FNO-SAC 701/704 JUNE 30

[MIKE LUDWIG]

The trip to Sacramento was very good. We were ontime til Stockton! There were some slow orders between Lodi and Elk Grove but the ride was great and we were only 50 minutes late into Sac. The return started with an ontime departure to the second! I overheard the UP dispatcher on the conductors radio saying he could only give us a restricted clearance to five miles south of Sacramento and to make sure we didn't block any street crossings. When we stopped the conductor had some bad news. The bridge work that caused our slow orders for 701 was not completed and dispatch was estimating at least a two hour wait. Dispatch called back 20 minutes later with some good news. If we could go back to the station in Sacramento, UP would have a crew waiting for us. We were going to detour over the old WP rails from Sacramento to Stockton. I always wanted to ride the old California Zephyr of WP when I was young but my parents never got around to it. It was a nice treat! Thank You UP. The ride was very smooth and we were only two hour and twenty minutes late into Stockton. We were lucky 718 departed Stockton just before us so all the passengers south of Stockton boarded 718. This made for a very empty train, very nice! Some passengers were complaining about the delay but I enjoyed the trip. Thank You Amtrak BNSF and UP

 

[gswager]

Wow! You just had a rare treat on that line! Good thing that UP gave Amtrak a good option instead of sitting on sidings for hours, just like Sunset Limited. h34r:

 

[Midland Valley]

If people only realized what an opportunity that was, there would have been no complaints at all.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Yep, going through the old WP was indeed a treat for your trip, Mike. In fact, for the old California Zephyr, they advertised the Feather River Canyon(WP) just as much as they advertised the Rockies, as I recall.

 

[Steve4031]

I would have been happy as hell to get that mileage. Any photos?

 

[MIKE LUDWIG]

I'm sorry I forgot the camera! Having lived in Germany for two years, I can understand how some people can be so obsessed with ontime operation. I hope people realized what a treasure Amtrak is. I know trains will never replace planes on trips over 500 miles but so much of our American History is tied into passenger rail travel. I enjoyed sharing this trip with my ten year old daughter. I doubt I will make a railfan out of her but at least she can tell her grandchildern what it was like to ride a passenger train. Thanks for enduring my first trip report Mike

 

[Stephanie Armstrong]

Hello everyone - I need some advise about the Empire Builder. I really want to go on this train and take a trip this fall - I am looking at the second week in October. Can you stay anywhere in the Glacier Parks areas? Or all the hotels closed for the winter. It seems to me that most of stations and lodging did close for the season.

Since Amtrak Vacations is history, I really have no way of talking to anybody to see if this is a viable option. I really depended on them to give me good information - which they always did. I really don't want to go all the way to Seattle, unless this is the only option.

Thanks!

 

[Steve4031]

I'm sorry I forgot the camera! Having lived in Germany for two years, I can understand how some people can be so obsessed with ontime operation. I hope people realized what a treasure Amtrak is. I know trains will never replace planes on trips over 500 miles but so much of our American History is tied into passenger rail travel. I enjoyed sharing this trip with my ten year old daughter. I doubt I will make a railfan out of her but at least she can tell her grandchildern what it was like to ride a passenger train. Thanks for enduring my first trip report Mike

I enjoyed the trip report. The THOUGHT OF getting to ride the WP was exciting to me. We did not feel like we endured anything.