BeckysBarn
Lead Service Attendant
11/30/10 - #14 about 20 minutes late into SJC. Paul is SCA. Helped me put luggage in room; asked if I was hungry. I went to diner while he cleaned my room. Continued to be late into OKJ & EMY. We're in EMY at 10:30pm. I'm going to bed. In Bedroom E - and I'm still riding backwards!
12/01/10 - Woke up some where around Redding, CA - down about an hour. Went back to sleep until 7am. Waited in PPC for breakfast at 7:30am. Had the hot sandwich - which I like to think of as the PPC rendition of an egg McMuffin. :giggle:
Klamath Falls - I'm not sure of the temp, but seems to be about 40 something. Great "snow man" snow. We're now only about 5 minutes down.
Saw the area where the 2 big avalanches happened a couple of years ago. I now understand why some of the train people get nervous going through that area.
Eugene - about 10 minutes down. Cloudy, damp & about 50.
Nanette is PPC attendent. A+ Personable, friendly.
Bedroom very warm, but the temp control actually works! Turned down to the coolest.
Paul let me sit in Bedroom A while he made up my room. I understand why it is not the choicest room. You really can't open the bathroom door very wide.
Aaron in the Cafe car kept using his best DJ voice, which was very amusing. "Closing for employee morning medication break"
Inside PDX city limits, we had to wait for the #11 (south bound CS). Due to padding, we had been on track to be about an hour early. The wait caused us to be only 45 minutes early. Red Cap dropped me off in the Lounge & put my bags on board #28. Everything (except for the rainy weather) looked rosy - looks can be deceiving.
#28 had a bad ordered car - bad air brakes. Not sure what all took place (other than removing that car), but we left 59 minutes late. On the bright side, Tonya, my SCA, had chocolates in the rooms - she's now my new best friend! And bedroom B is "backward" 4 trains bedrooms B, D, E & B - all "backward". Doesn't that defy the odds?
I chose the beef for the cold dinner. The label on the box reads "Outtakes Quick Cuisine Marinated Tri-Tip w/Lemon Pepper Aioli" Cold Beef, roll w/butter pat, various types of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cold boiled potatoes & green bean mix, fruit (grapes & melons) and a phenominal dessert! Enough to feed 2 people, but I liked everything except the lemon pepper aioli (aka salad dressing).
12/02/10 - Woke up at Oh-dark-thirty We're in Sandpoint, ID only 50 minutes down. Went back to sleep. Had breakfast of eggs over easy w/ warm raisin bread (not toast), potatoes & bacon, before arriving in Whitefish, MT. Still down about 40 minutes. Between speed & padding, we arrived about 10 minutes early into Shelby, MT. Brisk, clear & little wind. Took a stroll down the platform. Nice...
Until we got to Havre, MT. Arrived about 8 minutes late. Not a big deal, they still have to fuel up, right? Sunny, 10 degrees - again walked the platform to get rid of some of those calories I insisted on having. We saw the border patrol remove a young woman & her daughter. No one came to our sleeper car area - probably too far for them
. We're all back on board when the conductor announced we'd be leaving in about 10 minutes - after they added an engine. Details were not clear to me, but it sounded like the engine was being dead headed. Well 10 minutes turned into over an hour.
But all wasn't lost, in the meantime, we had the wine tasting. Studying all those questions on this forum were absolutely useless! We had TV & movie trivia. (Who sponsored most of the TV shows in the '60s? - tobacco companies. What movie did Peter O'Toole & Anthony Hopkins star in - Lion in Winter). It was a small group so everyone ended up with a partial bottle of wine. Finally we left Havre at 3:13pm - 1hr 40min late. About 40 minutes from Havre (don't know what town), #7 and a freight train waited for us. Now we're stopped & they're moving. I guess the siding is only so long, huh?
Had the bison meatloaf for dinner. Pretty good, different taste than beef for sure. Beware of the sauce - it was very spicy. A man across from us thought the sauce was an "ordinary" BBQ sauce. He couldn't get enough water!
We're now 2 hours 10 minutes down.
12/03/10
Woke up about 4:15am. Arrived in Fargo at 4:31am down more than 2 hours. Went back to sleep until about 6:30 - had breakfast. We were almost 2 hours late into Staples, MN. Freight train in front of us made an emergency stop. However we were delayed maybe 10 minutes. What's 10 minutes when you're already 2 hours behind?
Before I forget - Toni was the server I had every service in the diner - She was the best. A++ The whole dining car staff worked well together. I've called Customer Service with kudos for them.
Added the extra coach in MSP. There were 4 old cars in MSP, including a dome car. Are these permanently on display? I took pictures, but they aren't very good.
Had the clam chowder for lunch. Pretty good. If you need a new food addiction, try the Hagen Das Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.
Wisconsin Dells - Still 2+ hours down. Not sure I'll make my 5:15pm connection to LS, but there is a 7pm I can take. I kept checking with Julie; she was saying CHI arrival 5:03pm, 5:12pm, 5:17pm, so I was hopeful.
But we finally arrived in CHI 2 hours 6 minutes late. Rolling with the punches, I got a Red Cap & went to the ticket counter. Exchanged the tickets for the 7pm LS. The best part: I didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes before boarding Business Class, which was located behind the south engine.
To add insult to injury, we didn't leave the station until 7:20pm. Something about the radio not working. THEN not 5 minutes out of the station we had to wait for the first of 4 freight trains on the way to BNL. Arrived in BNL about 10:30pm. Over an hour late. And it's snowing! About 2 inches of wet, wet snow that makes rolling luggage hard to manuver. I called Mr. BeckysBarn at 10:46pm (from the bus) to let him know we were about an hour from SPI. Due to the snow, the bus driver was doing no more than 50mph. Saw several cars in the ditch. Clear roads & no snow about LCN. We arrived at SPI about 11:45pm - more than an hour late.
Other than about the last 8 hours, it was a really great trip full of firsts for me: Bedroom, Business Class (AGR promotion points, ya know ), veggie burger & bison meatloaf. And I'll do it all again - same time next year! Planning starts after Christmas.
12/01/10 - Woke up some where around Redding, CA - down about an hour. Went back to sleep until 7am. Waited in PPC for breakfast at 7:30am. Had the hot sandwich - which I like to think of as the PPC rendition of an egg McMuffin. :giggle:
Klamath Falls - I'm not sure of the temp, but seems to be about 40 something. Great "snow man" snow. We're now only about 5 minutes down.
Saw the area where the 2 big avalanches happened a couple of years ago. I now understand why some of the train people get nervous going through that area.
Eugene - about 10 minutes down. Cloudy, damp & about 50.
Nanette is PPC attendent. A+ Personable, friendly.
Bedroom very warm, but the temp control actually works! Turned down to the coolest.
Paul let me sit in Bedroom A while he made up my room. I understand why it is not the choicest room. You really can't open the bathroom door very wide.
Aaron in the Cafe car kept using his best DJ voice, which was very amusing. "Closing for employee morning medication break"
Inside PDX city limits, we had to wait for the #11 (south bound CS). Due to padding, we had been on track to be about an hour early. The wait caused us to be only 45 minutes early. Red Cap dropped me off in the Lounge & put my bags on board #28. Everything (except for the rainy weather) looked rosy - looks can be deceiving.
#28 had a bad ordered car - bad air brakes. Not sure what all took place (other than removing that car), but we left 59 minutes late. On the bright side, Tonya, my SCA, had chocolates in the rooms - she's now my new best friend! And bedroom B is "backward" 4 trains bedrooms B, D, E & B - all "backward". Doesn't that defy the odds?
I chose the beef for the cold dinner. The label on the box reads "Outtakes Quick Cuisine Marinated Tri-Tip w/Lemon Pepper Aioli" Cold Beef, roll w/butter pat, various types of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cold boiled potatoes & green bean mix, fruit (grapes & melons) and a phenominal dessert! Enough to feed 2 people, but I liked everything except the lemon pepper aioli (aka salad dressing).
12/02/10 - Woke up at Oh-dark-thirty We're in Sandpoint, ID only 50 minutes down. Went back to sleep. Had breakfast of eggs over easy w/ warm raisin bread (not toast), potatoes & bacon, before arriving in Whitefish, MT. Still down about 40 minutes. Between speed & padding, we arrived about 10 minutes early into Shelby, MT. Brisk, clear & little wind. Took a stroll down the platform. Nice...
Until we got to Havre, MT. Arrived about 8 minutes late. Not a big deal, they still have to fuel up, right? Sunny, 10 degrees - again walked the platform to get rid of some of those calories I insisted on having. We saw the border patrol remove a young woman & her daughter. No one came to our sleeper car area - probably too far for them
. We're all back on board when the conductor announced we'd be leaving in about 10 minutes - after they added an engine. Details were not clear to me, but it sounded like the engine was being dead headed. Well 10 minutes turned into over an hour.But all wasn't lost, in the meantime, we had the wine tasting. Studying all those questions on this forum were absolutely useless! We had TV & movie trivia. (Who sponsored most of the TV shows in the '60s? - tobacco companies. What movie did Peter O'Toole & Anthony Hopkins star in - Lion in Winter). It was a small group so everyone ended up with a partial bottle of wine. Finally we left Havre at 3:13pm - 1hr 40min late. About 40 minutes from Havre (don't know what town), #7 and a freight train waited for us. Now we're stopped & they're moving. I guess the siding is only so long, huh?
Had the bison meatloaf for dinner. Pretty good, different taste than beef for sure. Beware of the sauce - it was very spicy. A man across from us thought the sauce was an "ordinary" BBQ sauce. He couldn't get enough water!
We're now 2 hours 10 minutes down.
12/03/10
Woke up about 4:15am. Arrived in Fargo at 4:31am down more than 2 hours. Went back to sleep until about 6:30 - had breakfast. We were almost 2 hours late into Staples, MN. Freight train in front of us made an emergency stop. However we were delayed maybe 10 minutes. What's 10 minutes when you're already 2 hours behind?
Before I forget - Toni was the server I had every service in the diner - She was the best. A++ The whole dining car staff worked well together. I've called Customer Service with kudos for them.
Added the extra coach in MSP. There were 4 old cars in MSP, including a dome car. Are these permanently on display? I took pictures, but they aren't very good.
Had the clam chowder for lunch. Pretty good. If you need a new food addiction, try the Hagen Das Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.
Wisconsin Dells - Still 2+ hours down. Not sure I'll make my 5:15pm connection to LS, but there is a 7pm I can take. I kept checking with Julie; she was saying CHI arrival 5:03pm, 5:12pm, 5:17pm, so I was hopeful.
But we finally arrived in CHI 2 hours 6 minutes late. Rolling with the punches, I got a Red Cap & went to the ticket counter. Exchanged the tickets for the 7pm LS. The best part: I didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes before boarding Business Class, which was located behind the south engine.
To add insult to injury, we didn't leave the station until 7:20pm. Something about the radio not working. THEN not 5 minutes out of the station we had to wait for the first of 4 freight trains on the way to BNL. Arrived in BNL about 10:30pm. Over an hour late. And it's snowing! About 2 inches of wet, wet snow that makes rolling luggage hard to manuver. I called Mr. BeckysBarn at 10:46pm (from the bus) to let him know we were about an hour from SPI. Due to the snow, the bus driver was doing no more than 50mph. Saw several cars in the ditch. Clear roads & no snow about LCN. We arrived at SPI about 11:45pm - more than an hour late.
Other than about the last 8 hours, it was a really great trip full of firsts for me: Bedroom, Business Class (AGR promotion points, ya know
), veggie burger & bison meatloaf. And I'll do it all again - same time next year! Planning starts after Christmas.
