AMTK@AUS
Train Attendant
After a long absence from these forums as well as Amtrak travel in general due to school and work, three months ago I decided to plan a trip for my girlfriend and I to visit New York for Spring Break. She was new to train travel and we had a limited time frame, so I decided to take the Texas Eagle from Austin to Chicago, layover then fly to New York - and the same routing on the return trip. Since it had been over a year since my last train trip, I couldn't wait to step aboard and relax on our way to the Big Apple.
On the morning of March 13, I called Julie and learned of a service disruption. We would be bussed from Fort Worth to Little Rock due to track repair resulting from the latest round of severe weather in Arkansas. Of course I was disappointed, mainly because my girlfriend, Amanda, would have to deal with moving her massive amount of luggage around, etc. If I had been by myself I would have seen it as an adventure! Upon arrival into Fort Worth two hours late, we were herded onto coaches bound for Little Rock. The stinch and heat was almost unbearable on the completely full bus, and after inching through traffic in Dallas and a very long dinner break we arrived into the Little Rock metro area around 12:30AM.
The bus driver proceded to take us on a tour of downtown Little Rock - when we discovered that he had no clue where the station was. After asking for directions, he turned down a one lane neighborhood street, with a ravine the left hand side. While going down the street, we were worried about the bus tipping, so the driver made it better by deciding to back down the length of the street. After almost smashing a tree into Amanda's window, and after listening to the screams and cries of fellow passengers, we made it back to the beginnning of the street and finally to the Amtrak station.
We were denied boarding because our sleeping car was not ready, and we waited outside the train for 20 minutes. With a feeling of filth like I've never felt, I headed straight for the shower and she followed. We slept off and on until breakfast. My first experience with this "Diner Lite" service was interesting. For more details, see below.
The flight to New York was three hours late departing, so we made our connection. We saw RENT on Broadway (fantastic) and she did a lot of shopping on fifth avenue (boring). Our flight back to Chicago was uneventful, and we got to Union Station, checked our bags into the Metropolitan Lounge and walked to the Sears Tower. A note those traveling to Chicago within the month: The Sears Tower's elevators are currently undergoing renovation. There is only one (non-express) elevator operating to the 99th floor instead of the usual two high-speed elevators to the Skydeck (103rd floor.) The line was long and the tour less interesting than my past visit to the Tower.
Our train departed on March 15, two hours late account a late arrival of the City of New Orleans. On the return trip we were aboard a wonderfully refurbished Superliner I sleeping car. I was very impressed with the bathroom design as well as the overall cleanliness and colors of the car. Dinner was a chicken fried steak, doubtly the worst I've ever had. I love this Texas dish, and know the good from the bad. If you've ever tried a frozen checken fried steak, this was just a little worse. This car was quiet through the night, and we wore up to the Arkansas forests with several logging truck passing. Breakfast was a disaster - this dining car crew didn't have a clue what they were doing. The LSA was obviously new and the steward was obviously displeased with her and sat at a table most of the time grunting at her. Lunch and dinner were equally bad - our microwaved food was unevenly woarm and we could count on the order being incorrect. The strange thing about this "Diner Lite" concept is the menu items sound great, are priced high, and of the quality you would expect from an $.88 Banquet meal from the grocery store.
We were fortunate that our train made it all the way to Austin, despite the usual poor dispatching of the Union Pacific Railroad. We arrived into Austin at 1:15 AM, about five hours late.
Travel by train is an adventure, and when you board you have to be ready for anything. Every time I travel by rail, I meet people who swear they will never do it again. I can imagine if my first experience was this bad, I would have never stepped foot on Amtrak again - but I'm hooked. Of course I'm going to travel again. This type of thing does not happen too often, and most lkely will not happen to me again.
To those who are reading this and have not traveled by train before: You have to try it for yourself. Most likely your trip will be fun and uneventful. I would suggest riding on one of the premire routes first, mainly the Empire Builder or Coast Starlight. Their service is better and the equipment is in better shape. The Texas Eagle is one of the most negelected of the Amtrak system. There is little scenery and the crew is very unpredictable. Before I rode, I read disasterous reports similar to this and came to the conclusion that many of these are written because it was a poor experience. Most pleasureable experiences on Amtrak go undocumented except by those railfans who wrtie detailed reports on their trip, and these are the unbiased reports travelers should look for. Honestly, this is the first time I've reported on an Amtrak trip and the only reason I am doing so is because it was less than pleasurable. So, take this into consideration when you read travelogues similar to this and use those reports which are regularly written by train travelers as a better basis for how your trip will go.
A Note: As an Amtrak passenger I felt like I should not have endured what I did on this trip. Today I called and spoke with consumer relations, and will be approprately compensated for the portion of the trip between Ft. Worth and Little Rock as well as emotional distress. I requested a formal complaint be filed with whoever made the decision regarding how many buses, which charter company, etc. The agent was very helpful and said she would file a report with the division manager(?).
On the morning of March 13, I called Julie and learned of a service disruption. We would be bussed from Fort Worth to Little Rock due to track repair resulting from the latest round of severe weather in Arkansas. Of course I was disappointed, mainly because my girlfriend, Amanda, would have to deal with moving her massive amount of luggage around, etc. If I had been by myself I would have seen it as an adventure! Upon arrival into Fort Worth two hours late, we were herded onto coaches bound for Little Rock. The stinch and heat was almost unbearable on the completely full bus, and after inching through traffic in Dallas and a very long dinner break we arrived into the Little Rock metro area around 12:30AM.
The bus driver proceded to take us on a tour of downtown Little Rock - when we discovered that he had no clue where the station was. After asking for directions, he turned down a one lane neighborhood street, with a ravine the left hand side. While going down the street, we were worried about the bus tipping, so the driver made it better by deciding to back down the length of the street. After almost smashing a tree into Amanda's window, and after listening to the screams and cries of fellow passengers, we made it back to the beginnning of the street and finally to the Amtrak station.
We were denied boarding because our sleeping car was not ready, and we waited outside the train for 20 minutes. With a feeling of filth like I've never felt, I headed straight for the shower and she followed. We slept off and on until breakfast. My first experience with this "Diner Lite" service was interesting. For more details, see below.
The flight to New York was three hours late departing, so we made our connection. We saw RENT on Broadway (fantastic) and she did a lot of shopping on fifth avenue (boring). Our flight back to Chicago was uneventful, and we got to Union Station, checked our bags into the Metropolitan Lounge and walked to the Sears Tower. A note those traveling to Chicago within the month: The Sears Tower's elevators are currently undergoing renovation. There is only one (non-express) elevator operating to the 99th floor instead of the usual two high-speed elevators to the Skydeck (103rd floor.) The line was long and the tour less interesting than my past visit to the Tower.
Our train departed on March 15, two hours late account a late arrival of the City of New Orleans. On the return trip we were aboard a wonderfully refurbished Superliner I sleeping car. I was very impressed with the bathroom design as well as the overall cleanliness and colors of the car. Dinner was a chicken fried steak, doubtly the worst I've ever had. I love this Texas dish, and know the good from the bad. If you've ever tried a frozen checken fried steak, this was just a little worse. This car was quiet through the night, and we wore up to the Arkansas forests with several logging truck passing. Breakfast was a disaster - this dining car crew didn't have a clue what they were doing. The LSA was obviously new and the steward was obviously displeased with her and sat at a table most of the time grunting at her. Lunch and dinner were equally bad - our microwaved food was unevenly woarm and we could count on the order being incorrect. The strange thing about this "Diner Lite" concept is the menu items sound great, are priced high, and of the quality you would expect from an $.88 Banquet meal from the grocery store.
We were fortunate that our train made it all the way to Austin, despite the usual poor dispatching of the Union Pacific Railroad. We arrived into Austin at 1:15 AM, about five hours late.
Travel by train is an adventure, and when you board you have to be ready for anything. Every time I travel by rail, I meet people who swear they will never do it again. I can imagine if my first experience was this bad, I would have never stepped foot on Amtrak again - but I'm hooked. Of course I'm going to travel again. This type of thing does not happen too often, and most lkely will not happen to me again.
To those who are reading this and have not traveled by train before: You have to try it for yourself. Most likely your trip will be fun and uneventful. I would suggest riding on one of the premire routes first, mainly the Empire Builder or Coast Starlight. Their service is better and the equipment is in better shape. The Texas Eagle is one of the most negelected of the Amtrak system. There is little scenery and the crew is very unpredictable. Before I rode, I read disasterous reports similar to this and came to the conclusion that many of these are written because it was a poor experience. Most pleasureable experiences on Amtrak go undocumented except by those railfans who wrtie detailed reports on their trip, and these are the unbiased reports travelers should look for. Honestly, this is the first time I've reported on an Amtrak trip and the only reason I am doing so is because it was less than pleasurable. So, take this into consideration when you read travelogues similar to this and use those reports which are regularly written by train travelers as a better basis for how your trip will go.
A Note: As an Amtrak passenger I felt like I should not have endured what I did on this trip. Today I called and spoke with consumer relations, and will be approprately compensated for the portion of the trip between Ft. Worth and Little Rock as well as emotional distress. I requested a formal complaint be filed with whoever made the decision regarding how many buses, which charter company, etc. The agent was very helpful and said she would file a report with the division manager(?).
