KenHamer

Well, maybe not quite pro. Not yet.

Maybe Sunday, after my return trip.

In 1996 I knew almost nothing about air travel. A short while later I was collecting $11,000 MCOs on BA First Award flights that I earned by buying $800 worth of magazine subscriptions, connecting in Guadalajara on my way from Vancouver to Toronto, hobnobbing with major airline CEOs and VPs, and just generally living the high life on airlines.

Last week, I knew almost nothing about long distance rail travel. Today I at least "feel" like a pro. Here's my story...


In 1996 I received a package from American Express containing a complimentary membership in Canadian Airlines President's Club, along with a bunch of upgrades, lounge membership, etc. Normally it would have gone straight into the garbage, but for reasons unknown this one got kept. Coincidentally, a couple of months later I started a job that had me flying 100,000 to 250,000 miles a year. After figuring out the "system", I maintained top tier status in one or more programs every year from 1998 to 2012.

But I was growing weary of air travel. Even in an Emirates First Class Suite, halfway through an 8 hour daylight flight, I found myself cursing under my breath "Get me off this damn plane!" In another coincidence that mirrors the original, I was recently diagnosed with a disease that made long distance air travel problematic, to the point of not practical. A short meeting with a progressive employer, and suddenly I'm no longer travelling by air.

Coincidence in. Coincidence out. And an opportunity.


I'd long been interested in train travel, but never really acted upon that interest. Then for reasons already lost to memory over Christmas I checked the fare for SEA-CHI on Amtrak, and was blown away by the fare. I started researching, started learning about the sleeping accomodations and other amenities, and before long I was hooked.

In mid-January I booked SEA-CHI return for early March. Then I asked for the time off.

Shortly thereafter I learned about the Pacific Parlour cars and promptly booked SEA-LAX return for mid-April. And then asked for the time off.

In the meantime, I watched fares go up and down, bedroom and family bedrooms come and go, and watched the accomodations rise to an atmospheric $1292 before crashing a few days before departure to $421. Over a couple of weeks, several phone calls, and a trip to the Amtrak ticket office in Vancouver, I upgraded both directions from the original roomette to a family bedroom. Total increase over the originally booked return fare was only $233.10.

At the same time I started browsing through this here Amtrak forum, taking particular note of problems and complaints. And working out a strategy to deal with all of them.

Then suddenly, last Saturday, "early March" happened.

KenHamer

But first... the potential problems, and potential solutions. In no particular order...

One of the first complaints I saw was about surly staff. Well, not much you can do about that other than try to maintain a positive outlook. On the other hand, I had a decade and a half of dealing with surly airline staff. Nevertheless, I looked to see if I could pre-resolve any of the noted problem. For example, one sleeping car attendant seemed disinterested in taking "room service" orders to the point of not even producing a menu. So I found the menus on the Amtrak site and printed them out. That problem solved.

Another complaint was that while travelling through the mountains was very scenic the hours spent traversing the midwest plains were quite boring. So I took all kinds of amusements to keep me busy -- radio scanner to try to monitor train communications, a GPS to figure out where we were and how fast we were going, MS Streets and Trips to see our position on a map, and lots of movies. Another problem solved.

Parking at the terminal was a concern. But someone pointed out that Everett (two stops in from Seattle) actually had free long term parking. Being a skeptic, the next time I was in Bellingham I made a "slight detour" on the way home to Vancouver (via Everett) and confirmed that indeed, there was free long term parking. Brilliant. I changed my departure from Seattle to Everett.

Some complained of noisy cabins. Fixed with industrial grade but comfortable 3M 1100 series earplugs.

Others mentioned overly hot cabins and suspect air conditioning. Hmmm... hard to do anything about that, but took some very light clothing just in case, in spite of being the middle of winter.

Only one rather inconveniently placed electrical outlet? A 2m extension with 3 outlets.

Endemic delays? I'm on vacation. Besides I booked the return for 3 days after arrival.

Late night munchies? Filled (overfilled, perhaps) my suitcase with various goodies and soft drinks.

Which side of the train has the best views? Book room with windows on both sides.

And finally, who are all those people on the train, and what are they doing there? FlyerTalk, as always, proved its worth as a generous forum tutored me on who, what, where, when, why, and how. After a stop at the bank and picking up a stack of 1$ and 5$ bills, and I'm set. Off to the US. And Amtrak.

KenHamer

An easy drive, and notwithstanding the 60 minutes border line up (and potential additional "sequestered" border delays) drive right up to the NEXUS booth and am given a polite "Thank you." An easy drive to Everett, a quick stop to pick up munchies, and a short form to fill out for long term parking. Wow, so far so good. And easy.

The terminal, though, is a fascinating study of a wide range of mental health, substance abuse, and other social issues. It seems perfectly safe -- I and apparently everyone else seemed to feel safe, but wow, what a cadre of characters! Not really Amtrak, nor their responsibility I suppose. But an still interesting start.

In time the train arrived, and departed, on time. And I had my first epiphany. I was courteously directed to the Sleeping Car where I was warmly greeted by a vivacious Veronica. "Are you room 15? Great, we've been expecting you." Suddenly I felt like I was in an All State commercial. She insisted ontaking my heavy suitcase and lifting it on to the train, leaving me only my laptop to carry. She directed me to my cabin, invited me to make myself at home, and advised me she would be along shortly to help me settle in. Wow! I'm seriously impressed. And for me, that's rare.

I get to my Family Bedroom #15, and immediately fall in love with it. It's shorter than I expected, but is bright, airy and spacious. And I start to unpack.

Momentarily Veronica appears, and gives me the "warm and fuzzies" with a warm and friendly explanation of, well, pretty much everything. Including the single, unfortunately placed outlet -- but then explains that she has extension cords if I need one. "Nope, brought my own, but thanks."

OK, only one of you? Well, this small overhead bunk is a great place to store your suitcase -- out of the way, but easily available. And if you want more space (and to "lock in" your suit case) you can lift that bunk about 30°.

Anticipating my arrival after dining room reservations have already been requested, she's already got me a 7:15 reservation -- time to settle in, but not too much of a wait.

She then explains everything you could ever want to know about washrooms, showers, amenities (like soap and shampoo), towels, and so on. She also notes that at the top of the stairs there's juice, tea, coffee, water, cups, etc -- help yourself at any time.

(In the thread where someone described an unfortunate encounter with a surly employee, another posted about an excellent employee. It's clear that I got one of the excellent ones.)

Talk then turns to meals -- and I explain my concern about how well I will fit - or not - into the booth seating. She suggests checking it out 'cause it's usually a lot of fun and you meet really nice people, but if I prefer she's happy to take my order and bring my meals to my cabin.

Suddenly, and instantly, I really, seriously feel like I'm on vactaion. For real! Everything's coming up roses.

KenHamer

Dinner time arrives and I make my way to the Dining room, next car over. Staff members, all of them, are friendly and helpful. I'm seated in (or at least stuffed into) a booth. Shortly I'm joined by another gentleman. I enjoy a very good meal, and very pleasant company. It was everything it should have been.

Well, except for me. I clearly don't properly fit into the booths. My problem, not Amtrak's. I inform Veronica of that, and she's all "No problem, I'll come down and take your order as soon as they announce the dining room is open." I then tell her I'm not a breakfast person, but rather a night owl who likes to sleep late. No problem, she won't bother me for breakfast orders. But if I change my mind, here's the call button. She might be a few minutes as she's taking care of another car as well, but she will come eventually.

So, to skip ahead somewhat, and get the whole meal thing out of the way -- it was great. Food was great, "room service" was great, I enjoyed eating while sightseeing from my own cabin, and was seriously impressed. Come to think of it the guy I had dinner with the first night was a restauranteur himself, and even he was impressed. He noted of course that the veggies (for example) were frozen and not fresh, but given the constraints that service on a train entails, he was very complimentary about both the food and the service.

Juice (and other self-serve beverages) were indeed conveniently located. But I had already stocked up. I just "used" my own.

Back to my cabin, and my first night.

KenHamer

I sit and listen for a bit. But I don't hear anything. At least nothing I didn't expect. Turns out my cabin has no squeaks, rattles, groans, or any other weird noises. And the PA system volume control works perfectly. It doesn't go to eleven, but it does go to zero. I'll still wear my earplugs, to deal with other passengers, the clunks and clanks of siding switches, passing freight trains and the like. But otherwise, for sitting quietly and contemplating, the cabin is just fine.

Turns out the heating and cooling system also works perfectly. The temperature is just perfect for me upon first entering the cabin. But a "press that button" kind of guy, I instinctively try adjusting the temperature controls. They take several minutes to take affect, but in fact the temperature control works exactly like it should.

Seats are comfy, lots of legroom, big windows on both sides of the train, and a convenient table for my laptop - to watch movies, to track progress on the moving map display, to place my GPS, and my scanner - which regularly pumps out intriguing messages like "Mile post 1 5 4 decimal nought no defects 5 2 axels train length 1 0 4 1 feet detector out."

There's even a little cutout for my Fuze Beverage bottle, and convenient places for both my eyeglasses and my little flashlight. Can't see much in the dark, though those quick flashes of light in the night as we pass by a remote farm house have a Norman Rockwell kind of charm. Nevertheless, I spend much of the evening watching movies and re-watching some of my favourite episodes of Game of Thrones. (I think Season 2 Episode 9 is the best of the 20 episodes aired so far -- it's the one where the true nature of each character comes to the fore -- and Tyrion Lannister gets killed.)

In Spokane, at 12:30am, I listen (and feel) as we hook up with Train 28 from Portland. By the time we actually get moving again, I'm in bed and mostly asleep. So far, it's been a great and perfect day.

KenHamer

Saturday morning I get up, use the washroom, find the towels and stuff exactly where Veronica told me I would find them, have a quick shower (which strangely, is actully plenty big enough even for me.) As I get back to my cabin, Veronica arrives to take my lunch order. She'll put it in first before coming back to stow my bed. That way lunch will be there quicker.

She also implores me to come to the wine and cheese tasting, as it is so much fun. I was planning on it anyway, but it was nice to have the encouragement.

Lunch arrives, and it was great. Nothing exotic, but tasty and filling and very enjoyable.

After lunch, I spend some time looking out the window at the, well, you know, they boring part. The flat lands of South Saskatchewan (or North Dakota as you lot call it.) But I didn't find it boring at all. I loved it. It was all I hoped it would be. Quite, relaxing, and a scenery I rarely get to see.

In the meantime, there was that wine and cheese tasting. And yes, it was fun. The whole "cast" and crew was there, and it seemed like something out of a 1960's variety show. It was an interesting and fun way to spend an hour. And of all things, I won a bottle of wine (one of the featured wines - Airfield "Unoaked" Chardonnay) for knowing how many gallons of gas a train uses on the trip from Seattle to Chicago.

Time once again to retire to my cabin. The day started out sunny but as the afternoon wore on and the train wore east it got darker and snowier. What started as flurries now became actual snowfall, though not quite a blizzard. The ocaissional solitary truck would pass by on the adjacent highway, and you could see the snow in the headlight beams.

Now while some may find that depressing, for me there is just something mystic and magical about snow falling on the prairies and farm houses as you roll past. As the afternoon turned into darkness, that feeling only intensifies, particularly as you travel past those same scenes - now eerily lit often by a single overhead street lamp. Not sure what it is, but it seriously takes me to another place. I imagine it's something like a religious experience that a non-atheist might feel.

Boring? No chance!

KenHamer

Throughout the trip, I kept my eyes on our "on time performace" (OTP in the airline world) and though at each station we seemed to depart an increasingly few minutes late, at all the stations where there was an arrival time posted, we seemed to arrive with plenty of time, and once again get back on time. If you haven't yet seen or used it, I highly recommend Amtrak Status Maps. A lot of fun to play with even if you are not travelling.

At one point a conductor happened by and was bemused by my scanner, asking if I was monitoring the train. "Yes" I said, "but not very well." He then gave me some pointers on the "frequency hopping" they use, and the new narrow band channel structure. Like everyone else on the train, he was friendly and helpful.

Bedtime again. Though I didn't mention it previously, I was particularly impressed with the size of the bed. I stepped out the 3'6" on my office floor tiles, as per the Amtrak website, but the actual bed seemed actually wider. In any case it was plenty big enough and comfortable enough for me. If you were so inclined, I think 2 people (2 friendly people, if you know what I mean) could easily share the bed. Not so sure about the upper bunks (or the kids beds for that matter.) But the lower adult bunk was big -- much bigger than any airplane bed, including the much vaunted SQ F suite.

Another comfy night.

KenHamer

And another pleasant morning. By this time, I was well settled in.

Lunch came, and again, like all the meals before it, was excellent.

Only once lunch was over, the realization that the train ride was almost over set in. It was truly a sad moment. I quickly got over it, as I'd soon be in Chicago. And of course, I'd get to do it all over again in a few days time.

But if I had my druthers, this train would just keep on going for several more days. At least.

KenHamer

So, I came prepared for the worst, hoping for the best, expecting somewhere in between. What I got was better, much better, than I had hoped for. Everything went perfectly. Flawlessly. Brilliantly.

If there was a NatGeo travelogue film crew on board, this would have been the trip for them to be on. Every crew member I encountered was friendly and helpful. Everything worked exactly as it should have. We departed and arrived on time. It was enjoyable. Immensely so.

I realize that not everyone has had my good fortune, and that there will likely be screw ups in my future. Worse, I suppose, is that when you start at or near the top, it's a lot easier to go downhill than up. Still, it was a great introduction to train travel, and a perfect start to my vacation.



If it wasn't for good luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all.

KenHamer

Pictures to follow...

nerd

Nice read. Thanks for your trip report. ^

will5404

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Thanks for the report. You have to try Via before Harper cuts it.

dinoscool3

Thanks for the great TR!!

jackal

Fun read, and I'm glad your trip went so well! I must say, I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone do quite the level of pre-planning to handle every possible contingency that you did, but even though it looks like you didn't end up needing most of what you prepared for, you've got the perfect list to be able to handle everything Amtrak could possibly throw at you.

Here's hoping your next excursions are similarly smooth...let us know how they turn out!

And I'd also be interested in a comparison of Amtrak vs. VIA from your perspective. Consider a trip on them soon!

KenHamer

Some photos to get started... more to come.

My Train, My Car, My Window


My play, er, uh, I mean, work station


My lunch (Saturday)


My lunch (Sunday)


My bed.... ahhhhhhhh.