EmpireBuilderFan
Lead Service Attendant
(Sorry for the length in advance, I got long-winded! 
)
Thanks to the quarter system, the last two weeks have been a wonderful time of relaxation as we prepare for the Spring Quarter. I had some Guest Reward points that I wanted to use for a short trip during break, so I cashed in 2000 points for a round trip on the Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. I ordered them online, and the reservation number was in my email the next day (not two days like the GR website said).
Thursday morning, I headed to the Prairie Crossing/Libertyville station to catch the Milwaukee North Service to Chicago Union Station. (As an aside, most of Metra's routes are named for either present or past railroads that are or have been involved in establishment of the commuter service. The Milwaukee services run on former Milwaukee Road tracks that are now under CP or Metra control. BNSF and UP services run on their namesake tracks.) From Rondout to Union Station, this service runs on the same tracks as the Hiawatha and Empire Builder, an even stops at Glenview, IL, which is a stop for both Amtrak services. I received a railfan treat while I was paying for the parking as a CN freight came through the station with two BNSF "pumpkins" (orange-and-black paintjob) and a BN green, black, and white engines.
One thing Metra is really good at is keeping on time, and this was no exception. The train arrived into Prairie Crossing at 11:04 AM, which is on time, and we arrived in Union Station at approximately 12:20 PM, only a few minutes down due to a couple of slow orders where Metra crews were working on signals. I picked up my Hiawatha tickets from one of the QuikTrak machines and got a polish sausage from one of the food vendors on the upper level. After the quick lunch, I headed to the north waiting room to board Hiawatha 335, scheduled to depart at 1:05 PM.
At 12:45 PM, the announcement for boarding was made, and I joined the crowd heading out to our train. Due to construction at Union Station, the Hiawatha consist was parked in front of the Empire Builder consist. It really broke my heart to have to walk all the way down the length of the Builder and not get on. As I walked, I noticed that the Builder had three engines in the front (it normally carries two). I'll bet the engineers didn't have too much problem with acceleration with that much power available to them.
The Hiawatha service uses 4 Horizon cars with an ex-F40 cabbage on one end and a P-42 on the other. The power on this consist was #38, and the cabbage was #90368. I wanted to sit in the car behind the engine, but the conductor wouldn't let me (he was polite about it). Instead I ended up 3 cars back and sitting backwards. I did have the seat pair to myself, so I was able to relax. We pulled out on time at 1:05 PM, and accelerated rapidly once we got past the sharp curve at the mouth of Union Station's tracks.
It was interesting to see how much faster the Hiawatha runs compared to Metra. What took a nearly an hour on Metra only took 25 minutes on the Hiawatha. Metra makes many more stops and only tops out at 60, whereas the Hiawatha has only the one stop at Glenview. Even with this difference in time, what really struck me is that the Hiawatha service almost screams for high-speed rail. Instead of taking an hour-thirty at 79 MPH, this service could easily be set up for 100+ MPH trains due to the relative straightness of the route. It wouldn't be too inconceivable to get speeds to rival the Acelas, just expensive.
I'd ridden in a Horizon coach about five years ago, from St. Louis to Chicago, so my memory was pretty fuzzy about the ride quality. Basically, I've been spoiled by the ride of the Superliners. A good comparison would be driving a Cadillac versus a Chevrolet Cavalier. Both will get you there in the same amount of time (if you follow the speed limit), but the Caddy will give you a much more comfortable trip. The same could be said of the Superliner versus Horizon comparison. The Superliner is much more comfortable, both in leg room and in the suspension system, whereas the Horizon gives you less leg room (but a lot more than most airlines!) and a stiffer suspension.
The station at Sturtevant, WI, was very run down. It looks like it was a very nice wooden structure that hasn't seen much maintenance since Amtrak took over. I might have to make a road trip up there in the future, as there is some well-preserved old railroad equipment near the station that I'd like to check out much closer.
The new station at the Milwaukee airport looks quite impressive. It's a little darker than I'd imagined, but looks very nice. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go inside since I wanted to continue on to Milwaukee, so I'll have to drive up later.
We arrived in Milwaukee a few minutes down. The Milwaukee station really needs a remodel, or some kind of work. It was built by the Milwaukee Road in the early 1960's, and reflects the utilitarian, plain construction that was popular at that time. I'm sure a good architect could come up with a much better look for the interior, if not the exterior as well.
At about 2:45 PM, the boarding call was made for Hiawatha 338, so I headed back out to the tracks. I ended up in the same coach, sitting across the isle from where I was before. We left promptly at 3:00 PM.
The engineer on this run was being very generous with the speed limit. My GPS was showing 85 MPH at times, and we did have to sit in both Sturtevant and Glenview to wait for the schedule. We were on course to arrive 10 minutes early, but were held up for 2-3 minutes Metra traffic. At once point, as we were going around the sharp curve I mentioned earlier, we were sandwiched between two Metra consists. Even the conductor sounded a little apprehensive about this.
For my return trip, I wanted to ride the Metra North Central Service. This is Metra's newest line, started in 1996. Currently, due to track capacity this line only runs on weekdays with inbounds in the morning and outbounds in the evening, but there is work to double track the line most of the way. I got on the first car, which is the cab car for inbound travel, so that I could use the "railfan window" to watch the tracks behind us.
We departed right on time with an announcement from the conductor: "It's fffiiivvvveee o'clock! Our next stop will be Western Avenue." Due to the newness of this service, many of the stations along the route were still in some state of construction. Many didn't even have their full platforms yet. One station that should enjoy pretty good traffic once this service is bulked up is O'Hare Transfer. This station is built right on the edge of one of O'Hare's long term parking lots, and the airport shuttle will meet the trains as they come in. I could see this getting a lot of people from both the northern and western suburbs (which have direct connections to the NC service) once this line is running more regularly.
To bring this rail trip to a close, we arrived in Prairie Crossing/Libertyville (yes, it's served by both Milwaukee North and North Central services) at 6:15 PM, right on time. This closed a good day of rail riding with new track that I hadn't ridden on before.
)Thanks to the quarter system, the last two weeks have been a wonderful time of relaxation as we prepare for the Spring Quarter. I had some Guest Reward points that I wanted to use for a short trip during break, so I cashed in 2000 points for a round trip on the Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. I ordered them online, and the reservation number was in my email the next day (not two days like the GR website said).
Thursday morning, I headed to the Prairie Crossing/Libertyville station to catch the Milwaukee North Service to Chicago Union Station. (As an aside, most of Metra's routes are named for either present or past railroads that are or have been involved in establishment of the commuter service. The Milwaukee services run on former Milwaukee Road tracks that are now under CP or Metra control. BNSF and UP services run on their namesake tracks.) From Rondout to Union Station, this service runs on the same tracks as the Hiawatha and Empire Builder, an even stops at Glenview, IL, which is a stop for both Amtrak services. I received a railfan treat while I was paying for the parking as a CN freight came through the station with two BNSF "pumpkins" (orange-and-black paintjob) and a BN green, black, and white engines.
One thing Metra is really good at is keeping on time, and this was no exception. The train arrived into Prairie Crossing at 11:04 AM, which is on time, and we arrived in Union Station at approximately 12:20 PM, only a few minutes down due to a couple of slow orders where Metra crews were working on signals. I picked up my Hiawatha tickets from one of the QuikTrak machines and got a polish sausage from one of the food vendors on the upper level. After the quick lunch, I headed to the north waiting room to board Hiawatha 335, scheduled to depart at 1:05 PM.
At 12:45 PM, the announcement for boarding was made, and I joined the crowd heading out to our train. Due to construction at Union Station, the Hiawatha consist was parked in front of the Empire Builder consist. It really broke my heart to have to walk all the way down the length of the Builder and not get on. As I walked, I noticed that the Builder had three engines in the front (it normally carries two). I'll bet the engineers didn't have too much problem with acceleration with that much power available to them.
The Hiawatha service uses 4 Horizon cars with an ex-F40 cabbage on one end and a P-42 on the other. The power on this consist was #38, and the cabbage was #90368. I wanted to sit in the car behind the engine, but the conductor wouldn't let me (he was polite about it). Instead I ended up 3 cars back and sitting backwards. I did have the seat pair to myself, so I was able to relax. We pulled out on time at 1:05 PM, and accelerated rapidly once we got past the sharp curve at the mouth of Union Station's tracks.
It was interesting to see how much faster the Hiawatha runs compared to Metra. What took a nearly an hour on Metra only took 25 minutes on the Hiawatha. Metra makes many more stops and only tops out at 60, whereas the Hiawatha has only the one stop at Glenview. Even with this difference in time, what really struck me is that the Hiawatha service almost screams for high-speed rail. Instead of taking an hour-thirty at 79 MPH, this service could easily be set up for 100+ MPH trains due to the relative straightness of the route. It wouldn't be too inconceivable to get speeds to rival the Acelas, just expensive.
I'd ridden in a Horizon coach about five years ago, from St. Louis to Chicago, so my memory was pretty fuzzy about the ride quality. Basically, I've been spoiled by the ride of the Superliners. A good comparison would be driving a Cadillac versus a Chevrolet Cavalier. Both will get you there in the same amount of time (if you follow the speed limit), but the Caddy will give you a much more comfortable trip. The same could be said of the Superliner versus Horizon comparison. The Superliner is much more comfortable, both in leg room and in the suspension system, whereas the Horizon gives you less leg room (but a lot more than most airlines!) and a stiffer suspension.
The station at Sturtevant, WI, was very run down. It looks like it was a very nice wooden structure that hasn't seen much maintenance since Amtrak took over. I might have to make a road trip up there in the future, as there is some well-preserved old railroad equipment near the station that I'd like to check out much closer.
The new station at the Milwaukee airport looks quite impressive. It's a little darker than I'd imagined, but looks very nice. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go inside since I wanted to continue on to Milwaukee, so I'll have to drive up later.
We arrived in Milwaukee a few minutes down. The Milwaukee station really needs a remodel, or some kind of work. It was built by the Milwaukee Road in the early 1960's, and reflects the utilitarian, plain construction that was popular at that time. I'm sure a good architect could come up with a much better look for the interior, if not the exterior as well.
At about 2:45 PM, the boarding call was made for Hiawatha 338, so I headed back out to the tracks. I ended up in the same coach, sitting across the isle from where I was before. We left promptly at 3:00 PM.
The engineer on this run was being very generous with the speed limit. My GPS was showing 85 MPH at times, and we did have to sit in both Sturtevant and Glenview to wait for the schedule. We were on course to arrive 10 minutes early, but were held up for 2-3 minutes Metra traffic. At once point, as we were going around the sharp curve I mentioned earlier, we were sandwiched between two Metra consists. Even the conductor sounded a little apprehensive about this.
For my return trip, I wanted to ride the Metra North Central Service. This is Metra's newest line, started in 1996. Currently, due to track capacity this line only runs on weekdays with inbounds in the morning and outbounds in the evening, but there is work to double track the line most of the way. I got on the first car, which is the cab car for inbound travel, so that I could use the "railfan window" to watch the tracks behind us.
We departed right on time with an announcement from the conductor: "It's fffiiivvvveee o'clock! Our next stop will be Western Avenue." Due to the newness of this service, many of the stations along the route were still in some state of construction. Many didn't even have their full platforms yet. One station that should enjoy pretty good traffic once this service is bulked up is O'Hare Transfer. This station is built right on the edge of one of O'Hare's long term parking lots, and the airport shuttle will meet the trains as they come in. I could see this getting a lot of people from both the northern and western suburbs (which have direct connections to the NC service) once this line is running more regularly.
To bring this rail trip to a close, we arrived in Prairie Crossing/Libertyville (yes, it's served by both Milwaukee North and North Central services) at 6:15 PM, right on time. This closed a good day of rail riding with new track that I hadn't ridden on before.
