New Year's Eve

[SP&S]

Has anybody been on long distance train over New Year's Eve? The wife and I will be traveling back to PDX on the Starlight and it should be midnight right around SAC. I'm just wondering if we should expect anything or if it will be just another pleasant evening in the parlor car? I'm not envisioning anything like on the train in Trading Places, but if there is I'll stay away from the ape.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I was just wondering yesterday if any of the OBS "celebrate" Halloween on the trains. :giggle:

 

[jmbgeg]

Has anybody been on long distance train over New Year's Eve? The wife and I will be traveling back to PDX on the Starlight and it should be midnight right around SAC. I'm just wondering if we should expect anything or if it will be just another pleasant evening in the parlor car? I'm not envisioning anything like on the train in Trading Places, but if there is I'll stay away from the ape.

I have been on the EB on NYE, but not in the CS Parlour Car. I suppose how festive it may be in sleeper cars depends on the composition of that trip's particular passengers.

 

[SarahZ]

We'll be on the Wolverine back to Kalamazoo that night. We're supposed to pull in at 9:30, but the train can get delayed by snowstorms and such. If we're still on the train at midnight, we plan to toast anyone around us who's game for it.

We were originally planning to ride the SWC back from ABQ that night, but we're leaving a day early. Had we been on the SWC, we were planning to head to the Lounge car to see if anyone was up for board games and champagne.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

My husband and I took a New Year's Eve Trip last year on the CS. We arrived in Portland on the 30th, stayed at a nice hotel there, and headed back on the 31st. We were blessed to have the wonderful Debbie as our PPC attendent. She made drinks and played "social director" until 11 pm. Then we were on our own. The celebration was pretty low-key with only about 20 people in the car. At midnight, we all sang Auld Lang Sine, hugged and kissed, and toasted the new year with champagne and soft drinks. It was a great way to start the new year.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Ive only been aboard a LD Train once on New Years Eve-The Zephyr from EMY-CHI! The LSA in the Lounge was an Old Timer/Pre-Amtrak. After the Lounge closed he hung around with us in the Lounge as we consumed various beverages (adult and non-alcoholic), ate snacks, and listened to his wonderful Stories, including the one that as a young Waiter, he was stranded in Donner Pass during the Infamous City of San Francisco Nightmare in the early 50s! It was Snowing heavily that night but fortunately we were out on the Nevada/Utah Plains so we didnt get to experience being Stranded! Unforgetable, glad I was aboard that night for sure! :wub:

 

[rrdude]

Was on CZ in 1975, as a senior in HS, returning from a Christmas ski trip to Aspen. Bus I was on from Aspen to Denver hit another truck head-on, killing driver. That delayed my trip a few days, and it ended up being NYE when I finally did board in Denver, for CHI-ARB.

The booze was free flowing then, but that might have been due to a lot of sailors returning home to Great Lakes Station.

I remember lots of singing in the SSL car, and waking up in the overhead baggage rack.

Hey, I was in HS.

 

[pennyk]

Was on CZ in 1975, as a senior in HS, returning from a Christmas ski trip to Aspen. Bus I was on from Aspen to Denver hit another truck head-on, killing driver. That delayed my trip a few days, and it ended up being NYE when I finally did board in Denver, for CHI-ARB.

The booze was free flowing then, but that might have been due to a lot of sailors returning home to Great Lakes Station.

I remember lots of singing in the SSL car, and waking up in the overhead baggage rack.

Hey, I was in HS.

Jerry - you were drinking in High School?? I am appalled. :lol: :lol:

My guess is the overhead baggage rack was not too comfortable. (those were the days :lol: )

 

[jmbgeg]

Ive only been aboard a LD Train once on New Years Eve-The Zephyr from EMY-CHI! The LSA in the Lounge was an Old Timer/Pre-Amtrak. After the Lounge closed he hung around with us in the Lounge as we consumed various beverages (adult and non-alcoholic), ate snacks, and listened to his wonderful Stories, including the one that as a young Waiter, he was stranded in Donner Pass during the Infamous City of San Francisco Nightmare in the early 50s! It was Snowing heavily that night but fortunately we were out on the Nevada/Utah Plains so we didnt get to experience being Stranded! Unforgetable, glad I was aboard that night for sure! :wub:

The PPC sounds a lot more conducive to this event than the downstairs lounge of the SSL. :blink:

 

[GoldenSpike]

Has anybody been on long distance train over New Year's Eve? The wife and I will be traveling back to PDX on the Starlight and it should be midnight right around SAC. I'm just wondering if we should expect anything or if it will be just another pleasant evening in the parlor car? I'm not envisioning anything like on the train in Trading Places, but if there is I'll stay away from the ape.

My only experience was on the W/B EB. It was a non-event in the SSL. They announced they would be closing up shop at 10 pm. As I recall we were in N. Idaho at midnight. Some of the isolated homes

along the way set off fireworks as we passed.

 

[Texan Eagle]

I was just wondering yesterday if any of the OBS "celebrate" Halloween on the trains. :giggle:

No they don't. I was on the eastbound SWC on Halloween day from LAX to ABQ and there were no signs onboard that its Halloween. No decorations, no trick-o-treats, no announcements, no costumes nothing. But you never know, considering Amtrak's reputation with equipment failures, you might get some "scares" some Halloween in the form of being on a stranded train in the middle of nowhere

BTW, right after getting off from the Southwest Chief in ABQ, I headed to the airport (or the Sunport as they call it in ABQ) to board a Southwest Airline flight to DAL and the Halloween celebration was quite pronounced there- the gate agents were in funny costumes, one guy on the ramp refueling the aircraft was dressed as Spiderman and on the flight it was mentioned that just for that day they were offering alcoholic beverages on-the-house! I don't drink alcohol so couldn't try out the "special offer".