The Brigantine resident is used to waitressing, but learning to serve drinks and food on a swaying train was something new.
"You don't want to fall onto somebody when taking an order," Hock said. "You have to get your sea legs."
Operators of the Atlantic City Express Service, or ACES, train between Atlantic City and New York City hope Hock and the rest of the staff develop that much-needed balance by Friday, the day the train begins regular weekend service.
The train underwent what its operators - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah's Resort - called a
soft opening
Friday: A round-trip excursion to show off the train and its amenities to the media. It was also something of a sell job, with casino officials touting how
ACES makes traveling between Atlantic City and New York City easier than taking a bus or the family car.
The only glitch occurred on the return trip, when ACES was delayed in Trenton for a few minutes while Amtrak sorted out a scheduling problem involving ACES, Amtrak and SEPTA on the part of the route that runs through Pennsylvania.
Initial one-way costs for the trip are $50 for coach, and $75 for first class.
Once on board, customers will sit in leather seats. They can buy sandwiches and salads for about $7, and pay $6 for a beer and between $11 and $16 for a mixed drink. First-class travelers get food and beverage servers.
As for scenery along the way, there's rural and suburban southern New Jersey, blighted sections of Philadelphia, the bustle of downtown New Brunswick and Rutgers University, and urban areas - both upcoming and in decay - situated across the Hudson River from New York City.
But what really matters to the casino companies is that new customers with disposal income not only use ACES to get to their gaming halls during these tough economic times, but that they also generate new gamblers through word-of-mouth advertising.
ACES officials say it's too soon to determine whether the train will be successful. Tickets went on sale about two weeks ago, but the full-scale advertising blitz - including radio, Internet and outdoor marketing - begins Wednesday.
That's probably good, because travelers randomly interviewed at New York Penn Station on Friday said they never heard about ACES. They all said the train was a good idea, but were mixed about the cost.
"It's cheaper to go by bus," said Sidney Cohen of New York City.
Gloria Ulmont, who lives in Jersey City, said she's reached the age - 70 - where she'd gladly pay the fare to avoid driving to the gaming resort. "I get tired real easy," she said.
ACES runs between the Atlantic City Rail Terminal and New York Penn Station on 7th Avenue at 32nd Street, with a stop at Newark Penn Station. The trip takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The route involves part of NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Line.
ACES is a joint venture among Borgata, Caesars, Harrah's, NJ Transit and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, or CRDA. It's running on a three-year trial basis.
The three casinos are paying $15 million for eight bi-level passenger cars. CRDA is providing $4.8 million to lease locomotives from Amtrak. ACES and CRDA are jointly providing another $4 million for operating costs.
While the casinos are used to running some transportation networks, such as bus and air junkets, delving into the train business was a new experience.
Borgata Senior Vice President Auggie Cipollini joked on Friday that, in some way, building a casino is easier than building a train, which required everything from repetitive weight and balance checks to using crash dummies to test the safety and durability of the train's seats.
Hock said ACES attendants underwent customer service training, and about a week's worth of instructions from NJ Transit on train operations and safety measures.
"We're prepared for any emergency you can think of," she said.
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