# Short last min trip to Chicago



## PerRock (Sep 9, 2010)

Admittedly I don't get to travel on Amtrak all that often. Being a jobless art student makes traveling very hard. However this last weekend I was able to pop down to Chicago from Ann Arbor. And when I do it is the cheapest way; so coach.

Originally the trip was for me to take the Wolverine to Chicago then catch a bus to Waterloo, IA where I would pick up one of our cars from my sister who was traveling on from there (she drove out a couple weeks before) to Australia & India. However it turned out that she found paying for me to come out to get the car (which was part of the agreement) to exspensive (lodging for two nights, train & bus on labor day weekend, food, gas, toll), and decided not to fund the trip. This was Thursday; our original plan was for me to leave ARB on Friday. But that thursday evening (or maybe friday morning, her boyfriend's (also traveling with her) relative went into the hospital in CHI; making my trip a possibility again. That Friday night I found tickets for a Saturday; Quite luckly I had two choices; the morning train in coach costing ~$70 or the evening train in Business for ~$40.

The real adventure part was really only getting to the station. Living in such a large college town one has to know when the home football games are (especially since we have the largest college football stadium in the US) However in the rush to get out the door I forgot that there was a home game that was to get out at the same time I needed to get to the station. My friend and I raced thru the residential streets to get to the station before the train came (I still had to get tix printed); got there mins before 355 arrived. I boarded in with the coach pax (they didn't let us board right into the business section, as they sometimes do) and headed into the Amfleet II Coach/Business which was a bit of a disappointment.

Where to start? Being told on boarding that the train was full I decided to be kind and picked a solo seat (I was hoping to get a double to myself). When the conductor came thru I got carded (no biggy) and we were told that we were allowed one free non-alchoholic beverage. I shortly discovered that the seat I picked seemed to have a few screws loose as every slightest movement side to side made the seat lurch over; since the car was still fairly empty I moved to a different seat (moved the card indicating my stop as well) and settled into listening to my scanner; and trying to do some work on my laptop; which ended up in me reading the newspaper. After getting board with the scanner ("Track 355 arriving Kalamazoo") I wandered over to the cafe area and got my free drink and discovered that Amtrak has redone food service on the Wolveriene. On previous trips there was a full cafe menu including the little extras (tylinol, cards, batteries, etc) However we now had a very short menu which had in the food department three choices: Boxed Lunch, Chips/Pretzels, and Microwaved Hamburger. Upon asking it turns out they no longer restock the wolverine in Pontiac either; so our choices were even less (we had one boxed lunch left, were out of burgers, and some other stuff probably) I ended up getting a little can of Pepsi and some chips. Most of the rest of the trip was uneventful; I sat and watched TV shows on my laptop and listened to the scanner occasionally.

Until we entered Indiana; Around then I switched to listening to the scanner as I knew we would be passing thru some yards & industries. We got just outside Hammond when we came to a stop; I couldn't make out what the stop was for exactly but I knew we were waiting for another train. I sat there for about 5 or 10 mins listening to all the yards in the area figuring out what went where. Finally the Lake Shore Limited passed us and the Engineer of #48 told us that it was a parking lot ahead of us. We rolled into CHI without much excitement. I was really hoping to hear more activity in the Amtrak Yard. However I can report that I saw:

3 B32-8WHs in phase IV in the yard & One in phase V,

1 Amtrak Cascades F59PHI, I could just make out the logo between the P40/42s

Union Station was quite eerie at 11:00 at night; I'm used to being in there and it is bustling with people, the tracks are practically full. However this time there was only one other train next to us (I think it was the morning east-bound Wolverine).

Well that is about it; I stayed the night at my grandfathers apartment (he lives in Tokyo most of the year) and headed out the next morning. I will give you one word of advice: stay off Lower Whacker Dr. for a while; most of the ramps to Upper Whacker are under construction and it'll really put you out of your way if you get funneled down there. I hope my rambleings weren't a bore....

peter


----------



## rrdude (Sep 9, 2010)

Nice to hear about your trip to the Windy from my hometown.

Hey, at least Michigan WON a game, that's been a bit rare these last few years.


----------



## caravanman (Sep 9, 2010)

Hi,

I enjoyed your report, it's nice to get a bit of background detail.. So many reports are a bit "dry", with just the rail fan stuff.. I like the travel stuff too!

Eddie


----------



## hello (Sep 9, 2010)

Thank you, PerRock, I enjoyed your trip report ... you didn't ramble at all!!


----------



## uptheirons29 (Sep 13, 2010)

Go Wolverines!!!...er, I mean the University's football team  . I dont know what the train will be like until I take it on my ride home from MI back to Chicago and ultimately home to CA next month....good report


----------



## edding (Sep 13, 2010)

Is there still a restaurant in the Ann Arbor station? Just curious.


----------



## PerRock (Sep 13, 2010)

edding;

No; Ann Arbor only has an Amshack. However, there is a very nice resturaunt next door (pass under the bridge) called 'The Gandy Dancer' It is located in the historic Michigan Central Station. I would say it is a 4-5 Star restaurant. But I believe they do have a good Brunch Buffet (on Sundays); however it's been a long time since I've eaten there.

peter


----------



## amtrakwolverine (Sep 16, 2010)

When I was on 351 and 352 back in may of this year for national train day I was able to get a pizza did they still have that or did they due away with that now I was in coach.


----------



## rrdude (Sep 16, 2010)

PerRock said:


> edding;
> 
> No; Ann Arbor only has an Amshack. However, there is a very nice resturaunt next door (pass under the bridge) called 'The Gandy Dancer' It is located in the historic Michigan Central Station. I would say it is a 4-5 Star restaurant. But I believe they do have a good Brunch Buffet (on Sundays); however it's been a long time since I've eaten there.
> 
> peter


Amshack, really? I thought an Amshack was just an unmanned, covered structure, to get one out of the rain?

Ann Arbor's station is no "Beauty", but it is staffed, has bathrooms, and an enclosed waiting room. I'm not "sticking up" for it, but if that is classified as an "Amshack", then I'm gonna have to adjust my thinking.

btw, when did the Michigan Trains stop offering checked baggage service? Anyone, Bueller, Wolverine, Rock?


----------



## PerRock (Sep 16, 2010)

rrdude said:


> PerRock said:
> 
> 
> > edding;
> ...


Truthfully I always thought an Amshack was just a little 'container' like structure as well. But I've recently noticed a fair number of people referring to the Ann Arbor, MI style station as an Amshack; so I just upped my vocabulary.... I'm not saying that it isn't a bad station or anything; it just isn't impressive either.

About the pizza; last time I was on 355 they had practically no food. By Grand Rapids all we had left were a few bags of crisps. However I do not recall seeing pizza on the very small menu we had. I recall a handful of soda, a variety of crisps, a lunchables thing, some beers, and a microwaved hamburger. The only thing we got for free from the cafe was one small can of soda. I asked the attendant when they switched over to this smaller menu and she said that it was the same menu they've had for years (it wasn't, I clearly remember a larger menu). She also said that they do not stock the train in Pontiac (which I thought they used to do) either. Ah well I was really hoping they would have the Amtrak Blanket available 'cause I have the old pointless arrow one, and want to get the 3 sheets one as well.

peter


----------



## rrdude (Sep 16, 2010)

You could always order it online, from the Amtrak Store.

If you are going on a picnic that is...........


----------



## PerRock (Sep 16, 2010)

rrdude said:


> You could always order it online, from the Amtrak Store.
> 
> If you are going on a picnic that is...........


That isn't not the same one. The one that was available on the train is a white polly blanket with the Amtrak logo along the edge in a corner.

peter


----------



## amtrakwolverine (Sep 20, 2010)

rrdude said:


> btw, when did the Michigan Trains stop offering checked baggage service? Anyone, Bueller, Wolverine, Rock?


I don't think they ever offered checked baggage.

I hope they don't stop selling pizza and stuff I was able to get it off the menu in may but maybe they have a different menu for BC or was just sold out of everything and yes that stupid cafe attendant was lieing(we have been using the same menu for years)


----------



## Eric S (Sep 23, 2010)

amtrakwolverine said:


> rrdude said:
> 
> 
> > btw, when did the Michigan Trains stop offering checked baggage service? Anyone, Bueller, Wolverine, Rock?
> ...


A spot check of a 1992 Amtrak timetable shows that one (of the 3) CHI-DET trains did offer checked baggage. Did not check any other dates, so not sure when it ended or if/when more than one roundtrip offered checked baggage at some previous point.


----------

