Trip Report: August 22 - 28, 2001
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
MONTANA DAYLIGHT
DAY 2. EUGENE TO SANDPOINT
Thursday August 23, 2001. We enjoy an excellent breakfast at the Eugene Hilton and walk over to the Amtrak Station to board the Cascade which is scheduled to leave at 9:30 AM. We are the only Business Class passengers, and had noticed on our previous journeys on this train that it is poorly patronized, which does not bode well for the future of this Eugene service.
The competition is Interstate 5, which is convenient for us as Sprint PCS has digital signals on much of the route . We set up our laptops and check our e-mails and reservations queues. A stack of Eugene morning newspapers is available, as are several current magazines. There are only two stops, Albany and Salem, before reaching our destination city, Portland. After leaving Salem, we utilize the $3.00 vouchers given to all Business Class passengers to order two oatmeals with brown sugar, nuts, and raisins. Finding out that there was none available this morning, we opt for two breakfast sandwiches and herbal tea.
Our arrival in Portland is on time at 12:05 PM. As the train approaches the platform, there is an announcement as to how Seattle passengers can find their connecting train. For reasons which remain unexplained, our train terminates in Portland, so that passengers for points beyond are required to change to another Cascade train. Although it would make it convenient for passengers to spot the connecting train across the platform, instead it is parked on the adjacent track, requiring all connecting passengers to walk around both trains to reach their connecting train. This even confuses the train chief, who has to correct his own previous announcement. It would be even more convenient for passengers if the train ran through without change.
As we have sleeping car tickets for the Empire Builder, we are welcomed into the Metropolitan Lounge, which conveniently has a computer work station. After determining which of the two provided phone lines has a dial tone, I struggle with my dialing protocol without success, until I inquire of the lounge attendant and find out that Portland has changed to ten digit dialing for local calls. Neither seven digits nor eleven digits will work.
Then Sylvia's newly acquired Compaq laptop has its display screen go haywire. Calling the help line reveals that this is a known fault, and merely squeezing the edges of the picture frame will restore the picture. I am to have my technician correct this problem when we return home. Then her modem would not dial up and connect with her Juno E-mail provider. How this was resolved would take up the next two pages, but eventually we get it to work. Exhausted by our computer problems, we stroll over to Wilf's to enjoy an excellent lunch and view of the Coast Starlight when it stops in the station.
After boarding the Empire Builder and getting settled into Deluxe Room E, I find that I am unable to dial Worldspan, my reservation system provider, with my Sprint PCS phone. It is not until 9pm in Pasco that I remember that the PCS modem is limited to 19K, while my Worldspan software is set to the higher speed that is possible over a land line. I reset the speed and it works fine, as it always did before. I don't want to bore you with technical problems, but perhaps if I write this all down, I will remember it in the future. Although computer technology is as wonderful as magic, the time and effort that it takes to keep it working is substantial, and the question arises, am I more productive, or just doing it in a different way. It is a moot point however, as we are virtually forced into doing it the computer way now. And how can I complain, it gives me the freedom to travel without having to close my business.
The Empire Builder rolls purposefully along the northern shore of the Columbia River, pausing at Bingen, then making a smoker stop at Wishram, where we get out and stroll the platform. Larry, our experienced car attendant, has a drill formulated whereby he gets all of his work done swiftly and cheerfully. The dinner packs are located in Standard Room 2, and he advises us to help ourselves when we are ready. (There is no diner from Portland to Spokane.) Bottled water and soft drinks are located there also. Ice is in a chest in the hallway. Newspapers are delivered directly to our room, as are towels. He asks the Deluxe Room passengers what time we want our bed made up and arrives on time to do it. He announces to the Standard Room passengers that their rooms will be made up at a certain time, and he accomplishes this with production line precision. He has already carried our bags up to our room, and when I tell him that the large bag should really be stored downstairs, he gives me the look. But when a $5 bill appears in my hand, he is a pleasant and cheerful as can be. TIP, To Insure Promptness. It works, at least with hard working, efficient people like Larry.
We arrive in Pasco only a few minutes behind schedule, but hear an announcement from Larry over the local PA system that we will be here for awhile awaiting the buses from Klamath Falls. The Coast Starlight was unable to make its connection in Portland with the Empire Builder and the connecting passengers were taken off in Klamath Falls to be driven by bus to Pasco. (Remember, this is why we started a day early and stayed overnight in Eugene.) When the buses do arrive about 9:45 PM, some of the passengers board the sleeper, and we can hear their requests for refreshments. Fortunately there are still dinner packs available, and Larry announces that the Lounge Café car was still open for snacks and beverages. When the Starlight passengers were settled in we pulled out of Pasco about one hour behind schedule. Larry advises us that he will be turning in himself beyond Spokane, but that the conductor will be responsible for making sure we are awakened for Sandpoint. We turn out the lights and go to sleep.
I gradually become aware of the lack of motion and sound and awake to find that we are in the Spokane station with no head end power. This is where the meet with the Seattle section of the Empire Builder takes place. The schedule calls for this to occur between 12:15 AM and 1:15 AM, and although I have never understood why this project should take so long, I am sure that the operating department has their reasons. It is 2 AM and I hear the sound of a Genesis locomotive approaching, apparently the Seattle train pulling in. It is 2:35 AM before we pull out of town, and I phone John Field on his cell phone number to let him know our lack of progress. John is the VP of Sales and Marketing for Montana Rockies Railtours, and he is at the unmanned Sandpoint Amtrak Station awaiting our scheduled 2:49 AM arrival. He tells me he will go home and return in about an hour, and we go back to sleep. The conductor wakes us at 3:30 AM and we arrive at about 3:50 AM. The train makes a double stop at the short Sandpoint platform. When our door is opened from the outside by the conductor, we disembark to find John waiting with his Taurus wagon. I had pictured him in a three piece suit, but we are relieved to find him dressed in jeans and ten gallon hat, so I know we are in Big Sky country now.
It is just a short drive to the Montana Daylight, which is spotted on a siding on the Montana Railink just outside Sandpoint in the town of Ponderay. The Yerba Buena car attendant, Barbara Klein, greets us and shows us our rooms, a suite consisting of Bedroom A and Drawing Room B. Drawing Room B has two lower berths, a closet, and an enclosed lavatory. Connecting Bedroom A has a sofa, a desk, and a open lavatory. The beds are made up and look very inviting. I set up our office in A and settle in for a couple of more hours of sleep. I know we are going to be comfortable on the Montana Daylight.
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