# The Lakeshore Limited New York To Chicago



## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 22, 2010)

The Lakeshore Limited June 20th 2010

My dad and I boarded a midmorning New Jersey Transit North Jersey Coastline train to New York Penn station. Once in Penn Station we had lunch and checked into Amtrak’s Club Acela to await the boarding of train 49. The boarding process went smoothly, and soon we were on our way toward Chicago.

The run to Albany never gets old as you hug the banks of the Hudson River. It provides a great backdrop to the first leg of our trip. We had made a 5:15 dinner reservation, so we would be done eating and able to walk around the platform in Albany. Dinner was in a full a full Diner #8505 which was built in 1957 for the Northern Pacific. The car was in great shape, and had a sign hanging showing it was rehabbed in Beech Grove, IN. I had the manicotti which was excellent, and my dad enjoyed his trout. Our tablemates were from Iowa, and we had some excellent conversation. Both my dad and I had the cheesecake which was simply delicious.

We watched as the Boston section was joined with us, and we were soon on our way through upstate New York. Sometime after our stop in Schenectady my dad and I headed back to the Horizon Dinette serving as the train’s lounge car. It was the most alive I’ve ever seen any Amtrak lounge. Almost every table had 4 people in them talking, laughing, and playing cards. It was much different the lounge cars aboard NEC trains with people never looking up from laptops. I enjoyed the atmosphere, and we spent about an hour in the lounge. Then returned to our room which had be transformed into its night time configuration. I checked my cell phone where a message from AU member GG-1 reminded me about Sunday night chat. It was my first AU chat from aboard a train, and it made the evening even more enjoyable. I fell asleep somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester.

I woke up about 20 minutes outside of Toledo and decided I wouldn’t try and fall back asleep so I could take a walk on the platform. We only stopped for 5 minutes which put us back on schedule. Neither of the sleeper doors opened, and I didn’t want to walk through the diner, so I didn’t detrain in Toledo. My entrance into the room woke my dad up, so we agreed to just head to breakfast. We both had the railroad French toast with bacon which was excellent. Our tablemates were a father and daughter heading to a dance completion who wanted to try Amtrak since he didn’t feel like driving. The food and conversation were good, and after breakfast we went back to our room, and I dozed off for a little while. Our attendant dropped by and converted the room to the daytime setup.

Once seated I pulled out my laptop and began working on the report, as well as a little photo editing, since I didn’t want to get to far behind. We made a stop in South Bend, IN and ran through the industrial areas and suburbs of Chicago. We eventually began running along the METRA Electric South Shore Line and I knew Chicago was on the horizon.

We arrived into Chicago a few minutes early said good bye to Jeremiah an efficient but not overly friendly SCA. Walked the length of the train and walked into a bustling Chicago Union Station. There we left our bags in the luggage room inside the Metropolitan Lounge and strolled around Chicago. We took a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank which had several million dollars in cash on display. We had lunch at Giordano’s Pizza which didn’t disappoint there stuffed crust pizza is simply amazing. We headed back to the station to prepare for the departure of the Southwest Chief (which will be part 2 of this report)

Photos

You find my photos are here


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 22, 2010)

Sounds like a great start to your trip. Efficient but not overly friendly SCA, huh? HAHA!! Metra Electric and the South Shore Line (NICTD) are separate agencies, but do share right of way in and just outside Chicago.

The Chief showed 2 hours down at Denver this morning; how's that looking?


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## MrFSS (Jun 22, 2010)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Sounds like a great start to your trip. Efficient but not overly friendly SCA, huh? HAHA!! Metra Electric and the South Shore Line (NICTD) are separate agencies, but do share right of way in and just outside Chicago.
> The Chief showed 2 hours down at Denver this morning; how's that looking?



Chief - Denver????


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## the_traveler (Jun 22, 2010)

MrFSS said:


> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> > The Chief showed 2 hours down at Denver this morning; how's that looking?
> ...


That's just what I was going to say! :blink:

It must be on some sort of detour route! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 22, 2010)

we don't go to denver but we are on time here on the swc next stop las vegas nm I think


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 22, 2010)

My stupid mistake! Looking at the Zephyr before upcoming (this weekend) trip, and obviously got confused. Small brain, y'know.


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## the_traveler (Jun 22, 2010)

Remember - per the TT - "*NO CASINOS*"!

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## the_traveler (Jun 22, 2010)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Small brain, y'know.


You said it! 

Small brain - but big head! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 22, 2010)

Wow managed to edit, upload and caption my photos all while rolling through New Mexico.

Please take a look


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## the_traveler (Jun 22, 2010)

Assuming the photos are in order, photo #20 would be the Mohawk River. you cross and leave the Hudson just after you leave ALB. From just west of Schenectady to almost Utica, you follow the north bank of the Mohawk River!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 22, 2010)

the_traveler said:


> Assuming the photos are in order, photo #20 would be the Mohawk River. you cross and leave the Hudson just after you leave ALB. From just west of Schenectady to almost Utica, you follow the north bank of the Mohawk River!


;lol: whoops guess I need to brush up on my geography thanks for pointing that out, I changed the caption.


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## Trogdor (Jun 22, 2010)

Just a minor nit-pick: The Metra Electric and the South Shore line are two different railroads. The South Shore does operate along Metra tracks from Kensington to downtown Chicago, and I think there may be some subsidy from Metra to NICTD for service to Hegewisch (which is a suburban Chicago stop), but Metra certainly does not operate into Indiana.


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 24, 2010)

Before Long Train starts posting again and I can't get a word (or pic) in edgewise...







Aboard Pacific Surfliner 785, Business Class, 6-23-10. L-R: WhoozOn1st, GG-1 (looking like we just won a bet), Long Train Runnin', chuljin (looking like they just lost). Photo by Craig Train Runnin', Long's dad.
​

​


EDIT: Name accuracy; thanks, Steve.
​​


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 25, 2010)

Thanks for posting that I just caught up on all the writing and just for the record lol my dads name is craig. Having a great time aboard the cs lunch in ppc coming up


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## GG-1 (Jun 25, 2010)

Aloha

Was great getting together for a south of LA run. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lastly I sorta won a bet, Yesterday I closed the deal on a new home, a mobile house a mile east of the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. End of July I move in.


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## the_traveler (Jun 25, 2010)

GG-1 said:


> Yesterday I closed the deal on a new home, a mobile house a mile east of the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. End of July I move in.


Congratulations Eric!





Welcome to my (almost) stomping ground. I'll come visit you on the Desert Wind!


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## MrFSS (Jun 25, 2010)

GG-1 said:


> Aloha
> 
> Was great getting together for a south of LA run. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lastly I sorta won a bet, Yesterday I closed the deal on a new home, a mobile house a mile east of the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. End of July I move in.


When should we come out to visit?


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## ALC Rail Writer (Jun 25, 2010)

On the next run of the Desert Wind?

AU Gathering V: Vegas.

Do you really need trains when you got the strip? :lol:


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 25, 2010)

GG-1 said:


> Aloha
> 
> Was great getting together for a south of LA run. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lastly I sorta won a bet, Yesterday I closed the deal on a new home, a mobile house a mile east of the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. End of July I move in.


Glad to hear youve finally been able to make the transition back to the mainland, congrats on the work offers also!  Only thing missing is the train, bustitution and planes are a poor substitute for going down to the station and hoping a fast train! Looking forward to the trip report when you take your princess, mine was 9 today!


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## Bill Haithcoat (Jun 28, 2010)

About that #8505 diner on the LSL. Being built in 1957 it has to be one of the "newest"=="old" cars around. Very little was built in the sreamlined era after that.

The Northern Pacific was one of the more progressive hold outs in the passenger train business, with its beautiful two tone green North Coast Limited.


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## PaulM (Jul 6, 2010)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Wow managed to edit, upload and caption my photos all while rolling through New Mexico.
> 
> Please take a look


I appreciated your taking the time to add captions. Even when I'm looking at a painting in an art museum, I want to know something about what has been painted.


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