posted
My wife and I have just finished a short trip on the Southwest Chief. We rode round-trip in coach from Flagstaff to Albuquerque. My wife had a teacher's convention in Albuquerque.
The service both directions was excellent. The employees were helpful and friendly. Even the station agents at both ends were friendly, and that is rare. Both trains were about two hours late, but other than that, it was a professional experience all the way. It is unfortunate that this is the exception, rather than the rule. If Amtrak was normally like this, they would have a lot more supporters.
The irony of the situation was that we were travelling for free due to poor service in the past. As I have posted before, last summer we had two terrible experiences on the Lake Shore Limited and Amtrak gave us a voucher for the entire fare. We used the voucher for this trip.
One of the attendants told me that our eastbound train consisted of new employees in training. He had worked for Amtrak for two years and had more experience than anybody else on the service crew. So far, the new employees are doing a good job. I hope it continues.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
posted
It’s great that you had a nice trip! A good crew makes everything a lot more pleasant. It was also good that you were able to use vouchers, because I think Dave Gunn has abandoned the Satisfaction Guarantee, at least until Amtrak can guarantee satisfaction. Konstantin, I hope you don’t mind if I discuss my trip on your thread- I just completed round-trip FLG-ABQ yesterday! I decided to take the trip because it was a good way to spend a Saturday. Train 4 into FLG came in about 1’25” late. We boarded on the second main, so the dispatcher held all freights until we left the station. One of the car attendants was yelling at people to “hurry up and get off the train.” I don’t know how he got a garden rake lodged up his backside, but he was mad about something. However, the car attendant I had was very friendly, helpful, and had a good sense of humor. I spent most of the time in the Lounge, because the scenery to ABQ is very nice. I had the French Toast for breakfast, and sat across from someone who looked a lot like Julia Roberts. I know she’s on her honeymoon, and she has a ranch in NM, so who knows? I asked the attendant how Train 3 (my ride home) was running, and he said 3’30” late. So I had more time in ABQ than I thought. On the way into ABQ, the snack bar employee said, “we’ll have a 30 min stop at the station for services, so get out, stretch your legs, visit the vendors, and contemplate the meaning of life.” Since I had 6 hours in ABQ, I visited the NM Natural History Museum, which is a nice way to spend the time. Train 3 came in at 8:10P. I wanted to walk to the head end and take some photos, but I was afraid that I would be unable to make a dinner reservation if I did. As I boarded, the coach attendant said that there were 1,500 people riding tonight, spread out over nine cars (not inclu. Trans. Slpr.). If people in Congress still think that no one rides the LDs, they should have boarded in ABQ Saturday night. The train was very crowded, and I made it to the diner a few minutes before it closed. They were out of almost everything, due to the large crowd, but I was still able to get an excellent chicken l’orange (sp). During dinner, my coach attendant came over the PA and said, “People, we’re all in this together. You are trashing the train. There are tissues strewn all over the bathrooms, and your children are running rampant through the train. But it’s mostly the adults who are making the messes. Think of your fellow passengers when you decide to make a mess. Respect their right for an enjoyable trip." I later complimented her on her PA announcement, and she managed to clean every restroom in three coaches by the time we got to FLG. I also overheard passengers talking, and most were going from point A to B, and not “riding the trains just for nostalgic reasons” like politics think. I put it to the crew of Train 3 Saturday night- well done! The trip would’ve been a disaster if they hadn’t done their jobs so well. The attendant said that she loves her job, and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even with 1,500 (or 1,499 ) short-tempered passengers, they were able to get things done. We arrived into FLG at 1:00A, about 3’40” down, but I didn’t care. It was a fun trip.
[This message has been edited by Eric (edited 07-14-2002).]
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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1500 passengers on board at any one time, even 1500 boarded is a bit of a stretch.
Even with a "maxed out" consist of 4 coaches and 3 sleepers, (plus diner, lounge, T-Car, and baggage for your reported 11 cars)there could only be some 420 aboard -MAX.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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It sounds like your trip was not quite as good as mine. I liked your story about the PA announcement. I agree with her. At least my trains were clean, but I have seen trains where the people left them a mess. Last year, several Boy Scout troops were on the train heading to somewhere in New Mexico. The Boy Scouts completely trashed the lounge car. They also taped stickers all over people's bagagge. I lost any faith I had in the Boy Scouts. They were just a bunch of trouble makers, and the leaders did nothing to stop them. They also used a lot of obscene language. When I was in Boy Scouts, our leaders would have made us clean the lounge car, even if we were not the ones to mess it up. These Boy Scouts I saw certainly were not "Trustworthy, loyal, etc" as their motto states. I will say that on the return trip there was another Boy Scout troop and they were good kids.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
posted
Mr. Norman, I am about 95% sure she said 1500 passengers. Whether that was on the train at the time (unlikely, as you stated, and I now agree), or how many they expected to have carried from ABQ to LAX or CHI to LAX remains a mystery. But somewhere there were 1500!
[This message has been edited by Eric (edited 07-15-2002).]
Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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) short-tempered passengers, they were able to get things done.
