What the Hell is Wrong wih the 784? Making the case for the 582

A guest post by DLD

Now I don’t consider myself an investigative reporter (so this should be considered one of the investigative report series), but I would like to give anecdotal support to GNS’s premise that the 784 is going downhill and the 582 is now the preferred train. I am the ex-daily hour-each-way commuter that is now a some-weeks Monday north, Friday south commuter that is also in the hall of fame. Can you follow that? If not, go find my previous guest post to figure what it all means.

A year or more ago (back when I was a daily regular) I would argue with GNS that the 582 was a better choice than the 784 on Friday nights. We did some experiments, and Greg was unconvinced. I will admit that we had some bad experiences on the 582 and some good ones on the 784. But now it looks like I was right after all.

Recently my schedule has pretty much required that I take the 784 from LA to my normal stop in San Diego County. But today I got to LA in time to catch the 582, and what a joyous experience it has been. My good friend ALH was on, which was a pleasant surprise. Plus the rest of the people hanging in the Café were a hoot.

Let’s compare:

It looks to me like GNS’s premise is correct. The 582 is a better choice. I hope I can start making it more often.

Social Rejects on the Train

Most of the train passengers are made up of ordinary tourists and commuters. But it unfortunately attracts a small set of people with "issues". These are people that have a hard time interacting in society without confrontations. Perhaps once every three months these escalate to a point where the problem person gets evicted from the train. Today we saw two of these cases occur within just one hour! On the 784 of course.

Case #1. So this guy is flirting with the LSA. Its quiet conversation and most of us regulars don't notice much except that he's standing at the cafe counter for maybe 15 minutes chatting. He walks away and we hear "CONDUCTOR TO THE CAFE CAR" - the distress call of an LSA needing security assistance. Apparently he punched the next male customer that walked up to the counter (jealous?). And tried to kiss the LSA twice. They threw him off. Strange guy. He looked nervous as the conductor explained this was a "federal train" and he was lucky the guy he punched wasn't pressing charges.


Case #2: This one (photo below) is  a more typical (social reject). Guy walks up to the LSA and asks for information including how many cars are on the train. She knows the Cafe car is #2 but not the exact number of cars.He gets belligerent and throws out the word "bitch".  "CONDUCTOR TO THE CAFE CAR - AGAIN". He's gone.

Case #2: (guy with glasses and shorts)

The good news? 784 was actually on time today.

The Sense of Scents

We regulars on the 784 encounter many pleasant aromas during our nightly travels: a warm pepperoni pizza-for-one and the simply awesome jalapeno cheeseburger that recently made a comeback spring to mind. Tonight, we were assaulted by a completely different olfactory experience: broccoli.

Now, you may be thinking "Broccoli? Heh?" But it begins to make sense if you consider how many passengers enter and exit the lavatory between LA and San Diego. According to one of my comrades, this foul odor made its way into the cafe car starting at Fullerton. Of course his first instinct told him the city of Fullerton itself was the culprit.

As said comrade covered his nose and mouth to ward off the pungent stench, I began to ponder the unknown traveler sitting directly across from me. At first glance, he reminded me of Matthew McConaughey's character in "Dazed and Confused": longish hair, mustache, a mid-70s vibe. He appeared to be the kind of guy who would hug a tree every so often and was quite possibly a vegetarian, particularly fond of green vegetables.

Suddenly, my comrade muttered from behind the hand still covering his face, "What smells like broccoli?" The unknown traveler promptly stood up and marched out of the cafe car.

Case solved.

Good Job Amtrak

Lest one think all we do is complain on this blog, I thought it only fair to point out some positive news. The 784 has been on time pretty much the last couple of weeks. (I hope this doesn't jinx it). This photo shows the train flying into the Irvine station at 6:09 pm.today.

And another thing to appreciate - as gas rapidly approaches $5/gallon, Surfliner tickets have not gone up one cent. With any luck Amtrak corporate won't have time to react before fuel prices start going down again.

Last Call?

Frequent commuters get to know the rules and procedures (some unwritten) better than "newbie" employees on the train.Here are a few of them:

1.Commuters  in the cafe car  should buy the products, and tip the LSA well.
2. Don't bring your own food or drinks.
3. LSA should reciprocate with "free refills" on coffee - even  if it that's not written in the Amtrak handbook.
4. As you head up to LA in the morning , somewhere around Del Mar,  call in the order for drinks and food required for the ride back to San Diego that evening.
          Hint: Fridays and holidays sell more.

The photo to the left is the cooler on the 784 just north of Solana Beach, on  Friday April 15 at 7pm.  I was alerted to this sad condition when I heard the odd announcement on the PA of "Last Call".

Last Call? WTF? Last call should be reserved for 2AM at your local bar. The riders on this train had 37 minutes left to go.

Newbies - reach out to us. We'll be happy to help We don't want to resort to breaking rule #2.
 


PS: Do they put up with this on the Acela? More about that in future posts....

Increased Ridership Can Be Bad For Business

Amtrak is on pace to set a new ridership record this year based on it's latest press release. This is good news from the standpoint of overall interest in the rail system. Hopefully it spurs a new era of track improvements and system efficiency. In the meantime, it means more crowded trains and complaints from both regular riders and tourists.

The following photos document a rare, but increasing problem. This is the record of my horrific ride home on 3/18/11.

Picture #1 could be a shot of a Tokyo commuter train (not actually, but you get the point). There were not enough seats for riders. There was not enough standing room either.

Picture #2 shows the riders who were fortunate to make it on the train, but unfortunate enough to have been stranded on the stairwell.  I was shocked to see a conductor make his way through this to punch tickets.  So were some of these people who voiced their displeasure.

Then to add insult to injury, I made my way to the bar only to find it had no beer!

Not a happy commuter...

This particular train did not accept new passengers till Irvine, so I am sure the next one (2.5 hours behind it) was just as joyful.