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The stay-over in Los Angeles was unremarkable; I walked all over town to get the kinks out. When I returned to the station in the early afternoon a film crew had set up in one corner of the main waiting room, and was busy creating some version of cinematic art. It was fun to watch; the number of people involved to create the smallest scene is pretty astounding. I wish I could tell you guys that Michelle Pfeiffer looked radiant, but she was nowhere to be seen; in fact, I didn’t recognize anyone of the actors; maybe they were making a commercial for all I know.
Anyway, train time again. They hadn’t announced it yet, but I knew they meant to, and I knew where to go. Coming up the ramp to the platform, I noticed the great dome car that we’ve mentioned here in other threads. I had ridden in it, or one of its sisters, in 1956 on the Empire Builder. On the opposite track was my train, #422, trailing along behind #2. And there was Lloyd, standing at his post beside his sleeping car, the last car of the consist. I showed him my ticket bearing a claim on roomette #12, which is the first one forward of the door on the starboard side this time. Knowing that I wanted to report having seen the great dome at LAX, I asked Lloyd where it was going, “San Diego”, came the terse, brief reply. Oh dear, I thought; are we going to be surly this trip? Remember the adage about not judging a book by its cover? Remember that as this story unfolds.
I found my space; settled in; and watched as we blasted out of Union Station on time. I had been on #1 in 1998, so technically I’ve been over this ground before, but not at the same time of day; and I’ve never been north of San Antonio, or seen a cross-country café. I signed up for the last dinner sitting again, and when that time arrived (7:00) I made my way through the 422 coach, 2 #2 coaches, and a lounge car to the diner. If the coaches are any indication, this is also a full train. Lots of kids! In the diner, Janean is in charge, and she doesn’t look any older than my youngest daughter (23). She’s VERY serious, not in an unfriendly way, but approaching her job with great responsibility. I make a mental note that I’ll have to try to get her to relax a little; can I get a smile?. She seats me next to a young lady from Australia who is going to a wedding in London, and who needs to see Tucson on the way by. She’s a graphic artist, and I miss the opportunity to ask her about the symbol that Amtrak uses in several places on the train: it’s a 3-sided box, about 1” square, with no bottom. Pointed upward into the bottom of the box is an arrow. This symbol is placed in the bathrooms, near the latch and on the outside of the cars below the place on the window where the red emergency release lever is located. I maintain there is no way a person could figure it out unless they already knew what they were looking for. I hope Amtrak didn’t pay a lot for that design. ½ chicken tonight for me. A little drier than I remember when they cooked it onboard, but still ok. Because everyone here raved about the mashed potatoes, I had them again.
A couple of quick observations: the Salton Sea is enormous! At Yuma, AZ at 7:30 PM it’s 108 degrees, but we’re just fine in air-conditioned splendor. At Maricopa, because of the length of the train, we had to make 4 stops, tying up the road crossing for 20 minutes. The 422 sleeper is the last car on the train which means photo ops out the back door. I don’t know why that’s so fascinating, but it is.
I slept great. Breakfast was an omelet and grits---no complaints. I sat with two other guys, and one of them exclaimed, “look at that!” we look through the window at the receding roadbed and can see a freight train following us at, what we estimate to be a half mile back. Seemed a little close to us, but UP must know what they’re doing, right?
We were 1 hour early into El Paso, which is a long stop anyway. I think there were cobwebs on the train before we left! We were 40 minutes early into Alpine; there just hasn’t been any traffic to slow us down. Lunch this day was a cheeseburger with bacon. For dinner, because I’d had the flat-iron beef and the chicken, I thought I should try the fish: mahi-mahi. Well, if you’re used to fresh fish, maybe this dish doesn’t quite come up to standard, it’s a little dry and over-cooked, but It’s not going to kill me. One of my dinner companions was a card dealer from Las Vegas, going to NOL and another a renewable energy entrepreneur from Phoenix. More learning experiences! And I got a smile from Janean…dinner is a success!
We get to San Antonio on time, and I’ve got to do a couple of things: Lloyd, our car attendant, gets off here and I’ve got to take care of him, and I need to find an ATM so I can take care of everyone after him.
Remember my comments about Lloyd when I first encountered him at LAX? What I discovered from my neighbor in the roomette across the hall was that Lloyd has had to deal with both A/C and plumbing problems in our car for the whole trip from LAX, and he had done it so seamlessly and successfully that I hadn’t even been aware there was a problem (Lloyd says that at higher elevations such as at Alpine, the vacuum system that is the flush mechanism in the bathrooms doesn’t perform well). In general, Lloyd went about his work much more quietly than Henry, the attendant on #3, but with no less dedication and professionalism than his colleague. Here are two Amtrak employees each with about 20 years of service to the public, and neither one of them has lost their edge or their desire to do a stand-up job. A lesson for all of us.
The train sits in San Antonio until 7:00 AM; sleeping is pretty easy until then. Waking up, I discover the order of the train has been altered. Instead of being the last car on the train, our sleeper is now #2 behind the T-dorm, then the café car, then the lounge and coaches. Certain amount of switching to make that happen, but I slept through the whole thing! But the café car is a first for me, so off to breakfast. I’m told there is no crew for the car until Austin and that a boxed breakfast is available. It’s fine; it’s juice, fruit, a muffin, yogurt, and coffee, which is what I get at home; I’m not complaining, but it seems a little bizarre that the crew doesn’t get on in SAS. Maybe one of you can explain it to me. Anyway, the café isn’t in full swing until lunch. At lunchtime I couldn’t see that the crew operated the café any differently than a normal diner. Arriving in the car, I was told where to sit and given a menu that looked just like the ones I’d had on preceding days. The car is equipped with an “island” in the middle that has a counter where I had guessed we would get food and go sit down at a table, but the counter was never used and the food, once ordered, came up from the “galley’ straight to the table. This wasn’t such a big, new experience after all. Dinner was run the same way as a regular diner, requiring reservations. I did smarten up, as they had trout on the menu that night. Would it be like the mahi-mahi? I stuck with the beef; it’s not a steak, but they cook it just fine.
Just a couple of comments on the scenery. From the time I awoke at El Paso until the end of the day in Marshall, it takes 2 days to get through Texas, a lot of time in one state. And at breakfast the next morning, as we pull into St. Louis, someone said to me, “What happened to Arkansas?”. The arch and river in St. Louis is worth seeing from the train, A better view than if you’re in town. The rest of the trip happens pretty fast on that last day; the train leaves St. Louis and pretty quickly gets into southern Illinois and rocketing passed the endless rows of corn and soybeans.
We pulled into Chicago about 10 minutes early. So here it was Monday afternoon back where I started the previous Wednesday afternoon. Basically, 6 days of travel and never behind schedule… that’s a lot of miles and hours to maintain schedule. Fed adequately; slept soundly. Taken care of directly by, all in all, 10 Amtrak employees. It was a wonderful experience. Kudos to you, Amtrak!!
City of Miami Member # 2922
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Good boy, TBlack! I enjoyed both your reports. Thanks. I'm really happy you had a good trip.
Regarding the Cross Country Cafe on #22, I asked the steward on mine if they were serving the all-day menu as advertised. He said "no." I said "why not?" He said ""They" quit doing that." Some explanation, hunh? So it seems to operate just like a dining car but half the size because the crew totally takes up the other half that I guess was supposed to be the 'cafe' part. Seems like there should have been another sleeper between you and the dorm car. On the day I took it I'm pretty sure it was an 8 car train. What I can't figure out is why there is no baggage handling in Austin. The morning I got on there was a young man who asked for a box for his bike. The agent said "no boxes - no baggage at this station since 2005. Sorry" The YM says "the 800 number said I could." They just look at each other and the YM accepts it amazingly well. The next thing I know I see the YM on the platform in Fort Worth putting his bike in a box and loading it into the baggage area which is the lower level of one of the coaches that was in Austin. I kept meaning to ask him how he managed that trick and to compliment him on his ability to cope with life and keep his cool but the opportunity did not present.
sbalax Member # 2801
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Tom, another great job. You'll make the Honor Society at this rate!!
Frank in sunny SBA
TBlack Member # 181
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quote:Originally posted by City of Miami: Good boy, TBlack!
CoM, Forgot to mention that I'd lived in Dallas '82-'88; built an office buildng in SAS in '85, so that part of the trip SAS-DAL was very nostalgic for me. Austin looks a lot bigger!
TBlack Member # 181
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Frank, I think it could have been improved with a few Spanish phrases as the train wended its way through Texas, but I don't know any; can you be coaxed out of retirement?
train lady Member # 3920
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I know I am getting a bit biased about language but.. I don't know of anything that can be improved with spanish phrases. I don't know what your town is like but here when you call the local gov't, the federal gov,t, businesses the drug store for meds etc it is like being in a foreign country. I have had on occasion had to demand that they put someone on who speaks English as I can't understand what they are saying. It really infuriates me that the politicians are making us bi linguial in an Englidsh speaking country. all the other immigrants have been able to learn the language and become one of us instead of them, Why can't the Hispanics.I love going to Maine because almost everyone speaks English.
train lady Member # 3920
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addenda, I meant to add that we have a very large Asian community here and they ask for and get no special treatment. Our schools have had speakers of 70 different languages and the only one that gets special treatment is Spanish.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513
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Excellent report Tom
Mucho gracias. (Sorry Connie, press one for English?)
train lady Member # 3920
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this is exactly what I mean. You shouldn't have to press anything for English. That is our language. You should push whatever for all the other languages.
dns8560 Member # 15184
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Great trip report! I wonder what that graphic symbol means. From the way you describe it, it might mean "pull down".
Railroad Bob Member # 3508
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Thanks for your interesting review, Mr. Black. I know and have worked with Lloyd many times back in "my day" on the Sunset/Eagle...he is WAY above 20 years of service. If I recall, he is a "prior rights" man-- railroad service before Amtrak came around. So I would put his service years at close to 40. Henry is an 80's hire, if I recall. Lloyd was SP; you're right- he knows the mechanical aspects of those cars very well. Has family on the Texas side. Interesting how they don't staff the food service until AUS; - but I'm guessing it's a "bottom line" thing-- work hours and lesser cost to Amtrak to staff the Eagle out of AUS, instead of SAS...
20th Century Member # 2196
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Enjoyed the trip report. You unfold the journey so well.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Even though there are no Hours of Service issues whatever with On-Board Service, putting the crew off there enables Amtrak to have them off pay during the layover. They would be on continuous time if in service to SAS, unless another crew was assinged (and the crew arriving 21 (day I) were not in service again until 22 (Day III)) and "double lodging" was incurred.
In short, most definitely a $$$$$ issue.
TBlack Member # 181
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GBN,
Thanks for the explanation. As I expressed earlier, the breakfast was fine and, in light of your knowledge, a reasonable compromise.
You're back from your "island" venture? All went well I'm hoping?
TB
train lady Member # 3920
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TB, thanks for a fine report. YOu make it so personable that it is like being there with you.
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