capltd29
Lead Service Attendant
Hi All, this is my first trip report I've written online before, so I hope that it turns out pretty well. Reading some other reports, people often focus on the engine and car numbers. Unfortunately, I didn't and I probably didn't take enough pictures. Anyways, here it goes.
12/23/2015
I moved to Chicago in July 2015 for my 3rd year rotations as a Medical Student, and being from Richmond Virginia originally, I was excited to be able to ride Amtrak home for the holidays. My boyfriend and I got everything prepared for our cat sitter who would be stopping by to take care of our two cats Hunter and Sophie. Train 30 wasn't scheduled to leave until 6:40 pm and it was quite a long wait, given my level of excitement. We left our apartment at around 3pm and walked to the Rockwell Brown Line station to catch the train Union Station. The ride was uneventful, and we arrived about 45 minutes later. We proceeded directly to the Metropolitan lounge to check in for train 30. The attendant was polite and gave us our lounge passes, took our dinner reservation for 7:30 while we stored our bags in the baggage room,
The lounge was packed with people waiting for a delayed train #5 (not sure why it was delayed). Train #8 was about 3h 30m late, and I wasn't entirely certain if the train would make the connection of if we would be held, but more on that later. We headed out to the street and went to a nearby starbucks for some coffee and a walk in the unseasonably warm Chicago weather (50s). We returned through one of the Great Hall entrances, to see how nicely decked out the station was for the holiday season. We headed back down the the Metropolitan lounge which was clearing out a bit as they were boarding train 5 finally. I sat and played Cities: Skylines for a bit (which is an awesome game, if you liked the Sim City series) and sipped on some diet pepsi.
Train 30 CHI- WAS
Car 3000, Room 3
The call to board was made at around 6:10 and we gathered around the rear doors for boarding. I am so thankful that this is how they board the trains currently. I remember being a child in the late 90s/early 2000s and having to go out through the chaos of the boarding areas past all of the coach passengers after collecting out luggage from Room 341 (I think) on the fly, to go out to the train.
We walked down to car 3000 and were greeted by Cliff, a nice attendant who I have had numerous times in the past, and has always provided great service. The car was a nicely restored Superliner I sleeper with the "wood" paneling and updated bathrooms. We settled into our room and awaited our departure. I had been wondering if we would hold for train 8, as it was very close on ASM (about 15 minutes out) around 6:30p. I assumed we would, since it would cause very little delay for us and definitely help people making connections, however we pulled out at exactly 6:40pm and I am almost certain that train 8 had not arrived in the station yet. It's possible that pax were bussed from MSP or somewhere else, but I don't know. It was troubling that we wouldn't hold the train for the short time required. Anyone with insight to this practice, feel free to comment.
We passed through the Amtrak yards and quickly picked up speed as we went through the southside and into the suburbs. I was surprised by how smooth the ride was, but my boyfriend seemed slightly alarmed by the swaying of the superliners as it was his first time in a bilevel train. We made good time, maintaining 79mph for most of the evening.
The dining car was running behind schedule tonight, but not by much, and we were called to the dining car around 7:40pm. We were seated with two women, who were either sisters or close friends traveling home to Pittsburgh from Los Angeles. I didn't catch the names of any of the dining car staff, which is unusual because I was previously an ACAC member and always on the lookout for employee names for my trip reports. The car was of the Cross Country Cafe type, and they were evidently using the "coach side" as a cafe. Anyways, the offerings included Crab Cakes, the traditional Steak, a Black Bean Enchilada, Pad Thai and Vegetarian Pasta. I'm a long time Vegetarian, and my first choice was the Enchilada, however they were sold out of it tonight and I settled for the Pad Thai, which also turned out to be very good. My boyfriend opted for the Crab Cakes, which he described as "Not Bad". For dessert, we opted for the vanilla Ice Cream and the Chocolate Pie "thing" so that we could essentially make it a la mode. Both were very good and we returned to our sleeping car which was still in the day time configuration.
We had asked Cliff to wait until 10 or 10:30 to make it up as we weren't exactly very tired. We both enjoyed watching the small Indiana towns as they went by in an 80mph blur, illuminated by Christmas lights and decorations. The beds were made down, and we crammed into the lower berth to watch an episode of Bates Motel Season 3 on DVD on my laptop. We pulled into Toledo exactly on time. I would normally go down and step off for a few pictures here, but I was very comfortable in my pajamas and opted to just relax for a bit.
I let my boyfriend have the lower bunk, and I took the upper bunk. I read for a while and somewhere between Sandusky and Elyria, I decided I would attempt to sleep. This would not come easy, as the upper bunk was much harder than I remember and I really could not get comfortable. I dozed intermittently for most of the night and woke up for our stop at Pittsburgh to find we were still exactly on time. I finally fell into a comfortable sleep after leaving Pittsburgh to before being awoken by my 7am alarm which I had forgotten that I had set. I climbed down and went downstairs to take a shower. The shower was one of the better Amtrak showers I have used. The water was warm and the button was not operable, allowing the water to stay on throughout the shower without using the button.
The dining car made an announcement stating that there was an hour wait, and they were running a waiting list, but we could get a To-Go order. We weren't feeling particularly hungry, so we thought that we would just head to the cafe side to get something small to snack on and maybe get a To-Go order. To my surprise the dining car was completely empty. There were zero passengers on the dining side. I was obviously confused, but one of the servers explained that there was a party of 19 that would be eating in the dining car. Doing some math, this would certainly not account for the whole car being empty, as there are more than 19 seats in the dining car. This is certainly not the Amtrak standard of practice in the dining car, but alas, you must pick your battles. We just opted to get some eggs and potatoes to take back to the room, which were just fine.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, we lost between 10-20 minutes near Cumberland, but that time was made up easily by the time we arrived in Washington on track 26.
Train 95: WAS-RVR
Quiet Car
We were ticketed on train 95 to Richmond Staples Mill Road scheduled for 2:30. Thinking that we didn't have much time, we proceeded to the southbound boarding area to Gate H which was filled with passengers and a very long line stretching towards the McDonalds. These people were waiting for northbound train 94. At that point, I decided it would be wiser to move to gate J, so that we could be situated at the front of the line for train 95, which did not have a gate posted yet. Fortunately, the bet paid off, and Gate J was posted for train 95. It was now about 2:30 and there was no announcement of the delay or an estimate of the time we would be delayed. We were eventually allowed to board at 2:50pm. I opted for the quiet car, because it is usually less crowded on these southbound trains, and I make a total of 2-3 cell phone calls per week.
The quiet car was uncomfortably warm and smelled distinctly and strongly of Marijuana smoke. It would remain this way for the duration of our trip to Richmond. I don't know where the smell was coming from as there was no visible smoke in the car. Our best guess was that some passenger was using an E-cigarette or vaporizer with Marijuana in it. The trip was uneventful until we departed Ashland and traveled between 15-30 mph for the rest of the way to Richmond, for reasons unknown. Between the Heat and Smell, I had never been more ready to get off of a train.
Parting Thoughts: All in all it was great trip. The dining service was very good. The only complaint I have about it is that there is simply no room for cafe passengers to sit in half of the dining car, but I can see it working out okay, as long as the Sightseer lounge remains available. This however, could be a moot point if the CL goes to Single level equipment after the viewliners are delivered, as some expect. I may write up the return trip at some point if I can find the time before my rotations get started again.
Thanks for reading!
12/23/2015
I moved to Chicago in July 2015 for my 3rd year rotations as a Medical Student, and being from Richmond Virginia originally, I was excited to be able to ride Amtrak home for the holidays. My boyfriend and I got everything prepared for our cat sitter who would be stopping by to take care of our two cats Hunter and Sophie. Train 30 wasn't scheduled to leave until 6:40 pm and it was quite a long wait, given my level of excitement. We left our apartment at around 3pm and walked to the Rockwell Brown Line station to catch the train Union Station. The ride was uneventful, and we arrived about 45 minutes later. We proceeded directly to the Metropolitan lounge to check in for train 30. The attendant was polite and gave us our lounge passes, took our dinner reservation for 7:30 while we stored our bags in the baggage room,
The lounge was packed with people waiting for a delayed train #5 (not sure why it was delayed). Train #8 was about 3h 30m late, and I wasn't entirely certain if the train would make the connection of if we would be held, but more on that later. We headed out to the street and went to a nearby starbucks for some coffee and a walk in the unseasonably warm Chicago weather (50s). We returned through one of the Great Hall entrances, to see how nicely decked out the station was for the holiday season. We headed back down the the Metropolitan lounge which was clearing out a bit as they were boarding train 5 finally. I sat and played Cities: Skylines for a bit (which is an awesome game, if you liked the Sim City series) and sipped on some diet pepsi.
Train 30 CHI- WAS
Car 3000, Room 3
The call to board was made at around 6:10 and we gathered around the rear doors for boarding. I am so thankful that this is how they board the trains currently. I remember being a child in the late 90s/early 2000s and having to go out through the chaos of the boarding areas past all of the coach passengers after collecting out luggage from Room 341 (I think) on the fly, to go out to the train.
We walked down to car 3000 and were greeted by Cliff, a nice attendant who I have had numerous times in the past, and has always provided great service. The car was a nicely restored Superliner I sleeper with the "wood" paneling and updated bathrooms. We settled into our room and awaited our departure. I had been wondering if we would hold for train 8, as it was very close on ASM (about 15 minutes out) around 6:30p. I assumed we would, since it would cause very little delay for us and definitely help people making connections, however we pulled out at exactly 6:40pm and I am almost certain that train 8 had not arrived in the station yet. It's possible that pax were bussed from MSP or somewhere else, but I don't know. It was troubling that we wouldn't hold the train for the short time required. Anyone with insight to this practice, feel free to comment.
We passed through the Amtrak yards and quickly picked up speed as we went through the southside and into the suburbs. I was surprised by how smooth the ride was, but my boyfriend seemed slightly alarmed by the swaying of the superliners as it was his first time in a bilevel train. We made good time, maintaining 79mph for most of the evening.
The dining car was running behind schedule tonight, but not by much, and we were called to the dining car around 7:40pm. We were seated with two women, who were either sisters or close friends traveling home to Pittsburgh from Los Angeles. I didn't catch the names of any of the dining car staff, which is unusual because I was previously an ACAC member and always on the lookout for employee names for my trip reports. The car was of the Cross Country Cafe type, and they were evidently using the "coach side" as a cafe. Anyways, the offerings included Crab Cakes, the traditional Steak, a Black Bean Enchilada, Pad Thai and Vegetarian Pasta. I'm a long time Vegetarian, and my first choice was the Enchilada, however they were sold out of it tonight and I settled for the Pad Thai, which also turned out to be very good. My boyfriend opted for the Crab Cakes, which he described as "Not Bad". For dessert, we opted for the vanilla Ice Cream and the Chocolate Pie "thing" so that we could essentially make it a la mode. Both were very good and we returned to our sleeping car which was still in the day time configuration.
We had asked Cliff to wait until 10 or 10:30 to make it up as we weren't exactly very tired. We both enjoyed watching the small Indiana towns as they went by in an 80mph blur, illuminated by Christmas lights and decorations. The beds were made down, and we crammed into the lower berth to watch an episode of Bates Motel Season 3 on DVD on my laptop. We pulled into Toledo exactly on time. I would normally go down and step off for a few pictures here, but I was very comfortable in my pajamas and opted to just relax for a bit.
I let my boyfriend have the lower bunk, and I took the upper bunk. I read for a while and somewhere between Sandusky and Elyria, I decided I would attempt to sleep. This would not come easy, as the upper bunk was much harder than I remember and I really could not get comfortable. I dozed intermittently for most of the night and woke up for our stop at Pittsburgh to find we were still exactly on time. I finally fell into a comfortable sleep after leaving Pittsburgh to before being awoken by my 7am alarm which I had forgotten that I had set. I climbed down and went downstairs to take a shower. The shower was one of the better Amtrak showers I have used. The water was warm and the button was not operable, allowing the water to stay on throughout the shower without using the button.
The dining car made an announcement stating that there was an hour wait, and they were running a waiting list, but we could get a To-Go order. We weren't feeling particularly hungry, so we thought that we would just head to the cafe side to get something small to snack on and maybe get a To-Go order. To my surprise the dining car was completely empty. There were zero passengers on the dining side. I was obviously confused, but one of the servers explained that there was a party of 19 that would be eating in the dining car. Doing some math, this would certainly not account for the whole car being empty, as there are more than 19 seats in the dining car. This is certainly not the Amtrak standard of practice in the dining car, but alas, you must pick your battles. We just opted to get some eggs and potatoes to take back to the room, which were just fine.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, we lost between 10-20 minutes near Cumberland, but that time was made up easily by the time we arrived in Washington on track 26.
Train 95: WAS-RVR
Quiet Car
We were ticketed on train 95 to Richmond Staples Mill Road scheduled for 2:30. Thinking that we didn't have much time, we proceeded to the southbound boarding area to Gate H which was filled with passengers and a very long line stretching towards the McDonalds. These people were waiting for northbound train 94. At that point, I decided it would be wiser to move to gate J, so that we could be situated at the front of the line for train 95, which did not have a gate posted yet. Fortunately, the bet paid off, and Gate J was posted for train 95. It was now about 2:30 and there was no announcement of the delay or an estimate of the time we would be delayed. We were eventually allowed to board at 2:50pm. I opted for the quiet car, because it is usually less crowded on these southbound trains, and I make a total of 2-3 cell phone calls per week.
The quiet car was uncomfortably warm and smelled distinctly and strongly of Marijuana smoke. It would remain this way for the duration of our trip to Richmond. I don't know where the smell was coming from as there was no visible smoke in the car. Our best guess was that some passenger was using an E-cigarette or vaporizer with Marijuana in it. The trip was uneventful until we departed Ashland and traveled between 15-30 mph for the rest of the way to Richmond, for reasons unknown. Between the Heat and Smell, I had never been more ready to get off of a train.
Parting Thoughts: All in all it was great trip. The dining service was very good. The only complaint I have about it is that there is simply no room for cafe passengers to sit in half of the dining car, but I can see it working out okay, as long as the Sightseer lounge remains available. This however, could be a moot point if the CL goes to Single level equipment after the viewliners are delivered, as some expect. I may write up the return trip at some point if I can find the time before my rotations get started again.
Thanks for reading!
