Hi all,
Well after a three month wait the trip is now over. Went to chicago on the City from Centralia Il. Had bedroom E in both directions. The car on the way up was the same colors as the Empire Builder, but everything rattled big time. I wouldn't have wanted to tried to sleep overnite in that car. The train was two hours late the day we went which is always a hassel when you have to get up at 2:30 am to get ready. It was delayed due to a car parked on the tracks in Memphis which it for some reason took that long to move? For breakfast I had the continental which I was surprised at the quanity of items served. My mom had the french toast which was very dry inside an she could hardly cut. That was the last try at that one. We arrived in Chicago just about and hour and half late which was fine with me as I had till 2:15 till the Empire Builder left. One side event was that instead of the normal double stopping the incomeing CN missed the station area and the two conductors decided to just walk us over the large rocks and tilting road bed to the sleeper with our luggage.. Not great on an 83 year old lady. But we made it.
The trip out was quite nice. Ran mostly on time and the food service was as good as you might expect for a loaded train. Biggest drawback to that is that they were really rushed to get people in and out and we ordered the steaks first night, they arrived within one minute of placing the order. Part of mine was on the cool side. Everything else was reasonable and well served. From what I could tell they served four full seatings for all meals going out. Again I had the continental breakfast which I came to look forward too even though it was a lot of food. The watiers were willing to add bacon to the meal also.
The sleeper was in pretty good condtion and had much tighter fitting doors which were petty quiet in comparison. The attendant made the beds and offered the champaign, other than being pleasant to talk too in the hall he did little extra I could see. The lounge ran full most of the trip. How they could justify taking it off or reducing the diner size was hard to see. From what discussion I had with the crew it was obivious they weren't at all pleased with the management or design of the cars. I was rather surprised the first night when my mom went to retire to her room and found the bed so close to the vanity as to be nearly impossible to get passed. She is small, but someone large would have had a real problem. My roomette was downstairs which I didn't know untill I got on. wasn't real pleased with that. However it turned out to be a blessing as a tour group from Porter Rico of 45 people were in the sleepers and were constantly singing and talking at full volume, very disturbing to most others from what comments I could hear. So to be downstairs did help in that instance. Most were in the second sleeper but some were in our car. They started drinking early in the morning and were still going late at night. Quite and experience.
I noticed that we sat a great deal of the time in stations. One we arrived at probably 20 minutes early and it was a scheduled hour or so stop anyway. Only once did a freight pass us though. The famous rough track was extreamly rough the first night out. On the way back I mentioned it to the Attendant and he said it was just regular length track and I told him that I rode lots of regular length track in the old days and at the most it was a loud clicking. This was a jarring jolting and noisy ride. I found rather scary at the speed which it was taken. Seemed worse yet on the way back. I wondered why a railroad with such great track most of the trip would maintain those awful sections? We arrived within a few minutes of the scheduled time.
The return was not quite as good. The diner had a broken dishwasher so they said so they used paper plates. The chef was unavailable and a second was according to the waitress bumped up to chef. The first night everything was so dry some of it couldn't be eaten. The flavorings were a bit too overdone also. The second day seemed a bit better but my chicken wasn't exactly done in some parts. The lounge car on the return was a old lounge with the all seat arrangement in greys and browns. The downstairs looked like a poorly thought out design with a large sliding door toilet on one end and a self serve sandwich and drink section on the other end. The tables didn't have a decent view out both sides either. The attendant took a little getting used to. He kept getting on the loud speakers at full volume and repeating Ladies and Gentleman over and over saying what the Conductor had just mentioned. In all though he was more attentive than the first, at least offering to bring my mom coffee in the morning and little snacks in the evening. Those also are sporadic, one night I got a cookie on the pillow and she didn't. I think I got something most nights in the roomette and she only got one twice in the bedroom. Overall the toilets stayed pretty good in the sleeper, but a time or two I used the ones in coach and I wouldn't have wanted to have to use them. The return sleeper also ran somewhat bumpier than the one coming out for some reason and rattled a bit more. It too was on time within 10 minutes or so returning. The attendant did at my asking take the heavy suitcase of my moms down and onto the platform. I think I was used to the old days and it rather irked me when we first got on and he just sat it up on the car floor and left it for us to drag up the steps. I did it of course but it used to be the job of the porter, those days are evidently long gone. The sleepers in both directions had air conditioning problems. Ran too cold most of the time and you couldn't adjust it down enough in the rooms. On the return the motor on the bedroom end made a constant on and off sound like an alarm clock going off. It did it then entire trip.
The most surprising thing of the trip was the dinner on the return in the City diner. I had had premade meals on that train during the last go round of Radar Range Food. Awfull. I was very pleased to find that the premade Beef Burgandy actully was better than anything the second Chef on the EB had turned out. The only flaw in that part of the trip was the late departure.. I didn't realize that the CN was the Texas train coming up, which had been 5 hours or so late they said. At first they said there would be no dinner served on it. The lady in the first class lounge had gone to get money to give the passengers for meals. Oddly she explained it as being able to go to McDonalds as the only thing open in the Station, but the train might leave so it wasn't a good idea to leave for long. Not much of a choice there.. It turned out that when she had counted out all the money to give us at the office, they then decided they would serve dinner...
The Chicago First Class lounge had lost a lot of its luster.. I recall it having floral arrangements and accessories which made it quite striking when new. Just overstuffed chairs now.
So my over all impression was that if things go right, amtrak can provide a fairly nice ride if your willing to overlook some things. Which most rail fans are. How the cars are put on and who maintains them appears to be a serious problem.. the city going home had a nicely remodeled lounge, while the Empire had had the old one on the last leg.. The speakers in the upstairs of both lounges didn't work so that you couldn't determine the dinner or wine and cheese calls. Hopefully someday if they redo the sleepers yet again they will make room for the most popular size luggage to fit and get that vanity away from the bed. Also the vanity is right against the door which a number of people found quite difficult to use. I would go again though as overall it was a good time.. Hope to try the Zephyr again maybe in the fall..
Well after a three month wait the trip is now over. Went to chicago on the City from Centralia Il. Had bedroom E in both directions. The car on the way up was the same colors as the Empire Builder, but everything rattled big time. I wouldn't have wanted to tried to sleep overnite in that car. The train was two hours late the day we went which is always a hassel when you have to get up at 2:30 am to get ready. It was delayed due to a car parked on the tracks in Memphis which it for some reason took that long to move? For breakfast I had the continental which I was surprised at the quanity of items served. My mom had the french toast which was very dry inside an she could hardly cut. That was the last try at that one. We arrived in Chicago just about and hour and half late which was fine with me as I had till 2:15 till the Empire Builder left. One side event was that instead of the normal double stopping the incomeing CN missed the station area and the two conductors decided to just walk us over the large rocks and tilting road bed to the sleeper with our luggage.. Not great on an 83 year old lady. But we made it.
The trip out was quite nice. Ran mostly on time and the food service was as good as you might expect for a loaded train. Biggest drawback to that is that they were really rushed to get people in and out and we ordered the steaks first night, they arrived within one minute of placing the order. Part of mine was on the cool side. Everything else was reasonable and well served. From what I could tell they served four full seatings for all meals going out. Again I had the continental breakfast which I came to look forward too even though it was a lot of food. The watiers were willing to add bacon to the meal also.
The sleeper was in pretty good condtion and had much tighter fitting doors which were petty quiet in comparison. The attendant made the beds and offered the champaign, other than being pleasant to talk too in the hall he did little extra I could see. The lounge ran full most of the trip. How they could justify taking it off or reducing the diner size was hard to see. From what discussion I had with the crew it was obivious they weren't at all pleased with the management or design of the cars. I was rather surprised the first night when my mom went to retire to her room and found the bed so close to the vanity as to be nearly impossible to get passed. She is small, but someone large would have had a real problem. My roomette was downstairs which I didn't know untill I got on. wasn't real pleased with that. However it turned out to be a blessing as a tour group from Porter Rico of 45 people were in the sleepers and were constantly singing and talking at full volume, very disturbing to most others from what comments I could hear. So to be downstairs did help in that instance. Most were in the second sleeper but some were in our car. They started drinking early in the morning and were still going late at night. Quite and experience.
I noticed that we sat a great deal of the time in stations. One we arrived at probably 20 minutes early and it was a scheduled hour or so stop anyway. Only once did a freight pass us though. The famous rough track was extreamly rough the first night out. On the way back I mentioned it to the Attendant and he said it was just regular length track and I told him that I rode lots of regular length track in the old days and at the most it was a loud clicking. This was a jarring jolting and noisy ride. I found rather scary at the speed which it was taken. Seemed worse yet on the way back. I wondered why a railroad with such great track most of the trip would maintain those awful sections? We arrived within a few minutes of the scheduled time.
The return was not quite as good. The diner had a broken dishwasher so they said so they used paper plates. The chef was unavailable and a second was according to the waitress bumped up to chef. The first night everything was so dry some of it couldn't be eaten. The flavorings were a bit too overdone also. The second day seemed a bit better but my chicken wasn't exactly done in some parts. The lounge car on the return was a old lounge with the all seat arrangement in greys and browns. The downstairs looked like a poorly thought out design with a large sliding door toilet on one end and a self serve sandwich and drink section on the other end. The tables didn't have a decent view out both sides either. The attendant took a little getting used to. He kept getting on the loud speakers at full volume and repeating Ladies and Gentleman over and over saying what the Conductor had just mentioned. In all though he was more attentive than the first, at least offering to bring my mom coffee in the morning and little snacks in the evening. Those also are sporadic, one night I got a cookie on the pillow and she didn't. I think I got something most nights in the roomette and she only got one twice in the bedroom. Overall the toilets stayed pretty good in the sleeper, but a time or two I used the ones in coach and I wouldn't have wanted to have to use them. The return sleeper also ran somewhat bumpier than the one coming out for some reason and rattled a bit more. It too was on time within 10 minutes or so returning. The attendant did at my asking take the heavy suitcase of my moms down and onto the platform. I think I was used to the old days and it rather irked me when we first got on and he just sat it up on the car floor and left it for us to drag up the steps. I did it of course but it used to be the job of the porter, those days are evidently long gone. The sleepers in both directions had air conditioning problems. Ran too cold most of the time and you couldn't adjust it down enough in the rooms. On the return the motor on the bedroom end made a constant on and off sound like an alarm clock going off. It did it then entire trip.
The most surprising thing of the trip was the dinner on the return in the City diner. I had had premade meals on that train during the last go round of Radar Range Food. Awfull. I was very pleased to find that the premade Beef Burgandy actully was better than anything the second Chef on the EB had turned out. The only flaw in that part of the trip was the late departure.. I didn't realize that the CN was the Texas train coming up, which had been 5 hours or so late they said. At first they said there would be no dinner served on it. The lady in the first class lounge had gone to get money to give the passengers for meals. Oddly she explained it as being able to go to McDonalds as the only thing open in the Station, but the train might leave so it wasn't a good idea to leave for long. Not much of a choice there.. It turned out that when she had counted out all the money to give us at the office, they then decided they would serve dinner...
The Chicago First Class lounge had lost a lot of its luster.. I recall it having floral arrangements and accessories which made it quite striking when new. Just overstuffed chairs now.
So my over all impression was that if things go right, amtrak can provide a fairly nice ride if your willing to overlook some things. Which most rail fans are. How the cars are put on and who maintains them appears to be a serious problem.. the city going home had a nicely remodeled lounge, while the Empire had had the old one on the last leg.. The speakers in the upstairs of both lounges didn't work so that you couldn't determine the dinner or wine and cheese calls. Hopefully someday if they redo the sleepers yet again they will make room for the most popular size luggage to fit and get that vanity away from the bed. Also the vanity is right against the door which a number of people found quite difficult to use. I would go again though as overall it was a good time.. Hope to try the Zephyr again maybe in the fall..
