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Disappointing Coast Starlight trip


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#1 Lightning

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Posted 28 March 2018 - 11:15 PM

Truth be told, it is no longer your "grandfather's" train, but sadly it's become just another "ho-hum" long distance Amtrak route.  The last time I took it, admittedly a few years ago, all of the now lost amenities were still there:  fresh flowers on the dinner table, real china in the diner, great packet of toiletries in the roomettes and bedrooms, morning newspaper for First Class passengers, great desserts not served in plastic containers.  Wasn't there a time when cookies were doled out to First Class?  And of course the Parlour Cars, a great amenity, without which the CS is no longer anything special.  But on this trip, which ended early this morning, the food service was particularly disappointing.  The food was mediocre, but it was the service that was very under par, even for Amtrak.  The maitre d' was pretty bad.  Not only was she not particularly professional, but proved even rude, as when, after nearly a half hour after we finished our main courses, we asked her about dessert.  She curtly told us our server (who was pretty clueless herself--as was another server who also "attended" me during the day and a half traverse) would be by to take the order, then announced they were out of the cheesecake I was going to finish my meal with.  Nice conversation with table mates was a saving grace for that otherwise wasted time.  And since they had run out of lettuce, no side salad was to be had the second evening.  I mean how can one run out of lettuce?  And worst of all, this maitre d' made AT LEAST thirty or more announcements during the day, from the first morning call to the last evening call.  I wish I could have shut her off. 

 

No, the Coast Starlight ain't what she used to be.  And I think back a few years ago when, under that manager whose name escapes me at the moment, Amtrak was proud to make the CS a special travel experience.  Also since then, the Superliner equipment has continued to deteriorate.  Much has been made of the fact that the new CEO is an airline executive, doesn't know the passenger train business and wants to run Amtrak like an airline.  Whatever, it suppose, but not a way to run a railroad.

 

Train 14 also arrived late enough in SEA that I had to take a taxi home, whereas usually I'd pay the $1.00 to take the subway (Link to Husky Stadium) and then a connecting bus to my house.  Most of the delay was not Amtrak's fault, but arriving at nearly midnight was not a happy ending.  I wish Amtrak would tweak the schedule for an earlier scheduled arrival in SEA.  We had to add a freight engine at Jack London Oakland, but most of delay was due to the fact the Number 11 tunnel through the high Cascades of Oregon had to be worked on during a two or so hour window every day, lest it eventually deteriorate to the point of uselessness.  So we had an hour wait at Klamath Falls, then another half hour at Chemult, then finally, 45 minutes just outside the tunnel waiting for the crew to vacate.  None of which would have mattered if the train was not already scheduled late into Seattle (8 PM).

 

I hope to continue taking rail, as hope springs eternal, but this trip left a lot to be desired. 

 


"Big Green Chauvanist"

#2 Sloan

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Posted 29 March 2018 - 06:20 AM

I believe, Lightning, that the guy that you're thinking of is Brian Rosenwald, Chief Product Manager at AMTRAK.  Brian is a dynamic guy. Jishnu and I heard him give a talk at a Rail Users Network conference in Philadelphia several years ago.  He has since then retired. :(

 

Sloan



#3 Lightning

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Posted 29 March 2018 - 09:56 AM

I believe, Lightning, that the guy that you're thinking of is Brian Rosenwald, Chief Product Manager at AMTRAK.  Brian is a dynamic guy. Jishnu and I heard him give a talk at a Rail Users Network conference in Philadelphia several years ago.  He has since then retired. :(

 

Sloan

 

Yes, thank you Sloan.


"Big Green Chauvanist"




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