# The Great Slidell Loophole Trip Pt. 1



## JayPea (Aug 11, 2009)

Back from my great Slidell Loophole trip! And a great one it was! Five trains, four of which were early and the one not early was right on time. I had to take three flights to get to and from the Spokane area for this trip and two of the three were late. Not by much, but late nonethless. Without further adieu:

PRELIMINARIES:

My trip began with a flight to my uncle's home state of Illinois from Spokane, bright and early at 6:30AM on the morning of July 30th. I only mention the flight(s) in passing to make a point: I'd rather take the train! Anyway, I hadn't been in Spokane's airport 10 minutes before the ***** TSA agents struck: they thoroughly inspected my backpack and confiscated my shaving cream, claiming the can was too big. That'd never happen on Amtrak! After a smooth flight to Denver, and a flight to Chicago from Denver that was 35 minutes late to begin with (but did make up all but 10 minutes of that time) I got into Chicago, got my luggage, and waited for the Peoria Charters bus that would take me to Champaign where my uncle was picking me up. The bus, too, was late (never happened on Amtrak  ). While having dinner in a restaurant in Champaign, I made a chilling discovery: My wallet was missing! :blink: A quick search didn't turn it up, and I figured it had to be on the bus, as I knew I had it there. Fortunately, my uncle knew where the buses parked for the night; fortunately, the bus was still there; fortunately, though it was after hours, there was still someone in the office building; fortunately, that someone answered when we knocked on the door; fortunately, he let us on to the bus; fortunately, my wallet was there, on the seat. PHEW! and I do mean PHEW! Without ID, I don't know what would have happened. Not to mention all my credit cards, debit card, etc. What was a trip of a lifetime almost ended before I left. Lesson learned, one I should have learned years ago: Never travel with your wallet in your rear pockets! Only in the front!

LEG #1 City of New Orleans: Champaign to New Orleans Friday, July 31st

The first leg of our journey began about 15 minutes late, partly due to the CONO being held up by a freight just north of Champaign. We got going about 10:55 PM on the 31st. This would be a constant theme throughout the journey to New Orleans: being held up by freights. It didn't matter; while we were constantly 20-30 minutes late at all our stops (up to an hour in some cases), we were early, due to padding, into New Orleans.

The consist of the CONO consisted of:

Engine (sorry, I don't know a P42 from a B52 :lol: )

baggage car

Transdorm

Sleeper

3 coaches

Our SCA was Terry, a very efficient if not personable, attendant. If he'd entered a personality contest between himself and a cigar store Indian, I'd bet on the Indian to win. However, he did his job very well, and did one thing that I'd never quite seen before: he kept the bathrooms spotless, smelling fresh, and clean the whole time. Never have I seen the bathrooms kept that clean to that extent ever. There was no bottled water or no ice to be had, however.

I slept on and off from Effingham, IL, to about Dyersburg, TN. I woke long enough to see the train, in the middle of the night, cross the Ohio River into Kentucky. I was fully awake for the first service stop of the morning in Memphis. Even though the area had been devastated by storms a day or two earlier, it was beautiful weather there that morning, with hardly a cloud in the sky, and much more humidity than I'm used to!

Breakfast that day for me consisted of the quiche, which was good, and the croissant and hash browns, which weren't so good. I also had the sausage patties which were a tad overdone. Debra was our dining car steward. I don't know if this is the same Debra who garnered a lot of complaints here on the forum a couple of months back; if so, she must have gotten complaints and the message, because she did a great job, was very attentive to customers' needs, and almost acted as if she enjoyed her job. I hope it was the same one and that she did take to heart complaints, if any. Our breakfast companion was a man from Jackson, MS, who was on his way back home after attending the big air show in Oshkosh, WI.

Right after a smoke stop in Greenwood, MS, (which to me was like a sauna!) was lunchtime. Our waiter this meal was Melvin (more on him later). I was daring and had shrimp gumbo for lunch. I shouldn't have been. I really didn't care for it and decided to go for the old standby, the angus beef burger, the next day. Seated with us was a man who really wasn't too talkative. All we got from him was that he got on in Effingham, IL, which I already knew because he and his large family got on there and were as loud an obnoxious as possible. Everybody on the whole train knew they got on there!

After another smoke stop (and sauna) in Jackson, MS, we made our way into New Orleans about 15 minutes early, due to padding. It was a very smooth trip, and even though we were held up quite a bit by freights, we were still early into New Orleans. Not that it mattered.

On the whole, Leg #1 was a great trip! There were a couple of things I could cry and whine about, those being no bottled water or the food not as good as I've had in previous trips, but maybe that was an anomoly. Having never been in the South before, I was amazed at how lush and green it is. I could have guessed that, of course, but given the area I live in gets less rainfall per year than about 3 or 4 good Southern thunderstorms produce, it was still an eye-opener. And the humidity! Where I live, 20% humidity is enough to make people whine. Down there, in my wimpy perspective, it was like a sauna!

Once in New Orleans, we grabbed a cab to our hotel, the Drury Inn, where we freshened up a bit, waited a few minutes, and then wandered to the French Quarter for dinner at Deanie's Seafood restaurant. I've had better food, especially for $50, but what the heck! We then took a stroll down Bourbon Street (quite an eye-opener for a lad from rural Eastern Washington like myself! :blink: :blink: ) then retired for the night, ready for Leg #2, the Crescent from New Orleans to Washington DC.

I will post pictures later; I wore out 8 pair of batteries in my cheap digital camera on this trip! I have a lot of pictures to wade through so it might take awhile.

Legs 2-5 to follow!


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## acelafan (Aug 11, 2009)

JayPea said:


> Back from my great Slidell Loophole trip! And a great one it was! Five trains, four of which were early and the one not early was right on time. I had to take three flights to get to and from the Spokane area for this trip and two of the three were late. Not by much, but late nonethless. Without further adieu:
> ....................................................
> 
> I will post pictures later; I wore out 8 pair of batteries in my cheap digital camera on this trip! I have a lot of pictures to wade through so it might take awhile.
> ...


Great report so far...keep it coming!


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## Long Train Runnin' (Aug 11, 2009)

Very good report! Can't wait to hear more as the trip progresses!


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 11, 2009)

acelafan said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > Back from my great Slidell Loophole trip! And a great one it was! Five trains, four of which were early and the one not early was right on time. I had to take three flights to get to and from the Spokane area for this trip and two of the three were late. Not by much, but late nonethless. Without further adieu:
> ...


Enjoyed it having just completed this trip three weeks ago!Next time in NOL try Coops for food and check out the Plas D'Armes FQ for

your hotel, both world class for the $$$(cheap for NOL!)!Look forward to the rest,Im going to ride the Crescent for the first time from

NOL to WAS in Oct. so will really go to school on your report!Good traveling,wish I was aboard!


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## cpamtfan (Aug 12, 2009)

Nice trip report  ! But you forgot the car you ate in in your consist lol.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 12, 2009)

cpamtfan said:


> Nice trip report  ! But you forgot the car you ate in in your consist lol.


Probably had to sit in the "mafia seat" in the CCC,was ordered to forget!!! :lol:


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## JayPea (Aug 12, 2009)

Oops! Yes, I did forget to mention in passing the CCC. Maybe that's because I'm trying to forget bad ideas when I see them! :lol:


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## JayPea (Aug 18, 2009)

Pctures of Round 1: http://jlpb60.multiply.com/photos/album/15

I have a few ground rules about showing pictures: Any advice on how to get better quality pictures from my cheap point and shoot camera is welcome. Any nasty comments about my choice of WHAT I chose to take pictures of is verboten. It's MY camera, MY batteries, and MY memory card. So there!!!  :lol:  J/K of course.


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## GG-1 (Aug 18, 2009)

JayPea said:


> It's MY camera, MY batteries, and MY memory card. So there!!!  :lol:  J/K of course.


Aloha

Judging by your composition it is time to upgrade from a "Point and Shoot" to a real camera that can show off your talent.

UH Did I just violate the comment rules? :lol:

Mahalo for Sharing

Eric


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## JayPea (Aug 18, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > It's MY camera, MY batteries, and MY memory card. So there!!!  :lol:  J/K of course.
> ...


Not at all! Back in the old days :lol: I had an SLR camera with many different lenses that was my dad's that my mom gave me when he passed away. I got to be good enough with that one (he says, modestly :lol: ) that some thought I ought to submit some of my photos for postcards. I was looking at digital SLR's yesterday and as soon as they come down in price, I'm right there to get one! Certainly an upgrade over my $100 cheapie special.


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## GG-1 (Aug 19, 2009)

JayPea said:


> I have a few ground rules about showing pictures: Any advice on how to get better quality pictures from my cheap point and shoot camera is welcome.


Aloha

Been thinking about the pictures I saw, Does your P&S camera allow filters or a lens shde? Some of the washed out images could be cause by sun in the lens or atmosphere haze.

Again Mahalo for sharing.

Eric


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## JayPea (Aug 19, 2009)

GG-1 said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > I have a few ground rules about showing pictures: Any advice on how to get better quality pictures from my cheap point and shoot camera is welcome.
> ...



About all this camera can do is change the exposure a bit and either darken or lighten things up. A couple of more raises at work (and a few months of going without an Amtrak trip!) and I will be able to afford a better camera. Of course, if all my pictures turn out lousy then, I'll have to find another excuse! :lol:


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## the_traveler (Aug 19, 2009)

JayPea said:


> and a few months of going without an Amtrak trip


*THAT* could never happen to me!


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## JayPea (Aug 19, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > and a few months of going without an Amtrak trip
> ...



It wouldn't me, either, except for that nasty W word: work. I only have three weeks vacation a year. I need to win the lottery or the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes or something! :lol:


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## GG-1 (Aug 20, 2009)

JayPea said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > JayPea said:
> ...


Does anyone except the Post Office win the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes?

Aloha


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