Steam & Excursion > 4014 Car Attendant Confidential (1 of 4?)

On Friday I head down to LA to join the 4014 Excursion as a Car Attendant. I'm anticipating I might get an interesting story out of this (hopefully with photos), so this posting will serve as a kind of prequel. At this writing I've no idea how this is gonna turn out.

Okay. So how the heck did I score this gig? It goes back a'ways.
In 1975 I joined a model RR club in Santa Barbara.
In 1976 my membership was cut short when the AFT passed through town and took me with it (obviously a story onto itself). I never made it back to the club, and eventually left SB for Dutch Flat, CA.
Fast Forward 43yrs...
In 2016 I retired from Amtrak OBS, and we bought a boat, large enough to live on, back in Santa Barbara where my wife and I were raised. We now spend Summers aboard.
In 2018 I noticed a fellow on a neighboring boat wearing a polo shirt with a small SP Daylight monogram so, of course, I stopped and said hello. Turns out he's a member of the very same model RR club I'd been pulled away from in 1976 (!!) and says they still meet once a month- I should consider stopping by.. a year later I finally did. I reintroduced myself to the club and two things happened:
1. The club treasurer hit me up for about 4 grand in back membership dues.
2. Another member pulled me aside and, based on my Amtrak background (I guess), asked me if I'd be interested in volunteering as a Train Attendant on the up coming 4014 excursion. Seems he, “Knew a guy”.
The bottom line is: getting on as a 4014 Car Attendant requires a LOT of groundwork.

So far all my correspondence with the excursion operators (Rail Giants) has been through general Emailings- really nothing addressed to me personally. I've never met any of them, and as far as I know, they've never heard of me.

We (I've gleaned there are 30+ of us) have received a slow series of Emails filling in details such as dates, report times, car assignments etc.

My scheduled participation:
Friday I drive to Rancho Cucamonga for a safely meeting that evening. I'll spend the night there at the hotel where the meeting is. (Making the rez provided a potentially awkward moment- calling what you sure HOPE is the right number and saying, "Um, Hi. I'm with the Big Boy Group...") (Wait, wait- don’t hang up...!)

Saturday morning at 4:30am I board a bus to arrive at the train well ahead of the passengers to “set things up” for their arrival. I have been assigned to the Dome Diner CITY of PORTLAND. This is one of the two higher priced “First Class Service” cars at the rear of the train. I don't know exactly what time we pull (7ish?) , and have been told to expect a mid-afternoon arrival in Barstow. I think most of the Car Attendants are busing back to LA with the passengers. I've elected to stay the night in Barstow.

Sunday. I 'll be working the Dome Diner back to Colton. Another early morning start, although I suppose my already being in Barstow will buy me an extra hour of sleep. We're told to expect an early afternoon arrival.

Stay tuned. I'll report back Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.
SR



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/19 08:58 by BoilingMan.

BoilingMan,
Saturday, I will be riding on the City of Portland.  Looking forward to meeting you.

Ronnie McCallay
Cañon City, CO

steamfan49 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BoilingMan,
> Saturday, I will be riding on the City of
> Portland.  Looking forward to meeting you.

Make sure you tip well.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> steamfan49 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > BoilingMan,
> > Saturday, I will be riding on the City of
> > Portland.  Looking forward to meeting you.
>
> Make sure you tip well.

PHall-
Sweet .
SR 

(Hey! You left out the part about Mom's operation)