[Philmont]: Amtrak

Troop 505 has taken the train three times to Philmont; 1990, 1999,
2003. Each time it was a real treat, although the delays mentioned were
experienced, but planned for.

In South Bend, we boarded the Lake Shore Special and switched to the
Southwest Chief after a 3 hour layover in Chicago. In Chicago, a porter
saw us stepping of the train in uniform and asked us if we were headed to
Raton. He lead us to a set of seats, told us where to make our pack line
and said he would be back for us when it was time for us to board. We had
our packs placed on the baggage car. Going out of Chicago in '99, they had
us personally place the packs in the car ourselves before boarding. Scouts
going to Raton were called for and boarded first, five crews all in one
car. The conductor came to the car and collected the tickets, then had all
of the leaders raise their hands. The instructions given were: "You are
in charge until we get to New Mexico. I will be back then." Once through
the tunnel into New Mexico, the porter showed up with trash bags and brooms
and told us he knew scouts left everything cleaner than they found it. We did.

Our carry on had our personal care items, any food we chose to carry on for
the trip, reading material, cd players, and a blanket. We slept in the
seats, but blankets are a welcome addition for the night.

On the way back, the dinning car offered a breakfast special to scouts in
uniform.

In 2003, the railroad was not as accommodating, but the crew was still
pleased with the service.

All three times we ordered our tickets well ahead of time to make use of
specials. When ordering far in advance, you may be able to get two youth
(16 and under) for the price of one adult when the youth are traveling with
an adult. So each adult can take two youth and get three tickets for the
price of two. Call Amtrak now to see what specials you can get, and what
the window is for ordering the tickets.

Roman Smith
CR
ST. Joseph Church, South Bend

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Received on Mon Dec 20 16:08:16 2004