Taking the Amtrak California Zephyr round trip from/to Oakland, CA to Denver, CO in the summer of 1986. There were mixed feelings. Two FP40H locomotives pulled the train. The GM/EMD plate on one engine said it was built in 1977. There was a privately-owned old passenger car on back of the train. Looked like an old Pullman Heavyweight. I saw the lovely Rocky Mountains. I stopped at an interesting Colorado town called Granby. It was cool to see a big yellow UP engine up front as a helper somewhere near Provo, UT. Or was it HELPER, UT? One of the cab drivers at the train station taxi stand in Denver was crabby while another driver of the same company, Yellow Cab, two mornings later was nice.
The train was dirty. The observation windows were dirty. The train smelled of mold. My train was held up in Salt Lake City, Denver-bound, for 5 hours due to a freight train derailment ahead. There, while the train was held up, a man operating a UP switcher yelled at me as I was wandering around the platform area. I actually wandered off the platform and walked over his track. I complained to the man of color serving me a meal on the train about its running late but he just gave a smirk and said nothing. I also traveled coach and the seat was not very comfortable to sleep on overnight in lieu of a bed in a private compartment. I vowed never to take a coach trip that long again. Originally, I did not want to spend too much money on a first-class ticket. The train took about 32 hours each way not counting the 5 hour hold-up in Salt Lake City. There is about 1,500 miles of rugged American Wild West real estate between Oakland and Denver (the Sierra Nevada, deserts, canyons, the Rockies) so I estimate the train speed averaged about 45 MPH. Coming back during the evening, before entering Utah, a dry state, I had a complimentary Bailey's Irish Creme on the train. It was Amtrak Happy Hour or something. A lady on the train said those Mormons won't allow booze to be served in their state. The return trip home to California seemed much faster and I didn't seem to mind coach so much on the return trip. I was so tuckered out, the coach seat didn't seem to bother me then. I was age 22 then. I'm 61 now. Back then, car rental places would not rent a car to a person under 25 without a major plastic card or a cosigner. If you were 18, you could buy an automobile if you paid cash for it.
In 1986, much like the 1970s, Amtrak was running OP's equipment that was refurbished and repainted with a lick and a promise to with bits of duct tape holding the bogies on the bottom. Much later, they finally were able to purchase new locomotives and passenger cars.
In 1979 I took a trip to Florida with my brother to visit an aunt and uncle. We took Amtrak from Back Bay to Deland Florida. This trip entailed two trains each way. Boston to New York Penn Station then we switched to the Meteor for the rest of our trip to Florida.
The trip to New York was in standard coaches pulled by a former Pennsylvania, now painted Amtrak red front and silver F-unit until we reached New Haven where we were coupled on to an electric locomotive for the rest of our trip to Penn Station. We arrived with time to spare and we hung around as close as we could be to our possible arrival track because the announcement was absolutely impossible to understand.
Our train came in and we left. Again, these were older passenger cars and we had coach seats all the way. I took the window side and my brother the aisle because he didn't care to look out the window. Just a bit past the Delaware line, dinner was announced and we walked a few cars to the dining car.
The waitstaff were polite and we ordered the red snapper which came with a baked potato and string beans. The fish was delicious, although I remember the bones stabbing me, the string beans were garden fresh as if someone had picked them that morning, and the baked potato. Oh, that baked potato was the best I've ever had and never had one like it since. The skin was crisp and charcoal black on the outside. Inside, the potato was light and fluffy and melted in my mouth. It's been 45 years since I took the trip and I've never forgotten that.
The next day, we had breakfast which was eggs and bacon, with orange juice (our choice) and coffee. The bacon and eggs were fresh, and the eggs weren't that generic scrambled stuff from a carton. We skipped lunch because we had some snacks, besides we were arriving soon in Deland.
On the trip south, we passed through New Jersey and I remember the old washboard sided electrics, still lettered for Pennsylvania Railroad, and MP54s for commuter service. I don't remember what we had for an engine but it was electric all the way to Washington.
That night was interesting. I didn't sleep a wink because I spent my time looking out the window, and we had some visitors... Cockroaches were crawling all over the window frame! I alerted the car attendant, who came back with a can of RAID and sprayed. He said he'd notify his supervisor. We were safe for the rest of the trip down.
Going back, we had coach seats again but without the extra company. There was a lounge car on this train with an upright piano which I played. I was too young to drink but socialized with other passengers with a coke. My brother got bored and went back to our seats.
The meal was interesting. We had roast beef with baked potatoes and some fresh summer squash. The meal really was nice and well done. Like the first meal, we ate on China plates and had glassware to drink from.
Breakfast again was our choice of bacon and eggs with orange juice and coffee and we skipped lunch because we had our own food packed this time.
As we were getting close to New York City, I remember seeing the old Lackawanna Electric trains running across the Meadowlands to their various destinations. We went through the tunnel under the Hudson to Penn Station where we swapped for our train to Boston. This was one of those AEM-7 hauled trains up to New Haven where the diesel was put on for the trip home. For part of the trip, I remember standing at the back window of our coach, since we were in the last car on the train and watching the tracks behind me.
Thinking about this, Amtrak was trying hard with limited resources as usual to provide the best trip for the passengers they can. Today, dining cars have been replaced with snack cars and boxed meals. Gone is the restaurant like service with fresh food served on China plates. The seats are more comfortable, I'm sure. I haven't been on an Amtrak train since 1990 when I took my last trip to Philadelphia to visit my dad's sister.
