Boston to Chicago on #449/49 - The Late Sure Limited. |
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05/15/2001
We parked at Rte.128 Station and took a mid-day local to Back Bay. My girlfriend thought the MBTA equipment was “really nice” so if that impressed her, the Viewliner Sleeper on #449 should totally overwhelm her.
At Back Bay Station we dropped our bags near the A. Phillip Randolph statue and I made a quick dash over to the ticket office to see some of my ol’ railroad pals and get “clued in” on the latest railroad scuttlebutt.
I spoke with the station manager, my good friend Gerry Flaherty, who is the brother to a late, great friend of mine, Conductor Billy Flaherty, who we named our annual railroader’s hockey game after.
I asked him if he had heard any rumors regarding cut backs and train offs and he replied, “nothing but bad news Brian.” We left it at that.
After “BeeEssing” with my pals for a bit, I went back into the waiting area and rejoined Nannette. A short time later we walked down to Track 7 and met #449. The magic begins!! ;-)
Nannette, being a flight attendant for American Airlines, is very excited about this trip. This is her first trip on an honest to goodness long haul train. “Oh what excitement!”
We have room #10 in the Viewliner sleeper “Morning View”. As much as I loved the charm of the old “10 and 6” Heritage Sleepers, I have to admit that the Viewliners are “the way to go.”
The train pulls into “The Bay” led by a Genesis engine in an awful looking “three sheets to the wind” paint scheme. The consist, an Amfleet 1 series Amcafe, two Amfleet 2 coaches, the sleeper and a couple of bags on the rear end.
Our attendant “Dave” meets us on the platform and asks us if we need help with our bags. I told him not to worry about it because most of it was carry on stuff. He directs us and another couple to our rooms and off we go, into the wild, welded rail yonder of the former B&A.
A few minutes after we depart Back Bay, Dave comes back and gives us the Amtrak pep talk. He does a nice job of describing the functions of the room, car, etc. He gives us a few tips, a few hints, tells us about his 20 some odd years of Amtrak service as a sleeping car attendant and waiter and then finds out Nannette is a FA for American.
“Oh Sweetie,” he says, “Can we share some stories!”
“God help me if this guy finds out I’m a Conductor,” I’m thinking to myself.
Dave continues to chit chat with us, then shares notes with Nannette about his home town, Chicago, which she also lived in years ago when she first hired on with American.
Dave is a nice guy. Very well spoken. Well
dressed. Very personable. He reminds us both of someone who could possibly be mistaken for
an airline employee.
(Our Attendant Dave, chit-chatting with the gals at Springfield.)
The Conductor is the legendary Bob Conners. Bob has been a fixture on #449 and #448 for about 20 some odd years. Bob is a no nonsense, dedicated Conductor who knows how to “run his train.”
The trip ran smoothly until we reached the outskirts of Springfield, around MP 95. Bob got on the PA system and had the not so pleasurable task of telling the folks we’d be delayed for about 2 hours in Springfield due to CSX track work west of CP98.
(Here's Nannette at Springfield. Plenty of time to pose in front of our train.)
Dave takes the time to tip us off about the café car. He notes that since we’ll probably be 2 hours late leaving Springfield, they will probably give away all the food in the Café….So it might be in our best interests to “hit it” before the coach passengers do.
Neither of us is very hungry but we take a quick trip up there anyways. To my joy and surprise the LSA in the café car is none other than my good friend Maureen Mahoney. I was a bit surprised to see her on here because Maureen is the pride and joy of the “ACELA” high speed trains, but it’s wonderful seeing one of Amtrak’s finest on board.
(LSA Maureen Mahoney, a true 5 star railroader.)
Maureen is what I would call a five star Amtrak employee. She treats the passengers and her coworkers with utmost respect and provides awesome service to the passengers. Most importantly, she is a great friend to all! A true class act indeed.
After a little chit-chat we end up grabbing two turkey sandwiches and a couple of sodas. We head back to our room and have a mini feast. Surprisingly, we both were impressed with the quality of the sandwiches. Nannette thought they were “great” and was also impressed with the side of lettuce and tomatoes included with the sandwich.
She was also impressed our little galley and it’s contents located in the A-end of the Viewliner. There was a nice selection of soft drinks, bottled water, fresh fruit and again, surprisingly, at least to me, the coffee was as she put it, “pretty good!”
I’m hoping dinner in the dining car, albeit a late one, will be as impressive.
We depart Springfield at 5:30pm, about 1 hour and 30 minutes late.
We arrived in Albany/Rensselaer around 7:45pm. Both the Conductor and the Sleeping Car Attendant made announcements welcoming us to Albany and explaining what was going to happen in the station. We were also invited to “step outside for a breath of fresh air.”
We took advantage of the opportunity to check out the “goings on” there including taking a gander at the new station/transportation center. Needless to say, I was very impressed. The new building is from my viewpoint, already a classic.
(The new Transportation Center, as they called it.)
We jumped back on the train about a half hour later.
When we get the head end power back we hear the train chief making an absurdly long announcement which I entitle….”let me tell you about me.” After spending a good five minutes listening to her ramble on, she then decides to make a testing 1..2..3 type announcement from each of the Boston cars, asking the dining car steward to “come back please.” It’s starting to sound like the dialogue from a CB radio conversation.
(The head-end of 49/449)
We ended up departing around 9:00pm.
Upon departure the dining car folks make an announcement for last call, and we head right up there with the rest of the Boston Sleeper people. This will be my girlfriend’s very first “dinner in the diner” and hopefully, nothing will be finer, but who knows?
We pass through the “New York lounge car” which, as usual, is a total freakin’ zoo. There is a woman swearing at her husband/boyfriend or whatever on her cell phone. There is a table full of card players completely out of control. I hear one of my fellow sleeping car passengers remark, “yikes, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to spend an evening in this joint.”
I’m thinking to myself, new look for the Amfleet 2 lounge, new menu, a decade or so since I last rode this train to Chicago and it’s the same ol’ side show. As much as things change, on Amtrak, they always seem the same.
I saw my first “smoker’s penalty box” in the opposite end of the lounge car. It reminded me of a penalty box I have spent time in on more than a few occasions while playing ice hockey…..Them smokers all sealed in their very own glass compartment……Sealed off from us non-smokers. As weird as it all looks, I applaud the concept.
We sit down for dinner in the diner and in typical Amtrak fashion, there are two waiters taking care of 40 passengers. The diner still has everything in stock. Nannette chooses the shrimp and rice combo which reminds me of shrimp teriyaki on a stick. I chose the portion controlled prime rib. In all honesty, both of us enjoyed our meals. She commented that hers was, “as good as any meal American served in their first class cabin, if not better.”
(Nothing can be finer, than dinner in the diner.)
While eating dinner, it finally dawned on me how out of control things have actually become on the good ol' NRPC. There were a total of 12 employees who were either working the diner or passing through it while we ate. Of the 12, three had variations of the ACELA uniform (including the Assistant Conductor and LSA diner trainee.....They looked like twins.) and the rest of the staff were wearing variations of just about every uniform Amtrak employees have had the option to wear in the last 10 years. They were all sharp and well groomed, but there was no uniformity to it whatsoever. The Conductor was wearing the navy blue suit with the "old style" military hat with a "pointless arrow" CONDUCTOR's badge. There was no problem figuring out who the boss was on this train. It would have been a challenge though, for those without a trained eye (pardon the pun) to figure out who everybody else was.
All of the crew members we dealt with were very polite and doing a great job. The two dining car waiters were working their asses off. God bless both of them because they didn't get a moment of peace.
We passed on dessert and headed back to our sleeper. Sweet dreams along the “Water Level Route.” Like the New York Central used to brag…..”You can sleep.” Unless of course you’re pacing a freight train with five or six axle units on the head end between Erie PA and Cleveland.
We both slept pretty well.
05/16/2001
The next morning…..Nannette was very impressed with the shower and how hot the water was. All I can say is thank the railroad gods for them showers. What a difference they make. My only problem was there seemed to be a bad flow of main res air to our car and every thirty seconds or so the water would stop flowing for a bit and instead a steamy mist seemed to choke it’s way out of the shower head. Still, it was a godsend.
We passed on breakfast in the diner and chose to take a stroll in ol’ Toledo…..Still a wreck of a railroad place. As dreadfully dreary and depressing as it was 10 years ago, although now once nearly abandoned railroad tracks are occupied by Amtrak box cars, express cars, mail cars, etc.
(Diner in Toledo, still a miserable place.)
(Terminal Switcher in Toledo.)
Later on this morning we arrive in Waterloo at 9:20am, only a little more than 10 minutes late. The skies are dark, it’s raining and as miserable looking as the station in not-so-holy Toledo. It seems like we took all the darkness and miserableness from Toledo with us and are dragging it right to the Windy City.
Somewhere west of Elkhart, Indianna the sun starts to shine and I begin putting things away in preparation for our detraining in Chicago. Dave comes back and chats for a bit. He really is a pleasant guy and has gone way out of his way to make his passengers happy and satisfied. Nannette has already become very impressed with her very first train trip. Oh what a blast!
We drop the "freight" as they call it just outside Union Station. The crew did a swift and safe job of "dropping the freight" and then we drifted into Union Station. We detrained and thanked Dave for a great trip. The Red Cap picked up our bags and we headed directly to the Metropolitan Lounge. I hadn't been in Union Station for about seven or eight years so the "new look" was quite interesting. Gone were most of the "honky tonk" snack bars and magazine stands and in their place was what I would refer to as a mix of classic, art deco and contemporary styled schemes and signage. A seemingly much improved and user friendly Union Station.
We dropped our bags off at a storage room conveniently set up for "first class" people making a transfer then checked in at the "Lounge." The people there gave us a check-in card with important info including when to be back to catch #3. The "Metropolitan Lounge" was quite impressive and Nannette thought the general decor and look of the place rivaled that of the "AA Admiral's Club." The only major problem was that the climate control was not working properly and even with an enormous fan blowing, the seating area was somewhat uncomfortable. The computer for public use has been removed and looks like it may have been gone for a while. I asked the lady at the front desk if I could still use the phone jack and she told me she thought it was out of service. Oh well. The soda machines worked although my two plastic cups of Doctor Pepper ended up more syrupy then soda-like........Almost like a Doctor Pepper slush.
We decided to take a walk. It was a gorgeous summer-like Chicago day. 85 degrees, sunny as all hell and a great day to take a stride in the "Windy City." I also wanted to take a peek at several of the famous theatres in the downtown area that had been restored since last time I visited. My Grandfather was a stage producer for Vaudeville and Broadway shows and worked at many of these theatres back in the 1930's and 1940's.
(One of several great theatres my Grandfather Terry Kinsella worked in.)
(Me standing at the ticket booth of the Chicago Theatre. My Grandfather probably lent the guy working this booth twenty bucks. He left my Grandmother a box of IOU's when he died, shortly before I was born. I would have been his first grandchild. My Grandmother swore I inherited his addiction to being on the road....Thank God I didn't inherit any of his other infamous addictions.)
When we got back to Union Station, I showed Nannette the original portion and the famous steps where a movie or two or three have been filmed in the past.
(Nan at the steps. Where's Eliot Ness when you need him?)
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