Across the USA (and back)

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JayPea

JayPea

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Messages
4,470
Location
Colfax, WA (CFX)
Yesterday my uncle and I began our most ambitious trip yet: across the USA and back. Our itinerary:

1) Seattle to Sacramento on the CS

2) Sacramento to Chicago on the CZ

3) Chicago to Charlottesville on the Cardinal

4) Charlottesville to New Orleans on the Crescent

5) two nights and a day in New Orleans

6) New Orleans to Los Angeles on the SL

7) Los Angeles to Seattle on the CS for me as my uncle is getting off the CS at Eugene and catching the southbound CS there and to Los Angeles and catching the TE back to Bloomington.

I will do this report on a train by train basis as I would never be able to remember much of anything by the end of the trip. I'd forget my own name if it weren't on my drivers license :lol: So here is my report for segment #1, Seattle to Sacramento on the CS.

I actually began on Friday with a flight to Seattle from Spokane as my time off from work didn't permit me to take the EB. I left in nice comfortable temperatures in Spokane-mid 80's-to a sweltering Seattle, with temperatures in the upper 90's. My uncle was going to take a Lincoln Service train to Chicago from Bloomington on Monday and catch the EB in Chicago and arrive in Seattle on Wednesday but his train was delayed getting into Bloomington to the point he had to cancel and reschedule, this time catching the CZ on Tuesday to Sacramento and then catch the CS to Seattle arriving Friday. At least my flight went smoothly! The CS was delayed into Seattle by 2 1/2 hours. I waited at King Street Station in sweltering conditions. I have never been so hot in Seattle. At any rate my uncle arrived and we stayed overnight at the Moore Hotel. Yesterday we started on trip on the CS, and our first segment couldn't have gone smoother. We started out on time and arrived early at every station between Seattle and Portland, causing us to wait several minutes in each station. Chris was our SCA, and he is a good one. We had lunch in the Parlour Car as they had a turkey sandwich available which sounded good to us. And it was excellent! We made great time into Portland, and ended up waiting there well over an hour. We were slowed up after Portland as UP put a heat restriction on limiting us to 50 MPH. So we gradually lost a little time, but nothing too major. We lost more time in fact having to wait for #14 and a northbound Cascades train, not to mention one very long freight train south of Eugene. Our one and only meal in the diner was dinner, where the food was good and the serice better. I have had generally miserable dining car service on the CS due mainly having had Tricia as our LSA four different times, Tricia with the non regulation hoodie,her white board to write names on it for meal reservations like we're all a bunch of kindergarten kids, and her surly and abrasive attitude. Not so this time. Sandy was our LSA and couldn't have done a better job. Would it be all LSA'S could be like her.

We continued to lose just a bit of time, departing Chemult a little over an hour late. We made up some time at Klamath Falls where we retired for the night. We lost some more time overnight but arrived in Sacramento about 15 minutes late

Thus endeth segment 1. We are now waiting in the small sleeping car passenger section at Sacramento. Surprisingly it is almost chilly here. We are holding our breath and crossing our fingers and toes for our trip on #6. I have taken #6 twice and as it happens missed connections due to it losing a lot of times both times, the only times I've ever missed connections. Here's hoping!
 
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One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday :p :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.
 
JayPea said:
One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday :p :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.
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Was it all coach pax or just the business class pax?
 
Tricia worked the PPC last time I rode the Starlight and is the absolute Worst LSA ever!!!

I'm surprised that Sacramento was chilly and Seattle was roasting!

Hope the rest of the trip goes well, looking forward to your trip reports!
 
AmtrakBlue said:
JayPea said:
One thing I forgot to mention: (See. I've already forgotten stuff that happened yesterday :p :lol: ) was that from about 10 AM to 11 AM there was a hospitality hour in the Parlour Car which was open for coach passengers to have a drink there. First time I've seen it open for any reason to coach passengers.
Click to expand...
Was it all coach pax or just the business class pax?
Click to expand...
It was the great unwashed from the regular coach section, mixing in with us rich priveleged first class passengers. :p :lol:
 
I will be watching. Hope it goes well. My trip from Flagstaff to San Diego the other day went fairly well, including exotic fire caused detour. Let's see how it goes tomorrow returning on the regular route.
 
So far so good on the CZ. We got on at Sacramento about 25 minutes late as it left Emeryville late. But made up most of that at Reno and are at Winnemucca early. It should be noted that we must have won the dining car crew lottery. I know there has been considerable talk of poor service on the CZ but so far has been great. Joyce is the LSA and Michael our server and both are excellent. And have great senses of humor. Of course there are five meal periods yet to go. ;) So we shall see. :)
 
God help us! :lol: Just when I thought I'd seen and heard everything! I'm on #6 currently and everything had been running great. Early once we caught up from starting out about 25 minutes late at Winnemucca, we were early into every station. Until after Glenwood Springs. We came to a stop on a siding, with the announcement we were waiting for a late #5. We waited and waited when the announcement came that #5 was having trouble at Bond, not too far from where we were. Then we waited some more when the announcement came that it was a medical emergency at Bond and no timetable for when the train would pass us. We waited and, finally, after an hour and 20 minutes came another announcement that the medical emergency at Bond was now two emergencies and that 5 was waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. He was in the middle of apologizing for not knowing more when....#5 came whizzing past us!!! Here he was telling us the train needed to wait for emergency personnel and it was going past us!!! :lol: I guess he knew then when the train was coming! We are currently running about 1:45-2 hours late into Granby but with any luck at all should make up a lot of that time into Denver. Full report on this train tomorrow!
 
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JayPea said:
God help us! :lol: Just when I thought I'd seen and heard everything! I'm on #6 currently and everything had been running great. Early once we caught up from starting out about 25 minutes late at Winnemucca, we were early into every station. Until after Glenwood Springs. We came to a stop on a siding, with the announcement we were waiting for a late #5. We waited and waited when the announcement came that #5 was having trouble at Bond, not too far from where we were. Then we waited some more when the announcement came that it was a medical emergency at Bond and no timetable for when the train would pass us. We waited and, finally, after an hour and 20 minutes came another announcement that the medical emergency at Bond was now two emergencies and that 5 was waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. He was in the middle of apologizing for not knowing more when....#5 came whizzing past us!!! Here he was telling us the train needed to wait for emergency personnel and it was going past us!!! :lol: I guess he knew then when the train was coming! We are currently running about 1:45-2 hours late into Granby but with any luck at all should make up a lot of that time into Denver. Full report on this train tomorrow!
Click to expand...
Guess there's a time gap between when the station master at Bond taps-taps-taps the morse code and when your conductor received and translated the taps-taps-taps. :D
 
Nothing else the conductor said on terms of time estimates was accurate either so it was all just part of the trend. Just left Creston, IA little over hour and a half late so should still make the Cardinal without too much trouble barring some unforseen catastrophe. Despite the best efforts of AUers to be as discouraging as possible about the Cardinal :p ;) I am looking forward to it.
 
Hope you make your connection to the Card Jeff! Except for the Really Late arrivals into WAS and NYP and the Diner Lite with the Crummy Half "Cafe/Lounge", I've enjoyed all my trips on the Cardinal.

Enjoy the Cornfields on the way to Chicago!
 
Train 2 of 6: the California Zephyr

Well, now, THAT was an interesting trip!

It didn't start out that way though. After my uncle and I arrived on Sacramento off the Coast Starlight we immediately headed to Perko's across the street for breakfast, after which we returned to the Sacramento station to await the Zephyr. Surprisingly it was chilly in Sacramento after sweltering on Seattle. The CZ arrived in Sacramento about 25 minutes late after having departed Emeryville late. After boarding we had lunch with couple who was returning to Pittsburgh. Our SCA was Johnny, one of the best I've ever had. He had a few personal touches like bedtime mints and a basket of candy. We continued to stay about 25 minutes late until Winnemucca when we caught up. And from then on until Granby we got in early to each station. Freight traffic is down and we were never really held up by any freight traffic, and there was no track work to speak of either. After dinner, in which I had the chicken, we retired for the night at Winnemucca. I must say our dining car crew was excellent. Joyce was the LSA, Michael our server, and they were great. They did an excellent job and their humor was exceptional. They were a very fun crew. One of the best I've had.

We arose for the day after the Provo stop. We continued to be early in every station. We had breakfast with a retired Union Pacific employee and a young man who looked too young to be the first man's son and too old to be his grandson. After breakfast we eagerly awaited the trip later that afternoon through the canyon country of Colorado. We were too busy filming and photographing in Glenwood Canyon for the early seating at lunch so we ate later. having lunch with a retired couple from Kansas who was getting off in Omaha. The man won't fly and the woman didn't like the train. I don't know how they will travel in the future; not my problem! :lol:

And them the fun began. First and foremost the incident I described earlier when we waited for over an hour for the late #5, which went rushing by as the conductor was apologizing for not knowing when the train would pass. :lol: And just as we'd gotten up to speed, we had to slow to 10 mph for 4 or 5 miles because of some signal issues. That put us down about 1:45 into Granby. There is time built into the schedule between Granby and Fraser, which unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of as we had to stop for a work crew with whom the conductor was having issues communicating with. By this time we we were having dinner with a man and his young son from the Holdrege area who had been on a last fling in the Colorado Rockies before the son returned to school.

We were still down on the order of 1:40 or so out of Fraser but hoped to make up a lot of time into Denver. Guess what? We didn't. The culprit this time was a freight train in the Denver suburb of Arvada that was hauling a load of logs, when a chain that was holding the logs broke, dragging the chain down the tracks. This created a logjam (pardon the pun) of freights so we stopped awhile, crept awhile, and finally got into Denver over hour and a half late.

Even though we were assured the stop in Denver would be cut sort, it wasn't. So we left an hour and a half late. As I knew we would, we lost time overnight in Nebraska but made that same amount of time up by Omaha, so we were still about hour and a half down into Iowa. We were treated, those of us who were awake, to a thunderstorm in Nebraska. A shortened breakfast seating was shared by another retired couple who had little to say.

We made decent time through Iowa, losing a few minutes here and there but not bad. We actually had gained some time by Burlington---and promptly lost it as we sat for 20 minutes. Once we got going, I prepared to photograph the journey over the Mississippi--only to have a freight train come, leaving me with prize-winning shots of the side of a freight train. :angry: :p ;) :lol: We had lunch at this time with a young mom and her cute as a button little girl who turns five next week. They were going home to Michigan.

At this point we were nearly two hours down but was still hopeful of making the Cardinal as I knew there is some padding in the schedule. We made up some time into Galesburg, and were going along well, when we came to a stop outside Princeton. Oh nooo! :eek: . NOW what???? "What" turned out to be an indicator that something was wrong with the train, necessitating an inspection. Fortunately this took only a few minutes and we were on our way. We were further behind than ever but still had a lot of time left before worrying about the connection with the Cardinal.

Once we got to Naperville I knew we had it made. If some dang fool disaster hit we were close enough now. Besides, nothing else could go wrong this close, right? Wrong!!!! Just out of Naperville we came to stop again. This time came the announcement that due to police activity involving another train, a Metra train was going to be routed onto the track we were on and we were going to have to follow it. Lovely! After a few miles of stop and go and very slow going, we came upon what had happened. A young man on a bicycle had ridden out in front of #4 and paid the ultimate price. Once past here, though, the Metra train was routed onto its proper track and we got up to speed, encountering no further delays. We were in Chicago just long enough to be unimpressed with the new lounge. For one thing, the departure board listed yesterday's departures; for another, the ice machine was worthless, for another, what fool designed that tiny luggage storage room. And for another, once we headed to our track for the Cardinal, we found the way barricaded and the guy standing there had no idea who we were and why we were standing there! :rolleyes: Bottom line, I am on the Cardinal now. So all's well that ends well.

Next up: my maiden voyage on the Cardinal!
 
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Ha! I've been fooled by Naperville before. My ex-boyfriend and I were on the SWC, with a reservation on that evening's Wolverine. We were on-time into Naperville, so I switched to the earlier Blue Water, which leaves about 45 minutes after the SWC arrives.

Just after I switched, and I mean maybe thirty seconds after I hit the "Purchase" button, we ended up stopped/slowed by a freight near Cicero. We had to run to make the Blue Water.

Now I wait until we're actually in the tunnels. :p
 
Yes, I made the Cardinal! Three years ago, we tried to make the connection between the CZ and the Cardinal but we were so late that not only did we misconnect with the Cardinal but we missed the Cap Limited too, necessitating a stay over in Chicago. That's why I was sweating bullets.

After the fiasco at the lounge, we boarded the Cardinal. Once we got out there, I was surprised to see an Iowa Pacific engine and several Iowa Pacific coaches at the front of the train. Evidently they were deadheading to Indianapolis. Once we got on board we immediately had problems with our luggage. The cubby hole above the toilet was too small for our big bags. We've had Viewliners before and haven't had any problems with them. We solved the problem by storing our luggage in the business class car, one ahead of us. And by checking our bags tonight to New Orleans on the Crescent. Derek was our SCA, and he is a good one. Once we got settled we went to the cafe car for our first time with the diner lite menu. I was not overly impressed. We were seated with another couple who were getting off at Culpeper, one stop after ours. It took over half an hour to get our orders taken even though some who came after us got served before us. Once the orders were taken it didn't take long for the food to arrive. I had the tilapia and wasn't impressed with it either though the vegetable and rice medley was passable. I had the chocolate brownie for dessert, and while it wasn't the chocolate mousse it was all right.

We retired for the night right after dinner. We awoke right around Ashland and headed for breakfast. We got lucky enough to have the place almost to ourselves and got our orders taken right away. I had an omelet and it wasn't good at all. It was rubbery,not that I have eaten much rubber in my lifetime, and it was cold. If I had wanted a cold omelet I would have undercooked the Jimmy Dean ones I buy. As it was,these weren't as good as Jimmy Dean's. The rest of the food was good. I had potatoes, pork sausage, and a croissant.

After breakfast we went to the lounge to photograph the scenery. It was scenic, all right, but not necessarily photogenic. By that I mean trees obscured most of the view. As far as I am concerned, we could solve the problem of homelessness in this country if the railroads would cut down all the trees extending out 100 yards on both sides of the tracks. A win-win situation: enough wood to home the homeless and us fancy rich folks who have thousands of dollars to spend riding on tourist railroads could have their views. :p ;) :lol: What little I could see was indeed very pretty.

We went, with some trepidation, to lunch, and this time it was very good. I had the Italian combo sandwich and it was a very welcome break from Angus beef burgers. After lunch we headed back to the lounge for more (mostly futile ) attempts at photography.

We arrived in Charlottesville a few minutes late and checked our big bags to New Orleans. Afterward we, upon the recommendation of one of the ticket agents, went to a little cafe called Mel's,a couple of blocks from the station. We returned to the station and are now relaxing in cool comfort at the Charlottesville station.

I don't know that I would rush right out and ride the Cardinal again any time soon but wouldn't turn it down either. I don't like the diner lite set up, but think the food is passable. The Cardinal is one of the last long distance trains we haven't ridden. Only the Silver Star and the Auto Train remain, along with the New Orleans-San Antonio segment of the SL, which we will take care of in a few days. Next up: the Crescent!
 

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