Trip Reports by our Clients:
HOW DOES ONE MEASURE THE
AMERICAN ORIENT EXPRESS?
By Bob Longabaugh, Alton Bay, NH
(Submitted October 3, 2002)
How does one measure the American Orient Express? It depends upon the yardstick. If one measures it by body weight gained in only a week, one has to give Executive Chef Warren C. McLeod and his galley crew an almost perfect grade for six pounds of girth added by not being able to resist the scrumptious tastes and mouth-watering presentations placed before the traveler at each meal in the dining car.
If one measures it by the delight of traveling in vintage Pullmans that echo the ambience of the heydays of rail travel, one has to also rate the American Orient Express at the top of the grading scale.
But then come the "buts"...
BUT, if one rates the American Orient Express on their delivering a perfect rail travel experience with 100 being perfect, I'll fill in the report card with a grade of 89.
Why 10 points less than almost perfect?
(1) Because the equipment had shortcomings that should not have been present for a firm touting an "Orient Express" reputation; and
(2) The on-board service staff did not perform uniformly in the tradition of railroad excellence.
The above two negatives of course require some background for the reader to judge for themselves whether they matter or not.
My evaluation is based on the September 18, 2002, "Boston to Boston tour" that went as far north as Quebec City, Canada, and included Bar Harbor, Maine. The September 1 tour was the "shake-down" cruise for the first time that the AOE has been split into two consists one on the west coast and the other on the east coast. I was well aware that the learning experience could be quite stressful for the AOE (and, maybe even the passengers) as they went through their first moves with previously untested railroads and vendors. While this was, indeed, the case, it has no bearing on my grade of 89 (since, after all, I'm such a rail "nut" that the more time spent on the train, the better).
So, setting aside the learning "burps" that AOE had to go through with unfamiliar routings and new organizational relationships, my critique of AOE's "shortfalls" has to do completely with matters that are within their control.
For instance, with respect to the equipment: The "carriages" have been carefully and respectfully brought back to the state of art-deco that we rail fans associate with the Twentieth Century Limited and its kin. One truly revels that you have been returned to the days of yesteryear (but even better with water closets that do not dump on the railbed). Then, however, modern day maintenance (or lack thereof) sets in and one finds that the wall fan does not work, nor does the phone intercom to summon the porter.
One would not think that a non-operative wall fan could make that much difference. It did in this case because the first night out of Boston the train is "stabled" at Amherst, Massachusetts. Stabled means the train is standing still on a siding. Air circulation is at a minimum, and the head end power was also intermittent on this shake-down cruise. The two of us do not cozy in for the night with the bedroom door open. Therefore, without a fan in operation sleeping conditions became quite stifling.
This is an issue worth stressing because the non-working fan was pointed out to the sleeping car porter when she was making her cabin orientation spiel. She made a major act of filling out an equipment "discrepancy report" in front of us. Two days later the fan was still inoperable, and it took two personal involvements with the Assistant Hotel Manager before a portable fan appeared in our compartment. The point here is that without intensive follow-up on the passenger's part, there never would have been adequate air circulation in our compartment.
The other major disappointment = the on-board service staff.
They are young and enthusiastic, which is refreshing.
BUT, they are also green and unduly familiar.
When signing on (and paying more than the average) for a rail trip in the tradition of the Orient Express, one is expecting superlative service. Something along the lines of the Twentieth Century Limited or the Super Chief of the late 1930's at least as we "youngsters" (only now in our 60's and 70's) have had it described to us by our parents, aunts, and uncles who were so fortunate to have their Pullman slippers walk the real thing.
The New England/Canada trip of the AOE on September 1 of this year fell significantly short of delivering on that image. True, it may be an impossible image to resurrect, but the AOE leads you into it with your expectations up. They even dress their sleeping car attendants in the black attire and high-brimmed caps of old and refer to them as "porters."
But, no, what you find are college-age kids who are bubbling with enthusiasm and personality but do not have a clue with respect to railroading tradition and what true "porter" service entails. They ooze friendliness on their schedule, but are not there when your needs call for a replacement roll of toilet tissue twice!
I admit to being overly critical on this matter. But then the AOE company is asking for it when they entice you with the promise of the ultimate rail trip and then fail to deliver on one of the essential elements of a luxury rail train.
Indeed, the meals in the dining car were absolutely SUPERB, but the wait persons (with the exception of the dome car) were continually bumbling and never did seem to click. The first night it took three requests to get napkins delivered. This was later explained that the train does not have storage space for two services of napkins, so they have to be laundered between settings. Wine did not always arrive on time, and so on.
As noted, above, the service staff, in my estimation, are "too familiar." There is an inordinate amount of "touchy-feely," I was addressed as "dearie" by one dining car attendant, and the staff (in general) often referred to us as "guys." Obviously that makes me an old stodge, but it wasn't why I was anteing up premium dollars; I was looking for the last word in service on the American Orient Express.
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SUMMARY: The above should give the reader some sense of why only an 89 is the grade that I have assigned to the AOE on this particular trip. [And, really, 89 is pretty darn good for passenger rail travel in North America these days!] Yes, if the on-the-spot maintenance of the equipment gets improved to a three-hour remedy, and if the on-board staff can achieve true traditional "porter" (and dining car) service, it will become the ultimate of rail trips. But for now, in the fall of 2002, the AOE has more work to do to achieve perfection.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO "MILEAGE COLLECTORS:" From my perspective, there are two reasons to spend the mega-dollars on an AOE trip:
(1) The AOE experience itself; and
(2) The miles of freight-only trackage that one can travel in no other way than a hi-rail or hand car.
We made our reservations more than one year ahead of time based on an advertised itinerary that included loads of track miles in northern Maine that I could never hope to accomplish in any other way. When the final itinerary was promulgated less than one month before the trip was to commence, most of those "rare" track miles disappeared (with no surprise to me knowing of Guilford's unfriendliness to passenger movements). We were locked in; the fine print in the "contract" permits AOE to make alterations in the published itinerary (which is not unreasonable) AND no refunds less than 60 days prior to departure (which I'd say is unreasonable in view of the paid for "product" no longer being the same). The lesson here is to sort out how important the rare mileage is before committing a $500 deposit on each ticket.
I shall be writing to the Executive Vice President of AOE with respect to softening their policy in the case of extensive itinerary revisions. If any change comes of it, I will file an addendum to this report.
OVERALL RECOMMENDATION:
(1) Every passenger rail enthusiast should experience the American Orient Express for themselves. It will establish a personal bench mark upon which to make decisions regarding future outlays for rail travel.
(2) Having now done it once -- and without regrets -- I rather spend my travel budget in the future on trips that Sylvia and Ted recommend as being rail experiences worth doing.
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