Train Blog, December 21, 2021

Aboard the California Zephyr, Train #6

As you all know, I LOVE train travel. If I hit the lotto, I am going to buy a personal train car and live on the train. Some people retire, and live aboard a cruise ship; not me. It’s on the train, Brother. In these new normal times, things aboard are bit different. Not only is everyone masked, but train service is different than it was. The whole crew seems to be on edge. There is no real feeling that they WANT you to have an enjoyable journey. I felt like I was putting the crew out get salad dressing, or my bed made up. They seemed to have trouble getting me a DIET Coke. Staying in the “H” room (look it up), I hit the attendant call button, and the guy NEVER showed up. Lunch is first come, first served. By the time I made my way to the dining car, there was 28 people ahead of me; I ate at 1:20. The next day, I showed up at the appointed hour (noon), and rudely was told to wait outside. When I sat in an empty bedroom waiting for the diner to open, the conductor chewed me out. Normally, for dinner, they come by your room to get your reservation; the person who did that never showed up. I had to ask my car attendant (Chris, I always get their name) to bring me my dinner. One of the things I love about train travel is meeting people over a leisurely dinner. I missed out on that.

The last trip I took (March 2021), all of the food, while tasty, was pre-packaged and microwaved. It was nice to see they had chefs on board and they are cooking meals fresh again. BACK on the menu is the perennial “crappy side salad.” Even though I have changed my eating regime, the portions are small; I’ll have to bring snacks next time. One odd thing: the menu had no prices on it. When I asked, I was told, “Only sleeping car passengers eat in the dining car.” I guess, since meals are included, no prices are needed. However, if you are in coach, your only meal choice is to get something (microwaved) from the café car. Imagine vending machine food, or food you can get in a gas station freezer; prepackaged chips, cookies, baked goods and the like. You get the idea.

Once more, I was glad I had my toolkit aboard. The door on my room was one of those heavy metal sliding things. When the train took a left hand turn, the door slid closed, and SLAMMED on the door jamb; right turn, it slammed open. Thank God for 3M duct tape. While I could not really get my room temperature right, I did NOT (for a change) have to duct tape over the air vents. In fact, at one point in time, I had to remove one of my shirts as it got too hot in my room.

They are really serious about the masking (thankfully), and get right on you if you are unmasked. Last night, a woman was PUT OFF THE TRAIN because she refused to wear a mask. Good for Amtrak!

While I really love train travel, this trip was not so good. Hopefully, the next one will be better.

A story to tell ...

 ... so, years ago (in a galaxy far, far .... nononono), as a student at Cal State Northridge, there came a time when I needed a bass trombone. Most guys were playing Conn 62Hs, or Holton 180s or Bach 50Bs. It was well know that Larry Minick was making GREAT trombones. He put the valves in line, hand hammered the bells and made incredible slides. So I went to his shop to ask (PLEAD) with him to make me a trombone. As he was the master, and extremely busy, he agreed to put me on his (THEE) list. Then came the news of the cost. Now bear in mind, this was the late 1970's and I was making 2 bucks ($2) an hour in the music store. The cost: $1,200 (plus $72 sales tax); do the math (1,272÷2). 612 hrs to pay for this horn. I was freelancing some at the time (35 buck church gigs) and more money than this came in, but it was GOING to be hard. So, I gave him a $500 down payment (after finagling a couple tuba sales). I figured I had time. I saved my money as I could and awaited the arrival of my custom built Minick version of the Conn 62H; gold brass bell, 2 valves in-line as was all the rage. Tuning in the bell. I wondered about that, but no one EVER questioned Larry's designs. Bach and Holton were making bass trombones with 10" bells at the time (maybe they still do?). He once made a 71H with a 12" bell (yes, TWELVE inches). Apparently, he cut the bell off a Conn french horn and crazy glued it (not really) onto a bass trombone. I walked into the shop and asked, "What the heck is that?" Simply, he said, "If bigger is better, mine's the best." I hear JJ Johnson ended up with that horn, but who knows? He once took a 72H and grafted a THIRD valve onto it, in line! It looked cool as hell, but weighed almost as much as my Mirafone 180-5U F tuba! Anyway, the day came and a phone call from Larry, "Clements? Horn's Done." CLICK. (Typical call from Larry). YIKES! I still owed him about $600 and I didn't have the scratch. Sheepishly, I went to his shop with about $37. I said, "Larry, this is all I got." If you need to sell the horn to someone else, go ahead, I understand. I'll get the next one." He said, "Take it and pay me when you can. And if you EVER tell anyone, I'll kick your ass, and take the horn back." I was shocked. I knew under that gruff exterior beat a heart of gold, but *I* never saw it. Here it was. I sent him $5, $17, whatever I had after paying my bills and ONE DAY, I paid it off. IN FULL. I jumped for joy when I got his invoice labelled "PAID IN FULL" in big red letters.

Jump ahead a few years. I was playing SJ Symphony and freelancing all over the bay area and doing some soloing with college bands.  I had a wonderful bright young student who was studying bass trombone with me. There came a time where HE needed an instrument. Remembering the kindness Minick showed me, I sold this trombone to the student for exactly what I paid for it $1,200. He went on to have a terrific career and is a well known personality in the Los Angeles Area. If he lets me, I'll tell his name later.

So, why am I telling you this now? I got asked to play "The Nutcracker" this week (12/9-12), bass trombone. I sold my Shires years ago and got a King Duo Gravis just in CASE I had to play bass bone somewhere. This is NOT a symphonic trombone. In my efforts to find an appropriate instrument, I called around. I got two instruments delivered today, one was a trial and was expected. I had NO idea what the second box could be. Upon opening the box, there was an OLD Conn trombone case. What do you supposed was in the case? Yep. The Minick. 

I wept.