So perhaps you remember that I was traveling on the CA zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville with two kids, one of them a 2-year old who had no ticket. Many of you gave me advice on what to do, which I thank you for. This is what happened:
The day of our departure I went to the station agent and begged him to sell me a ticket for the toddler. He said, "Why?" and I repied "Because he's two and it would make me feel more comfortable." If you remember, this is the same guy who told me not to buy the ticket originally because he thought my child didn't look two and he told us we'd be sharing a seat anyway due to the full train. So, he said, "I'm still not sure why you want to buy him a ticket!" Exasperated, I said "Because he's already two!!!!" To which he replied, "You mean he's ALMOST two." I just looked at him. It was a ridiculus argument anyway, because there were no tickets to be had.
The ride was pretty miserable since we were three people in two seats in coach (sleepers were sold out) and many of you probably know what traveling with a two-year old is like. They truly can't be expected to stay still for 50 hours in a seat.
Here's the question. This was our first time on Amtrak, so we weren't sure what to expect, so I'm wondering if these things are unusual. First, the train was 5 hours late somewhere around Salt Lake City. There were times that we were only traveling 25 mph or so through bare desert. At one point, the crew "deadlined"---reached their Federal allowed driving time limit and stopped in the middle of the desert in Utah for an hour and a half waiting for a relief crew, who drove up in a black SUV through the sand like something out of an action movie. While we waited there they let everyone get off and stand around in the hot desert on the side of the track! The dinner reservations were always 1 or 2 hours behind schedule, so if you were, like we were, in coach, you didn't get to eat until around 9:30pm. With kids that's rough. Then, because the train was so full and so late the snack bar and the diner ran out of food! There was an announcement made that all that was left were green salads and Gardenburgers in the diner. The snack bar ran out in the middle of the first day. I really felt for the stewards because it wasn't their fault and people were quite angry. Does this happen often?
Our return trip was somewhat different because we upgraded to a sleeper, but we had the same trouble with the dining car--7:00 reservation but not called until 8:30. Again we were 5 hours late but the sleeper (having a door to close) made all the difference. The sleeper was pretty shabby, though. It seemed like it hadn't been updated in the last 30 years or so---fabric was ripped, there was a lot of duct tape and the foam on the armrests was all corroded and picked at by generations of other kids.I'm just wondering if this sounds like a normal trip to those who are more experienced. On some level I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it much more alone, and will probably wait until my kids are older to do it again.
Oh, one other thing. How many agree that it would be so much more pleasant to ride Amtrak, whether you are a parent or not, if there was a kids' car--like a play area or even a big empty car for them to be loud and move around in? I wished for that often, and I imagine the annoyed passengers did too. It seems like if they can pull extra mail cars and whatnot, that they could stick an empty car on the end somewhere....just wondering.
The day of our departure I went to the station agent and begged him to sell me a ticket for the toddler. He said, "Why?" and I repied "Because he's two and it would make me feel more comfortable." If you remember, this is the same guy who told me not to buy the ticket originally because he thought my child didn't look two and he told us we'd be sharing a seat anyway due to the full train. So, he said, "I'm still not sure why you want to buy him a ticket!" Exasperated, I said "Because he's already two!!!!" To which he replied, "You mean he's ALMOST two." I just looked at him. It was a ridiculus argument anyway, because there were no tickets to be had.
The ride was pretty miserable since we were three people in two seats in coach (sleepers were sold out) and many of you probably know what traveling with a two-year old is like. They truly can't be expected to stay still for 50 hours in a seat.
Here's the question. This was our first time on Amtrak, so we weren't sure what to expect, so I'm wondering if these things are unusual. First, the train was 5 hours late somewhere around Salt Lake City. There were times that we were only traveling 25 mph or so through bare desert. At one point, the crew "deadlined"---reached their Federal allowed driving time limit and stopped in the middle of the desert in Utah for an hour and a half waiting for a relief crew, who drove up in a black SUV through the sand like something out of an action movie. While we waited there they let everyone get off and stand around in the hot desert on the side of the track! The dinner reservations were always 1 or 2 hours behind schedule, so if you were, like we were, in coach, you didn't get to eat until around 9:30pm. With kids that's rough. Then, because the train was so full and so late the snack bar and the diner ran out of food! There was an announcement made that all that was left were green salads and Gardenburgers in the diner. The snack bar ran out in the middle of the first day. I really felt for the stewards because it wasn't their fault and people were quite angry. Does this happen often?
Our return trip was somewhat different because we upgraded to a sleeper, but we had the same trouble with the dining car--7:00 reservation but not called until 8:30. Again we were 5 hours late but the sleeper (having a door to close) made all the difference. The sleeper was pretty shabby, though. It seemed like it hadn't been updated in the last 30 years or so---fabric was ripped, there was a lot of duct tape and the foam on the armrests was all corroded and picked at by generations of other kids.I'm just wondering if this sounds like a normal trip to those who are more experienced. On some level I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it much more alone, and will probably wait until my kids are older to do it again.
Oh, one other thing. How many agree that it would be so much more pleasant to ride Amtrak, whether you are a parent or not, if there was a kids' car--like a play area or even a big empty car for them to be loud and move around in? I wished for that often, and I imagine the annoyed passengers did too. It seems like if they can pull extra mail cars and whatnot, that they could stick an empty car on the end somewhere....just wondering.
