amtrak_russ
Service Attendant
Well our trip there was long (About 36 Hours!). We had a lot of fun, and saw pleanty of interesting things. This part will be our entire trip to new Jersey and a part two will be our trip home. I want to thank Gregg for updating you on our progress as we do not have a laptop.
TRAIN 371-07 (Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago, IL)
I anxiously awoke at 6am, I packed our lunch with a three liter jug of water. Then I showered and checked the weather report for chicago, It called for it to be sunny and HOT and HUMID!!!! I arrived at the station at 7:15 about 15 minutes before the train arrived, the station was packed and I learned that our train was sold out!
Amtrak 371-07 arrived into Grand Rapids station at 7:32am. we loaded in 2 minutes and had to wait in the station until 7:35am. We departed on time and were soon going through Wyoming yard. Not much was there, just a few drones and a couple of BNSF Gevos for West Olive. We proceeded down the service track were soon picking up speed. Nothing much happened between GR and Holland, so I took the chance to record the consist.
P371-07's Consist
P-42 55
Horizon 54510
Horizon 51503 (Our Coach)
Horizon 54504 Still in Phase III! (Cafe' Cart)
At Waverly we asked for permission through work limits. We arrived at Holland 8:18am and departed at 8:20am (1 min early). At New Richmond a inspector asked us about high water on the hill, and that is when our problems started. We had to slow down at risk of the track being washed out. At MP 44.2 we passed the Defect Detector. We were 365 ft long with 16 axles with no defects. We then passed a Coal at Grand Junction (most likely and D8?? from the day previous). At Gross we slowed to a crawled pace as we had to hand throw a switch at the wst end of the siding. We also passed L326 at Gross.
From there we passed D700 att Kirk. After that the trip on the Pere Marquette was uneventful and we arrived in Chicago at 11:30am (12:30 eastern time) 1 hour late. From there we checked our baggage and bought the CTA's $5 day pass good for all bus and rail in the city. We caught the pink line at Quincy and rode around the loop to Library, where we transfiered to the Red Line to Howard. Trev wanted to see Wrigley Field, so we detrained at Addison to go for a walk around the field. Then we waited for the next Red Line train north. We waited over an 1/2 hour for the train due to work on the line between Fullerton and Belmont. After we arrived at Howard we Transfiered to the Purple Line to Evanston. We got off at main to see if any Metra were comming through, Unfortunately there wasnt another train for a 1/2 Hour, and due to the heat we decided to take a ride back to the city and stay cool. We got back on the el and took it to Chicago (The Mag Mile) stop and went to dinner at Giordanos Stuffed pizza and sat and rested up for our next portion of our trip.
After an hour we took the Red Line to Roosevelt to catch some rush hour action. We first went over to the electric district for 25 minutes to watch the beginning of rush hour. Many metra trains were backing in to Randolph (Millenium Station) from the roosevelt road yard. We also saw a few outbounds including a south shore for Michigan City, IN. After trev and got bored of watchin g the electrics we watched the rush hour at the Amtrak yard. We saw the Cardinal back into the station, the Metra Heritage Corridor, and BNSF Aurora trains leave. And as a bonus we got to see the State House (Amtrak to St. Louis), and the Pere Marquette leave Chicago. After that it was time for us to back to Union Station to catch our train to Washington D.C. (Capitol Limited).
We got back to the station about a hour before we were supposed to leave. They started boarding at 6:30 for our 7:05 departure. We eventually got to board about 15 minutes before departure. We board th first coach which was one of three and was directly behind the lounge and diner. We did get record our consist but our engines were, P-42 164 leading, with p-42 94, and P-32-BWH 516 trailing. After our conductor collecte our tickets we learned that our coach would be without Air Conditioning :x :x :x :shock: :evil: :x !!!! Sot to escape the heat trev and I went to the Sightseer Lounge and partook in Happy Hour Specials!!!! (It was Sparkling Cider) While we snacked, we rolled through the southside of Chicago. At Burns Harbor we saw a interesting Freight with 2 Dash 9's and p-42 170!!!!! :? :? :? At Porter we saw a Headlight on the amtrak line which i assume was 355. After Porter it was uneventful and i went to sleep, or Tried to :x :x :x :x :x :x !!!!
Althrought the night i was up and down and saw many a NS fly by us. I saw Cleveland and then dozed off til Pittsburgh. I awoke as we left Pittsburgh and switched to CSX Trackage. We went through the mouintains and saw pleant of little CSX yards along the way. We also met a nce man from Virgina and Talked trains with him until D.C.. We arrived in Washington 1 hour late and had just over 2 hours until we had to catch our regional to Philly. We ate lunch at Sbarros and explored Washington Union Station. We noticed a lot of trains from NYC were over 2 hours late!!! But little did we know a tornado had hit Manhattan.
We Departed at 4:05 for philly. Trev and I were Curious to see what this route really looked like as we have played it many times on MSTS. It look simular but of course less detail as it would crash your computer. We also watch businessmen get drunk and work on there laptops. It was rather amusing. We arrived in Philly at 6:30 1/2 Hour late, Due to poor loading at BWI that took 20 minutes!!!! Trev and I got a drink and purchase our tickets for our last leg of our trip to Absecon, NJ (Atlantic City). Our train left at 7:22pm and we sat in the cab car with a view out the front. I met a nice conductor and told him about our trip. We arrived in Absecon at 8:45pm, ending, a long, exsausting, and fun 36 hour train trip.
Expect pictures after we get back and another report of our return trip. So until you hear from us next have a great weekend.
TRAIN 371-07 (Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago, IL)
I anxiously awoke at 6am, I packed our lunch with a three liter jug of water. Then I showered and checked the weather report for chicago, It called for it to be sunny and HOT and HUMID!!!! I arrived at the station at 7:15 about 15 minutes before the train arrived, the station was packed and I learned that our train was sold out!
Amtrak 371-07 arrived into Grand Rapids station at 7:32am. we loaded in 2 minutes and had to wait in the station until 7:35am. We departed on time and were soon going through Wyoming yard. Not much was there, just a few drones and a couple of BNSF Gevos for West Olive. We proceeded down the service track were soon picking up speed. Nothing much happened between GR and Holland, so I took the chance to record the consist.
P371-07's Consist
P-42 55
Horizon 54510
Horizon 51503 (Our Coach)
Horizon 54504 Still in Phase III! (Cafe' Cart)
At Waverly we asked for permission through work limits. We arrived at Holland 8:18am and departed at 8:20am (1 min early). At New Richmond a inspector asked us about high water on the hill, and that is when our problems started. We had to slow down at risk of the track being washed out. At MP 44.2 we passed the Defect Detector. We were 365 ft long with 16 axles with no defects. We then passed a Coal at Grand Junction (most likely and D8?? from the day previous). At Gross we slowed to a crawled pace as we had to hand throw a switch at the wst end of the siding. We also passed L326 at Gross.
From there we passed D700 att Kirk. After that the trip on the Pere Marquette was uneventful and we arrived in Chicago at 11:30am (12:30 eastern time) 1 hour late. From there we checked our baggage and bought the CTA's $5 day pass good for all bus and rail in the city. We caught the pink line at Quincy and rode around the loop to Library, where we transfiered to the Red Line to Howard. Trev wanted to see Wrigley Field, so we detrained at Addison to go for a walk around the field. Then we waited for the next Red Line train north. We waited over an 1/2 hour for the train due to work on the line between Fullerton and Belmont. After we arrived at Howard we Transfiered to the Purple Line to Evanston. We got off at main to see if any Metra were comming through, Unfortunately there wasnt another train for a 1/2 Hour, and due to the heat we decided to take a ride back to the city and stay cool. We got back on the el and took it to Chicago (The Mag Mile) stop and went to dinner at Giordanos Stuffed pizza and sat and rested up for our next portion of our trip.
After an hour we took the Red Line to Roosevelt to catch some rush hour action. We first went over to the electric district for 25 minutes to watch the beginning of rush hour. Many metra trains were backing in to Randolph (Millenium Station) from the roosevelt road yard. We also saw a few outbounds including a south shore for Michigan City, IN. After trev and got bored of watchin g the electrics we watched the rush hour at the Amtrak yard. We saw the Cardinal back into the station, the Metra Heritage Corridor, and BNSF Aurora trains leave. And as a bonus we got to see the State House (Amtrak to St. Louis), and the Pere Marquette leave Chicago. After that it was time for us to back to Union Station to catch our train to Washington D.C. (Capitol Limited).
We got back to the station about a hour before we were supposed to leave. They started boarding at 6:30 for our 7:05 departure. We eventually got to board about 15 minutes before departure. We board th first coach which was one of three and was directly behind the lounge and diner. We did get record our consist but our engines were, P-42 164 leading, with p-42 94, and P-32-BWH 516 trailing. After our conductor collecte our tickets we learned that our coach would be without Air Conditioning :x :x :x :shock: :evil: :x !!!! Sot to escape the heat trev and I went to the Sightseer Lounge and partook in Happy Hour Specials!!!! (It was Sparkling Cider) While we snacked, we rolled through the southside of Chicago. At Burns Harbor we saw a interesting Freight with 2 Dash 9's and p-42 170!!!!! :? :? :? At Porter we saw a Headlight on the amtrak line which i assume was 355. After Porter it was uneventful and i went to sleep, or Tried to :x :x :x :x :x :x !!!!
Althrought the night i was up and down and saw many a NS fly by us. I saw Cleveland and then dozed off til Pittsburgh. I awoke as we left Pittsburgh and switched to CSX Trackage. We went through the mouintains and saw pleant of little CSX yards along the way. We also met a nce man from Virgina and Talked trains with him until D.C.. We arrived in Washington 1 hour late and had just over 2 hours until we had to catch our regional to Philly. We ate lunch at Sbarros and explored Washington Union Station. We noticed a lot of trains from NYC were over 2 hours late!!! But little did we know a tornado had hit Manhattan.
We Departed at 4:05 for philly. Trev and I were Curious to see what this route really looked like as we have played it many times on MSTS. It look simular but of course less detail as it would crash your computer. We also watch businessmen get drunk and work on there laptops. It was rather amusing. We arrived in Philly at 6:30 1/2 Hour late, Due to poor loading at BWI that took 20 minutes!!!! Trev and I got a drink and purchase our tickets for our last leg of our trip to Absecon, NJ (Atlantic City). Our train left at 7:22pm and we sat in the cab car with a view out the front. I met a nice conductor and told him about our trip. We arrived in Absecon at 8:45pm, ending, a long, exsausting, and fun 36 hour train trip.
Expect pictures after we get back and another report of our return trip. So until you hear from us next have a great weekend.
