My Weekend Jaunt to California ~ All 23000 Miles Of It!
Feb 10, 2013, 1:09 pm
#16
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
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Posts: 4,904
WOW. I got halfway before takeoff on my first flight of the day and will be reading the remainder on the second and third (since there won't be any views at night). Amazing read so far, Seat 2A, you are indeed the FT master of prose.
Feb 10, 2013, 2:14 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Downers Grove, IL
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, AA Advantage
Posts: 5,983
The last time I flew Southwest out of Phoenix was way back in 1984. I was aboard N24SW, a 737-200 that served WN faithfully for another thirteen years before being sold to Orient Eagle Airways in 1997. The very next year it was damaged beyond repair after skidding off a runway at Alma Ata, Kazakhstan. It was a sad ending for this reliable little workhorse, but hardly extraordinary. I have tracked the whereabouts of most every aircraft I have ever flown upon and about fifty of them have come to an untimely end - usually in some third world backwater. Others have been involved in some rather famous disasters like the Pan Am 747 that collided with the KLM 747 in Tenerife. I flew that plane between Honolulu and Seattle in 1976. Or the American DC-10 that literally lost an engine on takeoff from OHare back in 1979. Id flown that plane on a short SAN-LAX flight just two years earlier. It seemed fine then
Kansas Citys Union Station is one of the most beautiful train stations Ive ever been in. It was built during an era when train stations reflected the grandeur and excitement of long distance travel. Its Beaux-Arts architectural style includes a cavernous and ornate grand hall, high sculpted ceilings, polished stone floors and a cathedral like ambience. When it opened for business in 1914, it was the second largest train station in the country. Only St. Louis Union Station was larger.
At its peak during World War II, an estimated one million travelers passed through this station. Like any large city terminal, the station included restaurants, a cigar store, and a barber shop. Additionally, it was the corporate headquarters for Fred Harvey, the company that famously catered the Santa Fe railroad and operated a string of hotels throughout the Southwest. Its hard to believe that despite of all of its remarkable history and glamor, this magnificent building sat empty and unused for a ten year period from 1989 to 1999.
My first train ride today will take me 283 miles from Kansas City through the heart of Missouri to St. Louis. Some of the named trains operating this route in years past were the Ann Rutledge, the Kansas City Mule and the St. Louis Mule. In 2009, Amtrak held a contest to rename the route with the winning entry being the Missouri River Runner.
While many people living on the more populated East or West coasts may not find Americas Heartland very interesting (it's all flyover country for many of them), I think this area is rich in beautiful scenery. Over the next six hours, we travelled through low rolling hills and fields dotted by pretty farm houses, multiple silos, quaint back roads and sleepy Midwestern towns that appear not to have changed much if at all over the past fifty years. The old country towns were the most interesting part of the trip for me. I loved the old brick buildings and quaint storefronts that represent a slice of small town America that many people only get to read about. Most tourists, especially foreigners, rarely if ever travel to towns like these but Id like to think that if they did theyd leave with a very favorable impression of their visit, and indeed America as a whole. While in the old days these smaller towns would have been served by a local train, nowadays the train passes through them enroute to stops at the larger towns. Id love to return here someday and ply these back roads and country towns with my trusty Toyota pick-up. If gas prices ever drop sufficiently, Ill do just that.
St. Louis Union Station opened for business in 1894. At its opening it was already the largest passenger rail terminal in the world and very shortly thereafter it was also the worlds busiest with over one hundred train departures per day. Architecturally it is simply magnificent, built in an eclectic mix of Romanesque styles. A plaque detailing its history indicated that the station was modeled after Carcassonne, a walled, medieval city in southern France. The Grand Hall a staple of all the worlds great railway stations is one of the most impressive I have ever seen featuring sweeping archways, fresco and gold leaf detailing, mosaics and art glass windows. It now serves as the lobby and lounge area for the St. Louis Union Station Hotel, a 539 room property operated by Hilton under the DoubleTree banner.
My first flight aboard an Embraer ERJ190 came in 2006 aboard Air Canada between Ottawa and Toronto. I was impressed. From a passengers perspective, I think Embraers got a real winner in the E190 and its smaller sibling the E170. Both offer a wide spacious cabin thats big enough to allow for normal sized coach seats much like youd expect to find in a Boeing sized jetliner rather than those hard, skimpy little things that pass for seats in Embraers smaller 135-145 series aircraft as well as many CRJs.
Although none of the other passengers in the gate area seemed to care one way or the other, I was distinctly disappointed to find that the aircraft operating Frontier 1333 down to Albuquerque was an ex-Midwest machine still wearing Midwests attractive blue, gold and white livery. Id really been looking forward to flying the 190 painted up as one of Frontiers Animal Jets.
During the planning stages of this little expedition, I had looked into upgrading to First Class sleeper accommodations out to LA. Last year I saw that it was possible to upgrade between Albuquerque and LA for as little as $100.00 but this year the least expensive upgrade I could find was $167.00.
For those of you who have never attended an airline collectibles convention, picture a big hotel meeting room filled with table after table of everything from airline timetables to airliner models to dinner service china to books to postcards to just about whatever you can imagine having anything to do with the airline industry including barf bags and old 727 operations manuals. Back in the 80s and early nineties I used to rent tables and sell postcards, magazines and menus. My postcard collection exceeds 15000 cards and I have about 3000 spares. Most of my menus were from the 1970s and 80s and in the case of both menus and postcards, most of my best stuff has been sold off, if not at a collectibles show then on eBay. These days I enjoy just browsing as well as meeting up with old friends, many of whom still work the circuit.
And finally, the journey from Denver to Oakland aboard the California Zephyr is regarded by many as the most scenic rail journey in North America.
At some point Brad made mention of a website called FlyerTalk where hed apparently learned a few tricks of the trade.
Im familiar with FlyerTalk, I said. I sometimes post over in the Trip Reports forum.
Whats your FlyerTalk name? asked Brad.
Seat 2A I replied.
Gasp!
Ive heard of you!
Really? Well I guess I have submitted a few reports over the years
Turns out Brad was an infrequent poster on FT indeed he could hardly remember his FT name. He couldnt quite remember how hed heard of me but he knew that he had.
Im familiar with FlyerTalk, I said. I sometimes post over in the Trip Reports forum.
Whats your FlyerTalk name? asked Brad.
Seat 2A I replied.
Gasp!
Ive heard of you!
Really? Well I guess I have submitted a few reports over the years
Turns out Brad was an infrequent poster on FT indeed he could hardly remember his FT name. He couldnt quite remember how hed heard of me but he knew that he had.
Also I ran into some friends of a friend while in Germany. The irony was six weeks later I saw them at this friends 4th of July party.
The longest Amtrak train Ive ever ridden was the combined California Zephyr, Desert Wind and Pioneer back in the mid-eighties. Between Chicago and Denver that train was as much as nineteen cars long. Ive ridden many trains in Mexico through the seventies and eighties that were over twenty cars long but by far the longest train Ive ever ridden was Australias The Ghan from Adelaide to Alice Springs to Darwin in Australia. That train was thirty-four cars long. Crikey!
Ah the Pacific Parlour Car. For many, this car is the primary reason why they booked First Class accommodations on the Starlight. Unquestionably the most luxurious car in the Amtrak fleet, the Pacific Parlour Cars are available exclusively to First Class passengers riding aboard the Coast Starlight. There are no similar cars on any other Amtrak trains.
The Pacific Parlour Cars have an impressive railroad history dating back to the mid-1950s when they were built by the Budd Company for the Santa Fe Railways all coach El Capitan operating between Chicago and Los Angeles. The El Cap was the first long distance train to employ completely Hi-Level or two-level cars in its consist and those early Hi-Level cars were the model Amtrak used to design its current bi-level Superliner fleet.
I was particularly happy to see Pacific Parlour Car Napa Valley included in tonights consist because on many of my past rides aboard the Starlight, there was no Parlour Car. Due to their advanced age, they were maintenance hogs that required a lot of extra and expensive attention. The word is that Amtrak has overcome many of those early problems and now the reliability of the remaining cars is less of an issue.
Southbound it had broken down so we were stuck with a regular lounge.
I was recently checking the price for a roomette between Santa Barbara and Portland for a trip later this spring on the Coast Starlight. A winter sale put the Coach fare at $82.00 with the First Class add on being only $198.00. Subtract my 10% AAA discount (off the coach fare) and consider that I get my own private room plus the cost of all enroute meals in the dining car I can order whatever I like off the menu including dessert and I think that the total of about $290.00 is a steal compared to the $1000.00 or more that one would pay for a similar journey in Australia or Europe.
Great report!
Feb 10, 2013, 4:08 pm
#18
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 153
I wish I had the imagination and fortitude, a testament of going with the flow,
I have been reading the report for the past three hours, taking notes of your
journey, I really enjoyed not only reading but seeing pictures of places I will never
travel, you should write a book on traveling smart. thanks again for taking the time.
I have been reading the report for the past three hours, taking notes of your
journey, I really enjoyed not only reading but seeing pictures of places I will never
travel, you should write a book on traveling smart. thanks again for taking the time.
Feb 10, 2013, 7:22 pm
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MN
Programs: Lots of programs, dirt on all of them!
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Feb 10, 2013, 8:50 pm
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,149
Wow - 900 some odd hits already - I had no idea FlyerTalk was so busy on the weekends! Truth be known, I imagine only a fraction of those 900 hits actually managed to find the time to read this report in its entirety but for those of you hard cores that did, allow me to paraphrase many a Flight Attendant at flight's end:
THANK YOU so much for reading this report! I realize you have a choice of Trip Reports to read, and I appreciate your taking the time to read this one today.
Really though, with my focus on getting there more so than being there, my reports are a little off this forum's beaten path. I do hope that between my writing and my photographs I can make up for the fact that over my past two reports I haven't had so much as even a single international First Class flight to describe! (I'm working on that for later this year) That said however, America is a truly beautiful and fascinating destination in herself, so if I've inspired anyone to take two or three weeks traveling around our country more so than our cities, that will be every bit as gratifying as your collective kind words about this report. Thanks again though for your comments. They are appreciated ~
Thanks, CTP. I was able to accomplish the Woodford pour, but patting myself on the back was a bit more than I could manage, especially after downing that big glass of Woodford. I went outside and rubbed up against a big spruce tree instead! 
Seeing that you've indicated Baltimore as a home base, if I may I'd like to recommend Amtrak's Cardinal. This is especially true during autumn and late spring. Westbound it departs Baltimore's Penn Station at 9:29am, arriving Chicago the next morning at 10:05am. From Chicago west, you can't go wrong though if I had a favorite it'd be the California Zephyr. However and whenever you go, I hope you both have a great trip!
By the way, this is a nice story about father/son travel off the Amtrak site.
THANK YOU so much for reading this report! I realize you have a choice of Trip Reports to read, and I appreciate your taking the time to read this one today.
Really though, with my focus on getting there more so than being there, my reports are a little off this forum's beaten path. I do hope that between my writing and my photographs I can make up for the fact that over my past two reports I haven't had so much as even a single international First Class flight to describe! (I'm working on that for later this year) That said however, America is a truly beautiful and fascinating destination in herself, so if I've inspired anyone to take two or three weeks traveling around our country more so than our cities, that will be every bit as gratifying as your collective kind words about this report. Thanks again though for your comments. They are appreciated ~
Originally Posted by CatchThePigeon
Pour yourself a large Woodford and give yourself a pat on the back.
Originally Posted by CubsFanJohn
Isn't the Fred Harvey company still around? I do remember on a 2001 trip to Death Valley they had a store out there.
I believe the Fred Harvey Company was sold to the Amfac Corporation about ten years ago. Amfac has since been rebranded Xanterra and still acts as the hotel concessionaire at Death Valley National Park (as well as Grand Canyon and a few others) to this day.
Do they still have the movie theater down-stairs (in the Pacific Parlour Cars)?
Yes they do. I believe they offer two movies a day down there. I've personally never understood the allure of watching a movie on a train when there's so much else going on that is a uniquely enjoyable part of traveling by train. I can watch a movie anytime back home. Still, there are definitely a few takers and I believe there is room down there for about 18 people.
I believe the Fred Harvey Company was sold to the Amfac Corporation about ten years ago. Amfac has since been rebranded Xanterra and still acts as the hotel concessionaire at Death Valley National Park (as well as Grand Canyon and a few others) to this day.
Do they still have the movie theater down-stairs (in the Pacific Parlour Cars)?
Yes they do. I believe they offer two movies a day down there. I've personally never understood the allure of watching a movie on a train when there's so much else going on that is a uniquely enjoyable part of traveling by train. I can watch a movie anytime back home. Still, there are definitely a few takers and I believe there is room down there for about 18 people.
Originally Posted by FlyingDoctorwu
I can't wait to take my son on a long distance train....
By the way, this is a nice story about father/son travel off the Amtrak site.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Feb 11, 2013 at 10:49 am
Feb 11, 2013, 3:20 am
#24
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Let me check my Logbook
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards; AAdvantage; Alaska Mileage Plan; Wyndham Rewards; Choice Hotels
Posts: 2,350
Another excellent Trip Report as usual. Seat 2A, you were not far from where I live when you were at LGB and there WOULD have been time for a brief visit as I was home that day.
Feb 11, 2013, 4:05 pm
#26
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: PHL / NYC / PSA-BLQ
Programs: AA PPRO, Marriott/Hilton Gold, AMX-Plat, Global Entry
Posts: 3,124
Thanks for another brilliant trip report. You writing is so vivid, we are there for the ride - a great gift to all of us.
Also, as one who has too little time to train these days but looks forward to when I can enjoy that mode of travel, Amtrak should comp you - I am certain you sold at least 100 trips to FT'ers
Also, as one who has too little time to train these days but looks forward to when I can enjoy that mode of travel, Amtrak should comp you - I am certain you sold at least 100 trips to FT'ers
Feb 11, 2013, 5:56 pm
#28
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFOSJCOAK
Programs: AA-EXP & 1MM+, AS, MR-LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 7,590
Really though, with my focus on getting there more so than being there, my reports are a little off this forum's beaten path. I do hope that between my writing and my photographs I can make up for the fact that over my past two reports I haven't had so much as even a single international First Class flight to describe! ......
. Love your report, particularly about your train journeys. There are literally hundreds of threads reporting on F, C, Y classes of services, and many blow-by-blow accounts of airport lounges and check-in lines. Your reports are refreshingly different! You photos are great too!
Feb 11, 2013, 6:55 pm
#29
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,458
Seeing that you've indicated Baltimore as a home base, if I may I'd like to recommend Amtrak's Cardinal. This is especially true during autumn and late spring. Westbound it departs Baltimore's Penn Station at 9:29am, arriving Chicago the next morning at 10:05am. From Chicago west, you can't go wrong though if I had a favorite it'd be the California Zephyr. However and whenever you go, I hope you both have a great trip!
By the way, this is a nice story about father/son travel off the Amtrak site.
By the way, this is a nice story about father/son travel off the Amtrak site.
FDW