dburden
Train Attendant
Feb 23, 2023, Train #49 (LSL), car 4911, roomette 5.
I arrived at the Albany/Rensselaer station around 5:20pm, picked a seat in the waiting room and double checked all the frequencies for the trip to Chicago on my scanner. At 6:20p the station attendant asked if I was in a sleeper headed to Chicago, asked if I was Dave. He then escorted me to the sleeper car. My car attendant was Mitchell and he took my dinner order from the flex menu items and said I could head up to the dining car as soon as the train was put together.
Glad I booked a room on #49 instead of #449, I would have been hanging out in the station a lot longer. #449 was late
and had problems clearing their brake checks. I heard stuff about load, independent and then class 2 tests on the scanner.
Finally connected #449 at 7:36p and got underway at 7:59p, almost an hour late.
I hadn't been in a dining car for at least 10 years and this one looked fairly new with upper windows and glass dividers
between the booths. The ribs were tasty, but the brownie was a bit of a disappointment. The server made sure each
person understood that tips were not included in our meals.
For breakfast I had the omelet, sausage and home fries which were ok. Nothing like meals of the past. I'll try different choices on the Cardinal tonight and tomorrow.
We never did catch up on the lost hour until the very end where they padded the schedule so the train was only about 10 minutes late. No big deal since I have 6 or 7 hours before my next train. I did a little exploring and shopping in Chicago and I'm back in the upstairs lounge relaxing right now. Might try the showers (which are open until 8pm).
Basically I've having a nice comfortable start to my vacation and thoroughly enjoying it.
I arrived at the Albany/Rensselaer station around 5:20pm, picked a seat in the waiting room and double checked all the frequencies for the trip to Chicago on my scanner. At 6:20p the station attendant asked if I was in a sleeper headed to Chicago, asked if I was Dave. He then escorted me to the sleeper car. My car attendant was Mitchell and he took my dinner order from the flex menu items and said I could head up to the dining car as soon as the train was put together.
Glad I booked a room on #49 instead of #449, I would have been hanging out in the station a lot longer. #449 was late
and had problems clearing their brake checks. I heard stuff about load, independent and then class 2 tests on the scanner.
Finally connected #449 at 7:36p and got underway at 7:59p, almost an hour late.
I hadn't been in a dining car for at least 10 years and this one looked fairly new with upper windows and glass dividers
between the booths. The ribs were tasty, but the brownie was a bit of a disappointment. The server made sure each
person understood that tips were not included in our meals.
For breakfast I had the omelet, sausage and home fries which were ok. Nothing like meals of the past. I'll try different choices on the Cardinal tonight and tomorrow.
We never did catch up on the lost hour until the very end where they padded the schedule so the train was only about 10 minutes late. No big deal since I have 6 or 7 hours before my next train. I did a little exploring and shopping in Chicago and I'm back in the upstairs lounge relaxing right now. Might try the showers (which are open until 8pm).
Basically I've having a nice comfortable start to my vacation and thoroughly enjoying it.
