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| Re: Inside Amtrak’s Dying Long-Distance Trains (1524691) | |||
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Re: Inside Amtrak’s Dying Long-Distance Trains |
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Posted by Jackson Park B Train on Fri Sep 20 15:20:37 2019, in response to Inside Amtrak’s Dying Long-Distance Trains, posted by https://salaamallah.com/ on Fri Sep 20 14:47:21 2019. while Amtrak's extremely ignorant and stupid leaders may think the LDTs are dying, having recently racked up another several thousand miles, I disagree.I traveled СA Zephyr to Chicago, did a side trip w/an old friend to the Hoosier Traction Meet (annual 2 days of streetcar,subway,interurban news and history in Indianapolis) and then Texas Eagle/Sunst Ltd (thru sleeper) to LA to visit friends, to SLO, and finally home to Oakland. Pax were end-to-end, short hop and everything in between requiring double stopping at many stations with ultra short platforms. The Zephyr was nearly full most of the way and jammed between Grand Junction and Denver. The Texas Eagle was a shorter,less full train, but not empty, the Sunset Limited was fuller. On the Zephyr the diner was busy, though not all tables were used; on the Eagle and Sunset, the diners had minimal staffing thus few slots for coach passengers and were not heavily patronized. The food was adequate--edible, very much obsolete american cuisine not yet caught up to either fresh or healthy that I am used to in the Bay Area. I get my annual fill of iceberg lettuce on Amtrak. As to comfort, the A/C mostly worked--cooler in the hallways than the roomettes, but tolerable; and the plumbing all functioned as advertized. Union Pacific delayed us south and west bound with freight interference and slow orders, but I must say that a 3 hrs late Sunset (due into LA at 5:35 AM) was actually a plus. Some further thoughts. The dining staffswere mostly okay, but it would seem that they could have drawn more coach passengers if they stretched service hours. Coming into LA as late as we did, they could have sold a short breakfast menu--instead they sat watching out the window. OTOH, on the Zephyr, the LSA in the diner walked the aisle w/ a tray of desserts--a good upselling move. Looking forward to a jaunt to PDX in January. |
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