# Saxman's Amtrak USA Tour 2009!



## saxman

Well here I am sitting at the Cleburne, Texas Intermodal Depot awaiting my departure of the Texas Eagle. They happen to have wireless internet here, so why not get started with my daily trip report. This trip is going to take me across the country by train nearly 4 times, and take over a month to complete. Of course many stops and sightseeing will be done along the way. I should have an entry for each day on this website and will post them as I get internet connections. Slowly I'll gather pictures, maps, and other things and put them on my travel log website. So I hope you enjoy!

Day 1 February 11, 2009

Here is sit in Cleburne, Texas, waiting for my southbound Texas Eagle. The train is ontime and is due to arrive at 3:22 PM. This first day is short. I'm only riding to Austin to visit my grandparents. I was originally scheduled to depart from Fort Worth which is near where I live. However due to logicalities, I had to drive down to Glen Rose, TX, to leave my car. My other grandparents live there and it happens to be about 20 miles from Cleburne, so I'm getting on here.

I was up early this morning to get some last minute things done and to finish my packing. Being how I usually live out of a suitcase anyway, you'd think it wouldn't be a big deal. However, trying to pack for a month long trip, without much access to laundry, takes a little more planning. I packed a larger bag with some extra clean clothes. This bag would be checked and I would carry my smaller bag with some other clothes. At each major stop, I can exchange dirty clothes with cleans ones. After finishing things I up packed up the car and headed to Fort Worth. Here I was able to pick up my tickets and check my bag. I asked the agent if it would be ok to board in Cleburne, and he said that would be fine. No need to change your ticket. After about another 50 miles of driving to Glen Rose, I left my car and my grandparents drove me to Cleburne. We said our goodbyes and here I am waiting for the train...

To be continued....


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## GG-1

saxman66 said:


> To be continued....


The Serial trip report.

Mahalo, and Aloha

Eric


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## the_traveler

saxman66 said:


> After finishing things I up packed up the car and headed to Fort Worth. Here I was able to pick up my tickets and check my bag. I asked the agent if it would be ok to board in Cleburne, and he said that would be fine. No need to change your ticket.


Just wondering about this, because I'll be in the same boat next month. Were you ticketed from Ft Worth or Cleburne? :huh: I am ticketed from KIN (where I can't check bags) but want to check them in PVD - which is 1 stop and 20 miles further. Should I change my tickets to leave from and arrive back into PVD, so I can check my bags? :huh:


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## AlanB

the_traveler said:


> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> After finishing things I up packed up the car and headed to Fort Worth. Here I was able to pick up my tickets and check my bag. I asked the agent if it would be ok to board in Cleburne, and he said that would be fine. No need to change your ticket.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just wondering about this, because I'll be in the same boat next month. Were you ticketed from Ft Worth or Cleburne? :huh: I am ticketed from KIN (where I can't check bags) but want to check them in PVD - which is 1 stop and 20 miles further. Should I change my tickets to leave from and arrive back into PVD, so I can check my bags? :huh:
Click to expand...

He was ticketed from Fort Worth according to what he said.

As for your issue, if you want to make life easy, change your tickets if you can. But otherwise you should still be able to do what you want. But if you meet the wrong sort, they might say no or give you a hard time if you're not ticketed to/from PVD.


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## saxman

AlanB said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> After finishing things I up packed up the car and headed to Fort Worth. Here I was able to pick up my tickets and check my bag. I asked the agent if it would be ok to board in Cleburne, and he said that would be fine. No need to change your ticket.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just wondering about this, because I'll be in the same boat next month. Were you ticketed from Ft Worth or Cleburne? :huh: I am ticketed from KIN (where I can't check bags) but want to check them in PVD - which is 1 stop and 20 miles further. Should I change my tickets to leave from and arrive back into PVD, so I can check my bags? :huh:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> He was ticketed from Fort Worth according to what he said.
> 
> As for your issue, if you want to make life easy, change your tickets if you can. But otherwise you should still be able to do what you want. But if you meet the wrong sort, they might say no or give you a hard time if you're not ticketed to/from PVD.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was ticketed from Ft Worth. Changing it probably would have raised my fare. I guess it depends on who you get.


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## saxman

Day 1 Continued

As I waited for the train to arrive, I watched several freights pass by the station. It was a couple of these trains that caused my train to be about 25 minutes late. But no worries. That's pretty much on time in Amtrak's books. We shortly after I boarded and I found a seat. My car was farely empty, but it was the middle of February. Other coaches had quite a few people in them though, yet I happy to have a quiet car to ride in.

After making my nest, I was thinking to myself, this is a great start to my train trip. (Almost) on time! Yet my thoughts were short lived. Nearly an hour after departing Cleburne, the train came to an abrupt stop out in the middle of nowhere and all power went out. Other passengers talked about another passing freight. But I knew better, with the loss of head end power. I didn't think it would be a good thing, and as it turned out, I was right. After our stop, the conductor made an announcement saying we had lost all electrical power from the engine, and they weren't having good luck fixing things. The conductor walked by as he was talking on the radio about "getting a new engine down here." Well that wasn't good. I knew the closest engine might be as far as Fort Worth, a good 60 miles away. After more chatter, it turns out that was what needed to be done. No luck getting our engine fixed. So their first plan was to get a BNSF engine to attach to the back of our train and tow us all the way back to Fort Worth where we could pick up a good Amtrak locomotive. I didn't really like that idea. Keep in mind we were a good 2 hours outside of Fort Worth. Their next plan would be to bring an Amtrak loco down from Fort Worth to meet us enroute. Well that was better than going all the way back to Fort Worth.

While we waited for our new power I was able to get some good shots outside the back of the train. I watched as 4 BNSF locomotives pulled up beside us and they detached the rear most one, which I assumed would be our new power. Meanwhile, this lady standing next to me was trying make conversation. However intoxicated conversation is not something I enjoy. She went on about how the mechanics on our engine should all be fired for the bad job they did. Plus the conductors should be fired for doing such a horrible job in this situation. She even asked me to email my pictures I was taking so she could "write them up" and have them fired. She wanted me to take a picture of the BNSF locomotive number to add to her "write up." I'm sure that would really add evidence to the scene. She thanked me for taking the pictures. She never did give me an email. 

As we waited for the BNSF to hook up, I over heard on the scanner, "we found the problem!" A few moments later, all power was restored. Great! Now we could move along. Too bad all that switching was done for nothing. After a good two hours of sitting we were on our way to Austin, with our orginal broken loco. I never find out what went wrong. My scanner does seem to work. We finally arrived into Austin at 10:35 PM, 3.5 hours late. I was glad to see my lady friend was being kicked off the train by Austin's finest.


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## amtrakwolverine

those p-42s are breaking down almost has often as those p30ch's amtrak had.


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## GG-1

KISS_ALIVE said:


> those p-42s are breaking down almost has often as those p30ch's amtrak had.


Well we all know that Murphy sais Can and will at the most Inoperative time. :huh: :lol: 

Aloha


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## saxman

Day 2- February 12, 2009

After arriving in Austin the night before, my grandparents took me to their house for the night. It was pretty late so we went to bed. The following day was just spent visiting and hanging out at the house. I drove my grandparents around for some errands and we also went to see two Imax films at the Texas History Museum. It’s a great museum, and I recommend it to anyone. After we got back home, we had dinner, and I packed my things back up. I had been checking the train status all day, and was happy that my bad luck had gone and today’s train would be on time into Austin. After all, you can’t have bad luck two days in a row.

We left for the station around 6:30 for my 7:00 departure. It’s only about a 10 minute drive. Even though its right in the center of town, the station is hard to get to if you don’t know exactly where to go. However, we got there with time to spare and a few minutes later the Texas Eagle pulled, about 10 minutes early. I said my goodbyes and found my seat for the short trip to San Antonio. I watched the Austin city lights go by and soon we made a stop in San Marcos. San Marcos is another big college town, home to Texas State University. I’ve never even spent much time in the city, but I knew several old classmates that attended school there. (Or use to at least) Soon the skyline of San Antonio came into sight. It takes a long time to pull into the station though. The route of the train actually comes from the northwest of downtown and makes a big loop around the south side and pulls into the station to the north. With all this we were still over an hour early into San Antonio. This is of course due to all the extra time they allot for the last part of the trip. I had about 3 hours to kill for my layover. So I stowed by bags with the station attendant (for free) and walked out to see the Alamo. Both the Riverwalk and the Alamo are with in walking distance of the station. Many bars and restaurants were still open, as I walked around. I had forgotten how neat the area of the Riverwalk is. It had been years since I had been there.

I walked back to the station at about 11:30 and found that my connecting train, the Sunset Limited had arrived. I retrieved my luggage and boarded into my sleeping car. I was in room 3. I fell asleep pretty quickly, and next thing I knew, we were traveling through the night, toward New Orleans.


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## saxman

Day 3- February 13, 2009

I slept in my small bed pretty well throughout the night. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep due to the rocking and bumpiness. Next thing I knew we were stopped in Houston early in the morning. I kept sleeping and got up shortly after. I like waking up when it’s still dark and looking out the window. Being able to have the light off and shut the inside curtains helps to see out really well. Weather had moved in over southeast Texas, as it was wet and foggy, making it hard to take good pictures. After I was more awake, I decided to have breakfast in the diner, my first real meal on the train. I had quiche, with grits and a biscuit. It was pretty good. The lady across from me didn’t say much. Later we arrived into the non-existent station of Beaumont. Apparently the little hut that served as the station was knocked down during Rita, and never rebuilt. So all there is, is a slab of concrete for a platform in a bad part of town, and not within walking distance to anything.

We crossed the Sabine River in Louisiana and soon made a stop in Lake Charles. The Border Patrol was there at the station to do random checks of and people. Not sure why they come in at Lake Charles but they did. One of them came by and asked if I was a US citizen. I told him yes, and he moved on. I guess I have a pretty innocent look. ☺

TBC....


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## saxman

Day 3 Continued...

Around 12:30 I went to have lunch in the dining car. I wasn’t too hungry so I had a cold turkey sandwich. I think I’m really going to get tired of Amtrak food by the end of this trip. I’m hoping some routes will have some variety. I know the Coast Starlight will, from LAX to Seattle. We sped along nicely and made more station stops at Lafayette, New Iberia, and Schriever. There are lots of swamp lands and bayous along this part of the trip, which is of course what characterizes Southern Louisiana. The train travels right near Avery Island. Any hot sauce lover will know this is home to Tabasco Sauce. For a train that has been known in the past for its extreme tardiness in recent years, has made a big come back. The Sunset Limited was on time into all the stops, during my journey and arrived ten minutes early into New Orleans. The approach into the Crescent City is pretty scenic as the train crosses the Mississippi over the famous Huey P. Long Bridge. This 4.2 mile long bridge was built in 1947 to allow the railroads access into the city. Before the trains were brought on ferries. You can easily see downtown from the bridge and I snapped some shots of ships coming into port.

After my arrival, my friend Chris came to pick my up. Chris is an old buddy from my high school band days as well as my old scouting days. He now lives in New Orleans writing for the Times-Picayune. I had not seen Chris in several years, so we had a nice time catching up. We and a few other friends went out to see the Mardi Gras parades and I also explored some of the French Quarter. I never planned on visiting New Orleans during Mardi Gras, but I’m glad it worked out that way. I now wish I had planned to stay two nights with Chris instead of one. After a late night I had to get up pretty early for my next train. Tomorrow I begin my journey to Seattle, via Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles!


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## saxman

Day 4- February 14, 2009

From the Crescent City on the Crescent

Happy Valentines Day! This morning I was up at about 5:30 to pack my things and head off to the station. My friend, Chris lives only about 10 minutes away so we left at about 6:15 AM for my 7:10 AM departure. I would be boarding the Crescent and going to Washington DC. I arrived at the station and picked up my tickets and I checked my larger bag all the way to Seattle. The agent told me he would just route the bag direct to Seattle via Chicago, so it would get there a few days before I would. I told him that would be fine and he told me I could go sit in the Magnolia Room to wait for departure. This room is just for sleeping car passengers and provides coffee, some nicer chairs and a TV. However right when I sat down, the conductor came right away and had us board. I guess I didn’t look so innocent this time, because I was pulled aside by the Amtrak Police and he asked to search my bags. He also pulled another guy over, who was about my age. Maybe he thought our young, scruffy appearance looked suspicious. We let him search our bags and a couple minutes later I was on my way. I walked down the platform toward the front of the train and found my Viewliner sleeping car, just in front of the diner. My room would be room number 5. I chatted with my sleeping car attendant some before our departure while we talked about the similarities of our respective jobs.

Soon we were on our way to Washington DC. After a quick breakfast in the diner, I headed back to my sleeper to take a nap. One of the great things about a sleeper is being able to just lay down flat whenever you please. During the day, I had some lunch, which was a tuna salad. It was very good and not too heavy either. I spent most of the afternoon just looking out the window in my roomette. The Crescent kept right on time throughout the day and arrived early into Atlanta. In Atlanta, I met one of my friends, Bill. I had met Bill about two years ago during some of our Amtrak Unlmited Gatherings in Chicago and L.A. Since he lives only a few blocks from the station, I told him he could come meet me. We chatted briefly about my trip and he got me oriented with the station and surrounding areas. I thanked him for coming out and we were moving on our way toward the northeast. I soon went to sleep after leaving Atlanta.


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## saxman

Day 5- February 15, 2009

Washington DC Layover

This day was an early day for me. A flight attendant I knew, Melissa from Delta came to meet me in Charlotte to ride the train with me. We use to live in a crashpad in New York, and somehow one day we started talking about Amtrak, and that she had been wanting to take a trip. After some coordination, she was able to meet me by flying into Charlotte. We spoke the day prior, while I was on the train, trying to decide which city would be best. She would be in Atlanta, yet would be too late for her to meet the train. Greenville: also a tight connection. So we decided on Charlotte as the best meeting point. I got up at about 1:30 AM to meet her and give her, her ticket. Melissa was very excited as this was her very first “real” train ride.

After getting a somewhat decent sleep and having breakfast, we had another on time arrival into Washington DC, just before 10 AM. During our layover in Washington, we checked into the ClubAcela lounge and then went to explore some of DC. We decided to check out the Air and Space Museum. It was only about a twenty minute walk from the station and it is also free. Melissa and I spent about 2 hours walking through some of the exhibits and seeing all the old planes from back in the glory days of aviation. I had been there about 10 years prior during a previous trip. Although it was very interesting I already knew how airplanes were controlled and how wings produce lift. In fact I know how that works a little too well. ☺ After leaving the museum and getting a hot dog, we walked back to the station to spend some more time in the lounge area and walk around the very historic Union Station.

Soon it was time to board our train, the Capital Limited. We began boarding at about 3:30 pm for our 4:05 departure. This train would take us to Chicago through the hills of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. We departed on time, if not a few minutes early, and we sped through the suburbs of Washington DC. About an hour or so afterwards the train crosses a large trestle over the Potomac River and enters Harpers Ferry, WV. This is probably the best photo spot on the Capital Limited route and I made sure to get several shots. The town of Harpers Ferry sits right on the banks of the river and backs up to large hills behind it. After departing Harpers Ferry, darkness soon fell and we had some dinner in the dining car. I chose to have the steak with a baked potato. For dessert I had the lemon cake with cranberries. It was really good and very filling. Melissa and I stayed up for awhile longer in our room while we played hangman on her iPhone. Around 10:00 pm we had our car attendant take down our beds and we were off to sleep.


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## AlanB

saxman66 said:


> I would be boarding the Crescent and going to Washington DC. I arrived at the station and picked up my tickets and I checked my larger bag all the way to Seattle. The agent told me he would just route the bag direct to Seattle via Chicago, so it would get there a few days before I would.


Hmm, I hope that you don't get to Seattle too much later than your bag. After three days of free storage, Amtrak starts charging to store bags that haven't been picked up.


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## Joel N. Weber II

AlanB said:


> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I would be boarding the Crescent and going to Washington DC. I arrived at the station and picked up my tickets and I checked my larger bag all the way to Seattle. The agent told me he would just route the bag direct to Seattle via Chicago, so it would get there a few days before I would.
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm, I hope that you don't get to Seattle too much later than your bag. After three days of free storage, Amtrak starts charging to store bags that haven't been picked up.
Click to expand...

I would hope they'd measure that by when your ticket said you arrived, especially if you had your ticket stub with you.


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## AlanB

Joel N. Weber II said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I would be boarding the Crescent and going to Washington DC. I arrived at the station and picked up my tickets and I checked my larger bag all the way to Seattle. The agent told me he would just route the bag direct to Seattle via Chicago, so it would get there a few days before I would.
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm, I hope that you don't get to Seattle too much later than your bag. After three days of free storage, Amtrak starts charging to store bags that haven't been picked up.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I would hope they'd measure that by when your ticket said you arrived, especially if you had your ticket stub with you.
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of measuring time from when he got to Seattle, the issue is that his bag is taking a shortcut to Seattle. It's already one day ahead of him right now. Now I don't recall Saxman's plans, but if he stops to overnight say in Chicago for one or two nights, and then makes yet another overnight stop on the EB, then his bag will get to Seattle more than three days before him. And in that case, he'll get charged.

When he's scheduled to arrive in Seattle is irrelevant. It only matters when the bag arrives, that starts the clock ticking.


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## saxman

AlanB said:


> Joel N. Weber II said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I would be boarding the Crescent and going to Washington DC. I arrived at the station and picked up my tickets and I checked my larger bag all the way to Seattle. The agent told me he would just route the bag direct to Seattle via Chicago, so it would get there a few days before I would.
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm, I hope that you don't get to Seattle too much later than your bag. After three days of free storage, Amtrak starts charging to store bags that haven't been picked up.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I would hope they'd measure that by when your ticket said you arrived, especially if you had your ticket stub with you.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It's not a matter of measuring time from when he got to Seattle, the issue is that his bag is taking a shortcut to Seattle. It's already one day ahead of him right now. Now I don't recall Saxman's plans, but if he stops to overnight say in Chicago for one or two nights, and then makes yet another overnight stop on the EB, then his bag will get to Seattle more than three days before him. And in that case, he'll get charged.
> 
> When he's scheduled to arrive in Seattle is irrelevant. It only matters when the bag arrives, that starts the clock ticking.
Click to expand...

I just arrived into Seattle last night. My bag arrived on Tuesday, so it was there the max amount of time. It was a non-issue when I picked it up. If he was going to charge, I would have argued though. The NOL should of known that I might get charged and maybe should have told me, or routed it with me.


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## saxman

Day 6- February 16, 2009

Arrival into Chicago and onto LAX

2,760 miles down

We both slept pretty well and awoke going through Indiana. The train was still miraculously right on time and even arrived into Chicago at about 8:20 AM, twenty minutes early. Upon arrival, we made our way to the Metropolitan Lounge. This is another nice lounge just made for sleeping car passengers and it provides nice chairs and couches as well as refreshments. They also store our luggage and board us early into our sleeping cars. We relaxed for a while until about lunch, when another friend of mine, Robert, came to have lunch. Just like Bill, I had met Robert on the Amtrak Unlimited gatherings over the two previous years. He works just a few blocks away in downtown Chicago. So he and I had a sandwich in the food court while we talked about trains, Amtrak and other modes of transportation. After a brief meal and chatting, Robert went back to work, and I showed Melissa around Union Station. It sits right in the heart of Chicago along the Chicago River and is only a few blocks from Sears Tower. We thought about the idea of going up the tower but decided we should save the money instead. I, of course, have been up there several times in the past, so it would be nothing new to me. We decided to go relax some more in the lounge and wait for our departure of the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. It would be a 3:15 PM departure this time.

After boarding we left right on time. While watching the suburbs of Chicago go by, I decided to go sit in the lounge car to get some pictures. Soon we were rolling by farmlands and I was able to get some great sunset pictures (hopefully). The only problem with doing this trip in the middle of February is the shorter days. It gets dark around 6 PM so it’s easy to miss some good scenery. Darkness fell just a few minutes before crossing the Mississippi River going into Fort Madison, Iowa. This would be my second of four crossings of the river on this trip.

Right as we crossed the Mississippi, it was time for another dinner. We sat with a couple from Australia whom had been in the US for their daughters wedding and then taking a cross country train trip before going back home. We made the usual talk about train travel, air travel, and well just travel in general. This seems to be a common theme among dinner conversations, especially when they find out what I do (did) for a living. For the meal I chose to have the special which was chicken enchiladas. It was quite good and then I enjoyed a coffee for dessert. I passed this time on the actual dessert. I know I’ll have plenty of chances to have it on this trip, so figure I better sit out sometimes. After dinner, I headed back to our room to write more trip reports. Soon we arrived into Kansas City after which we headed to bed. I want to be up early to see the sunrise over the plains of Kansas.


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## saxman

Day 7- February 17, 2009

All Day on the Chief

After leaving Kansas City, we were off to bed. We’d be crossing the plains of Kansas, so I suppose we wouldn’t miss too much to see. During the middle of the night I awoke as always to make a bathroom break. This time we happened to be stopped in Dodge City, KS. I stepped off the train to snap a few photos. Then I went back to bed to sleep some more before breakfast. I could finally say the words, “We’re getting outa Dodge!”….literally. Soon, Melissa and I were both awake while still dark. We wanted to get up to see the sunrise, so we did just that and sat in the lounge car. There’s just something about seeing the sunrise out on the open plains that is amazing. At the same time I wonder how people live out there in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but a few trees in your yard. Sure must be quiet. That can be said for much of America’s Heartland. Just wait until I cross Montana and Nebraska. Later that morning we had breakfast. I had the omelet again and during then we crossed into the state of Colorado. In La Junta, CO we were able to step off the train for about 45 minutes. This was of course due to our early arrival and a crew change point. La Junta is a small town in Southeastern Colorado. A lady meets the train everyday at the platform to sell jewelry, books and other goodies to the train passengers. I bought couple small items from her while I also took several pictures of the train and the station.

Soon we were back on The Chief heading west. I was getting my camera ready for lots of pictures to take while crossing Raton Pass. Raton Pass sits on the border between Colorado and New Mexico. It was built in the late 19th Century by the Santa Fe Railroad. As you make the climb, the train reaches an elevation of over 7500 feet while going through a tunnel right on the border. Coming out of the tunnel the train enters the state of New Mexico and soon enters the Pass’s namesake town of Raton, NM. Here we come close to Philmont Scout Ranch, a Boy Scout high adventure camp in the New Mexico mountains. I got to travel to this camp over ten years ago when I was in scouting. We backpacked over 50 miles through this park. Hopefully one day I can travel back there. Leaving Raton, the Chief roughly parallels Interstate 25. It continues down the mountain pass and finally enters the city of Albuquerque later in the afternoon This would be where Melissa would disembark and I would continue onto Los Angeles. The train stopped in Albuquerque for about an hour, so I helped her get a cab to the airport for her to fly home. We said our goodbyes and I was on my own again.

The train departed Albuquerque on time again and it was soon dark over the New Mexican desert. Here the train picks up some real speed, as it travels at about 90 miles per hour here. The tracks were very smooth too. This is how it should be everywhere, I think. I had another dinner in the diner with several people who were traveling to a conference in LA. They seemed to be jealous about my long trip, but wished me well. After dinner I headed back to my room for relaxing. The train continued to make good time until we got to Winslow, AZ. I guess someone decided they wanted to bring their private car along, so it took about 45 minutes to couple that to the back of the train. Ever since leaving Austin, my train had been on time until then. But then again, for Amtrak, I think we did pretty well. Later it turned out to be not an issue. I fell asleep again and don’t remember much of Arizona. The next thing I knew, we were in California.


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## saxman

Day 8- February 18, 2009

From Southwest to Starlight, 5,016 miles down

Today, the Southwest Chief arrived into Los Angeles Union Station. Despite our little hiccup in Winslow, AZ the night prior, the train was still thirty minutes early. It would be plenty of time for my next connection, the Coast Starlight toward Seattle. I arose early around 5 am so I could have breakfast in the diner. I went light and just had oatmeal with fruit and yogurt. I went back to my room while I watched the suburbs of the LA area go by, making stops in San Bernardino, Riverside, Fullerton, and finally Los Angeles. I tipped my sleeping car attendant, Lisa, and made my way into the station. Union Station is a very nice station right in downtown LA. Built in the 1930’s it has a very Art Deco style of architecture and looks very southwestern. You’ve probably seen it in several movies. I perused through the newsstand and made my way to the Traxx Club. This is just for sleeping car passengers whom are boarding the Coast Starlight. It’s just a small area in the station and offers some coffee and juices before departure. I waited in there for a few minutes before they announced boarding of our train.

The Coast Starlight is one of my favorite trains in the Amtrak system. Not only does it have spectacular scenery, but provides a 1950’s era “Pacific Parlour Car” for real first class service during the trip. Of course, its use is exclusive to sleeping car passengers.

Soon again, we were departing LA right on time. Leaving Los Angeles, the train travels along one of the cities concrete rivers aligned with local “art work” This of course stands in sharp contrast to other parts of the trip along the coastline and into the mountains. It doesn’t take long though for the train to start climbing out of the LA Basin and start running right up next to the Pacific Ocean. Finally I had made it from the Atlantic to the Pacific by train! This is probably the most spectacular parts of the trip, having mountains on one side and ocean on the other. I made sure to take lots of pictures from the Parlour Car.

As soon as we left San Luis Obispo, it was time for the wine tasting ceremony. I, of course, like to take part while I enjoy fine California wines and cheeses and chatting with my fellow passengers. Also, just after leaving San Luis Obispo, the train around one of only three horseshoe curves in the United States. It was perfect for some photographs and was able to get both ends of the train at the same time. From here the route crosses over a small mountain range and gets further inland from the coast. So no more Pacific Ocean for a while. Yet that doesn’t mean the scenery stops. The train continues up the valley and finally enters the Bay Area of California by nightfall. We made several stops in San Jose, Oakland and Emeryville, both of which have shuttle bus connections over to San Francisco. Oakland has a very unique station, because as you leave going north, the trains actually run in the street. This is known as Jack London Square and any train buff knows this is a great place to watch both freight and passenger trains while sitting in a café drinking coffee. I’ll have more on that later though. I’ll be back later in the trip.

After leaving Emeryville, I decided to call it a night and headed to bed. I slept very well, and I awoke just before crossing into the state of Oregon. Sometimes I wish the train would be late because I always seem to miss the mountain ranges in Northern California. It’s usually dark in both directions when traveling on the Coast Starlight.


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## RailFanLNK

Saxman, great trip report! Can't figure out why they searched your luggage, your the most innocent lookin' guy I've been around and just plain nice as well! Enjoy the trip!

Al


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## amtrakwolverine

the cop must of figured young punks up to no good.sense he pulled over another person around the same age has you.


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## saxman

Day 9- February 19, 2009

Cascades and Seattle Arrival, 6,393 miles down

We must have kept good time through out the night. I awoke just as we were crossing the California/Oregon border. This part of California sure is much different from Southern California. Hopefully soon, I can come back here to do more exploring. Our first stop in Oregon was Klamath Falls. It’s a crew change point so we’re allowed to step off the train for some fresh air and some pictures. We also arrived nearly 30 minutes early so we had a nice long break. I use to have a roommate who lived in Klamath Falls. His name was also Chris, and I would be seeing him later in the trip. He now lives in Vancouver, WA. After leaving Klamath Falls, I went to have breakfast in the Parlour Car. It was a frittata with potatoes and a dcroissant. It was a pretty good meal while I chatted with the passengers across from me. Everyone always asks me my itinerary once they find out that I’m traveling the entire country by train. I should just print it out so I can hand it to the people. I get tired of explaining it all. Most of them seem to be jealous though.

After breakfast I returned to my room to relax for a bit. I didn’t stay long because I wanted to be in the Parlour Car for the crossing of the Cascade Range. This is an even better part of the trip, I think. I took quite a few photos and some video of the train weaving through the mountains at a slow pace. There’s even the famous landslide to see. This landslide happened just over a year ago, when mud and rock came lose above the tracks. Debris came crashing down the mountain, taking trees and train tracks all along with it. Not only did the slide take out one section of track, but since the line makes a big switchback later down the mountain, the slide took out two sections of track. Needless to say, train service, freight and passenger traffic was ceased for several months while Union Pacific rebuilt the line. It was no small feat either. A few months later the line was reopened and the Coast Starlight could once again travel the entire route.

After enjoying the Cascade Range it was time for lunch. This time, I had my meal in the dining car. I watched the train make it’s way down the mountain and eventually you start seeing civilization again. We made stops in Eugene, Albany, and Salem before pulling into Portland, Oregon. Portland is a beautiful city right on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Although I’ve never spent much time there, I hear it’s a great place to live. It also has a really nice station. I would be back in Portland in a few days though to depart on the Empire Builder, which takes me back east.

Just a few hours later we finally arrived into Seattle, Washington. The train pulled in right at 8:25 pm, twenty minutes early. There, I claimed my bag and my friend Nate was there waiting for me. Nate was an old roommate from college. I had not seen him in over seven years, but somehow managed to stay in touch. He moved to Seattle a few years ago, and we’ve been trying to meet up ever since. He drove me to his house in Bellevue, Washington, which was not far from the station. He had an extra bedroom and I happy to have a place to rest with a real bed and my own room. I like riding trains but after being on the rails for 9 days in a row kind of wore me out.

Day 10- February 20, 2009

Day of Rest

Today was a very lazy day for me. Nate had to work so I just stayed at his house for the day. I walked around the block to check out the neighborhood. Then I came back to the house only to find I had locked myself out. Nate said there was a key under a rock, but turns out his wife gave it to someone else. Luckily he works less than ten minutes away, so he able to step out for a bit to let me in. Later that evening, Nate and his roommate and myself, all went out to dinner in Seattle. We ate at Chinook’s Seafood out on the water. It was very good. We also walked around downtown Seattle a bit before heading back to home.

Day 11- February 21, 2009

The Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park

This was a very fun day. Nate, his roommate Eric, and I gathered in the car to took a drive to the Olympic Mountains in Western Washington. We took a ferry from Edmonds across Puget Sound and drove into Olympic National Park. Since there was lots of snow still on the mountains, we couldn’t do much hiking, but did make it up to the top of Hurricane Ridge by driving. This was a great place to see lots of the park from very high. I could also see all the way to Victoria, British Columbia, a city just over the bay in Canada. It was a pretty spectacular view. Later we had pizza in the city of Port Angeles, just at the bottom of the mountains. Nate suggested we take drive to Crescent Lake just another few miles down the road. This glacial lake sits right on the middle of several peaks and is crystal clear making for some great photos. We also took a short hike from there to Marymere Falls. This was a big waterfall up in the hills and we climbed all over it. Nate even took a dip in the frigid water, although that was not intentional. Soon it was about to get dark so we figure we’d call it a day and head back home for the night.


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## saxman

Day 12- February 22, 2009

Back on the Rails, Day trip in Portland

I arose about 6:00 am for my next departure to Vancouver, Washington. Nate took me to the train station and I boarded the 7:30 am Amtrak Cascades. These train run with Spanish made Talgo train sets. They are unique in that they are single level and sit very low to the ground. Unlike conventional train sets, you cannot just add or take away cars. There are about eight or nine pivot points along the set to allow for curves. I really like the way they look. They are much different from any other train in the Amtrak system.

After getting my ticket I was able to receive an upgrade to business class with one of my Select Rewards Member coupons. This is gave me a little extra leg room as well as a $3 off coupon for the café car. I found my seat and soon we were off from Seattle. I headed to the café car where I had some oatmeal for breakfast along with coffee. It was only about a 3 hour journey so I spent most of the time looking out at Puget Sound and reading the paper. Riding the Coast Starlight northbound, I had already been on this portion of the route, yet it was dark, so I didn’t get to see much. The train arrived into Vancouver just about 5 minutes late where my friend, Chris was there to pick me up. Chris is another roommate from college. He had gotten hired as a pilot for Horizon Air, based in Portland, Oregon, only to get furloughed also. So we were both living the life of unemployment. Chris is a pretty smart kid, so he decided to go back to school and get a degree in mechanical engineering.

Chris and I headed in his car over to downtown Portland. We thought we would walk around and get a bite to eat. In order to get free parking, we parked at a mall outside the city and then hopped on the MAX Lightrail line into downtown, just a few stops away. Chris thought it would be cool to see Powell’s Books. This is apparently a very famous new and used bookstore located in Portland. It was quite large as it took up several stories and each story had room after room of books. We spent some time browsing through the aisles and thumbing through various books. I didn’t buy anything as I really did not want to carry any more stuff. Plus I already brought some books that I haven’t even cracked open. After the bookstore, Chris and I were getting hungry. So we walked around downtown in search of food. Finally we came across Biscuits Café, a local diner, and had a late brunch. By this time I thought it would be a good idea to go back to the car and get my things for the next train departure.

We made it to the car, and made our way back into downtown by way of a gas station. Chris told me that Oregon is the only state in the union that prohibits people from pumping their own gas! I had never heard this and I still wonder why this is. Sure enough we pulled up to the gas pump and the attendant pumped the gas for us. I suppose that’s a nice thing to have if its cold out. Afterwards we headed to the station and found a free parking space right in front. Chris helped me with my large bag and I checked it all the way to Miami. I showed Chris around the station and we went into the Metropolitan Lounge, again just for sleeping car passengers. Portland’s lounge is a lot smaller but it is really nice. Of course it’s not quite as busy as Chicago or Washington DC. Chris had never taken a train before and seemed a little interested in how it worked. I told him he could take it to Klamath Falls, his hometown. He thought it would be a great idea because he usually drove the 6 or 7 hours, much of it on two lane roads, and it wasn’t usually fun, especially in winter. You have to cross a mountain range to get there too.

After chatting for awhile in the lounge, Chris decided to head back home. I said goodbye, and was on my own again. Soon it was time for boarding on the Empire Builder. I found my room which was number 9 this time on the last car of the train. This would be another two day trip across Northern Montana and North Dakota where I would make a stop in Wisconsin. The train departed promptly at 4:45 pm and again made a stop in Vancouver, WA. After Vancouver, the train turns eastbound and follows the Columbia River Gorge for a couple hundred miles before going north to Spokane. Here, another part of the Empire Builder from Seattle meets and the train is put together for the rest of the journey to Chicago.

Soon after entering the Gorge, my car attendant came around offering dinner. Since the dining car was on the Seattle section of the train, we were stuck with cold meals for dinner. I chose to have salmon, with some fruit, salad and a roll. Although it was cold, it was still pretty good. Plus I wasn’t that hungry to begin with. Just about an hour or so into the trip, it was dark again. Even though it gets dark earlier this time of year, having sleeper makes it little better. I like to shut the curtains and turn out all the lights in my room so I can get the full effect of traveling through the night. At least that way, you can get the moonlight or outside streetlights to see things outside. It seems very peaceful out there.

As soon as we left Pasco, Washington, I was off to sleep for the night.


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## saxman

Day 13- February 23, 2009

Across Montana

I awoke around 7 AM just before we pulled into Whitefish, Montana. I was pretty tired still so I didn’t really want to get up, but I also don’t like to miss anything either. After Whitefish is, of course, Glacier National Park. The train arrived early into Whitefish. I stepped off for a few minutes for the normal photo shoots of the station and the mountains. Whitefish looks like a really neat small town. I’ve only driven around it once in the past, so I need to come back. After leaving Whitefish, I had a quick breakfast and then made my way to the lounge car to get ready to see Glacier National Park.

The rail line skirts the southern border of the park for about 60 miles and crosses the famous Marias Pass. After the Transcontinental Railroad was finished in 1869, several other transcon routes were completed. Marias Pass was the northern route built by the Great Northern Railway. If you visit Glacier Park, you can stay in the Glacier Park Lodge, which was also built by the Great Northern in the early 1900’s. It sits right up the hill from the East Glacier Park station and is a great photo opportunity if you catch it. Although the lodge is closed in winter, you can also stay at the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Montana. This hotel is also right along the tracks and is open year round for skiers and rail fans. It was also built for railroaders to stay at while working trains in the pass. The Empire Builder was originally run by the Great Northern Railway and its still great to see that it continues to run today.

From the lounge car I took quite a few pictures going through the park. Too bad it wasn’t very sunny. Blue sky would have helped the pictures come out great. Blue skies finally came out after leaving Glacier Park, and entering the vast open flats of Eastern Montana. About as quickly as you can say Amtrak, the train leaves the Rocky Mountains. All the way to Minnesota, its virtually nothing but old barns and vast open land for miles. No trees either. Again, I wonder how anyone lives out here. Then out of nowhere a town pops up. Many are stops for the train, yet some are not. Maybe I’ll come visit one of these towns one day. I’d probably sleep really well because of the quietness, but I’d probably get bored quickly. Either way, the openness still fascinates me.

We rolled through Montana at a brisk pace. I attended another wine and cheese tasting in the dining car. Maybe I’m becoming more of a wine conesuer because I actually didn’t like a couple of the wines. Yet the cheese is always good. Since there is always leftover wine, the attendant asked some trivia. I, of course, won the first bottle because the first question was which US State is the furthest east. Everyone should know its Alaska! So I took the Chardonnay with me back to my room. I would enjoy it for dinner.

Soon it was time for another fine dinner. It had been awhile since I had steak, so I had just that. It was quite good and tender, and didn’t even need A1 Sauce. I shared my wine with the other folks at my table. Two were a couple from Canada making a vacation toward Chicago. They seemed to enjoy their first ride on the train. Afterwards I headed back to my sleeping quarters and to walk around the station at Minot, North Dakota. I called my friend, Melanie to come out to meet me. She said she would bake me some cookies. Melanie went to UND with me where we had a few classes together. I told her I’d be coming on the train and she said she would meet me. But after her getting off work late and having to drive out of town and then back to town to meet the train would take too long. I gave her a hard time for not getting any homemade cookies. But, I was already full and probably didn’t really need them anyway.

After leaving Minot, I had my bed down and crawled in. I set my alarm for about 12:45 am so I could wake up going through Grand Forks. I use to live in Grand Forks for about 5 years when I was going to school there at University of North Dakota. Of course, I had used the Grand Forks station quite frequently to take rides down to Minneapolis or Chicago to fly home. The station sits about a mile or so outside of town, so I didn’t really see much. Though, I could make out the tops of the Aerospace buildings on the UND campus. Those buildings are all too familiar, which is where I had most of my aviation classes during my college days. I miss the fun there, but probably could do without the cold. After Grand Forks, I figured I’d better get some sleep.


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## saxman

Day 14- February 24, 2009

Wisconsin Dells Arrival

8,632 miles down

After sleeping fairly well through Minnesota, I awoke when we were stopped in St. Paul. Normally I would have gotten up to see the station, but I was still tired so I just slept some more. After we pulled out of St. Paul, I got dressed and headed to the diner for breakfast. This time I had the French toast while I watched the Mississippi River go by. This would be my third time on the trip to see the river, yet this time the river was frozen over. The route follows the Mississippi all the way to La Crosse, Wisconsin where it crosses over and heads toward Milwaukee and then Chicago. My stop would be however Wisconsin Dells for a day. I have another friend in the Dells, so I thought I would make this a stop over point.

The train arrived right after noon. Wisconsin Dells is a smaller town in central Wisconsin right on the Wisconsin River. It is a popular tourist spot known for its recreations, such as water parks, amusements, and your other typical tourist traps. I took a short cab ride to my hotel, and hung out with my friend later that evening. Even though I love sleeping on the train, its nice to have a real bed.

Day 15- February 25, 2009

Lazy day in the Dells


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## saxman

Day 16- February 26, 2009

Back on the Rails, Chicago and South

The Empire Builder arrived at about 12:50 pm again for my trip to Chicago. My on time streak had ended as the train was running about 45 minutes late. I didn’t worry though because it would still leave me time to make my connection in Chicago. Even though the trip to Chicago was only about 3 hours I still had a sleeping car for this part of the trip. The couple across from me was very interested to here about my trip. They were new to Amtrak and they were going from Montana all the way to Orlando, Florida. They wanted me to show them how to get to the Metropolitan Lounge in the Chicago and I also told them about the lounge in Washington DC, as that was their next connection to Florida. Even though I was also going to Florida, I was taking a different train through West Virginia. I had a quick lunch in the diner after leaving the Dells. All I had was a salad with tuna, as I wasn’t very hungry. Later the train made stops in Milwaukee and finally arrived into Chicago at about 4:20 pm, only about 25 minutes late. I showed my new friends the way to the lounge where I waited for about 45 minutes for the boarding of my next train. During then I was able to catch up on a few emails and such.

Soon they were announcing boarding for my next train, The Cardinal, which would take me to Charlottesville, Virginia. This train is probably not one of Amtrak’s best trains, but I like the scenery along the way. It’s a rather short train and carries only a few coaches and a sleeper. My meals would be simply microwaved, so the food was not all that great either as there is no real dining car on this train. My sleeping car was on the end of the train, where I found my room and got settled in. We departed Chicago right at 5:45 pm and I went straight to the café for dinner. For being microwaved, my braised beef actually was not too bad. It came with mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side. I sat by myself though. Afterwards I relaxed in my sleeper for another hour or two before calling it a night again.

Day 17- February 27, 2009

The New River Gorge and the Mountains of West Virginia

9,703 miles down

I must have slept well through the night, because next thing I knew, day was breaking over West Virginia. I didn’t really feel like getting up yet, so I stayed in my room for a bit to look out the window. Later we made a stop in Charleston where I stepped off for some air and of course pictures. My luck with the weather ended, as it was pouring rain there. Soon after we pulled out of Charleston it was time for breakfast. I had a cheese omlette, which was not good at all. The potatoes it came with weren’t good either. So I ate what I could and then headed back to the café car to enjoy the scenery.

Even though for the lousy food on this train, it probably has the best scenery east of the Mississippi. The route enters the New River Gorge area and travels along it for quite a ways. The river is a large river with large rapids and steep banks. Besides riding the train, the only other way down to it is to hike down into it or raft it. The train sure is easy but hiking or rafting sure would be fun too. Also one of the highest truss bridges in North America, US Highway 19, goes over the gorge. You can also easily see this from the train. Later the train weaves through the passes and makes several stops in small mountain towns along the way. It also passes by the famous Greenbriar Mountain Resort as the train enters Virginia.

After having lunch, I headed for the shower. It was probably the worst time to take a shower, because it was about the bumpiest ride yet. Changing clothes and washing your hair can be adventure sometimes on the train, all while being jerked and knocked around in a shower stall. Every time I let go of the handle, it seemed the train through me against the wall.

I survived my shower adventure and headed back to my room to get my things together. Charlottesville was coming up and I needed to be ready. We arrived there about 20 minutes late and there a bus was waiting to take me to Richmond, Virginia. From what I could see of the town, Charlottesville looks like a neat college town. You can see the campus of the University of Virginia from the train and it looks really nice. Soon we were on our way to Richmond on the bus. I slept most of the way. About an hour later, we pulled into town and it dropped us off at the Amtrak station. Here I would catch my next train, the Silver Meteor to Miami!

The station was pretty for being so small. It lays out in the suburbs, but there were several places to eat around. My layover would be about 5 hours. I was also glad to find that the station had wi-fi access, so I caught up on email and the normal internet things while I was there. I also walked down to the grocery store to get a bite to eat. I had some chicken and corn for 4 bucks. It filled me up though. Later I went back to the station to wait for my train. Soon it arrived and I was back on the rails leaving Richmond promptly at 9:50 pm.

My sleeper again was a single level car. This time I decided I would try the upper bunk because it has a second window up top for me to see out. It’s also nice have chairs below, without having to make the bed up or take it down all the time. The ride was pretty bumpy up there going south though. Finally I fell asleep and rested until about 8 o’clock.


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## AlanB

saxman66 said:


> We made it to the car, and made our way back into downtown by way of a gas station. Chris told me that Oregon is the only state in the union that prohibits people from pumping their own gas! I had never heard this and I still wonder why this is. Sure enough we pulled up to the gas pump and the attendant pumped the gas for us. I suppose that’s a nice thing to have if its cold out.


Chris would be wrong. Oregon isn't the only state that prohibits people from pumping their own gas. New Jersey also still has such a law on the books.


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## gswager

> Since there is always leftover wine, the attendant asked some trivia. I, of course, won the first bottle because the first question was which US State is the furthest east. Everyone should know its Alaska!


Alaska is the furthest west, not east. So I'm assuming that Maine is the furthest east, right?


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## PRR 60

gswager said:


> Since there is always leftover wine, the attendant asked some trivia. I, of course, won the first bottle because the first question was which US State is the furthest east. Everyone should know its Alaska!
> 
> 
> 
> Alaska is the furthest west, not east. So I'm assuming that Maine is the furthest east, right?
Click to expand...

Ah HA! It is kind of a trick question, and one that is loved by geography nerds (like me).

East and west, geographically, are demarcated by the 180deg longitude. Locations from east of 0 degrees to 180 are EAST, locations from west of 0 to 180 are WEST. The Aleutian Islands are part of the state of Alaska. The island chain extend across the 180deg longitude. The closest island on the west side of 180 (Semisopochnoi Island) is, in fact, in the eastern hemisphere. That island, located at 179 degrees, 46.5 minutes EAST is the eastern-most point in the USA.

Semisopochnoi Island

Another favorite question is:

Q: Of Reno, Los Angeles, and San Diego, which is the western-most city.

A: Reno


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## amtrakwolverine

AlanB said:


> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> We made it to the car, and made our way back into downtown by way of a gas station. Chris told me that Oregon is the only state in the union that prohibits people from pumping their own gas! I had never heard this and I still wonder why this is. Sure enough we pulled up to the gas pump and the attendant pumped the gas for us. I suppose that’s a nice thing to have if its cold out.
> 
> 
> 
> Chris would be wrong. Oregon isn't the only state that prohibits people from pumping their own gas. New Jersey also still has such a law on the books.
Click to expand...

why is that. here in Michigan its rare to see gas stations with FULL and self service. there all self serve.


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## AAARGH!

PRR 60 said:


> gswager said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Since there is always leftover wine, the attendant asked some trivia. I, of course, won the first bottle because the first question was which US State is the furthest east. Everyone should know its Alaska!
> 
> 
> 
> Alaska is the furthest west, not east. So I'm assuming that Maine is the furthest east, right?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Ah HA! It is kind of a trick question, and one that is loved by geography nerds (like me).
> 
> East and west, geographically, are demarcated by the 180deg longitude. Locations from east of 0 degrees to 180 are EAST, locations from west of 0 to 180 are WEST. The Aleutian Islands are part of the state of Alaska. The island chain extend across the 180deg longitude. The closest island on the west side of 180 (Semisopochnoi Island) is, in fact, in the eastern hemisphere. That island, located at 179 degrees, 46.5 minutes EAST is the eastern-most point in the USA.
> 
> Semisopochnoi Island
> 
> Another favorite question is:
> 
> Q: Of Reno, Los Angeles, and San Diego, which is the western-most city.
> 
> A: Reno
Click to expand...

Alaska is the Western most, Northern most, and eastern Most. Of course the Southern most is Hawaii.

Another geographic question:

If you are in downtown Detroit and you go due south, what is the next country (other than the U.S. of course) you would enter?

A: Canada. Windsor, ON is south of downtown Detroit as the Detroit River makes an S-curve with Windsor inside the lower part of the S. This one is fun at parties (well, at leat the parties I go to :huh: ).


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## GG-1

AAARGH said:


> PRR 60 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gswager said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Since there is always leftover wine, the attendant asked some trivia. I, of course, won the first bottle because the first question was which US State is the furthest east. Everyone should know its Alaska!
> 
> 
> 
> Alaska is the furthest west, not east. So I'm assuming that Maine is the furthest east, right?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Ah HA! It is kind of a trick question, and one that is loved by geography nerds (like me).
> 
> East and west, geographically, are demarcated by the 180deg longitude. Locations from east of 0 degrees to 180 are EAST, locations from west of 0 to 180 are WEST. The Aleutian Islands are part of the state of Alaska. The island chain extend across the 180deg longitude. The closest island on the west side of 180 (Semisopochnoi Island) is, in fact, in the eastern hemisphere. That island, located at 179 degrees, 46.5 minutes EAST is the eastern-most point in the USA.
> 
> Semisopochnoi Island
> 
> Another favorite question is:
> 
> Q: Of Reno, Los Angeles, and San Diego, which is the western-most city.
> 
> A: Reno
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Alaska is the Western most, Northern most, and eastern Most. Of course the Southern most is Hawaii.
> 
> Another geographic question:
> 
> If you are in downtown Detroit and you go due south, what is the next country (other than the U.S. of course) you would enter?
> 
> A: Canada. Windsor, ON is south of downtown Detroit as the Detroit River makes an S-curve with Windsor inside the lower part of the S. This one is fun at parties (well, at leat the parties I go to :huh: ).
Click to expand...

But Wait, If Alaska can count all the islands, what about the 1500 islands in the Hawaii chain, That is a lot of area. And dont forget we are growing a new Island east of Hawaii


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## Chi_Train_Fan

AlanB said:


> Chris would be wrong. Oregon isn't the only state that prohibits people from pumping their own gas. New Jersey also still has such a law on the books.


No trouble pumping my own gas in Parsippany, NJ in September 2008. I find these laws annoying as I have also been for a fill up in Portland, OR. All rental cars. I do not want to wait on an attendant, and they certainly do not earn a tip for something that I would normally do myself.

David

Chicago, IL


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## Chi_Train_Fan

CHI_Amtrak_Fan said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> 
> Chris would be wrong. Oregon isn't the only state that prohibits people from pumping their own gas. New Jersey also still has such a law on the books.
> 
> 
> 
> No trouble pumping my own gas in Parsippany, NJ in September 2008. I find these laws annoying as I have also been for a fill up in Portland, OR. All rental cars. I do not want to wait on an attendant, and they certainly do not earn a tip for something that I would normally do myself.
> 
> David
> 
> Chicago, IL
Click to expand...

The Google told me you were right Alan. I guess that's why I had some guy offer to help. I thought that was weird. I knew about the law in Oregon, but not in New Jersey. Guess I broke the law!


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## saxman

Day 18- February 28, 2009

Arrival into Miami, Florida! 10,758 miles down

Somewhere during the middle of the night, just two miles outside of Florence, South Carolina, I hit a huge milestone for this trip. 10,000 miles! I was fast asleep during this momentous occasion so I didn’t really get to celebrate. The train kept time throughout the night and I awoke just as we were coming into Florida. Jacksonville would be the first stop in the Sunshine State.

During breakfast I sat across from a lady who was going to Miami to bring her mother back to New York. She does the train often and mentioned she wants to take the train out west. Well who better to tell her about the trains out west, than yours truly. I told her to make a big circle from her home in New York, and then go New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, then back home. She wrote it down and said she was going to do it. I’m glad I can make more people ride the train more often.

After breakfast, the train pulled into Jacksonville for about 30 minutes. I stepped off again as usual to check out the station. Since the station is just north of downtown, there isn’t much to see. Soon we were on way south again making stops in Winter Park, a suburb of Orlando then Orlando itself. This of course is a popular destination for all the theme parks around such as Disney World. We continued south again, through many of Florida’s orange groves. They really seemed to be ripening because there were oranges on just about every tree I saw. Other then orange groves, the scenery in Florida is not all exciting; at least from the train. But we did speed along at a brisk pace on our way to Miami!

Finally the train reaches the South Florida coast with a stop in West Palm Beach. From here it would be smooth sailing as the train makes several stops, yet only lets people off the train. This way, delays are minimized by not having to reload. Local passengers can take the Tri-Rail, which makes frequent trips between West Palm Beach and Miami. After stopping in Fort Lauderdale, and Hollywood, we finally arrived into Miami. I split a cab with the same lady I had breakfast with to go to Miami Beach. There I checked into my hostel, the Ohana Hostel on 4th Street, just a few blocks from the beach. They were serving dinner at the time so I helped myself to a free hotdog. My room was pretty plain. I met two French guys who were staying in my room also. They were staying in Miami for a week to lay on the beach and also see other things like the Florida Keys. The hostel had a nice patio so I stayed there for a while before going to bed. I didn’t really feel like going out that night. I was too tired.

Day 19- March 1, 2009

It’s March. To the beach!

During the day, I went to beach and swam in the Atlantic Ocean. It was great! It was a little cloudy but the sun did poke through often. It was a nice day to be there. I also walked along Ocean Drive, with the numerous restaurants and fancy cars parked in front. I had a quick bite a Johnny Rockets, a 50’s diner. It was good because it was a lot cheaper then all the other places. After lunch, I went to the beach again for a bit. And I didn’t even get burned.

Later that night, I met some of the other hostellers at the free dinner. They were cooking up barbeque chicken and it turned out to be really good….or so I thought.


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## AlanB

To Mark in Hong Kong,

While I understand your reasons for making your post in this topic, it really is the wrong place for it. This forum is for trip reports, not for advice on picking the best route. It would take the ongoing reporting being done by Saxman way off course if lots of people were to respond to you here. Additionally, you'll most likely get far more advice with the post in the correct forum than you would here.

You can find your post by clicking here.


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## p&sr

AAARGH said:


> Another geographic question:
> If you are in downtown Detroit and you go due south, what is the next country (other than the U.S. of course) you would enter?
> 
> A: Canada.


That's a good one. Here's another. Suppose you are in Northern California, just north of Crescent City, in the Town of Smith River (where all the Easter Lilies come from). What would be the next country you would enter if you head due east?

Answer: Canada. That same area around Windsor.

Therefore California (part of it, anyway) is just as far North as (part of) Canada.

Next question: Is any part of California as far east as Wyoming?

Anwer: Yes! Cabo San Lucas (down in the Tropics) at the tip of Baja California is farther east than Yellowstone National Park in the State of Wyoming.


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## GG-1

Aloha

My burning question :huh: can you get to all the places listed by train?

Mahalo

Eric


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## OlympianHiawatha

Saxman, your reports have made for fascinating reading and I have found myself looking forward to your ongoing installments. Now I'm really in suspense as I fear something dreadful is going to result from that free chicken dinner


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## Long Train Runnin'

CHI_Amtrak_Fan said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> 
> Chris would be wrong. Oregon isn't the only state that prohibits people from pumping their own gas. New Jersey also still has such a law on the books.
> 
> 
> 
> No trouble pumping my own gas in Parsippany, NJ in September 2008. I find these laws annoying as I have also been for a fill up in Portland, OR. All rental cars. I do not want to wait on an attendant, and they certainly do not earn a tip for something that I would normally do myself.
> 
> David
> 
> Chicago, IL
Click to expand...

I live in NJ and yeah you never tip the gas station attendant I honestly don't know how to pump gas... although I suspect I could handle it lol. And yeah the attendants get all nervous and weird when you get out of your car before they start to fuel.


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## saxman

Hahaha, didn't know I was keeping everyone in such suspence. Well fear not, I'm still alive and well.

Day 20- March 2, 2009

Back North and not feeling too well.

That chicken must have not been cooked, because I wasn’t feeling too hot the next morning. I arose about 5:30 in order to take a bus to the train station. It was a sleepless night because the hostel beds were lumpy and all they gave us was a sheet and one thin pillow. I at least need two pillows to prop my head up, but I prefer three, so I can hold the other. I guess I’m picky. Plus it wasn’t exactly warm in the room. So I used my jacket as another blanket. I may as well have been camping out, but this was worse.

After checking out, I walked down to the 24 hour CVS Pharmacy to get some water. Maybe I would feel better. It helped a little. From there I caught the M bus line toward downtown Miami where that would connect me with the MetroRail. Once I figured it out, it was pretty easy. But the Metro station near the Amtrak station isn’t really close either. I could have taken another bus, but just walked the 4 blocks with two suitcases to the station. I probably wouldn’t have want to take the walk it at night though. It wasn’t exactly Miami’s best part of town. It seemed ok during the day though.

I got to the station, which I might add is almost exactly the same layout and design as St. Paul, Minnesota’s station. There, I checked my bag all the way to Boston for my next layover. They have a little room set aside just for sleeping car passengers. It was small but adequate. I was feeling a little bit better, so I went ahead to board the train when they called. This was the one time I was really glad to have a bed to lay down on. Just after leaving Miami I made the top bunk up and climbed in to get some sleep. Since Florida wasn’t the most scenic from the train, I knew I wouldn’t miss much.

Back on the Silver Meteor, the train departed right on time at 8:40. I slept some after leaving and woke back up coming into Orlando. The CSX Railroad had starting doing track work along the route, so we were slow moving through out. We ended up in Orlando about an hour late. I had lunch in the dining car and later had dinner. It was a pretty crowded train this time, because Florida is popular this time of year with the Northeasterners. I always like a packed dining car though. It makes for some good times and good conversation. (And yes, I do actually talk to my fellow passengers….well sometimes) After dinner, I headed back to get some sleep early. Hopefully I could feel somewhat better. It was definitely that chicken that didn’t go down right.


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## saxman

Day 21- March 3, 2009

Up the Northeast Corridor

I slept pretty well throughout the night. Somehow the train made up the time it lost in Florida, so we were only about 15 minutes late arriving into Washington DC. The Northeast had just gotten hit by a huge snowstorm, so everything was white with lots of snow. Luckily the sun was out, so it made for great morning pictures, coming into the DC area.

I got off the train for my second layover in DC. It still wasn’t very much fun as I was still not cured from my bad chicken. Although I felt fine- lets just put it this way…I had to take many trips to the bathroom on the Northeast Regional train. Luckily a bathroom wasn’t too far away in my transit to Boston.

I waited again in the lounge for my next regional train to Boston. Since this is the busy Northeast Corridor, there’s no sleeper service here. I was able to get business class however. Now you would think, since Amtrak owns the rail lines on the Northeast Corridor I would be on time. But my trip to Boston actually was my worst train yet! This was most likely due to the snowstorm though. We left Washington DC about an hour late. I tried to get some sleep in my business class seat, but didn’t have too much luck. The seats are a little hard, and don’t really conform to my body surprisingly. If I had the choice I could have taken the Acela, Amtrak’s highspeed train service. But Amtrak charges a premium for that service, so I chose to skip it for this trip. The train travels through Philadelphia, then New York City. Then it makes its way along the coast of Connecticut. It’s actually a pretty scenic ride, as you can see out to Long Island Sound and many beaches. At Rhode Island it turns north and makes a stop in Providence. It was here where we got even more delayed. Apparently, on a bridge ahead, there had been a car accident over the rail line. Emergency crews were on the rail line, so they would not let any trains pass. They also had to send a bridge inspector out to make sure there was no damage. Finally after an hour of sitting in Providence we were able to depart for Boston. The train pulled into Boston South Station at about 8 pm. Nearly and hour and a half late. Oh well, can’t win them all.

Since my sister, Bronwyn, lives in Boston, I would stay with her. I caught the Red Line and then the Green Line out to her school where I could meet up with her. Later she took me home where I turned in for the night. She lives in a house where she rents out a room from another couple. I guess to save money they refuse to use any heat during the winter. So staying in a 55 degree house wearing your overcoat is not fun. Luck I had my 0 degree sleeping bag there, so it actually kept me nice and toasty.


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## saxman

Day 22- March 4, 2009

All day in Boston

I spent most of the day driving around Boston. Since my sister had class most of the day, I was able to steal her car to drive around town. I went to South Station to pick up my checked bag also. Since my regional train from Washington, did not offer checked bag service, it arrived on a later train that morning. I also took a drive outside of the Boston area and made a big loop. I’ve seen the cities, but never get to see outside the areas. Later I met my sister for dinner and then went back home for the night.

Day 23- March 5, 2009

Round trip to Portland, Maine.

Since the theme of my trip is hitting all corners of the US by train, I figure I’d better get more extreme and go even farther north to Portland Maine. Amtrak offers several trips a day to Portland, on it’s Downeaster service. Bronwyn drove me to the Boston North Station so I could make the 11:05 am departure. It’s quick two and half hour trip up, and I was also excited to find out, the Downeaster train offers free wireless internet! I had never seen wireless on board a train before, so I was eager to see it work. Luckily I had my laptop. Hopefully this service spreads soon to other trains in the system soon. After an hour layover in Portland I was back on the train coming back. It was a little cold to go explore the city, plus I had already seen the city before.

After arriving in Boston, I met my sister again for dinner and later headed back home. I’d be back on the rails again tomorrow!


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## MrFSS

saxman66 said:


> Day 21- March 3, 2009Up the Northeast Corridor
> 
> I slept pretty well throughout the night. Somehow the train made up the time it lost in Florida, so we were only about 15 minutes late arriving into Washington DC. The Northeast had just gotten hit by a huge snowstorm, so everything was white with lots of snow. Luckily the sun was out, so it made for great morning pictures, coming into the DC area.
> 
> I got off the train for my second layover in DC. It still wasn’t very much fun as I was still not cured from my bad chicken. Although I felt fine- lets just put it this way…I had to take many trips to the bathroom on the Northeast Regional train. Luckily a bathroom wasn’t too far away in my transit to Boston.
> 
> I waited again in the lounge for my next regional train to Boston. Since this is the busy Northeast Corridor, there’s no sleeper service here. I was able to get business class however. Now you would think, since Amtrak owns the rail lines on the Northeast Corridor I would be on time. But my trip to Boston actually was my worst train yet! This was most likely due to the snowstorm though. We left Washington DC about an hour late. I tried to get some sleep in my business class seat, but didn’t have too much luck. The seats are a little hard, and don’t really conform to my body surprisingly. If I had the choice I could have taken the Acela, Amtrak’s highspeed train service. But Amtrak charges a premium for that service, so I chose to skip it for this trip. The train travels through Philadelphia, then New York City. Then it makes its way along the coast of Connecticut. It’s actually a pretty scenic ride, as you can see out to Long Island Sound and many beaches. At Rhode Island it turns north and makes a stop in Providence. It was here where we got even more delayed. Apparently, on a bridge ahead, there had been a car accident over the rail line. Emergency crews were on the rail line, so they would not let any trains pass. They also had to send a bridge inspector out to make sure there was no damage. Finally after an hour of sitting in Providence we were able to depart for Boston. The train pulled into Boston South Station at about 8 pm. Nearly and hour and a half late. Oh well, can’t win them all.
> 
> Since my sister, Bronwyn, lives in Boston, I would stay with her. I caught the Red Line and then the Green Line out to her school where I could meet up with her. Later she took me home where I turned in for the night. She lives in a house where she rents out a room from another couple. I guess to save money they refuse to use any heat during the winter. So staying in a 55 degree house wearing your overcoat is not fun. Luck I had my 0 degree sleeping bag there, so it actually kept me nice and toasty.


Chris - hope you're feeling better, now. When do we get to see the pictures?


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## saxman

Day 24- March 6, 2009

Back West and all better again.

This would be a busy day for me. I had several things to do before my 11:55 am departure and needed to be ready. My sister, Bronwyn, was going to catch a flight home from Boston that morning, so I was up early to drive her in her car to the airport. Since Boston South Station and Logan Airport are right near each other, I thought I should take my bags to check them in. That would avoid me having to drag two suitcases onto The T, Boston’s subway system. And if you’ve ever driven in the city of Boston, you know that it’s easy to get confused and also that the traffic is bad. After dropping her off I eventually to South Station to check in my bag. I knew where the station was. It was getting to it was the hard part. I eventually got there after circling downtown several times and parked in the parking garage. It was only two dollars for 30 minutes, so I could handle that. After getting my tickets, I realized there was a mistake. I was suppose to go to California in a sleeper, but someone booked me in coach for the trip to Chicago! Since I used my Amtrak rewards points for this ticket, the ticket agent would not help me. So I could have to call them to get things straightened out.

When I left the parking lot to drive back home, the attendant told me I owed 7 dollars. What!? According to him I had been there 31 minutes. After 30 minutes, the price goes up to 7 dollars! I pleaded with the man to just let me pay the 2 dollars, but he wouldn’t let me out without paying 7 dollars for staying merely one minute longer. Great! I wasn’t too happy with him and stormed off. Eventually I got back to my sister’s house to park the car and again walk to The T, for my trip back to South Station. I also made a call to the Amtrak Guest Rewards and was able to get my ticket straightened out. Even then I still had a hard time doing that! After a 20 minute walk and a 30 minute subway ride, I was back at South Station, ready to relax in the lounge. Boston has one of the nicest lounges to wait in, so I enjoy using it as much as possible. I caught up on the usual email and internet surfing while I recovered from the mornings crazy activities.

Finally it was time to board my train to Albany and then Chicago, the Lake Shore Limited. The Lake Shore Limited makes runs between Chicago and New York, with some cars splitting in Albany to run to Boston. However, they don’t offer a sleeping car from Boston to Albany so I had to rough it out in coach until Albany. Here another friend, Anthony, was able to join me for part of the trip. Like Bill whom I had met in Atlanta, I had met Anthony at both of the gatherings in Chicago and Los Angeles. He was able to get away from school to ride the train with me to Worcester and then catch another train back. Likewise we talked about trains and such, and then he stepped off in Worcester and he went on his way.

I relaxed and wrote some on the rest of the way to Albany. I was pretty surprised how hilly and scenic Massachusetts really was. Onedifference about the east and the west are the number of trees. The trees make it difficult to get good shots from the train because they block the view. I was looking forward to get back out west again for some good pictures. That’s not to say the East doesn’t have any mountains or other scenery. It’s just hard to capture it in a camera while on a train going 79 miles per hour.

Soon the train arrived in Albany where I had about a 2 hour layover. We had to wait for the train from New York to arrive to hook onto the back of the Boston train. It also had my sleeping car on it. Luckily, Albany has a very nice station to wait in complete with a coffee shop, newsstand, a full service post office, and free wireless internet. The post office really came in handy, because I had to mail my tickets back to Amtrak Guest Rewards, for the mistake they had made. I’m glad they were still open on Friday evening because they were just about to close. Hopefully they will refund my points as soon as possible. I need to use them to get home!

I waited longer in the station, and finally the Lake Shore Limited from New York arrived. They did a couple quick maneuvers to hook the two trains together, and soon I was on my way down to board my sleeper. I was in for a special treat because on this trip, I was upgraded to a larger bedroom, complete with a toilet, sink, shower, and much larger bed. I was surprised. Although I don’t think it had anything to do with my messed up reservation, Amtrak called to tell me something was wrong with my original room. I guess no other smaller rooms were available, so I got a free upgrade. I guess that made up for my messed up reservations as well as the parking lot attendant who wouldn’t give me a break for being parked one minute over.

After the train departed Albany it was already dark outside. I made my way to the dining car for a quick dinner. I had the braised beef while I sat alone. It was pretty good though. Soon, I was back in my spacious room to take a shower before heading to bed.


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## saxman

Day 25- March 7, 2009

Back in Chicago and to the Zephyr!

13,627 miles down

I awoke near Elkhart, Indiana while I lay in bed not really wanting to get up. I was enjoying my nice wide bed. Finally I got up to have a quick breakfast. This time it was French toast again, which was just like every other French toast I’ve had on this trip. (Can you tell I’m getting bored with some of the meals?) After a station stop in South Bend, we soon pulled into Chicago Union Station at 9:45 am, right on time again.

I made the usual shuffle over to the Metropolitan Lounge to again wait for my next train, the California Zephyr. There I caught up on the latest episode of The Office and tried to update my trip reports. Yet later the wi-fi connection went out for the rest of the afternoon and I couldn’t use the internet at all. Oh well. I decided to go grab some lunch. This time I walked down to another train station in Chicago, the Ogilvie Transportation Center. This serves some of Chicago’s Metra commuter trains, and has a great food court. It’s only about 2 blocks from Union Station. After a small bite to eat, I walked over to a CVS store for a few essentials and made my way back to Union Station. It was a foggy and rainy day in Chicago, so it wasn’t much fun for sightseeing. Plus the few dozen times I’ve been there, doesn’t make it all exciting as much anymore.

I continued to wait in the Metropolitan Lounge for my departure. Still no luck with the internet working. I talked with another man who was catching the Capitol Limited toward Washington later that evening. Turns out he was just hired by Amtrak to work as an Assistant Conductor out of his home in Carbondale, Illinois. He was going to spend 10 weeks in Wilmington, Delaware for training. This was only his third trip on a train before, but he seemed to be excited to have gotten a good job. I guess Amtrak and other railroads want fresh people off the street with little railroad experience. I always wonder if I would get hired, being such a railfan. He also told me told me about the how long the hiring process was, with tests, background checks, and credit checks. They even asked him why he was late on a cable bill several years ago. Geeze, my airline interview wasn’t even like that. It only took a matter of days, and I was sitting in training. And I’m sure they didn’t check my credit.

After chatting with him for a few minutes, they called us for boarding of the California Zephyr, enroute to the San Francisco Bay Area. I was in room 10 on the 532 car. My attendant was named Reggie and he did his normal introduction, and soon we were on our way out of Chicago. Soon afterward, I fell asleep sitting up in my compartment for about an hour or so. Since I had already seen this on the Southwest Chief, I didn’t really mind missing that part of Illinois. We sped down the tracks at a nice speed and later crossed the Mississippi River as we pulled into Burlington, Iowa. This was my fourth crossing of the river. The sun was just going down and I headed to the diner for a 7 o’clock dinner. I decided to have the special, which was pork loin and vegetables. The pork was a little tough, but I enjoyed. After dinner I headed back to my room to look out the window to see the farmlands of Iowa in the moonlight. It was still pouring down rain as we rolled across the plains. The train soon pulled into Omaha at about 10:30 pm, where I stepped off for a bit. After that I headed to bed for the night.


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## saxman

Day 26- March 8, 2009

Rocky Mountains and Moffat Tunnel

Early in the morning again I awoke going through Eastern Colorado just outside of Denver. The rain had stopped and it was a sunny cloudless day. I sat in my room to wake up and watch the sunrise before watching our approach into Denver’s Union Station. Despite the hour we lost during the night we somehow had made up a good half hour already. During the night, Daylight Savings time kicked in so as always you have to “spring forward” the clocks. So then we were all of a sudden late. However, I didn’t have to change anything, because right after Daylight Savings began at 2 am, the train crossed from Nebraska in Colorado meaning we gained an hour again. So my watch stayed the same.

I watched the approach into Denver as the train makes a sharp turn to the right and then backs into the station. This is so it can head straight out leaving as it joins another line going into the mountains. Denver has a nice station right in downtown… Or so I’ve heard at least. I never had to time to actually go into the station, so I just stepped off onto the platform for some fresh air and the usual photo op. After a quick runaround the train I got back on to get ready for breakfast. I had the French toast again, which was just the same as every other French toast I’ve had on this trip. They’re nice big thick slices of bread so they’re actually quite tasty. During then we were speeding through the northern suburbs of Denver to get ready for the ascent into the Rocky Mountains. I sat with two guys, one going skiing in Winter Park and the other going to see his parents in Glenwood Springs. We made the normal train banter before I headed to the lounge car.

After the normal meal chat, I headed to lounge car to a good view of the terrain. This is where the California Zephyr, which is probably one of Amtrak’s most scenic routes, starts to…get scenic. The line makes several sharp horseshoe type curves as it ascends into the Rockies. You can clearly see the city of Denver in the background as the train makes it way up the ridge and finally turns into the mountain range. This is when the lounge car gets crowded usually. Naturally every seat was taken but one, so I took it right away. I got several shots and soon we were about to enter Moffat Tunnel. This 6.2 mile long tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the US. It sits right on the continental divide. As soon as you exit the tunnel, Winter Park Ski Resort is right outside. The train travels right through the resort and you can see all the lifts and skiers taking a ride and coming back down. About 10 minutes later the train makes its station stop for the resort and neighboring town of Fraser, Colorado.

We continued through the Rocky Mountains, following the river and then following Interstate 70. It was great to have the sun shining the whole day. We stopped in Glenwood Springs later. Glenwood Springs is a really neat town right in the canyon. Hopefully I can stop there one day. Later on the route, we made a stop at Grand Junction, where there’s a gift shop right on the platform for passengers. I stepped off and bought a few post cards before being off again. Since the room across from me was now empty, I often sneak in there to take a few photos out that window. Sometimes the scenery is better on the other side. For some reason my car attendant didn’t like me doing that. He said I had to stay in my room only, and not take photos from the other room- a room that was empty- that no one was scheduled to be in- where I wasn’t allowed to stick my head in to take a couple shots. I thought that was odd, as other attendants have actually said its ok to take photos from the other room. Following that incident I just made sure he wasn’t around before I stuck my head in there. He didn’t catch me after that.

Soon it was dinner time and I chose the 7 pm dinner seating again. This was the first time it was light during dinner as we had more daylight this time. Somehow, by luck of the draw I ended having to sit alone, while everyone else had at least several tablemates. So I ate my steak dinner quietly by myself and went to look out the window in my room of the Utah landscape. This time the moon was bright as it got dark so I shut my curtains and watched the scenery go by. Soon we would be in Salt Lake City. But before, I decided to turn in for the night. I was pretty tired so I decided not to step off. Somehow we made up all lost time by Salt Lake though.


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## AlanB

saxman66 said:


> I talked with another man who was catching the Capitol Limited toward Washington later that evening. Turns out he was just hired by Amtrak to work as an Assistant Conductor out of his home in Carbondale, Illinois. He was going to spend 10 weeks in Wilmington, Delaware for training. This was only his third trip on a train before, but he seemed to be excited to have gotten a good job. I guess Amtrak and other railroads want fresh people off the street with little railroad experience. I always wonder if I would get hired, being such a railfan. He also told me told me about the how long the hiring process was, with tests, background checks, and credit checks. They even asked him why he was late on a cable bill several years ago. Geeze, my airline interview wasn’t even like that. It only took a matter of days, and I was sitting in training. And I’m sure they didn’t check my credit.


Conductors and assistant conductors handle money for Amtrak, hence the credit check. Pilots don't handle money for the airline and it's not like it's easy to steal the airplane and hide it somewhere or to sell it.


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## PRR 60

Great reports. It's like we're along for the ride.

One minor correction:



saxman66 said:


> ...I got several shots and soon we were about to enter Moffat Tunnel. This 6.2 mile long tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the US. It sits right on the continental divide.


Moffat is the third longest rail tunnel in the USA. The longest rail tunnel, at 7.8 miles, is Cascade Tunnel on the BNSF in Washington State. Second is Flathead Tunnel, 7 miles, also on BNSF, this one in Montana. Both are on the Empire Builder route, with Cascade on the Seattle section only.

Moffat does have the distinction of being the highest elevation reached by any Amtrak train - 9239 feet above sea level. You may have had some short-hop flights that did not get much higher than that.


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## saxman

Day 27- March 9, 2009

Arrival into Martinez

16,038 miles down

The train was stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada. Winnemucca is a small desert town out in the middle of Nevada with not much around it. I always wonder what people do in a town like this. It was also still dark and it was snowing a lot. I’m glad I was warm in my bed and not out there. After leaving Winnemucca, I slept for bit longer, then went for breakfast. Somehow again I ended up sitting alone. Soon we go to the town of Sparks and then stopped in Reno. By then it had stopped snowing and the skies were clearing out. This was good because the climb through the Sierra Nevada’s and Donner Pass was next.

After departing Reno I took another seat in the lounge car to watch the climb up the pass. Donner Pass is part of the original transcontinental railroad that was finished back in 1869. It’s pretty neat to think of all the hardships those men had while building the railroad through the mountains and cutting tunnels. In a few places the train takes a slightly newer route, that ended up being more straight. In a few places you could still see the old snow sheds. But the newer route isn’t exactly new either. It was carved in the early 1900’s I believe.

We made it over Donner Pass while I got a few shots of Donner Lake. This is a beautiful glacial lake sitting way below the tracks, and it looks like a really nice place to visit. The train also stops in Truckee, California which a cool mountain town with skiing and recreation. I’ll have to come back and stop there too. After the pass the train starts coming down the mountain and goes from about 6000 feet to an elevation of less than 200 by the time you hit Sacramento. I stepped off for a bit in Sacramento and then we went down the rails to the Bay Area. Off to left I could see the mothballed Navy ships sitting Suisun Bay. The train crosses over the tressel of the bay and soon pulls into Martinez, California.

I got off in Martinez, because I would be staying in a town called Crockett. Alice, another one I had met at the LA gathering was kind enough to let me stay in a house she owned in Crockett, which is a town just down the road and sits on a big hill overlooking San Pablo Bay. The house has a great view from the hillside over looking the bay as well as the Interstate 80 suspension bridge, which was just finished not to long ago.

After getting to the house, Alice offered to drive me around the Bay Area and drive through San Francisco, crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge and the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We drove through Oakland Jack London Square as well as stopped on Treasure Island. This is the island that’s in the middle of the Oakland Bay Bridge. After that we drove to San Francisco and went down Embarcadero Street around to the Golden Gate Bridge. By this time is was dark and Alice drove me to the top of the hill near Sausalito. This is probably the best spot to view the bridge and get the city in the background. I was able to get some great night shots. Soon we continued the drive and crossed the Richmond Bridge to take us back to Crockett.


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## p&sr

Enjoying all your great Trip Reports!

(edited to remove unconfirmed commentary on the route)


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## caravanman

Wow!

What a great trip!

I am impressed by your tenacity in continuing with the train travel diary, I have enjoyed many long distance Amtrak trips myelf, but find writing a report gets harder each time..

It feels nice that you have many friends and relatives who have helped to break the journy for you.

I find long trips are a journey within myself too, a chance to look out the window and daydream a little..

I am looking forward to seeing any pics you have of your long journey...

Happy rail miles!

Ed B)


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## saxman

Day 28- March 10, 2009

Bay Area Transit systems

This day, we met Gregory. Alice invited him to come explore the transit systems with us, since he knew all the landmarks very well. He’s also a member of the forum I visit. We boarded an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train in Martinez and made a quick run down to Oakland Jack London Square. The Capital Corridor makes frequent runs between Sacramento and San Jose, with lots of bus connections to San Francisco. Oakland is the place I came through a couple weeks before and is where the train runs in the street. It’s a great place to watch trains right from the sidewalk or a café. We explored Jack London Square where we saw several boats and even the Tall Ships beginning to do a bay tour with some school children. I wish I could have gone with them. For us though, we were to take a faster ferry over to San Francisco. After getting a coffee in the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble we headed over to the ferry for the 11 am departure to the San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf. The boat went out into the harbor where we saw several container ships unloading their cargo. We also saw the tall ships making their way back with all the children aboard. The ferry goes pretty fast across the bay and I stood out on the back deck getting the wind blown into my face. We went under the Oakland Bay Bridge to made a stop at the Ferry Building. A few minutes later, the ferry swings around to Pier 41, the stop for Fisherman’s Wharf.

There we stepped off to explore the Wharf and ride the cable cars up and down the street. We also ate clam chowder in sourdough bowls. Gregory and I hopped on the cable cars and made a stop at the Cable Car museum to see the cable in action below the streets. After riding to the end at Market Street, we returned to meet Alice. From there we boarded the Muni street car system to catch a ride to the CalTrain Station. CalTrain is another commuter rail system that run between San Francisco and San Jose. It was about an hour and a half ride along San Francisco Bay and through Silicon Valley. While in San Jose, we had about 50 minutes to kill before catching the next Amtrak Capitol Corridor back to Martinez. Just at dusk, the train arrived back into Martinez. While the train traveled along the bay, we saw the sunset just as a full moon was rising in the east. It was a great sight to end a great day.


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## saxman

Day 29- March 11, 2009

Wine Country, Jelly Beans and Beer

This was a great day for me to sleep in. I spent the morning relaxing and deciding what to do for the day. Ultimately we decided on a trip up to wine country and the Napa Valley. But first it started with a trip to Fairfield for a tour of Jelly Belly, the jelly bean factory. I’ve never done a factory tour before, except for maybe something when I was in elementary school. So we got to see how they made Jelly Belly jelly beans. I was mainly interested in looking at all the conveyer belts and rollers taking boxes and packages allover the warehouse. But it was also great to have free samples of the over 50 flavors they have. One of their most popular flavor is popcorn! Also they give you different recipes to mix different beans together for a taste from everything like chili relleno to fruit salad and banana split. They really tasted like the real thing too!

After Jelly Belly, we went next door to the Budweiser brewery. This wasn’t quite as extensive but I enjoyed the free beer tasting of some of their most popular beers. They also mentioned California was the 2nd biggest consumer of Bud Light Beer. So I asked which state was first. I figured Texas, and I was correct!

After seeing how beer was made, Alice and I drove out to Sonoma. This town sits right in the heart of wine country where we enjoyed fine cheeses and went to have Thai food for an early dinner. Later we drove to Napa to see the Napa Valley Wine Train. This luxury train makes daily trips to the north right through all the wineries and vineyards. They also serve very fancy meals on board while they let you taste many wines of the area. Since it was the low season, it wasn’t making daily trips. I probably couldn’t have afforded to ride on it anyway. But after getting a few photos of the train sets in the yard, we returned back to Crockett.


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## saxman

Day 30- March 12, 2009

Off to Yosemite

This day, Alice was going to drive me to Yosemite National Park. This is probably a must see if you ever visit California. We got up early to pack my things and pack some food to make the 4 hour trek to the park. We left around 8:30 and joined the last part of the Bay Area rush hour to get out of town and out to Yosemite. The drive was pretty flat until we started reaching the foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s, and then began the steady ascent into the hills. Pretty soon the scenery was getting pretty spectacular and finally entered the park and made it to Yosemite Valley. First we stopped on a view point to get some pictures of the whole valley. We also decided to eat lunch while enjoying the views of El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, and Half Dome out in the distance. After a quick meal, we continued into the park for some more sightseeing and to do various short hikes. Alice knew the park very well, so she knew all the must sees of the park. I did a short walk up to Bridalveil Falls, which is one of the larger waterfalls in the park. Near the bottom, although not right under it, the trail is wet from mist and I also got sprayed while up there. I also did some walks around the valley, including a short hike up to the Nevada Falls foot bridge. It was just about eight tenths of a mile up a steep trail around Half Dome. I got some good exercise and enjoyed the views from the bridge. The trail continues up the pass and joins other networks of trails throughout the park, some many miles long. I continued to walk a bit past the bridge, but decided to turn back due to the ice and snow being on the trail. Plus I wasn’t exactly prepared for a rigorous hike with only a small water bottle and a pair a tennis shoes on. I’ll have to come back one day to hike and maybe backpack some of the trails. After I got back down the trail, I met Alice and we went over to Mirror Lake. The lake has gone way down over the years, but in the past this provided a great view of Half Dome in the crystal clear water- hence the name Mirror Lake. I also did a walk up to Yosemite Falls. These falls are the highest in the United States and they are only a short walk from the lodge. You can also hike up to the top, but that’s a long 6 or 8 hour trek over rather steep terrain. It’s on my list for next time. After seeing the falls, it was dark by then, so I headed in the car out of the park to a small town called Mariposa. This town is just outside the park, and provides cheaper alternatives to the lodges and hotels inside the park. There we stayed for the night.


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## saxman

Day 31- March 13, 2009

Another day in Yosemite

We slept a good bit in the morning before getting ready to head back into Yosemite National Park. This time it was light so I could the terrain coming back into the park. This hills were just covered in orange flowers, California poppies. They are the state flower. So the hills glistened orange in the sunlight.

Soon we were back in the park and the first thing we did was go back to Bridalveil Falls. Later we went to the Visitors Center where I was just in time for a Ranger Talk. This time is was about geology of Yosemite Valley and pretty much how the land formed. The ranger was a very good speaker and a bit of a comic too as he led us on a few shorts walks. It last about an hour and half and was worth while. After that I decided to go back up to Yosemite, this time in the daylight. I found some great views and enjoyed the scenery around it. I met up with Alice again where we decided to head out of the park and make a quick trip to Sequoia National Park. But after getting to Fresno and it being already dark, we decided Sequoia wouldn’t be worth seeing if you couldn’t actually see it. So we headed to a hotel in Fresno for the night. I’d be back on the train in the morning.


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## saxman

Day 32- March 14, 2009

Back on the rails down south

We awoke in the morning in Fresno and went to have a waffle at the free breakfast at the hotel. Later Alice brought me to the train station for my train and bus ride to San Luis Obispo. I would be catching Amtrak’s San Joaquin service which runs from the Bay Area and Sacramento down the San Joaquin Valley. The valley is about as flat as the eyes can see. Mostly covered in farms and croplands, the area can get hot and hazy. It sure stands in sharp contrast to the coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada’s where Yosemite sits.

The train came promptly at 11:35 and I found my seat for a quick 30 minute ride down to Hanford, California. This would be my change point to catch a bus back down toward the coast. On the west coast Amtrak has a very good network of buses and trains. Where there is no passenger rail service, Amtrak contracts to several bus companies to meet trains at different points and take passengers the rest of their way. It’s a great network. I’m hoping Texas will soon follow with something similar soon.

We arrived in Hanford just after noon, and my bus connection was waiting beside the station. The bus took me across the valley making a stop in Paso Robles, then continues down Highway 101 to San Luis Obispo. After a nearly 3 hours on the bus, it pulled into the station to drop me off. I had reservations to stay at a small hostel, just one block from the station. Yet, they told me they hostel didn’t open until 4 pm, so I had an hour to kill.

While I waited at station, I watched the southbound Coast Starlight depart for Los Angeles, and then a few minutes later the northbound Coast Starlight arrived. This was the train I was riding nearly a month prior on my way to Seattle. I also was planning on taking it again in two days time.

After hanging out at the station, I walked down to the hostel only to find they didn’t open until 4:30. So I still had to kill time. So I just walked back up to the station to wait another half hour. Soon it was 4:30 so I again walked down and was able to check in. This is probably one of the best hostels I’ve stayed at, despite that fact it closes during the day. It’s simply a small house with several bedrooms, a small living area and a kitchen. So it was pretty cozy and felt much more homely than the big one in Miami. At least this one gave a descent bed to sleep in too.

I checked in and then decided to head to downtown. San Luis Obispo is a nice little mission town between LA and San Francisco. It’s home to California Polytechnic University. It’s downtown area has dozens of shops and restaurants. I perused the downtown streets and finally down a little Mediterranean café for a place to eat. I had the lamb gyro for dinner, and it actually wasn’t the best I had. But it was tolerable, so I ate it anyway. I walked around a bit more before heading back to the hostel. They had free wireless, so I was able to catch up on things and chat with a few other hostel goers. Just after 10 pm I decided to call it a night.


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## saxman

Day 33- March 15, 2009

Reaching the last corner

Another reason why I liked this hostel was the free pancake breakfast they serve. Well no one actually serves the pancakes. They just provide the batter and you have to cook them yourself. But I didn’t complain too much. It was probably about time I cooked something on this trip. I made several pancakes for myself and then I ate them. They turned out pretty good with even brownness on both sides. The hostel wanted us out by 10 am so I got my things together, cleaned up and left to climb the hill up to the station. I was again going to take bus connection from here. It didn’t leave until 11:25 so I had nearly two hours to wait. I just sat and wrote more of this trip report trying to catch up.

Soon my bus connection came for my trip to Santa Barbara. I didn’t mind taking the bus this time because it would be something different to see from the highway. I’ve only been up and down the coast by train. It was about a 2 hour trip down highway 101 to Santa Barbara. I looked out the most of the way and around 1:15 it pulled into Santa Barbara station. My next train would be at 2 pm so I spent some time checking out the station and the surrounding area. I was starting to get hungry, but the only restaurant nearby was way too pricey. It was an oyster bar. So I just held off until the train arrived. There were nearly 200 people waiting for the southbound Pacific Surfliner to San Diego. And they say no one rides trains anymore. Plus it was Sunday afternoon, so they said this train is always busy. I made sure to stand on the platform so I could be the first to board and find a forward facing seat on the right side. You need to sit on the right side so you can see the coast going south. Luckily when the train came, the boarding door stopped right in from of me, so I had no problem finding a good seat. I had the choice of Business Class but opted to save a little money and rough it in coach. The only extra thing they provide in business is maybe a snack pack and some extra leg room.

Train number 784 was off right at 2 pm and made its way down the Pacific Coast. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner makes several trips a day between Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Other trips are offered to San Luis Obispo, but that left too early for me. The bus departure was better timing. I watched beach goers and surfers in the Pacific as we made our way down. I headed to the café car for some lunch. I had a cheeseburger and a soda. It was ok for being microwaved. Soon we arrived into the city of Oxnard. Oxnard is where my friend Patrick boarded the train to ride with me down to San Diego. Like most of the other people, I’ve met Patrick on the gatherings we’ve had in the past and he lives near Oxnard. He was eager to join me for a short trip. He was also able to point out many features along the way. Even though I’ve been on this route before, I never knew that strawberries were growing all along the tracks. He also pointed out the location of the big Metrolink rail wreck just last year. This is where the engineer of a commuter train was apparently texting on his phone as he ran a red signal and hit a Union Pacific freight train head on and killing about 25 passengers including himself. They’ve since rebuilt the line, and there’s really no evidence of anything anymore.

From there, the train continues into the suburbs of Los Angeles and makes stops in Burbank and Glendale before pulling into LA Union Station. After a few minutes it reverses direction and turns south again for the continued trip to San Diego. You can see LA’s “better parts” of the concrete rivers and the industrial areas on this part of the leg. We saw many box containers being loaded from trucks to flatbed trains to be taken all across the country with goods from Asia. The train made many more stops in Orange County, including Anaheim, home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team. It stops right outside the stadium. Anaheim is also home to Disneyland. Later, the train comes back to hug the coastline so once again we could see the great views of the beach and beachgoers. We were hoping to catch a sunset, and we would have but once again civilization got in the way with all the beach houses. If I were in charge, I wouldn’t allow houses to get in the way of the passengers trains. They block the sunset! Once the houses were gone, the sun was already below the horizon. So no pictures for me or Patrick.

Just after dark the train pulls into San Diego Santa Fe Depot, right in the middle of downtown. From there we grabbed a cab to take us to a hotel for the night. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to explore much of San Diego. Patrick and I ordered some takeout. I would have to be up again at 4:30 to make my early morning train departure. So I tried to get some sleep. Patrick, however, is a lot younger and pulled an all nighter.


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## WhoozOn1st

saxman66 said:


> Patrick, however, is a lot younger and pulled an all nighter.


Somebody's been riding the rails too long and is apparently suffering age disorientation. I'd guess I've got a couple decades in the wrong direction on Chris 3.  My take on this segment of Chris' Big Adventure coming soon. Holding off until after riding with Greg (gswager) tomorrow so I can include that as well for a doubleheader.


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## saxman

Day 34- March 16, 2009

Up the coast again times two

Well I decided to extend my trip a bit and change my plans slightly. I was going to just take the Sunset Limited back home from LA, but decided to make a detour. Over the weekend of March 19 to 21, my college hockey team, the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux was playing in the WCHA Final Five Tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. I was going to plan to attend, but I discovered as soon as I arrived home in Texas, I’d had to leave again for Minnesota. Why not just extend my trip!? My alum is really not known for anything else other than hockey. We were good in other sports too, but hockey is what put us on the map. And I like to still make a game or two during the season.

So I was up at 4:30 am to make our 6:10 am departure. Since I had to hit every corner of the US by rail, San Diego had to be made, even though I didn’t see daylight there. Wish I had an extra day though. I would still love to see the aircraft carrier from WWII stationed there. Patrick and I made it to the station at around 5 am for our Pacific Surfliner departure. Normally they have the passengers wait in a line to board “Southwest Airlines” style which I hate, so I just stood outside the doors to watch the trains and the action. Well miss security guard didn’t like the fact that I was standing there and told me to go wait in line like everyone else. I told her I was ok just standing there, but she didn’t like that. She said I was required to stand in line or go inside the station. Otherwise other people would think its ok to stand there too. Oh well, I went around the corner near Patrick and waited there. Patrick also told me the story of how another man was giving him a hard time about taking pictures there in San Diego on an earlier trip.

Finally we boarded the train without further incident and found some seats in front. As we made our way to LA, many commuters boarded the train for their daily trip to downtown. It ended up being quite a full train. Right at 8:50, we pulled into Union Station in LA where we would transfer again to the Coast Starlight. However, before we needed to make a breakfast run and Patrick knew the perfect place for that. Phillippe’s, famous for their French dip sandwiches is right across the street from Union Station and also has an excellent breakfast. So we made a quick walk over there for some eggs, toast, and corned beef hash. It was really good and really hit the spot for both of us. We finished then headed back over to the station for the departure of train 14, the Coast Starlight. The Traxx Club is open just for Starlight sleeping car passengers, so we checked in there where the conductor was ready to collect our tickets. Since Patrick was only traveling in coach to Oxnard, we asked if he would be able to wait there and even ride in my room with me to Oxnard. The conductor said that was okay with him. We only got a few minutes in the club and soon headed out to the train for boarding. Patrick and I found my room and then took some pictures out in front of the locomotives.

Soon we were off again, taking the same route as the day prior. We headed over to the Pacific Parlour car to enjoy the views of LA. There we chatted with a couple going to San Francisco and made conversation about how great the Parlour car was to have. We asked if they ever traveled on any other train routes, and he said no. California is the only place to travel as no other part of the US is as great as Califonia. Naturally, I turned my nose up at that comment. About an hour after Los Angeles, Patrick said goodbye and got off the train in Oxnard. I was on my own again.

On this trip I once again had a lower level room. I’ve decided I now do like the lower level rooms because you can get a better sense of speed when you’re going 79 miles per hour and your sitting just a few feet above the rails. It also seems smoother, plus you don’t get very much foot traffic going by. So it’s nice a private. For seeing the coast I thought I would try seeing it from the lounge car this time, rather than the Parlour Car. The lounge has much bigger windows, plus its seats face outward so its easy to see things. On the other hand, the Parlour is designed for socializing as its seats face inward. So I sat in the lounge car for awhile. No matter how many times I’ve done this ride, I still can’t get over how awesome the view is going up the coast from about Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo. The tracks ride high above the cliffs and down below are the beaches. Many parts don’t have any roads so it is very isolated with just cliffs on one side and mountains on the other. Occasionally there is a house or two also. Later, the line turns inland again and goes over the pass to San Luis Obispo. I stepped off again here remembering I had only been there the day prior.

After San Luis Obispo, the train makes its way around the horseshoe curve were I sat in the very last coach to grab some photos. After that was the wine tasting in the Parlour so I went to participate in that. Later I relaxed in my room before dinner.

Sometime after leaving Paso Robles, the conductor, who very talkative, would point out every landmark there was along the tracks. The best part was when he came on to announce that in just a few minutes, we would get to see a total eclipse aboard the train. Wow! I’d get to see a total eclipse I thought! Since I was on the east side of the train I ran to find a window on the other side, in hand with a camera. Since I obviously couldn’t look at it, I just used my camera to view it. But as soon as I got there, the train entered a tunnel for about a minute. Wow what great timing. After the tunnel I was watching for the eclipse until the conductor came back to say thanks and hope we enjoyed the total eclipse. It was then I realized that the tunnel was the eclipse and he had got me good. Luckily no one saw me, but I did feel dumb.

I decided to eat in the Parlour for something different. It was a chicken quesadilla with spring rolls which turned out to be really good. Or maybe I was glad to have something different for once. The train was back in the Bay Area around night time. I had a shower then headed to bed once we left Oakland.


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## saxman

Day 35- March 17, 2009

Portland Transfer

Like the trip prior, I woke up right near the California/Oregon border. Next stop was Klamath Falls, again. I stepped off the train for some fresh cold air. This time I walked the train and got some cool shots of three freight trains sitting side by side with their locomotives pulled up next to each other. They were a BNSF sandwiched in between two Union Pacific locos. For about half an hour we sat in Klamath Falls where I then reboarded to have breakfast.

Afterwards I headed to the Parlour for some shots again of crossing the Cascade range. I thought everything would be about the same but I was in for a treat. Over the last few days, a big snowstorm must have past through, because there was snow everywhere. The tree’s branches were covered in several inches of snow as we climbed up to Cascade Summit. It was truly a winter wonderland this time. Right near the Cascade Summit is Lake Odell through the trees. This lake sits about 4800 feet above sea level. It is also one of the deepest lakes at 282 feet deep, second only the Crater Lake, near Klamath Falls. It’s hard to get really any good shots because of the trees in the way. I always think they should just cut the trees down so you can take pictures. Should be a requirement at scenic railroad spots.

I was able to get a good shot of the big landslide again as we made our way down the pass. You could really tell the elevation changes due to the less and less snow on the trees. Soon it was just snow on the sides of the tracks and after that there was none at all. Soon, we got to the city of Eugene and made our way up to Portland. The train arrived early again into Portland where I would make my connection to the Empire Builder. I’d only be there about an hour so I just sat in the lounge to wait for boarding. This lounge doesn’t have any wireless, which I was disappointed to find out. Guess I would have to wait until Minneapolis.

After enjoying the lounge again, they called us for boarding of the 4:45 pm Empire Builder. I was in room 10 this time in the very last car in the very last room of the train. Awesome! This is my favorite room because I have the back window right outside my door for some additional viewing. Plus I’m the only one back there, so there is no foot traffic coming through. So except for the people in the room across from me, I had the whole back of the train to myself. And they ended up getting off early the next morning in Whitefish.

The Empire Builder, ‘times two,’ departed right on time and made its way across the Willamette and Columbia Rivers before picking up more passengers in Vancouver. Then it again follows the Columbia River Gorge for a couple hundred miles. This time though, it was daylight for most of the gorge, so I was able to actually see it. My car attendant brought around a cold dinner for us. I guess my hype about being in back had a drawback because I was the last to get offered a dinner and all the shrimp was out. So I was stuck with the beef tips with salad, dessert, and a roll. It was ok though and I ate it in my room. Later I headed for the lounge car to see and take some pictures of the gorge in daylight hours. After awhile I relaxed in my room until it got dark. I wrote for a bit and made my bed up to turn in for the night.


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## saxman

Day 36- March 18, 2009

All day on the Builder

Sometime during the night I awoke while we were parked in Spokane. I don’t like sleeping and missing stuff but at the same time I need to sleep so I’m awake during the day to see things. Spokane is where the Seattle section comes in to hook to the front of our train. Some say they are waken up by the switching, but I never was. Next thing I know, instead of only being last of four cars, I’m the last of ten cars plus a whopping 4 locomotives. So we had a long train this time, meaning I could see the entire thing from my fortress in the last car. It was a great sight to see the front of the train and all ten cars snaking its way through Glacier National Park.

I arose just before getting to Whitefish and went to have breakfast in the diner. Since the Empire Builder has much better food, and I had the eggs scrambled. They were okay but the cook really didn’t stir them much. I might as well have ordered a plain omelet. I’ll know that for next time.

After breakfast I was able to step off the train for some more cold air. The station looked the same as it did a month before so I got back on the train to get ready for Glacier Park. It was good because it was sunny this time through out the park. The time before it was a bit cloudy and hard to take good photos. It looked as if it had snowed a lot too. After Glacier I returned to my quarters to have a quick nap. Since Eastern Montana goes on forever I knew I wouldn’t miss much. I had lunch while stopped in Havre so I wasn’t able to step off, but made good conversation with a young couple and another man telling military stories. I relaxed again in my room until the wine and cheese tasting. This time though I didn’t win the free bottle of wine. I should have though because he asked the same question they did on the previous trip. I just couldn’t remember who the first television couple to sleep in the same bed was. If anyone is interested to know, it’s the Flintstones!

After the wine tasting I was able to get a 6:00 pm dinner seating. I was hoping for 7:00 or 7:15 but of course, I was the last to get asked so I was stuck with an earlier time. So I had another steak dinner, which came out pretty well. Since I was in the diner during our stop in Williston, I couldn’t step off once again. But later in Minot I got to get off. Since we would be there awhile I was able to get on a overpass over the train and take some night shots. Some came out pretty good. Since my friend Melanie decided to go to California I still couldn’t get any homemade cookies! After leaving Minot I headed to bed, only to wake up again in Grand Forks. I was too tired to look outside much so I just rolled over again to sleep again. I wanted to be up early so I could get breakfast before Minneapolis.


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## saxman

Day 37- March 19, 2009

St Paul Minneapolis Arrival

19,803 miles down

I was up at about 6:30 am. Our arrival into St. Paul, would be on time, so I wanted to make sure to have a breakfast. I had a quick bite and went back to watch our arrival into the Twin Cities. St. Paul Midway station is in an industrial part of town, so there is really nothing around it. But just down the road, there is frequent bus service to either downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul. So I grabbed my things and headed down to University Avenue and got on route 16 to downtown Minneapolis. There I would catch the Hiawatha Light Rail line to where my, friend Joel would pick me up. Joel is another roommate of mine from when I lived in Grand Forks. He’s a pilot at Pinnacle Airlines. He met me at the light rail station near his house and took me home. For most of the day, I just relaxed to recover from my long train journey.

After spending time there, I got ready for the evenings activities. I would be attending the WCHA (Western Hockey Collegiate Association) Final Five hockey tournament. Of course the UND Fighting Sioux would be attendance, and this would be my once chance to see them play. It was always a favorite thing to do while living in Grand Forks. This evevings game would not have the Sioux playing but I went anyway. It was Minnesota Duluth vs. Minnesota. The Minnesota Gophers have been long time rivals of UND, but I was hoping they would win so they would play together later. The Gophers didn’t play very well though and they were beat by UM Duluth, 3 to 1.


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## saxman

Day 38- March 20, 2009

More games

So Joel wouldn’t have to give me rides everywhere, I found a cheap weekend rental car to have for my stay. Joel drove me to the airport so I could pick up a car there. Later that day I headed back to downtown St. Paul for some more hockey. This time it was Denver University vs. Wisconsin. Wisconsin wasn’t playing very well at all and got swept by Denver 3 to 0. I was going for Wisconsin because Denver has won too many times before. So that means UND would play Duluth that evening and Denver would play the winner of our game the next day.

Game 2 for the day, was the game I was looking forward to. The Sioux would play Duluth, and since we were ranked number 1 it should be no contest. Right? Well I was in for a surprise as the underdog, Duluth swept UND 3 to 0. It was a sad night for me. That meant we’d play Wisconsin for third place and Duluth would face off to Denver in the championship game. After another night out I headed back to Joel’s for the night.


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## saxman

Day 39- March 21, 2009

Another disappointment

Well the first game would be Wisconsin vs. UND. Seeing how bad Wisconsin played the day before, I once again though UND could easily pull off a win and get third place. Things started out well in the first period with UND getting the first goal. It was downhill after that though because in the second and third periods, Wisconsin topped off the goals with a final score of 4 to 1. My Fighting Sioux could never make a come back.

For the next game, I just decided I wasn’t up to attending so I just sold my tickets on the street. Duluth ended up winning the entire tournament, which I was glad they did. It was pretty amazing for the lowest ranked team coming in to the tournament to pull that off.


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## saxman

I am pleased to announce that my photos are slowly being added to my web gallery. I took over 2000 photos so its taking a really long time to go through them and find the good one to post. The other problem being there are so many good ones! :lol:

Anyhow, just click on the link below and you'll find the first few legs of my 6 week trip posted. More soon to follow.

Also later today I will finish the last of the trip reports and post them here. Then after that, I will post all my trip reports onto my blog website.

So....here are my first few photos.


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## saxman

Day 40- March 22, 2009

I was up early to head to the station for a 7:50 am departure. Joel was kind to drive me to the train station in St. Paul before heading out to work. We arrived around 7:15 and I grabbed my tickets and checked my bag all the way to Fort Worth. It was actually running a few minutes late and arrived about 7:40. Since St. Paul is a service stop for the Empire Builder it takes a few minutes to restock and refuel, plus board the about 100 passengers or so leaving. I was going to get off again in Wisconsin Dells to visit my friend, Casey, again.

I found a good seat in the car right behind the diner. I figured I’d get some breakfast as it was still going on. I sat with a few passengers going down to Chicago on business. I like the Empire Builder because they actually will make your eggs to order. So I ordered 2 eggs over easy with grits and a biscuit. It was very good meal and I headed back to the lounge to see the run along the Mississippi. The ice was slowly starting to break up as the spring thaw was in full swing.

I decided to skip lunch and save it for the arrival into Wisconsin Dells. Right at 12:09, we pulled into Wisconsin Dells on time, where Casey was there to meet me. We hung out during the afternoon and then she drove me down to Madison so I could check in to a hotel for the night.

Day 41- March 23, 2009

Last leg of my journey

Madison is about 45 minute drive from Wisconsin Dells. I had to start there in order to make my connection in Chicago to the Texas Eagle. The Empire Builder gets to Chicago a couple hours after the Texas Eagle leaves, so a same day connection would not work. But since there are thruway buses from Madison to Chicago, I’d be able to make that connection.

So I was up at about 5:45 to make my 7:15 bus to Chicago. The hotel had a shuttle, and they drove me to the park and ride lot in Madison. It was a rainy morning and I was hoping for some shelter while I waited for the bus. All there was, was a small bus shelter in a parking lot. But there was a convenient store nearby so I went to wait inside for the time being. It was warm in there. Later I headed out to the shelter when then bus came.

I slept for most of the trip to Chicago. I was zonked out pretty good, because I couldn’t remember much of it. About 3 hours later, we arrived in Chicago right at Union Station. This would be the fourth time through Chicago, and my last for this trip. I went down to check into the Metropolitan Lounge once again and waited for my next, the Texas Eagle. It would depart at 1:45 pm. I grabbed a bite to eat while waiting and soon it was time to head out. My sleeper was on the bottom level again in room 14. There I found my room and we were off to Texas, right on time. From Chicago, the train makes a suburban stop at Joliet then follow along the historic Route 66 for most of the way to St. Louis. I had dinner in the diner and was glad to see they had prime ribs as the special. It was edible, but not the greatest. During my dinner break we arrived into St. Louis. I waited for my server to bring me dessert but he was no where to be found. I wanted to step off the train for a few pictures and to see the new St. Louis station. He didn’t seem to come back so I just left to get off the train. There I found him having a smoke and not getting me my dessert. So I asked if he’d get me an ice cream while I took some photos. I never did get to see the station itself. Later after departure he brought my ice cream finally.

After St. Louis the Texas Eagle follows along the Mississippi River. Except its dark so I didn’t get to see much. So I decided to head to bed for the night.


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