STL-CHI-LAX-PDX

[pdxjim]

Left St. Louis this morning Business Class on 302 to Chicago and connected to #3 SWC for LAX. Nice ride and mostly on time. We did a couple of reverse moves to allow southbound trains by.

After arriving Chicago and exploring for lunch, walked the wrong way on Jackson Street and found Giordano's. Appreciate all the raving I've read about here and other websites. Sure was fabulous meal and the Metro Lounge attendant noticed our leftovers very quickly! I offered her the two pieces of deep dish Tropical Delight (Hawaiian), but she said I would really enjoy them if I took them on the train.

In unrefurbished Superliner II "Louisiana" 32086 car 0331 and so far the only problem was the air flying out of the cold water tap in my bedroom. Last summer on this same train, I lost a contact lens because we had run out of water near La Junta and the air blast took my lens down the drain!

Connecting in LAX to CS #14 (27).

Will update adventures...

Jim from Portland

 

[pdxjim]

Met my SCA Patricia finally at 9:00 pm for the first time. Her first words "I go to bed at ten, when do you want your bed made up?". I think this is going to be a long trip to L.A.

Dinner was great, had the steak and dessert was an incredible sliver of bourbon pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. Only two pies total on the train so it was quickly gobbled up tonight, it was so popular. Darn, will have to have the peanut butter chocolate pie tomorrow night; if it still exists.

Great conversation with couple from North Carolina who both had the orange duck and they seemed content with it.

 

[RRrich]

The SWC has Orange Duck? Sure hope they have it when I head to the Gathering. I love Canard a l'Orange, especially if it is followed by Bourbon Pecan Pie. Steak doesn't do a lot for me, but that's just me

 

[pdxjim]

Trip on SWC with SCA Patricia did not get better. I left my curtain open so she could see beds needed to made up and we passed her on the way to the diner.

We came back to the room and she had just pulled the curtain, but did not make up the room. She was no where to be found, so did it myself.

That evening (2nd night) also could not find her, so set the beds up again and about 9:30pm she came back and knocked (our lights were out and we were almost unconcious) and she wanted to make up the room before she went to bed. Sent her on her merry way.

The next day I helped several elderly and disabled ladies off the train with their luggage and she stood there and watched with no offer of assistance. There was no attempt to clean any of the restrooms in the car at all.

Before we arrived in LA, the SCA demanded that we leave the room on her schedule to change the bedding.

She moved the ice around so many times, I lost track where it was, but finally found it in the transition dorm. When I asked her about the ice, she said she was required to keep it stored in a room because of FDA regulations. Hmmm, that contrasts with other locations for ice; the next sleeper had a drawer built into the service area for ice.

Arrived in LA early... we skipped the early breakfast and found a sandwich at Subway in LAUS. Boarded the Coast Starlight smoothly and met our SCA Cruz in a refurbished sleeper 1431. I had read reviews about Cruz and was delighted to get him. He made the trip wonderful; he was the best SCA I have ever had.. brought us champagne and cider quickly, made sure we knew our way around, and he truly cared about the passengers. He has been with Amtrak 28 years and his attitude was incredible... best customer service I have ever seen on the train!

He was aware of the SCA I had on the SWC and said she had been only with Amtrak for two years. I learned from CS personnel that the SWC manager is Mike Ziegler and they suggested I contact him to tell him about the poor service experience.

Our Parlour attendant was Carmella. She is another awesome Amtrak employee and she remembered me from previous trips.

The head end power was helter skelter the entire trip requiring a lot of resetting. We lost power at dinner, breakfast and overnight. I woke up several times with my CPAP dead in the water from Sacramento to Shasta.

We had a fabulous waitress through most of our meals; Miriam, a new mom with a 4 month old at home. She was efficient, friendly and we never had to request refills...

As we travelled up the coast in the Parlour Car, we saw 6 whales. We enjoyed the wine & cheese tasting as we left San Luis Obispo and went up through the great curves and tunnels.

Food was very good; ate in the diner and had bbq ribs... wow, tender and incredible. The berry cake was delicious. French toast for breakfast was also good.

Great sunny trip through the Cascades and into Eugene on time. We nearly plowed into a group of high school students at North Salem High School. The engineer hit the horn for a long time and applied emergency braking. Luckily, no one struck. Most of the kids were wearing earphones. Unbelievable!

We arrived into Portland ahead of schedule and Cruz was there to help all his guests off. I can't say enough good things about the CS and the crew we encountered.

Overall, had a great time on the three nights we spent on the train. Can't wait for the next adventure.

Jim in PDX

 

[I always rode the Southern]

Trip on SWC with SCA Patricia did not get better. I left my curtain open so she could see beds needed to made up and we passed her on the way to the diner.

We came back to the room and she had just pulled the curtain, but did not make up the room. She was no where to be found, so did it myself.

That evening (2nd night) also could not find her, so set the beds up again and about 9:30pm she came back and knocked (our lights were out and we were almost unconcious) and she wanted to make up the room before she went to bed. Sent her on her merry way.

The next day I helped several elderly and disabled ladies off the train with their luggage and she stood there and watched with no offer of assistance. There was no attempt to clean any of the restrooms in the car at all.

Before we arrived in LA, the SCA demanded that we leave the room on her schedule to change the bedding.

She moved the ice around so many times, I lost track where it was, but finally found it in the transition dorm. When I asked her about the ice, she said she was required to keep it stored in a room because of FDA regulations. Hmmm, that contrasts with other locations for ice; the next sleeper had a drawer built into the service area for ice.

Arrived in LA early... we skipped the early breakfast and found a sandwich at Subway in LAUS. Boarded the Coast Starlight smoothly and met our SCA Cruz in a refurbished sleeper 1431. I had read reviews about Cruz and was delighted to get him. He made the trip wonderful; he was the best SCA I have ever had.. brought us champagne and cider quickly, made sure we knew our way around, and he truly cared about the passengers. He has been with Amtrak 28 years and his attitude was incredible... best customer service I have ever seen on the train!

He was aware of the SCA I had on the SWC and said she had been only with Amtrak for two years. I learned from CS personnel that the SWC manager is Mike Ziegler and they suggested I contact him to tell him about the poor service experience.

Our Parlour attendant was Carmella. She is another awesome Amtrak employee and she remembered me from previous trips.

The head end power was helter skelter the entire trip requiring a lot of resetting. We lost power at dinner, breakfast and overnight. I woke up several times with my CPAP dead in the water from Sacramento to Shasta.

We had a fabulous waitress through most of our meals; Miriam, a new mom with a 4 month old at home. She was efficient, friendly and we never had to request refills...

As we travelled up the coast in the Parlour Car, we saw 6 whales. We enjoyed the wine & cheese tasting as we left San Luis Obispo and went up through the great curves and tunnels.

Food was very good; ate in the diner and had bbq ribs... wow, tender and incredible. The berry cake was delicious. French toast for breakfast was also good.

Great sunny trip through the Cascades and into Eugene on time. We nearly plowed into a group of high school students at North Salem High School. The engineer hit the horn for a long time and applied emergency braking. Luckily, no one struck. Most of the kids were wearing earphones. Unbelievable!

We arrived into Portland ahead of schedule and Cruz was there to help all his guests off. I can't say enough good things about the CS and the crew we encountered.

Overall, had a great time on the three nights we spent on the train. Can't wait for the next adventure.

Jim in PDX

Dear Lord, please don't let us get patricia next week. I am in no mood to tolerate a mia sca.