Texas Eagle

[City of Miami]

Does anyone know what is going on with the Texas Eagle #21? From 100% OTP as recently as January it seems to have returned to the bad old days of midnight arrivals. Last week Amtrak added an extra hour of dwell time in Forth Worth, still the train progressively looses time as it proceeds south. Last night it took it 2 hours to go between the last two stops - that's at least double what it normally would take. I have been planning to take this train several times in the next few months....should I just give up and go Southwest?

 

[stntylr]

The train is being delayed because of track work south of Fort Worth. This will last until sometime in May.

 

[IHC]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.

This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

 

[City of Miami]

Thanks for the info, stntylr. I plan to take it r/t from San Antonio to Dallas in early May, to Fort Worth at the end of May and back from St. Louis in June. So maybe it will work out for the last 2. As long as they get to SAS by midnight I'm OK. By the way, doyou live in Taylor?

I have taken this train a lot in the last few years, IHC. I don't call it a dog even though I have been bustituted a couple of times - once for flooding and once for a busted rail; what can you do.. :blink: ....it's not Amtrak's fault? I lived in Austin for a few years and the train was very convenient - it always got me where I was going and mostly in reasonable time. Southwest is OK - I'm grateful they are there, but I'd rather take the train.

 

[saxman]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.
This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

Seriously?? Can you at least encourage rail travel here in the Amtrak forum?

There has been trackwork going on around the Austin area. They added some time to cope with this. We should go back to normal after May.

 

[GG-1]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.
This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

Aloha

It is almost a year since my ride on the Texas Eagle, and in no way would I classify it a dog. I would note that one of the SCA's was incredible, and the other mediocre so had a comparison. If I have the opportunity will ride it again. 4 days on a train, yea!

 

[Railroad Bill]

On our trip last summer I believe we had one of the more efficient crews on any train we've traveled. Our sleeping car attendant was great-very personable, kept restrooms clean and was always ready to turn beds down, etc. The dining car crew was nice as well and even though you must eat early due to Austin departure, they were good servers and the food was excellent.

And the lounge car with those singing cowboys from San Antonio was great too :lol:

Railroad Bill

 

[Lamar]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.
This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

My last two trips on the TE arrived early at every stop, and the service was impeccable. Everyone's experience is different. Isn't one purpose of this board to encourage train travel?

 

[stntylr]

Thanks for the info, stntylr. I plan to take it r/t from San Antonio to Dallas in early May, to Fort Worth at the end of May and back from St. Louis in June. So maybe it will work out for the last 2. As long as they get to SAS by midnight I'm OK. By the way, doyou live in Taylor?

No I don't live in Taylor, my last name is Taylor.

Today was a big day because I took my daughter on her very first Amtrak ride today. She's 19 so not exactly a little kid but she enjoyed the ride.

It was the TE between Mcgregor and Temple.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.
This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

One must never, NEVER, NEVER, EVER, take Southwest. I will not take Southwest, Sam I Am, I will not take it when I flee, I will not take it that is key, I will not take it don't you see? Now go away and leave it be!

Seriously, though, I don't care how bad Amtrak's OBS can occasionally be. They are NEVER as bad as any bad flight attendant. AND they are NEVER EVER as bad as a TSA official.

If you're uncomfortable with the Eagle, ride Greyhound.

 

[mercedeslove]

Yes, most definitely take Southwest.
This train is a dog. Rude attendants. Late all the time. And the dining car staff will get off the train in Austin, so you'll get one dinner seating at like 4pm and then that's it.

Hopefully all this nonsense will go away when the Sunset/Eagle daily thing happens.

Ouch butthurt are we

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Generally if I'm taking the Eagle to SAS or AUS (transferring from the Heartland Flyer) I'm not in too big a hurry and am traveling with the intentions of relaxing on the train. So while a late arrival may mean a late trudge to the hotel, as long as heat or AC is up and food and toilets are available, I'm not too upset.

 

[IHC]

I'm all for train travel, and encourage it often. But Amtrak needs to get their act together with this train.

I find that allowing the dining car staff to get off at Austin is unacceptable. To operate a train, with a dining car, and not have it staffed for late dinners at dinner hour southbound, or breakfast northbound out of San Antonio is rediculous.

I rode this train once. Northbound #22. A day with no connection from the Sunset. Here is my experience:

Got to San Antonio station at 6:45am. Crowd outside wandering around with no direction. Conductors yelling at people to come to them with their tickets to punch them and give them a seat check. Rude.

Train was having mechanical problems, which they "just discovered" 15 minutes prior to departure, when they had all night to fix them. Which meant we departed late at about 7:45am.

The trainset had NOT been cleaned overnight either. Toilets were full and dirty, bedsheets not changed, etc. Lounge car was filthy!

No food service on board at all! No one in the Sightseer Lounge to sell coffee, and no dining car staff. Just an empty cross country cafe car. Sleeper pax were given the box breakfast, and had to get their coffee from the dirty coffee urn in the sleeper. Coach pax got NOTHING, and were not even able to buy coffee or something to eat since there was no attendant in the Sightseer car.

Since we were late, we only got later. We arrived Austin about 11am, where the dining car staff and the Sightseer lounge cafe attendant finally got on and opened up for business. Dining car staff were downright surly.

Back to the disgusting uncleaned trainset. It had been left out overnight in SAS with the doors open, and there were actually cockroaches crawling around in the sleepers. I slept with one eye open. The poor attendant did the best he could, but still, this is no excuse to put him or the pax through this.

We arrived Chicago 5-6 hours late, which made myself and many others miss connections.

Hopefully everyone elses trips have been better than this one I experienced on this DOG.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Don't doubt you had a bad experience this particular day! I agree about the diner staff getting off in Austin, this will change when the CHI-LAX daily train starts, should even be a regular diner to replace the CCC which most dont like!

Did you share your disatisfaction with Amtrak Customer Realations, Ive ridden this train perhaps 200 times over the years and have never seen a situation as bad as you describe! They could do a better job of cleaning in most places where the trains turn ,CHI is especially bad @ this and long as the Eagles run through with the City of New Orleans this will continue to be problem, too many pax, not enough equipment! Id say if it was recent you should get a voucher, call Amtrak with the details and let us know! It's not a dog, thats

Greyhound and the airlines now!

 

[IHC]

Don't doubt you had a bad experience this particular day! I agree about the diner staff getting off in Austin, this will change when the CHI-LAX daily train starts, should even be a regular diner to replace the CCC which most dont like!Did you share your disatisfaction with Amtrak Customer Realations, Ive ridden this train perhaps 200 times over the years and have never seen a situation as bad as you describe! They could do a better job of cleanin in most places where the trains turn CHI is especially bad @ this and while the Eagles run through with the City of New Orleans this will continue to be proble, too many pax, not enough equipment! Id say if it was recent you should get a voucher, call Amtrak with the details and let us know! It's not a dog, thats greyhound and the airlines!

Yes I did call Amtrak and all they did was refund the price of my sleeper in the form of a voucher. Big whooptie do. Doesn't change the fact of what I or others experienced on this train, and our feelings about taking this train in the future ever again. And what about my missed connection? Travelers don't have "an extra day" to get somewhere like Amtrak thinks we do."

The thing that makes me the most angry about what happend is that I AM an advocate for train travel. And I can't help but feel so sad for what the new first time passengers on this train felt about Amtrak and what impression they were left with afterwards... I am a train advocate, and look at my impression of this DOG.