Yesterday (Sunday the 10th) was my first trip on Amtrak, unfortunately, it left a lot to be desired 
.
We were scheduled to depart MSP at 7:50A on Empire Builder 8, however, when I went to bed the train was running a couple hours late. When we got to the station in the morning, at the original time, just to be safe, we found the train was still scheduled as 2 hours late. One of the station people told us we could leave, just make sure to be back at 9:30A (after he told us we were not too bright for wanting to check luggage through to Washington DC). We got back at 9:10A just to be safe, and sat down to begin the wait. The train arrived at 10:26A, but due to a mechanical issue, they didn't load us until about 11:45A. After sitting on the train for about 1/2 hour, I went to plug in my laptop... it was then that I found out what the issue was. No power.
They got the power on around 12:25P, and we started rolling. We went about 3/4 of a mile, and stopped. And sat. For about an hour to an hour and a half.
During this time, they made first call for lunch. Once first call was made, and first seating was done, they called for a 2nd seating; except that they were now out of food.
Like I said, after a considerable wait, we started rolling backwards. They backed us back into MSP to remove an engine that was had apparently been having brake issues. Once the engine was off, we started again.
Actual departure time, the second time, was 2:53P - 7 hours and 3 minutes late. During our stop back at lovely MSP, they also loaded on some beef stew - we'll get back to that later.
We made pretty good time, and around Winona, MN they announced that people from Amtrak Passenger Services would be meeting the train at Wisconsin Dells to make arrangements for everyone that had missed their connecting trains; it was also around this time that they announced that ALL passengers that were interested in a free dinner were welcome to Beef Stew, Salad and Rolls in the dining car. I did not go, however, several people including my roommate did. He was not very impressed with the beef stew served over rice, but said "At least it's free food." Everyone else seemed pretty happy to get a meal too since no one had eatten since breakfast.
Once we got to the Dells, they started calling passengers one train at a time. We were up first, since we were train 30. My roommate was sent with our tickets to the dining car, where he met with a representative from Passenger Services. She gave us a voucher for $60 cash for food; $18 cash for taxi rides; and a room authorization for the Inn of Chicago.
The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly, other than a couple unscheduled stops at Milwaukee Airport and Sturtevant to drop off people who had missed their connecting trains in Milwaukee. As we were approaching Chicago Union Station, they made an announcement that the Lakeshore Limited was still in the station, and would wait for anyone needing to make the connection. We got into Chicago at 10:48P; only 6 hrs 53 m late. We gave our car attendant Paul a little something for all his help, and his patience in dealing with all the upset passengers.
Inside the station, everyone congregated at the Ticket Counter to cash in their money vouchers, and the people that had early morning trains were re-ticketed. As our train was scheduled to depart at 7:05P on Monday (today) now, we were told to come back around 1:00P to get re-ticketed; just stop by the first class lounge and they'll exchange our tickets. I did find out though that as before we had room E in the 3001 car, we are assigned a less desirable room.
The taxi ride to the hotel left a bit to be desired, he "couldn't find the hotel." Luckily, we still came in under the $9 Amtrak had given us for the cab ride. The hotel they put us up in also leaves a bit to be desired. Our room on the 11th floor is extremely drafty. The bathroom is TINY. The bed is pretty comfortable though. We're just getting ready to check-out and hop over to Union Station to check out the first class lounge and trade in our tickets right now.
Hopefully our CHI to WAS trip on 30 tonight will go better.
I am still kind of disappointed, but I'm sure I'll get over it. I love trains too much to not ride Amtrak again... my roommate however was pretty upset about the whole thing.
.We were scheduled to depart MSP at 7:50A on Empire Builder 8, however, when I went to bed the train was running a couple hours late. When we got to the station in the morning, at the original time, just to be safe, we found the train was still scheduled as 2 hours late. One of the station people told us we could leave, just make sure to be back at 9:30A (after he told us we were not too bright for wanting to check luggage through to Washington DC). We got back at 9:10A just to be safe, and sat down to begin the wait. The train arrived at 10:26A, but due to a mechanical issue, they didn't load us until about 11:45A. After sitting on the train for about 1/2 hour, I went to plug in my laptop... it was then that I found out what the issue was. No power.
They got the power on around 12:25P, and we started rolling. We went about 3/4 of a mile, and stopped. And sat. For about an hour to an hour and a half.
During this time, they made first call for lunch. Once first call was made, and first seating was done, they called for a 2nd seating; except that they were now out of food.
Like I said, after a considerable wait, we started rolling backwards. They backed us back into MSP to remove an engine that was had apparently been having brake issues. Once the engine was off, we started again.
Actual departure time, the second time, was 2:53P - 7 hours and 3 minutes late. During our stop back at lovely MSP, they also loaded on some beef stew - we'll get back to that later.
We made pretty good time, and around Winona, MN they announced that people from Amtrak Passenger Services would be meeting the train at Wisconsin Dells to make arrangements for everyone that had missed their connecting trains; it was also around this time that they announced that ALL passengers that were interested in a free dinner were welcome to Beef Stew, Salad and Rolls in the dining car. I did not go, however, several people including my roommate did. He was not very impressed with the beef stew served over rice, but said "At least it's free food." Everyone else seemed pretty happy to get a meal too since no one had eatten since breakfast.
Once we got to the Dells, they started calling passengers one train at a time. We were up first, since we were train 30. My roommate was sent with our tickets to the dining car, where he met with a representative from Passenger Services. She gave us a voucher for $60 cash for food; $18 cash for taxi rides; and a room authorization for the Inn of Chicago.
The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly, other than a couple unscheduled stops at Milwaukee Airport and Sturtevant to drop off people who had missed their connecting trains in Milwaukee. As we were approaching Chicago Union Station, they made an announcement that the Lakeshore Limited was still in the station, and would wait for anyone needing to make the connection. We got into Chicago at 10:48P; only 6 hrs 53 m late. We gave our car attendant Paul a little something for all his help, and his patience in dealing with all the upset passengers.
Inside the station, everyone congregated at the Ticket Counter to cash in their money vouchers, and the people that had early morning trains were re-ticketed. As our train was scheduled to depart at 7:05P on Monday (today) now, we were told to come back around 1:00P to get re-ticketed; just stop by the first class lounge and they'll exchange our tickets. I did find out though that as before we had room E in the 3001 car, we are assigned a less desirable room.
The taxi ride to the hotel left a bit to be desired, he "couldn't find the hotel." Luckily, we still came in under the $9 Amtrak had given us for the cab ride. The hotel they put us up in also leaves a bit to be desired. Our room on the 11th floor is extremely drafty. The bathroom is TINY. The bed is pretty comfortable though. We're just getting ready to check-out and hop over to Union Station to check out the first class lounge and trade in our tickets right now.
Hopefully our CHI to WAS trip on 30 tonight will go better.
I am still kind of disappointed, but I'm sure I'll get over it. I love trains too much to not ride Amtrak again... my roommate however was pretty upset about the whole thing.
