Jim and Stacys Excellent Western Adventure/Part 8

[Bob Dylan]

7/16/09-7/18/09

The whistle toots, the conductor calls and we roll out of King Street Station into the tunnel,under the city

bound for the Great NW passage!Sun setting over beautiful water,the pic on the Timetable doesnt do it justice!

A couple of stops,were now full per Jeff,were sitting in our room watching the amazing scenery unfold,Jeff

has served the cold and good champagne,life is good!

We have a 6PM dinner(dont want them to be "out" :lol: )I have the bison meatloaf,spicy but good,Stacy has

Salmon again!The best Choclate Bundt cake ever for dessert,some decaf and we sit in the ssl for awhile

as we roll through hills and trees and water and climb into the mountains!The first sign of trouble comes in the

diner when it is very warm and the LSA tells us that the A/C doesnt work, theyll try to fix it in SPK!

"King Louie" is our waiter, he gives great service and is funny!We then come to a rolling stop and proceed to sit,

someone says we are waiting for another train to come through the Cascade tunnel,seem to know whats happening?

After an hour(its now about 9PM),the conductor announces that there will be a delay, that the fans have gone out in the

tunnel and a crew is working on it!They allow us to get off for a stretch and smoke break,no-ones phone or lap top

works, were sort of isolated! :lol: Jeff tells us he hasnt seen this in his 30 yrs.of service!Everyone gets back on as it gets dark,its now midnight and were 4 hrs. late!Jeff has made the beds, we go to sleep as we start into the tunnel

and dont awaken again till we pull into SPK 5hrs. late!They hook up #28 sleeper and coach and the ssl,we get to

stretch and smoke in the cool air,notice the station is one of those new combo bus/train places in the yards,

why not use the Grand old station downtown?Lots oif casino busses coming and going,guess the Indians are

raking it in up here too!We roll out @ 5:30,Breakfast starts, Jeff tells us that the diner wasnt fixed and that our

waiter from last night had to be taken off with heat exhaustion!They are considering serving meals in the rooms but its

still cool enough so we eat a good breakfast in the diner!Good fresh eggs/pancakes etc. Even the bacon and coffee

taste better on this train!

We snag a seat in thessl,its filling up fast and roll through absolutely beautiful scenery,mountains,trees,water and occasional

signs of people,wonder how they found this paradise(in the summer of course! :lol: )The stops for Glacier are grand,

lots of folks getting off/on!Jeff tells us the bedrooms will turn over as much as 4 times on the trip!Lots of scouts/folks from

foriegn lands and old people like us! If there is prettier scenery on the CZ I think Ill die and go to train heaven!

After a great lunch we roll on Eastward astill about 5 hrs.ate as we watch the plains unfold,Im amazed @ the

amount of water and irrigation out here,and all the towns are built along the south side of the tracks basically.

see another bar with the sign "No-ones died here since last Saturday!"(must be a western thing! :lol: )

after a great fish dinner and more of the delicious bundt cake,we retire to our room and watch a movie on

the DVD(well try,the headphones dont work! :lol: )Tuime to hit the sack, sleep soundly in the bedroom,boy is it

roomy compared to roomettes,this could be habit forming! Awake briefly in Minot/Devils Lake and Fargo, the moon is

a crescent and the stars are amazing out here in the cold big sky country!Were into Fargo about 4 1/2 hrs. late, a quick

stop and we hugh ball for Minn.We eat breakfast,snag a seat in the ssl and watch the ever changeing and

interesting scenery roll by!A cold front has blown in,its cool,north wind blowing and trying to rain!(Texas winter! :lol:

Forgot to mention the wine and cheese tasting which is free on the is train,Jeff helps out in the diner for this!

Pull into St.Paul about 11:30/the Disney Train is parked there,only one old private car, looks like a dome

sleeper of some kind!They have added a coach but Jeff tells us they bussed the folks to CHI so it will deadhead!

People are starting to ask about connections and OTP, the conductor basically announces its not his job, that the

next guy will tell us something when he knows!A really nice and professional guy(wisH I had his name,Jeff

directed folks to him)is on the platform telling folks about their connections/best info he has!I believe hes a CSR

or even some kind of route mgr. but he tells us that the Cardinal pax will be bussed to catch the train down the line,

that everyone else is ion the cusp,that CSR people will get on in Columbus,WI with info!We have lunch as we

roll out down the Mississippi which is surprisingly wide and busy here,its getting warm again in the diner,

the LSA says the car will come off in CHI,in case we get any later they have "Beef Stew" to feed everyone just

in case! The stops come and go pretty fast,no-one gets off and we are making up time!We get to Columbus

about 5PM(losing the 2 hrs. hasnt helped from PDT to CDT),the CSR is in the diner (very warm now!) and tells us

that the trains will be held if need be(CL/CONOL) and no problem for the LSL!Other folks will be bussed

(I guess Michigan and local trains?)We make a brief stop in Milwaukee(the town that made brew famous! :lol: )

and roll on to CHI,do not stop in Glenview,enter the yards rolling pretty fast and come into CUS(great view of

Downtown!)only 3hrs. and 15 minutes late!AMTRAK folks are awaiting on the platform(good tip for Jeff,

great SCA!)to lead/direct pax to their trains/luggage and the Metrolounge!We dont have time to check our luggage

but get to use the restroom/have a snack and stretch a little before its time to line up/saddle up and follow the

yellow brick road to our train, #59, CONOL leaving @ 8PM for the Delta!Wonderful trip/Great service/spectacular

vistas and a very in teresting trip, my best so far and they are all good as the traveler says! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JayPea]

Great report! Even though you might not have thought so, consider yourself lucky the EB was so late getting into Spokane. The scenery you saw east of Spokane is usually under the cover of darkness, until after Libby, MT, normally.

And regarding the station at Spokane: The Intermodal Center is a recent concept, as the Greyhound and National Trailways buses were added a few years back. The station itself is the old Northern Pacific station. And to clear up a common misconception: The station is right at the very edge of Spokane's downtown core. By the way, it's also the only one left in Spokane.

Now, for a history lesson: :lol: There were three stations in Spokane at one time: the current one, the Great Northern station, with its clock tower, and the one used jointly by the Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road, Union Station. And there were a lot more tracks, in the days before the merger of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific, among others, forming the Burlington Northern. This merger was partly to consolidate trackage in order to speed up the transformation of Spokane's downtown area for Expo '74, the World's Fair. Old tracks were torn out, the Union Pacific and Milwaukee railroads were given rights to use the remaining trackage through downtown Spokane, and Union Station and the Great Northern Station were torn down except for the Clock Tower which was a part of the Great Northern station. The Clock Tower now adorns Riverfront Park, the site of the World's Fair.

 

[cpamtfan]

Nice reports! I bet that beef stew you almost got was left over Flat Iron mystery meat :lol: .

cpamtfan-Peter

 

[AlanB]

The best Choclate Bundt cake ever for dessert,some decaf and we sit in the ssl for awhileas we roll through hills and trees and water and climb into the mountains!

You had a Sightseer Lounge on your train out of Seattle? :unsure: Very, very unusual.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The best Choclate Bundt cake ever for dessert,some decaf and we sit in the ssl for awhileas we roll through hills and trees and water and climb into the mountains!

You had a Sightseer Lounge on your train out of Seattle? :unsure: Very, very unusual.

Not to sound like Ronnie Raygun,but there I go again!No ssl,guess I was thinking of CONOL not having

one,we were in Bedroom C as I (think? :lol: )I said and watched the beautiful scenery from there!

As you know they sold "snacks " out of the diner till we got to SPK and #28 joined us with the ssl!! :blink: