Passenger Trains > A western odyssey

My brother and his son are traveling west as I type.  They boarded at Cincinnati at about 1:15 this morning.  The train was early.  The trip to Chicago was uneventful, and while I have not asked for details, he has registered no complaints.  They are now on #6 headed west to Grand Junction.  From there they are off to Moab for a couple of days, then the Grand Canyon.  After that, onto #3 to LAX and the Starlight from there to EMY for a flight home.

Hope they have a great trip.  I will update as conditions warrant.

I asked how it was on the Cardinal.  Here is the reply:

A little tired. But fine. Service was iffy but that’s also a 1am boarding for you.

I told him that that is par for the course on the Cardinal.  He added that #5 is amazing, and their car attendant is top notch!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/24 13:17 by Chessie1963.

He sent a pic from the Sightseer Lounge just now.  The two of them are in a booth upstairs.  I asked what percentage of the car is booths...he said about 40%.  They seem fine with it.  It might boost capacity as I think about it...perhaps that was Amtrak's thinking.

My favorite seats in the Viewliner are the table seats, looking forward.
 

The folks were on time at Denver (early arrival) this morning.  My brother said that the BNSF track was "a bit rough" at times overnight.  I watched them ascend the Front Range and all looks good.

I think that they are having a good ride.  

They are just about to Grand Junction, CO, maybe a few minutes late.  They have had a great trip, nearly entirely on time.  

Amtrak has delivered on this one.  Now, if the company can just make that a habit...

Just talked with my brother.  Evidently the bathrooms in his car were a mess, most of the trip.  I suggested that he write to Amtrak Customer Service.  They need to know about these things.  He also said the attendant was nowhere to be found at bedtime to put the beds down, so they did it themselves.

Not good.  

Chessie1963 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just talked with my brother.  Evidently the
> bathrooms in his car were a mess, most of the
> trip.  I suggested that he write to Amtrak
> Customer Service.  They need to know about these
> things.  He also said the attendant was nowhere
> to be found at bedtime to put the beds down, so
> they did it themselves.
>
> Not good.  

The attendant would typically keep the bathrooms clean - or at least a good attendant would. Moreover, the attendant disappearing seems to be a common occurrence on the CA Zephyr. It's the only Amtrak train I've been on and the sleeping car attendant seems to disappear on night two heading westbound to Emeryville. But they know where to find the platform in Emeryville with hand out looking for tips. I've had to put my bed down more than twice on the CA Zephyr due to a missing sleeping car attendant!