ok why?

[Green Maned Lion]

Blue and blue-black inks in many ballpoint and some rollerball pens have iron in them. As such, they are slightly magnetic. A computer with a magnetic page reader can read them.

There are many, many different kinds of ink. I am a pen collector, and I think I have something approaching 20 different black or blue-black inks in my ink drawer. Iron galls, copper galls, india, (none of which should ever be used in a fountain pen, by the way), water-based inks, oil based ink, alcohol based inks, and Noodler's Bulletproof black. Which actually molecularly bonds with cellulose sugars, causing the markings by such ink to be completely permanent- don't spill it on a cotton shirt, cotton is the purest form of cellulose.

I am not sure why precisely Amtrak would require black ink. But I can tell you there are literally hundreds of solid reasons why they would.

 

[zephyr17]

Perhaps the person the OP woke up was an ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR, not the actual conductor!

Most times late at night, the conductor is in the Dining Car! On every LD train I've been on, the conductor makes an announcement that "if you need me during the night, I'll be in the Dining Car"!

Oh, so it's OK for the assistant conductor to sleep. Is that what he's being paid to do per his job title??

Assistant Conductor is still a member of the operating crew and, as such, shares in the responsibility for the safe operation of the train. Sleeping on duty would be as big a violation for an AC as it would be for the conductor.

 

[TVRM610]

The person I woke up was the conductor. He had the radio and yellow stripes on his uniform. He might not have been flat our cold asleep, but we had to call say "excuse me" 3 times before his head came up and he acknowledged us.He was an older guy and we'd commented way before this incident that he looked wheezy and out of shape, so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. At first he said "well we get to Connellsville in about 20 minutes and I'll walk down to Gemiel (the SCA) when he boards some passengers there and have him come up". Then about 15 minutes later we hear "Gemiel to the IC please" 10 minutes after that, our beds are made.

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, I've been in the transdorm 4 or 5 times now on different trains and while I've never had GREAT service while in the dorm, this was by far the worse, although it was pretty amusing now that I look back on it. Other then the very long walk to the dining car for dinner and for breakfast, it wasn't a bad ride on the Capitol. And whoever the conductor was into Chicago made the Amtrak crew wait until all the passengers in the dorm had de trained before she's let them off.. they were getting pushy for some reason. So I have no real complaints, other then why didn't they just tack the extra sleeper and lounge on to the rear of the train instead of in between 2 revenue cars like they did.

first of all.. it sounds like the Conductor called the Attendant on the INTERCOM not on the RADIO (the Attendants don't carry radios and even if they did the Conductor would not call for something like that over an operations channel).

Second... you need to be much more specific. Saying a Conductor is asleep makes it sound like this guy was in a room laying down tucked away in bed. His head came up from where? What in the world are you talking about? (Dare I ask).

 

[guest]

Blue and blue-black inks in many ballpoint and some rollerball pens have iron in them. As such, they are slightly magnetic. A computer with a magnetic page reader can read them.

There are many, many different kinds of ink. I am a pen collector, and I think I have something approaching 20 different black or blue-black inks in my ink drawer. Iron galls, copper galls, india, (none of which should ever be used in a fountain pen, by the way), water-based inks, oil based ink, alcohol based inks, and Noodler's Bulletproof black. Which actually molecularly bonds with cellulose sugars, causing the markings by such ink to be completely permanent- don't spill it on a cotton shirt, cotton is the purest form of cellulose.

I am not sure why precisely Amtrak would require black ink. But I can tell you there are literally hundreds of solid reasons why they would.

All the LSA had to do was to craft a friendly reminder-type of announcement saying that because of a few firm Amtrak rules, everyone please sign their dining car orders with black ink--and add that if a black ink pen wasn't on the table, just ask the server.

Instead, we get another example of an anal, drill-sergeant type of Amtrak employee--not the norm but nevertheless representative of at least a few Amtrak workers--who poisons the image for all the hard-working, diplomatic AND friendly Amtrak toilers out there.

As someone else on this topic wrote today, where is Amtrak management cracking down on this type of boorish, and frankly moronic behavior? Would they rather hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars in vouchers every year? Perhaps if the voucher funds came out of their paychecks and/or bonuses, the bad apples might be weeded out or retrained!?

 

[Michael061282]

The person I woke up was the conductor. He had the radio and yellow stripes on his uniform. He might not have been flat our cold asleep, but we had to call say "excuse me" 3 times before his head came up and he acknowledged us.He was an older guy and we'd commented way before this incident that he looked wheezy and out of shape, so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. At first he said "well we get to Connellsville in about 20 minutes and I'll walk down to Gemiel (the SCA) when he boards some passengers there and have him come up". Then about 15 minutes later we hear "Gemiel to the IC please" 10 minutes after that, our beds are made.

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, I've been in the transdorm 4 or 5 times now on different trains and while I've never had GREAT service while in the dorm, this was by far the worse, although it was pretty amusing now that I look back on it. Other then the very long walk to the dining car for dinner and for breakfast, it wasn't a bad ride on the Capitol. And whoever the conductor was into Chicago made the Amtrak crew wait until all the passengers in the dorm had de trained before she's let them off.. they were getting pushy for some reason. So I have no real complaints, other then why didn't they just tack the extra sleeper and lounge on to the rear of the train instead of in between 2 revenue cars like they did.

first of all.. it sounds like the Conductor called the Attendant on the INTERCOM not on the RADIO (the Attendants don't carry radios and even if they did the Conductor would not call for something like that over an operations channel).

Second... you need to be much more specific. Saying a Conductor is asleep makes it sound like this guy was in a room laying down tucked away in bed. His head came up from where? What in the world are you talking about? (Dare I ask).

Excuse me for not being 100% with the current tech terms. I said he wa sthe guy with the radio.. meaning.. when he walked through the car you could hear the dispatchers from CSX saying blah blah blah no defects.. 29 all clear etc.. that is a radio. It had nothing to do with the intercom, which came later. The guy was alseep, or at least snoozing. He was at the table they have set up in the empty portion downstairs in the transdorm. He was in the booth or chair or whatever it is, with his head down to his chest, we said "excuse me" twice at least before his head came up and he acknowlodged our existance. Once again, I'm sorry to have bothered everyone, I promise to study hard and learn to use to the correct terms if I post anymore.

 

[Guest]

Dont be discouraged by a few sore heads or doubting Thomas's!You did fine, please report this serious breach of safety rules and the other problems also and continue to contribute here, we all were new once upon a time and even the old pros (are you there traveler?LOL)sometimes make mistakes or misunderstand! It is easy to be confused by jargon and terms you dont know, the Computer/Hi Tech threads might as well be in Swahili when it comes to me! Keep on keepin on!

 

[zephyr17]

The person I woke up was the conductor. He had the radio and yellow stripes on his uniform. He might not have been flat our cold asleep, but we had to call say "excuse me" 3 times before his head came up and he acknowledged us.He was an older guy and we'd commented way before this incident that he looked wheezy and out of shape, so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. At first he said "well we get to Connellsville in about 20 minutes and I'll walk down to Gemiel (the SCA) when he boards some passengers there and have him come up". Then about 15 minutes later we hear "Gemiel to the IC please" 10 minutes after that, our beds are made.

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, I've been in the transdorm 4 or 5 times now on different trains and while I've never had GREAT service while in the dorm, this was by far the worse, although it was pretty amusing now that I look back on it. Other then the very long walk to the dining car for dinner and for breakfast, it wasn't a bad ride on the Capitol. And whoever the conductor was into Chicago made the Amtrak crew wait until all the passengers in the dorm had de trained before she's let them off.. they were getting pushy for some reason. So I have no real complaints, other then why didn't they just tack the extra sleeper and lounge on to the rear of the train instead of in between 2 revenue cars like they did.

first of all.. it sounds like the Conductor called the Attendant on the INTERCOM not on the RADIO (the Attendants don't carry radios and even if they did the Conductor would not call for something like that over an operations channel).

Second... you need to be much more specific. Saying a Conductor is asleep makes it sound like this guy was in a room laying down tucked away in bed. His head came up from where? What in the world are you talking about? (Dare I ask).

Excuse me for not being 100% with the current tech terms. I said he wa sthe guy with the radio.. meaning.. when he walked through the car you could hear the dispatchers from CSX saying blah blah blah no defects.. 29 all clear etc.. that is a radio. It had nothing to do with the intercom, which came later. The guy was alseep, or at least snoozing. He was at the table they have set up in the empty portion downstairs in the transdorm. He was in the booth or chair or whatever it is, with his head down to his chest, we said "excuse me" twice at least before his head came up and he acknowlodged our existance. Once again, I'm sorry to have bothered everyone, I promise to study hard and learn to use to the correct terms if I post anymore.

Michael, I am sorry. You clearly identified the conductor, recognized him as someone who could help by contacting the attendant, and he did. The method is wholly immaterial. The real issue is that the conductor/AC (doesn't matter) was sleeping or dozing on duty, thereby compromising the safe operation of the train, which was probably carrying into the hundreds of passengers, and which he shares operational responsibility for. As well as the other issues that a conductor had to contact the attendant to simply have the attendant do his job.
Thanks for posting. I hope you were able to contact Amtrak and tell them this tale of bad service and dereliction of duty.

 

[TVRM610]

The person I woke up was the conductor. He had the radio and yellow stripes on his uniform. He might not have been flat our cold asleep, but we had to call say "excuse me" 3 times before his head came up and he acknowledged us.He was an older guy and we'd commented way before this incident that he looked wheezy and out of shape, so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. At first he said "well we get to Connellsville in about 20 minutes and I'll walk down to Gemiel (the SCA) when he boards some passengers there and have him come up". Then about 15 minutes later we hear "Gemiel to the IC please" 10 minutes after that, our beds are made.

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, I've been in the transdorm 4 or 5 times now on different trains and while I've never had GREAT service while in the dorm, this was by far the worse, although it was pretty amusing now that I look back on it. Other then the very long walk to the dining car for dinner and for breakfast, it wasn't a bad ride on the Capitol. And whoever the conductor was into Chicago made the Amtrak crew wait until all the passengers in the dorm had de trained before she's let them off.. they were getting pushy for some reason. So I have no real complaints, other then why didn't they just tack the extra sleeper and lounge on to the rear of the train instead of in between 2 revenue cars like they did.

first of all.. it sounds like the Conductor called the Attendant on the INTERCOM not on the RADIO (the Attendants don't carry radios and even if they did the Conductor would not call for something like that over an operations channel).

Second... you need to be much more specific. Saying a Conductor is asleep makes it sound like this guy was in a room laying down tucked away in bed. His head came up from where? What in the world are you talking about? (Dare I ask).

Excuse me for not being 100% with the current tech terms. I said he wa sthe guy with the radio.. meaning.. when he walked through the car you could hear the dispatchers from CSX saying blah blah blah no defects.. 29 all clear etc.. that is a radio. It had nothing to do with the intercom, which came later. The guy was alseep, or at least snoozing. He was at the table they have set up in the empty portion downstairs in the transdorm. He was in the booth or chair or whatever it is, with his head down to his chest, we said "excuse me" twice at least before his head came up and he acknowlodged our existance. Once again, I'm sorry to have bothered everyone, I promise to study hard and learn to use to the correct terms if I post anymore.

Wow... that was read alot more harsh then how i wrote it. In your original post you said the Conductor had to call your attendant on the radio... this had confused me so I was trying to clarify that for everyone following the story at home.

Second... thanks for clarifying.. I can actually understand what happened now. I like to actual understand all the details before making a judgement. Indeed that Conductor should be reportecd, sleeping while on duty is a serious offense for operations personell.

Again, I didn't mean anything I said harsh.. just wanting things to be clear. I'm sorry that my questions/comments were apparently offensive. :-/

 

[guest etiquette]

The person I woke up was the conductor. He had the radio and yellow stripes on his uniform. He might not have been flat our cold asleep, but we had to call say "excuse me" 3 times before his head came up and he acknowledged us.He was an older guy and we'd commented way before this incident that he looked wheezy and out of shape, so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. At first he said "well we get to Connellsville in about 20 minutes and I'll walk down to Gemiel (the SCA) when he boards some passengers there and have him come up". Then about 15 minutes later we hear "Gemiel to the IC please" 10 minutes after that, our beds are made.

Overall it wasn't a bad trip, I've been in the transdorm 4 or 5 times now on different trains and while I've never had GREAT service while in the dorm, this was by far the worse, although it was pretty amusing now that I look back on it. Other then the very long walk to the dining car for dinner and for breakfast, it wasn't a bad ride on the Capitol. And whoever the conductor was into Chicago made the Amtrak crew wait until all the passengers in the dorm had de trained before she's let them off.. they were getting pushy for some reason. So I have no real complaints, other then why didn't they just tack the extra sleeper and lounge on to the rear of the train instead of in between 2 revenue cars like they did.

first of all.. it sounds like the Conductor called the Attendant on the INTERCOM not on the RADIO (the Attendants don't carry radios and even if they did the Conductor would not call for something like that over an operations channel).

Second... you need to be much more specific. Saying a Conductor is asleep makes it sound like this guy was in a room laying down tucked away in bed. His head came up from where? What in the world are you talking about? (Dare I ask).

Excuse me for not being 100% with the current tech terms. I said he wa sthe guy with the radio.. meaning.. when he walked through the car you could hear the dispatchers from CSX saying blah blah blah no defects.. 29 all clear etc.. that is a radio. It had nothing to do with the intercom, which came later. The guy was alseep, or at least snoozing. He was at the table they have set up in the empty portion downstairs in the transdorm. He was in the booth or chair or whatever it is, with his head down to his chest, we said "excuse me" twice at least before his head came up and he acknowlodged our existance. Once again, I'm sorry to have bothered everyone, I promise to study hard and learn to use to the correct terms if I post anymore.

Wow... that was read alot more harsh then how i wrote it. In your original post you said the Conductor had to call your attendant on the radio... this had confused me so I was trying to clarify that for everyone following the story at home.

Second... thanks for clarifying.. I can actually understand what happened now. I like to actual understand all the details before making a judgement. Indeed that Conductor should be reportecd, sleeping while on duty is a serious offense for operations personell.

Again, I didn't mean anything I said harsh.. just wanting things to be clear. I'm sorry that my questions/comments were apparently offensive. :-/

If you don't want to be offensive, I suggest avoiding "I'm not trying to say you don't know what your talking about" as the beginning of your post to someone.

 

[Ryan]

If you don't want to be offensive, I suggest avoiding "I'm not trying to say you don't know what your talking about" as the beginning of your post to someone.

That's actually pretty conciliatory, and a good way to ensure that you're not trying to ruffle any feathers but just get some clarification in my book.

 

[guest etiquette]

If you don't want to be offensive, I suggest avoiding "I'm not trying to say you don't know what your talking about" as the beginning of your post to someone.

That's actually pretty conciliatory, and a good way to ensure that you're not trying to ruffle any feathers but just get some clarification in my book.

Well, I don't know what planet you're presently on, but most people reading a statement to them that began, "I'm not trying to say you don't know what your talking about" would correctly surmise it is EXACTLY what you are trying to say. Otherwise, it is superfluous and rude, and you wouldn't say it.

If you want to be conciliatory, you might start out by saying, "I'm not sure I understood your post. Can you clarify for me that the person you shook awake had a radio?" and continue on with your posting and questions.

But some people on this forum, as indicated in the current posting about a wife in coach visiting her husband and child in the sleepers, take the role of Amtrak Know-It-Alls. They need a wee bit of humility on this Earth.

 

[Ryan]

Well, I don't know what planet you're presently on,

The hypocrisy is delicious with you, my friend. I think that I'll avoid taking etiquette advice from folks that start their posts out that way.

 

[guest etiquette]

Well, I don't know what planet you're presently on,

The hypocrisy is delicious with you, my friend. I think that I'll avoid taking etiquette advice from folks that start their posts out that way.

Not sure why you're confused, my friend. I wasn't trying to be conciliatory with you!! :lol: :lol:

 

[AlanB]

The dining car checks are scanned by a computer, which is how inventory is accounted for. Signing in blue in, and for that matter filling out the ticket with blue ink, is not picked up by the scanner and therefore the food is not recorded as sold to a sleeping car passenger and the LSA is now on the hook for that missing food. Singing in blue ink is the equivilent of the LSA tearing up the check and throwing it away.

So, if you do bring your own pen, you must have a black one. Otherwise you must use one of the pens provided.

And yes, I do think that you should be talking with Amtrak regarding the experience in the sleeper. First of all, every attendant is provided with a computer printed manifest of all passengers expected to be on that train at the time of departure. So the excuse that an attendant didn't know you were there is hogwash! Only an attendant not doing their job would not know that they had passengers to take car of in the dorm. And a sleeping conductor or assistant conductor is indeed something to be worried about.

Just for future reference, IC is short for InterCom. He was paging the attendent to pick up the intercom so that he could tell the attendant to get his butt down there and do his job.

Also, if you ever get an attendant that doesn't deal with the beds in the morning in a timely manner, if you're up to it, fold the lower mattress in half length wise. Then toss it on the upper bunk. Pull the silver handle on the bed and push up until it locks in place. Then on each chair there is a metal foot plate that you step on to relase the seat lock so that you can then push it up to the sitting position.

If that attendent doesn't realize that you've done this, and therefore doesn't change the linnen, he'll get in trouble.