and waited for Rob to come in from the beach trip.
So, all in all, I had a wonderful day in So Cal ;-)
Thanks again for following along on our adventure.
Mike
rtabern
Conductor
Again, hope you enjoy the above 2 trip reports from the Southwest Chief leg of the trip.
I/we will report on the City of New Orleans, Crescent, and Capitol Limited/Acela sections of the trip in the coming weeks... as well as posting more and more pictures here as I can upload them.
I'm at the Club Acela in WAS now. I was sorta thinking of uploading the photos and finishing the trip report NOW... BUT... c'mon... Washington, DC?? I gotta get out on the streets and see the monuments and everything... I can do the trip report from home...
I/we will report on the City of New Orleans, Crescent, and Capitol Limited/Acela sections of the trip in the coming weeks... as well as posting more and more pictures here as I can upload them.
I'm at the Club Acela in WAS now. I was sorta thinking of uploading the photos and finishing the trip report NOW... BUT... c'mon... Washington, DC?? I gotta get out on the streets and see the monuments and everything... I can do the trip report from home...
amamba
Engineer
Thanks for sharing your trip report! Sounds like you did a great job of making lemonade out of lemons with the busted bunk in your bedroom on the SWC. Can't wait to read the rest.
Hello from the Club Acela in New York Penn Station!
After saying goodbye to Rob,I continued on to NYP on the Crescent. Number 20 arrived on time into New York Penn. The trip from WAS was uneventful; the dining car offered a one-seating lunch shortly after eleven. I passed, as I had a full breakfast and plan to enjoy dinner on train 2168, in FC of course!
Overall, the trip was great. A few low spots from a few employees...more of an annoyance then any real problems. For the most part, the onboard staff performance ranged from above average, to absolutely perfect (Michelle on the PPC). I will speak with Customer Relations tomorrow, and report on the problems (with the rolling stock), and the sevice provided by the employees.
Thanks to all we met along our journey (sorry we missed you Surfgeek), and to those who followed along at home!
Mike
After saying goodbye to Rob,I continued on to NYP on the Crescent. Number 20 arrived on time into New York Penn. The trip from WAS was uneventful; the dining car offered a one-seating lunch shortly after eleven. I passed, as I had a full breakfast and plan to enjoy dinner on train 2168, in FC of course!
Overall, the trip was great. A few low spots from a few employees...more of an annoyance then any real problems. For the most part, the onboard staff performance ranged from above average, to absolutely perfect (Michelle on the PPC). I will speak with Customer Relations tomorrow, and report on the problems (with the rolling stock), and the sevice provided by the employees.
Thanks to all we met along our journey (sorry we missed you Surfgeek), and to those who followed along at home!
Mike
rtabern
Conductor
Hi everyone...and mike... Just left WAS on 29 ontime. This breaks my capitol limited jinx. The last 3 times I took it we were 3 hours late out of the gate. More posts to follow...
rtabern
Conductor
Well, just about to finish up the "home stretch" of the trip on the Hiawatha to MKE, but I have about 45 minutes of time to kill and the WiFi in the Met Lounge in Chicago actually seems to be working here -- so I thought this was a good time to finish up the text trip report.
We'll rewind to Chicago on March 11th... when the WiFi wasn't working.
We arrived into Chicago pretty much on-time on #4... and was greeted by "Trogdor" at the boarding gate. We talked about what we wanted to do in Chicago... but the plans were kinda decided when the folks at the Met Lounge didnt want to hold my big bag for 4 days. Just before getting off #4, I put all of the old clothes and stuff I wouldnt need into my big suitcase and was hoping to keep it in the Met Lounge until I got back today -- because it didnt seem to be any point in draging all of that to New Orleans and Washington and back here. However, the lady at the lounge said you couldnt really leave stuff overnight. I guess that sorta makes sense because you dont want the lounge to become a storage room for days or weeks for people... but it also put a crimp in my plans. Oh, I also had the box of wine I bought on the Coast Starlight with me that I couldnt mail in LAX.
Anyway, I decided to call up my mom... she lives near the Glenview station... and "Trogdor" and Mike were game for catching the Metra up there and meeting her so she could take the wine and the big suitcase. We were hoping to catch the Hiawatha up there for the AGR point, but it didnt time out well. We took the 3:55PM Metra up to Glenview (ran express), had dinner at Grandpa's which is a GREAT place (been going there since I was a kid)... and met my mom and passed off the wine and big suitcase. She was going up to my condo in MKE anyway to watch my cat so it worked out great. I think Mike was more relieved than I was... as he was nice enough to trot around the wine through LAX for me and on to #4.
We got back around 7:00PM to the Met Lounge... and tried to upload the trip reports, but no luck with no WiFi -- so we decided to go for some adult beverages.
When we got into the Lounge, the attendant said they expected #59 to leave ontime, however there were diner issued and she said they probably wouldnt start serving until 8:15PM. I was a little surprised by the announcement because everytime I have taken #59 they didnt start serving until that time anyway!!!
We boarded pretty much on-time for #59... Mike and I shared a Bedroom.
Mike and I's original travel plans called for us to go down to EMY on #11 and then cut across the country on #6. However, when we heard #11 might be detouring over the Techapi (?-spelling) Pass, we took #11 to LAX and then got tickets for #4. If we did do #6, it would have been a VERYYYY close call... as #6 came in at 7:55PM. They did hold #59 for about 10 minutes so those passengers could connect in, but I am glad we did #4 instead of #6 so we wouldnt have to bite our nails about making the connection. If we missed #59, the whole eastern leg of the trip would probably have been scrubbed.
Anyway, dinner was delayed and delayed on #59. First they said 8:15PM, then 8:30PM, then 9PM... and then 9:30PM. I dont think we sat down until 9:45PM. It was crowded... but atleast they had the bread pudding which is my favorite dessert on Amtrak and is only served on the CNO and the Crescent.
We went to bed somewhere after Champaign-Urbana.
I woke up the next morning (March 12) somewhere just north of Memphis, TN. I went to college about 60 miles northwest of Memphis, and wanted to get up and see the Pyramid and the Mississippi River and the approach to Memphis. As usual, #59 was a good 30-40 minutes EARLY into Memphis. I peeked out of the window and got some pictures of the bridge over to Arkansas. If you are ever in Memphis, you need to ride the Riverfront Loop trolley. For about 1.5 miles, the trolley tracks actually parallel the CN/Amtrak CNO tracks and they actually share some grade crossing signals. The TN welcome center located off the I-40 bridge is also a good place to get some info about Memphis and Tennessee...
Mike was still sleeping when I got dressed and headed off the train at Memphis. We sat there for an hour... I got off and got lots of pictures... including some cool sunrise shots with the engine and some blossoming trees. We left MEM on-time.
The trip through Mississippi was pretty un-eventful... Mike and I got off in Jackson and noted how much warmer it was becoming.
We also kept noting what a bad idea the Cross Country Cafe was and is. I'm glad the whole project stopped before they started messing with my beloved Sightseer Lounge Cars and converting those. I guess the CCC is a good idea on a low-capacity train or on less scenic route, but its just not working on the current configuration. I mean they dont even use half of the car anymore -- it just sits there vacant -- cutting down the capacity of the seating in almost half. #59 was a sold out train and it was hard to get in for meals some of the time... there was a VERY VERY long waiting list for lunch on #59... and I think some people didnt even get served. Oh, also of note on this trip was that we got the proto-type CCC, #37000. Also, the curved booth configuration was removed from the car and had regular booths back in. I am going to start a seperate thread about that -- and if that was something they were experimenting with on CCC's, or if the original booth design being put back in the car is something happening system wide.
Our sleeping car attendant was from Baton Rouge was really knowlegeable about the area. He narrated for us for the last hour of the trip, which is the most scenic part of the route. He pointed out an alligator cage located along the tracks... an eagle's nest (we saw the eagle baby!!!)... and some of the other sights through bayou country... it was nice to hear what we were seeing. We backed into the New Orleans station pretty much again on-time.
We'll rewind to Chicago on March 11th... when the WiFi wasn't working.
We arrived into Chicago pretty much on-time on #4... and was greeted by "Trogdor" at the boarding gate. We talked about what we wanted to do in Chicago... but the plans were kinda decided when the folks at the Met Lounge didnt want to hold my big bag for 4 days. Just before getting off #4, I put all of the old clothes and stuff I wouldnt need into my big suitcase and was hoping to keep it in the Met Lounge until I got back today -- because it didnt seem to be any point in draging all of that to New Orleans and Washington and back here. However, the lady at the lounge said you couldnt really leave stuff overnight. I guess that sorta makes sense because you dont want the lounge to become a storage room for days or weeks for people... but it also put a crimp in my plans. Oh, I also had the box of wine I bought on the Coast Starlight with me that I couldnt mail in LAX.
Anyway, I decided to call up my mom... she lives near the Glenview station... and "Trogdor" and Mike were game for catching the Metra up there and meeting her so she could take the wine and the big suitcase. We were hoping to catch the Hiawatha up there for the AGR point, but it didnt time out well. We took the 3:55PM Metra up to Glenview (ran express), had dinner at Grandpa's which is a GREAT place (been going there since I was a kid)... and met my mom and passed off the wine and big suitcase. She was going up to my condo in MKE anyway to watch my cat so it worked out great. I think Mike was more relieved than I was... as he was nice enough to trot around the wine through LAX for me and on to #4.
We got back around 7:00PM to the Met Lounge... and tried to upload the trip reports, but no luck with no WiFi -- so we decided to go for some adult beverages.
When we got into the Lounge, the attendant said they expected #59 to leave ontime, however there were diner issued and she said they probably wouldnt start serving until 8:15PM. I was a little surprised by the announcement because everytime I have taken #59 they didnt start serving until that time anyway!!!
We boarded pretty much on-time for #59... Mike and I shared a Bedroom.
Mike and I's original travel plans called for us to go down to EMY on #11 and then cut across the country on #6. However, when we heard #11 might be detouring over the Techapi (?-spelling) Pass, we took #11 to LAX and then got tickets for #4. If we did do #6, it would have been a VERYYYY close call... as #6 came in at 7:55PM. They did hold #59 for about 10 minutes so those passengers could connect in, but I am glad we did #4 instead of #6 so we wouldnt have to bite our nails about making the connection. If we missed #59, the whole eastern leg of the trip would probably have been scrubbed.
Anyway, dinner was delayed and delayed on #59. First they said 8:15PM, then 8:30PM, then 9PM... and then 9:30PM. I dont think we sat down until 9:45PM. It was crowded... but atleast they had the bread pudding which is my favorite dessert on Amtrak and is only served on the CNO and the Crescent.
We went to bed somewhere after Champaign-Urbana.
I woke up the next morning (March 12) somewhere just north of Memphis, TN. I went to college about 60 miles northwest of Memphis, and wanted to get up and see the Pyramid and the Mississippi River and the approach to Memphis. As usual, #59 was a good 30-40 minutes EARLY into Memphis. I peeked out of the window and got some pictures of the bridge over to Arkansas. If you are ever in Memphis, you need to ride the Riverfront Loop trolley. For about 1.5 miles, the trolley tracks actually parallel the CN/Amtrak CNO tracks and they actually share some grade crossing signals. The TN welcome center located off the I-40 bridge is also a good place to get some info about Memphis and Tennessee...
Mike was still sleeping when I got dressed and headed off the train at Memphis. We sat there for an hour... I got off and got lots of pictures... including some cool sunrise shots with the engine and some blossoming trees. We left MEM on-time.
The trip through Mississippi was pretty un-eventful... Mike and I got off in Jackson and noted how much warmer it was becoming.
We also kept noting what a bad idea the Cross Country Cafe was and is. I'm glad the whole project stopped before they started messing with my beloved Sightseer Lounge Cars and converting those. I guess the CCC is a good idea on a low-capacity train or on less scenic route, but its just not working on the current configuration. I mean they dont even use half of the car anymore -- it just sits there vacant -- cutting down the capacity of the seating in almost half. #59 was a sold out train and it was hard to get in for meals some of the time... there was a VERY VERY long waiting list for lunch on #59... and I think some people didnt even get served. Oh, also of note on this trip was that we got the proto-type CCC, #37000. Also, the curved booth configuration was removed from the car and had regular booths back in. I am going to start a seperate thread about that -- and if that was something they were experimenting with on CCC's, or if the original booth design being put back in the car is something happening system wide.
Our sleeping car attendant was from Baton Rouge was really knowlegeable about the area. He narrated for us for the last hour of the trip, which is the most scenic part of the route. He pointed out an alligator cage located along the tracks... an eagle's nest (we saw the eagle baby!!!)... and some of the other sights through bayou country... it was nice to hear what we were seeing. We backed into the New Orleans station pretty much again on-time.
rtabern
Conductor
Phew, just wanted to save that in case the Met Lounge WiFi went down.
After arriving at the New Orleans station, Mike and I decided it was so nice outside (70-80 degrees) that we were going to walk to our hotel in the French Quarter about 1.5 miles away. We decided to stay at the St Peter House Hotel, located at St Peter and Burgundy in the northern part of the French Quarter. Mike and I discovered the hotel in March 2010 and loved it!!! It's very affordable... and is located in a historic 1805 building. VERY AUTHENTIC. There arent a lot of amenities, so if youre looking for that stay with the chains on Canal St -- but if you are looking for a room to crash and spend lots of time in New Orleans and a great location -- St Peter House is the way to go. I dont think I would ever stay at any other hotel in New Orleans. Of course, I love cats... and they even have a resident kitty who likes to come and welcome you when you check in. They are super friendly there too and very accomodating. Mike and I decided to get the 2 bed suite so we'd have a little extra room.
After a little organizing, we decided to pound the pavement and explore New Orleans... We walked Bourbon Street which was somewhat crowded, but wasnt quite hopping yet at 4PM. So we worked out way over to Canal St to get some bread pudding at the Palace Cafe. It was recommended by someone we met on the train... they said Palace Cafe has the best bread pudding in New Orleans... and I have to say... I agree!!! It was VERY tasty. From there, we walked over to the first stop on the Riverfront Trolley loop and rode it end-to-end and back. Then we connected to the Canal St. line and rode that all that way to the end of the line... the Cemerteries stop. Then we headed back into town. We walked around some more -- and went for dinner at the Market Cafe. VERY GOOD. Mike had seafood and I had Red Beans and Rice. It was THE BEST red beans and rice I ever had!!!!! YUM!!! It was getting a little chilly, so Mike and I stopped by the rooms to get jackets and then did a stroll down Bourbon again which was hopping. We made our way back to the Palace Cafe again for more bread pudding, but they were just closing up... and we didnt get any.
By this point, it was already 10:30PM... and we had to be up at 5:30AM the next morning to catch the Crescent at 7:05AM. Making it even worse, the time change... making the 5:30AM wake-up call, really a 4:30AM wake-up call in standard time. Because of that, Mike decided to call it a night and he headed back to the hotel. Despite the early wake-up I decided to stay out for a couple of more hours. I hit a bar on Bourbon that had 3 beers for $5... and spent a good 2 hours watching the crazy crowd... and even partaking in some New Orleans hijnixies and traditions. What happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans... so I'm not really going into detail here. Let's just say, I won't be posting all of my pictures from that night!!!
By the time I got back to the hotel it was 1AM (yikes!!!)... and got about 3 hours of sleep only.
We woke up at 5:30AM to catch a cab over to the station and get the Crescent.
Well, my Hiawtha isnt too far away from boarding, so I'll have to finish up the Crescent and Capitol Limited reports soon... as well as posting most of the pictures. Stay tuned to this thread. I hope to have everything up by the end of the week...
After arriving at the New Orleans station, Mike and I decided it was so nice outside (70-80 degrees) that we were going to walk to our hotel in the French Quarter about 1.5 miles away. We decided to stay at the St Peter House Hotel, located at St Peter and Burgundy in the northern part of the French Quarter. Mike and I discovered the hotel in March 2010 and loved it!!! It's very affordable... and is located in a historic 1805 building. VERY AUTHENTIC. There arent a lot of amenities, so if youre looking for that stay with the chains on Canal St -- but if you are looking for a room to crash and spend lots of time in New Orleans and a great location -- St Peter House is the way to go. I dont think I would ever stay at any other hotel in New Orleans. Of course, I love cats... and they even have a resident kitty who likes to come and welcome you when you check in. They are super friendly there too and very accomodating. Mike and I decided to get the 2 bed suite so we'd have a little extra room.
After a little organizing, we decided to pound the pavement and explore New Orleans...
We walked Bourbon Street which was somewhat crowded, but wasnt quite hopping yet at 4PM. So we worked out way over to Canal St to get some bread pudding at the Palace Cafe. It was recommended by someone we met on the train... they said Palace Cafe has the best bread pudding in New Orleans... and I have to say... I agree!!! It was VERY tasty. From there, we walked over to the first stop on the Riverfront Trolley loop and rode it end-to-end and back. Then we connected to the Canal St. line and rode that all that way to the end of the line... the Cemerteries stop. Then we headed back into town. We walked around some more -- and went for dinner at the Market Cafe. VERY GOOD. Mike had seafood and I had Red Beans and Rice. It was THE BEST red beans and rice I ever had!!!!! YUM!!! It was getting a little chilly, so Mike and I stopped by the rooms to get jackets and then did a stroll down Bourbon again which was hopping. We made our way back to the Palace Cafe again for more bread pudding, but they were just closing up... and we didnt get any.By this point, it was already 10:30PM... and we had to be up at 5:30AM the next morning to catch the Crescent at 7:05AM. Making it even worse, the time change... making the 5:30AM wake-up call, really a 4:30AM wake-up call in standard time. Because of that, Mike decided to call it a night and he headed back to the hotel. Despite the early wake-up I decided to stay out for a couple of more hours. I hit a bar on Bourbon that had 3 beers for $5... and spent a good 2 hours watching the crazy crowd... and even partaking in some New Orleans hijnixies and traditions. What happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans... so I'm not really going into detail here. Let's just say, I won't be posting all of my pictures from that night!!!
By the time I got back to the hotel it was 1AM (yikes!!!)... and got about 3 hours of sleep only.
We woke up at 5:30AM to catch a cab over to the station and get the Crescent.
Well, my Hiawtha isnt too far away from boarding, so I'll have to finish up the Crescent and Capitol Limited reports soon... as well as posting most of the pictures. Stay tuned to this thread. I hope to have everything up by the end of the week...
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Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H1- Latest: Eric in East County
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