Amateur Hour on the West Coast Rails
Revised
4/2021
Dear Polite Traveler,
I
will never, ever, ever – did I mention never? – ride Amtrak north from CA for
an overnight trip. Why? Please read along.
Note:
Follow CDC and Amtrak guidelines when visiting.
Always wear your face mask when in public.
Old, Smelly and Rocky
Plain
and simple. This train smells old and rotten. I noted a constant
air freshener smell emanating from the air vents attempting to mask the stink,
but it didn’t work well. In fact, our clothes
and baggage now smell like the darn train! After some time, the
smell just seemed to blend in with all the other train annoyances, like the
constant, and sometimes violent, rocking. I expected some, after
all, this is a tall box running along metal rails. Nevertheless,
this was extreme, nothing at all like the many other trains I’ve ridden.
Seating in Business Class: The Entertainment of the Evening
We
left from Davis, CA for a trip to Portland,
and since the Coast Starlight leaves at 11:30 pm, we were ready to jump onto
this traveling tin can and settle into gentle rocking. Paying up
for business class seating seemed a smart bet for a comfy sleep at that
hour. After all, the seats recline and the bottom of the chair folds
up into a proper recliner. Nope.
Sleep
was not had by this couple. I don’t know what size human – we’re not
big people — these seats were made for. When reclining, the headrest was well above my head; the middle of the seat was in the middle of my
back, and the end of the footrest was at my ankles. I
struggled to stay in the seat, as I’d slide down it all night, which was
very long. More on that later.
It
was also very cold, light, and loud. We struggled to stay warm, even
wearing coats. Also, to avoid the light from the stairs, we opted
for two of the few unoccupied seats (yep, there’s no assigned seating) nearer
the connecting doors. People went through those doors all
night! When one opens, it sounds like 10 bags of ice ripped and
thrown hard onto the floor—very loud. Not that we could sleep
anyway, but it was jarring, to say the least.
The
one positive was that there was plenty of space between seats. I had
ample room to keep my bags directly in front of me.
This is Business Class? Why...?
Okay,
so we had a bit more space and comfy “looking” seats in business
class. However, doesn’t the word “business” imply one could conduct
some sort of business? Like, I don’t know...connect to the
Internet?! Yep, no Internet for us. Double
darn. The only connection to the outside world was through the
satellite coverage of our cellphones. Once in the mountains, that
disappeared too.
Additionally,
business class is supposed to include some amenities. The
only ones availed to us were a bottle of water and a $6 voucher
each. The voucher helped pay for the so-so breakfast.
Why are we stopping?
Unknown
to us before booking this turbulent excursion, Amtrak doesn’t own much of the
tracks. Even if we had known, we couldn’t have known what the
implication would be. It is, in fact, very important. The
passenger trains must yield to those hauling freight. This meant
that we sat for hours not far from home while a broken-down freight train was
repaired and passed us. Arg. At least we reached
our hotel for wine time—reaching for a silver lining.
Our Return Trip was ...what? Canceled?! What??!
Before
we left Davis, the Station Master offered us an upgrade to a “Roomette”
for our return trip home which we gladly snatched. The
positives are the beds, privacy, all meals paid, and climate
control. Check, check and check. Sounds great...we
thought.
Surprised
and grateful, we found a special lounge available for those who purchased
business, roomette, and sleeper car tickets at the Portland train
station. Yea us. However, as we entered, handed our
tickets to the nice lady who scanned them, we found ours were
canceled. What??
My
first reaction was out-of-control laughing. Why not, I
thought. This train is antiquated, and the staff doesn’t seem
interested in the passengers, so why wouldn’t someone mess up our
reservations. Made perfect sense to me. Nevertheless, this genuinely
nice lady found us another roomette and we were on our way to
Davis. Woo hoo.
This is a Roomette? No. Really?
So,
the good I mentioned above. It was nice to have our privacy and to
be able to control the temperature. The seats were much more
comfortable as well. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end when
there are two sharing the room.
The
seats pull out into a tiny single bed. There is a four-inch, soft,
mattress that is placed on top for more comfort. Bedding is
included. Above, a top bunk pulls down. This is simply a
board with a ¼-inch pad. There is no mattress for the top
bunk. I suppose the average person would be too close to the ceiling
if a mattress is added, as there isn’t much room above the top
bunk. Still, I had high hopes for a night’s sleep.
Although
I was more comfortable in this hard bunk than the business class seats, I
didn’t sleep much. I couldn’t lay in one position for long without
my joints yelling at me. Plus, getting out of the bunk onto approx. six-inch
narrow “steps” wasn’t easy, especially for one over 60. Us oldsters
need to visit the bathroom multiple times each night. Oh fun.
Food and Beverages
Once
on the train, dumped our bags in our little closet, we found our way to the
dining car for a late lunch. Hey, why not? All meals are
covered. Surprisingly, our salads were scrumptious, as was our
dinners, which for me was a delicious, well-grilled steak and for hubby a
chicken dish. We finished both meals with a shared—albeit
small—cheesecake. Yum.
I
drank a ton of tea during both daytime treks and hubby enjoyed his
iced tea for meals: comparatively priced to a restaurant. Since I
drink tea constantly during the day, I add hot water to the same teabag
often. So, I’d get a few steps on my Fitbit trekking down to the
café car. There, one can get hot water, ice, drinks, and a few simple
meal options.
As
a wannabe oenophile I drank wine for dinner, which was a fairly decent
chardonnay at a reasonable price: $16 for a split.
Finally! Davis! Wait! Stop
the Train!
As
the sun rose, so did we. We were scheduled to reach Davis around 7
am, so we woke and readied ourselves for our stop in plenty of
time. Since our car attendant didn’t show up to reset the beds to
seats, I shoved the mattress into the top bunk and pushed, pulled, and with more
shoving the room was back to normal. This wasn’t easy with such a limited room in which to work. But it was necessary to get our bags
from under the bed.
As
we neared the station, we ventured to the lower floor to exit the
train. Normally, the attendant would already be there waiting for
the train to stop to assist those departing. Nope. He
never showed. The writing on the door stated clearly that it wasn’t
to be opened by passengers, but I didn’t want to stay on this
train. So, as other passengers passed outside our door and I was
certain our car attendant wouldn’t arrive in time, I opened part of the door—it
is a two-door system. Alarm bells rang, still no attendant and the train
begins moving. Ah! Within a car length, a voice on the
speaker stated that a passenger in car 32 needs to
depart. Finally!
Summation of the Hot-Mess Train Trek Drama
This is the worst train experience I’ve ever experienced. It is unfortunate since I rode this same train many years ago. That train is gone and replaced with a dumbed-down, dirty, old, mess, filled with incompetent and, many times, rude staff. Some were pleasant, but not most. One waitress even told a gentleman, who had asked two questions about a meal, to hurry up so she could get to the next table.
One seemed pleasant as I was passing through the dining car
and offered me ice that I was prepared to fetch several cars
down. Although polite at first, he ended up talking down to
me. Because I had changed my mind about an offer of another glass of
ice, he grunted, “Sure, I have more glasses. I wouldn’t have
mentioned it if I didn’t.” This same person told another passenger,
“You should have thought about that before.”
The Polite Traveler Note
These
behaviors are plain and simple impolite and dismissive. Since I’ve
taught people skills for over 20-years, which is basically, how to politely
interact with others, witnessing poor behavior grates on me. I
feel it is best to be aware of our actions and how we treat
others. Everything we do affects
others. Everything. So, we all must decide—every day—how
we will live in harmony with those around us.
Please
share your experiences!
Continue
with a Tour of Portland
Embassy
Suites by Hilton Portland Downtown
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