Saturday Oct. 9
We are up early to finish packing, as we will be leaving the Hilton today and staying in Kansas City tonight. Since we have luggage and also need to get our tickets for the MORR train, we hail a cab. A “Pakistani” gentleman driving a mini van is our driver. He seems like a nice guy and talks about trains and traffic as we make our way to the station. There must be some kind of parade? Marathon? Etc since some streets are blocked and we must take a little detour to get to the station. The total fare was only $7, which is only a couple bucks more than taking the Metro-duh!!!. And no long walk to the Metro station.
We arrive at the station around 7:30 and I go up to get our MORR tickets. Tom and Sharon are there along with Hadley, Rafi, Long Train Running and Trogdor who had arrived Friday night on the Texas Eagle from Chicago and some others. The contingent from the Hilton will soon follow. Claudia and I have not had breakfast so we go to the deli next to the waiting room and get some bagels and cream cheese.
We will be boarded as a group but five of us are riding in Business Class so not sure how that will work. Lots of photos taken and good conversation until our MORR #311 is called for special boarding. As we are walking to the gate, a man falls to the ground near the ticket counter and grabs a woman who is standing in line. A large security guard, who apparently knows this fellow, calling him by name, lifts him up and pulls him down the hallway and out the door. Wouldn’t want to mess with that guy!!.
We all lineup on the right side of the aisle while another large group from a church is lined up on the left. We allow some of our members with accessibility issues to head down the elevator and then the remainder of us walks over the colored glass walkway to the escalators and down the track level. Our train is right beside the stairway and our BC car is the last car on the train so Claudia, Shanghai, Hadley, Jishnu and I grab some seats there while the others will be in the next car up.
Our business car is the regular 2-1 setup with a café in the front of the car. Nice leather seats and plenty of room to stretch out. Windows unfortunately are not very clean and I have a dark splotch that disrupts the view a bit. The two ladies working the café are very friendly and we are given a newspaper to read while we wait for the large amount of passengers to board. They are interested in our AU Group and several members talk to them about our excursions and gatherings.
There is an Octoberfest celebration in Hermann, Mo and thousands of people will converge on that small town today. Plus the Challenger is going to steam along behind us on its way to Sedalia, Missouri sesquicentennial celebration so many railfans will be watching for it as well. Thus the train is nearly full and they even added an extra coach to meet demand. Amtrak needs more situations like this.
We still have a few seats left in our BC car as the train pulls out around 8:30 am. It will be about a 5.5 hour ride to Kansas City on a very warm day for this time of year. Will be nice to get some shots out of the rear window as we move along. This is our first time on this train so adding some extra miles and a new route to our Amtrak bucket list. Our single locomotive for the day is #190.
As we head out of town we pass the UP yards where the Challenger will soon be fired up for its run today. Also pass some Red/Blue Line trains heading into town from the airport. Our first stop is Kirkwood, where many passengers board the coaches and we have a couple new people in BC. There are many people with their cameras/tripods along the route waiting to take photos of the Challenger that will be following us not far behind. The Kirkwood station is a nice building with a stone façade. I find out later that my friend from St Louis, Bill Linson, is taking photos from below a bridge along the route and has shots of our train and the Challenger.
Not long after we start to follow the Missouri River on our right. Lots of nice scenery with farms and small towns along the route. Our next stop is Washington, Mo. A nice freight house that has been restored and more people boarding at the station. Lots of track work being performed on the south track as this route has two trains each day in each direction and a considerable amount of freight as well.
Thirty miles down the track is the quaint little town of Hermann, where many of our passengers are detraining for a day of festivities, food and drink. This event is a good source of revenue for Amtrak each year as the people will be boarding the evening eastbound MORR to go home. Jitney buses make their way around town transporting visitors around the town. Lots of music and the smell of bratwurst will soon permeate the air.
Our leaders were hoping the Hermann passengers would be placed in their car so it would be empty the remainder of the trip, but that was not to be and their car was full with other passengers who had to endure our merry band of revelers—smile
I went up to the café car to get some free beverages and some sandwiches as we traveled along the scenic route of the Missouri River. Our next stop was Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. We had a brief stop there so I was able to get off and take some quick photos of the capital dome and other old buildings along the platform. This looks like a neat town to explore someday.
We pulled out of Jefferson City around 11am and continued to follow the river. A couple of barges were working their way along but not much other traffic. An hour later we were in Sedalia, where we picked up Ozark Southern and his wife, who are members of our group. They seem like a nice young couple and glad to have them aboard. A nice Missouri Pacific station and caboose adorn the depot grounds. Lots of activity here as they prepare for the Challenger to head their way.
Later in the afternoon I went up to sit with the other members of the AU group. AlanB was discussing the new coaches and baggage cars to be built with stimulus monies and I had an interesting conversation with Patrick and Alice about their California life and adventures on the train.
A young boy and his grandparents were behind us now in the BC car. His father worked for UP in the yards outside of KC and he was hoping to see him as we passed. I gave him an Amtrak hat that was part of our gift bag from AlanB and he enjoyed it as we rode along.
We arrived at Lee’s Summit around 1:30. It has a nice brick station that has been turned into a museum. Not many passengers getting off or on here. I suppose during the week there may be some commuters who use the train to get into Kansas City. We pass an unusual steeple church, built by the Community of Christ Church, an independent sect once associated with the Mormons, as we come into Independence and the home of Harry Truman.
We are now nearing our destination and looking forward to seeing the Kansas City station. We have been to this station several times on the SWC, but never had the time to go inside as our train was usually running late.
We leave our MORR train and take the elevator up to the gate level pulling our bags behind. After making our way down the Amtrak gateway we arrive in the magnificent KCUS.
Ceiling and chandeliers have been refurbished and the old Harvey House restaurant is also located along the side of the depot. Lots of beautiful architecture—one of the nicest stations we have been in. There is an animated dinosaur that roars when you pass it. A display from the large science museum that is now part of the station complex.
A group photo is planned now that we have most of the members of the AU group corralled. We are joined by Chertl who lives nearby and after some plans to pickup barbecue for the trip home, we are assembled for a group shot. A few members were not in the photo including RRrich, RRDude, Chertyl and Jackal.
Now it was time for us to say goodbye to the AU group and head for our hotel. It was an enjoyable experience and we met so many new friends. Some of the group will be returning via the TE and Cap and we will see them in Chicago tomorrow afternoon.
We grab our bags and attempt to use the walkway to get to our Westin Crown Plaza Hotel, but there is construction on the station end and we must walk outside and up a stairway to get to the elevated walkway. A nice view of the station as we enter the upper level of the lobby area of the hotel. This is a very nice place, one of the nicest hotels in which we have stayed. We pass some nice fountains and see there is a mall and many stores associated with the complex. I get to the desk and we are checked into a room on the 7th floor but on arrival we find the room is not ready. I go back downstairs and the hotel clerk apologizes and says she will upgrade our room to the 10th floor with a beautiful city view.
Wow, what a nice room with a wide window overlooking the KC station and the city. We get situated and decide to head back outside to walk around. It is now too late to go to the art museum or WWI museum so we decide to go back to the station to check out its many attributes.
The station has a large science museum, which we passed and then checked out a gift shop and then down to the Amtrak ticket window to pickup our tickets for the SWC and CL trips on Sunday morning. The agent is very friendly and we discuss train riding, our AU Group and times for boarding the train in the morning.
We go back into the main concourse and enjoy the beautiful artwork of the station. Then head to the stairway/elevator to the KC Rail Experience museum, which houses many indoor displays and interactive programs as well as some nice rolling stock outside. We had seen the KC Southern locomotive on other trips but now had a close-up view. There were also many other passenger coaches and cars being refurbished in the yards.
Afterward we went over to the huge model railroad layouts and spent some time watching the many gauges of trains move along their routes. See photos. It is now getting toward suppertime and my stomach says its time to find food. We walk back to the hotel and decide to look for something in the food courts in the mall. We decide on Chinese which was very good and we sat in the atrium watching the traffic and hustle bustle of the city. After exploring the mall further we decided we needed to head back to the room, finish some last minute packing and watch the beautiful light show afforded out our window. One of the insurance company buildings had a great digital light event on the side of the building.
Then the real entertainment started as a wedding reception was being held on the outside veranda of the hotel below us. A jazz singer was excellent and the band as well. Then the couple came out for their special event, a full fledge fireworks display just outside our window. Wow! These people must have some money and political pull to get a permit to shoot fireworks in the middle of the city. A nice evening in a very exquisite hotel. Would like to come back here someday and spend some time roaming the city and the parks.
We head for bed after a nice day with new friends, a new city and anticipating our trip home tomorrow. Goodnight!!!
Sunday Oct 10
We get up at 5am to prepare for our walk over to Union Station. Our SWC is running on time and will be out in the yards getting fuel this morning. When we arrive, the station is mostly dark and eerie with few people walking around. We go back to the Amtrak area and there are lines forming and people sitting in the waiting room, which is a sad excuse, compared to the original waiting room used in the old days. An announcement is made at 7:15 for the morning MORR #314 that is to leave at 7:30. Quite a few people start down the rampway for their trip.
Just a few minutes later a conductor starts taking tickets for our SW Chief and gives the o.k. for us to move toward the train. We are hoping to get settled and have breakfast, as we are pretty hungry.
A nice cool morning walk to our Car 0430 where we meet Pinkey, who is our SCA. She is still working on fixing the room since someone just departed at KC so she suggested we head for the diner for breakfast and she would have everything ready when we returned. It is 7:45 and few are eating so we get a seat with a single gentleman who seems a bit quiet in the beginning. Our server is not the friendliest person. She grabs the meal checks and starts filling out some items. Announces that there are no potatoes and “here’s what’s left, what do you want?” “Make sure you fill out the bottom of the ticket correctly” of course without explaining how to do it for those not tutored by the AU Discussion Group. Well, we finally ordered. I had the cheese omelet and received one with onions and peppers even though I had requested one without. We were given sliced tomatoes in place of potatoes and a biscuit instead of the croissant I had ordered. So much for friendly service on Amtrak. Claudia and I swapped breads (she got the croissant instead of biscuit) and I ate gingerly around the onions. I decided not to challenge my order since she would probably say, “like it or leave it”.
Our seatmate was a rancher from near Las Vegas, New Mexico heading to Chicago. He seemed to be suffering from a bit of a hangover as he talked about his adventures with beer and wine the night before. He was not aware of the potential move of Amtrak via Amarillo instead of Raton Pass and was not happy because he said he rode trains a lot and would miss not being able to board at Las Vegas. We had a good conversation and then headed back to our room, which was ready for us to use.
As we slowly worked our way out of Kansas City we would eventually cross the Missouri and Des Moines Rivers, pass Chris Guensler’s platform at La Plata and many other familiar sites across Missouri.
An announcement was made that the LSA would come around making lunch reservations for early seating since we were anticipating an early arrival in Chicago at that time. We decided to go for the 11:30 seating and hoping there would still be some choices available. This LSA was very personable and too bad she couldn’t do an attitude adjustment on our breakfast server.
There was some MOW work being done, even on Sunday, and we slowed a few places for that. But otherwise running at track speed.
We arrived in Fort Madison around an hour behind due to maintenance work but did have a short time to get off the train to stretch our legs. Our SWC locomotives were # 115 and #138.
We talked with Pinkey about her Amtrak career. She had worked for Amtrak for nearly 30 years and was living in LA. She would return on the Monday SWC and then have a week off. She kept restrooms clean and was there if you had any questions. This afforded a nice tip when we got to Chicago.
We crossed the Mississippi River around noon and moved into Illinois. With the padding between here and Chicago we might still get in on time. No worry about our connection to the Cap Ltd at this point. We had lunch with a nice couple from Rockford, IL. They had taken their first Amtrak trip to and from ABQ for the balloonfest. She was a former art teacher and she and Claudia had an interesting conversation about art and education.
We passed through Galesburg still a few minutes down but again; padding would take care of most of the time. We arrived in the suburbs and enjoyed the sunny day as we saw the Chicago skyline appear in the east. We arrived at CUS about 10 minutes late and left plenty of time to prepare for the trip this evening on the Capitol.
Made our way to the Metro Lounge, stored bags and found Piotr, RR Dude, Bill Haithcoat, Long Train Running & Saxman all in the lounge. Later PennyK and Wolverine arrived and we had some good conversations about the Gathering and our trips home.
Claudia and I decided to walk around the city. Went north of CUS for a few blocks. Ran into a panhandler lying on a concrete wall. At first he said he wanted information about buses but eventually worked his way into wanting money. When I refused, he called me a “Racist” and a few other words under his breath. I told him I voted for Obama and walked away. Smile*
We worked our way across the river and up LaSalle Street and past the Federal Reserve Bank. Walked around looking at the EL trains and then headed back on Jackson St to the station. Watched a few more tour boats on the river and then back to Metro Lounge.
Said goodbye to Saxman and Wolverine who were taking Michigan trains. LTR will be waiting for the Lakeshore to get him back to Buffalo, while PennyK, Bill H, Piotr, RR Dude, Claudia and I will be on the Capitol Ltd this evening.
Our CL #30 was called at 6:15 and we all walked to the tracks on what would be a very crowded train. All sleepers were full. Piotr would be riding coach to TOL and then switching to a sleeper for his trip to WAS. We, of course, would be abandoning our sleeper in TOL.
There are three locos on the train but I was unable to get their numbers. We met our SCA, Cliff, who took our tickets but was mostly gone the entire trip. We are in Car 3001, Rm #9. We get settled in our room. The lady across the hall goes into #10, shuts all the blinds, locks her door and that was the end of our “conversation” **smile**.
At 6:30 we joined PennyK and Bill H for dinner in the diner. I ordered the half chicken, baked potato, rice and salad. Claudia had the steak. Bill H had the shrimp scampi and PennyK had vegetable dish. Everything was pretty good except potato was cold. Cheesecake for dessert. Our server was efficient, but not overly friendly. Not sure why the Capitol gets so many duds.
We had a great conversation about the Gathering and our future plans, trains and life in general. Piotr popped his head in from coach and was told he would not get dinner until after 8pm if at all. After dinner Claudia went back to the room while I walked around the train awhile to aid digestion. She was feeling a bit tired and asked if Cliff would put the bed down.
He said he did not want to put the bed down since we were only going to Toledo and it would mean he would have to change the sheets again for the people getting on in TOL. Claudia said there had been many times that the train ran late and we didn’t get to TOL until after midnight. Anyway she suggested he talk to me when I got back. Well, we never saw him again until it was time to detrain in TOL. I should have just put the bottom bed down so she could lay down whether he liked it or not, but thought he might return to discuss it.
Cliff only came around a few minutes before we were to change cars in TOL, didn’t offer to carry bags off the train, so of course he received zero tip. One of the few times I have not tipped an attendant, but this guy was worthless.
We left our car and walked back to our coach for the ride home to CLE. We passed Piotr on the platform and waved goodbye. We later learned that PennyK was looking out her window and saw us passing. Sorry we didn’t see her.
We had lower level seats for the two-hour ride to CLE. A nice ride across Sandusky Bay on the bridge. Not many passengers getting on or off at Sandusky or Elyria and thus we were back in Cleveland on time around 2am. Car was fine and we made our way to I-71 and home by 3:30am. Glad to see Mr. Gato and he apparently got along fine with Audrey over the four-day trip. Very tired and time to get to bed.
Final Thoughts: We had a great time at the Gathering, meeting many new friends and having great conversations. What a diverse group of people to make life so interesting. The train rides were typical Amtrak. Some very good, some o.k. and a couple of jerks to add to the Amtrak adventure. We added a new route and 1,692 miles to our Amtrak statistics. Current total now is 35,578 miles in the last three years.
Our hotels were both very nice; personnel excellent. Want to return to Kansas City to explore parks and museums. The ride on the MORR was nice. Added a new route to our Amtrak list. The Challenger event was great and glad I got to see it. Claudia had a nice day visiting her cousin Susan in Swansea, which made the trip memorable for her as well.
Except for one occasion, health problems were kept under control and I was able to adapt to some menus both on and off the train. Looking forward to our next Amtrak trip in February and to another Gathering event next year.
We are up early to finish packing, as we will be leaving the Hilton today and staying in Kansas City tonight. Since we have luggage and also need to get our tickets for the MORR train, we hail a cab. A “Pakistani” gentleman driving a mini van is our driver. He seems like a nice guy and talks about trains and traffic as we make our way to the station. There must be some kind of parade? Marathon? Etc since some streets are blocked and we must take a little detour to get to the station. The total fare was only $7, which is only a couple bucks more than taking the Metro-duh!!!. And no long walk to the Metro station.
We arrive at the station around 7:30 and I go up to get our MORR tickets. Tom and Sharon are there along with Hadley, Rafi, Long Train Running and Trogdor who had arrived Friday night on the Texas Eagle from Chicago and some others. The contingent from the Hilton will soon follow. Claudia and I have not had breakfast so we go to the deli next to the waiting room and get some bagels and cream cheese.
We will be boarded as a group but five of us are riding in Business Class so not sure how that will work. Lots of photos taken and good conversation until our MORR #311 is called for special boarding. As we are walking to the gate, a man falls to the ground near the ticket counter and grabs a woman who is standing in line. A large security guard, who apparently knows this fellow, calling him by name, lifts him up and pulls him down the hallway and out the door. Wouldn’t want to mess with that guy!!.
We all lineup on the right side of the aisle while another large group from a church is lined up on the left. We allow some of our members with accessibility issues to head down the elevator and then the remainder of us walks over the colored glass walkway to the escalators and down the track level. Our train is right beside the stairway and our BC car is the last car on the train so Claudia, Shanghai, Hadley, Jishnu and I grab some seats there while the others will be in the next car up.
Our business car is the regular 2-1 setup with a café in the front of the car. Nice leather seats and plenty of room to stretch out. Windows unfortunately are not very clean and I have a dark splotch that disrupts the view a bit. The two ladies working the café are very friendly and we are given a newspaper to read while we wait for the large amount of passengers to board. They are interested in our AU Group and several members talk to them about our excursions and gatherings.
There is an Octoberfest celebration in Hermann, Mo and thousands of people will converge on that small town today. Plus the Challenger is going to steam along behind us on its way to Sedalia, Missouri sesquicentennial celebration so many railfans will be watching for it as well. Thus the train is nearly full and they even added an extra coach to meet demand. Amtrak needs more situations like this.
We still have a few seats left in our BC car as the train pulls out around 8:30 am. It will be about a 5.5 hour ride to Kansas City on a very warm day for this time of year. Will be nice to get some shots out of the rear window as we move along. This is our first time on this train so adding some extra miles and a new route to our Amtrak bucket list. Our single locomotive for the day is #190.
As we head out of town we pass the UP yards where the Challenger will soon be fired up for its run today. Also pass some Red/Blue Line trains heading into town from the airport. Our first stop is Kirkwood, where many passengers board the coaches and we have a couple new people in BC. There are many people with their cameras/tripods along the route waiting to take photos of the Challenger that will be following us not far behind. The Kirkwood station is a nice building with a stone façade. I find out later that my friend from St Louis, Bill Linson, is taking photos from below a bridge along the route and has shots of our train and the Challenger.
Not long after we start to follow the Missouri River on our right. Lots of nice scenery with farms and small towns along the route. Our next stop is Washington, Mo. A nice freight house that has been restored and more people boarding at the station. Lots of track work being performed on the south track as this route has two trains each day in each direction and a considerable amount of freight as well.
Thirty miles down the track is the quaint little town of Hermann, where many of our passengers are detraining for a day of festivities, food and drink. This event is a good source of revenue for Amtrak each year as the people will be boarding the evening eastbound MORR to go home. Jitney buses make their way around town transporting visitors around the town. Lots of music and the smell of bratwurst will soon permeate the air.
Our leaders were hoping the Hermann passengers would be placed in their car so it would be empty the remainder of the trip, but that was not to be and their car was full with other passengers who had to endure our merry band of revelers—smile
I went up to the café car to get some free beverages and some sandwiches as we traveled along the scenic route of the Missouri River. Our next stop was Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. We had a brief stop there so I was able to get off and take some quick photos of the capital dome and other old buildings along the platform. This looks like a neat town to explore someday.
We pulled out of Jefferson City around 11am and continued to follow the river. A couple of barges were working their way along but not much other traffic. An hour later we were in Sedalia, where we picked up Ozark Southern and his wife, who are members of our group. They seem like a nice young couple and glad to have them aboard. A nice Missouri Pacific station and caboose adorn the depot grounds. Lots of activity here as they prepare for the Challenger to head their way.
Later in the afternoon I went up to sit with the other members of the AU group. AlanB was discussing the new coaches and baggage cars to be built with stimulus monies and I had an interesting conversation with Patrick and Alice about their California life and adventures on the train.
A young boy and his grandparents were behind us now in the BC car. His father worked for UP in the yards outside of KC and he was hoping to see him as we passed. I gave him an Amtrak hat that was part of our gift bag from AlanB and he enjoyed it as we rode along.
We arrived at Lee’s Summit around 1:30. It has a nice brick station that has been turned into a museum. Not many passengers getting off or on here. I suppose during the week there may be some commuters who use the train to get into Kansas City. We pass an unusual steeple church, built by the Community of Christ Church, an independent sect once associated with the Mormons, as we come into Independence and the home of Harry Truman.
We are now nearing our destination and looking forward to seeing the Kansas City station. We have been to this station several times on the SWC, but never had the time to go inside as our train was usually running late.
We leave our MORR train and take the elevator up to the gate level pulling our bags behind. After making our way down the Amtrak gateway we arrive in the magnificent KCUS.
Ceiling and chandeliers have been refurbished and the old Harvey House restaurant is also located along the side of the depot. Lots of beautiful architecture—one of the nicest stations we have been in. There is an animated dinosaur that roars when you pass it. A display from the large science museum that is now part of the station complex.
A group photo is planned now that we have most of the members of the AU group corralled. We are joined by Chertl who lives nearby and after some plans to pickup barbecue for the trip home, we are assembled for a group shot. A few members were not in the photo including RRrich, RRDude, Chertyl and Jackal.
Now it was time for us to say goodbye to the AU group and head for our hotel. It was an enjoyable experience and we met so many new friends. Some of the group will be returning via the TE and Cap and we will see them in Chicago tomorrow afternoon.
We grab our bags and attempt to use the walkway to get to our Westin Crown Plaza Hotel, but there is construction on the station end and we must walk outside and up a stairway to get to the elevated walkway. A nice view of the station as we enter the upper level of the lobby area of the hotel. This is a very nice place, one of the nicest hotels in which we have stayed. We pass some nice fountains and see there is a mall and many stores associated with the complex. I get to the desk and we are checked into a room on the 7th floor but on arrival we find the room is not ready. I go back downstairs and the hotel clerk apologizes and says she will upgrade our room to the 10th floor with a beautiful city view.
Wow, what a nice room with a wide window overlooking the KC station and the city. We get situated and decide to head back outside to walk around. It is now too late to go to the art museum or WWI museum so we decide to go back to the station to check out its many attributes.
The station has a large science museum, which we passed and then checked out a gift shop and then down to the Amtrak ticket window to pickup our tickets for the SWC and CL trips on Sunday morning. The agent is very friendly and we discuss train riding, our AU Group and times for boarding the train in the morning.
We go back into the main concourse and enjoy the beautiful artwork of the station. Then head to the stairway/elevator to the KC Rail Experience museum, which houses many indoor displays and interactive programs as well as some nice rolling stock outside. We had seen the KC Southern locomotive on other trips but now had a close-up view. There were also many other passenger coaches and cars being refurbished in the yards.
Afterward we went over to the huge model railroad layouts and spent some time watching the many gauges of trains move along their routes. See photos. It is now getting toward suppertime and my stomach says its time to find food. We walk back to the hotel and decide to look for something in the food courts in the mall. We decide on Chinese which was very good and we sat in the atrium watching the traffic and hustle bustle of the city. After exploring the mall further we decided we needed to head back to the room, finish some last minute packing and watch the beautiful light show afforded out our window. One of the insurance company buildings had a great digital light event on the side of the building.
Then the real entertainment started as a wedding reception was being held on the outside veranda of the hotel below us. A jazz singer was excellent and the band as well. Then the couple came out for their special event, a full fledge fireworks display just outside our window. Wow! These people must have some money and political pull to get a permit to shoot fireworks in the middle of the city. A nice evening in a very exquisite hotel. Would like to come back here someday and spend some time roaming the city and the parks.
We head for bed after a nice day with new friends, a new city and anticipating our trip home tomorrow. Goodnight!!!
Sunday Oct 10
We get up at 5am to prepare for our walk over to Union Station. Our SWC is running on time and will be out in the yards getting fuel this morning. When we arrive, the station is mostly dark and eerie with few people walking around. We go back to the Amtrak area and there are lines forming and people sitting in the waiting room, which is a sad excuse, compared to the original waiting room used in the old days. An announcement is made at 7:15 for the morning MORR #314 that is to leave at 7:30. Quite a few people start down the rampway for their trip.
Just a few minutes later a conductor starts taking tickets for our SW Chief and gives the o.k. for us to move toward the train. We are hoping to get settled and have breakfast, as we are pretty hungry.
A nice cool morning walk to our Car 0430 where we meet Pinkey, who is our SCA. She is still working on fixing the room since someone just departed at KC so she suggested we head for the diner for breakfast and she would have everything ready when we returned. It is 7:45 and few are eating so we get a seat with a single gentleman who seems a bit quiet in the beginning. Our server is not the friendliest person. She grabs the meal checks and starts filling out some items. Announces that there are no potatoes and “here’s what’s left, what do you want?” “Make sure you fill out the bottom of the ticket correctly” of course without explaining how to do it for those not tutored by the AU Discussion Group. Well, we finally ordered. I had the cheese omelet and received one with onions and peppers even though I had requested one without. We were given sliced tomatoes in place of potatoes and a biscuit instead of the croissant I had ordered. So much for friendly service on Amtrak. Claudia and I swapped breads (she got the croissant instead of biscuit) and I ate gingerly around the onions. I decided not to challenge my order since she would probably say, “like it or leave it”.
Our seatmate was a rancher from near Las Vegas, New Mexico heading to Chicago. He seemed to be suffering from a bit of a hangover as he talked about his adventures with beer and wine the night before. He was not aware of the potential move of Amtrak via Amarillo instead of Raton Pass and was not happy because he said he rode trains a lot and would miss not being able to board at Las Vegas. We had a good conversation and then headed back to our room, which was ready for us to use.
As we slowly worked our way out of Kansas City we would eventually cross the Missouri and Des Moines Rivers, pass Chris Guensler’s platform at La Plata and many other familiar sites across Missouri.
An announcement was made that the LSA would come around making lunch reservations for early seating since we were anticipating an early arrival in Chicago at that time. We decided to go for the 11:30 seating and hoping there would still be some choices available. This LSA was very personable and too bad she couldn’t do an attitude adjustment on our breakfast server.
There was some MOW work being done, even on Sunday, and we slowed a few places for that. But otherwise running at track speed.
We arrived in Fort Madison around an hour behind due to maintenance work but did have a short time to get off the train to stretch our legs. Our SWC locomotives were # 115 and #138.
We talked with Pinkey about her Amtrak career. She had worked for Amtrak for nearly 30 years and was living in LA. She would return on the Monday SWC and then have a week off. She kept restrooms clean and was there if you had any questions. This afforded a nice tip when we got to Chicago.
We crossed the Mississippi River around noon and moved into Illinois. With the padding between here and Chicago we might still get in on time. No worry about our connection to the Cap Ltd at this point. We had lunch with a nice couple from Rockford, IL. They had taken their first Amtrak trip to and from ABQ for the balloonfest. She was a former art teacher and she and Claudia had an interesting conversation about art and education.
We passed through Galesburg still a few minutes down but again; padding would take care of most of the time. We arrived in the suburbs and enjoyed the sunny day as we saw the Chicago skyline appear in the east. We arrived at CUS about 10 minutes late and left plenty of time to prepare for the trip this evening on the Capitol.
Made our way to the Metro Lounge, stored bags and found Piotr, RR Dude, Bill Haithcoat, Long Train Running & Saxman all in the lounge. Later PennyK and Wolverine arrived and we had some good conversations about the Gathering and our trips home.
Claudia and I decided to walk around the city. Went north of CUS for a few blocks. Ran into a panhandler lying on a concrete wall. At first he said he wanted information about buses but eventually worked his way into wanting money. When I refused, he called me a “Racist” and a few other words under his breath. I told him I voted for Obama and walked away. Smile*
We worked our way across the river and up LaSalle Street and past the Federal Reserve Bank. Walked around looking at the EL trains and then headed back on Jackson St to the station. Watched a few more tour boats on the river and then back to Metro Lounge.
Said goodbye to Saxman and Wolverine who were taking Michigan trains. LTR will be waiting for the Lakeshore to get him back to Buffalo, while PennyK, Bill H, Piotr, RR Dude, Claudia and I will be on the Capitol Ltd this evening.
Our CL #30 was called at 6:15 and we all walked to the tracks on what would be a very crowded train. All sleepers were full. Piotr would be riding coach to TOL and then switching to a sleeper for his trip to WAS. We, of course, would be abandoning our sleeper in TOL.
There are three locos on the train but I was unable to get their numbers. We met our SCA, Cliff, who took our tickets but was mostly gone the entire trip. We are in Car 3001, Rm #9. We get settled in our room. The lady across the hall goes into #10, shuts all the blinds, locks her door and that was the end of our “conversation” **smile**.
At 6:30 we joined PennyK and Bill H for dinner in the diner. I ordered the half chicken, baked potato, rice and salad. Claudia had the steak. Bill H had the shrimp scampi and PennyK had vegetable dish. Everything was pretty good except potato was cold. Cheesecake for dessert. Our server was efficient, but not overly friendly. Not sure why the Capitol gets so many duds.
We had a great conversation about the Gathering and our future plans, trains and life in general. Piotr popped his head in from coach and was told he would not get dinner until after 8pm if at all. After dinner Claudia went back to the room while I walked around the train awhile to aid digestion. She was feeling a bit tired and asked if Cliff would put the bed down.
He said he did not want to put the bed down since we were only going to Toledo and it would mean he would have to change the sheets again for the people getting on in TOL. Claudia said there had been many times that the train ran late and we didn’t get to TOL until after midnight. Anyway she suggested he talk to me when I got back. Well, we never saw him again until it was time to detrain in TOL. I should have just put the bottom bed down so she could lay down whether he liked it or not, but thought he might return to discuss it.
Cliff only came around a few minutes before we were to change cars in TOL, didn’t offer to carry bags off the train, so of course he received zero tip. One of the few times I have not tipped an attendant, but this guy was worthless.
We left our car and walked back to our coach for the ride home to CLE. We passed Piotr on the platform and waved goodbye. We later learned that PennyK was looking out her window and saw us passing. Sorry we didn’t see her.
We had lower level seats for the two-hour ride to CLE. A nice ride across Sandusky Bay on the bridge. Not many passengers getting on or off at Sandusky or Elyria and thus we were back in Cleveland on time around 2am. Car was fine and we made our way to I-71 and home by 3:30am. Glad to see Mr. Gato and he apparently got along fine with Audrey over the four-day trip. Very tired and time to get to bed.
Final Thoughts: We had a great time at the Gathering, meeting many new friends and having great conversations. What a diverse group of people to make life so interesting. The train rides were typical Amtrak. Some very good, some o.k. and a couple of jerks to add to the Amtrak adventure. We added a new route and 1,692 miles to our Amtrak statistics. Current total now is 35,578 miles in the last three years.
Our hotels were both very nice; personnel excellent. Want to return to Kansas City to explore parks and museums. The ride on the MORR was nice. Added a new route to our Amtrak list. The Challenger event was great and glad I got to see it. Claudia had a nice day visiting her cousin Susan in Swansea, which made the trip memorable for her as well.
Except for one occasion, health problems were kept under control and I was able to adapt to some menus both on and off the train. Looking forward to our next Amtrak trip in February and to another Gathering event next year.
