- Joined
- Oct 11, 2005
- Messages
- 6
For a number of reasons, I had the need to make a one-way trip from Grand Rapids to Kansas City on May 20th. I realized this on Thursday the 18th, and upon checking the Amtrak web site found I could purchase a one-way ticket for a very reasonable price even without my AAA discount. The ticket cost was less than the cost of gasoline to drive the trip in our minivan, so I made the reservation.
I picked up my ticket from the Quik-Trak machine at the Grand Rapids station on Friday evening. This was my first time using one of these machines (which is surprising since I'm usually a technology nut) and found it to be a very easy process; it took less than two minutes to complete the transaction.
I arrived at the Grand Rapids station about 7:15 on a beautiful Saturday morning, and found a rather large number of people waiting to board. The train (1 P42, 3 coaches) pulled in to the station for boarding just before 7:30AM. Grand Rapids is the originating/terminating point for the Pere Marquette, but the station is located on a street corner, and the track crosses both streets very close to the station making it impossible to keep the train at the station without blocking at least one of the streets, so it is kept overnight a couple of miles from the station. We boarded, and I found a seat in the last coach along with about a dozen other people; most of the passengers sat in the front two coaches. We departed for Chicago right on time, 7:35AM.
When the tickets were collected, we found out why very few people were in the last coach; we were informed that a group of 67 school children on a field trip were to board at the next stop (Holland, MI) and were to sit in this coach. It was strongly recommended that we find seats in one of the other two cars; most of us (other than an Amish family of four sitting in the facing seats) decided to follow the advice so I moved to the first car and found a window seat. I would guess this train was 85 - 90% full by the time we made our last station stop before Chicago - proof that people DO ride the trains despite efforts by some politicians to say otherwise.
We lost about 10 minutes in Holland due to the need to use a lift to board a passenger in a wheelchair and the extra time involved in boarding the school group. We lost another 15-20 minutes just east of Chicago - we had to stop due to one of the movable bridges being opened to allow marine traffic to pass through. We pulled into Union Station about 30 minutes late.
Since I had a few hours to pass before the Southwest Chief's 3:15PM scheduled departure, I stashed my bags in one of the rental storage lockers and took a walk east on Adams St. to Miller's Pub on S. Wabash, about 8 blocks away, for a very good lunch. I also stopped off at the Books A Million store at the corner of Adams and Clark (about 4 blocks from Union Station) to browse for a while. It's not a B&N, but they still have quite a variety of books and magazines, making it a good place to spend some time if that's your thing.
General boarding for the SWC was called about 2:50PM. The attendants were not assigning seats but letting us pick our own, which I've only had happen one time before on this train. I took a window seat right across from the stairway. I'd assumed they were not assigning seats due to a light passenger load, but the car was still quite full by the time we departed; every row had at least one seat occupied, and most had both seats occupied. I didn't get the full consist of this train...I know there were three P42's in the lead and three coaches behind the diner and lounge (since I was sitting in the 3rd coach), but not sure about the sleepers. We were also hauling a couple of boxcars and at least one deadheading car behind the coaches. We departed Union Station at exactly 3:15PM, right on time.
The trip from Chicago to Kansas City was uneventful. I chose not to eat dinner in the dining car, due to the rather large lunch I'd had earlier, but I did visit the lounge car around 6PM for a hot dog and some chips. We operated within 15 minutes of on-time all the way, and arrived in Kansas City just before 10:20PM, about 9 minutes late.
With all of the discussions recently about the possible cutbacks or elimination of Amtrak service due to the lack of funding, I particularly noticed the children on this trip. Not those on the train, but those WATCHING the train. I saw a father pull into the parking lot at the Holland MI station while we were boarding there, just so his sons (I'd guess about 7 and 10 years old) could watch the train depart. All along the route, I noticed children of all ages smiling and waving, thrilled to watch as the train passed by. I fondly remembered my own first train trip, when I was about 9 years old, with my Mom & Dad, my Uncle & Aunt & their son about my age. It was just a day trip from Grand Rapids to Chicago and back, on the old C&O railroad, but it's been a lifelong memory. I remembered how I loved to hear the sound of the train whistles in the distance when I was growing up (and I still do today, at 50+ years of age!), and how that sound fed my wanderlust when I was younger, making me wish I was on the way to anywhere other than where I was just for the sake of going. And I realized, regardless of one's political beliefs about subsidies, what a crying shame it would be for the passenger trains to be gone; for there to be no more passengers for the children to wave at, no more dreams for them of climbing aboard one of those shiny silver cars to head somewhere, anywhere else, off in the distance. Although I fear otherwise, I sincerely hope that day never comes.
I picked up my ticket from the Quik-Trak machine at the Grand Rapids station on Friday evening. This was my first time using one of these machines (which is surprising since I'm usually a technology nut) and found it to be a very easy process; it took less than two minutes to complete the transaction.
I arrived at the Grand Rapids station about 7:15 on a beautiful Saturday morning, and found a rather large number of people waiting to board. The train (1 P42, 3 coaches) pulled in to the station for boarding just before 7:30AM. Grand Rapids is the originating/terminating point for the Pere Marquette, but the station is located on a street corner, and the track crosses both streets very close to the station making it impossible to keep the train at the station without blocking at least one of the streets, so it is kept overnight a couple of miles from the station. We boarded, and I found a seat in the last coach along with about a dozen other people; most of the passengers sat in the front two coaches. We departed for Chicago right on time, 7:35AM.
When the tickets were collected, we found out why very few people were in the last coach; we were informed that a group of 67 school children on a field trip were to board at the next stop (Holland, MI) and were to sit in this coach. It was strongly recommended that we find seats in one of the other two cars; most of us (other than an Amish family of four sitting in the facing seats) decided to follow the advice so I moved to the first car and found a window seat. I would guess this train was 85 - 90% full by the time we made our last station stop before Chicago - proof that people DO ride the trains despite efforts by some politicians to say otherwise.
We lost about 10 minutes in Holland due to the need to use a lift to board a passenger in a wheelchair and the extra time involved in boarding the school group. We lost another 15-20 minutes just east of Chicago - we had to stop due to one of the movable bridges being opened to allow marine traffic to pass through. We pulled into Union Station about 30 minutes late.
Since I had a few hours to pass before the Southwest Chief's 3:15PM scheduled departure, I stashed my bags in one of the rental storage lockers and took a walk east on Adams St. to Miller's Pub on S. Wabash, about 8 blocks away, for a very good lunch. I also stopped off at the Books A Million store at the corner of Adams and Clark (about 4 blocks from Union Station) to browse for a while. It's not a B&N, but they still have quite a variety of books and magazines, making it a good place to spend some time if that's your thing.
General boarding for the SWC was called about 2:50PM. The attendants were not assigning seats but letting us pick our own, which I've only had happen one time before on this train. I took a window seat right across from the stairway. I'd assumed they were not assigning seats due to a light passenger load, but the car was still quite full by the time we departed; every row had at least one seat occupied, and most had both seats occupied. I didn't get the full consist of this train...I know there were three P42's in the lead and three coaches behind the diner and lounge (since I was sitting in the 3rd coach), but not sure about the sleepers. We were also hauling a couple of boxcars and at least one deadheading car behind the coaches. We departed Union Station at exactly 3:15PM, right on time.
The trip from Chicago to Kansas City was uneventful. I chose not to eat dinner in the dining car, due to the rather large lunch I'd had earlier, but I did visit the lounge car around 6PM for a hot dog and some chips. We operated within 15 minutes of on-time all the way, and arrived in Kansas City just before 10:20PM, about 9 minutes late.
With all of the discussions recently about the possible cutbacks or elimination of Amtrak service due to the lack of funding, I particularly noticed the children on this trip. Not those on the train, but those WATCHING the train. I saw a father pull into the parking lot at the Holland MI station while we were boarding there, just so his sons (I'd guess about 7 and 10 years old) could watch the train depart. All along the route, I noticed children of all ages smiling and waving, thrilled to watch as the train passed by. I fondly remembered my own first train trip, when I was about 9 years old, with my Mom & Dad, my Uncle & Aunt & their son about my age. It was just a day trip from Grand Rapids to Chicago and back, on the old C&O railroad, but it's been a lifelong memory. I remembered how I loved to hear the sound of the train whistles in the distance when I was growing up (and I still do today, at 50+ years of age!), and how that sound fed my wanderlust when I was younger, making me wish I was on the way to anywhere other than where I was just for the sake of going. And I realized, regardless of one's political beliefs about subsidies, what a crying shame it would be for the passenger trains to be gone; for there to be no more passengers for the children to wave at, no more dreams for them of climbing aboard one of those shiny silver cars to head somewhere, anywhere else, off in the distance. Although I fear otherwise, I sincerely hope that day never comes.
