Sleeping Car Attendant Hall of Fame?

[rrdude]

I decided to pull the responses together into one post. Everyone on this list has at least one vote; more if indicated. (I'm sure I made an error - my apologies)

Auto Train

Champagne

California Zephyr

Rob?/Bob?

Richard

Reggie Howard

nathan Lamar

Julio? Maldanaldo

Lawrence

Janelle

Dan Foley

Capitol Limited

Darrel

Cardinal

Owen

Coast Starlight

George

Crescent

Marcie

Empire Builder

Stan

Stephanie (5)

Bonnie (2)

Chris

Gul (3)

Paul (2)

Lou

Lake Shore Limited

Tom

Silvers

Vic

Josef

Marsha

Kirk

Jay McDonald

Preston Ross

Southwest Chief

Bobby

Sharon

Victor Krall (2)

Sean

Ephram

Henry

Sunset Limited

Ken

Brian (2)

Texas Eagle

Ross

Jim (3)

O.C. Smith

Cynthia

Unknown

Dorothy Biro

Anasatasia Salazar (LSA)

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

 

[George B]

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

I think this thread here on AU is enough, with one of the site administrators passing along a condensed version of this thread to an Amtrak official on a semi-annual basis. In terms of rewarding the OBS crew, I think having AU members seek out “nominated” crewmembers when they are on the same train and mentioning to them that they have been recognized for their excellent service on the AU site would draw positive attention to the site, as well as encourage OBS to take a look at the site on occasion. Many crewmembers consider this just a “foamer” site.

Of course, don’t forget to also let Amtrak know about the good service besides posting it here.

 

[Big Iron]

I decided to pull the responses together into one post. Everyone on this list has at least one vote; more if indicated. (I'm sure I made an error - my apologies)

Auto Train

Champagne

California Zephyr

Rob?/Bob?

Richard

Reggie Howard

nathan Lamar

Julio? Maldanaldo

Lawrence

Janelle

Dan Foley

Capitol Limited

Darrel

Cardinal

Owen

Coast Starlight

George

Crescent

Marcie

Empire Builder

Stan

Stephanie (5)

Bonnie (2)

Chris

Gul (3)

Paul (2)

Lou

Lake Shore Limited

Tom

Silvers

Vic

Josef

Marsha

Kirk

Jay McDonald

Preston Ross

Southwest Chief

Bobby

Sharon

Victor Krall (2)

Sean

Ephram

Henry

Sunset Limited

Ken

Brian (2)

Texas Eagle

Ross

Jim (3)

O.C. Smith

Cynthia

Unknown

Dorothy Biro

Anasatasia Salazar (LSA)

Brenda needs to be added to the Capitol Limited.

 

[Dovecote]

Brenda needs to be added to the Capitol Limited.

Agreed! I have had Brenda twice on the CL and she certainly performs her duties well. She is usually assigned to car number 3000 and 2900.

 

[Amtrak839]

Not an SCA, but I've got to mention Alex the dining car server on the Lake Shore Limited. Hands down the most entertaining Amtrak employee I've encountered. He sort of swoops in with the tray of food, swinging it from side to side, somehow keeping all the food on the tray. The whole dining car burst into applause several times.

In the SCA department, Daniel on the Auto Train is great. Attentive, but not bothersome, tell good stories/jokes, just a great all around attendant.

 

[JayPea]

Henry on the Southwest Chief was a great SCA. He welcomed us, and made sure we knew how to work everything in the roomette, he helped out in the dining car, and he was even in the Sightseer Lounge on the microphone giving a "travelogue". Hope we see him again on our next trip!

I agree about Henry. He was our SCA when my uncle and traveled on the SWC five years ago, and he was fantastic, even though he never did get my and my uncle's names straight! :lol: He was very attentive, made sure we were comfortable at all times, and when we had a problem with the air conditioning at Albuquerque, saw to it that everything was done within his power to restore service. He made sure crews were right on the spot and by the time we left Albuaquerque, they had the problem fixed. I too loved his "travelogues".

In another post, I noticed Dan Foley's name for the Zephyr. I had him for an SCA a couple of years ago, but on the EB from Chicago to Portland. Great service, great personality, and really seemed to love his job and did little things like point out the best places for photo ops. He too was constantly checking in to see if everything was all right.

 

[PerRock]

I decided to pull the responses together into one post. Everyone on this list has at least one vote; more if indicated. (I'm sure I made an error - my apologies)

Long List Cut Out

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

I think it's a great idea. If we wanted to go "full scale" I'm sure we could take a up a collection for proper prizes. But a simple certificate would probably suffice. If it caught on enough AU could become the voice in great SCA's. I'll play around a bit & see if I can't come up with a nice thing. On the Amtrak side of it, it could encourage lesser SCA's to get their act together to try & win. There would almost certainly have to be a rule on how often an SCA could be picked.

peter

 

[Anthony]

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

I think this thread here on AU is enough, with one of the site administrators passing along a condensed version of this thread to an Amtrak official on a semi-annual basis. In terms of rewarding the OBS crew, I think having AU members seek out "nominated" crewmembers when they are on the same train and mentioning to them that they have been recognized for their excellent service on the AU site would draw positive attention to the site, as well as encourage OBS to take a look at the site on occasion. Many crewmembers consider this just a "foamer" site.

Of course, don't forget to also let Amtrak know about the good service besides posting it here.

Agree that this thread is enough -- period. We don't need to pass a list to Amtrak. Let people recognize their favorite attendants personally, and with an individual compliment to Customer Relations, if appropriate.

 

[rrdude]

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

I think this thread here on AU is enough, with one of the site administrators passing along a condensed version of this thread to an Amtrak official on a semi-annual basis. In terms of rewarding the OBS crew, I think having AU members seek out "nominated" crewmembers when they are on the same train and mentioning to them that they have been recognized for their excellent service on the AU site would draw positive attention to the site, as well as encourage OBS to take a look at the site on occasion. Many crewmembers consider this just a "foamer" site.

Of course, don't forget to also let Amtrak know about the good service besides posting it here.

Agree that this thread is enough -- period. We don't need to pass a list to Amtrak. Let people recognize their favorite attendants personally, and with an individual compliment to Customer Relations, if appropriate.

Obviously I disagree, but "hear" the opinion of the AU board. As a parting shot though, I'd ask you to think of other industries where 3rd party, independent awards are much more coveted by the recipients, than awards by their trade assn., or individual employers.
I just don't have the time, or skill set at present, to create a web page where interested parties could nominate, and then vote.....Who does?

 

[Z]

No doubt, Rob, on the Crescent is the best !

 

[PerRock]

I still think that AU ought to come up with our own "Amtrak OBS Employee of the Year" awards. Completely independent of Amtrak, obviously. AU creates the category or categories, the criteria, etc., etc. Over time, it could become the most coveted award given to an Amtrak employee...........

However, I think that there may some on board/membership who have ties too close to Amtrak, and don't want AU to be involved.

The awards could be for SCA's, TA's, Conductor/Asst. Conductor, LSA, Dining Car, etc... etc.

Could have both a "general public" award (popularity contest) and a "membership voted" award. Obviously we'd have to limit by IP addy, email address, and/or some other methods. Those intimate with contests/voting/surveys would be the best to construct the actual methods.

If not done thru AU, anyone out there with web space and or the inclination/skill-set interested?

I think this thread here on AU is enough, with one of the site administrators passing along a condensed version of this thread to an Amtrak official on a semi-annual basis. In terms of rewarding the OBS crew, I think having AU members seek out "nominated" crewmembers when they are on the same train and mentioning to them that they have been recognized for their excellent service on the AU site would draw positive attention to the site, as well as encourage OBS to take a look at the site on occasion. Many crewmembers consider this just a "foamer" site.

Of course, don't forget to also let Amtrak know about the good service besides posting it here.

Agree that this thread is enough -- period. We don't need to pass a list to Amtrak. Let people recognize their favorite attendants personally, and with an individual compliment to Customer Relations, if appropriate.

Obviously I disagree, but "hear" the opinion of the AU board. As a parting shot though, I'd ask you to think of other industries where 3rd party, independent awards are much more coveted by the recipients, than awards by their trade assn., or individual employers.
I just don't have the time, or skill set at present, to create a web page where interested parties could nominate, and then vote.....Who does?

I have the design skill set to do it, but come fall I won't have the time, and for the more advanced nominating I'd have to find someone else.

peter

ps oh I also don't have the money to run a website at the moment.

Edit: Just made this up... http://hostthenpost.org/uploads/cfda71a2992c40e038fd49fa4a040450.png

 

[mflsjhs]

Claude mitchell on the crescent was outstanding in 1910. He was the best amtrak OBS member i have ever seen

Anthony Watkins on the Sunset Limited was a very close second

Both were great

Gregg (forget last name) from the extra board was very good on the SL as well

 

[RRrich]

A while back I had the pleasure of having GUL as my SCA on the EB. I told him that I recognized his name from comments on this board and he was VERY PLEASED.

I will be riding a number of trains soon. I hope I recognize more names.

 

[AlanB]

Not an SCA, but I've got to mention Alex the dining car server on the Lake Shore Limited. Hands down the most entertaining Amtrak employee I've encountered. He sort of swoops in with the tray of food, swinging it from side to side, somehow keeping all the food on the tray. The whole dining car burst into applause several times.

In the SCA department, Daniel on the Auto Train is great. Attentive, but not bothersome, tell good stories/jokes, just a great all around attendant.

I've seen Alex in past rides on the LSL, and once again he's working the diner on my trip today and he is wonderful. As I write this the LSL is running about 2 hours down, currently between Rochester & Syracuse.

 

[TraneMan]

A while back I had the pleasure of having GUL as my SCA on the EB. I told him that I recognized his name from comments on this board and he was VERY PLEASED.

I will be riding a number of trains soon. I hope I recognize more names.

I made a note on my phone, so when we go on the EB in Aug,see who I have, and I will mention to that person about them on here.

 

[jb64]

Votes for both GUL and Stephanie on the EB

I had Stephanie on my recent EB trip. I mentioned to her that she was named here and she was surprised.

 

[Blackshirt Husker]

I have two new ones to add: Ron and Paul from the California Zephyr. Both were outstanding--very attentive, easy-going, and good conversationalists. One of them (I can't remember which, unfortunately--this was back in March and I'd thought this thread was no longer active) gave the best "All aboard!" calls I've ever heard--they were like authentic, old-time rail, and oddly enough, kind of added to the experience.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I'd like to commend Mike from "LA Crew #2" on the Sunset Limited [!] and Joy on the Coast Starlight. Rather different personalities but both were great hosts for the duration of my time in their cars. Maybe I'm just biased but I honestly think the LA crews do a better job of anticipating customer needs and keeping things relaxed and enjoyable. Everything was kept clean without asking and there were no disappearing acts to deal with. Great guys I hope to see again on future travels.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

I'd like to commend Mike from "LA Crew #2" on the Sunset Limited [!] and Joy on the Coast Starlight. Rather different personalities but both were great hosts for the duration of my time in their cars. Maybe I'm just biased but I honestly think the LA crews do a better job of anticipating customer needs and keeping things relaxed and enjoyable. Everything was kept clean without asking and there were no disappearing acts to deal with. Great guys I hope to see again on future travels.

I recently had Joy on the Starlight and concur wholeheartedly. He was kind, conscientious, and really put on a nice trip for all of us under his care. And another callout for Stephanie on the Empire Builder's Portland sleeper. She showed a consummate professionalism this year as she was faced with receiving a cranky batch of 8-hour-bustituted pax making a late night rejoin with the Builder at Minot. It was a rough night for everyone, but she took us all in with a wonderful balance of empathy, understanding, and determination to make the rest of our trip better.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'd like to commend Mike from "LA Crew #2" on the Sunset Limited [!] and Joy on the Coast Starlight. Rather different personalities but both were great hosts for the duration of my time in their cars. Maybe I'm just biased but I honestly think the LA crews do a better job of anticipating customer needs and keeping things relaxed and enjoyable. Everything was kept clean without asking and there were no disappearing acts to deal with. Great guys I hope to see again on future travels.

I recently had Joy on the Starlight and concur wholeheartedly. He was kind, conscientious, and really put on a nice trip for all of us under his care. And another callout for Stephanie on the Empire Builder's Portland sleeper. She showed a consummate professionalism this year as she was faced with receiving a cranky batch of 8-hour-bustituted pax making a late night rejoin with the Builder at Minot. It was a rough night for everyone, but she took us all in with a wonderful balance of empathy, understanding, and determination to make the rest of our trip better.

Agree with SCA Joy being recognized! Ive been in his car twice on the Starlight and he does a First Rate Job!

 

[Blackshirt Husker]

One more name from a current trip: Denise from the Texas Eagle. She went out of her way to be helpful to passengers, even providing Crystal Light packets from her own supply to add to the water bottles. Sometimes you can tell when it's just a job to an SCA or when the SCA genuinely cares about passengers--she's one that cares.

What this thread tells me is that, although Amtrak employees sometimes get a bad rap, there are many dedicated, professional attendants who go above and beyond for passengers.

 

[George B]

Add Jay on #4 and Linda on #5 to the list. In fact, the entire Chicago-based crew on #5 was superb. Usually the Zephyr crews are not very good.

 

[reefgeek]

Add Jay on #4 and Linda on #5 to the list. In fact, the entire Chicago-based crew on #5 was superb. Usually the Zephyr crews are not very good.

Jay on the CZ is a very good SCA, I agree!

 

[JackieTakestheTrain]

In April 2008, Dana on the Southwest Chief. She was truly awesome.

And on my most recent trip on the Silver Star over the weekend -- Amin. He was fantastic!

I think the thing that sticks about both of this individuals is that I could tell they really enjoyed their work and took great pride in it. Makes a big difference in the level of service, I think.

 

[cirdan]

I would nominate, his name is either Rob or Bob, I can't recall exactly. But he is an older African American gentleman who has been with Amtrak since I believe he said 1973. I had him has an SCA on the Cali Zephyr and I again saw him filling in as coach attendant on the MSP coach on the eastbound builder last summer. He is simply the best SCA I have ever seen. I had time to chat with him for awhile and he told stories from the 70s and his opinion of the old steam heaters (including chilly ride across North Dakota)

could it be that he was on the Sunset Limited in May 2009? I can't remember the name but the description fits perfectly.