We Are Back - 7 Nights, Six Days, 5 Trains

[spot1181]

Just back from our marathon (6000+miles) jaunt around the country from Cincinnati and back yia The Cardinal, California Zepher, Coast Starlight, a bus, The Empire Builder and The Cardinal. Highlights include: all seven nights on board, good food (although the same menu on all trains), great scenery, good attendents (one excellent), not so great servers on one route, congenial fellow travelers, good weather including ten below zero, one eagle, one arrest, one derailment, one bus ride, one tray of drinks out of control and one ill-placed fart. I still have a case of train lag, the bathroom sways when standing and the bed rocks, Awesome trip, we're planning for next year. A trip report will follow; as soon as I master this hunt and peck tecnique. I gotta get my groundlegs back.

 

[Diane]

WOW! Sounds like an incredible trip. I can't wait to read your trip report.

 

[AlanB]

Agreed, it sounds like you had a nice trip. Looking forward to the report, once you find your legs again. :lol:

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Funny thing you mention train lag...I had not heard of that in years. But I did experience it myself, on my first really long trip. It was a trip from Chattanooga, TN to Dallas, TX, about a 24 hour trip(with four hours for a change of trains, way back pre-Amtrak--I was in junior high, what they call middle-school today)

I remember the whole world was rocking and rolling and unreal to me for about a day after getting off the train....buildings were swaying, beds were rocking, etc, just as you describe. I don't thnk it ever happend to me since, except maybe once., a year or two later when I went Dallas to Chattanooga with a day in St. Louis in between, two nights on the train all of it coach. ...

I can only imagine what you must have gone through as your trip was much longer than those two of mine years ago.

These two early trips I just described were all in coach, probably got about 3 hrs sleep each night..

 

[spot1181]

We were in coach on The Cardinal, family sleeper on the CZ and EB, and standard on the CS, no hotels. This was the only itinerary we found where we could spend all seven nights on the train witn no layover. Are there any other trains where this is possible for one week? When both sections of the EB were connrected in Spokane, the power was off and the silence was deafening. After a night's sleep we seem to have almost regained our landlegs.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan]

When both sections of the EB were connrected in Spokane, the power was off and the silence was deafening.

That's a weird experience, isn't it. You get lulled to sleep by the sounds and motion of the train as it travels through eastern Washington, only to wake up to the complete lack of sound. No air through the vents, no track noise, nothing. One would think that it would be easier to sleep when the train is that quiet, but once I wake up, I find it hard to sleep until the consist is put together and the head end power is restored.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

EmpireBuilderFan, I bet a lot of non-railroaders do continue to sleep through such as that. It could be that, because we are fans, and know what is supposed to be going on outside our window, we lay wake waiiting for it to happen, waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak. "Normal" people probably give it no thought.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan]

EmpireBuilderFan, I bet a lot of non-railroaders do continue to sleep through such as that. It could be that, because we are fans, and know what is supposed to be going on outside our window, we lay wake waiiting for it to happen, waiting for the other shoe to drop so  to speak. "Normal" people probably give it no thought.

Bill, that's probably a big part of it. I've been through Spokane enough times that I could probably describe in good detail the steps of the separation or connection of the two sections. I've talked with people who did wake up during the time the power was off, and they got a little worried about the lack of power, but lost all concern after the power was restored. However, most people's response heading eastbound is "What? The train grew during the night? When did we pick up the diner/lounge?" or westbound is "What happened to the diner/lounge? It was there when I went to bed?" :lol: