Sleeping Car Attendant Hall of Fame?

[SweetSue]

My husband and I agree that Vincent on the SWC has been the best SCA we've had so far. He always keeps fresh coffee brewing and the bathrooms are cleaned frequently throughout the trip. Always there when we needed him. Brought us a bucket full of ice for the wine we brought along to have in our room.

 

[Gord]

We all know that there are more than a few mediocre ones (California Zephyr crew, listening?), but what of that rare breed-- the Sleeping Car Attendant that goes out of his/her way to make your trip enjoyable? Anyone have an SCA so good that they actually called Customer Relations to compliment the service and job performance?

My nominations:

Bobby from the Southwest Chief--good guy, friendly, very attentive. Encouraged passengers to go socialize instead of just bunkering down in the rooms--that was surprisingly appreciated and effective.

Stan from the Empire Builder--very good conversationalist, great attention to detail, patient and friendly with challenging kid travelers.

Honorable Mention:

Anonymous Dining Car Attendant and Snack Car Guy (Empire Builder, Train 7 out of Chicago): Same crew as Stan, but these guys were the best at making PA announcements of any LD train I've been on. The Dining Car guy sounded like he had a background in radio--very professional, reassuring, and pleasant. The Snack Car attendant cracked jokes over the PA and made the lounge car actually sound somewhat inviting (not easy to do when the best food you'll find there is a Sbarro Meatball sub for 6 bucks).

Anyone else have good experiences they'd like to share?

Concur with you on Stan from the EB. I had him a couple of weeks back, excellent service. I believe he's a trainer, as well. Also agree with the dining car staff on the EB, they had some big crowds to deal with on my trip, (many coming off cruise ships from Vancouver BC), plus a couple of really annoying whiners.

Patty was the one name I remember from the EB dining car crew, very organized, no nonsense and provided regular, detailed announcements. There was a also a very funny and entertaining sever, again a more senior, female employee. She was a riot, wish I could remember her name.

Gord

 

[TraneMan]

There was a also a very funny and entertaining sever, again a more senior, female employee. She was a riot, wish I could remember her name.

Gord

I think her name is Kathy. She has white hair, and pulled back?

 

[RPE]

We just had Ralph on the Zephyr. He was fantastic. We also liked Garrett on the Parlor Car and Joyce on the Dining Staff of the Chief.

 

[Linda T]

OMG, I can't believe no one's mentioned Ainsley on the 50/51 Cardinal. I believe he told me he's a 14 year veteran on the Cardinal. He's simply MAGNIFICIENT! He was always visible (when needed), he was cheerful, happy, and obviously loved and work and cared about his guests. He was helpful, informative, and when he had the time to shoot the breeze he did, but never at the risk of neglecting his job.

In August we took the Card to Charlottesville and then took the bus to Richmond. I was thrilled to see Ainsley again as our SCA, but my joy faded to sadness when Irene came up the east coast and our train was cancelled and we had to get a rental car and skeedattle the day she arrived. Right now I'm planning a repeat trip west, and I'm excited because Ainsley works the 51 on Sunday nights and the 50 on Wednesdays, and I'll get to see him again. I did make certain he was tipped his weight in gold, or the best I could. No SCA has even come close to him IMHO.

Linda T

who needs to find her password. :help:

 

[Bob Dylan]

Another cantidate for the SCA HOF, and hes a "Newbie" on the Extra Board! Ron Collins, he works the TE and the Eastern trains out of CHI, was trained by the #1 HOF SCA on my list, Jim of the TE! If you are lucky enough to get him, youll know it! Amtrak needs more fresh blood like him!! :help:

 

[Gord]

There was a also a very funny and entertaining sever, again a more senior, female employee. She was a riot, wish I could remember her name.

Gord

I think her name is Kathy. She has white hair, and pulled back?

Could be, hair wasn't pulled back that day, she also wore glasses.

Forgot to add Maria on the LSL, too. I've had her once before.

Gord

 

[George B]

I must also mention Eric in the Seattle section of the Builder. Always positive. Always there. Great SCA.

 

[sttsxm]

Sheesh...having a brain freeze...but i THINK it was Tom...very tall...floats between the EB and maybe the CZ (i'd seen him on 2 different trains..)

i've mentioned him before, and wrote a very nice letter to the suits about him....let's just say he deserved hazard pay when i caught a bit of, shall we call it food poisoning??? even offered to have the conductor call an ambulance at the next crossing (which was someplace in the frozen tundra of, eh, north dakota...)

Super nice guy too..

and then there is Josh (or maybe Justin??) on the CS....really nice guy.....LOVED the little kids (me not so much)...he also managed to get the kids to behave....not sure how, but once he gave his little intro and told them, in nice, kid friendly terms, to be careful and quiet..they LOVED him too...followed him around whenever they could.....played cards with them or something for a bit..

really super people....

Then, there was a coach attendant on the EB some years back...forget her name..she had bright red hair...she'd always sneak us cookies and dessert~!!!

And if there is a conductor's hall of fame.....Winnie on the CL..and I think his name was Rich, he was the asst conductor who gave the great narration about Harpers Ferry, etc...and always said "elvis has left the building" when the train pulled into WAS...sadly he passed away this past year and another Asst Conductor, shortly after his passing, did the same narration....i started to cry when we got to WAS...

 

[TraneMan]

There was a also a very funny and entertaining sever, again a more senior, female employee. She was a riot, wish I could remember her name.

Gord

I think her name is Kathy. She has white hair, and pulled back?

Could be, hair wasn't pulled back that day, she also wore glasses.

Forgot to add Maria on the LSL, too. I've had her once before.

Gord

That's not her. She does not have glasses.

 

[EB_OBS]

There was a also a very funny and entertaining sever, again a more senior, female employee. She was a riot, wish I could remember her name.

Gord

I think her name is Kathy. She has white hair, and pulled back?

Could be, hair wasn't pulled back that day, she also wore glasses.

Forgot to add Maria on the LSL, too. I've had her once before.

Gord

That's not her. She does not have glasses.

Mary?

 

[RRrich]

I just ran into Nathan on the CZ - tall light skinned black guy (is that Nathan Lamar, previously nominated??) Well I was impressed! He set up a table by the coffee station with cookies, candies, books for a little library and other goodies and when ai got into my BR the foldout table had a cloth on it with a vase of flowers.

Thee rest of his service was to the same standatd.

If you get him as your SCA, you win!! :wub:

 

[Eric308]

A big vote for Stephanie on the EB. She was a lot of fun and I had a blast with her helping offload luggage in PDX. You would not have believed the size and amounts that people had not checked.

 

[PerRock]

so are we still adamant that we don't want to do anything for these great people?

peter

 

[SonOfAnSPHogshead]

I would recommend Victor Kral who served us on the SWC in June of 2009. He provided the best service we ever had. I mentioned before on AUF that we arrived late in CHI on the CL and had only minutes to get to the SWC. When we got to our bedroom he had juice chilling in ice in the sink. This is just an example of the service he provided through out the trip.

Vic is still doing excellent work, in October 2011 we round-tripped from Los Angeles to San Antonio and luckily got him both ways, a week apart: the hot towels, the invisible service in the sleeping room, any request done quickly and with that smile of his plus the help with the bags. Thank you Victor, you made up for the dining car steward(ess) Kimberly, who is a real food service control freak ("sit here, not there!" and "we start the loud PA at 7am") and she had a really incompetent server who managed to screw up every meal order at every table and every meal. It became a running joke among the passengers, we swapped our dishes regularly rather than give her another shot at chaos. Guess who got the $30 tip each way and who got zip...I wish I knew how many awards and accolades he had before we met him...he deserves them all and more....More ice, Victor, more ice!!

CZ, CS, SL, SWC, SF Muni, LAMTA, SP Freight

 

[SonOfAnSPHogshead]

We travelled Silver Service frequently in from the mid 90's through the mid 00's. We often had a SCA named Vic who was very competent and friendly. He always did a good job at making our trips special.

See my posts and Google Victor Kral Amtrack to find all his service awards...quite a guy, he has been riding the rails since 1978...

 

[jmbgeg]

EB Karen. Off the charts...

 

[rile42]

In my "loop" trip I just finished with the SWC-CS-EB the main trains, I had three very good SCA. However, the best was on the Portland section of the eastbound EB. His name was Charles. He used the #1 roomette as a "supply" center with magazines, books, juices, a constant supply of ice (I never saw the ice level below half), toys and games for kids, a dispenser for bubble gum, champagne, etc.. During the day, he would announce every stop with humor..."smoke break, dog break (a guide dog was traveling), air brea" was his favorite. He stopped at my room to ask what I thought two little children a woman was traveling with would like to eat. He, on his own, was going to the dining car to bring back a tray of food for the children since he was sure the woman wouldn't be able to get the kids to the diner. When I mentioned that the car was seeming to get pretty warm, he asked others and when they agreed, the car got cooler. When I told him, I was going to try to sleep in the upper bunk and to not make up the lower bed, he put the lower bed mattress and things in the empty room across the hall, asked if I knew how to make the seats a bed just in case I decided to go the lower bed route. He was part of the wine and cheese tasting crew. On evening, he brought a bottle of wine to a couple that were celebrating their 40th anniversary on the train.

Because it was an AGR trip, I was booked to move to coach in Columbus, Wisconsin. When I asked him how I should do that, he just smiled and told be to stay put in the sleeper.

He is by far the most enthusiastic SLA I've ever encountered.

 

[Christine]

On our recent trips on the Silvers (Star going North and Meteor going South) we had excellent service from our SCA's. Jay McDonald served us on the Star and Preston Ross served us on the Meteor. They both had great attitudes and Preston volunteered to do above and beyond. They made the trip a pleasure!

We just returned from Silver Star to/from Orlando. Agree about Preston...he and his trainee Torrence were the best!

 

[ScottC4746]

We all know that there are more than a few mediocre ones (California Zephyr crew, listening?), but what of that rare breed-- the Sleeping Car Attendant that goes out of his/her way to make your trip enjoyable? Anyone have an SCA so good that they actually called Customer Relations to compliment the service and job performance?

My nominations:

Bobby from the Southwest Chief--good guy, friendly, very attentive. Encouraged passengers to go socialize instead of just bunkering down in the rooms--that was surprisingly appreciated and effective.

Stan from the Empire Builder--very good conversationalist, great attention to detail, patient and friendly with challenging kid travelers.

Honorable Mention:

Anonymous Dining Car Attendant and Snack Car Guy (Empire Builder, Train 7 out of Chicago): Same crew as Stan, but these guys were the best at making PA announcements of any LD train I've been on. The Dining Car guy sounded like he had a background in radio--very professional, reassuring, and pleasant. The Snack Car attendant cracked jokes over the PA and made the lounge car actually sound somewhat inviting (not easy to do when the best food you'll find there is a Sbarro Meatball sub for 6 bucks).

Anyone else have good experiences they'd like to share?

Best, Rudy on SSL NOL-LAX was great. Alice in the diner was loveable even though her humor came across sarcastically, she was wonderful.

Worst Rudy (different one) SWC CHI-LAX. Plain arrogant and rude for sport. Of course my tipping hand disapeared on him when we ended the run.

 

[TishaNola]

Claude on the Crescent is an absolute pleasure ..

 

[ScottC4746]

We all know that there are more than a few mediocre ones (California Zephyr crew, listening?), but what of that rare breed-- the Sleeping Car Attendant that goes out of his/her way to make your trip enjoyable? Anyone have an SCA so good that they actually called Customer Relations to compliment the service and job performance?

My nominations:

Bobby from the Southwest Chief--good guy, friendly, very attentive. Encouraged passengers to go socialize instead of just bunkering down in the rooms--that was surprisingly appreciated and effective.

Stan from the Empire Builder--very good conversationalist, great attention to detail, patient and friendly with challenging kid travelers.

Honorable Mention:

Anonymous Dining Car Attendant and Snack Car Guy (Empire Builder, Train 7 out of Chicago): Same crew as Stan, but these guys were the best at making PA announcements of any LD train I've been on. The Dining Car guy sounded like he had a background in radio--very professional, reassuring, and pleasant. The Snack Car attendant cracked jokes over the PA and made the lounge car actually sound somewhat inviting (not easy to do when the best food you'll find there is a Sbarro Meatball sub for 6 bucks).

Anyone else have good experiences they'd like to share?

Best, Rudy on SSL NOL-LAX was great. Alice in the diner was loveable even though her humor came across sarcastically, she was wonderful.

Worst Rudy (different one) SWC CHI-LAX. Plain arrogant and rude for sport. Of course my tipping hand disapeared on him when we ended the run.

I must have been half asleep when I said Rudy. I meant Ruben on both routes just different Rubens.