Here's my comments on last night's trip. I am now in a Hollywood motel, awaiting the arrival of friends who are flying from Phoenix. The point of this writeup is that the train operated very well from Flagstaff to LA, when other modes of transport were shut down for two days from the huge storm. I left my car under the cover of the Drury Hotel garage and made my way on foot through the treacherous Flagstaff streets. I had an excellent dinner at one of the better places in town, The Cottage Inn, although many restaurants in town were closed. About 20 westbound passengers ( 2 sleeper pax ) gatheerd for the train, which had been close to schedule all day. Carol, the regular evening agent, was on duty, along with the regular daytime man,Gary, who evidently was working overtime to assist her in the snowy conditions with baggage. I had seen Gary earlier in the day outy on the platform withn a snowblower. She advised everyone that the train would make three stops - normally makes one at FLG - one for baggage, so that it could be unloaded directly in front of the station rather than at the far end of the platform, one for sleepers and one for coach. The train arrived about 15 late, and with the time consuming stop, it was there for about 20, instead of the usual 6 minutes. I ended up in a roomette on the lower level, which was spic and span and pretty much in good working order. I made use of the shower and went to bed, after giving advice to Canadian travellers getting off at Williams Junction about Grand Canyon, where I used to be a tour guide. ( can't help myself. ) it took me a long time to go to sleep, and was the first time that I have used my CPAP ( actually BiPap ) machine on a train- an extension cord helped. However, I seem to have slept better that I thought I did, as I have no recollection of stopping at Kingman, Needles, or Barstow. I thought my cell phone would automatically adjust to the time zone, but it did not, awaking me at 4:30am Pacific Time, an hour earlier than desired. Breakfast is served only between 5 and 6 am., with limited selection. But I must say the sausage and eggs, promptly served, were really tasty, even if it is served on plastic plates. The weather cleared, with much standing water all over the landscape from the storm, and we rolled without interruption in Union Station, 15+ minutes early. Patronage overall on the train appeared to be on the light side. There were only about 5 or 6 having breakfast at the time I was in the diner, and the sleepers were anything but full. A good trip, and a seamless one at that, with all the disruptions that the storm had caused. The flight that I had orginally been booked on from Flagstaff to LA did operate today, but yesterday looked iffy, so I'm glad I booked this trip on the Southwest Chief.
