favorite scenery on Amtrak usually passed through night,that you saw day due hours long train delay?

dogbert617 · Jul 15, 2019

Basically, I'm asking here about your favorite scenery you ever saw on an Amtrak train, thanks to a train being hours and hours late. And as a result, that your train was hours and hours late and allowed you to see scenery usually one doesn't get to see, due to the fact the regular schedule(IF a train was on time and not very late) would mean certain points on a route would normally be passed through in darkness before sunrise. I.e. Cleveland and Sandusky on Lake Shore and Capitol(#49 and #29) going west, being able to see Yuma, AZ on Sunset(#2/422) going east, seeing Libby, MT(if not also Sandpoint, ID) on Empire Builder(#8/28) going east, seeing Newton, KS(if not also Hutchinson) going east on Southwest Chief(#4), seeing Chico, CA going south on Coast Starlight(#11) list goes on of possible examples.

My favorite such example I can remember, was getting to see around Cleveland and Sandusky, when I was riding train #29(westbound Capitol Limited) through there coming back from Pittsburgh towards home(Chicago). Due to the fact the train was over 3 hours late, it was interesting to see new scenery(east of Toledo) in daylight that westbound Amtrak Cap passengers almost never see in daylight! Was greatly interesting to see the scenery of Cleveland's neighborhoods and also places like Lakewood, OH in daytime, and ditto with seeing Cedar Point's rides in the distance and seeing an interesting marsh/wetland just west of Sandusky. And as I remember, I started to see hints of daylight around Alliance, OH, and the sunrise occurred right after we passed Alliance.

How about similar scenery you saw that you found interesting that you ended up seeing and passing by unusually, due to an Amtrak train you were on being hours and hours late? Thanks to others, who respond.

NativeSon5859 · Jul 15, 2019

For me, seeing the area between Sandpoint,ID and Libby,MT from the eastbound Builder. So gorgeous.

JayPea · Jul 15, 2019

I fortunately haven't been on that many hours-late trains, but the best for me was on the Coast Starlight, north of Sacramento. Northern California is gorgeous, and seeing that scenery was great. I've never seen the Sandpoint-Libby area in the daylight by train, but live in the Spokane area so have seen it in daylight many times by car.

frequentflyer · Jul 15, 2019

Late 22 coming into STL. Sunrise on the Mississippi River on the right side of the train is awesome..................with some background music on the headphones.

TinCan782 · Jul 15, 2019

Not necessarily a favorite but, my only time was the westbound SWC #3. A few years ago sunrise around Needles so we passed through the Mojave Desert and Cajon Pass during daylight. The most recent was last October - sunrise around Barstow so we were again able to view the Cajon Pass in daylight.

Seaboard92 · Jul 15, 2019

The Cardinal route Huntington to Indianapolis. Of course we were on time being a special move so we had it as a scheduled move. But for most it’s after dark.

Second stretch Sandpoint to Libby beautiful.

oregon pioneer · Jul 15, 2019

NativeSon5859 said:
For me, seeing the area between Sandpoint,ID and Libby,MT from the eastbound Builder. So gorgeous.

Same here, got to see the Kootenai Rver between Libby and Sandpoint in daylight, on the westbound Builder on my most recent trip (Feb 2018):

dumboldboy · Jul 15, 2019

Northbound Coast Starlight was late enough for sunrise to occur just before Dunsmuir, so we got to see Mt. Lassen in full sunlight. Impressive
Another time Eastbound Empire Builder was held in Havre a little over 4 hours so the host railroad could clean up a derailment. As a result, we got to see nearly all of Minnesota as opposed to sunrise in St. Paul.

SarahZ · Jul 15, 2019

My westbound SWC was several hours late a couple years ago.

I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't get to see Albuquerque after a few years of feeling homesick, but I got to see Dodge City and the Cajon Pass in daylight. That was pretty cool.

Seeing Dodge City in daylight was completely surreal. I had always passed through during the night. Sadly, I was seated on the wrong side of the diner and couldn't get pictures.

I didn't even know about the Cajon Pass until @trainman74 noticed how late I was on the train tracker and sent me a message about it. I looked it up online and read about it as we left Barstow.

WICT106 · Jul 15, 2019

Traveling via the Surrey cutoff, in North Dakota.

Sauve850 · Jul 15, 2019

dogbert617 said:
Basically, I'm asking here about your favorite scenery you ever saw on an Amtrak train, thanks to a train being hours and hours late. And as a result, that your train was hours and hours late and allowed you to see scenery usually one doesn't get to see, due to the fact the regular schedule(IF a train was on time and not very late) would mean certain points on a route would normally be passed through in darkness before sunrise. I.e. Cleveland and Sandusky on Lake Shore and Capitol(#49 and #29) going west, being able to see Yuma, AZ on Sunset(#2/422) going east, seeing Libby, MT(if not also Sandpoint, ID) on Empire Builder(#8/28) going east, seeing Newton, KS(if not also Hutchinson) going east on Southwest Chief(#4), seeing Chico, CA going south on Coast Starlight(#11) list goes on of possible examples.

My favorite such example I can remember, was getting to see around Cleveland and Sandusky, when I was riding train #29(westbound Capitol Limited) through there coming back from Pittsburgh towards home(Chicago). Due to the fact the train was over 3 hours late, it was interesting to see new scenery(east of Toledo) in daylight that westbound Amtrak Cap passengers almost never see in daylight! Was greatly interesting to see the scenery of Cleveland's neighborhoods and also places like Lakewood, OH in daytime, and ditto with seeing Cedar Point's rides in the distance and seeing an interesting marsh/wetland just west of Sandusky. And as I remember, I started to see hints of daylight around Alliance, OH, and the sunrise occurred right after we passed Alliance.

How about similar scenery you saw that you found interesting that you ended up seeing and passing by unusually, due to an Amtrak train you were on being hours and hours late? Thanks to others, who respond.

Sauve850 · Jul 15, 2019

Sorry messed up there. Anyway you almost got my story. I'm a baseball fan and one of my favorite movies is Major League about the Cleveland Indians. I was on CL 29 heading easy one year and train was very late. I woke up and opened the curtains and there was Indians Stadium! Loved it.

brianpmcdonnell17 · Jul 15, 2019

Sauve850 said:
Sorry messed up there. Anyway you almost got my story. I'm a baseball fan and one of my favorite movies is Major League about the Cleveland Indians. I was on CL 29 heading easy one year and train was very late. I woke up and opened the curtains and there was Indians Stadium! Loved it.

Did you see the old baseball stadium which was demolished in 1996? The new baseball stadium is on the other side of downtown and not visible from Amtrak, although the replacement football stadium is at the same location right beside the Amtrak station.

Sauve850 · Jul 15, 2019

It was a very long time ago so could have been either? And I was just waking up. Either way Ill think it was the baseball stadium

Bob Dylan · Jul 16, 2019

Sauve850 said:
It was a very long time ago so could have been either? And I was just waking up. Either way Ill think it was the baseball stadium

The "Mistake by the Lake", the Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium!

dogbert617 · Jul 16, 2019

Sauve850 said:
Sorry messed up there. Anyway you almost got my story. I'm a baseball fan and one of my favorite movies is Major League about the Cleveland Indians. I was on CL 29 heading easy one year and train was very late. I woke up and opened the curtains and there was Indians Stadium! Loved it.

Yep like others said, you probably saw the former Cleveland Municipal Stadium, that the Indians used to play at. And of course, shared that stadium back then with the Browns. The Browns still play on that site, and now have a new stadium built on(I believe) that same site for a number of years now.

jiml · Jul 16, 2019

Bob Dylan said:
The "Mistake by the Lake", the Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium!

Ah, many a misspent road trip there over the years. Cheap beer and great mustard on the hot dogs.

Seaboard92 · Jul 16, 2019

Of course my favorite I haven’t done yet. My hometown. But with summer track work I might just do it this summer.

trainman74 · Jul 16, 2019

SarahZ said:
I didn't even know about the Cajon Pass until @trainman74 noticed how late I was on the train tracker and sent me a message about it. I looked it up online and read about it as we left Barstow.

I knew about it because I've been in the same situation (on an SWC that was running late enough to see Needles, Barstow, and the Cajon Pass in daylight). I see at least one other person in this thread has been in this situation.

andytiedye · Jul 16, 2019

Mount Shasta with the sun rising on the Coast Starlate

dogbert617 · Jul 17, 2019

trainman74 said:
I knew about it because I've been in the same situation (on an SWC that was running late enough to see Needles, Barstow, and the Cajon Pass in daylight). I see at least one other person in this thread has been in this situation.

Was the SW Chief delay that'd allow one to see Needles to Barstow and the Cajon Pass, on #3 going west? At least that's what I assume, but correct me if I'm wrong.

andytiedye said:
Mount Shasta with the sun rising on the Coast Starlate

Was this on the northbound(#14), or southbound(#11) CS train? I'll guess with my memory of CS' schedule that this was northbound #14, but correct me if I'm wrong.

ParanoidAndroid · Jul 17, 2019

dogbert617 said:
Was the SW Chief delay that'd allow one to see Needles to Barstow and the Cajon Pass, on #3 going west? At least that's what I assume, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Was this on the northbound(#14), or southbound(#11) CS train? I'll guess with my memory of CS' schedule that this was northbound #14, but correct me if I'm wrong.

The southbound starlate would have be to very late to see Mt. Shasta in daylight. Probably at least 5-6 hours late with the early summer sunrise. The Sacramento River Valley & Lake Shasta south of Dunsmuir is also nice if the train is late.

oregon pioneer · Jul 17, 2019

ParanoidAndroid said:
The southbound starlate would have be to very late to see Mt. Shasta in daylight. Probably at least 5-6 hours late with the early summer sunrise. The Sacramento River Valley & Lake Shasta south of Dunsmuir is also nice if the train is late.

I have seen Lake Shasta in the morning southbound, once a long long time ago (that was the time we got to San Diego at 5am, on a bus -- yawnnnnnn). But I see Mt. Shasta by dawn on the northbound #14, every time, even in winter. Doesn't seem to me like to you have to be late for that, just awake at first light... it is light at Dunsmuir in summer.

trainman74 · Jul 18, 2019

dogbert617 said:
Was the SW Chief delay that'd allow one to see Needles to Barstow and the Cajon Pass, on #3 going west? At least that's what I assume, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, you are correct. The train I was on had been delayed earlier in its run, about 5½ hours due to thunderstorms leading to flooding and signal problems in Iowa and Kansas.

dogbert617 · Jul 18, 2019

trainman74 said:
Yes, you are correct. The train I was on had been delayed earlier in its run, about 5½ hours due to thunderstorms leading to flooding and signal problems in Iowa and Kansas.

Ah, I see. Thanks for replying, that you saw the Cajon Pass area on train #3, going west through there.

favorite scenery on Amtrak usually passed through night,that you saw day due hours long train delay?

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