Passenger Trains > Trip report Nebraska - East Coast- return

Recently finished my Holdrege, NE - Chicago - DC - Berlin, CT - NYP - Chicago - Holdrege trip.

Supposed to leave Holdrege in the early AM of Thursday 12/31 on #6.  That train broke down east of Denver and ended up getting into Chicago at 1:45 AM on Friday 2/1.

Given how late #6 was I decided to drive to Omaha on Friday and fly direct to Washington from Omaha on Southwest.  Amtrak refunded me my fare.
So the rail portion of my trip started on Sunday 2/3 on a NEC regional from Washington to Berlin.  Good trip...on-time...no problems.  Did notice a "cleaning person" on the train between DC and NYP.  He cleaned the restrooms and picked up trash in the coaches.

Leaving Berlin on Tuesday 2/5, I rode a SPG shuttle to New Haven where we connected with a NEC regional.  Got into NYP around 12:30.

The Lake Shore left on-time at 3:40.  I was in a roomette and Eugene was the SCA. Nice guy and did a good job. As has been pointed out, there is no snack service between NYP and Albany.  You can eat your dinner in the diner at any time between NYP and Albany but they have no snacks available.  I decided to eat between Rhinecliff and Albany.  The attendant was an older gentleman in a suit.  Very professional and took an interest in how passengers were served.  I had the chicken aflredo.  It came with a side salad, roll, and brownie.  Not a bad meal, but nothing great.  The attendant did seat me, took my order, and brought me meal to the table.  This was easy since there were only about 5 or 6 passengers in the car.

Breakfast the next morning was the new "buffet" style. Two tables were set aside for the food.  One table had muffins, drinks, plates and cutlery.  The other had fruit, yogurt and cereal.  If you wanted the hot breakfast sandwich, the attendant would get it for you.  I only had a muffin and some OJ.  Not a bad system, but wonder how crowded it will be during a busy period.  Not the traditional dining experience but not bad.  With only one attendant there was no back and forth between attendants which, experience has proven, can really be negative at times.

Arrival was about one hour late into Chicago, due to, you guessed it, heavy freight traffic on the NS between Elkhart and Chicago.

The Zephyr left on-time, and Sam, the SCA was a good guy.  Had a nice meal in the diner with good service. Got off the train in Omaha (10 minutes late) as that was where my car was, spent the night in Omaha due to the weather, and drove back to Kearney Thursday AM.

One word descibes my trip...adequate.  Nothing great, nothing too bad (except the late #6 into Holdrege).  What is frustrating is that if one does have a complaint and you let Amtrak know about it, will anything get done?  Probably not. especially on the LD trains.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/19 19:08 by fulham.

Maybe, but I can guarntee you that if you don't complain, for sure nothing will get done. Not complaining is the best way to make sure improvements are not made.

John Webb
Trinidad, CA