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Pere Marquette
January 15, 2007
On Saturday, December 29, 2006, Brian, Jenn, Christa and I took the Pere Marquette to and from Chicago. It was good to be back on the rails - for the most part. Christa had never been on Amtrak, so I was hoping for a wonderful experience.
Normally, the Pere Marquette runs with three Amfleet cars (to my knowledge, at least). However, this wonderful day, they were running four Superliner cars. Now, knowing that the whole train is reserved, but not reserved seating, I would have figured that we’d be able to find seats together, if not four near each other, at least two by two. Nope.
By the time we boarded - we were about the 10th-14th people to board our car - there was not one group of seats available. None. Nearly ever pair of seats was occupied by one person. Not people traveling together, but people using two seats for one person. How rude. We walked up and down the car once or twice, and Christa and I decided to sit across from one another in the front row. In other words, the two single girls sitting up front sat there while Christa and I had to sit across from each other. I was fuming by this point. Just ask Christa.
Brian and Jenn had better luck. A girl in a Calvin sweatshirt offered to move to another seat so they could be together.
Let’s break this down. People were too selfish to move seats to give a couple (obviously) traveling together, but, in the end, that meant that the selfish person was sitting next to a person without their loved one. Doesn’t make sense, does it?
About halfway through the trip, the girl next to Christa finally turned to us and asked if we’d like to sit next to each other. “YES”. Thanks. At least she had half a heart.
Thanks to the seating mishap, the trip started off on a bad note for me. The Conductor even noted that we were together… when I told him we were looking for some seats together, he said “Good Luck.” Thanks. It would have been nice if the Conductor, pre-Holland, had made an announcement asking people to pair up if they were traveling alone, but I doubt that happened.
What ever happened to common courtesy?
Next to the seating problem, the trip was a fantastic introduction for Christa. We only stopped once on the way into Chicago, and that was not even for one minute. On the return trip, we stopped once for about five, maybe ten, minutes outside the Horseshoe Casino in Indiana.
It was my first time in a Superliner car. The seats are roomy, the footrests convenient, and there are power hook-ups for those traveling with computers, DVD players, etc. Being higher up gives an even better view of the passing scenery. The only slight problem was that a few of the doors seemed to stick once in a while - some people had a problem getting from car to car. Another amazing thing, to me, was the size of the bathrooms. They were huge!
This most recent trip affirmed my belief in Amtrak. Next up, a trip on the Heartland Flyer! We don’t know exactly when we’ll do it, but hopefully it will be soon. We certainly have enough Amtrak Guest Rewards points to travel free in the near future.
Posted by paul at January 15, 2007 09:05 AM
Comments
Isabelle said on January 19, 2007 05:44 AMHi Paul
Your English cousin Isabelle here again. Your comments about selfish seat-hoggers made me laugh! Not having a car (try affording one and finding somewhere to park it in London...) I spend a lot of time on trains and the tube/subway and often come across this problem. On the tube, where journeys are usually short, it doesn't bother me too much, but on longer intercity rail journeys it is very annoying. But much more annoying than that are the recent huge increases in the cost of train fares in the UK (see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4509956.stm). It is still possible to travel cheaply but it means booking at exactly the right time (the small time-frame when the cheaper tickets are available) and travelling at a time of day which you might not want to. For instance: you can get from London to Manchester (200 miles) for less than £30/$59 but the full fare is over £200/$395! My flat-mate's boyfriend lives up there, so she has lots of 'fun' trying to get cheap tickets. The Government are meant to be encouraging us to get off the roads and onto the trains but high fares are going to send people back to their cars...
kris said on January 20, 2007 08:59 AMi've never had very good luck with people switching seats for me and whoever i'm travelling with on amtrak... we took to train to MI this past jan visit and it is extra important to be near eachother for the overnight trip (with kaylo and all that requires and sleeping on the shoulder of someone you know) :) it was packed on our trip to michigan and many many families with kids were split up. luckily kaylo and i had seats next to eachother, but adam had to sit rows away. it seemed that many of the travellers were travelling solo and could have moved.