My Coast Starlight trip

[Ed Greenberg]

We took #14 from SJC to EUG on Thursday, and #11 back on Sunday. There

were to be six of us.

Two boarded in LAX, occupying the H (accessible) bedroom in our car. We had

a roomette. We boarded in SJC. Train was about six hours late going.

The roomette was clean and everything worked. The H bedroom was clean and

everything worked except that the door had issues staying open, and locking

closed. Paul, the car attendant was a gem.

We missed dinner on the train, and knew we would, so we had eaten. We sat

up till 11 PM, then Paul set the bed up. We darkened the roomette and were

able to look out and see stuff without reflections, sometimes lit by the

light from the window in the train entry door. We really felt snug and

happy. It was romantic.

Boarding the upper bunk was interesting for the 6 foot, 304 lb railfan. I

really wish for a window in the upper bunk area, but such luck. I got "in",

and then tried to get out so I could reassure myself that I could. About

halfway through this process, I realized that I was probably going to (a)

go all the way to Seattle and (b)need the jaws of life A bit more

experimentation produced a process that worked.

I got comfortable, and decided that I had no problem, since it was good

preparation for being dead, in my casket.

At 12:30, more friends got on, in SAC. They had taken the Lakeshore Limited

from New York, and the California Zephyr from Chicago. I got out of bed to

welcome them to Bedroom A. Note: Getting two folk and two (Lab and Golden)

Seeing Eye Dogs into Bedroom A is tough. B,C,D or E would be better. The

arrangement is different.

There was no parlor car, which disappointed us because we were traveling in

a group.

Went back to bed around 1:30. Next thing I knew, it was 6 AM!

We breakfasted at 7 AM with the Albritons (Room H) but not the Ackers (room

A - still sleeping.) Breakfast in the diner was really cool. The food is

Amtrak-microwave standard, but the ambiance is pure railroading. The

service was excellent. Those folks work hard and stay pleasant while they

do it.

For those who are regular Amtrak passengers, I bring regards from the

Tuscan Omelet, the Bob Evans Scramble, the French Toash and the Quiche

Lorraine (the less said about Lorraine the better

The train steadily lost time as we went. One Amtrak employee stated that

one you were 1.5 hours late, you could count on losing an hour on each

segment. We got stuck behind MOW Gangs as well as stuck in the hole for

meets and even a few lay-by meets.

We arrived in EUG at about 6:00 PM, having had both Lunch and Dinner on the

train.

(Dinner in the diner, it would be much finer, if we had some real food,

some chefs and and some fine china.)

As we were handling baggage, we heard an announcement that #11 had been

"terminated" in Salem due to the K-Falls derailment. We were unsure whether

#11 would run on Sunday, but by Saturday, we knew it would.

On Sunday, the same trainset, now #11, arrived at EUG at about 7:30. About

two hours late. We were able to get dinner on the train, all together. When

we returned to our roomette, we found it already made up, though we hadn't

asked for the service yet.

Again, there was no parlor car -- same trainset, and all that. One of the

Amtrak employees stated that he'd seen only one parlor car in the past

three months. He thought that they were being moved to service on the

Empire Builder out of SEA.

Another problem was that due to the derailment, the train had not been

fully catered in SEA. By lunch on Monday, we were running out of stuff in

the diner. By Monday dinner, we were down to about 40% of the menu. When

the recatered in OAK, they did not do a good job, either. The train got

more of some stuff than they needed and less or none of what they really

needed.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. At 1:25 AM, the crew died on the law

between Chemult and K-Falls. We sat till close to 2:30 AM till a new

engineer could be driven out, then he drove us, with the entire train crew

off duty, to K-Falls, where we got new crew. I was sitting in the snack bar

area, below the lounge, with the assistant conductor, and he told me that

he had been on the job for about six weeks, after two months of training.

He had previously done other work, and, at 45 years old, had made a career

change. His wife was traveling on the train too.

I got some sleep then, and we hit the diner at 7:30. Amazingly, we were in

the diner for both northbound and southbound passes over Lake Shasta.

The Ackers could not join us for breakfast, as they had to be alert to

relieve their guide dogs in Redding, so their car attendant brought them

breakfast where they sat. This time, they were in the accessible coach

area, not having been able to book a sleeper accommodation for the segment.

The Albritons just punted and asked Eric to bring them breakfast, which he

did. We sat with a photographer, a single parent, with his nine-year old

son. A delightful child.

We lost the crew at 11 AM. I don't understand why, since they had not

boarded till 2 the previous morning. Nonetheless, we sat again, until new

crew could be bussed out. Lunch and dinner was interesting, as the food

dwindled, and the dining car crew made do. We all did, and there were few

frowns. Some comments were made about the Donner party.

We arrived in San Jose at 8:00 PM, about ten hours late, I think.

Editorial comments and observations:

1. Given the time and scheduling, I'd do it again. I really enjoyed myself.

2. Generations of railroad men, from porters and pullman attendants, cooks,

waiters, conductors, engineers and everybody else involved, are all

spinning in their graves at what has happened to intercity rail travel in

this country. Nuff said.

3. Sleeper car #32090, which was 1430 on the way north, and 1130 on the way

south, has a problem. It loses it's toilet system every time it climbs to

altitude in the Siskiyou mountains. Every time. The book is full of reports

of this. They died on the northbound run, and they died on the southbound

run too. the --31 car and --32 cars were fine. One failure I can always

forgive, but WHY DON'T THEY FIX THE DAMNED THINGS?

4. Everybody we met in Amtrak service was courteous, kind and genuinely

into doing the job and doing it well. They are fine people.

That's the news from San Jose, where we are now safely home again.

</edg>

 

[yarrow]

ed says in his post that he was told the parlour cars might be moved to the eb. has anyone else heard that? we love the eb and it is the train we travel but why does it have amenities other routes don't. i know it was the first of what were to be many refurbished routes but why does it still get special treatment?

ps, i hope it always does.

 

[AlanB]

Ed,

Thanks for a great report. Even if there were a few bumps in the road for you guys.

I'm going to move this report however to our Trip Report section.

 

[AlanB]

ed says in his post that he was told the parlour cars might be moved to the eb. has anyone else heard that? we love the eb and it is the train we travel but why does it have amenities other routes don't. i know it was the first of what were to be many refurbished routes but why does it still get special treatment? ps, i hope it always does.

Well I didn't have a Parlour car when I rode the CS northbound back in June and I certainly didn't see one on the eastbound Builder out of Seattle. I did notice one on the southbound CS however.

I certainly haven't heard of any changes, but if they were to change it, then I'd suspect that they'd stop setting up the semi-useless temp lounge in the A bedroom. I also see a huge problem with this idea though, that being that there simply aren't enough Parlour cars to equipe the EB. There are only 4 Parlour cars in service at present, although I believe that there used to be 5 cars.

That allowed Amtrak to have 4 in transit at any given time, with one either in repairs or holding as a spare. The CS operation required 4 on the road at all times. The EB, since it's a two night journey would require 6 cars on the road at all times, so no matter what Amtrak does, they'll always be short 2 cars. And that's without needed inspections and repairs.

 

[Patrick Tufts]

There was no parlour car on the #11 from Portland to Los Angeles on July 27. There wasn't an extra view car to replace the missing parlour car either. The attendant in my sleeper car heard that the parlour car was out for maintenance, and might have had air conditioning problems.

 

[Sheer Luck Holmes]

Thank you for the trip report, you come across as someone with a good sense of humour. Like you, I get irritated by the things that could be fixed, but are not. My pet gripe is dirty windows, given that many folk take the train for the scenery!

SLH

 

[Boxcar]

.Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. At 1:25 AM, the crew died on the lawbetween Chemult and K-Falls. We sat till close to 2:30 AM till a new

engineer could be driven out, then he drove us, with the entire train crew

off duty, to K-Falls, where we got new crew. .

We lost the crew at 11 AM. I don't understand why, since they had not

boarded till 2 the previous morning. Nonetheless, we sat again, until new

crew could be bussed out. :

Very good report. As for waiting for a crew, the same thing happened to me in June on the SB Texas Eagle.

To our delight We actually arrived in St Louis about 15 minutes early. After a short time outside we were quickly herded back aboard only to wait for an hour and a half for the new engineer and conductor to arrive.

Then they had to "Park" a empty sleeper ,we dragged from Chicago, onto a siding. This took another hour.

My question at the time was, If we were on time and the crew had to be changed, why weren't they there? Did they have a built in 1 and 1/2 hour delay built into their schedule? Our sleeper attendant told us that it was federal law that the Engineers and Conductors were limited to 9 hours straight duty due to safety reasons but the rest of the train crew doesn't have this time limit. I don't know this as a fact, just what he told us.

 

[AlanB]

Then they had to "Park" a empty sleeper ,we dragged from Chicago, onto a siding. This took another hour.

I can't imagine why they needed an empty sleeper in St. Louis. After all, Amtrak barely has enough to go around to meet the daily summer needs.

Are you sure it wasn't a coach? Because they do run one coach car between Chicago and St. Louis on that back of that train that is taken off in St. Louis and reattached to the next northbound Eagle. It's sold as train #321 & #322.

My question at the time was, If we were on time and the crew had to be changed, why weren't they there? Did they have a built in 1 and 1/2 hour delay built into their schedule?

That's a good question. The only thing that I can think of is that the crew was on the northbound train the day before and that it was so late, that they didn't have enough rest time in St. Louis. They are by law required to rest a certain # of hours, before they can report to work again.

Our sleeper attendant told us that it was federal law that the Engineers and Conductors were limited to 9 hours straight duty due to safety reasons but the rest of the train crew doesn't have this time limit. I don't know this as a fact, just what he told us.

He's right about the law, but wrong on the number of hours. The hours are determined by a couple of things, like is the engineer running solo in the engine, or is there a fireman/assn't engineer. The onboard service crews, coach attendants, sleeping car attendants, lounge attendants, and dining car staff are not covered by those laws.

 

[Boxcar]

I can't imagine why they needed an empty sleeper in St. Louis. After all, Amtrak barely has enough to go around to meet the daily summer needs.
Are you sure it wasn't a coach? Because they do run one coach car between Chicago and St. Louis on that back of that train that is taken off in St. Louis and reattached to the next northbound Eagle. It's sold as train #321 & #322.

Tell you the truth Alan, you may be correct on it being a coach but I could almost swear it was a sleeper. I was still in limbo from spending the previous day and night riding in coach.

Either way, I know it was dark and empty and in bad, bad shape. Our attendant said it was pretty well trashed. I don't know where the cars are refurbished but I assumed we pulled it to St Louis for that reason.

Probably not, Huh?

Also for some reason they had trouble uncoupling the thing is the reason we were discussing it to Begin with.

I also remember on our trip up to Chicago we did pick up a coach in St Louis. In fact we had coach passengers passing through our sleeper all night... :angry:

 

[AlanB]

Tell you the truth Alan, you may be correct on it being a coach but I could almost swear it was a sleeper. I was still in limbo from spending the previous day and night riding in coach.Either way, I know it was dark and empty and in bad, bad shape. Our attendant said it was pretty well trashed. I don't know where the cars are refurbished but I assumed we pulled it to St Louis for that reason.

Probably not, Huh?

No, it definately would not be headed to St Louis for refurbishment. Amtrak does all of that type of work in Beach Grove, Indiana. So if a sleeper was headed for refurbishment, it would have either been placed in a hospital train, or tacked on the back of the Cardinal/Hoosier State for the run down to Indianapolis, which is near Beach Grove.

 

[AmtrakFan]

3. Sleeper car #32090, which was 1430 on the way north, and 1130 on the waysouth, has a problem. It loses it's toilet system every time it climbs to

altitude in the Siskiyou mountains. Every time. The book is full of reports

of this. They died on the northbound run, and they died on the southbound

run too. the --31 car and --32 cars were fine. One failure I can always

forgive, but WHY DON'T THEY FIX THE DAMNED THINGS?

Glad to see you had fun Ed. The thing is that part of the Problem with the Superliner 2's is the type of Toliet System they use, which I believe Vacum Flush. Prorably the 31/32 cars got the new system. Not sure on the latter though.