greatcats
Engineer
Last Sunday my friend Eric ( of the same name as me ) sang in our Episcopal Chuch choir in Flagstaff and then drove in my Toyota down scenic Lake Mary Road ( which I refer to as the Blue Ridge Parkway of Arizona ) 80 miles to his home in the small town of Pine. We traded cars for his Chevy and continued on 200 miles south via Globe to Tucson and checked in late at night to the historic Congress Hotel. The car was put in a garage across the street for the duration of our two week trip. I reserved the Congress, because it is directly across the street from Amtrak, not having to be concerned about a cab to get us to the train. The Congress is something out of another time and we rather liked the old fashioned room with a radio and no TV and the nightclub noise did not bother us, and we slept comfortably.
After breakfast in the very good hotel cafe, we rolled our bags across the street to the station. Early in the morning the Tucson agent called me personally to advise of the storm in the east and Amtrak could not promise at this time what the connections might be for Wednesday in Chicago. I thanked him and tapped out a reservation on my I Phone for a reservation as a backup in Chicago, which was used! The next day as our train approached Fort Worth I received an Email and phone message from Amtrak that the Wednesday Capitol #30 was cancelled. I called their re-accomodation line and was expediently booked onto Thursday's #30, which turned out fine. ( Others were not as fortunate as us. )
Back to Tucson, #2 pulled in about 50 minutes late and a crowd of around 40 boarded. The gentleman and the lady in the ticket office were very pleasant and we made our way to the Chicago sleeper, which as indicated by others, was on the rear of the train. I want to be clear that overall this was a very pleasant trip, but we had a few faults to find. The first night our roommette was rather cold, I could not get any heat out of the baseboard, and those thin blue blankets leave something to be desired. My fastidious friend found the bathroom floors too grubby for his liking and he spent some time down there scrubbing away. ( I have learned to be patient with this and just roll my eyes. ). He is sitting here stating he could not get the ground in dirt out of the corners, for which the sleeper attendant is not to blame!
Onward we rolled into New Mexico. While many would say that the Sunset/Eagle route is not very interesting compared to others, we thoroughly enjoyed both sections of the route across the deserts and through the farm and hill country of Texas. Our server for lunch and dinner was an older Chinese lady who lives in Las Vegas, Alice Wong. She turned out to be quite a delightful character. At dinner, I asked about the fish. She replied " You don't want that. It's hospital food. " My friend asked about the pork chops: " They are tasty, but rather tough. " I don't have servers say that to me very often, but i appreciate their honesty. For our three dinners on the trains we had the crab cakes, lamb shank, and steak. All of these main dishes were excellent. ( I can't say the same for the mashed potatoes. )
We arrived into San Antonio only slightly late - not sabotaged by Uniuon Pacific ) and the power was cut and my breathing machine quit. I did not get up, but sat there reading the newspaper and observing the switching. When all was reassembled, our sleeper was not on the rear of the train, but the second car of the train ahead of the diner, and we had been separated from the coach from Los Angeles. We departed just a little late and off we went with our seven car train, one locomotive, dorm/sleeper/ our sleeper, diner, Sightseer lounge, and three coaches. This train was not too busy at this time of year and the coaches were maybe half full. Also, previous remarks on this forum led me to expect the patrons to be from the audience of the Ricki Lake Show, which was not the case. We met and had meals with some very congenial and interesting folks. ( i.e.: the military man on his way from his last post in Alaska to be a Home Depot manager in Houston and the young lady from Tucson on the way to a percussionist's convention in Austin. ) Eric and I had a total of five meals in the Texas Eagle diner - the CCC car that has been apparently been remodeled to something closer to traditional dining car seating. It was an attractive car and so was the staff, in their own way: Ms. Maxwell-Snow and the (in)famous Miss Polly Canada, the latter having been the subject of numerous not so positive comments on this forum. These two did exhibit something of a " Don't mess with me attitude " and were brusquely polite. But they did run an efficient dining car, tightly organized, and on Wednesday morning they both sported Halloween masks. My friend remarked that " they are both a product of their culture and environment. " I tipped them well, thanked them, and wished Polly a pleasant cruise from Miami that she will be taking soon.
The trackage through Arkansas was rather rough, but the car seemed warmer and I had a good night. We arrived St. Louis early and continued on through illinois, arriving Chicago nearly thirty minutes early. As stated earlier, we really had a good time on this route, the TE being a new experience for me. That evening we walked up Michigan Avenue to the Broadway Playhouse and enjoyed a theater production of " I Love Lucy - Live on Stage. " The next afternoon we took in the Ben Affleck movie, " Argo " Then we hauled our bags ( roller bags are a wonderful invention ) across town to Union Station, and yes, #30 was running, the first one in five days We boarded and then did not depart until after 7pm, because " two private cars are being attached. " From what I could see they were low level Amtrak cars on the rear, and it was rumored that Joe Boardman was back there.
Off we went into Indiana. I have to say that the steak with its sauce was the best piece of meat I've had in any restaurant of recent times. Mike was our server and this too was a well run dining car. The feature of this trip, and I know several other passengers would agree with me, was our sleeper attendant, a young man recently hired out on Amtrak, Jordan Lombardo. This was only his fourth trip and he handled everything like a real pro. He has a background in restaurant management and his finesse really showed. We just hope that bureaucracy will not stifle him. Rivers were running high, but no significant delays were encountered, although it appeared that some trees had been cut from the right of way. Arrival in Washington was just over an hour late - not bad. Was Amtrak perfect? No, but overall there were a raft of positives to make about this cross country trip and it was a fine time overall.
My friend and i are in Washington for three nights and hearing Beethoven two of the nights at Kennedy Center. On Monday we will be on a Regional to Boston to hear the Boston Symphony and other events, then fly to Los Angeles for the LA Phil, and will finish on the Sunset back to Tucson. Thanks for reading.
After breakfast in the very good hotel cafe, we rolled our bags across the street to the station. Early in the morning the Tucson agent called me personally to advise of the storm in the east and Amtrak could not promise at this time what the connections might be for Wednesday in Chicago. I thanked him and tapped out a reservation on my I Phone for a reservation as a backup in Chicago, which was used! The next day as our train approached Fort Worth I received an Email and phone message from Amtrak that the Wednesday Capitol #30 was cancelled. I called their re-accomodation line and was expediently booked onto Thursday's #30, which turned out fine. ( Others were not as fortunate as us. )
Back to Tucson, #2 pulled in about 50 minutes late and a crowd of around 40 boarded. The gentleman and the lady in the ticket office were very pleasant and we made our way to the Chicago sleeper, which as indicated by others, was on the rear of the train. I want to be clear that overall this was a very pleasant trip, but we had a few faults to find. The first night our roommette was rather cold, I could not get any heat out of the baseboard, and those thin blue blankets leave something to be desired. My fastidious friend found the bathroom floors too grubby for his liking and he spent some time down there scrubbing away. ( I have learned to be patient with this and just roll my eyes. ). He is sitting here stating he could not get the ground in dirt out of the corners, for which the sleeper attendant is not to blame!
Onward we rolled into New Mexico. While many would say that the Sunset/Eagle route is not very interesting compared to others, we thoroughly enjoyed both sections of the route across the deserts and through the farm and hill country of Texas. Our server for lunch and dinner was an older Chinese lady who lives in Las Vegas, Alice Wong. She turned out to be quite a delightful character. At dinner, I asked about the fish. She replied " You don't want that. It's hospital food. " My friend asked about the pork chops: " They are tasty, but rather tough. " I don't have servers say that to me very often, but i appreciate their honesty. For our three dinners on the trains we had the crab cakes, lamb shank, and steak. All of these main dishes were excellent. ( I can't say the same for the mashed potatoes. )
We arrived into San Antonio only slightly late - not sabotaged by Uniuon Pacific ) and the power was cut and my breathing machine quit. I did not get up, but sat there reading the newspaper and observing the switching. When all was reassembled, our sleeper was not on the rear of the train, but the second car of the train ahead of the diner, and we had been separated from the coach from Los Angeles. We departed just a little late and off we went with our seven car train, one locomotive, dorm/sleeper/ our sleeper, diner, Sightseer lounge, and three coaches. This train was not too busy at this time of year and the coaches were maybe half full. Also, previous remarks on this forum led me to expect the patrons to be from the audience of the Ricki Lake Show, which was not the case. We met and had meals with some very congenial and interesting folks. ( i.e.: the military man on his way from his last post in Alaska to be a Home Depot manager in Houston and the young lady from Tucson on the way to a percussionist's convention in Austin. ) Eric and I had a total of five meals in the Texas Eagle diner - the CCC car that has been apparently been remodeled to something closer to traditional dining car seating. It was an attractive car and so was the staff, in their own way: Ms. Maxwell-Snow and the (in)famous Miss Polly Canada, the latter having been the subject of numerous not so positive comments on this forum. These two did exhibit something of a " Don't mess with me attitude " and were brusquely polite. But they did run an efficient dining car, tightly organized, and on Wednesday morning they both sported Halloween masks. My friend remarked that " they are both a product of their culture and environment. " I tipped them well, thanked them, and wished Polly a pleasant cruise from Miami that she will be taking soon.
The trackage through Arkansas was rather rough, but the car seemed warmer and I had a good night. We arrived St. Louis early and continued on through illinois, arriving Chicago nearly thirty minutes early. As stated earlier, we really had a good time on this route, the TE being a new experience for me. That evening we walked up Michigan Avenue to the Broadway Playhouse and enjoyed a theater production of " I Love Lucy - Live on Stage. " The next afternoon we took in the Ben Affleck movie, " Argo " Then we hauled our bags ( roller bags are a wonderful invention ) across town to Union Station, and yes, #30 was running, the first one in five days We boarded and then did not depart until after 7pm, because " two private cars are being attached. " From what I could see they were low level Amtrak cars on the rear, and it was rumored that Joe Boardman was back there.
Off we went into Indiana. I have to say that the steak with its sauce was the best piece of meat I've had in any restaurant of recent times. Mike was our server and this too was a well run dining car. The feature of this trip, and I know several other passengers would agree with me, was our sleeper attendant, a young man recently hired out on Amtrak, Jordan Lombardo. This was only his fourth trip and he handled everything like a real pro. He has a background in restaurant management and his finesse really showed. We just hope that bureaucracy will not stifle him. Rivers were running high, but no significant delays were encountered, although it appeared that some trees had been cut from the right of way. Arrival in Washington was just over an hour late - not bad. Was Amtrak perfect? No, but overall there were a raft of positives to make about this cross country trip and it was a fine time overall.
My friend and i are in Washington for three nights and hearing Beethoven two of the nights at Kennedy Center. On Monday we will be on a Regional to Boston to hear the Boston Symphony and other events, then fly to Los Angeles for the LA Phil, and will finish on the Sunset back to Tucson. Thanks for reading.
,and for sure I agree that the Blankets arent very Thick or Warm! With Winter coming it's Time for Amtrak to Upgrade All of the Bedding on the Sleepers since they are raising Prices and Buckets and most of the Sleepers are Filling up!
