EmpireBuilderFan
Lead Service Attendant
I recently moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago. I was bored yesterday morning, so I decided to catch a Metra commuter train to Chicago Union Station and back. After looking at the online schedules, I drove to the Prairie Crossing/Libertyville Metra station, which is about a 10 minute drive away. I got there about five minutes before train #2132 arrived on time. #2132 was running cab car forward with one of Metra's MP36PH engines pushing it. I got on the second car in front of the engines and found a seat in the upper level. The conductor came by and I bought my $5 weekend pass.
The train stayed about on time for the whole run. I spent the time looking out the window and enjoying the change of scenery from countryside and suburbs to city. In the Metra coach yard, we passed a line of 8-10 Metra F40C engines that are probably getting ready to be replaced. As we went around a curve near Union Station, I saw another train that looked like it had a F40 at the point. At another curve, I could see the Horizon coaches and F40 cabbage that made up the Hiawatha service from Milwaukee. We arrived into track 1 of Union Station on time.
After arrival, I went to the Metra ticket area to pick up a couple of paper schedules so that I could plan some future trips. There wasn't much of a layover between trips, so I pretty much had to run back to track 3 in order to catch train #2117. Since Metra keeps the engines pointed away from downtown, we had another of the MP36's leading. The back of the train was pretty full, so the conductor pointed me towards the front. I ended up in the same location within the consist, second car from the engine. As we left Union Station, could see the Empire Builder getting ready to head west in about an hour and a half. Later, as we were stopped at Lake Forest, a Hiawatha heading to Milwaukee with the P-42 leading blew past us at track speed. I rode all the way out to Fox Lake, which is the terminus of the Milwaukee District North line.
At Fox Lake, I grabbed a junk food burger and got back on the consist for train #2140 back to Prairie Crossing. A few stops later, we arrived at Prairie Crossing, and I walked back to the car to return home.
The highlights of the trip was getting to see a little Amtrak action, as well as scout out Glenview's station, which is served by both this Metra line and the Empire Builder. The Metra schedule looks pretty conducive to using Glenview to get on the Builder instead of heading all the way downtown and fighting the crowds.
The train stayed about on time for the whole run. I spent the time looking out the window and enjoying the change of scenery from countryside and suburbs to city. In the Metra coach yard, we passed a line of 8-10 Metra F40C engines that are probably getting ready to be replaced. As we went around a curve near Union Station, I saw another train that looked like it had a F40 at the point. At another curve, I could see the Horizon coaches and F40 cabbage that made up the Hiawatha service from Milwaukee. We arrived into track 1 of Union Station on time.
After arrival, I went to the Metra ticket area to pick up a couple of paper schedules so that I could plan some future trips. There wasn't much of a layover between trips, so I pretty much had to run back to track 3 in order to catch train #2117. Since Metra keeps the engines pointed away from downtown, we had another of the MP36's leading. The back of the train was pretty full, so the conductor pointed me towards the front. I ended up in the same location within the consist, second car from the engine. As we left Union Station, could see the Empire Builder getting ready to head west in about an hour and a half. Later, as we were stopped at Lake Forest, a Hiawatha heading to Milwaukee with the P-42 leading blew past us at track speed. I rode all the way out to Fox Lake, which is the terminus of the Milwaukee District North line.
At Fox Lake, I grabbed a junk food burger and got back on the consist for train #2140 back to Prairie Crossing. A few stops later, we arrived at Prairie Crossing, and I walked back to the car to return home.
The highlights of the trip was getting to see a little Amtrak action, as well as scout out Glenview's station, which is served by both this Metra line and the Empire Builder. The Metra schedule looks pretty conducive to using Glenview to get on the Builder instead of heading all the way downtown and fighting the crowds.
