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I'll start with a few general comments. All the trains involved ran on time or even arrived early. A few cases of lateness were of no consequence because of padding in the schedules. Sleeping car attendants seemed quite competent. One outstanding one was Victor on the eastbound Southwest Chief. He had a nice bouquet of pink and red roses in the upstairs restroom. On two occasions he came around offering warmed towels for "freshening up". He had worked the train for many years and was quite efficient and friendly.
A problem on the return trip was that the toilets in the Viewliner sleeper on the LSL were not functioning for periods of time. Why this happens is a mystery. Certainly it was known when they were built that they would be subjected to freezing weather.
My entire westbound trip, in roomettes, was covered by Guest Rewards points, saving me quite a bit! This included Business Class on the Surfliner. On the return trip, I used a Guest Rewards coupon to upgrade to Business Class on that train. Between Worcester and Albany I had to ride coach, as the Boston sleeper has not yet materialized and there is no longer any Business Class offered.
Worcester is the second largest city in New England and has a beautifully restored Union Station. Yet, it has only one Amtrak train, the Boston Section of the LSL (#449 and 448). There is one Amtrak employee whose hours are approx. 12:15 PM to 8:30 PM. On the day I left, there was a substitute person who arrived quite late. There was a long line of people, many of whom had yet to purchase or pick up their tickets. I had one large bag to check through, but to speed things up I decided to take it onboard and check it at Albany. As it was, the train was held for 20 minutes until the agent tended to everyone in line.
Still, we arrived early at Albany, only to learn that that #49 from New York City was running an hour late. Fortunately, the Albany (actually Rensselaer) station is a comfortable, new facility.
My stay in San Diego, visiting my oldest son and his family, was a nice change from a rather snowy, icy winter in Massachusetts. For several days the weather was even warmer than usual, with temperatures going over 80 degrees a couple times.
A highlight of the return trip was being treated to dinner in Chicago by Mr. Gilbert B. Norman, a name quite familiar to folks using this forum. Having read about my trip in an earlier post and in view of my long layover in Chicago because of the LSL late departure, he offered to meet me at the Metropolitan Lounge. We walked to Miller's Pub, in the basement of a hotel, for a nice steak dinner. I had skipped lunch on the train just so I would be hungry enough. He is the now the first forum personality that I have actually met!
As we approached Albany on the return trip, the car attendant offered to walk me through the train to a coach in the Boston section. In that way I did not have to get off the train at all as I did on an October trip, also reported on this forum.
This was my first cross-country trip alone. Some of you will recall that my wife of 53 years died in September. I will have to say that I did not like traveling alone as well. I'm not particularly inclined to strike up conversations with strangers in the dining car or lounge. I will admit, though, that I did meet some very nice folks. I know many of you travel alone and have been doing so for some time. Maybe I will get used to it as time passes. I had a novel with me by John Updike. In an odd coincidence, he died while I was on this trip! This was somewhat upsetting, as he was MY AGE!! (well, he was just 3 months older).
One more thing: my back bothers me some and sitting so long in the roomette seats is not too comfortable. One time I lowered the seats enough so that I could lie down and read. Of course I get off and walk where that can be done.
Final arrival in Worcester was a few minutes early! Timekeeping has greatly improved on #448, once notorious for being extremely late.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Thank you so much for your trip report, Bob. It sounds like you had a smooth, pleasant trip, and getting away from this particularly bad winter to see your son sounds very nice.
I know how hard it must be for you to travel alone when you traveled always with your beloved wife. But while you will never stop missing her, I do think that the traveling alone will get easier in some respects, especially the train part. I myself really do enjoy it. You meet so many interesting people on the train; on my recent trip to Florida I met a well-known author and a colorful educator, for example. And there is time for reading, and music, and private meditation, and taking in the landscape, and doing word puzzles and Sudokus, and just relaxing. I often shut the door, sing along with my CDs, and look out the window. I hope no one hears me!!!
I have a not-great back too. When I travel in a roomette, I usually take off my shoes and put my feet up (I bring extra socks or these little soft slippers to keep them warm) on the chair opposite, and slide down a bit with the pillows behind me; I also have occasionally asked the car attendant for a third pillow, if available. And I usually take 2 Tylenol (with some food) before the train trip, to "loosen things up." Plus I do stretching exercises when the bed is down in the morning, esp what I call heel presses (the opposite of toe points) and also bringing my legs up to my chest with my arms around them to stretch out my back. And like you, I always go for a walk trackside at the "smoke stops" when I can. And always a nice long walk in Chicago, time permitting. In fact, I find all the walking I do strengthens my back. Plus good shoes are essential. . . . And I always take lots of care with suitcases, trying never to lift them. This can be harder for a male, but I get all the cab drivers to put my suitcase in the trunk, for instance. . . .
I am glad to see the LSL is better timewise, as have been the FL trains. I am wondering if some of this might be because of the recession--less freight traffic? At any rate, the past two years, I've been pretty lucky with LD train timekeeping in the east. . . .
City of Miami Member # 2922
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I always bring with me two of those self-inflating cushions that have a foam core in them. One is about 10x12x1" which I sit on and the other one is about 12x5x2" which goes behind the lower back. They can be adjusted to the desired volume and they flatten out to practically nothing and can be rolled up when not in use. They have eased many trips for me and I consider them indispensable. Highly recommended!!
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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I suffer from the spinal collywobbles, too, and have found that the seats in Superliner lounge cars have sufficient lumbar support for comfortable riding, so spend much of my time in those cars.
Thanks for the tip on the inflatable pillows, City of Miami. I'll give those a try.
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