Chuck.Weinstock@cmu-sei.arpa (05/03/85)
Chicago, May 1: Passengers traveling on Amtrak's Southwest Chief between here and Los Angeles this summer will be experiencing a new enhanced service which could be extended later to all of Amtrak's long-distance Western trains. The Southwest Chief, which runs along the old Santa Fe trail for much of its route, will follow in the tradition of deluxe service offered by predecessor Santa Fe Railway trains. Even before the days of the Chief and Super Chief, which wisked movie stars and impresareios between Southern California and the cities of the East from the 1930s well into the 1970s, there was the California Limited of the 1890s. Each lady passenger then was presented with a "boutonniere of choice roses, lilies, carnations or violets," according to the rail historian Arthur Dubin, "while souvenir alligator wallets were given to men passengers." Amtrak passengers on today's successor train will find at their seats souvenir brochures describing the train's augmented services, the route which it follows and a special Southwest Chief Menu and Beverage List. New service features to be introduced May 1 are movies, taped music, and lectures by a guide form the Inter-Tribal Indian Cermemonial Association of Gallup, N.M. The train's two-level Superliner sightseer-lounge car, which is equipped with big, wraparound, picture windows for viewing the route's magnificent scenery, is also the train's center of social activity. Here, the "Indian Country" guide will give a description of the sites passed between Gallup and Albuquerque, N.M., for passengers on both the eastbound and westbound trains. Here also, short movies will be shown through the morning for children and full-lenght features in the evening. There will be bingo in the early afternoon and a "Chief's Round up" hospitality hour featuring Margueritas and Tequila Sunrises at popular prices ($2.25 each) in the late afternoon. Although a number of movie stars and other entertainment personalities still rid the Southwest Chief, passengers are likely to be a cross-section of America. In an advertising bulletin of the 1890s, the Santa Fe line once boasted that "one's traveling companions are of a desirable class...successful men of affairs, authors, musicians, journalists, 'globe-trotters,' pretty and witty women and happy children...." Amtrak, of course, considers all of its passengers as a "desireable class" and apassengers find it easy to meet each other, if they so wish, in the Southwest Chief's social center sightseer-lounge car. Taped music of a regional nature will be played between other events in the lounge, as well as in the dining car, and passengers in sleeping car compartments may turn it on if they wish. Announcements of scheduled events will be heard throughout the train. A special regional dish offered in the Southwest Chief's Superliner dining car is baked half-chicken with Hacienda Sauce. It's served for dinner with a salad, rolls and butter, and coffee, tea or milk , for $7. Other dinner entrees range from Vegetable Lasagna at $5 to New York Strip Steak for $10.25. Besides Amtrak's own on-board publication, Amtrak Express, which is given to all passengers, the Southwest Chief will offer a selection of magazines for sale in the lounge car. All passenger cars on the Southwest Chief are double-deck equipment providing "see-level" views of the countryside, which ranges from Los Angeles and Chicago suburbia to Dodge City's Boot Hill and Hangman's Tree. You pass by old Santa Fe Trail stage stops as you cross the Raton Pass, numerous Indian pueblos through New Mexico and the Red Rock country of northern Arizona. The route of the Southwest Chief includes such major stops as Kansas City, Mo.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Flagstaff, Ariz., gateway to the Grand Canyon. Although the train operates on the "Santaq Fe Line," the railroad never actually reached New Mexico's capital city, which is served via the nearby town of Lamy. A shuttle van links Lamy with major downtown Santa Fe hotels. Amtrak's extensive tour programs can provide stopover packages at Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, N.M., Dodge City, Kansas City, and of course, Chicago and Los Angeles. A Southwest Chief tour and information packet is now available by writing: Amtrak Distribution Center, P.O. Box 7717, Itasca, Ill. 60143.
msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) (05/04/85)
railroad@ucbvax.ARPA writes: > From: Chuck.Weinstock@cmu-sei.arpa > Chicago, May 1: Passengers traveling on Amtrak's Southwest Chief between > here and Los Angeles this summer will be experiencing a new enhanced service > which could be extended later to all of Amtrak's long-distance Western > trains. ... > The train's two-level Superliner sightseer-lounge car, which is equipped > with big, wraparound, picture windows for viewing the route's magnificent > scenery, is also the train's center of social activity. Here, the "Indian > Country" guide will give a description of the sites passed between Gallup > and Albuquerque, N.M., ... short movies will be shown through the morning for > children and full-lenght features in the evening. There will be bingo in > the early afternoon and a "Chief's Round up" hospitality hour ... > Taped music of a regional nature will be played between other events in the > lounge, as well as in the dining car, and passengers in sleeping car > compartments may turn it on if they wish. ... And if what you wish is to sit quietly and view the route's magnificent scenery through the big, wraparound picture windows, well, you can just find yourself another railway. Mark Brader Actually, I liked the scenery on the Denver-Oakland route better.