Mail Bag, 10/02/1996

>Date: Friday, September 27, 1996  6:29pm
>From: INT:login@pressenter.com
>  To: Steveg
>  Re: Amtrak
>
>Hi Steve:  I jsut got online last week and am happy to find your work on
>Amtrak.  The question I have is how can a liberterian be supportive of
>Amtrak as your favorite poeple it seems to me would prefer tokill off
>Amtrak.  Well enough of that.

Hi Howard!

You'll have to look around the "Ramblings" on my web page to see where
my libertarian views fit with Amtrak.  To summarize it real quick, I
believe the failure of passenger rail greatly falls on government
intervention into transportation.  Auto and air travel is extremely
subsidized.  If no form of transportation was subsidized by the government
at all, I believe that passenger rail transportation would flourish on such
an even playing field.  Ideally, I'd like government to stop distorting
the transportation market. Realistically, I'd temporarily settle to see
1/2 cent per gallon moved from the Highway Trust Fund to Amtrak.  That
would be a minimal start to undo the damage government policies have done
to passenger rail transportation.

>    My train background is that my mother was a nurse-stewardess on the
>B and O after the war until Octo. 1947 when she married my Dad.  I tavel
>edon the old "400" in Wisconsin when I was little (born in 1952).  I have
>been on Amtrak 5 times.  The last trip was Minn-St.Paul to Flagstaff in
>March.  Two years earlier Minn-ST. Paul to Portland and Seattle.  I
>already have my tickets to LA next summer on the Zephyr, Coast Starlight
>and the EMpire Builder.  We are going to see what it is like to trvel
>during the summer.  I wanted to make sure I could get my rooms.  I will
>point out that the family room can hold 5 peole.  When I travel, my wife
>and I share the lower big bed, grandma sleeps upabove and the 5 year old
>takes one of the child's bed.  It is a tight fit for the two of us on the
>lower bed, but it does work and is cheaper than two economy rooms.
>
>     You are to be congratulated for all the effort yo u have put into
>this web page. Keep up the good work.  Howard Cameron  Hudson Wisconsin

Those are 3 fabulous routes!  I don't think you could have planned a
more scenic route on Amtrak.  You are right about the Family Room fitting
5 people.  Last March, I had the family room booked for my wife and I,
my 2 children and one of their friends.  My wife and I aren't real big
people and we easily fit on the lower bunk together.  Actually, we slept
on the lower bunk much of this last trip in just the Economy Room!  My
wife doesn't like climbing to the top and I like to be down by the
window, even at night.  That wasn't too comfortable.  We actually had
two Economy Rooms across from each other and on the last night, we
each slept on the bottom of each of the Economy Rooms and our daughters
slept on top, one in each room.  That was a bit more comfortable.  Getting
two Economy Rooms instead of one Family Room was an experiment for us, one
that I decided didn't work very well.  On the way back and for all my
future reservations we have the Family Room.

Have a great time on your Amtrak travel and keep me posted about your
plans!

Steve Grande / steveg@sc.liberty.com / http://www.aho.com/amtrak.html

>Date: Monday, September 30, 1996  9:30pm                      Electronic Mail
>From: INT:sidonia@msn.com                                       Msg#: 1075873
>  To: Steveg
>  Re: Amtrak w/ Children
>
>Hello Steve, I was wondering if had any advice for someone considering a trip
>from Seattle to Buffalo, N.Y. with a 11/2 yr. old. Am I crazy or do a lot of
>people travel by train with children? I'm after any info. or advice that you
>may have. Ypu can e-mail me at: sidonia@msn.com    Thanks! Liz

Liz,

Do you plan to travel in Coach or in a Sleeper?  I assume you are talking
about a one and a half year old (it came out looking like a 11/2 yr. old
in the e-mail). Quite a few people travel with children on Amtrak.  Almost
all western trains have 3 sleeping cars and each sleeping car has one
family room that is booked months in advance by families with children.
You'll also find families and individual parents travelling with children
in both the Economy and Deluxe Sleepers.  In the Coach section of the
train, there are usually quite a few children, including babies and todlers.
Every rest room has a changing table, both the public ones and the private
ones in the Deluxe Rooms.  During the summer, most Amtrak trains play
children's movies in the afternoon and the Coast Starlight often has a
magician on board that also makes balloon animals.

Beyond that information, I'm not sure what else to tell you.  If you can
manage with your 1-1/2 year old in public for many hours, then you shouldn't
have any problem on the train.  Bring things that will entertain your child
along and bring things your child likes to eat and drink in case they don't
have food to your child's liking in the Cafe.  Let me know how it turns out
and I'd be happy to pass on what  you learn from your experience to others
that have the same concern in the future!

Steve Grande / steveg@sc.liberty.com / http://www.aho.com/amtrak.html

>least expensive ticket, I assume that is Coach.  Do I get the same
>accommodations, though, as the Sleeping Cars, as far as dining car and
>entertainment?  I also read in some of your posted letters of a 5-hour delay

The Dining Car is available to all passengers.  The price of the meals is
included for Sleeping Car passengers.  Coach passengers pay the posted menu
prices.  The cost of meals in the Diner is about what you would pay at a
moderate restaurant like Denny's.  Breakfast and Lunch will run about $7
each and Dinner will run about $12 to $15.  The quality of the meals is
much more like what you would find in a finer restaurant, however, so these
prices are a bargain.  It is customary to leave a $1 tip at each meal,
possibly more toward a 15% to 20% tip for dinner.

If two people were travelling in an Economy Bedroom, their meal ticket
would probably average $29 each per day which would be about $58 per day
as the total for two people.  Sometimes you can get the Economy Bedroom
for as little as $65 to $85 per day.  Since meals are included, the
difference to upgrade to an Economy Bedroom for two people could be as
little as $3.50 per person per day if you consider the cost of the meals
included!  Even that would be offset by one glass of wine during the
wine & cheese tasting happy hour!  If only one person is travelling, the
upgrade is not so economical.

Don't forget about the cafe downstairs in the Observation Lounge Car.
Food and soft drinks are less expensive there than in the Dining Car.
There is seating there or you can bring your purchases to your seat. Also,
you can bring food with you, but you must eat it at your seat.

The entertainment is usally provided in the upstairs part of the Observation
Lounge Car which is also open to all passengers.  That same entertainer will
give some presentations in the Parlor Car which is off-limits to Coach
Passengers.  There is also a wine & cheese tasting in the Parlor Car just
for Sleeping Car passengers.

>and no heat on some trips.  Are these things fairly uncommon?  Any
>information and/or reassurance you could give me would be welcome.  I will
>be leaving next week.
>

Five hour delays are very uncommon, but not one to three hour delays.  One
hour delays are so common that you can almost bet on it.  Two hour delays
aren't as common, but they aren't uncommon either.  Three hours and up are
"uncommon", but certainly not extremely rare.  I personally can't ever
remember a lack of heat, but I think I have posted letters from others
about that.  I think that problem is extremely rare.  What I have found is
that Economy Rooms in the Sleeping Car can get quite warm, too warm for
the air conditioning to keep up with.  I have found a solution to this,
however.  Just keep the door to the room open and the curtain closed (for
privacy).  The corridor air-conditioner always seems to work well and the
air will flow nicely into your room keeping it quite cool.  If you want
it warmer, just close the door and adjust the control in your room to
"warmer".

I apologize if this letter reaches you too late for your trip.
Unfortunately, I can not always answer my train e-mail timely.  Since I
am not paid for this effort, it has to take back seat to what I do for
a living.  Thus, it can sometimes take me a week or more to get to my
e-mail and get out a reply.  In this particular case, I was on a train
trip myself from September 27 to now and did not have on-line access.

Steve Grande / steveg@sc.liberty.com / http://www.aho.com/amtrak.html

>Date: Wednesday, September 25, 1996  3:04pm                   Electronic Mail
>From: INT:GWLUCAS@well.stats.govt.nz                            Msg#: 1072007
>  To: Steveg
>  Re: Changes in Amtrak routes
>

Gavin,

>have done some prelim. planning for my big expeedition next year -
>got the brochures, timetables etc and today found out there are some
>fairly major alteraations in the pipeline. Desert Wind discontinued
>and Sunset Limited not going as far as Orlando. What do you know of
>these changes or can you direct me to a web site which gives further info

The late breaking news as of Monday, September 30, 1996 is that congress
has approved additional funding to preserve these Amtrak routes for another
6 months, at least until May 1997.  You might not be able to make
reservations for these routes until Thursday, October 3, 1996.  If any
state legislature meets during this period and specifically votes to
deny providing any funding to help support these routes, then Congress or
Amtrak may cancel the route earlier than May 1997.

I feel like a yo-yo! I had made reservations for the last week of service
on the Pioneer and Desert Wind, but am happy to cancel those reservations.
I switched a let of my December trip from the Desert Wind to the Southwest
Chief before the rooms were full.  Now I want to change those reservations
back to the Desert Wind since that route is much more scenic.

>
>Also - your expert opinion is required. Is it feasible to travel
>LA to Orlando (4 day stop), onto Boston, onto Chicago then Seattle, then
>LA within a 15 day period. Apart from scheduled stopovers the only stay
>of any duration is for Disney World etc. I'd be travelling alone
>(mainly coach). Would i be an absolute zombie at the end of it or should
>i be looking at the 30 day pass?

Taking out the 4 days at Disneyworld, that leaves 11 days for travel.
If you have a 15 day pass, the trip from LA to Orlando will count as 4 days,
even though you don't leave LA until 10:15 P.M at night on the first day.
After 4 days at Disneyworld, you will be leaving on day number 9. Going up
to Boston is 2 days.  Chicago is an overnight for 1 more day.  Chicago to
Seattle  takes another 4 days and down to LA is another 2 days.  That is a
total of 17 days, 2 over the 15 days specified.  If you really need to
squeeze it into 15 days, I can check for exact scheduling to see if you
can get off one train and onto another twice during your journey to squeeze
it down to 15 days.  If you were travelling in a Sleeper, I'd say you could
do this easy and be well rested by the end of the trip.  But, if travelling
by Coach, I'd suggest scheduling some time to stretch your legs and spend
a little time in each city.  I'd go for the 30 day pass if you can afford
the time and cost.

>
>I've read some of the travelogues on the site and found them great value
>could you direct me to, or email any reports from loooong journey
>travellers (particularly from outside USA)?
>
>Thanks again for your work on a great site
>
>Gavin Lucas
>

I don't think I have any of those.  Maybe you can send me one after you
complete your trip so future travellers will have this information!

Steve Grande / steveg@sc.liberty.com / http://www.aho.com/amtrak.html