Dustin Yates Wrote:
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> I rode in the ATSF Tolani on the way up to Portola
> on Friday. Was disappointed that 1983 wasn't
> there (rumored screwup was the involved parties
> forgot to turn the engine) and Tioga Pass didn't
> make it from southern California (Definitely an
> Amtrak screwup).

I would love to know the inside story on what happened here....particularly with Amtrak leaving the Tioga Pass behind. I can't imagine the steam coming out of people's ears on that one. That just seems like pure incompetence to me.

> I was nice and comfortable inside Tolani with the
> AC blasting though people in some of the domes
> were roasting in the sun. I don't know which cars
> were having the non functional A/C and if they
> ever fixed it.

Yes, this is one of my personal pet peeves about extremely expensive trips like this. I already knew in advance that the best seats in the house (the dome cars) would be hotter than hell up there. I'm not talking about the full-length domes, but the Zephyr-style of dome cars. When you pay THAT much money (over two thousand dollars for a 10 hour ride I think?), I would expect to be comfortable. And even at that price, the cars are FULL--every square inch of space is taken with passengers. Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but I'm just saying that if a car holds 60 people, then 60 people (plus staff) will be there. For me, that's just too uncomfortable, especially when paying that type of dough. I just can't justify it. But apparently, I'm in the minority because the train was sold-out and carried around 500 paying passengers.

I also knew that since this was a very hardcore "foamer trip" (as opposed to a nice, relaxing train trip), the open vestibules would be packed with people and would make it impossible to just enjoy the open air in peace, and snap a few pictures here and there.

I'm glad everyone had a nice time, but it's definitely not my cup of tea.