Name a legendary Amtrak worker (Good or Bad)

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Big Green Chauvanist said:
Two years ago I had Gul on the EB so I know of where others speak. On this year's EB I had a great SCA--Louie King aka King Louie.
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I'll second that one -- Louie King or "King Louie" is great. We met 6 years ago when I did Trails & Rails on the Empire Builder between Chicago and the Twin Cities. We have stayed in touch and sometimes I'll come out to the platform at MKE when I know he is rolling through on #7 or #8. He is a closet railfan and does EXCELLENT photography. I have traded some of the railroad route guides with him for his photos. :) I always saw him as a coach attendant -- didnt know he became a SCA. Gotta love his barret-looking hat!
 
rtabern said:
Big Green Chauvanist said:
Two years ago I had Gul on the EB so I know of where others speak. On this year's EB I had a great SCA--Louie King aka King Louie.
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I'll second that one -- Louie King or "King Louie" is great. We met 6 years ago when I did Trails & Rails on the Empire Builder between Chicago and the Twin Cities. We have stayed in touch and sometimes I'll come out to the platform at MKE when I know he is rolling through on #7 or #8. He is a closet railfan and does EXCELLENT photography. I have traded some of the railroad route guides with him for his photos. :) I always saw him as a coach attendant -- didnt know he became a SCA. Gotta love his barret-looking hat!
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Yes. Takes excellent pictures, and writes books, too, I think. All around Renaissance type. He said at first he got flack for his beret as not being part of the standard uniform. He said his head got cold. He kept the beret and is now well known for it.
 
It was either Bob or Rob can quite remember, he was an older African American SCA working the CZ back in 2009. He had been with Amtrak since the early 70s (1973 I believe). I saw him last on the Empire Builder in June of 2010 working as a coach attendant on the CHI-MSP coach. Best SCA I have ever had.
 
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Not sure of his name but I find the conductor on the CS with the tv announcer voice pretty entertaining.
 
johnny.menhennet said:
For Amtrak personnel in general, I think Stephen at the Solana Beach station is quite good. He is professional and always helps me out when I do my unaccompanied minor crap. He always smiles and asks me for new developments in school, in LA, etc. because I can tell he genuinely cares. Most importantly, he gets things done quickly. I am sorry to this person for forgetting her name, but the black female that sometimes crews Van Nuys and then handles the baggage is exceptional. Very kind and warm.

Of all the PacSurf crew members, the ones I nominate for best:

South of LA

Ryan

Kirk

Alex Pavloupolus

North of LA

Kirk (different one)

BAD:

South of LA

Katrina - other crew members call her the hurricane, and I have seen 50% of other crew respect her and her job, and another 50% dislike her. She has treated me without courtesy and actually fairly rudely, as well as other minors on the same train. I have had her again since then a few times, but she did not remember me
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I wanted to add CJ south of LA as an amazing conductor. I have known her for years. She is fantastic and always has plenty of energy. She is a hard-working mom who lives in Rancho Bernardo, based out of San Diego. She is the one who always will have individualized nicknames for each station when announcing them over the PA. ex: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Irvine - Jewel of Suburbia!"
 
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railiner said:
For you oldtimers...

My favorite was legendary Train Announcer Danny Simmons, for decades, The Voice of Penn Staion, New York.

Another favorite was Amtrak/Illinois Central Conductor Woody Vinson, who entertained passengers on the City of New Orleans with tales of characters like Casey Jones. Another PA Artist was Conductor Billings from the Rio Grande who entertained passengers on the CZ with lots of tall tales as well....

Another colorful character was Lela J. on the SFZ. She was a great dining car steward/LSA that I believe Henry Kisor interviewed in his book on the CZ...not sure if she is still around.....

Sorry that I have not ridden much in recent years to nominate more....
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Danny Simmons was great wasn't he?! I could stand in NYP for hours just to listen to his announcements...
 
OBS said:
railiner said:
For you oldtimers...

My favorite was legendary Train Announcer Danny Simmons, for decades, The Voice of Penn Staion, New York.

Another favorite was Amtrak/Illinois Central Conductor Woody Vinson, who entertained passengers on the City of New Orleans with tales of characters like Casey Jones. Another PA Artist was Conductor Billings from the Rio Grande who entertained passengers on the CZ with lots of tall tales as well....

Another colorful character was Lela J. on the SFZ. She was a great dining car steward/LSA that I believe Henry Kisor interviewed in his book on the CZ...not sure if she is still around.....

Sorry that I have not ridden much in recent years to nominate more....
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Danny Simmons was great wasn't he?! I could stand in NYP for hours just to listen to his announcements...
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Didn't Letterman have him on the show one night (just as he had Andreas Cantor call a Soccer game on the show)? :)
 
I just have to add Roseanne from the Refund Dept. :wub:

Yea, not an on-train Amtrak employee, but someone who just went quite out of her way to finally resolve a problem for me that had been festering since last November.

Great job Roseanne ! :hi:
 
rtabern said:
Another stand-out that I have had is a younger sleeping car attendant on the City of New Orleans. I have had him twice... and I really wish I remembered his name... but it's slipping my mind now. If he notices you are a railfan or are really enjoying the scenery -- he will come by your room from time to time and chat it up with you -- and point out interesting things. On a cross-country trip I did last March, he came by and pointed out where a tornado recently struck down in Mississippi... where you could see an alligator in a cage near the Hammond, LA train station... and also where you could see this gigantic eagle's nest somewhere between Hammond and New Orleans. What REALLY made him stand out was the fact that he played the Arlo Guthrie version of "The City of New Orleans" car-wide on the PA system when we were arriving into New Orleans (and then again on the northbound when I had him in October 2011 coming into Chicago). I really appreciated the fact he was probably around my age (early 30's), but appreciated railroad history, the history of the train he was working on, and he cared about the route we were traveling and was knowledgable about it. He got a very good trip. I wish I remembered his name though... he was definitely NOL crew base and spoke with a little Louisiana accent.
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I had him too in February. I'll have to check if I can remeber his name. My parents had him too.
 
diesteldorf said:
rtabern said:
Another stand-out that I have had is a younger sleeping car attendant on the City of New Orleans. I have had him twice... and I really wish I remembered his name... but it's slipping my mind now. If he notices you are a railfan or are really enjoying the scenery -- he will come by your room from time to time and chat it up with you -- and point out interesting things. On a cross-country trip I did last March, he came by and pointed out where a tornado recently struck down in Mississippi... where you could see an alligator in a cage near the Hammond, LA train station... and also where you could see this gigantic eagle's nest somewhere between Hammond and New Orleans. What REALLY made him stand out was the fact that he played the Arlo Guthrie version of "The City of New Orleans" car-wide on the PA system when we were arriving into New Orleans (and then again on the northbound when I had him in October 2011 coming into Chicago). I really appreciated the fact he was probably around my age (early 30's), but appreciated railroad history, the history of the train he was working on, and he cared about the route we were traveling and was knowledgable about it. He got a very good trip. I wish I remembered his name though... he was definitely NOL crew base and spoke with a little Louisiana accent.
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I had him too in February. I'll have to check if I can remeber his name. My parents had him too.
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Ryan?
 
Ispolkom said:
diesteldorf said:
rtabern said:
Another stand-out that I have had is a younger sleeping car attendant on the City of New Orleans. I have had him twice... and I really wish I remembered his name... but it's slipping my mind now. If he notices you are a railfan or are really enjoying the scenery -- he will come by your room from time to time and chat it up with you -- and point out interesting things. On a cross-country trip I did last March, he came by and pointed out where a tornado recently struck down in Mississippi... where you could see an alligator in a cage near the Hammond, LA train station... and also where you could see this gigantic eagle's nest somewhere between Hammond and New Orleans. What REALLY made him stand out was the fact that he played the Arlo Guthrie version of "The City of New Orleans" car-wide on the PA system when we were arriving into New Orleans (and then again on the northbound when I had him in October 2011 coming into Chicago). I really appreciated the fact he was probably around my age (early 30's), but appreciated railroad history, the history of the train he was working on, and he cared about the route we were traveling and was knowledgable about it. He got a very good trip. I wish I remembered his name though... he was definitely NOL crew base and spoke with a little Louisiana accent.
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I had him too in February. I'll have to check if I can remeber his name. My parents had him too.
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Ryan?
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Actually his name is spelled RION (after the constellation Orion - I know because I asked him when I saw his nametag). We had him this week on the NB CONO. He was fabulous. He made sure everybody in the sleeper knew what was going on, came by often to check on you, and handed out cookies at the end of the trip. Any other SCA is going to have to work pretty hard to earn the same tip that we gave Rion.
 
Has anyone heard Moses, the Lounge Car Attendant on the Coast Starlight? He makes some of the best PA announcements I've ever heard on Amtrak--the guy is hilarious, no kidding. It's really nice when Amtrak employees put a bit of personality into their announcements.

This is in direct contrast to the Texas Eagle, where the same stern female conductor comes on and starts issuing commands and repeating safety rules after every...single... stop. After hearing her read the rule book for the 14th time, I *think* the only thing parents and kids are allowed to do on a train is to sit facing forward wearing neutral expressions with our hands folded, but good lord, I'd better check with her to be sure that even those things are allowed. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that children "must not, run, stand, or play in the aisle", but just to be safe, I really hope she makes that announcement at least a dozen more times.
 
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TraneMan said:
I know there are many Conductor out on the train, but does anyone has a good Conductor to name off?
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I unfortunately don't know his name, but there is one conductor working the Acela's Boston to NY who at least in First Class picks up each person's ticket, reads the name off the ticket, and then addresses the passenger by name saying things like "You're all set Mr. Burden" or "Everything is order Mr. Burden" or "Might I please see your photo ID Mr. Burden for our security check" and of course if you failed to sign and the FC attendant's didn't catch it, he'll say "I'm going to need you to sign this Mr. Burden".

Mind you, he's never used that last line on me. :)

As has been said many times, it's the little things that can make a big difference. Having him take the time to read your name and greet you personally is really nice! :)

I've bumped into a few other helpful conductors over the years, but the guy above is definitely a stand out.
 
the two best ive had were Claude on the Crescent and Anthony on the sunset limited

the worst was johnny on the silver star
 
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