Some Memorable Dinners in the Diner

Everyone who rides the train says the same thing: It’s the dining car experience you remember most.

I arrived in Los Angeles this morning when the Southwest Chief pulled in some 25 minutes ahead of schedule. I’m now happily ensconced in a hotel room for the rest of the day, looking forward, as always, to my return to Maui tomorrow.

In the meantime, let me tell you about some of the people I met over some very good meals served by an outstanding crew in the Chief’s dining car.

Dinner on the first night was shared with a feisty 60ish lady, originally from Michigan, but a resident of Albuquerque for the past 35 years. She was funny and blunt and very firm in her opinions on a variety of subjects. Not surprising, because she has recently retired as a bus driver for the transit system in Albuquerque.

The breakfast companions the next morning were a husband and wife from St. Louis. He has Parkinson’s and had a hard time getting around on the moving train, more so because they were located in a sleeper that was two cars away from the diner … a long and difficult way to go for the gentleman. I passed along my recommendation that for booking train travel it’s a good idea to use a rail savvy travel agent, who would have made sure this nice couple was located in a bedroom in the sleeping car right next to the diner. That would have reduced their trek from a over a hundred feet to not more than 20 or 30. We talked a lot about train travel and about the lack of funding Amtrak has had to suffer through over the years and, by the end of dinner, they had enthusiastically agreed to become members of NARP (the National Association of Railroad Passengers).

Lunch was with another nice couple … she, a retired Amtrak employee, he a retired police officer. They were on their way back to the Bay Area after spending a week in Indiana as volunteers campaigning door-to-door for Barak Obama.

I was placed at a table with a British couple at dinner last night. They’re in the middle of a rather extensive visit to the US, all being done by rail. Very nice folks, with — all things considered (!) — a very warm feeling for Americans and our country.

Breakfast this morning was early … very early. Anticipating an arrival into Los Angeles ahead of schedule, the dining car crew opened for business at 5:00 a.m. Seated with me were two brothers — one from Milwaukee, the other from St. Louis — who are fans of rail travel and are making a circuit from Chicago to LA to San Francisco to Portland and back to Chicago, all by Amtrak. Much of the breakfast conversation had to do with baseball. The older brother is a Milwaukee Brewers fan, the younger is a Cardinal fan and I, of course, live and die with the Boston Red Sox. We had a lot in common and a lot to argue about. Amazingly, it also turned out that the younger brother and I have a friend in common.

Lots of good conversation with interesting and entertaining people … pretty much the usual kind of experience in an Amtrak dining car. And one more reason I enjoy train travel.

Home tomorrow!! More posts and plenty of photographs to follow.