fredevad
Lead Service Attendant
Hello everyone!
As a child, I loved trains. In fact, before my father retired in 1979, our backyard faced the tracks. I remember my father made me a small ladder that leaned up against that fence so that I could see over it and watch the trains go by. But then we moved to Wisconsin where I finished high school, went to college in Chicago, got career focused, eventually got married, had kids, and had all but forgotten about trains.
Then in the later half of 2007, I began to take an interest in trains again (if I remember correctly, it was after getting stopped at a grade crossing when I wasn't in a hurry to get somewhere). So I decided to visit my company's new headquarters in Chicago and took the Hiawatha, about 1.5 hours each way by train. And that's all it took to ignite the spark - I was hooked once again.
In 2008, I took my first long distance trip where I rode the EB from Chicago (yes, I actually took the Hiawatha to Chicago to catch the EB that would take me back through MKE, adding 3 hours to my ride) to Whitefish, MT. I was limited by available days off, so I could only afford to be out 4 days including the weekend. I traveled by coach and didn't get much sleep that first night past MSP, but I didn't care. This was a quick turn around trip and after a short overnight stay in Whitefish, I got back on the eastbound EB to ride back to MKE. As I was detraining in MKE, I vowed to do an annual Amtrak trip around the end of October every year.
Unfortunately, that vow turned out to be short lived, as the following year turned out to be financially difficult for my middle class family of 4, plus exchange student. So I've implemented what I call my "Amtrak Savings Plan". This is where I stuff a few dollars (when I get them) in a secret envelope and when I collect about $100, I take that envelope to my local station and turn it into a gift certificate (to myself).
I am happy to report that for 2010, I am well on my way and in budget to use my "Amtrak Savings Plan" to take the Texas Eagle from CHI all the way to SAS - and do it in a sleeper this time! I am so excited I can hardly wait.
I have lurked here a little over the past 2 years, and got some valuable information for my EB trip. Now that I'm getting close to booking my TE trip, I'm back again, so I decided to join. Thanks to everyone that contributes here, it's been a big help to me.
See you all on the forums soon!
As a child, I loved trains. In fact, before my father retired in 1979, our backyard faced the tracks. I remember my father made me a small ladder that leaned up against that fence so that I could see over it and watch the trains go by. But then we moved to Wisconsin where I finished high school, went to college in Chicago, got career focused, eventually got married, had kids, and had all but forgotten about trains.
Then in the later half of 2007, I began to take an interest in trains again (if I remember correctly, it was after getting stopped at a grade crossing when I wasn't in a hurry to get somewhere). So I decided to visit my company's new headquarters in Chicago and took the Hiawatha, about 1.5 hours each way by train. And that's all it took to ignite the spark - I was hooked once again.
In 2008, I took my first long distance trip where I rode the EB from Chicago (yes, I actually took the Hiawatha to Chicago to catch the EB that would take me back through MKE, adding 3 hours to my ride) to Whitefish, MT. I was limited by available days off, so I could only afford to be out 4 days including the weekend. I traveled by coach and didn't get much sleep that first night past MSP, but I didn't care. This was a quick turn around trip and after a short overnight stay in Whitefish, I got back on the eastbound EB to ride back to MKE. As I was detraining in MKE, I vowed to do an annual Amtrak trip around the end of October every year.
Unfortunately, that vow turned out to be short lived, as the following year turned out to be financially difficult for my middle class family of 4, plus exchange student. So I've implemented what I call my "Amtrak Savings Plan". This is where I stuff a few dollars (when I get them) in a secret envelope and when I collect about $100, I take that envelope to my local station and turn it into a gift certificate (to myself).
I am happy to report that for 2010, I am well on my way and in budget to use my "Amtrak Savings Plan" to take the Texas Eagle from CHI all the way to SAS - and do it in a sleeper this time! I am so excited I can hardly wait.
I have lurked here a little over the past 2 years, and got some valuable information for my EB trip. Now that I'm getting close to booking my TE trip, I'm back again, so I decided to join. Thanks to everyone that contributes here, it's been a big help to me.
See you all on the forums soon!
