crescent-zephyr
Engineer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2015
- Messages
- 4,631
Monday I took the Capitol Limited from Washington to Chicago. By the time I stopped by the Jamba Juice before boarding it was so close to train time I figured I would just line up in the regular boarding line. Wow... this cattle call keeps getting worse. Just a mass of people trying to get through the same door as one agent checks all tickets. She told me that "for future reference I should board through the First Class lounge." She filed us through the gate door, into a roped off que, and then let us walk to the platform. Crazy!
The train had 2 private cars on the back, a heavyweight office car, and a dome car. Always fun to see.
Carlos was my sleeper attendant and did a wonderful job. He was very polite, and seemed to genuinely want to please every passenger in his car.
I do not remember the dining car staff names, but they were simply the best Amtrak has to offer. One waiter, and one waitress, and the LSA ran the lounge out of the Cross Country Cafe car as is standard on the Capitol now. This is a great system as far as I can tell. I was seated for dinner by myself (I think I was just the odd one out), and the waiter took my order first and actually apologized when the food came out TOO SOON! I had the salmon, and it was quite good. Breakfast was also great, I was seated with another gentleman, who made it pretty clear he didn't want to talk, so we ate silently, which I always feel is awkward but that's ok.
We were 5 minutes early into Chicago. Everyone on board the train was wonderful, truly first class service. I used to dread riding the Capitol a few years ago because I felt like it had the worst OBS crew of any train, so this was truly a pleasant surprise.
The train had 2 private cars on the back, a heavyweight office car, and a dome car. Always fun to see.
Carlos was my sleeper attendant and did a wonderful job. He was very polite, and seemed to genuinely want to please every passenger in his car.
I do not remember the dining car staff names, but they were simply the best Amtrak has to offer. One waiter, and one waitress, and the LSA ran the lounge out of the Cross Country Cafe car as is standard on the Capitol now. This is a great system as far as I can tell. I was seated for dinner by myself (I think I was just the odd one out), and the waiter took my order first and actually apologized when the food came out TOO SOON! I had the salmon, and it was quite good. Breakfast was also great, I was seated with another gentleman, who made it pretty clear he didn't want to talk, so we ate silently, which I always feel is awkward but that's ok.
We were 5 minutes early into Chicago. Everyone on board the train was wonderful, truly first class service. I used to dread riding the Capitol a few years ago because I felt like it had the worst OBS crew of any train, so this was truly a pleasant surprise.
