We left La Crosse about an hour late on the 22nd-- a little after 11 AM. We had booked coach seats on the Empire Builder and one deluxe sleeper on the Capital Ltd. I brought along lunch and snacks in the collapsible cooler so often recommended here, and that turned out to be a great idea. We had sandwiches both for lunch and in Chicago when our train was delayed, and we had fruit and a cool drink each into the next day. This went a long way toward keeping my little girls, ages 4 and 9, content and relatively quiet.

In Chicago our time was supposedly tight, so we didn't go to the lounge. This was a mistake. The Capitol was over 2 hours late in departing, the waiting room was stifling hot, a beggar was making the rounds, and we had no place to sit until about the last 30 minutes of our wait. Big mistake, parents. If you're entitled to use the lounge, do it.

The trip to D.C. was noteworthy for the mold all over the ceiling of our sleeper, the bathroom odors that kept drifting through, and the bumpiness of the track, which was awful. Our car attendant, Jamaal was very nice and helpful. He said he had a 3 year-old daughter at home, and my little one reminded him of her. I had a very nice steak for dinner. Kids loved their mac and cheese, as always. Jamaal let the kids watch him put the beds down and explained how he did it, which was nice of him and helpful to me, as this sort of small gesture can really go a long way with a tired child.

When I awoke the next morning, neither kid wanted to wake up and eat, and neither did I. This was a mistake. There was no lunch service, as we were scheduled into D.C. at noon. Another lesson for parents-- never skip breakfast. Haul them to the diner in their pajamas if you have to. Our cabbie in Washington was drunk, but that's another story......

We left Washington Sunday, the 27th, on time. This time we used the lounge, and it was great. Unlimited Goldfish crackers and a close-at-hand, clean restroom. A mother's delight. Unlimited soft drinks, comfy chairs, and effective air conditioning, too. We spent our wait chatting with a delightful elderly woman with a broken ankle, travelling with her brother, who'd had a serious stroke and was hemiplegic and completely without speech. Amtrak employees were helpful and courteous with them, as well as respectful to the gentleman, who tended to wander a bit. Well, there was one hitch in D.C. When we checked in, the agent tried to insist that he couldn't check bags to La Crosse. I insisted right back, and I won.

We had Jamaal for our car attendant again, which delighted the kids. Our deluxe sleeper this time was nice and clean, but had older, really uncomfortable seats, They were hard, with thin padding that didn't do much at all for my old bones. On the other hand, the odor problem was much better and the noisy, splashy water faucets were less so. At Pittsburg we left the station, proceeded to a bridge where we stayed a while, then backed up back to the station. This was repeated at least three times, perhaps more, as I fell asleep. Little Sarah awoke and began crying. She was afraid we were going to fall into the water.

Chicago on the return was the nasty part. The waiting room was even more crowded and hotter this time. Again, we should have had a short wait, and again, we didn't. The train left almost 2 hours late. They kept calling early boarding for various trains for the elderly, disabled, and families with children under 10. When they called early boarding for our train, we and a few other families with kids got in line. I was so tired I hadn't noticed they hadn't included families in the announcement. When we got to the head of the line the agent yelled at us, and I do mean yelled, "Just where do you think you're going?" She then said she wasn't going to pre-board children because the train was going to be too full (does that make sense even?). Of course, when we finally got to board, there were assorted non-family travellers grousing about being held up by kids and at least one toddler and his little rolling suitcase getting bowled over by some big lug who never even looked back. Anyway, while still at the gate the agent kept coming back to lecture us about lining up before we were called, and ordering us back to our seats. By then our seats had been taken, and we couldn't get away from the gate area because of all the other people who had lined up behind and around us. A woman behind said the gate agent must be really tired. Perhaps, but tired would be no excuse with my boss for speaking like that to anyone who walked into our building.

Around Milwaukee we had delicious hot dogs from the snack bar, as the only dinner reservation for those of us in coach was for 8:30, but the saying that hunger is the best sauce held true. We met a couple travelling to Whitefish in coach with three small children. It apparently was a vacation trip, but no one seemed to be having fun. I felt myself blessed to be getting off in La Crosse.

We arrived in La Crosse 2 hours late, at 9:15 PM. Our quiet little station was a welcome sight.

My message to those travelling with little kids is, go first class whenever it's possible for you, use the first class lounges whenever you can, bring snacks, always eat breakfast, bring the "blankies" even in the middle of summer, and lots of moist towelettes. Besides being useful for hand and face cleaning, my 4 year-old used them to "wash the train", and my 9 year-old tore them into strips and wove them into bracelets. At first I told them to stop wasting our towellettes, but then I realized this was a harmless, quiet, and clean activity that amused them at length and cost little. All the toys and games I brought and they spent their time playing with squares of damp paper...

[This message has been edited by clwood (edited 06-29-2004).]

Positives=Negatives

If I were an educator, as I believe you are, the trip gets a C+.

Why do so many families -- parents and kids alike -- seem to find rail travel such a hell-on-earth ordeal?

Recently, I was talking with my four siblings about the summer train trips (up to 35 hours, always in coach) that we took as kids during the 1950s and 60s. I'm not talking about First Class travel on the Super Chief or the 20th Century Limited with smiling, white-gloved Pullman porters. I'm talking about an era when rail travel (especially in coach) was frequently a far grimmer experience than it is today.

It was a time when most passenger railroads were rapidly going bankrupt. The trains themselves were often half-empty and falling apart. The onboard crews weren't exactly charming. And most train stations (including Grand Central Terminal in New York) had yet to discover air conditioning.

Nevertheless, my brothers, sisters, and I couldn't wait to take those rail trips each summer. We left our toys and other kiddie diversions at home because we didn't need them. All five of us happily spent every waking moment staring out of the train windows, completely mesmerized by the world rolling by. Just like every other kid on board our train.

But on my Amtrak trips in recent years, I've been struck by how many "21st century" families clearly don't enjoy the train experience at all. Within half an hour after boarding, the kids are either bored senseless or running wild, totally disinterested in looking out the window. Their frazzled parents spend much of the trip desperately searching for ways to keep them quiet and amused.

Have American kids truly changed that much? Or were my brothers, sisters, and I just very weird?

Think of them as land yachts; think that their owners are more often than not on the phone with their brokers at Merril Lynch or elsewhere.

The phrase "A boat is a hole in the water into which the owner pours money" is equally analagous to a PV.

quote:

---

Originally posted by clwood:
One thing I forgot to add: As our train pulled away in La Crosse, I noted that two Pullman cars were attached to the end. They were long, dark cars with many windows. They appeared in fine shape externally. Lights were on and there were a few people sitting inside. Does anyone have any idea why these cars were attached to the train and where they might have been headed?

---

The private cars may have been headed for the Twin Cities for operation on one of the Grand Excursion trips pulled by ex-Milwaukee Road steam locomotive #261. I rode the July 2nd St. Paul-LaCrosse trip and there were a number of private cars (and private car owners......I overheard one complaining in the vestibule that Amtrak wasn't able to get his car home the day he wanted to go) on our train. Can't recall if any of the cars we carried match the description of what you saw but that's a possibility.