Thanks, Bob, for your report & the preview of the LSL part of the trip I will take at Thanksgiving. Were they still doing early boarding of the LSL in Chicago for sleeper passengers? How was the meal service on the LSL? It's not my favorite train, but the only choice when I travel Milwaukee-Rochester to see the grandchildren.
Posted by Bob from MA (Member # 4686) on :
Judy
Yes, they allow sleeping car passengers to board the LSL in Chicago at about 8:00 PM. They no longer serve the evening meal, so you have to eat somewhere in the station or thereabouts beforehand. Passengers are invited to a reception on the train with wine or cider, cheese, crackers, grapes, etc. I did not take advantage of that amenity on this trip. The train then pulls out at 10:00 PM. I believe that late departure was to ensure connections from late trains coming in from the west.
I presume the only meal you would have eastbound is breakfast, as you would arrive at Rochester before lunch is served. Same on the return trip. Meal service is what some have called "diner light". A lot of the food is pre-packaged and choices are fewer than in the superliner diners. The cooks seem to have worked it out as well as possible after a year or two of using that system.
Posted by royaltrain (Member # 622) on :
Since the LSL now has through coaches, why can't the sleeping car passengers simply move into the Boston coach before the train arrives in Albany rather than go into the station and then re-board? This seems an un-necessary inconvenience for a "through" passenger.
Posts: 449 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged |
Posted by Bob from MA (Member # 4686) on :
Well, some might think that would be a better plan. Apparently Amtrak has thought otherwise, at least for now. The train stops soon after crossing the Hudson River, before pulling into the station, for the sections to be disconnected. So the transfer of passengers would have to take place before that, when the train is moving. There are three New York sleepers. I was in the third one at the end of the train. I would have had to walk and carry luggage through the other two sleepers, three or four coaches, a diner and a lounge car to reach one of the two Boston coaches. Amtrak probably thought this would be inconvenient for its Boston passengers, especially elderly ones.
Also, when we stopped at the station, a cross-platform move was not possible because there was another train in between. They may yet work out some other plan. The through coaches have only been running now for a couple of weeks or so.
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
In the "olden" days when the Capitol joined the Broadway in Harrisburg there was a similar situation. We would go coach from DC to Harrisburg.When the train got there we would then walk through the train to our slumber coach car. There were no slumber coaches on the DC section. It was a big relief when the two trains were finally kept as two trains and there was no more changing around.
Posted by DeeCT (Member # 3241) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bob from MA: There are three New York sleepers. I was in the third one at the end of the train. I would have had to walk and carry luggage through the other two sleepers, three or four coaches, a diner and a lounge car to reach one of the two Boston coaches. Amtrak probably thought this would be inconvenient for its Boston passengers, especially elderly ones.
This is why I look forward to the return of the through sleeper from Boston. Once boarded you are settled in for the trip -- no need to move. No up the escalators or elevators to the waiting area and then back down again later (all the while carrying luggage.) Back when we had the through sleeper before it was possible, if one so chose, to detrain (empty handed)and make a trip into the station in order to visit the magazine/gift shop or the snack place. Then, once the train was ready, re-board. (It is really hard to patronize either place luggage in tow. Having one's belongings already settled in on the train makes it so much easier).
Dee
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the wonderful trip report.
I worked for several summers in the 1990's with a youth group in Dubuque, IA and wished that I had had the opportunity to ride a passenger train along the old CB&Q route.
As for the railfan park in Rochelle......an Amtrak train passing through there is a rare treat as it is west of where you join the California Zephyr route. No wonder the railfans turned out for you!