Tom's rail trips #8 - National WWII Museum & City of New Orlea

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

siberianmo

Service Attendant
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
167
Location
25 miles west of downtown St. Louis, MO
G'day from chilly and damp east central Missouri!

I expect things to heat up a bit as "my" Cardinals get going tonite against the Giants . . . however, the point of this post is to provide my personal accounting of a recent trip taken to New Orleans for a visit to a most impressive place - the National WWII Museum. Of course being an Amtrak forum - there is quite a bit of information relative to trains #58 & 21.

Enjoy . . .

Trip Report

October 7th-9 th, 2014

St. Louis – New Orleans – Chicago – St. Louis

SW Airlines - St. Louis to New Orleans

National WWII Museum

Amtrak - City of New Orleans & Texas Eagle

Caveat: These reports are “memo’s to file” and are intended for inclusion within my foto albums as a record of my experiences – they are not “blogs” – more like diary entries.

Having been “around” before, during and after WWII, this trip was one that I had planned for several years but for some reason never got A-ROUNDTUIT. The opportunity presented itself and the rest is documented below . . .

  • Tuesday, October 7th:

Departed home @ 5:55 AM for Lambert International Airport and my non-stop flight to New Orleans via Southwest Airlines #1801. A cloudy, wet and cool morning.

Arrived @ 6:25 and to the gate by 6:45 – no issues with checking bag or TSA.

Boarded @ 7:12 with Early Bird check-in (A-29); Seat 4F, window – starboard side.

An uneventful flight with all middle seats unoccupied – decent visibility with some low cloud cover for most of trip.

Landed @ 9 AM – luggage @ 9:20 – aboard ground transportation @ 9:22 and arrived Holiday Inn – downtown Superdome (Loyola near Canal St.) @ 10. Clear blue sky with humidity most evident.

My room was ready for me, which was a pleasant surprise given the morning arrival – room 1210 with a nice view of the city.

Took a taxi to the National WWII Museum – arrived @ 10:45 and remained there until 3:15 PM.

I was afforded the military rate for admission and also purchased tickets for Beyond All Boundaries and Final Mission: The USS Tang Experience.

Simply put, one would have to visit this magnificent campus in order to fully grasp how impressive and well-done the exhibits.

The Louisiana Memorial Pavilion is chock-full of WWII artifacts and is where the tickets are purchased.

Within the Pavilion is the Train Car Experience where one can board a recreation of a Pullman coach back to the times when our military were transported to their respective destinations for training and shipping out. The windows on the left side feature moving scenes as if one was indeed aboard a moving train. Very impressive.

The 2nd and 3rd floors of the Pavilion feature America Goes to War, D-Day Invasion of Normandy, D-Day: The Landing Beaches and D-Day Invasions of the Pacific. There is very little left to the imagination aside from the sobering thought of being ever more thankful for the sacrifices made by so many for those of us who followed.

The U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center contains a most impressive array of WWII-era aircraft including B-17 My Gal Sal. All the aircraft are suspended from the high vaulted ceiling of the Pavilion with access to varied levels by elevator and stairwells. Again, most impressive.

Within the Pavilion is the interactive encounter recreating the last war patrol of America’s most decorated submarine in WWII – Final Mission: The USS Tang Experience. Each visitor is provided with a laminated keepsake card for a battle station assignment. Mine was #5, torpedo loader. You would have to visit this exhibit to fully comprehend it. Ditto on being impressive.

With more Pavilions being constructed, another trip to the National WWII Museum is a must-do.

For anyone wishing to check out this impressive place, www.nationalwwII.museum.org .

Returned to my room to watch the baseball playoff games between “my” Cardinals and Dodgers and the night game between the Giants and Nationals. The Cardinals and Giants advanced to the NL Championship round.

Room service dinner with no need to venture outdoors as I was beat.

  • Wednesday, October 8th:

A late reveille for me followed by an 8 AM fine breakfast in the Holiday Streetcar Restaurant; a very well appointed and comfortable surrounding.

Took a short walk up to Canal Street where the Loyola trolley runs a loop to Union Passenger Terminal and back. Clear skies with the “mugginess” beginning to mount. Oh well, it was the Gulf of Mexico after all!

Around 10 AM I decided to walk to Union Passenger Terminal then to the National WWII Museum – quite a hike indeed. But it was a good “test” for my new hip. All went well, aside from the damned humidity that is! Anyway, was able to upgrade my roomette aboard the City of New Orleans to a SuperLiner bedroom (deluxe) at what I thought was a very reasonable increase.

The walk to the museum took me past Robert E. Lee circle – with an impressive statute and small park setting. Spent a bit of time in one of the museum gift shops before heading back to the hotel for my 12:30 PM check-out.

Arrived at Union Passenger Terminal at 12:45 by taxi – too damned hot for another walk, especially with luggage.

The Magnolia Lounge for bedroom passengers was in the sorriest of conditions ever experienced by me in the past several years. The coffee must have been a day old and the only other “amenity” was water from a cold jug. The TV was tuned to some nonsense with no audio. A terrible “welcome” to those who may have been traveling Amtrak for the first time.

Boarding took place at 1:20 PM for the 1:45 departure – bedroom passengers first. My car was 2nd from the locomotive – car 5800, room B. Car attendant friendly but was hard to find for most of trip. Room was comfortably cool but that soon changed to warm.

Pleasantly surprised to note the car had ice – something not provided during my last several long-distance travels due to health concerns. Coffee was made and orange juice was available. Additionally, my room had a Route Guide – something not seen in at least a year of traveling – along with a station schedule.

I took some snaps of the train from the platform and off we went just a tad later than scheduled.

Sky continued to be relatively cloud free as we made our way along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to our first stop at Hammond, Louisiana.

I remained in my room for most of the day and evening; stretched my legs at Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee – good weather in both places.

Dinner brought to me by the car attendant. (Attendant was rather unhappy that I wrote my order on a piece of paper – almost as if he was insulted. Guess what? He got the order wrong!)

Some very rough riding track to say the least. I could only imagine the “fun” people in the dining car were having as the rocking ‘n rolling along with all kinds of bumps and thumbs continued for hours. CN of course maintains the track for freights – to hell with Amtrak, or so it seems.

Did not notice any unusual freight activity with no delays because of it.

Bed @ 11 in an uncomfortable warm room.

  • Thursday, October 9th:

Awoke @ 5:45 AM after a restless night – in the dining car by 6:15. Shared a table with a most interesting traveler from the UK (Jeff from Southampton).

Some drizzle from the overcast sky pretty much all the way to Joliett, Illinois where some blue began to peek through.

Arrived in Chicago a tad earlier than scheduled with no help offered for luggage down the narrow stair well.

Consist of the northbound City of New Orleans - train #58:

(1) Amtrak locomotive AMD-103/P42 #58

(2) Superliner Transition car #39017 (one half used for crew sleeper, other half for passengers).

(3) Superliner Sleeping car #32-22 (my bedroom car, upper level “B”)

(4) Superliner Dining car #37010 (same car for my Mar 2010 trip)

(5) Superliner Lounge car #33003

(6) Superliner coach #31006 (lower: baggage/upper: coach)

(7) Superliner coach #34010

(8) Superliner coach #34086

On-time-performance: <unofficial as noted on my onboard chronometer>

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

Departed New Orleans, Louisiana 1:47 PM <sked: 1:45> late 2 mins

Hammond, LA 3:12 PM <2:45> late 27 mins

McComb, Mississippi 4:00 PM <3:32> late 28 mins

Brookhaven 4:28 PM <3:56> late 32 mins

Hazlehurst, MS 4:47 PM <4:17> late 30 mins

Jackson, MS ON TIME <5:44 . . . long station stop>

Yazoo City, MS ON TIME <6:42>

Greenwood, MS ON TIME <7:37>

Memphis, Tennessee ON TIME <10:40 . . . long station stop>

Thursday, October 9th

Newbern-Dyersburg, TN 12:30 AM <12:22> late 8mins

Fulton, Kentucky 1:10 AM <1:04> late 6 mins

Carbondale 3:20 AM <3:11> late 9 mins

DuQuoin, Illinois – listed on timetable/no stop

Centralia 4:12 AM <4:10> late 2 mins

Effingham, IL 5:00 AM <4:57> late 3 mins

Mattoon, IL 5:25 AM <5:23> late 2 mins

Champaign-Urbana, IL 6:25 AM <6:10> late 1 min

Rantoul – listed on timetable/no stop

Gilman – listed on timetable/no stop

Kankakee, IL 7:27 AM <7:13> late 14 mins

Homewood, IL 7:57 AM <7:44> late 13 mins

Arrived Chicago, IL 8:57 AM <9> early 3 mins

Proceeded to the Metropolitan Lounge to await my connection to the Texas Eagle – only 3 other passengers in it at that early hour. Amenities included sweet rolls and USA Today newspapers.

By 11 AM the lounge filled up with the noise level almost unbearable for anyone trying to read a book – moi!

Had to move to another location as a man next to me spoke so loudly while using his cell phone that it reminded me of the days when we kids used soup cans with string to make “telephones.” Unbelievable ignorant – then again, it is 2014. Guess what? In my new location sat a rather large Wagnarian-type woman who wanted to ensure that everyone within ear-shot had a chance to listen to her most enthralling accounting of her experiences. Unbelievable – moved again!

Check-in for sleeping cars aboard the Texas Eagle took place at 1 PM with station attendant “Tom” making the announcements. What a character this guy is – always enjoy the Lounge when he is on duty.

Boarded @ 1:20 – My car was 2nd from the locomotive – car 2120, lower level roomette 13. Car attendant very easy going and friendly. He provided Route Guides and station schedules. However, no coffee or ice was available.

Trip to St. Louis was interrupted by waits for freight trains along with having to add another locomotive just north of Springfield, Illinois. Fortunately, Amtrak had some locomotives in sidings given buses were being used between St. Louis and Springfield for the Lincoln Service trans due to the ongoing higher(er)-speed rail construction. Lost well over an hour due to all of this.

Had dinner in the dining car and shared a table with a gentleman “foamer” from Michigan along with two engaging ladies – one from Massachusetts and the other from Texas. We all seemed to get along quite well as our dining car attendant regaled us with lots of humor. Very enjoyable.

From Alton, Illinois to St. Louis one could have walked faster than the speed of the train. Somehow, someway if American railroading is ever going to get into the 21st century, these approaches must be upgraded to accommodate realistic speeds. We spend so much money on “upgrades” elsewhere along the line(s), but it is always a crawl to the major stations. Sad.

Arrived in St. Louis about an hour and one half later than scheduled. Seemed to take longer than normal for the train to pull into the platform. You would have thought an aircraft carrier was being moored!

Before departing the train, a rather rude young woman pushed ahead of me at the vestibule as we were waiting for our attendant to open the door. She positioned herself so that he could not swing the door back inside the train or move the trash bin. I said something to her – which of course “shocked” her beyond belief. Tough.

Weather in St. Louis was overcast – dry and on the warm side.

Consist of the southbound Texas Eagle – train #21:

(1) Amtrak locomotive AMD-103/P42 #21

(2) Superliner Transition car #39016 (one half used for crew sleeper, other half for passengers).

(3) Superliner Sleeping car #32000 (my bedroom car, lower level #13)

(4) Superliner Dining car #38046

(5) Superliner Lounge car #33004

(6) Superliner coach #31020 (lower: baggage/upper: coach)

(7) Superliner coach #34062

(8) Superliner coach #34071

(9) Superliner coach #35004

On-time-performance: <unofficial as noted on my onboard chronometer>

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

Departed Chicago, Illinois ON TIME <sked 1:45>

Joliet, IL 2:49 PM <2:40> late 9 mins

Pontiac, IL 4:02 PM <3:27> late 35 mins

Bloomington-Normal, IL 4:34 PM <4:04> late 30 mins

Lincoln 5:11 PM <4:37> late 34 mins

Springfield, IL 6:35 PM <5:14>

Carlinville, IL 7:30 PM <5:49> late 1 hr 41 mins

Alton, IL 8:05 PM <6:22> late 1 hr 43 mins

Arrived St. Louis, Missouri 8:55 PM <7:21> late 1 hr 34 mins

Home by 9:45 PM

END of Report

Foto: #1 - Lake Pontchartrain on approach to New Orleans - rail track closest to shore

#2 - Low flying WWII aircraft at museum - C47, military version of the DC3

#3 - "Higgins boat" - LCVP - familiar landing craft many of which were manned by the USCG

#4 - Sherman tank

#5 - B17 Flying Fortress "My Gal Sal"

#6 - Loyola "loop" trolley

#7 - New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal

#8 - City of New Orleans at boarding time

#9 - Crossing Lake Pontchartrain

#10 - Where the denizens of the not-so-deep live

More fotos to appear on my web site . . . .

IMG_0008.JPG

IMG_0019.JPG

IMG_0021.JPG

IMG_0032.JPG

IMG_0048.JPG

IMG_0096.JPG

IMG_0100.JPG

IMG_0125.JPG

IMG_0155.JPG

IMG_0163.JPG
 
A big "Boo..." to the disappearing attendant. Manners are often missing in public these days.... sorry you had to encounter some rough territory .... but glad the new hip is working out. Glad your Cards are making it interesting for my Giants.... whoever emerges is going to have their hands full with those KC guys and need to be battle hardened! They are on a tear!
 
I truly believe we need to bring back phone booths. No phone, just a booth for people to go talk so the rest of us don't have to listen.

Great trip report that I'm looking forward to taking in March.
 
For - bobnjulie: A close friend of mine once told me that in order to avoid disappointment - lower your expectations. At first that sounded odd - then again, it does make sense. The unintended consequences of today's technology simply adds more and more to rude behavior and inconsideration of others. So be it - happened again on my most recent trip from St. Louis to Chicago to Sacramento while waiting in Chicago's Metro Lounge. Oh well . . .

I watched games #6 and 7 in my Old Sacramento hotel - walking distance from the CSRM. Anyway, good for the Giants and their fans!

Thanx for commenting!

For - MnMotherMary: Odd thing is that Chicago's Metro Lounge does have those booths - perhaps not enough but even more important total ignorance on the part of phone users to their presence. Watchagonnado, eh?

Thanx for your comments and enjoy your upcoming trip. I'll being doing it again perhaps in April, just luv that route.

For - Olympian-Hiawatha: Hope you get the opportunity to visit that fine museum - really impressive and most meaningful to those still around to recall WWII.

Thanx for your comments!

For - Dan O: The museum is so impressive with more to come that I just have to ensure another trip late in 2015. Worth it.

Thanx for your comments!
 
Back
Top