ANOTHER trip to ABQ, in November 2012, this time I'm MORE prepared!

I have LEARNED from the last time!
I will take:
EXTRA STUPID PHONE BATTERIES WITH THE CORRECT CHARGER!
A netbook and a laptop (for my daughter, since her significant other will be leaving hopefully for Wilmington, DE in January, so they can talk, and the laptop with XP and MS Office.)
A freakin' BOOK.
Earplugs (so I don't hear mySELF snoring).
A longer extension cord.
Other than that, less clothing, less paperwork, less of everything.
Oh yeah, I'm taking her Christmas music and a CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE!!!
Plus a Christmas present or two.

We're going shopping for strollers and car seats. I did some covert 'recon' on Monday night to Babies 'r' Us and Walmart, and found some stuff, but I also told her that we were taking a stuffed animal with us to pretend it was a baby and SEE how easy or hard it is to use a stroller or car seat!

Anyway, found out from her that Amtrak is serving a turkey dinner on the train tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day. OH, did I MENTION that I'm leaving at 6:50 PM on Thanksgiving DAY? My bad. Yeah, I decided that one more trip would be in order before she gives birth in December. Her due date is STILL Dec. 23rd, but I personally think it'll be between the 16th and the 20th.
About the turkey dinner, as soon as I get on the train, I'm going to ask my TAC to do a reservation OR I'll just be-bop down there and put my name in. What the hell, THANKSGIVING on the train. Sounds almost as good as the breakfast in the dining car at dawn like the last trip last month, huh?! 

SOOO, moving right along on the rails:
Going, I'm sitting in the lower seating of coach: coming back, unfortunately they were sold out of lower so I'll have to endure the cattle call and be upstairs in an ASSIGNED SEAT. Never did that before, NOT looking too forward to it, let me tell you.

This time I'm ALSO going to kinda be a bad girl and sneak some liquid contraband onboard, i.e ethanoyl C₂H₅OH in the form of a 3/4 pound aluminum container from Colorado. I think you get it, yes?!

There won't be much room in my little lunch container/cooler because I'm also taking her 2 Hebrew Nat'l salamis from Sam's (they were sold out at the Sam's in ABQ) and some Panera Broccoli/cheese soup. It was in the refridgeration area, so I figure that with ice, everything will be FINE.
Maybe I'll take extra sodas in my big purse/bag and as I need them, add them to the lunch container to get cold.

POSTSCRIPT FROM THE TRIP:
I actually ended up NOT taking the Panera soup, which worked out ok because Barry ate it while I was gone.
Barry and I were talking to a lady who was going to ABQ and she said she was sitting downstairs in the lower coach area also. I took a look at her ticket and it DIDN'T SAY lower coach! I told her gently that I didn't think she was sitting 'lower' because her ticket didn't SAY 'lower', then she got kinda militant and said that when she booked the trip she "told the ticket person lower and we'll SEE if I sit lower or not!" Turned out she wasn't supposed to sit lower because the ticket person didn't put 'lower' on her ticket, and she loudly berate everyone and the company, saying that she guessed it didn't matter if you were a member or not! (It really doesn't matter unless you're platinum/select/ultimate blah blah blah-it's just a way to rack up points for freebies). The TAC (Train Attendant-Coach) accomodated her, though (or asked someone to give up his seat-don't know, didn't inquire) he DID say that when you get your ticket, READ IT to make sure it says what you wanted!!!! As everyone should do.
I sat in the first row of the lower car, set up my stuff, THEN had a HUGE guy come in further down the line and of COURSE I'm not going to make a big person feel like no one wants him, so I insist he sits by me. Turns out he had a cpap machine. I know I'm not going to get any sleep so I pretty much absent myself from the whole car and sit (and try to sleep) overnight upstairs in the lounge car. I tried to stretch out on the bench at one of the tables, couldn't do it because I'm too big for my butt to fit comfortably at the table, and too long. I tried on one of the benches facing outward, I was too long, and just right now while typing this (02-18-13) that while I laid down on the bench, people could see me when we'd stop at towns! I probably need to take a blanket and pillow and go upstairs and lay on the FLOOR or something.
In the morning, had b'fast and the hash and eggs. DON'T GET IT-tastes not that great, in fact,didn't taste good at all. Denny's is even better. I shoulda stuck with the continental b'fast.
On the way back, I sat upstairs, and ended up, as usual, having an extremely BIG person sitting next to me in the regular coach area. I therefore hung out in the lounge car on the computer AGAIN.
Ate dinner on the train coming back, was pretty good, chicken marsala.

I'm writing this on Wednesday October 24th 2012-Now it's T-minus 22 hours and I really HAVEN'T started packing yet!

I've made all these stupid lists so that I don't forget anything, and I haven't even started packing!
I've been caught up in a vortex of indecision..."Should I take this big purse or a wheelie office with the laptop? Should I take a dinky purse with a big purse with the wheelie with the big piece of luggage that lived in the house that Jack built? Do I know what I'm doing? Will I look like an idiot when I try to get something out of the big purse/small purse/wheelie and it all falls out? Will I have enough money to get plastered on the train?"

These are serious, SERIOUS questions that can and will affect my state and peace of mind for not only the trip but my workday as well.

Does Xanax go with Coors Light? I'll let you know.

There was ONE bright spot, however...in my quest to juggle too many chick-type things into bags that were either too small or too large, my wonderful husband Barry fixed my old, beat up, run down but PERFECT for travel purse!!! Nothing can go wrong now, as long as I take my fave purse and his tuna that he made special for me.

The biggest problem was I had to take all the bags onboard with me because the baggage car stuff would've taken too long, so I had a lot of little stuff that was hard to carry. What did I do? Took the smaller 'office' wheelie and attached the collapsible lunch/ice container and my big black bag to it. Now I only had the big red luggage bag (which weighed about 70# due to various items inside, one of which was a pair of leathers for Jax's friend Chanelle), the black 'office' wheelie with those other two things attached, my regular purse affixed 'bandolero' style, and my silver cane.
I felt like I had to act the part, and it DID actually help at times.

ABQ Trip Day One and TWO on the Amtrak Southwest Chief Thurs October 25, 2012

In the previous posts I write about anticipation, preparation and MORE preparation. (Analparation?)
Now this day I got to put all my prep work into a practical application and just SEE how good I am. You NEVER KNOW how well anything will work until you actually do it/see it/feel it/taste it, right?
RIGHT!
An outline of the trip for October 25-29 2012 from Fullerton to Albuquerque:
The Amtrak Southwest Chief Train #4 originated in LA at LAUS (Los Angeles Union Station) and its second stop was where I picked up the train at 18:50 hours in Fullerton (FUL).
This train is considered LD aka Long Distance.
Traveled overnight, stopped at Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville, Barstow, Needles, Kingman, Williams Junction, Flagstaff, Winslow, Gallup, then where I got off, at Albuquerque. (Station acronyms are RIV, SNB, VRV, BAR, NDL, KNG, WMJ, FLG, WLO, GLP, and ABQ)
The train actually goes across country and terminates in Chicago.
I stayed in ABQ until Monday afternoon, where I caught the Amtrak Southwest Chief Train #3 at 16:45 hours and again travelled all afternoon and night until arriving at FUL at 06:34 hours. The westbound train ends at LA Union Station (their acronym is LAX).
I had a huge rolling piece of luggage, a office 'wheelie' piece of luggage, a large black bag, a square lunch bag, and my purse. At the door, the TAC told me to grab any seat upstairs. I told him that I was a lower coach seat passenger. He looked surprised, checked my paperwork, and said, "Oh yeah, my bad, have a seat anywhere here down below'. Nice kid. I was a little worried about getting all my stuff on, but Barry and the Train Attendant-Coach (TAC) helped me. I put the big whompin' piece in the luggage area then went back to a seat.
I choose the far back seat row because it looked like there was a lot of space to put my stuff. I WAS RIGHT-there was a LOT of space  behind my seat!
ONE thing I didn't realize is that since the seats face the door, that last coach where I sat had the seats facing the REAR!!! Weird. If  I'd-a seen the diagram a little more closely (see below) I would've noticed that. DUH.
Information gleaned from online forums and appropriate for the first day;
The Assistant AC that's on the train from LA to Kingman got my printout and scanned it in. Pretty cool.
ABOUT SEATING:
Since I was on the lower level, I was told I could take any seat.
**UPPER LEVEL COACH people are more restricted, depending on where they get on during the train's trip. The train personnel have a manifest or list of everyone's name, where they're going, etc. Getting on at one of the first two-three stations, people can sit where they want to. Getting on farther down the line, seating gets chancy AND the train folks like to group people according to where they'll get off down the line. When I got on at ABQ, again, I could take any seat on the lower level, since that's what I chose when I got my ticket. People going westbound, though, were assigned seats and you'd better NOT stray from those seats! The train folks had everyone laid out, again, depending on the passengers departure station, and so grouped them accordingly. How do they group them? How do they KNOW?
For upper level coach, each passenger that gets on has their ticket or e-ticket scanned by the Ass't Conductor's iPod, and the passenger's seat is logged in. A colored piece of paper with a seat number goes above that passenger's seat. Each passenger will then show up in a seat on a schematic of that coach car. Say one coach car has people that got on at La Junta, Colorado & will have most of those people getting off at Flagstaff if the train is going westbound; if someone comes onto the train at ABQ and is going to Flagstaff, they'll be directed to a certain coach CAR and given a colored piece of paper with a seat number. All those people in coach upper who are getting off at the same station will pretty much be together. When the  train is fuller than normal, the assigned seating is important to the train folks and woe be to you if you change it without telling anyone!
Below is my 'workstation'. See the little silver square things at the top of the pic and at the left of the pic? Those are little clip-on lights from Costco, 4 to a package. HANDY when the lights are out and EVERYBODY else has crashed!

THE 'CONSIST'aka all the CARS & WHERE THEY ARE ON THE TRAIN
Consist: The combination of railroad cars and locomotives, which together comprise a particular train.
For an LD train such as the Southwest Chief, (long distance, usually over 500 miles) the consist can be:
Lead Engine
Trailing Engine (these engines are STRONG suckers, P42DC engines made by GE. Theoretically, one engine COULD pull the whole train, but two is safer in case one conks out. It's rare, but it happens. When you pull out from the station, you can BARELY feel you're moving! Sometimes you'll look out the window and realize you've already left the station. I slept through 3-4 station stops, the train was so smooth.)
Baggage Car
Sleeper Car
Sleeper Car
Sleeper Car
Dining Car
Lounge Car (this one has a Cafe on the bottom level, a small bar on top, and the observation windows up top)
Coach Car
Coach Car
Coach Car (I was always directed to go to this last Coach car)

Depending on the season there could be 2 Coach cars or 4 coach cars, but it's usually 3. In summer and during the holidays, it's 3 and maybe 4, depending on the manifest with pre-sold tickets. In slack periods i.e. right after school begins until the Thanksgiving holiday, there'll usually be two coach cars. Some people can complain about there being a totally UNUSED coach car at the end of the consist, when everyone else is bunched up in the other coach cars, practically sitting on each others' laps. That coach car COULD (and probably is) a car that was being moved from point A to point B, but was not ready for passengers and in fact could not be used by passengers. There might not be enough crew to handle that extra car as well. Hey, they're union, they have VERY strict rules about what they can and can't do. I have the train personnel manual, so I know not so much what they can't do, but especially what they CAN do. Just LET SOMEONE try to swing their weight around and tell me what they can't do when I KNOW that they can! (didn't happen on this train, BTW)

EVERYTHING is upstairs on the upper levels, except the snack/food Cafe area where you can buy snacks, drinks etc. and the lower sleepers.  They have a few booths for sitting in the lower are cafe, but for the most part, everything's up above.
You can only change cars on the upper level, so eventually, you have to climb those narrow stairs to go up to where all the fun is!
Notice on the diagram below that the coach car is on the top: the upper level coach is first, then below that is the lower level. Unfortunately this DOESN'T show that the lower level coach seats were facing the OPPOSITE way. The lower level coach seats are numbered 78-90.

Above is the Dining car and the Lounge car diagrams: the kitchen is below and the dining booths are on the upper level.  They have staggered seating times at either 15 minute or 1/2 hour intervals; if the intervals are 15 minutes, there would be 2 seatings then a 1/2 hour break in between seatings.
The Train Attendants are supposed to go and ask people if they want to eat in the Dining Car, but they don't-you have to go and see when you can get a reservation, or ask the TA to get you a reservation.
The Lounge Car is the one with the domed windows, lots of 'em, with the feel of a wide, airy space (during the day, anyway. At night, you might find people sleeping on the floor where the fixed seats are)

Changing the subject, now:
ACRONYMS AND TERMS

The following titles have been shortened to reflect common usage:

• LSA refers to Lead Service Attendant, EIC (Employee-in-Charge) and Steward.

(LSA positions consist of LSA-Diner, LSA-Café/Lounge and LSA-Cart)
• TA refers to Train Attendant who assists passengers in either Coach or Sleeping Cars.
• SA: Service Attendant - serves food and beverages to Dining Car passengers..
• TAC refers to Train Attendant-Coach
• TASC refers to Train Attendant-Sleeping Car
FS: Food Specialist
AC  Assistant Conductor
Big 'O' is the Conductor, the BOSS, the main man.
'Fouling the Main' or 'Fouling the tracks'-Something on the tracks up ahead that keeps the train from going on
Big 'E' the Engineer
Power   the locomotive
4(25) The train number and date it left

High Ball: A term used by the Conductor to indicated to the Engineer to proceed at maximum authorized speed. (Origin – A “High Ball” was a type of signal used on early railroads to control train movements. When the track was clear ahead, the station agent would hoist the “ball” to the top of the wooden pole (via a rope and pulley system). The ball being high on the pole, “High Ball”, indicated to the Engineer that the train could proceed.)

Ticket Lift: The initial collection of tickets by the Conductor.

Ticket Sweep: When the operating crew checks the ticket receipt of every passenger aboard the train to ensure the collection of all revenue tickets. Manifest: Report that displays the number of passengers riding on a specific date and includes other pertinent information.
WYE: A 'Y' that a train can use to turn around.
SSR: Special Service Request - Request for special assistance or service by a passenger that appears on the manifest.

 

Special request codes are as follows:

• ENST - On-board en suite room request

• HCPS - Disabled seating request
• KSML - Kosher meal request
• LIFT - Wheelchair lift at station is required
• LOWR - Lower level seating required (Superliner)
• MAAS - Meet & assist at train side
• MAXO- Maximum occupancy exceeded in sleeping car accommodations
• MEDA - Passenger has medical condition
• OXYG - Passenger will be traveling with oxygen
• REFG - Ice & container requested to chill medicine or food
• SEAT - Special seating other than lower level
• SMLS - At-seat/in-room meals requested
• SPML - Special meal other than kosher
• VIPP - Very important passenger
• WCHR- Wheelchair
• OTHS - All other types of requests

So....
I get on, stow my stuff and there's already 6 people on the lower level from LAX (an acronym for LAUS) and there's ONE window seat at the very back. This is a VERY good thing because there's a nice amount of space behind the far back seats for my stuff, just in case someone comes to sit with me-I don't have to put stuff in the overhead, I can go back and forth.
Turns out no one else gets on the lower level for the rest of the trip.

Now, when I start on a trip, I IMMEDIATELY get hungry, so within 1 hour of departing, I was tearing into the tuna that Barry had put into my lunch container. YUM YUM YUM YUM OH, how that man can COOK!!
Small note-it got kinda stuffy because there's no direct air and there isn't one of those 'air' thingys like the airlines have.
I don't know why, but the lights went 'way down around 8 PM. Maybe ONLY for the people in lower? The median age was around 78 and I pulled down that average. Get my drift?
I ate, I drank my sodas, I watched out the window, I got bored around 1 AM, so I went upstairs to check out everything.
Saw people sacked out on the floor in the Lounge Car (aka the viewliner, we used to call it the 'Dome Car', went into the dining car area and talked to the Ass't Conductor Amanda. VERY nice young lady, ended up seeing her a few days later on Saturday in costume at a Halloween party that my daughter and her boyfriend were invited to, just down the street from their house!!
I made a deal with myself to have breakfast at dawn in the dining car. THAT sounded like something that people would envy, and it certainly didn't sound bad to me! I knew what I was going to order because menus were in the seatback areas. Continental b'fast. I love saying it on Facebook..."Yeah, I just had breakfast in the Dining Car on the Amtrak Southwest Chief at dawn". Sounded elegant!
I knew sunrise was going to be at around 6:35 AM and we'd be between Winslow and Gallup, so I set my alarm for 6 AM, woke up, did the face wash stuff, shuffled down to the dining car and it was only 1/3 full.

The continental b'fast for $8 was really worth $8! it was GREAT! Oatmeal, brown sugar/raisins, fruit, yogurt, a biscuit & butter & jam, coffee, juice and milk, and I was offered 2nds on the milk and coffee and juice.

The LSA was (I believe) Sam. WHAT a riot that guy was!!! I gotta bring them something nice on my next trip (and there's a post started about THAT). I tipped my SA VERY nicely. (you can see him pouring coffee, above) Older gentleman, and when I say 'gentleman' I mean in the proper sense. After b'fast I went into the LoungeCar for a spell. See below for pics.

So we get into ABQ, and I see this elegantly-uniformed Conductor-type person cross the tracks and go into my coach car. He thinks I didn't see him so he could surprise me; right, hey dude, I'm a MOM and your girlfriend is my daughter, so don't EVEN try to surprise me! He grabbed my big bag, walked me to the car where Jackie was, and then split because he works the ABQ-La Junta run.

 

Some of the things that DIDN'T happen that I expected to happen were:

• I expected someone to announce reservations for dinner. Didn't happen. Oh well, I had food.
• I expected the conductor to come in and at LEAST poke his head in. Didn't happen, but Amanda the A.C. did. (the conductor DID bring onboard another couple on my return trip, but only because he brought them on and then poked his head in another time and asked about them. Probably someone he knew).

 

 

T-minus 46 hours and counting down to my first REALLY big train ride, so I decided to blog this trip.

THE MANDATORY INTRODUCTION-Like, WHY am I writing about this?

Those who know me know how ANAL I am, always researching things, always looking up stuff, always peeking around the corner for one more tiny bit (or byte) of information. So why am I having an 'anality' fit? This train trip I'm taking to my daughter Jackie's new home in Albuquerque (we'll refer to it from now on as 'ALB', okay?) is an overnighter and it's a long time to be on a train. The last time I remember taking the train was I think when the kids were really really young, early 90's, and it was the Pacific Surfliner. Just Fullerton to Oceanside and back, that was it.

Whenever I find out information, I love to e-share it with those who look for this type of info or at least somewhere to start. Knowledge isn't only just power, it's INDISPENSIBLE if you want to stay up with the flow and the know.

What am I going to write about?

I will write what I find out specific to this trip, what I experience on this trip (and back, on Monday October 29th) plus some generic information, ESPECIALLY the little 'ah-HA's' that hit 'cha when you realize something that you didn't know before and totally changes the way you perceive something. Every 'ah-HA' is a good one, IMO.

How am I going to find all this wonderfulness and awesome 'ah-HA's'?

WELL, DUH...

1. Firstly, (is it considered redundant to put the number '1' in front of the word 'firstly'? Grammarians and Gramparians, please rule) there's the INTERNET-I can find out what everybody is saying about a specific trip on a specific train on a specific day. Great for information and finding out what I'm in for, because I HATE to go into any new situation UNPREPARED. NO SURPRISES, thank you. That missive should be one of three that could be considered for my tombstone:

NO SURPRISES
BITE ME
and the ever popular (in my own mind, anyway)
"I could be your mom, so WATCH IT!"

Secondly, talking to some people who've done the trip. Very few 'secondlys', btw...ok, practically nonexistent. In fact, I haven't found ANYBODY. Yet. I would imagine there'd be some on the train.

You're probably asking yourself (even if you're not, please, make me happy and do ask yourself) WHAT train trip am I taking? Where am I going? Why am I going there? What will I do? Who will I see? When will I be leaving and coming back? How much did it cost?

The ANSWERS are...

The Southwest Chief

 http://www.amtrak.com/southwest-chief-train

From Fullerton to Albuquerque and back (or rather, from FUL to ALB)

Daughter Jackie's other baby shower where she lives

The first day in ALB I'll sleep-the 2nd day I'll help her paint the baby's room-the third day is the shower and I'll be doing my usual thing and taking 500 million pictures so I don't have to sit with maybe nobody to talk to

I'll see Steve's family and they'll see ME. I'll offer Xanax to them cheaply after they are exposed to moi.

I'm leaving Thursday night October 25th 6:50 pm from FUL on Train 4, getting into ALB on Friday morning, then leaving ALB Monday afternoon around 4:42 pm on Train 3 and arriving at FUL around 6:34 am.

Hmmm, how much did it cost. Well, regular fare usually runs $67 each way, I get a AAA discount of 10% so the total for both ways was around $121. B U T...

I'm going to try to see if I can get a 'roomette' the minute I step onto the train, because if I can get one, I can get it for what they call 'low bucket' price, that is, the lowest price that roomette will ever go for. If I bought it now online, it'd be around $2-300. If they have one, it'll cost me $162 (one way, of course). The KICKER is that the roomettes and sleepers are considered 1st Class, so the meals are included and so is juice, coffee and water. The windows are a little better to see out of, you can actually sleep in a roomette, it's just more private and nicer. I'm not counting on getting one, but it would be cool.

So, ON TO THE BLOG!

One word.
Preparation.

You know I'm really BIG on preparation, and part of my preparation (and one of the reasons I considered taking the train vs. driving) was that Barry went on the train in August out there to go to a concert with Jax and Steve. I was researching stuff for him, blah blah blah yabba dabba do, so when I thought it'd be a cool thing to do, I REALLY started researching it. Not necessarily methologically, just looking up whatever info I latch on to.

I had questions, and that's what I base my searches on-questions.

Where can I sit?

What can I take?

What should I wear?

Where is everything onboard the train? (I found out the answer to THIS little gem about 3 weeks after I got into it-everything on the Southwest Chief is UPSTAIRS. Ok, almost everything. This train is what they call a 'Superliner' in that there are 2 levels to each car (except the baggage car and the leading and trailing engines). There are some things that are on the bottom, like some sleepers/roomettes, some cafe car booths, 10-12 coach seats in each of the coach cars, the coach restrooms, but the IMPORTANT stuff is upstairs, and you go from car to car when you're upstairs. The Lounge Car (used to be called the Dome Car or something like that ) is upstairs with all those windows, the Dining Car dining area is upstairs, 3/4 of the coach seats are upstairs, the Cafe Car is mostly upstairs.

So if you have shitty knees like me, or have problems getting around, you had BETTER gotten a lower level coach seat, or else you are going to be HATING the stairs! There are only a few lower coach car seats (again, like 10-12 per coach car, whereas each coach car upstairs has about 56+), and when Barry went to ALB, I had gotten him a lower seat only so that it'd be easier for him to step off the train and smoke. ANYWAY, he's behind this couple (I ain't-a gonna say 'older couple' because, well, I just AIN'T) and when the wife got on, she went RIGHT for one of those lower coach seats. The conductor or whomever was doing their ticket thing told her that her ticket didn't show a lower coach seat so she had to take a seat upstairs, and she squawked VERY LOUDLY, 'How am I supposed to get up those stairs? Why can't I have one of these seats down  here? Who's supposed to sit here? Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" I asked Barry if he was going to give up his seat to her, and he said he wasn't.

So it was THEN that I realized that I had a DEFINITE chip on my shoulder and I was going to buy my tickets with the LOWER COACH SEAT. I'm actually glad I did because my knees have really been bugging me and stairs are getting to be a bit much, up AND down. I might bring a cane, JUST so I don't get moved by anyone. The chip on the shoulder part comes in to play because if you've ever seen me drive or been with me, you'll know that I don't give an INCH to ANYBODY, they will NOT get in front of ME if I have anything to say about it! So on the train, let's face it, I got the lower seats going and coming because I AM A BITCH.

See? See? There's an 'Ah-HA' for you regarding seats and stuff! Plus the additional bonus of knowing about my personality.

It's hard to put everything into this blog without any rhyme or reason, so I'm going to start with a glossary and acronyms, just to ease into explaining things. After that I'm going to just randomly start stringing information as I think of it and worry about putting into any sort of order later. If I ever do.

The Big 'O', Brass Buttons, The Brains, Captain, Skipper, all are monikers for the CONDUCTOR.
The Conductor is also the BOUNCER.

The Big 'E' is the Engineer.

INTERESTING TIDBITS AND INFORMATION THAT CAN COME AS AN 'AH-HA':

• When you dine in the Dining Car, unless you're a group of 4, they'll put you with other people. This is not necessarily bad.
• This is not generally known, but each 'turn' (people at a table) is alloted about 75-90 minutes.   That's a lot of time. So if they try to rush you off, sit your ground. You've paid for your meal and are entitled to eat it in peace.
• Did you KNOW that sometimes the Conductor will be talking to the Engineer on the radio, and the Engineer can hear the Conductor, but the Conductor wouldn't be able to hear the Engineer because of the engine noise? So the Conductor and the Engineer have this thing going whereby the Conductor will tell the Engineer to toot twice for 'OK, I heard you, we're good' and toot once for, 'Um, I didn't hear you, I'm not going to do it, nyah, nyah, nyah'. Just kidding on the 'nyah, nyah, nyah part of it.
• If you see a lot of people in coach with hoodies on, wrapped in some blankets with their own pillows, it's because the train doesn't start warming up with the heaters until the temp gets to about 62 degrees. The train DOES tend to be cool at night, even in summer.
• Seats on Superliner coaches are about 2" longer on the stairway side of the car.
• Try not to sit close to the front of the car. For taking pictures, it's easier to be farther back.
• The Lounge car is for enjoying the scenery and having a snack from the cafe area. It's first come, first served and is considered polite not to hog the seat for the entire time you're on the train!
• A good place to put some extra luggage in the coach car is when you come up the stairs, right behind the first row of seats next to the stairs there's an area there that is nice for bags, if you don't want to leave them in the coach luggage area.
• For sleeping in coach (and the seats do recline nicely, with a leg rest-type thing), bring a small blanket, maybe your own pillow, earplugs, an eyemask, and have water close by. Taking a Benadryl wouldn't hurt either, because if you're like me, you'll be kind of 'up' to be on the train for a while. The ear plugs are for not only others snoring but kids running up and down the aisles making noise, even at Quiet Time. The eyemask is extra darkness for you. (NOTE: there weren't any kids running up and down the aisles on the lower level of the coach, because there're WEREN'T ANY KIDS. Plus, on the way to ABQ, everybody went zzzzzzz at 8 PM. I am NOT KIDDING. It was like a Rest Home on the Rails, or the Convalescent Home Coach Car.)
• Taking and having water is because the train tends to have a dry atmosphere of its' own-that's what people talk about when they get 'train throat'-it's dry and raspy. Bring some throat lozenges.
• Electronic stuff is good like a Kindle, a tablet, smartphone, MP3, iPod, whatEVER. Just be aware that SOME coaches have an outlet at almost every seat, and SOME coaches only have one-two outlets for the entire COACH. So you might want to bring a surge power strip to plug all your little cutesy electronic thingys in. (NOTE: the lower level of the coach car I was in had outlets at every seat)
• Speaking of cell phones, Quiet Time is after 9 pm (or 10-I forget) so there's no talking loudly on a cell. It's rude ANYWAY to talk loudly on a cell ANYWAY, no matter WHAT time of day it is on a train!
• What to wear? Whatever you'd wear around the house, like a jogging outfit or something like that, with easy off-easy on shoes. The shoes can come off when you're in the seat, but when you go from car-to-car, you HAVE to wear shoes. Flip flops are not considered shoes.
• Don't get all het up about using a tablet or laptop with Internet unless you have your own modem card-the WiFi is kinda spotty on parts of the trip that are in hills or mountains. The WiFi is kinda spotty period, actually and besides, you came to ENJOY the trip, not to play  WoW or FF5! (NOTE-between Williams, Flagstaff, Winslow, Gallup and ABQ, the satellite service for texting or internet stuff even on my Smartphone/Blackberry was spotty.)
• It is FORBIDDEN to bring and drink alcohol that you bring onboard yourself (unless you're in a sleeper and you only drink it in there). Having said that and been a good little girl, here are some ways I've heard other people circumvent the system (and remember, you DIDN'T hear this from me!) (NOTE: I DID bring a beer on with me on the return trip from ABQ to FUL-got away with it clean because I brought some cups too. I just wish I'd-a brought a couple MORE brews)

-One person I know who took the train, took her 'camelback' with her and simply LOADED it up with Jack 'n Coke. She was blitzed for the entire trip AND the next day. She doesn't even remember where she sat when she went to New Mexico-I know, I asked her yesterday.

-Another person took a workout bottle type thing that was opaque and darkly colored, and put Bailey's in it. All they had to do was get some coffee or ask for some ice. (NOTE-no, I ended up not doing it. Too complicated)

-Still ANOTHER person brought a small thermos on board with some hot whatever in it, could've been cider, could've been chai tea, could've been BAILEYS AND COFFEE, not sure. (NOTE: see above)

Circumventing the system is fun because a)well, you're beating the SYSTEM, for God's sake! That's usually reason enough! and b) the drinks on the train are $7 for a 'well' drink, even though they have a few 'call' brands, like Absolut, Jack Daniel's, Bacardi, etc. A domestic beer is $5.25, a premium domestic/import is $6.25, and a regional craft beer is $7 (like I care about a regional beer), all in the Dining Car. The alcohol is a little cheaper in the Cafe/Lounge Car.

• You CAN bring your own food and drink onboard, like coke/pepsi, gatorade, water, tea, a thermos with some green tea, a small cooler, sandwiches, chips, fruit, just think picnic. Just don't bring limburger or anything really smelly like lox and bagels and cream cheese, or salami or something that really has an odor. There are others around you too, you know, who like to breathe. Occasionally. No, unfortunately, you can't take your wonderful gourmet food to the Lounge/Dome car to eat, nor to the Dining Car. Eating and drinking is only with Amtrak food. (It's a Federal law and also has something also to do with the FDA)
• BTW, there's no ala carte in the Dining Car. All food served are complete meals, so no cheapo is going to get away with a little bitty salad and sit and 'camp' for 3 hours.

ANALITY, ANALITY, ANALITY, HOW I LOVE TO LOVE ANALITY.

Now here I am pushing the ultimate envelope of anality: I did a map of the route, what the route stop acronym was, the time we were supposed to stop there, and the duration between the stops. I wanted to figure how how much time there would be to the next stop so that I could either a)catch some zzzz's, b) look out the window, c) go crazy, d) figure out when sunrise was so I could have a sunrise b'fast on board the train (that's GOTTA be cool, you know?!). "Oh yes, the ride was fine, and at the end I had breakfast while watching the sun rise over New Mexico." It's tailor-made for making people drool with envy. (NOTE-I actually DID IT!! Had 'breakfast in the dining car on the Southwest Chief at sunrise". ) It was kinda hard finding schedules, cafe car treats, etc, but I managed to find the Amtrak Employee Service Procedure Manual for every single employee that works on a train, what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to treat people and seat people in the dining car and the seating times, policies for the mobility-impaired, you know, special stuff. It's fascinating; for instance, I was reading a commentary on a website that the Coach attendant was kind of yelling at people to pick up their trash and their stuff, and she got so mad that she closed the Lounge Car 90 minutes before the end of the route in Chicago. The MANUAL says that the Lounge Car may NOT be closed any earlier than 30 minutes before the end of the line. I love this shit. Go ahead, beyatch, GIVE IT A SHOT. I'll QUOTE the damn manual at you! (Plus, being a queen BITCH myself, maybe I'll let a couple of the train employees just catch a glance at the thing in the binder I'm reading, namely The Manual, and let them think I'm some sort of person who's going to catch them doing the wrong thing. Ok, yeah, so I will probably catch them doing the wrong thing, I mean, nobody's perfect, but I'LL be there TO SEE IT!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHHA! (NOTE-actually, when the lounge car bar and the cafe closes is different from route to route and train to train...it depends on the timetable and the schedule. They DON'T, however, close the Lounge Car. Plus no train personnel even came CLOSE to my seat all night long.)

Ahem.

Getting into a food theme again, if you look on the above website, you can find the cafe car menu and prices. Frankly, they're better than the prices at the airport!!! Think about it. We're not talking about a regular restaurant or cafe here, we're talking about a cafe ON THE TRAIN!!! WHILE MOVING!!! and seeing all sorts of SCENERY!!! It's pretty cool and you really should try to get a meal in the dining car if possible, just to round out the train experience. I'M going to. (remember the 'breakfast at sunrise thing? Trust me, I'm going to take LOTS of pics of that little event!) (NOTE-and I DID.)

 

To be continued...