Jump to content


Photo

PNW Fest: Trips TO the Fest


  • Please log in to reply
28 replies to this topic

#21 jacorbett70

jacorbett70

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 979 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 10:31 AM

Gathering from the tweets and posts, #27 is close enough to schedule that padding will make it early into Union Station. I am already in Portland after flying in and taking in a minor league baseball game last night. I will meet the group and then ride the Portland Vintage Trolley as this morning's arrivals leave their luggage at hotels.

#22 WhoozOn1st

WhoozOn1st

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 13 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 10:41 AM

Departure day: SCAT-illac (aka Gold Coast Transit) Route 6A to OXN to board Coast Starlight. Train 14 has nailed 2 trespassers in 2 months, and it is hoped the hat trick won't be completed during this ride. Weatherwise it looks like a great day for the coastal run north of Santa Barbara! I've been slimming down so as not to adversely impact train fuel consumption ( :D ), but such efforts are undoubtedly nullified by uncheckably heavy baggage.

#23 jis

jis

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 1753 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 07:21 PM

Hope you guys had a great day today. I just learned that I got a complementary upgrade to first class on my flight out to Seattle on Tuesday. So I am rearing to go now :) even more so than I was before.

#24 AlanB

AlanB

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 2166 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Queens, NY

Posted 18 July 2010 - 09:05 PM

All went well with our arrival. We ended up being a few minutes late, although officially on time, thanks to a signal that had failed around MP 80, and then a broken rail around MP 45. Overall riding went well in Portland, although we did hit a big snag upon arrival at the Willamette Shore Trolley, which was down for mechanical problems. So Kevin quickly replaced that with a ride on the Vintage trolley running north/south on Fareless Square.
Alan,

Take care and take trains!

#25 WhoozOn1st

WhoozOn1st

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 13 posts

Posted 18 July 2010 - 11:11 PM

Underway at San Jose, departed on time. 14 running great, hitting stops early until stuck behind a freight after Cuesta Grade, then made SJC early anyway. PPC wi-fi apparently working fine, great weather, good food, good diner service, SCA friendly, enthusiastic, efficient. Dead trespasser at SLO: Happened last week, and today on SLO departure I was in the last coach for horseshoe & grade photos. Group of people (I'll count when editing pics) trackside at apparent incident site (edge of Cal Poly campus). As train receded a couple of 'em stepped toward tracks and turned as if to address the others; guessing in memory of nailed teen. Any word on when Willamette Trolley might run again? PDX after SEA.

#26 BillMagee

BillMagee

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 5361 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Cherry Hill, NJ
  • Interests:Travel, Rail, Aviation, Sports

Posted 18 July 2010 - 11:20 PM

Hope you guys had a great day today. I just learned that I got a complementary upgrade to first class on my flight out to Seattle on Tuesday. So I am rearing to go now :) even more so than I was before.

You did better than I did. I struck out both ways on US. It was steerage for me going to Chicago, and now steerage coming back to PHL from PDX. My only consolation: I do have a brand new pair of noise-cancelling earphones (thanks to forgetting my earbuds and getting carried away at the ORD electronics shop), so how bad could it be in the back of the bus? OK, pretty bad.

As for the Empire Builder heading out from Chicago to Portland? I'd give it a B.

- Service was pretty decent, maybe a B-. That is notwithstanding our car attendant getting overwhelmed and not converting my room for sleeping the second night (thank you Alan for showing me the ropes), and also not distributing he promised Champagne greeting. She was, howver, trying, so that takes it from a C+ to a B-

- The train operation was an A: basically on-time. CP and BNSF did a fine job, and Amtrak did as well. My room was fine, except for a door that would not stay shut unless it was latched (which I could not do if I was not in the room).

- Food was a B-: the two dinners were pretty good, lunch was OK, breakfast was much less than OK (particularly that sad excuse for a breakfast provided to sleeper pax on the Portland section the last day - just downright awful).

- Food service was an A. We had a really good dining car team.

- The "wine tasting" was sad (the poor guy read from a script and had no clue what he was talking about). It was pretty much what you would expect from an Amtrak-conducted wine tasting. I'll give it a C+. It could have been worse, but at least they try.

- The logistics of the Portland sleeper, five cars removed from the dining car (four coaches and the Sightseer), was a D-. The Portland pax are in exile back there. I would do the EB again, but not the Portland section.

Overcoming all of that was the on board OTOL company which, as always, gets and A+.

#27 KevinKorell

KevinKorell

    Board Leader

  • Sr. Admin
  • PipPip
  • 82315 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Lakewood, NJ
  • Interests:Making America TRAIN again!

Posted 19 July 2010 - 12:53 AM

Bill, Great critique of the trip. I basically agree with the grades you gave the various aspects. We should probably add to the consist issues the fact that the coach that turns at MSP is to the rear of the Portland sleeper, which means that coach passengers can and have to walk through that sleeper to get anywhere else on the train. And once it was gone, and we were the last car on the train, that did not stop coach passengers the following evening from walking into our sleeper, despite the sign on the door advising them not to.


Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#28 jis

jis

    Member

  • Global Moderator
  • PipPip
  • 1753 posts

Posted 19 July 2010 - 10:07 AM

And once it was gone, and we were the last car on the train, that did not stop coach passengers the following evening from walking into our sleeper, despite the sign on the door advising them not to.

Was the Coach end of the PDX Sleeper the Roomette end or the Bedroom end?

#29 steve4031

steve4031

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 1514 posts

Posted 19 July 2010 - 06:00 PM

The roomettes were at the front of the Pdx sleeper. From chi to msp there was a coach attached behind the pdx sleeper

Edited by steve4031, 19 July 2010 - 06:02 PM.





1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users