posted
We flew from Los Angeles to Montreal on October 5th. Unfortunately our baggage stayed in the San Francisco airport transfer point. The usual cattle car feel to this part of the trip. The bag made it 24 hours later and luckily we were still where it could be delivered. For $6 we got a roast beef sandwich on the Air Canada flight. It was so-so. Cab to town from the airport is a set price of $35.
Montreal was lovely but expensive. We found a pub that had reasonably priced food for dinner and breakfast the next day. One did have to watch rugby on the TV though. We took a Grayline tour but few pictures as it was pouring rain. We also found a franchise called Cora's - omelettes, crepes, sandwiches. Very nice.
We took the train to Toronto, coach seats were fine but not as roomy as the ones we are used to in California. Drinks, sandwiches and snacks were served from a cart which came up and down the aisle a few times. Two sandwiches and a drink were $15 - see, I'm not kidding. Our hotel in Toronto was within walking distance and we hoofed it.
In Toronto we discovered Tim Horton's. Donuts, breakfast sandwich, lunch sandwiches. Reasonable prices there. We watched the city folk come in for coffee on their way to work in the morning - some suits but mostly people were more casually dressed than I expected. The station here is classic - Roman columns and all. And the Fairmont Royal York right across the street was elegant. This was the end of Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and the train station was packed with young people going back to school in Ottawa and other places.
We left on our Canadian trip at 9:00 in the morning. 25 cars, ours was the second to last, next to the Park Car. Convenient! We had chosen a section with two berths and we actually loved it. During the day we visited with the people across from us and all those who wandered by. At night the bed was comfortable with a mattress twice as thick as Amtrak and a bed almost twice as wide. The curtains, rather than the solid door we were used to, worked fine and allowed some of that extra width. The height is great too, you can sit in the lower berth and read without hitting your head on the upper berth. Of course the car is only one level so that allows for this additional height. The Park Car with its observation dome was marvelous. There was alway coffee, tea, juice, some kind of snack, and fruit available. The car has some bedrooms too and the porter cared for both the bedrooms and the observation part of the car. Upstairs was the dome with a wonderful view and very comfy seats. Excellent experience here and we spent much time in it. There were other observation domes and activity cars up front and we sampled those too. The diner was very attractive and the meals were very high quality. There was a choice of several entrees each meal. We had such things as grilled ham and cheese sandwich, different cream soups each lunch and dinner, prime rib, trout, pasta, omelets, eggs cooked to order, pancakes made fresh, potato pancakes, lasagna, roast pork loin, BBQ pork sandwich. You get it. The staff were very friendly, made a point of introducing all and really seemed to enjoy their jobs. Most of them were going to be laid off in a week or so as the season was ending. Only long term employees work year round on this train as it will cut down to less than 10 cars. Our porter worked only Toronto to Winnipeg, one night, and then the staff changed. Our first porter was excellent, the second on not quite as great. The three sections in the car, a total of six berths, shared two bathrooms, a men's and a women's. Great! The women's had a dressing area with a large mirror and good lighting. And, because there were fewer people sharing things didn't get so messy. We stopped in Jasper and spent four nights there and in Banff. Our train was late arriving for our reboarding in Jasper, about four hours. But they made sure we all got dinner when we boarded. This time no one was in the other two sections in our car so it was very quiet. However, the toilets did begin to fail and the porter had to reset them fairly often. This train is due in to Vancouver at 8:00 am and usually serves a continental breakfast in the morning. Because they were already four hours late they informed us that a full breakfast would be served! Imagine this scene on Amtrak - they would just run out of food as though the four hours late was a surprise. Or as though they were surprised that we were all there in the morning looking for food.
Upon arrival in Vancouver we were informed that we were eligible for a 50% off fare coupon for a future trip in the next 12 months because the train was more than four hours late. And it was transferable to another if we so wished. Great PR.
After two nights in Vancouver, perhaps a bit better expensewise than the rest of Canada, we took the Cascades to Seattle. Immigration and Customs was a breeze, took very little time. Comfortable coach seats and nice cafe car. Since it leaves at 6:00 pm our trip was in the dark. Taxi to our hotel and a brief night in Seattle.
By now we had heard about the freight derailement near Tacoma. Checking with Amtrak in the morning found that we would be bused to Eugene at the usual departure time. The bus loading at King Station was handled very efficiently. Those who had paid cash for the trip were given immediate credit card refunds for a portion of their trip. I was told to contact AGR as I was using points and get some points reinstated. (I have done so and am awaiting their reply on that issue.) We set off on a five hour bus trip in the pouring rain. Once we got to Eugene we found that the directions given to the driver for the Eugene station were screwy and we drove around for another hour until we found the station. Of note: calls to Amtrak were of no use for this problem, no one there had info on the station location. Couldn't they just pull up Amtrak.com and look at the map there?
Once we got to Eugene the sad news was that our train, the #14 coming north, had been delayed out of LAX and would not be there and available for boarding for another 3-4 hours. So we waited. We were given box lunches when we boarded the bus and again in the Eugene station. Once our train was ready for boarding we were actually offered dinner right away (by now it was 8:00 pm) but we were quite full of box lunch.
The Starlight was as usual, food not very good, roomette equal to indoor camping. However, there was a Pacific Parlour Car and it was beautiful. We spent a lot of time there. The train was pretty empty, especially as we got close to LAX. We had a total of 12 cars. Patrick, a customer service rep came by and chatted with all. The toilet failed in the next car so they used ours. The trash was overflowing in the bathrooms within 12 hours, there was no cheese for the wine and cheese because that normally "came from Seattle". We ultimately gained some time and came into LAX at 11:00 pm, two hours late. We were able to use our plan of an express bus down the Harbor Freeway and the Green Line (light rail) to our local station. Our friends had brought our car to the local station. Had the train been much later this plan would have failed as the bus and light rail stop running about 12:30 am. Comparison between the Starlight and other Amtrak routes and the Canadian?
The food does not compare, not even on the Empire Builder. The Canadian food was fabulous.
The berth type sleeper on the Canadian is much more comfortable than an Amtrak roomette with much better bathroom access.
The staff on the Canadian seemed to love their jobs and loved taking care of us. This is not the general feeling one gets from Amtrak staff.
A late train resulted in some type of compensation with real value and arrangements were made to handle food, etc. affected by the lateness instead of shock and disbelief that this was needed.
Don't get me wrong, I still love train travel in the US and plan a long trip next year. But I really hope to travel on VIA again as it was another level of travel.
posted
Great trip report and very good pics, especially the ones you took of the rooms. Great job Vicki and glad to hear you guys had such great fun.
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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Well, Miss Vickie, I am very pleased to learn you found the Open Section to be an enjoyable accommodation. Amtrak has never offered such; the few 6Sec-4BR-6RM "Silver--(flowers)" they acquired from the CB&Q either had the Sections used as crew space or simply not used at all.
Secondly, you have quite a railfan find in your album; namely the interior photos you took of the 37XXX Diner Lounge in your Cascade consist. That is the "Diner Lite' car slated to replace Diners and Lounges on trains such as the "City of New Orleans". At one time after the SDS initiative was announced, Amtrak had (and "officially" still has) plans to convert most Diners and Sightseers to that configuration, but somehow, I think they are backing away from such a fleet wide conversion.
Lastly, glad someone was willing to take a photo of both you AND Mr. Art; afraid I "wasn't in the neighborhood" to be of help.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Thanks for the great report. I'm inclined to try the berth accomodation next time I'm on a Canadian train. Your comparison of the tone aboard VIA's Canadian as opposed to on the typical Amtrak long-distance train is dead-on too.
Just a couple of thoughts - I would much prefer riding a single-level train (in a 10&6 sleeper) with a dome observation car adjacent than any superliner train.
Also, I'm curious to ride another VIA train to see how it compares to the Canadian. The Skeena or the Chaluer would be great.....maybe even the train to Churchill but I don't think my wife would go for that one......I mean four nights on the train just to go round-trip from Winnipeg....that may be beyond her tolerance level!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Great report, Vicki! It sounds like Via Rail has their act together on customer service. Amtrak definitely could learn a few things from them.
The pictures were terrific---the scenery up there is beautiful. Thanks for sharing them.
Posts: 100 | From: Kernersville, NC | Registered: Oct 2007
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Oh my gosh, Vicki....what a fantastic report!! Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your trip. As I was reading through it, two things came to mind:
1) Amtrak certainly doesn't have it's act together in many, many areas, which is a shame.
2) I was reading your report thinking, "I wish there were pictures"! Then at the end I see the link. Excellent! Now I have a much better idea of what Via looks like on the inside. Those beds looked pretty comfy compared to the prison mattress pad that Amtrak uses (and charges people a premium of several THOUSAND dollars to sleep in).
The dining car, the Park Car, gosh, just everything look so very nice. I think my next long-distance train trip is going to have to be on Via. I've given Amtrak one heck of a lot of my business over the years. Time to give someone else a chance. My Amtrak trips are usually okay because I go on the trips with absolutely no expectations at all. I do not expect to be on-time, I do not expect a friendly sleeper attendant, I do not expect the attendant to be anywhere in sight during the trip, I do not expect clean (or working) restrooms, I do not expect decent food. You see, with no expectations, how can I possibly be disappointed?
But seriously, Via looks wonderful. Thanks again for the report! It was a little bit funny reading the comments in your pictures when you went from the Four Seasons to the Travelodge. I guess the Travelodge didn't have turn-down service with chocolate mints??? Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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Thank you so much for your Trip Report, Vicki. You have me very interested in another trip on the Canadian.
Just one point, I was a bit over 5 hrs late on my VIA from Jasper to Vancouver last May and did not hear about this 50 percent offer! So, armed with your valuable info, I called VIA about it. The fellow I spoke with said it's 50 percent off what you paid for the late train. In other words, if you are over 5 hrs late from Jasper to Vancouver and that trip was $200, and you decide you want to take the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver within a year for, say $800, you only get $100 off the ticket. At least, that is what the VIA Rail guy told me.
BTW, the trip between Seattle and Vancouver is REALLY REALLY pretty; if you've never done it before in daylight, you must go back & do that. Look for eagles along the train around where you cross the border!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Terrific report!! I must say in reply to Smity: You must have had really bad experiences on Amtrak to be so negative. Maybe I have been lucky. With a few exceptions our car attendents have been very good ditto the servers. In all the years we have traveled Amtrak never had a restroom failure and the beds are comfortable to me. Perhaps that's bcause I like a firm mattress. In the past I never had a meal I could complain about. With your problems I can understand how you feel. You know Vicki you should really send your report to Amtrak and also a copy to your congress people.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by train lady: You know Vicki you should really send your report to Amtrak and also a copy to your congress people.
Good idea! I'll second it. It wouldn't hurt to send a copy of it to Alex Kummant(sp?) himself, too. That way, everyone who can do something to improve the consistency of Amtrak's customer service will have a first hand account (from a long-time customer) of how customer service should be done.
Posts: 100 | From: Kernersville, NC | Registered: Oct 2007
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train lady: Yes, I've had numerous bad experiences with Amtrak equipment and Amtrak crews. It's ridiculous. 60 Mass has heard about almost every incident.
On the other hand, I have also had numerous positive experiences with Amtrak equipment and Amtrak crews. 60 Mass has heard about these encounters as well.
You and I have become spoiled by the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains. They usually run on-time, have friendly crews, the equipment rarely malfunctions (and when it does, they do everything they can to fix it or make it right), and the food in the cafe car is very decent. 60 Mass can learn a lot from Gene and how he runs his trains.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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Sojourner - Interesting how they apply the 50% for the late train. But it is still a nice perk. I was on a group ticket so I don't get the voucher - I have no ticket to present.
I also forgot to note that the people on the late #14 which met us in Eugene moved over to a Talgo set parked there. They were heading to Portland and then going to get in a bus. Not a pleasant late night for them. At least we were finally getting on a train.
Smitty - only VIA and the Four Seasons had the chocolate mints and turn down service. The Travelodge was lucky to have light bulbs. It was the one by the Space Needle and all I can say is "The price was right". And I agree with you about the San Joaquins - we know Amtrak can do it right some of the time.
Connie - I don't think I have been on a LD Amtrak train which did not have a bathroom failure. The usual excuse is altitude. And I have certainly met pleasant and skilled Amtrak staff but the overall atmosphere is that they feel overworked and under appreciated. And both of those things may be true.
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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Thanks Vicki. Your photos bring back memories of my ride on the Canadian. And yes, there is a very wide gap when comparing the wonderful Via rail service to Amtrak's. But I still wouldn't hesitate to use an Amtrak train.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:Originally posted by HopefulRailUser: Sojourner - Interesting how they apply the 50% for the late train. But it is still a nice perk. I was on a group ticket so I don't get the voucher - I have no ticket to present.
...
VIA's 50% Late Train Credit applies to the coach fare with the exception of VIA 1, which is the first class service in the corridor. If you were travelling in a sleeper on a late train, at the time of redemption of the credit the agent will calculate what you would have paid had you travelled in coach. For trips on the Canadian, the train must be four hours late in order for the credit to apply. (VIA gives a 10-minute grace period, so it's actually three hours and 50 minutes.) The credit must be claimed within one year, although the trip doesn't have to be taken within that time period.
The rules are different for other trains. For example: in the corridor, the late credit applies after a train is one hour late (50 minutes actually) and on the Ocean to Halifax, two hours late (effectively one hour and 50 minutes. I just received a credit of $105 for a trip on the Ocean that was exactly that amount of time late.) On all runs other than the Canadian, the credit must be claimed within six months.
No actual voucher is issued. The information is stored in VIA's computer. I'm told that group tickets do not qualify for this credit. If a trip was paid for by VIA Preference points, the 50% credit will apply as a refund of points. But you will have to ask for this refund of points.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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Hopeful, this is a great trip report! I agree about Canada being expensive. My wife and I also stayed at the Royal York despite the steep cost, because it was our 40th anniversary trip. I did balk at the $15 PER DAY wireless Internet cost. Evidently Canadian hotels have not yet switched to free Internet, as most American hostelries have.
I guess the border guards are less intimidating to Cascades passengers than they are to bus passengers.
We had tickets for a sleeper section from Jasper to Vancouver, but my wife talked me into an upgrade because she did not like the lack of privacy. I would not have minded, but I did notice the constant stream of passengers down the aisle all day -- and worried about the security of my camera equipment and laptop. So I went along with her wishes and we upgraded to a double bedroom -- for $300 for that one night. Gulp.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Henry - We didn't stay at the Royal York, I only looked and took a picture of it. But we were at the Intercontinental down the street and it was very elegant too, very modern. We enjoyed the stream of people coming by our section, ran a tab for tolls for a few of them who we got to know. Funny, they never paid their tab. I usually had my camera with me when I left the section as I was going to the observation cars, etc. But I would have worried about leaving a computer. As far as the internet in hotels - I find in the US that the expensive hotels have wireless and charge for it, the cheap motels have a computer in the lobby you can use for free. Since I don't travel with a laptop that works well for me, I usually just want to check my email. Also of interest, the folks with Verizon phones had arranged a Canadian connection that allowed them to use their US phones in Canada. I never thought to inquire about that with my carrier, Virgin, which uses Sprint's network. But my phone sure did not work in Canada, not even right at the border. As far as the border crossing from Vancouver, I had been warned not to take the bus, that the customs/immigration stop was very tedious, all baggage unloaded and lots of time spent doing it. The Cascades was no hassle, just a glance at the passports. Still waiting for my point refund for the bustitution on the Coast Starlight.
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: ....I did balk at the $15 PER DAY wireless Internet cost. Evidently Canadian hotels have not yet switched to free Internet, as most American hostelries have.
Yes, pay the big bucks for a night at Fairmont, Sheraton or Hilton here and they all charge for Internet access. But go to a Comfort Inn, Super 8 or Motel 6 and it free.
Posts: 239 | Registered: Feb 2004
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My neighbor recently took a 3 week trip to Taiwan. She called Verizon (the cell service provider), and they FedEx'd a loaner phone to her. The loaner phone worked exactly the same as her current phone, except it was configured to work in Taiwan. The billing still came to her regular bill. The only thing different was the phone number----you couldn't "bring" your phone number with you. I never knew a service like that existed. For my trip in March out of the country, I'll do the same thing.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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My wife used her Verizon phone in Winnipeg, Jasper and Vancouver without separate arrangements. But she has one of those "everywhere"-for-150-minutes-a-month plans, and I guess that includes Canada. I wonder, however, what our next phone bill will look like -- she never uses all 150 minutes but perhaps there is a surcharge for Canadian calls.
Vicki -- You mentioned something I failed to do: how the VIA Rail porters and waiters were ENTHUSIASTIC about their jobs. Would that Amtrak personnel were the same. But I'd also tend to be lethargic if my union had gone five years (has it been more?) without a contract.
All the same, most Amtrak crew I have encountered have been good ones.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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While we are on the subject of free wireless Internet, I should mention that most of Jasper charges for Internet access. The desk lady at the Whistlers Inn where we stayed (it has no Internet at all) suggested we go over to a pub across the street where we got access for the price of a 20 ounce pint of Stella Artois. (I know a pint is 16 ounces, but they call it a 20 ounce pint, and who am I to argue? Especially if it is Stella, a very very good beer that I hope is available down here in Chicago.)
There is one way to escape Internet charges in Jasper. If you have a ticket on the Canadian or the Skeena, you may use the free VIA Rail wireless spot in the station. (You have to ask at the desk for the WEP code for access.)
After obtaining the code, I was actually able to access the VIA spot from the Whistler Inn across the street, but only during station hours when the modem was on.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Great trip report Vicki. My wife and I have applied for our passports and are anticipating a great trip across Canada next year. Our 30th wedding anniversary tour of US and Canada.
Yes, our experiences thus far on Amtrak have been mixed. Some great food and personnel. Other trains, mediocre food and questionable personnel. My opinion has always been: do your job well and good things will follow for you. If not then it is time to move on. But do not bring your troubled attitudes to the public and ruin their trip. Great photos and trip report. Best wishes Railroad & Mrs. Bill. Posts: 87 | From: Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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