new york to chicago?

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scott

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Hi All,

I may have the chance in a few months to go on the lake shore limited from NYC to Chicago. I wanted to ask if any of you have had good/bad experiences? does it have a lounge as do the rest? Is there a better train from NYC to Chicago? Thanks,

Scott
 
Scott,

The Lake Shore Limited, like most of the single-level overnight trains, does carry an Amfleet II lounge car. Don't expect the amenities (movies, large windows, etc.) you might find on the bilevel Superliners that are prominent mostly in the West, but it does have a serving area, and some booth-type seating.

I hope you have a good experience, but I must say honestly that several people, including myself, have reported that this train's crew is one of the surliest crews in the system.
 
I, too, have read much about surley, rude crews on the Lake Shore Limited. But, personally, just speaking for myself here..I am have had good luck with them. It is an old, interesting route---don't be scared off by the possibility of rude crews.....you can get that at the airport as well, in case you have not noticed!!!'
 
Okay guys...I have "heard" before, that on the LSL, the NY crews are sometimes that way, and that the CHI crews, who work the Boston section of the train are usually quite friendly. My own experience from the one time that I worked the train, was that everyone on the whole train was quite friendly. Especially the coach attendant in the Boston section (a good friend of mine :) )
 
thanks for the comments, guys. I'll consider the trip. I may fly to Chicago (coming from overseas so can't take Amtrak:) ) and do the CONO down to New Orleans and back. That ought to be a fun train.

thanks again

Scott
 
I would consider making this a triangle trip. It is easy to connect with the Capitol Limited in Washington D.C. Since the Westbound Lakeshore now arrives Chicago at 7 in the morning, with no breakfast served in the diner, I recommed traveling to DC on the NEC to connect with the Capitol out of D.C. in the early afternood. This train has superliners, a sightseer lounge, and a diner that serves breakfast before arrival in Chicago the next moring. The arrival time for the Capitol in Chicago, I believe is 9 am. Then you can take the Lakeshore back to New York.
 
Just take #95 from NYC to WAS and connect with the Capitol Limited #29. Like Steve said the travel times are much more freindly, the crews are really nice, and the train is Superliner equiped. B)
 
Amfleet said:
Just take #95 from NYC to WAS and connect with the Capitol Limited #29. Like Steve said the travel times are much more freindly, the crews are really nice, and the train is Superliner equiped. B)
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Hmm, I'm not so sure about the crews being really nice. I just came of the Capitol on Sunday, and the dining car crew certainly left something to be desired.
 
The Dining Car crew I had on the Capitol Limited in July was the best yet. However, it seemed like the crew were college students who were working for Amtrak in the summer. They tend to be nicer than the old bags.
 
I really do not see a lot of difference in the crews as between one train and another. I think it is sort of chance the way we encounter that.ALso, of course, particular individuals can be much nicer(or much worse) than average.

Until I took a very long trip around the country two years ago, I had the following pet theory. I thought that on the whole the sleeping car crews on really long distance trains were better than those on shorter hops. I felt I had observed a pattern going on that. But then I reasoned it might be that we simply have more time to get acquainted with the crew on a long trip. On an overnight haul, say from ATL to DC, very little interchange is usually needed with the crew, even with the sleeping carattendant.

BUt I have left my point---that trip two years ago(ATl-NO-LA-=SF-CHi-BOS-NYC-ATL- almost all of the sleeping car attendants left a LOT to be desired. I enjoyed the trains but was pretty sickened by many of the crew....blew my theory to hell about long distance crews being nicer, or at least us getting to know them better.

Prior to Amtrak, the only railroad which stood out for me as being especially rude---and I don't want ot step on anybody's toe's here---was the Seaboard. And it advertised itself as the route of courteous service.I had a couple of bad encounters and witnessed some other bad encounters happening to other passengers. Other acts of rudeness through the years seemed to come more from specific individuals, not an entire train crew. Though maybe sometime an entire dining car crew, working together, can be very good or very bad, true......but you will can make a return trip on the same train and find just the opposite.
 
In my experience I have found the Miami and Los Angeles crews to be very friendly. Miami is nice to me, mainly because I ride so often, but all guests recieve the same level of service I recieve. LA crews do an outstanding job with the Sunset, they always have a smile on their face, whether we are on time, or 24 hours late.
 
Are they guests or are they passengers? I thought Gunn's memo made it down to Florida :)
 
battalion51 said:
In my experience I have found the Miami and Los Angeles crews to be very friendly. Miami is nice to me, mainly because I ride so often, but all guests recieve the same level of service I recieve. LA crews do an outstanding job with the Sunset, they always have a smile on their face, whether we are on time, or 24 hours late.
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I feel the Sleeper Crews are nice down there, but not the Diner Crews, the Conductors are very nice, as for the lounges, it varies.

Bill, do you mean SAL or SCL or Both?
 
Seaboard Airlines mereged with Atlantic Coastline to form Seaboard Coastline. I hated the Sleeper attendent on the Silver Meteor. He was 100% pure a** hole. The dining car crew was nice to us, but some of the passengers got on there bad side making for a nasty situtation. The lounge attendent, a good ol' harden' New Yorker (in a humorous way)!
 
Amfleet said:
Seaboard Airlines mereged with Atlantic Coastline to form Seaboard Coastline. I hated the Sleeper attendent on the Silver Meteor. He was 100% pure a** hole. The dining car crew was nice to us, but some of the passengers got on there bad side making for a nasty situtation. The lounge attendent, a good ol' harden' New Yorker (in a humorous way)!
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I know that I asked if he was referring to the Seaboard Air Line or Seaboard Coast Line. I have only had one bad attendant that I can recall, she got bumped down to the diner though a couple of years later.
 
Amfleet said:
I actually think the guy I had was supposed to be in the Diner, but had to cover my sleeper. I say this beacuse his name tag said "Lead Service Attendant"
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That explains why your attendant was an @$$hole, there aren't too many good ones on the Meteor. :(
 
Viewliner said:
Amfleet said:
I actually think the guy I had was supposed to be in the Diner, but had to cover my sleeper. I say this beacuse his name tag said "Lead Service Attendant"
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That explains why your attendant was an @$$hole, there aren't too many good ones on the Meteor. :(
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Probably because that position like the dinosaurs is now extinct...
 
Viewliner, at least one of the trips I referred to were SAL. It was definately pre-Amtrak. The first trip was on the Silver Comet, and it was SAL. The next two were on the Silver Star, and I do not remember(at least here in the office--I could look it up at home) for sure if it had become SCL by then or not. I have had Amtrak trips on the SIlver Meteor which were good, or at least I do not remember any specific rudeness.
 
Jon,

Thanks for the words of kindness...I think you're right....we college students who work over the summer are probably in general friendlier. In fact, some of the older workers out there were even hard to work with...not just bad to the passengers.
 
Tuballen, do you think there is any truth to the theory I have sometimes held, that the better crews are on the long distance trains? Or perhaps we just get a better chance to get to know them? Any truth to them being better or do you think that is just the way it has worked for me. Of course as mentioned in an earlier post,I did take a huge trip two years ago and was disappointed in practically everybody.

Still I have had some really great long distance sleeping car attendants....come to think of it....most of them were young!!
 
Bill,

I don't know about that theory. Do you first of all mean long distance as in 2-3 day trips, rather than just overnighters?

If that's so, I think that it might be related to east coast crews versus midwest and west coast. Because, if you think about it....most of those shorter trips are towards the east.

You know what I noticed myself....from the other side...the attendant's side? The passengers were a lot more friendly on the western hauls. I worked a viewliner...the boston sleeper on the LSL...and other than for requests, my passengers were very "intraverted". I didn't see them at all, almost...other than to help them with their bags, or to bring them food, or whatnot.

On the other hand, when I worked the sleeper on the CZ...usually about half of my car was friendly as heck. I had a few girls traveling that were always talking to me...a grandmother and granddaughter that were always joking with me (and gave me a drawing too! :) ), and an older lady too....and many more...just friendly people. Sometimes I was so busy talking with my passengers that I wasn't getting my job done....DOH!

Allen
 
Tuballen...Yes, i did indeed mean by "longer trips" such as from Chicago to the West Coast as opposed to say, DC to ATL.

It is good to hear things from an employee's viewpoint....keep it coming!!!

Guess we passengers are guilty of just thinking about it from our viewpoint.

Oh by the way, I have another question for you. There is a book I read sometime ago written by an employee on the California Zephyr. He maintained that the dining car crews try to match people as they come in the door with those they think they would mix better with. I had gotten totally the opposite impression.. that they are just filling seats as you come in...whomever sit by whomever. Do you have any thoughts on that?
 
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