2015 Circle Trip HOS-NOL-CHI-ANA-HOS

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ehbowen

ehbowen

Engineer
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
2,675
Location
Houston, Texas
Aboard the Sunset Limited: We got off to a late start; the train was over an hour late into Houston. With the generous station dwell time cut as far as possible we left only 30 minutes late, but lost time again while on the ex-Missouri Pacific line to Beaumont (on which the speed limit is only 60 mph). Since then, though, we've been consistently between 45 minutes and an hour down and with the generous padding into New Orleans we're likely to arrive close to on-time.

The crew has been very good. I had Carl as my waiter in the dining car for lunch and dinner; he was efficient and professional. I was seated for lunch even before we pulled out of Houston; I had the Caesar salad with chicken...aren't Caesar salads supposed to have Caesar dressing and no tomatoes? I had a choice of Balsamic Vinaigrette and Ranch (I chose the Ranch) and it came with four cherry tomatoes (after I told them I didn't want any!). The chocolate Bundt cake for dessert was very good although it would have been even better had I thought to ask for it a la mode.

Our sleeping car attendant has been invisible (save for boarding) but in a good way; the coffee is always fresh and the restrooms on this last day of a three-day transcontinental trip are all immaculate. That doesn't “just happen”. He'll get a tip.

I've decided to pay homage to old railroad tradition on this trip and dress for dinner. I brought a sport coat and slacks along with a dress shirt and tie and a more casual silk pullover. I wore the pullover tonight with the sport coat and a new pair of shoes. Dinner started with the appetizer salad which now costs (for coach passengers) but which is in fact more appetizing than the old bowl of lettuce with a cherry tomato; it includes bits of carrots and onion and comes in a larger bowl. The entree was the flat iron steak, medium, cooked just right and with sides of baked potato and green beans. Dessert was cheesecake with strawberries accompanied by a cup of hot tea.

I've been taking snaps for Facebook throughout the day; while most of them are just for friends on my timeline I am posting some of them to the Streamliner Schedules group (which is public) and the ATSF group (which is not). Feel free to pay a visit!
 
Day 2: New Orleans. Arrival last night was only about ten minutes late, thanks to the generous schedule padding into NOL. Woke up after a good night's sleep and had a continental breakfast here at the Fairchild House. Left to visit the WWII museum; they have added an entirely new wing since my last visit in January 2008. The place was packed...might have been Spring Break (although a lot of the tourists look to be entirely too old to be Spring Breakers), might have been St. Patrick's Day (although I've never associated that holiday with New Orleans...but I guess any reason is a good reason to be drinking beer, green or otherwise!), but whatever it is, this town is packed. You can't get a seat on the streetcars (there was a line a block long to board the St. Charles streetcar at Canal St.) and it took almost 20 minutes just to unload the passengers from the noon cruise on the steamboat Natchez.

I would really have liked to have videoed the calliope concert, but I didn't want to lose my place in line and my phone was dying anyway. I had bought a steamboat ticket with the lunch option, and I chowed down on red beans and rice, beef in gravy, fried catfish, scrambled eggs and bread pudding. It was all good and fresh, and I finished off a generous portion. I've taken the river cruise before, so this time I spent the time heading back upriver listening to the live jazz trio, the "Steamboat Stompers."

Once back at the Fairchild House I dressed for dinner and headed to Emiril's Delmonico, three blocks away. I started off right with their seafood and sausage gumbo with cornbread; had duck leg confit on a bed of kale with a side of candied yams and a glass of red Zinfandel as an entree, and finished the night with an order of chocolate Creme Brulee and a cup of coffee. The food was very good and I got out of there for just under $100, including tip...barely, but even so. Hey, it's my vacation. I'm splurging.
 
Day 3: New Orleans and its eponymous train: Day begins with a morning ride on the St. Charles streetcar to Carrollton Avenue and the Camellia Grill. I've eaten here once before, during a visit in 2008. However, I didn't bother to check their operating hours and I arrive a half-hour before they open for breakfast at eight. I spend the time taking a few snaps of the St. Charles streetcar in the early morning light. When they do open the doors a few minutes after eight I'm the first customer. I order the Chef's Special omelet; it comes with ham, bacon, potatoes, onions, two kinds of cheese, topped with chili and served with a side of grits. It's a huge portion but I'm hungry. I eat the whole thing.

After stopping back at the Fairchild House to officially check out I head back to the WWII museum; I have a second-day ticket which cost only an additional $6. I spend twenty minutes waiting for the streetcar before I decide that I could have walked the six blocks in that time. I take off walking up the street; sure enough, I make it to Lee Circle before any streetcar does. I give my day pass to one of the Orleaneans waiting at the streetcar stop; I won't be needing it again.

I ate lunch at the WWII museum's soda shop; just a chicken Caesar salad and a chocolate malt. I stop at the Subway in the New Orleans station to pick up a bag of chips and a couple bottles of Coca-Cola for the trip north. I almost pass up the Magnolia Room...the last time I was there it was shabby and crowded, but I stop at the ticketing desk and ask for the code anyway. Opening the door I wonder where I am...the place is completely changed! Some time in the past year or so the room has been completely redecorated. The walls have been painted an attractive shade of yellow and green and there is all-new furniture with comfortable cushions. The coffee maker and water dispenser are still as they were and there is no evidence of any additional amenities or snacks; still, the room looks a hundred percent better.

The City of New Orleans departs its namesake city on time; we seem to have a good crew this time. I'm in the 5800 sleeper, room 6. Jonathan is my sleeper attendant; a young guy but professional enough. With the service cutbacks, though, there is no more afternoon coffee upon boarding...mornings only. At least I've got my two bottles of soda.

I make my evening dinner reservations and head to the diner at the appropriate time. I've never tried the light option before and the menu makes it sound interesting, so I order it. Big mistake...it turns out to be my Worst Meal Ever on Amtrak. The meat portion is literally about the size of my thumb and it is grossly overcooked and hard as a rock. The carrots which accompany it are unevenly heated; many are still cold. I send it back...first time I've ever done that on Amtrak...and ask for the roast chicken. It is better; the leg quarters at least are tender and juicy (breast is a bit dry) and it's properly seasoned. Dessert is a chocolate truffle. Watch a downloaded anime on my laptop, take a shower and I'm ready for bed.
 
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Day 4: Chicago: I sleep fairly well, arising just as dawn is breaking over the Illinois prairie. Coffee is ready and I have a cup; normally I'm more of a tea drinker but I'm beginning to acquire a taste for coffee, especially if it's the only thing available. I arrive at the diner for breakfast just before seven. The couple across from me have both ordered the Continental; I normally avoid fruit at breakfast because I have an aversion to melon. However, the fruit this morning is a pair of grapefruit wedges with fresh strawberries. It looks delicious, and I order it with oatmeal, orange juice, hot tea and a side of pork sausage.

The CONO has been running about a half-hour down most of the way, but with the generous padding at the terminal we arrive into Chicago on-time. I drop my luggage at the Metropolitan Lounge and take off for the Museum of Science and Industry. The lady at the desk advises me to cross the street and catch the city bus there, but I'm avoiding the bus this trip. I decide to walk from Union Station to the Metra station at Van Buren St. and Michigan Avenue. As I pass Wabash Avenue I realize that I'm in the vicinity of old Dearborn Station and decide to swing by to pay my respects and take a few snaps. The Metra train south boards just after I buy my tickets, and in just a few minutes I'm dropped at 57th street.

I only have a couple of hours, but there is just one exhibit that I'm really interested in: the Pioneer Zephyr, on permanent display in the basement. I visited MSI with my dad five years ago and saw most of the exhibits, save for that one. Fortunately, it is in the ticket lobby and is open to anyone free of charge; the line for tickets is long and would probably take up half of my available time. There is a guided tour of the main area of the train, starting in the parcel room behind the RPO compartment. We see the baggage area, walk through the small buffet kitchen, sit in the leather smoking lounge seats, and then pass through the coach seating to the rear parlor-observation compartment where audio-animatronic figures are on display to provide commentary. I just miss the 11:40 train back into Chicago and have to wait on the platform an hour to 12:40. I hustle back to Union Station, but arrive back with enough time for a shoe shine and a quick McLunch before the Southwest Chief boards for its 3:00 p.m. departure.

Aboard the Southwest Chief: Our car attendant introduces himself as Simon, a heavyset older gentleman. Once again, no afternoon coffee but I'm well stocked with soda and chips from CVS. This will be my first trip over the route of the old Super Chief...well, sorta. Amtrak now uses the ex-Burlington line from Chicago to just west of Galesburg, and the old Santa Fe route through Pasadena is now under a freeway, as best I can determine...the SWC now enters L. A. through Fullerton. So it's more Grand Canyon-Northern Section than Super Chief, but it's still the old ATSF...as a longtime Santa Fe fan, I'm happy.

My dinner seating is called just after we cross the Mississippi into Fort Madison. I'm dressed to the nines in honor of old Fred Harvey tradition...sport coat, slacks, dress shirt and tie. Dinner tonight is the steak, naturally enough, and I order a glass of wine to accompany it...only the fifth glass of wine I've had in my life. Number one was at my 50th birthday in 2013, #2 was at Thanksgiving that same year, #3 was with a home-cooked meal earlier this year (the bottle had been sitting in the back of my refrigerator for five years), and #4 was earlier this trip in New Orleans. I'd better be more careful...some day I might lose track!

The steak is good when it arrives...eventually. We're seated at 6:45, and it's past 7:30 before we finally receive our food. Our dining car waiter forgets my side salad; I tell him I'll eat it after the entree. The steak is properly prepared (medium) but the vegetables, again, are unevenly heated. However, I order the chocolate Bundt cake for dessert and our waiter offers ice cream and strawberry sauce with it. Dessert is delicious. I watch part of a movie (Monsters vs. Aliens) after dinner, but call it a night and go to bed shortly after Kansas City.
 
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Note to all: As of this moment I am in the New Mexico badlands west of Albuquerque and have very limited connectivity. I cut and pasted the previous post but lost all formatting doing so and I don't have the bandwidth for editing. I will insert paragraph breaks tomorrow if my edit window hasn't timed out.

ETA: Was able to connect in Gallup...more later.
 
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We were tuckered out but we still dragged ourselves out of our bed to see the KC station.... it's a gem. Hope everything is going great. Loved the SW Chief! Okay... I loved all the train but really do love the SWChief!
 
Day 5: Aboard the Southwest Chief: In the middle of the night I finally go onto new mileage...in 1979, I took a round trip on the Lone Star from Houston to Chicago over the old Texas Chief route, so I've been over that section of the line before. However, once past Newton it is virgin territory to me. I'm sound asleep...I don't stir until Syracuse, Kansas about 6:21 in the morning according to my GPS. Shower, shave, and breakfast...the Railroad French Toast, with a side of bacon. The weather is gray, drizzly and cold...with apologies to my Yankee friends who believe “cold” begins a zero. At La Junta station a crew of Amtrak photographers board. Their assignment is to capture candid shots of passengers enjoying the trip for use in advertising and the like. I suppose a hefty fifty-one year old Texan is not photogenic enough; I'm not picked.

I sit in the Sightseer Lounge for my first crossing of Raton Pass. The weather is still gray and wet, so I don't capture much in the way of good pictures. Still, the ascent is as dramatic as promised. We pass the sign declaring it to be the highest point on the Santa Fe, and pass the New Mexico State Line marker just at the entrance to the tunnel.

Raton, New Mexico, is reached on the far side of the pass. It's an extended stop today; the bus carrying connecting passengers from Denver is late. After Raton I have lunch; I've never tried the turkey meatballs before so I give that a shot today. The meatballs are very large and tasty; the downside is that the tomato sauce they're served in is a bit too thin. Dessert is the strawberry cheesecake.

Raton to Las Vegas and Lamy is semaphore territory. Mechanical semaphores were once the standard method of signaling on most North American railroads, but being vulnerable to mechanical failure they have been almost totally replaced by color and/or position light signals everywhere...but here. The story is that with the light traffic on this line the railroad did not want to spend the money to upgrade the signals, and by the time that the semaphores were completely wearing out they were looking to abandon this line altogether and reroute the Southwest Chief through Wichita, Amarillo and Clovis. Whatever the reason, there are still a number of working semaphore signals along this line, and I see a few of them.

Between Las Vegas (New Mexico, not Nevada...although some passengers buying tickets get confused!) and Lamy we cross Glorieta Pass. It's not as rugged as Raton, although I understand it's very nearly as steep, and I get a couple of fair shots out the side of the train as we pass through rugged Apache Canyon on our way down out of the pass.

Arrival at Albuquerque is about 20 minutes late; still, there's time for a quick walk down the street. I had heard good things about an establishment called Cold Stone Creamery (ice cream) and it's still in the search engines; alas, when I walk there it is now gone, replaced by a pizzeria. I make it back to the station in time to purchase a few earrings for my younger nieces from one of the Indian vendors on the platform, and reboard the train with five minutes to spare before departure.

Dinner tonight is the herb roasted half-chicken; it's actually pretty good. This time the breast meat is not as dry and the seasoning is still tasty. I pair it with the garlic mashed potatoes; the green beans which come with it are a little on the cool side but I prefer that to being overcooked. Another chocolate Bundt cake finishes off the meal; I relax and watch the first half of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs before calling it a night.
 
Just checking in and realize that I never actually finished this report. Yes, it's been seven years, but I still have my notes and a lot of my photos. May I beg indulgence from the moderators?
 

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