Read my other trip reports
at www.trainweb.org/tim
Tim@trainweb.com
The Amtrak Southwest Chief at a station stop in Albuquerque, NM on September 28th, 2015
A lot of planning, reading and research went into the creation of this cross
country rail trip. If you want to skip the monologue and get right to it, click
here. The following summarize the steps that I took
to have a solid plan for a trip with as few surprises as possible and maximizing
my AGR (Amtrak Guest Rewards) points (as a surprise bonus, Amtrak turned on Double Days during the time
I was traveling).
The itinerary that I booked begins at
Bloomington-Normal Illinois (BNL), riding the 302 Lincoln Service to Chicago on
September 27, 2015 to connect with the 3:00 PM departure of the Southwest Chief.
I reserved a roomette for the duration of the trip from Chicago to Los
Angeles. Upon arrival in L.A. on September 29th, I had intended on catching the
Coast Starlight north to Portland, but after reading many, many pages of
travelogues on TrainWeb.com
(thank you
Geno Dailey
and other writers) I looked for other options. After receiving some sound advice from veteran Carl
Morrison, I decided not to risk missing the
connection and getting Ambused farther up the line and planned an overnight
along
A one-night hiatus was built into the schedule,
allowing me to book a hotel in Anaheim and experience the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to San
Clemente to enjoy the pier and beach (report
here). The morning of
September 30th begins with another Surfliner from Anaheim to L.A. to then board
the much anticipated Coast Starlight for Portland. Another roomette was
secured in order to fully enjoy the charms and trappings of the Pacific Parlour
Car. Arrival in PDX was planned with a built in overnight as well.
This overnight had an unexpected side effect of shifting the airfare in my favor -
advanced purchase from PDX to ORD was $107 before baggage charges and peanuts
are purchased. This is compared to $167 flying out the day of arrival if had I tried to make a flight
directly from the train.
From what I have read, there are many nuances to
modern-day rail trips - age of the cars, expectations being set and managed,
ability to respond to change and then plain old patience. From scouring
countless trip reports and travelogues, I have arrived at the following list of
necessities for the upcoming trip.
As a teen, I had ridden part of the Southwest Chief
in differing legs from Chicago to Newton, KS and then from Newton to Phoenix, AZ
via Flagstaff. I remember then that being on a train was a forced departure from
reality - there was no internet or even cell phones for that matter.
Riding passenger rail was and still is its own microcosm. While on a
freeway, you may see the same car once or never again. On airplanes,
current protocol seems to dictate that little contact with other passengers is
desirable. On long distance Amtrak trains, you not only see the same
people, but you eat with them. You sit with them in the Sightseer lounge.
You talk with them and form mini relationships for the duration of the trip. In
my teens, the scenery
unfolded mile after mile from the Sightseer lounge
car (photo courtesy of Wikipedia). If we were lucky there was a movie in the
evening. I remember stopping in Albuquerque and watching the train windows get
washed as we had a break. One of the memories still lingering was the color of
the seats back then - the coach seating looked like this (photo
courtesy of Robert Tabern - President of "Outside
the Rails" and reporter for Trainweb.org).
My trip from Chicago to Los Angeles will complete the 2265 miles from Chicago that began over 25 years ago. I will also log some 106 miles on the Pacific Surfliner and 1190 on the Coast Starlight to Portland.
I arrived at Union Station around 12:20 PM with some time to kill, so I headed straight to the Metropolitan Lounge and checked in to drop off my bags. I was given a ticket to the lounge, showing the time to return to the lounge for boarding along with the train car and room assignment. I left the lounge to explore Union Station and grab some lunch.
Our Lincoln Service arrival at Union station and a picture of the Great Hall.
My Metropolitan Lounge pass.
Waiting to board in the Metropolitan Lounge.
We left Chicago just three minutes late.
Leaving from the Metropolitan Lounge gave us a head start on the boarding
process, but they don't tell you that you are getting a 4 city block walk to the
train. As we approached the sleeper car 330, there was confusion and almost
panic on the part of some of my co-passengers.
Apparently when the car was delivered, not all of the rooms were ready.
Lisa, our SCA (Sleeper Car Attendant), was doing her level best to communicate the issue and a
temporary solution of waiting in the Sightseer Lounge until she could finish.
It was frustrating to have to watch and listen as she explained many
times what was going on while the masses simply ignored her and shoved ahead
with all of their bags - only to then realize that their rooms were NOT ready.
Thankfully mine was and I did not have to suffer through the moaning and
gnashing of teeth that ensued in the Sightseer car.
We got underway and Lisa set out snacks of popcorn, juice and pretzels
for our patience.
Today's SWC #3 train to Los Angeles consisted of the following:
Locomotives P42 #67 & P42 #118
Baggage #1230
Transition Dorm #39045
Sleeper #32071
Sleeper #32013
Diner #38031
Sightseer Lounge # 33038
Coach #34091
Coach #31036
Coach #34032
In the direction of travel, my Superliner (numbered 330) is the 4th from the
locomotives after a baggage car, transition dorm and 1st sleeper.
I am assigned to Roomette 3 (upstairs),
which is the second room away from the center stairway on the north side of the
train. The sleeper cars are
configured such that the full bedrooms are in the front of the car while the
Roomettes are in the rear 1/2 of each car.
Room 3 places me two doors from the restroom, which may have its
conveniences, but I can hear each and every toilet flush with my door open.
My Sleeper Car Attendant was always close by and had the room
prepared at the proper times without me having to request the change.
My roomette #3, facing forward in the direction of travel. 2 water bottles, 2 pillows and a clean, sealed blanket awaited me.
We made it to Naperville smoothly when our first delay occurred. A passenger had a medical emergency caused us to pause at the station while paramedics assisted the passenger. We were now down one hour.
Ambulance waits at Naperville as the paramedics treat a passenger.
Leaving the suburbs behind, we rolled through the Illinois plains.
It doesn't
feel like 80 mpg until you try to remove your contacts.
Dinner was called as the sun set over Illinois and the Mississippi River.
I was seated with a couple from Wichita, KS, who would be detraining in
Newton. I enjoyed the Signature
Steak with garlic mashed as did one of my table mates and the other having the
vegetarian pasta dish of ricotta stuffed shells with marina and parmesan sauce.
The steak was seared to perfection, with nice marbling throughout.
Would I pay $24.75 for it in other situations? Probably not, but given that
it was included in the fare for sleeper accommodations, it was a nice treat.
My tablemates had been eyeing the menu with shocked looks on their faces,
not realizing that the menu was gratis for them.
We chatted for a while about my summers in Kansas and laughing that no
matter which train you are arriving on, it is dark in Newton.
We arrived at Kansas City around 11:15 PM; 30 or so minutes late where we picked
up 2 private cars with a double stop at the platform and a backup maneuver.
I retired at this point and slept until the KS/CO border.
I was content to just lay in my bed for a while looking out the window
after waking at 5 AM and then dozed until 6 AM.
Monday morning dawned with sunshine.
I got up and headed to breakfast.
I had 2 scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, sausage and a croissant.
The chicken sausage that was delivered (and not ordered) is maple
flavored, so not my favorite, but I got to cross it off my list.
My table mates were a couple from Toledo, heading to Albuquerque and then
Phoenix and on to the Grand Canyon. After a fresh air break at La Junta, the morning continued with scenic vistas
from the Raton pass, traveling between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico.
I was seated in the Sightseer lounge on the right side of the car in the
direction of travel, providing views of the Dick Wooten Ranch and other
landmarks.
Lunch in the Dining Car was the Angus Burger and was very good with bacon and Cheddar
to crown its short existence. My
table mate was a British fellow who works for the Cirque du Soleil as a sound
technician. He was moving to Orange
County from Chicago. We talked quite a bit about travel, with this being his
first long haul train trip. Having
grown up in Liverpool, England trains were the norm, but did not compare mileage
wise to our current trip.
New Mexico scenery between Las Vegas and Lamy
Lamy, NM station stop
We later arrived in Albuquerque on time, having made up some time from the
overnight delays. We had 45 minutes
to stretch and observe the wares of the Native Americans who were selling their
items on the platform. A bank sign
downtown indicated that it was 94 degrees at 4:45 PM when the SWC departed on
time.
Dinner was the vegetarian pasta and side salad, both were very good.
I was seated with a couple from Australia who were headed home via Los
Angeles after visiting family in the US.
We were able to view large mesas and red rock structures as we wound west
towards Gallup and darkness. We
left Gallup just a few minutes late and I spent some time taking down notes for this
report. I was exhausted from the
early morning in addition to a time change.
I showered and headed to bed around 10 PM and tried to read a little but
fell asleep. The shower room on a
Superliner gives you just about enough room to change your mind along with your
clothes. I quickly figured out that
timing a shower while at a station stop or service point was much easier.
And don't even think about shaving with a blade on some of those tracks.
Fullerton Amtrak station while I wait for the Pacific Surfliner to Anaheim
After arriving at Anaheim,
I purchased a ticket for the ART
(Anaheim Resort Transportation) and caught the shuttle to my hotel at La Quinta
Inn & Suites. $5.00 purchased a day
pass, as I would try and ride the ART back and forth to the ARTIC from the hotel
after my day trip to San Clemente. In planning this trip, I chose to only stay
at hotels that will offer AGR points, and La Quinta is offering a triple award
of 750 points per stay at the time of this writing (through December 31st).
After dropping off my bags, I took the ART shuttle back to the ARTIC.
Details of the day are filed under this report:
Day tripping on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.
The entire trip was nothing short of enjoyable - from the food being better than
airplane chow to meeting and talking with so many different people.
There were nuances and uncomfortable moments also - someone had dirtied the
upstairs restroom in my sleeper car so badly that it caused it to be locked out of
service for some time until Lisa could properly prepare it.
On better notes, there was always coffee and ice could be had for the asking,
even if it wasn't out for general consumption.
And that is OK with me.
Another thing that was nice was the implementation of Amtrak's fresh blanket
trial. Each new segment caused a
clean, laundered blanket in a sealed plastic bag to be left in my roomette,
allowing me to configure my bed as I needed.
Budget for BNL-CHI-ANA |
Railfare and expenses |
Retail cost of incuded meals: |
| BNL-CHI |
$12.60 |
Sunday: Steak, Tiramisu & iced tea $33 |
| CHI-ANA | $151.10 AAA Coach+$342.00 roomette supplement |
Monday: Eggs, Sausage & Juice $13 Burger+Cheese+Bacon and iced tea $17 Vegetarian Pasta, salad and coffee $24 |
| LQ Anaheim | $114.79 |
Tuesday: Railroad French Toast & Sausage $15 |
| McCormick & Schmicks |
$30.05 |
Total value of included food: $103 |
| ART Day pass | $5.00 | Sleeper car fare net of food: $239 for 2 nights in a bed. Not terrible compared to hotel stays. |
| Tip for SCA |
$20.00 |
Coach plus dining: $254.10 |
| Sodas and snacks on train |
$23.00 |
|
| Total for this segment | $698.54 |
Bloomington-Normal to Chicago: 100+100 Double
Days=200
Chicago to Fullerton: 988+988 Double Days=1976
Anaheim to San Clemente 100+100 Double Days=200
San Clemente to Anaheim 100+100 Double Days=200
La Quinta Anaheim 250+500 Bonus=750
Total points to Anaheim=3326
Thanks for reading,
