Hello Gang,
Well after trying to put together thoughts and experiences from our May-June trip out West, here is our trip report.
Wife and I left our home for Cleveland at around 12:30am noting that the LSL was running nearly on time out of Buffalo (via Julie) and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to check baggage and get settled at the station. The ride is about an hour and half from our home.
Arrived at CLE around 1:45 and the station was full of people. But both ends of the Capitol Limited were running late and so we all sat waiting, staring at the clock and trying to catch a nap.
Our LSL was still on time but the agent said they would be holding it somewhere on the east side of town until the Capitol from PGH and the eastbound from TOL were brought in.
Finally at around 4:15 we were called for boarding and off we go. The LSL coaches were nearly full and some slumbering passengers taking up two seats were awakened and asked to move. Wife and I got a seat together on north side of train and watched as we crossed the Cuyahoga and headed south and west toward Elyria. Arrived in Toledo just about dawn, picking up a few passengers and after a quick change of crews, we were off across the flatlands of northwest Ohio.
The stops in Bryan and Waterloo had some Amish travelers boarding the train as is usually the case. The morning passed as we crossed Indiana, lots of freight traffic but the NS dispatcher was kinder than usual (see end of the trip for comments on NS).
The conductor noted we should arrive on time into Chicago but after a couple of stop near South Bend and Elkhart we eventually arrived in Chicago down 40 minutes.
The underground terminal is loud, chaotic with passengers and Red Caps/wagons rushing up the platforms through the diesel fumes. (I really like this, wife is not impressed). We arrive at the Metro Lounge, check baggage, get boarding passes for SWC, grab a complementary beverage and now ready for highlight of Chicago--Giordano's Pizza.
It was a busy Saturday Memorial Day weekend and everyone getting ready for the grand parade. We get to Giordano's at around 10:45 and they give us a seat although they are just opening. The place was full within about 15-20 minutes later. The "small" pizza was huge and we could hardly eat it all. Fantastic Pizza.
We left the restaurant and headed for the parade just a few blocks up the street. Lots of military units, ROTC high school groups, veterans associations. Supposed to be the largest Memorial Day Parade in US and I can believe it. After an hour or so we decided to walk back to the station. Sat along the river and watched numerous boats on the sunny afternoon.
Headed back to Metro Lounge and call comes for sleeper passengers to board at 2:45PM. We follow the agent down the platform and meet our car attendant NINA who is a friendly lady, short in stature, but long in personality. We head up the stairs to Room 4 in Car 0430 and settle in to our cubbyhole. As has been discussed, the intial shock of how small the roomettes are has now worn off after several trips and we really like the comfort and view from the large windows. At 6"6" I am creative in leg placement with the wife and we enjoy the room.
We head out of town, past the suburbs of Chicago and into the fields of western Illinois. Galesburg is always a treat to stop and the long winding track that eventually crosses over the CZ track and southwest toward the Mississippi River.
Nina welcomed us to the train and later Faye came along to take our dinner reservations at 7PM. Wanted to eat later cause that pizza was still in our thoughts and stomachs.
An announcement by Charlie, the lounge car attendant noted plenty of drinks and food available there.
As we are sitting in the room I notice that my RR hat with Amtrak pins is missing. Must be getting old as it took that long to notice. Could not remember if I left it in the station or at Giordano's but after some self criticism and moodiness, decided it was probably gone and GET OVER IT!.
We have supper with Greg, who is a passenger is our 0430 car. He is a computer security expert and really into Green environmental issues. He is meeting his wife in Colorado. (She is flying-doesnt like the train) and they will get together for a trip to Durango and Mesa Verde.
We are now crossing the Mississippi at Ft Madison as we dine and heading across Missouri toward Kansas City.
We return to our room and Nina is offering to make up the beds. We decide to stay awake until we get to Kansas City and then hit the hay. Nina has worked for Amtrak for 20+ years and seems to enjoy her job.
We sleep pretty well and are a bit surprised to find that we are still in central Kansas when we awake. Greg tells us that the train was stopped outside KC because of tornados and that he had seen dead cattle, down trees and buildings as the train moved earlier in the morning. We later learned that a couple in a car had been killed and that millions in damages were reported in Iowa and Kansas. Glad we missed that. We were now running 2 hours behind and about to approach Dodge City.
We get our showers and hop off the train in Dodge City, take some photos and enjoy some fresh air. Temps were in the 60s and breezy. After reboarding we headed for the diner and breakfast.
Our waiter is Ignacio and he brings me the RR French toast and wife has the omelet and sausage. Our breakfast companions are a nice couple from Kansas who boarded at Garden City earlier in the morning. He is in the oil business and they are headed to LA and then riding to Vancouver where they will take an Alaska cruise. We enjoy the conversation about gasoline prices and John McCain's health as we watch fields of wheat, cows and wind blown trees.
After breakfast we head to the lounge car to enjoy the scenery as we pass into Colorado. There are very few people in the car and it is a pleasant morning ride until a gentleman with a grand religious fervor starting ranting about the aliens who were in America (not Hispanics, but outer space aliens ). His rantings drive a few people away but we tough it out and he finally leaves after about an hour.
Beautful scenery across this part of Colorado as we seen the snow covered peaks come into view of the Rockies. We arrive at La Junta around 10am and take a short trip outside to take some photos. When we return to the lounge car, we hook up with the couple we ate breakfast with and enjoy the conversation about Fort Bent, Kit Carson, European tours on trains and Australia. They have lived a full life and wife and I hope to do that kind of traveling now that we are nearly retired.
We arrive in Trinidad at 11:30 and its time for lunch. Wife had the Angus Burger and I go with the Turkey over biscuits and salad. Both were very good.
Return to the room after lunch to watch the ride through Raton Pass. Conductor says to watch for wildlife but we only see a few mountain goats, hawks and lots of cows. It is a restful ride throught northern New Mexico.
We arrive in Lamy at about 4PM. Several people get off for their connection to Santa Fe, The Atlantic Coastline Coach at the depot is interesting. We are still running about two hours behind but conductor says they will make up some of it with a briefer stop in ABQ. We do make up some time and are only an hour late into ABQ at 5PM. Wife wants to find the Indian vendors to pick up some more jewerly as we did last winter trip. We stand on the platform but Nina says stay close to the train because we are fueling quickly and going to leave. Sure enough at 5:30 the call came to board and we were off again. Glad we had time last January to see the new station refurbishments.
It is now time for supper and our companions are Jim and Aleen from Australia. They have traveled for two months in the US having been to Florida, Tennessee and much of the midwest. They are now returning to California where they will spend a couple days in San Francisco before boarding plane back home. A fascinating couple and this is why we enjoy the diner experience. Meet so many people whose lives are different from our own. We both had the Flat Iron Steaks which were excellent.
As we move across the sunset skies of western New Mexico and Arizona, we think what a beautiful and diverse country we have. Certainly different from Ohio
Nina has the beds ready and we sit up until we reach Winslow and then off to sleep.
Well, at least that was the plan. A somewhat rowdy group of people who boarded at ABQ were traveling to Williams for a Grand Canyon tour and they made plenty of noise in the middle of the night getting off the train. Also the track was a bit rough and we tumbled around a bit as well.
We moved into California overnight and now were approaching San Bernardino as we awoke, showered and got ready for a quick breakfast. Nina told us the diner would be serving an abbreviated menu so they could get ready to clean up the train before LAX. We pass many commuter trains sitting on the sidings as this was Memorial Day and didnt need all those Metra trains today. We made up a little time overnight and are anticipating arriving in Fullerton only an hour late. Our Surfliner tickets are unreserved, but business class seats. Nina said there shouldnt be that much traffic today and we could catch any train that arrived at Fullerton. We eat our French toast and scramble back to the car to get ready to deboard. We arrive in Fullerton at 7:30 and just miss the 7:40 Surfliner. Decide not to run to catch it since we would have to go over the elevated walkway and down in 5 minutes.
The station is being refurbished with lots of construction so we walk to the other side and sit in the sun on a rather nippy morning. Found a man to identify the purple trees that were everywhere along the tracks. Jacaranda trees---dont think those will grow in Ohio but they are very nice.
Our 9am Surfliner arrives and we hurried to the Business car only to find one family and two other passengers on board. Almost a private car for the trip to San Diego. Unfortunately, there was little service on the car. No snacks or refreshments were offered and the attendant after taking our tickets disappeared. We later learned that some snacks and drinks were at the end of the car for SELF SERVICE- I guess the guy got stuck working the holiday and decided to show his disgust. Anyway it was a very nice ride after we left the commerical suburbs and past Anaheim.
Lots of people at the beaches, surfers in the water and many picnics. Learned later that San Diego Co has prohibited alcohol at the beaches-- Ill bet that was a difficult one to enforce. Climbed the mountain north of San Diego and dropped down into town past Old Town and to the nice Santa Fe Station in downtown.
Waited for our checked baggage but it wasnt on our train. A bit panicked we asked the baggage man about it and he explained that our bags from Cleveland would have gone on to LAX and then transferred to the next Surfliner. He assured us that they would be coming. We decided to walk up to our hotel, drop our duffle bags and return later after lunch downtown. We stayed at the Best Western Bayfront Inn. It seemed like an older place but had recently been updated and they gave us a room on the top floor overlooking the city. Very nice balcony and room was very nice. Thanks to Amtrak Discussion members for the advice on accomodations.
We returned to the station after an abbreviated lunch at a former YMCA/Army/Navy restaurant-deli near the station. The place was closing at 1PM for the holiday so we had to woof down our sandwiches. No one came to take our money so we left if on the table san tip- no service- and were off to the station. Happily our bags were all there and we thanked the baggage man for his assistance.
I will briefly describe our time in San Diego by saying that we enjoyed Old Town, Balboa Park,Model RR Museum, the Gaslight District, riding all the trolleys and buses around town. (Except for our fearful trip on the Orange Line at night-one full of gangbangers and hoods--and fortunately 3 Metro policemen who stood beside us on our terror trip back downtown) We violated our own rule about riding at night in unknown neighborhoods. Lesson learned--
We love San Diego and are planning a longer visit next May to see more museums, the dock area and the islands and the Zoo.
We left San Diego on Sufliner #763 which left at 6:10am. The hotel had a shuttle that would take you to the Amtrak station but not that early in the morning so we decided to walk. It was light and only met a few homeless people sleeping in doorways along the way. Something we small town inhabitants have gotten used to since traveling to California.
We decide to ride coach back to LAX to catch our Coast Starlight train at 10:15am. The fog has lifted somewhat and we get another view of the ocean and the beach towns as we travel north. We decided not to check our bags this time and had a hard time getting them up the narrow staircase on the Surfliners. We arrived in LAX on time and walked down the long tunnel to the station in order to get in another line for sleeper passengers waiting to board the CSL. We meet an interesting couple who now live in Southern California but once lived in Ohio and Kentucky. He is a dragster driver and travels around the country in FunnyCars races. They are heading for Eugene, OR to a graduation event. I run outside the depot to take some photos of the flowers and area in front. I expected the LAX to be larger like Chicago. Also did not find any lounge to rest in there. Surprising for such a large city.
Anyway, we board our car #5 in Car 1430 and meet our attendant Roger. He is a very business like person, not very friendly. Didnt ask us if we had ever ridden Amtrak (most do) and eventually brought around a sparkling cider and that was the last we saw of him for several hours. Not sure if he didnt feel well, or was unhappy about something, but not a real showpiece of advertising for Amtrak. He was very efficient about keeping coffee, drinks, towels and bathrooms spotless, so we decided he was doing his job and let it go.
Our conductor Bobbie made some announcements about smoking (you will be tossed off this train if we catch you ). Saw lots of interesting graffiti as we left the city, Metrolink shops and lots of flowers and trees, many people get on the train as we move north. We had lunch as we passed throgh Santa Barbara with Dwight and Leona. They live in Laguna Beach and have homes in New Hamshire and Florida. They just LOVE the Reagans and have visited their library and estate many times. (We will pass on that one!). Lunch was turkey and biscuits and salad while wife had the Angus Burger. Both are very good but we are noticing that the menus are all the same now and that turkey and burger combos are getting a bit old. Our dining car crew were supurb, very funny and efficient. An enjoyable experience with them on every meal. Crew #7 they told us to call Amtrak and tell them
We are sitting in the lounge car ---yes, we had no Pacific Parlour Car on this train-just missed the startup date for that.--but they did put on another lounge car only for sleeper passengers, had a wine and cheese party twice on the trip --they now charge $5 each for that. But it was a nice ride there as not many people in the car and the company was great. Several old railroaders talking about their days on the UP and all the news about the slide in Oregon.
We passed lots of oil fields, desert like areas, ocean views, farms and farms of vegetables, missile launching silos. We even got Roger to pose for a photo at San Luis Obispo.
The wine and cheese tasting was excellent with some very good wines and pleasant company. Two college age girls, one from England who was traveling around world by herself (Australia, Near East, US and home) and the other a student at U of Cal at Long Beach, sat with us and we discussed their lives and ours. Hope we didnt bore them too much. :blink:
A pleasing trip through the hills around Paso Robles as we get closer to larger cities around San Jose. We have dinner with Carol and Eddie from Fullerton. They are going to a meeting in Seattle. She was a teacher (as was I) and their son was a teacher as well. Good conversation about the state of education in America. They love to ride trains all over California. So do we~~~
A beautiful sunset as we pass into San Jose. Yes we now "know the way to San Jose"
We stay up until we reach Oakland and then Roger puts the beds down and we doze off with great memories of the day.
We slept well last night and are now in northern California. It is foggy and misting a little. Get the showers and head for breakfast. Our companions this morning are an older man heading to Washington state to visit his grandkids and adult son near Puget Sound. The other member of our troupe is a former airline flight attendant who loves to travel by train. She has gone from Denver on a bus to Raton, then SW Chief to LA and is now heading for Seattle.
Wife has the scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and croissant. I am back to French toast and OJ. Both are well prepared and yes, those dining car people are a riot, even this early in the morning.
After breakfast we head to the lounge car and enjoy some classical music and later jazz on a CD player in the car. We pass through some long valleys as we near Klamath Falls, OR.
I get off in Klamath Falls to take some pictures in the rain. Lots of people getting off to take the Amtrak Bus to Pasco, WA to meet the Empire Builder. That might be a nice trip but too long a bus ride for me. Would rather stay over a night in Portland and then ride the EB the next day.
As we climb into the Cascades, there is snow on the ground and it looks like winter back home, sans the mountains . We arrive at the sight of the Great Slide where there are still many UP workers and equipment finishing off the work there. Although it was pretty foggy we could see the enormity of the this project. It is amazing what they were able to do.
We pass into the Willamett Valley and it is time for lunch. Our server is Michelle and we complement the staff for making our dining experience a memorable one. "Remember, WE ARE CREW 7"
Our dining mate is an 82 year old woman from Toronto who has been traveling down to Sacramento to visit her daughter and family. She will meet her husband in Vancouver for their VIA Rail trip back home. But they will stop in Winnepeg and visit more relatives before returning home. She is an interesting lady who also has seen the world and says when her husband doesnt want to go she takes off without him. I have that turkey again and wife has the tuna sandwich. Still good!!
We pass through Eugene and Salem and are getting closer to our next destination in Portland. An announcement from the conductor notes that someone was using "controlled substances" in the restrooms and that the DEA in Portland and their "friendly dogs" would meet us there to check it out. I bet that person was shaking in their shoes all the way to PDX.
We arrive in Portland a little early at 3:30PM, give Roger his tip- yes he deserved it for his work on board. We even got him to smile when we left the train@@
Headed for the lounge to organize while I got on the Yellow Phone, called Hertz and they picked us up for a ride to their office and our rental car. Portland was in middle of Rose Festival and everything very busy downtown. Our Hundai Sonato was a nice little car and even had decent headroom for me.
We stayed at our Comfort Inn out in Gresham where we stayed last year. Great and helpful staff, good breakfast and convenient to Interstate 84 to get around.
I will again not go into detail about our four days in Portland but we did spend a day roaming around the Columbia River gorge, the many waterfalls and hiking, Mt Hood and Timberline Lodge. Another day riding the Maxline trains and Portland trolley, a day downtown for the festival, a trip to Powell's Books, wow what a bookstore!!, a ride up the incline and back and exploring the arts and crafts festivities. Another day to Mt. St. Helens and then it was time to leave for Seattle.
We are up at 4:30am in anticipation of riding the Cascades Train #500. We eat breakfast, pack and head downtown to drop off our car at Hertz. Lots of one way streets in Portland but we found the place, they took us to the depot and we waited for our train. The Talgo train cars are very nice with GPS on the monitor, a movie and voucher for a little snack along the way. Nice scenery in southern Washington, Big Bridge in Tacoma on a nice sunny day. Lots of private railroad companies operating along the waterfronts. We are in great anticipation of arriving in Seattle as we are going to meet my old college roommate and usher at our wedding who we had not seen for 30 years. He has lived in Seattle all that time and loves it.
We arrive at King St Station just fifteen minutes late and I am happy to see my old buddie waving at us in the station with his Ohio State sweatshirt and the same hair length we had back in the early 70s. At least we still have our hair
We had an enjoyable four hours with him and his wife, a nice dinner at a seafood place below their house on the Sound. a grand quick tour of the city. We want to go back and spend a week someday.
Our Empire Builder #8 was having some mechanical problems and we waited about twenty minutes later to board Car 0830 and Room #5. Our train was a long one since they were pulling an extra dining car and a sleeping car back to Chicago (Indianapolis?) for repairs.
Our car attendant is Tom, who turned out to be the best one we have had. A very friendly guy, very professional who spend lots of time with us taking about the future of Amtrak (or Not) and his life on the sleeping car.
We head up the Puget Sound to Edmonds and Everett, WA and then start east. Since our section of the EB does not have a lounge car we stay in our room and enjoy the scenery out the window. We have supper with John, a forest ranger who is working at Peace Park near the Canadian border. He tells of his background working at many parks across the country. His daughter may be attending Oberlin College near our home in OH on a music scholarship. He had never been there so we told him all about its excellent programs and its history during the Abolitionist period.
Our other diner mate was an older man who was a former engineer (not railroad) who traveled around the world. His stories were interesting but he tended to want to dominate the conversation and wouldnt let John get a word in edgewise. We would have enjoyed hearing more from John.
The steaks were excellent and the dining crew very competent and friendly.
We decided to head back to the room as it was getting dark as we came close to Wenatchee. Tom put our beds down and off to slumberland we went.
We awoke in western Montana and scurried to get a shower and get breakfast near Libby, MT. We are running about an hour late now. Breakfast was a very good omelet and bacon for me and scrambled eggs and bacon for the wife. Our companions this morning were Pat and Bill from Edmonds, WA. They are Seattle Mariners fans (which is about as difficult as us being Reds fans right now) and they are headed for Boston to see a game at Fenway Park. An enjoyable conversation about baseball, trains and living in the NW.
We now have our lounge car back after the connection to the Portland section overnight in Spokane. We head for that car to see Glacier National Park. It is a misty morning and a little foggy but still a nice view. When we get to Whitefish, we detrain and get some exercise. Lots of Great Northern RR equipment to photograph. Old GN Bus, Switcher engines and of course the Mountain Goat statue. A nice station that looks like it belongs in Switzerland. Tom and the sleeper crew are enjoying a banana as we wait for the train to be readied. Lots of people getting on including a school group of kids from a Christian School nearby.
We board the lounge car and get ready for the trip through the park. Still lots of snow on the glaciers as we try to take some photos through the misty windows. Two of the fourth grade girls from the school group sit with my wife and I at the table and we enjoy their conversations and help them complete their assignments of recording what they saw on the train. A fun ride with them through the park. We arrive at Essex and the train must spot twice because of our long consist. A few people get off and on and down the track we go.
We arrive at East Glacier where we say goodbye to the kids who have their schoolbus waiting for them to take them back to Kalispell. Now a new group of kids are boarding. Much smaller, kindergarten age. all Indian kids from the nearby Browning reservation of Blackfoot tribe. The train does not stop at Browning in the summer so they are boarding here for a short field trip across part of Montana. I suspect that Amtrak must give the schools a good group rate to ride. The little kids are a bit more rambuctious than we can handle and we decide to abandon the lounge car for now and go back to our room.
We stop in Shelby, MT where we take some shots of the depot, Tom and others boarding the train. Tom and his partner in the other sleeping car are in charge of the third sleeper on the train as well and it keeps them busy. Amtrak staffing leads a lot to be desired. Anything to save money. We appreciated the two guys work as they took care of three cars.
It is now almost lunch time and we want to eat before we get to Havre (more photo opportunities) so we head to the diner. We have lunch with an interesting Russian man who was in Seattle for a computer conference. He spoke very little English (and of course our Russian was non existant) but we managed to explain about our life in the US and he talked a little about Russia and his work in Chicago, where he was now headed. We all had the Angus Burgers and the chocolate tort (very rich).
At Havre we get shots of the GN steam engine and the depot. We are only now about 15 minutes behind schedule as BNSF is doing a great job of letting us pass their growing number of freight trains. Is anyone at UP or NS listening here???
We headed for the wine and cheese party in the afternoon. Another great selection although not quite as good as the California wines we had on the Coast Starlight. Our seat mates are Joe and Kathy who travel alot to the Northwest. He is a CPA and very friendly guy. She is a bit "stuckup" as we say back home. Wanted to impress us with her private school education and her disdain for public schools. When I told her I was a former high school teacher and principal it took her aback and most conversation stopped. We won a bottle of wine but since we are much of a drinking crew we gave ours to an Australian couple as a gesture of good will between nations. GDay Mates!!
We headed back to our room for some rest and more photos. I took some good shots on our trip on the EB last year so was sparing in camera work this time. We nodded off to sleep as the Montana countryside went swiftly by. This is life.
Woke up in time for our 7PM supper. We were just passing into North Dakota and a brief stop in Williston before dinner. We have an enjoyable conversation with Guy and Dot from Fairbanks, Alaska. over our flat iron steaks. They once lived in Seattle but moved to Alaska some 20 years ago and love it there. Good discussions of life in the cold, dark, light, terrain and oil reserves. They were heading to Lancaster, PA to visit their son and family via CL and Pennsylvanian. The weather is turning nasty looking and we related our tornado experiences in Ohio. I think that may have scared them a little so we ended that. The sky got black and the lightning came but not bad storms. That was good! One tornado per Amtrak vacation is enough. We each finished off the evening with some Hagan Das ice cream and didnt realize that it was after 9 PM. The dining car crew blinked the lights at us and we apologized for not leaving sooner. They were nice and laughed at us and said we could stay if we did the dishes
It started to rain hard and we each headed back to our rooms, listened to some radio and then off to bed. What another great day on the train!!
We had a very rough ride across N.Dakota and Minnesota overnight and hardly slept. Very rough track- or maybe it was the chocolate ice cream late at night?? Anyway, we got up at 5:30, showered and headed for the diner for breakfast. We were nearing Minneapolis and I wanted to take some pictures in ST Paul. We were now 45 minutes behind but the conductor said we have some padding that will help get us back closer to time. We have breakfast of French toast. No one else in the dining car so a leisurely meal without any guests. We head down the stairs of our car as the train comes into St Paul. Lots of private cars, an old Milwaukee Road domecar and observation car on the siding as well. A switcher attaches an extra coach to the back of our train which I heard was standard procedure between STP and CHI. We are talking to a couple we met in the lounge car yesterday when the two whistles blow and we go running to get on the train. (We are getting too old for this . Make it back as Tom is waving for us to climb aboard.
We head out of town across the Mississippi River and down the west side of the river on CP tracks. Lots of red locos along the way as we pass Red Wing (do they have a size 15 for me) and Winona. Our view of the river is sometimes blocked by the growing trees but there is very little traffic on the river which is a bit of a disappointment. Some Amish folks get off the train in Winona and a few people get on. Some large dams and locks as we head for La Cross, Wisconsin across the river.
We have lunch as we pass through Wisconsin Dells (later to be flooded by the rains to come in a few weeks). Our companions are a woman and her teenage grandson who have been visiting her son in North Dakota. This is their first time in a sleeper and they liked it despite the rough ride last night.
We have the turkey and biscuits again which is good but wish they would extend the menu a little. Yes, there were other choices but having tried some of them, we settled that the Angus Burgers and turkey and biscuits are consistently good. No more pizza. Chef salad was ok but not into rabbit food that much.
We get to extend our knowlege to our dining mates about tipping, procedures on the train, etc. (learned from the extensive advice from all of you on the discussion line). They were rookies and appreciated the information.
We are back in our room and take a short nap before arriving in Milwaukee. It will be a long day as we will board the CL in Chicago for a 2:30am arrival in Cleveland. We see lots of wild turkeys in Wisconsin fields, no hunters.
We arrive in Milwaukee. Changing conductors and crew here and word is to stay close to the train because it will be a very brief stop. New crew wants to get into Chicago on time. Tom puts the step stool down and glad we didnt get too far away because in just a few minutes the whistle blew and we are scurrying back to the car. The smokers barely had time to take two puffs ---too bad
Tom and his fellow car attendants were not informed by the conductor that we were ready to go and he was a bit miffed. Had a few choice words for the new crew.
Well, we were now only 15 minutes down when we barely pulled out of the station and had to stop for the drawbridge over the Wisconsin River. We sat for 15 minutes while the bridge was raised and lowered. Bet that conductor was swearing all the way to Chicago.
Now 35 minutes down and we are trucking on. I try to gauge the mileposts against my watch and I believe we were running full throttle at 80 MPH (well really 79 mph).
We head back to our room to prepare for Chicago. We are making good time but have to slow for some Metra trains and arrive at CUS down 30 minutes. We grab our duffles, say goodbye to Tom with a generous tip and off to the Lounge we go. Our CL train is to leave at 7PM but the clerk in the lounge said we will board at 6 if we want to have dinner. We got a 6:30 reservation, checked our bags and headed out the door. I still wanted to see if anyone found my RR hat that I lost two weeks ago. Very low expectatons. I checked with Amtrak Personal Services and since it was nearly 5PM she said they would be able to check today but would call me if they found it. Then decided to head back to Giordanos on a hope that maybe it was there.
I was directed to the rear of the restaurant where a smiling staff told me that my hat was in their lost and found drawer. They thought it was probably a train buff and that I might return to get it someday. I was very HAPPY, thanked them generously and said I would spread the word about their PIZZA and GREAT SERVICE. So there I have done it.
Dancing all the way back to CUS we went back to the lounge and were called to board the CL at 6:15PM. We were again in Room #5 in Car 3000 next to the diner. Our car attendant was Daryl, a very nice guy who was friendly and efficient.
We have dinner with Les and Nancy from Rochester, MN. He had many health problems which Nancy was very clear in pointing out. I think Les would have been better off talking about trains with us.
We had a good steak, while wife had salmon and rice. Salmon very good, rice not so good. Dining crew was very confused as to what they were doing, which was quite a change from our other dining crews on all the other trains. After serving the food we never saw our server at the table again. Didnt check to see if everything was o.k. Did not clear the table. Never asked if we wanted dessert. Nothing. I found this difficult to understand since this crew just got on the train and should have been well rested and ready for the long trip to Washington DC. Anyway after waiting an hour for him to return we just all got up and left. Sans Tip. Alway feel guilty when the few occasions when I dont leave a tip but this was ridiculous.
Back to our room. Talked with Daryl a little about our Amtrak adventures. Very nice guy. He made up our beds for our short night (we thought) into Cleveland. Well, we barely started moving across the Indiana border when the train came to a stop. The conductor announced that the NS dispatcher was allowing two westbound freights to pass and then we would be on our way. After an hour we had not moved so we decided to catch up on our missing sleep. Daryl said he would be staying up and would make sure we would be notified at Elyria to get up and get ready.
We were sleeping comfortably when I awoke at about 2:30, which was the time we were supposed to be in Cleveland. I looked outside and we were just outside of Elkhart, IN. What happened? Daryl said we had been sitting for three hours outside of South Bend while the NS let a bunch of freights pass us East and West. I think every train from Bellevue to Chicago passed us.~.
Anyway, I went back to sleep and we eventually arrived in Cleveland at 5:20am. Not a real big deal for us since we got some needed sleep before our 1.5 hour trip home from Cleveland. But I believe all those people heading for PGH and WAS couldnt be too happy. We later learned they held the Pennsylvanian until the CL arrived so our friends heading to Lancaster made their connection.
Said a goodbye to Daryl and found our car sitting in the parking lot unharmed. It is nice to have the Cleveland station with a fenced and locked parking area (FREE) while we are gone.
Arrived home around 7 am and met our lonely cat with purrs and headbutts.
Overall it was a great trip. Our crews were all pretty good. the food was good but need an expanded menu on different trains, scenery was fantastic--Chicago, San Diego-- Portland are nice cities to explore with good public transportation. Something we need in Ohio.
Slept well some nights, not so good in others. About two or three days on the train is enough without a break in a hotel somewhere.
Already making reservations for another trip to San Diego next summer and maybe a longer stay in Seattle. Yosemite and San Francisco are also on the agenda. And both trips should be covered with Amtrak Rewards points. Hope you all enjoyed the ride with us.
Adios. Railroad and Mrs. Bill
Well after trying to put together thoughts and experiences from our May-June trip out West, here is our trip report.
Wife and I left our home for Cleveland at around 12:30am noting that the LSL was running nearly on time out of Buffalo (via Julie) and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to check baggage and get settled at the station. The ride is about an hour and half from our home.
Arrived at CLE around 1:45 and the station was full of people. But both ends of the Capitol Limited were running late and so we all sat waiting, staring at the clock and trying to catch a nap.
Our LSL was still on time but the agent said they would be holding it somewhere on the east side of town until the Capitol from PGH and the eastbound from TOL were brought in.
Finally at around 4:15 we were called for boarding and off we go. The LSL coaches were nearly full and some slumbering passengers taking up two seats were awakened and asked to move. Wife and I got a seat together on north side of train and watched as we crossed the Cuyahoga and headed south and west toward Elyria. Arrived in Toledo just about dawn, picking up a few passengers and after a quick change of crews, we were off across the flatlands of northwest Ohio.
The stops in Bryan and Waterloo had some Amish travelers boarding the train as is usually the case. The morning passed as we crossed Indiana, lots of freight traffic but the NS dispatcher was kinder than usual (see end of the trip for comments on NS).
The conductor noted we should arrive on time into Chicago but after a couple of stop near South Bend and Elkhart we eventually arrived in Chicago down 40 minutes.
The underground terminal is loud, chaotic with passengers and Red Caps/wagons rushing up the platforms through the diesel fumes. (I really like this, wife is not impressed). We arrive at the Metro Lounge, check baggage, get boarding passes for SWC, grab a complementary beverage and now ready for highlight of Chicago--Giordano's Pizza.
It was a busy Saturday Memorial Day weekend and everyone getting ready for the grand parade. We get to Giordano's at around 10:45 and they give us a seat although they are just opening. The place was full within about 15-20 minutes later. The "small" pizza was huge and we could hardly eat it all. Fantastic Pizza.
We left the restaurant and headed for the parade just a few blocks up the street. Lots of military units, ROTC high school groups, veterans associations. Supposed to be the largest Memorial Day Parade in US and I can believe it. After an hour or so we decided to walk back to the station. Sat along the river and watched numerous boats on the sunny afternoon.
Headed back to Metro Lounge and call comes for sleeper passengers to board at 2:45PM. We follow the agent down the platform and meet our car attendant NINA who is a friendly lady, short in stature, but long in personality. We head up the stairs to Room 4 in Car 0430 and settle in to our cubbyhole. As has been discussed, the intial shock of how small the roomettes are has now worn off after several trips and we really like the comfort and view from the large windows. At 6"6" I am creative in leg placement with the wife and we enjoy the room.
We head out of town, past the suburbs of Chicago and into the fields of western Illinois. Galesburg is always a treat to stop and the long winding track that eventually crosses over the CZ track and southwest toward the Mississippi River.
Nina welcomed us to the train and later Faye came along to take our dinner reservations at 7PM. Wanted to eat later cause that pizza was still in our thoughts and stomachs.
An announcement by Charlie, the lounge car attendant noted plenty of drinks and food available there.
As we are sitting in the room I notice that my RR hat with Amtrak pins is missing. Must be getting old as it took that long to notice. Could not remember if I left it in the station or at Giordano's but after some self criticism and moodiness, decided it was probably gone and GET OVER IT!.
We have supper with Greg, who is a passenger is our 0430 car. He is a computer security expert and really into Green environmental issues. He is meeting his wife in Colorado. (She is flying-doesnt like the train) and they will get together for a trip to Durango and Mesa Verde.
We are now crossing the Mississippi at Ft Madison as we dine and heading across Missouri toward Kansas City.
We return to our room and Nina is offering to make up the beds. We decide to stay awake until we get to Kansas City and then hit the hay. Nina has worked for Amtrak for 20+ years and seems to enjoy her job.
We sleep pretty well and are a bit surprised to find that we are still in central Kansas when we awake. Greg tells us that the train was stopped outside KC because of tornados and that he had seen dead cattle, down trees and buildings as the train moved earlier in the morning. We later learned that a couple in a car had been killed and that millions in damages were reported in Iowa and Kansas. Glad we missed that. We were now running 2 hours behind and about to approach Dodge City.
We get our showers and hop off the train in Dodge City, take some photos and enjoy some fresh air. Temps were in the 60s and breezy. After reboarding we headed for the diner and breakfast.
Our waiter is Ignacio and he brings me the RR French toast and wife has the omelet and sausage. Our breakfast companions are a nice couple from Kansas who boarded at Garden City earlier in the morning. He is in the oil business and they are headed to LA and then riding to Vancouver where they will take an Alaska cruise. We enjoy the conversation about gasoline prices and John McCain's health as we watch fields of wheat, cows and wind blown trees.
After breakfast we head to the lounge car to enjoy the scenery as we pass into Colorado. There are very few people in the car and it is a pleasant morning ride until a gentleman with a grand religious fervor starting ranting about the aliens who were in America (not Hispanics, but outer space aliens
). His rantings drive a few people away but we tough it out and he finally leaves after about an hour.Beautful scenery across this part of Colorado as we seen the snow covered peaks come into view of the Rockies. We arrive at La Junta around 10am and take a short trip outside to take some photos. When we return to the lounge car, we hook up with the couple we ate breakfast with and enjoy the conversation about Fort Bent, Kit Carson, European tours on trains and Australia. They have lived a full life and wife and I hope to do that kind of traveling now that we are nearly retired.
We arrive in Trinidad at 11:30 and its time for lunch. Wife had the Angus Burger and I go with the Turkey over biscuits and salad. Both were very good.
Return to the room after lunch to watch the ride through Raton Pass. Conductor says to watch for wildlife but we only see a few mountain goats, hawks and lots of cows. It is a restful ride throught northern New Mexico.
We arrive in Lamy at about 4PM. Several people get off for their connection to Santa Fe, The Atlantic Coastline Coach at the depot is interesting. We are still running about two hours behind but conductor says they will make up some of it with a briefer stop in ABQ. We do make up some time and are only an hour late into ABQ at 5PM. Wife wants to find the Indian vendors to pick up some more jewerly as we did last winter trip. We stand on the platform but Nina says stay close to the train because we are fueling quickly and going to leave. Sure enough at 5:30 the call came to board and we were off again. Glad we had time last January to see the new station refurbishments.
It is now time for supper and our companions are Jim and Aleen from Australia. They have traveled for two months in the US having been to Florida, Tennessee and much of the midwest. They are now returning to California where they will spend a couple days in San Francisco before boarding plane back home. A fascinating couple and this is why we enjoy the diner experience. Meet so many people whose lives are different from our own. We both had the Flat Iron Steaks which were excellent.
As we move across the sunset skies of western New Mexico and Arizona, we think what a beautiful and diverse country we have. Certainly different from Ohio
Nina has the beds ready and we sit up until we reach Winslow and then off to sleep.
Well, at least that was the plan. A somewhat rowdy group of people who boarded at ABQ were traveling to Williams for a Grand Canyon tour and they made plenty of noise in the middle of the night getting off the train. Also the track was a bit rough and we tumbled around a bit as well.
We moved into California overnight and now were approaching San Bernardino as we awoke, showered and got ready for a quick breakfast. Nina told us the diner would be serving an abbreviated menu so they could get ready to clean up the train before LAX. We pass many commuter trains sitting on the sidings as this was Memorial Day and didnt need all those Metra trains today. We made up a little time overnight and are anticipating arriving in Fullerton only an hour late. Our Surfliner tickets are unreserved, but business class seats. Nina said there shouldnt be that much traffic today and we could catch any train that arrived at Fullerton. We eat our French toast and scramble back to the car to get ready to deboard. We arrive in Fullerton at 7:30 and just miss the 7:40 Surfliner. Decide not to run to catch it since we would have to go over the elevated walkway and down in 5 minutes.
The station is being refurbished with lots of construction so we walk to the other side and sit in the sun on a rather nippy morning. Found a man to identify the purple trees that were everywhere along the tracks. Jacaranda trees---dont think those will grow in Ohio but they are very nice.
Our 9am Surfliner arrives and we hurried to the Business car only to find one family and two other passengers on board. Almost a private car for the trip to San Diego. Unfortunately, there was little service on the car. No snacks or refreshments were offered and the attendant after taking our tickets disappeared. We later learned that some snacks and drinks were at the end of the car for SELF SERVICE- I guess the guy got stuck working the holiday and decided to show his disgust. Anyway it was a very nice ride after we left the commerical suburbs and past Anaheim.
Lots of people at the beaches, surfers in the water and many picnics. Learned later that San Diego Co has prohibited alcohol at the beaches-- Ill bet that was a difficult one to enforce. Climbed the mountain north of San Diego and dropped down into town past Old Town and to the nice Santa Fe Station in downtown.
Waited for our checked baggage but it wasnt on our train. A bit panicked we asked the baggage man about it and he explained that our bags from Cleveland would have gone on to LAX and then transferred to the next Surfliner. He assured us that they would be coming. We decided to walk up to our hotel, drop our duffle bags and return later after lunch downtown. We stayed at the Best Western Bayfront Inn. It seemed like an older place but had recently been updated and they gave us a room on the top floor overlooking the city. Very nice balcony and room was very nice. Thanks to Amtrak Discussion members for the advice on accomodations.
We returned to the station after an abbreviated lunch at a former YMCA/Army/Navy restaurant-deli near the station. The place was closing at 1PM for the holiday so we had to woof down our sandwiches. No one came to take our money so we left if on the table san tip- no service- and were off to the station. Happily our bags were all there and we thanked the baggage man for his assistance.
I will briefly describe our time in San Diego by saying that we enjoyed Old Town, Balboa Park,Model RR Museum, the Gaslight District, riding all the trolleys and buses around town. (Except for our fearful trip on the Orange Line at night-one full of gangbangers and hoods--and fortunately 3 Metro policemen who stood beside us on our terror trip back downtown) We violated our own rule about riding at night in unknown neighborhoods. Lesson learned--
We love San Diego and are planning a longer visit next May to see more museums, the dock area and the islands and the Zoo.
We left San Diego on Sufliner #763 which left at 6:10am. The hotel had a shuttle that would take you to the Amtrak station but not that early in the morning so we decided to walk. It was light and only met a few homeless people sleeping in doorways along the way. Something we small town inhabitants have gotten used to since traveling to California.
We decide to ride coach back to LAX to catch our Coast Starlight train at 10:15am. The fog has lifted somewhat and we get another view of the ocean and the beach towns as we travel north. We decided not to check our bags this time and had a hard time getting them up the narrow staircase on the Surfliners. We arrived in LAX on time and walked down the long tunnel to the station in order to get in another line for sleeper passengers waiting to board the CSL. We meet an interesting couple who now live in Southern California but once lived in Ohio and Kentucky. He is a dragster driver and travels around the country in FunnyCars races. They are heading for Eugene, OR to a graduation event. I run outside the depot to take some photos of the flowers and area in front. I expected the LAX to be larger like Chicago. Also did not find any lounge to rest in there. Surprising for such a large city.
Anyway, we board our car #5 in Car 1430 and meet our attendant Roger. He is a very business like person, not very friendly. Didnt ask us if we had ever ridden Amtrak (most do) and eventually brought around a sparkling cider and that was the last we saw of him for several hours. Not sure if he didnt feel well, or was unhappy about something, but not a real showpiece of advertising for Amtrak. He was very efficient about keeping coffee, drinks, towels and bathrooms spotless, so we decided he was doing his job and let it go.
Our conductor Bobbie made some announcements about smoking (you will be tossed off this train if we catch you
). Saw lots of interesting graffiti as we left the city, Metrolink shops and lots of flowers and trees, many people get on the train as we move north. We had lunch as we passed throgh Santa Barbara with Dwight and Leona. They live in Laguna Beach and have homes in New Hamshire and Florida. They just LOVE the Reagans and have visited their library and estate many times. (We will pass on that one!). Lunch was turkey and biscuits and salad while wife had the Angus Burger. Both are very good but we are noticing that the menus are all the same now and that turkey and burger combos are getting a bit old. Our dining car crew were supurb, very funny and efficient. An enjoyable experience with them on every meal. Crew #7 they told us to call Amtrak and tell them We are sitting in the lounge car ---yes, we had no Pacific Parlour Car on this train-just missed the startup date for that.--but they did put on another lounge car only for sleeper passengers, had a wine and cheese party twice on the trip --they now charge $5 each for that. But it was a nice ride there as not many people in the car and the company was great. Several old railroaders talking about their days on the UP and all the news about the slide in Oregon.
We passed lots of oil fields, desert like areas, ocean views, farms and farms of vegetables, missile launching silos. We even got Roger to pose for a photo at San Luis Obispo.
The wine and cheese tasting was excellent with some very good wines and pleasant company. Two college age girls, one from England who was traveling around world by herself (Australia, Near East, US and home) and the other a student at U of Cal at Long Beach, sat with us and we discussed their lives and ours. Hope we didnt bore them too much. :blink:
A pleasing trip through the hills around Paso Robles as we get closer to larger cities around San Jose. We have dinner with Carol and Eddie from Fullerton. They are going to a meeting in Seattle. She was a teacher (as was I) and their son was a teacher as well. Good conversation about the state of education in America. They love to ride trains all over California. So do we~~~
A beautiful sunset as we pass into San Jose. Yes we now "know the way to San Jose"
We stay up until we reach Oakland and then Roger puts the beds down and we doze off with great memories of the day.
We slept well last night and are now in northern California. It is foggy and misting a little. Get the showers and head for breakfast. Our companions this morning are an older man heading to Washington state to visit his grandkids and adult son near Puget Sound. The other member of our troupe is a former airline flight attendant who loves to travel by train. She has gone from Denver on a bus to Raton, then SW Chief to LA and is now heading for Seattle.
Wife has the scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and croissant. I am back to French toast and OJ. Both are well prepared and yes, those dining car people are a riot, even this early in the morning.
After breakfast we head to the lounge car and enjoy some classical music and later jazz on a CD player in the car. We pass through some long valleys as we near Klamath Falls, OR.
I get off in Klamath Falls to take some pictures in the rain. Lots of people getting off to take the Amtrak Bus to Pasco, WA to meet the Empire Builder. That might be a nice trip but too long a bus ride for me. Would rather stay over a night in Portland and then ride the EB the next day.
As we climb into the Cascades, there is snow on the ground and it looks like winter back home, sans the mountains
. We arrive at the sight of the Great Slide where there are still many UP workers and equipment finishing off the work there. Although it was pretty foggy we could see the enormity of the this project. It is amazing what they were able to do.We pass into the Willamett Valley and it is time for lunch. Our server is Michelle and we complement the staff for making our dining experience a memorable one. "Remember, WE ARE CREW 7"
Our dining mate is an 82 year old woman from Toronto who has been traveling down to Sacramento to visit her daughter and family. She will meet her husband in Vancouver for their VIA Rail trip back home. But they will stop in Winnepeg and visit more relatives before returning home. She is an interesting lady who also has seen the world and says when her husband doesnt want to go she takes off without him. I have that turkey again and wife has the tuna sandwich. Still good!!
We pass through Eugene and Salem and are getting closer to our next destination in Portland. An announcement from the conductor notes that someone was using "controlled substances" in the restrooms and that the DEA in Portland and their "friendly dogs" would meet us there to check it out. I bet that person was shaking in their shoes all the way to PDX.
We arrive in Portland a little early at 3:30PM, give Roger his tip- yes he deserved it for his work on board. We even got him to smile when we left the train@@
Headed for the lounge to organize while I got on the Yellow Phone, called Hertz and they picked us up for a ride to their office and our rental car. Portland was in middle of Rose Festival and everything very busy downtown. Our Hundai Sonato was a nice little car and even had decent headroom for me.
We stayed at our Comfort Inn out in Gresham where we stayed last year. Great and helpful staff, good breakfast and convenient to Interstate 84 to get around.
I will again not go into detail about our four days in Portland but we did spend a day roaming around the Columbia River gorge, the many waterfalls and hiking, Mt Hood and Timberline Lodge. Another day riding the Maxline trains and Portland trolley, a day downtown for the festival, a trip to Powell's Books, wow what a bookstore!!, a ride up the incline and back and exploring the arts and crafts festivities. Another day to Mt. St. Helens and then it was time to leave for Seattle.
We are up at 4:30am in anticipation of riding the Cascades Train #500. We eat breakfast, pack and head downtown to drop off our car at Hertz. Lots of one way streets in Portland but we found the place, they took us to the depot and we waited for our train. The Talgo train cars are very nice with GPS on the monitor, a movie and voucher for a little snack along the way. Nice scenery in southern Washington, Big Bridge in Tacoma on a nice sunny day. Lots of private railroad companies operating along the waterfronts. We are in great anticipation of arriving in Seattle as we are going to meet my old college roommate and usher at our wedding who we had not seen for 30 years. He has lived in Seattle all that time and loves it.
We arrive at King St Station just fifteen minutes late and I am happy to see my old buddie waving at us in the station with his Ohio State sweatshirt and the same hair length we had back in the early 70s. At least we still have our hair
We had an enjoyable four hours with him and his wife, a nice dinner at a seafood place below their house on the Sound. a grand quick tour of the city. We want to go back and spend a week someday.
Our Empire Builder #8 was having some mechanical problems and we waited about twenty minutes later to board Car 0830 and Room #5. Our train was a long one since they were pulling an extra dining car and a sleeping car back to Chicago (Indianapolis?) for repairs.
Our car attendant is Tom, who turned out to be the best one we have had. A very friendly guy, very professional who spend lots of time with us taking about the future of Amtrak (or Not) and his life on the sleeping car.
We head up the Puget Sound to Edmonds and Everett, WA and then start east. Since our section of the EB does not have a lounge car we stay in our room and enjoy the scenery out the window. We have supper with John, a forest ranger who is working at Peace Park near the Canadian border. He tells of his background working at many parks across the country. His daughter may be attending Oberlin College near our home in OH on a music scholarship. He had never been there so we told him all about its excellent programs and its history during the Abolitionist period.
Our other diner mate was an older man who was a former engineer (not railroad) who traveled around the world. His stories were interesting but he tended to want to dominate the conversation and wouldnt let John get a word in edgewise. We would have enjoyed hearing more from John.
The steaks were excellent and the dining crew very competent and friendly.
We decided to head back to the room as it was getting dark as we came close to Wenatchee. Tom put our beds down and off to slumberland we went.
We awoke in western Montana and scurried to get a shower and get breakfast near Libby, MT. We are running about an hour late now. Breakfast was a very good omelet and bacon for me and scrambled eggs and bacon for the wife. Our companions this morning were Pat and Bill from Edmonds, WA. They are Seattle Mariners fans (which is about as difficult as us being Reds fans right now) and they are headed for Boston to see a game at Fenway Park. An enjoyable conversation about baseball, trains and living in the NW.
We now have our lounge car back after the connection to the Portland section overnight in Spokane. We head for that car to see Glacier National Park. It is a misty morning and a little foggy but still a nice view. When we get to Whitefish, we detrain and get some exercise. Lots of Great Northern RR equipment to photograph. Old GN Bus, Switcher engines and of course the Mountain Goat statue. A nice station that looks like it belongs in Switzerland. Tom and the sleeper crew are enjoying a banana as we wait for the train to be readied. Lots of people getting on including a school group of kids from a Christian School nearby.
We board the lounge car and get ready for the trip through the park. Still lots of snow on the glaciers as we try to take some photos through the misty windows. Two of the fourth grade girls from the school group sit with my wife and I at the table and we enjoy their conversations and help them complete their assignments of recording what they saw on the train. A fun ride with them through the park. We arrive at Essex and the train must spot twice because of our long consist. A few people get off and on and down the track we go.
We arrive at East Glacier where we say goodbye to the kids who have their schoolbus waiting for them to take them back to Kalispell. Now a new group of kids are boarding. Much smaller, kindergarten age. all Indian kids from the nearby Browning reservation of Blackfoot tribe. The train does not stop at Browning in the summer so they are boarding here for a short field trip across part of Montana. I suspect that Amtrak must give the schools a good group rate to ride. The little kids are a bit more rambuctious than we can handle and we decide to abandon the lounge car for now and go back to our room.
We stop in Shelby, MT where we take some shots of the depot, Tom and others boarding the train. Tom and his partner in the other sleeping car are in charge of the third sleeper on the train as well and it keeps them busy. Amtrak staffing leads a lot to be desired. Anything to save money. We appreciated the two guys work as they took care of three cars.
It is now almost lunch time and we want to eat before we get to Havre (more photo opportunities) so we head to the diner. We have lunch with an interesting Russian man who was in Seattle for a computer conference. He spoke very little English (and of course our Russian was non existant) but we managed to explain about our life in the US and he talked a little about Russia and his work in Chicago, where he was now headed. We all had the Angus Burgers and the chocolate tort (very rich).
At Havre we get shots of the GN steam engine and the depot. We are only now about 15 minutes behind schedule as BNSF is doing a great job of letting us pass their growing number of freight trains. Is anyone at UP or NS listening here???
We headed for the wine and cheese party in the afternoon. Another great selection although not quite as good as the California wines we had on the Coast Starlight. Our seat mates are Joe and Kathy who travel alot to the Northwest. He is a CPA and very friendly guy. She is a bit "stuckup" as we say back home. Wanted to impress us with her private school education and her disdain for public schools. When I told her I was a former high school teacher and principal it took her aback and most conversation stopped.
We won a bottle of wine but since we are much of a drinking crew we gave ours to an Australian couple as a gesture of good will between nations. GDay Mates!!We headed back to our room for some rest and more photos. I took some good shots on our trip on the EB last year so was sparing in camera work this time. We nodded off to sleep as the Montana countryside went swiftly by. This is life.
Woke up in time for our 7PM supper. We were just passing into North Dakota and a brief stop in Williston before dinner. We have an enjoyable conversation with Guy and Dot from Fairbanks, Alaska. over our flat iron steaks. They once lived in Seattle but moved to Alaska some 20 years ago and love it there. Good discussions of life in the cold, dark, light, terrain and oil reserves. They were heading to Lancaster, PA to visit their son and family via CL and Pennsylvanian. The weather is turning nasty looking and we related our tornado experiences in Ohio. I think that may have scared them a little so we ended that. The sky got black and the lightning came but not bad storms. That was good! One tornado per Amtrak vacation is enough. We each finished off the evening with some Hagan Das ice cream and didnt realize that it was after 9 PM. The dining car crew blinked the lights at us and we apologized for not leaving sooner. They were nice and laughed at us and said we could stay if we did the dishes
It started to rain hard and we each headed back to our rooms, listened to some radio and then off to bed. What another great day on the train!!
We had a very rough ride across N.Dakota and Minnesota overnight and hardly slept. Very rough track- or maybe it was the chocolate ice cream late at night?? Anyway, we got up at 5:30, showered and headed for the diner for breakfast. We were nearing Minneapolis and I wanted to take some pictures in ST Paul. We were now 45 minutes behind but the conductor said we have some padding that will help get us back closer to time. We have breakfast of French toast. No one else in the dining car so a leisurely meal without any guests. We head down the stairs of our car as the train comes into St Paul. Lots of private cars, an old Milwaukee Road domecar and observation car on the siding as well. A switcher attaches an extra coach to the back of our train which I heard was standard procedure between STP and CHI. We are talking to a couple we met in the lounge car yesterday when the two whistles blow and we go running to get on the train. (We are getting too old for this
. Make it back as Tom is waving for us to climb aboard.We head out of town across the Mississippi River and down the west side of the river on CP tracks. Lots of red locos along the way as we pass Red Wing (do they have a size 15 for me) and Winona. Our view of the river is sometimes blocked by the growing trees but there is very little traffic on the river which is a bit of a disappointment. Some Amish folks get off the train in Winona and a few people get on. Some large dams and locks as we head for La Cross, Wisconsin across the river.
We have lunch as we pass through Wisconsin Dells (later to be flooded by the rains to come in a few weeks). Our companions are a woman and her teenage grandson who have been visiting her son in North Dakota. This is their first time in a sleeper and they liked it despite the rough ride last night.
We have the turkey and biscuits again which is good but wish they would extend the menu a little. Yes, there were other choices but having tried some of them, we settled that the Angus Burgers and turkey and biscuits are consistently good. No more pizza. Chef salad was ok but not into rabbit food that much.
We get to extend our knowlege to our dining mates about tipping, procedures on the train, etc. (learned from the extensive advice from all of you on the discussion line). They were rookies and appreciated the information.
We are back in our room and take a short nap before arriving in Milwaukee. It will be a long day as we will board the CL in Chicago for a 2:30am arrival in Cleveland. We see lots of wild turkeys in Wisconsin fields, no hunters.
We arrive in Milwaukee. Changing conductors and crew here and word is to stay close to the train because it will be a very brief stop. New crew wants to get into Chicago on time. Tom puts the step stool down and glad we didnt get too far away because in just a few minutes the whistle blew and we are scurrying back to the car. The smokers barely had time to take two puffs ---too bad
Tom and his fellow car attendants were not informed by the conductor that we were ready to go and he was a bit miffed. Had a few choice words for the new crew.
Well, we were now only 15 minutes down when we barely pulled out of the station and had to stop for the drawbridge over the Wisconsin River. We sat for 15 minutes while the bridge was raised and lowered. Bet that conductor was swearing all the way to Chicago.
Now 35 minutes down and we are trucking on. I try to gauge the mileposts against my watch and I believe we were running full throttle at 80 MPH (well really 79 mph).
We head back to our room to prepare for Chicago. We are making good time but have to slow for some Metra trains and arrive at CUS down 30 minutes. We grab our duffles, say goodbye to Tom with a generous tip and off to the Lounge we go. Our CL train is to leave at 7PM but the clerk in the lounge said we will board at 6 if we want to have dinner. We got a 6:30 reservation, checked our bags and headed out the door. I still wanted to see if anyone found my RR hat that I lost two weeks ago. Very low expectatons. I checked with Amtrak Personal Services and since it was nearly 5PM she said they would be able to check today but would call me if they found it. Then decided to head back to Giordanos on a hope that maybe it was there.
I was directed to the rear of the restaurant where a smiling staff told me that my hat was in their lost and found drawer. They thought it was probably a train buff and that I might return to get it someday. I was very HAPPY, thanked them generously and said I would spread the word about their PIZZA and GREAT SERVICE. So there I have done it.
Dancing all the way back to CUS we went back to the lounge and were called to board the CL at 6:15PM. We were again in Room #5 in Car 3000 next to the diner. Our car attendant was Daryl, a very nice guy who was friendly and efficient.
We have dinner with Les and Nancy from Rochester, MN. He had many health problems which Nancy was very clear in pointing out. I think Les would have been better off talking about trains with us.
We had a good steak, while wife had salmon and rice. Salmon very good, rice not so good. Dining crew was very confused as to what they were doing, which was quite a change from our other dining crews on all the other trains. After serving the food we never saw our server at the table again. Didnt check to see if everything was o.k. Did not clear the table. Never asked if we wanted dessert. Nothing. I found this difficult to understand since this crew just got on the train and should have been well rested and ready for the long trip to Washington DC. Anyway after waiting an hour for him to return we just all got up and left. Sans Tip. Alway feel guilty when the few occasions when I dont leave a tip but this was ridiculous.
Back to our room. Talked with Daryl a little about our Amtrak adventures. Very nice guy. He made up our beds for our short night (we thought) into Cleveland. Well, we barely started moving across the Indiana border when the train came to a stop. The conductor announced that the NS dispatcher was allowing two westbound freights to pass and then we would be on our way. After an hour we had not moved so we decided to catch up on our missing sleep. Daryl said he would be staying up and would make sure we would be notified at Elyria to get up and get ready.
We were sleeping comfortably when I awoke at about 2:30, which was the time we were supposed to be in Cleveland. I looked outside and we were just outside of Elkhart, IN. What happened? Daryl said we had been sitting for three hours outside of South Bend while the NS let a bunch of freights pass us East and West. I think every train from Bellevue to Chicago passed us.~.
Anyway, I went back to sleep and we eventually arrived in Cleveland at 5:20am. Not a real big deal for us since we got some needed sleep before our 1.5 hour trip home from Cleveland. But I believe all those people heading for PGH and WAS couldnt be too happy. We later learned they held the Pennsylvanian until the CL arrived so our friends heading to Lancaster made their connection.
Said a goodbye to Daryl and found our car sitting in the parking lot unharmed. It is nice to have the Cleveland station with a fenced and locked parking area (FREE) while we are gone.
Arrived home around 7 am and met our lonely cat with purrs and headbutts.
Overall it was a great trip. Our crews were all pretty good. the food was good but need an expanded menu on different trains, scenery was fantastic--Chicago, San Diego-- Portland are nice cities to explore with good public transportation. Something we need in Ohio.
Slept well some nights, not so good in others. About two or three days on the train is enough without a break in a hotel somewhere.
Already making reservations for another trip to San Diego next summer and maybe a longer stay in Seattle. Yosemite and San Francisco are also on the agenda. And both trips should be covered with Amtrak Rewards points. Hope you all enjoyed the ride with us.
Adios. Railroad and Mrs. Bill
