O
ohmark
Guest
May 26: My wife and I arrived early at Chicago Union Station for our first long distance train trip. Checked our bags and walked around downtown Chicago. Backed in the station at 6:30 PM and into the Metropolitan Lounge; not like a Worldclub or airline lounge, but decent enough and it served the purpose. Noticed a sign stating that free wireless internet was available in another lounge, so took my laptop and went to the lounge. It was gated and locked. Walked next door to Amtrak customer service and the attendant didn't know what I was talking about. She got a manager, who said that only one other person had ever asked about it and that person was an employee in the station. He said the lounge was closed, but he thought that the hotspot extended out a bit into the terminal and we could try it. Instead, went back to the Metropolitan lounge, where we had interesting conversation with other travelers including a retired couple who had earlier arrived on the Cal Zephyr and were due out to DC. He liked train travel; she didn't. For every good experience he told us about, she told us of a horror story. Nice folks though.
We were lead as a group to the train, and had to walk to the end of the train as the sleeper was the last car (the train backed out of the station). The train left prompty at 8 PM, and shortly thereafter the pleasant attendant told us that a dinner reservation had been made for us at 8:35. We had a nice dinner in the diner; I had the prime rib and my wife the lemon pepper salmon. My wife had the chocolate volcano desert (which was flat as a pancake), and I had the apple pie ala mode (which was great). It was definitely a new experience eating with another couple, but pleasant.
Went back to the sleeper, where the lower bunk only had been made up. Turned out that the bed was big enough for two, and we never bothered with the upper. Unfortunately, during the night the foul stench of human waste began wafting through our room. I noticed the toilet wasn't working. As the night wore on the stench became worse in waves, causing headache and nausea. Because of the stench it was impossible to sleep. I found the attendant in the morning and asked her about it. She said the sanitary system had failed, and the stench had become so bad that she got a headache and had to leave the car. She said that the problem had been fixed during the night, but the stench would be with us all the way to New Orleans, and it was. Unfortunately the train was sold out so there really wasn't anywhere else to go except the Sightseer lounge car which had seats off and on, but also had a fairly raucous crowd. However, both breakfast and lunch were fine in the diner. We arrived in New Orleans about 30 minutes late (apparently due to a near collision with a car trying to beat the train near a school in New Orleans; apparently reports had to be filled our right there and then as to the near accident.)
The return to Chicago left New Orleans promptly at 1:30 on May 29. No lunch on the train. (Curious that the southbound serves dinner even though the train leaves at 8 PM, but the northbound, leaving at 1:30 does not serve lunch.) The return was enlivened by the announcements made by a Scottish female attendant with a heavy Scotch accent. Her voice was endearing and we looked forward to the otherwise routine announcements. ("Don't think the crew isn't aware of the wonderful job you travelers and your beautiful children are doing keeping the bathrooms so clean.")
Dinner that night was a NY strip steak for me and a different salmon preparation for my wife. After dinner we retired to our bedroom (the larger one; both ways) and since our bed hadn't been made up I took out my laptop and we watched some television programs I had downloaded. Nothing like watching Judge Judy and David Letterman while rolling through the Mississippi countryside. Eventually the attendant made up our bed and this time we actually slept. Woke up about 6 AM while rolling through flat Illinois farm land, a prettier sight than I had imagined. A beautiful morning. The diner was open for early breakfast, so headed there, but had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated. We were told it was full, but could see they were using only half the car, while train personnel were lounging in the other half. We enjoyed the wait time sitting in the Sightseer lounge watching the countryside go by. Eventually we were seated with a gentleman, and had pleasant conversation while eating an omelette (me), and railroad french toast (my wife). A little while later the train arrived at Chicago Union station at 8:35 AM, about 25 minutes early.
All in all, a very nice trip, except for the sanitary system malfunction which ruined the southbound. The northbound showed us how nice train travel can be. Both crews were fine. I thought the diner served average restaurant food, but the linens, service, and surroundings made dining on the train extraordinary. As to New Orleans, a great city to spend a holiday weekend. We stayed at the Renaissance Arts hotel in the arts district, and highly recommend it.
We were lead as a group to the train, and had to walk to the end of the train as the sleeper was the last car (the train backed out of the station). The train left prompty at 8 PM, and shortly thereafter the pleasant attendant told us that a dinner reservation had been made for us at 8:35. We had a nice dinner in the diner; I had the prime rib and my wife the lemon pepper salmon. My wife had the chocolate volcano desert (which was flat as a pancake), and I had the apple pie ala mode (which was great). It was definitely a new experience eating with another couple, but pleasant.
Went back to the sleeper, where the lower bunk only had been made up. Turned out that the bed was big enough for two, and we never bothered with the upper. Unfortunately, during the night the foul stench of human waste began wafting through our room. I noticed the toilet wasn't working. As the night wore on the stench became worse in waves, causing headache and nausea. Because of the stench it was impossible to sleep. I found the attendant in the morning and asked her about it. She said the sanitary system had failed, and the stench had become so bad that she got a headache and had to leave the car. She said that the problem had been fixed during the night, but the stench would be with us all the way to New Orleans, and it was. Unfortunately the train was sold out so there really wasn't anywhere else to go except the Sightseer lounge car which had seats off and on, but also had a fairly raucous crowd. However, both breakfast and lunch were fine in the diner. We arrived in New Orleans about 30 minutes late (apparently due to a near collision with a car trying to beat the train near a school in New Orleans; apparently reports had to be filled our right there and then as to the near accident.)
The return to Chicago left New Orleans promptly at 1:30 on May 29. No lunch on the train. (Curious that the southbound serves dinner even though the train leaves at 8 PM, but the northbound, leaving at 1:30 does not serve lunch.) The return was enlivened by the announcements made by a Scottish female attendant with a heavy Scotch accent. Her voice was endearing and we looked forward to the otherwise routine announcements. ("Don't think the crew isn't aware of the wonderful job you travelers and your beautiful children are doing keeping the bathrooms so clean.")
Dinner that night was a NY strip steak for me and a different salmon preparation for my wife. After dinner we retired to our bedroom (the larger one; both ways) and since our bed hadn't been made up I took out my laptop and we watched some television programs I had downloaded. Nothing like watching Judge Judy and David Letterman while rolling through the Mississippi countryside. Eventually the attendant made up our bed and this time we actually slept. Woke up about 6 AM while rolling through flat Illinois farm land, a prettier sight than I had imagined. A beautiful morning. The diner was open for early breakfast, so headed there, but had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated. We were told it was full, but could see they were using only half the car, while train personnel were lounging in the other half. We enjoyed the wait time sitting in the Sightseer lounge watching the countryside go by. Eventually we were seated with a gentleman, and had pleasant conversation while eating an omelette (me), and railroad french toast (my wife). A little while later the train arrived at Chicago Union station at 8:35 AM, about 25 minutes early.
All in all, a very nice trip, except for the sanitary system malfunction which ruined the southbound. The northbound showed us how nice train travel can be. Both crews were fine. I thought the diner served average restaurant food, but the linens, service, and surroundings made dining on the train extraordinary. As to New Orleans, a great city to spend a holiday weekend. We stayed at the Renaissance Arts hotel in the arts district, and highly recommend it.
