I wasn't planning on writing a trip report, so I did not make note of full details, like times, and car numbers, etc. I did this as more of an afterthougt of my impressions.
Thanks to AU, I read about the detouring of the Eagle between Chicago and St. Louis right here. I am a 'rare mileage' collector, so the urge to ride this just brewed in me until I finally acted. I had ridden part of the route on Amtrak's South Wind from Chicago to Florida way back when, but the segment from Woodland Jct.to St. Louis was new to me.
So I woke up yesterday at "0 Dark 30" to take two MTA buses to LGA to board AA301 for ORD. Had a beautiful pre-dawn departure over the city, and after a nice nap, woke up over Lake Michigan for an on time arrival at ORD. Got on the CTA Blue Line for a nice trip into CHI. I got off at Clinton, and walked up to CUS. I had called "Julie" the night before to reserve a seat. I didn't do it online, as I did not want to purchase the ticket until I got to CHI. I went straight to the Amtrak ticket counter, and made the purchase. When I booked the space, it showed no availability CHI to STL, but I was able to book it CHI to PBF. The fare was $62., actually $4. less than the non-discounted CHI-STL fare.
I then went over to Lou Mitchell's for a hardy skillet breakfast. Delicious. I had five hours to re-acquaint myself with Chicago. I walked around to all my usual old haunts. First to the Greyhound Terminal. It looked almost deserted at that early hour. Next, to the LaSalle Street METRA station. Then over to the old Dearborn Station. A very nice restoration. I sat at a nice table in the 'atrium' and used their free wifi for a while, while I rested from my walk. Then over to Michigan Avenue and the Van Buren Street METRA/South Shore Line Station. Then into the lobby of the old Santa Fe Building, where a local architectural society sells interesting walking, bus, and boat tours of Chicago. They also have a nice free museum there including a large model of downtown Chicago.
Then up to Millenium Station. Then along Randolph Street where there is no sign of the former Trailways and underground Greyhound Terminals.
I noticed that Macy's had taken over the Marshall Fields department store. Next the Ogilvie METRA station. Finally, back to Union Station.
A nice exercise on a glorious fall Friday in Chicago.
Boarding for Train 21 began at 1:15 PM. I gave my ticket at the gate, and was given a seatcheck for PBF, and told to board the third coach down. I secured a seat on the front of stairway portion of the upper level. We rolled out on time at 1:45, and all seemed to be well.
The train was I estimate only about a third full. I headed for the Sightseer Lounge, and sat at the table end with my cell phone displaying Verizon Navigator. It was nice that there were power outlets at this location and the coach seats. We were making fairly good progress until we got to 'Malone Tower'. There we sat for almost 45 minutes waiting for a freight train and Train 22 to clear. We then continued on, running at a fairly steady 60 mph. We then stopped at Villa Grove for about an hour waiting for a new pilot to board. These delays caused us to miss a lot of the remaining distance in daylight. It was now dark for the rest of the way. I was still full from my huge breakfast, so I chose the late, 8 PM dinner serving, knowing that we were late enough for me to have time to do it before St. Louis. I had the "Garlic Butter Marinated New york Strip Steak". I chose this based on the strong recommendations of the early seating folks. The cut of meat was not exactly 'Prime',
but it was well prepared and very flavorful, and a generous portion. This was my first meal in a "Cross Country Cafe", and the service was very good.x The plastic dinnerware was of a good quality, with stainless utensils. The menu, (I kept a copy), looked good. We had a spectacular night view of downtown St. Louis as we rolled south along the river, and crossed the Mississippi, arriving finally around three hours late.
The Superliner train consisted of three coaches, sightseer lounge, cross country cafe, sleeper, dorm-sleeper, and P42 number 53. Sorry I didn't copy all the car numbers. This was my first time in the new St. Louis station. My last was in the 'shack'. While not a palace,
it did seem functional, and had all the amenities needed, even a private waiting room for sleeper passengers. It shared the building with Greyhound, and had a light rail station also.
As I left the station, the town seemed to be jumping, as the crowd was just letting out from the hockey game at the nearby arena. I took a walk over to the old St. Louis Union Station, for a quick look-see. Marriott was renovating its hotel there. I then took the light rail out to Lambert and checked into an airport hotel for a short stay. Woke up early this AM, and took the first AA flight back to LGA, two MTA buses and home.
A nice quick weekend getaway that was very enjoyable.
Thanks to AU, I read about the detouring of the Eagle between Chicago and St. Louis right here. I am a 'rare mileage' collector, so the urge to ride this just brewed in me until I finally acted. I had ridden part of the route on Amtrak's South Wind from Chicago to Florida way back when, but the segment from Woodland Jct.to St. Louis was new to me.
So I woke up yesterday at "0 Dark 30" to take two MTA buses to LGA to board AA301 for ORD. Had a beautiful pre-dawn departure over the city, and after a nice nap, woke up over Lake Michigan for an on time arrival at ORD. Got on the CTA Blue Line for a nice trip into CHI. I got off at Clinton, and walked up to CUS. I had called "Julie" the night before to reserve a seat. I didn't do it online, as I did not want to purchase the ticket until I got to CHI. I went straight to the Amtrak ticket counter, and made the purchase. When I booked the space, it showed no availability CHI to STL, but I was able to book it CHI to PBF. The fare was $62., actually $4. less than the non-discounted CHI-STL fare.
I then went over to Lou Mitchell's for a hardy skillet breakfast. Delicious. I had five hours to re-acquaint myself with Chicago. I walked around to all my usual old haunts. First to the Greyhound Terminal. It looked almost deserted at that early hour. Next, to the LaSalle Street METRA station. Then over to the old Dearborn Station. A very nice restoration. I sat at a nice table in the 'atrium' and used their free wifi for a while, while I rested from my walk. Then over to Michigan Avenue and the Van Buren Street METRA/South Shore Line Station. Then into the lobby of the old Santa Fe Building, where a local architectural society sells interesting walking, bus, and boat tours of Chicago. They also have a nice free museum there including a large model of downtown Chicago.
Then up to Millenium Station. Then along Randolph Street where there is no sign of the former Trailways and underground Greyhound Terminals.
I noticed that Macy's had taken over the Marshall Fields department store. Next the Ogilvie METRA station. Finally, back to Union Station.
A nice exercise on a glorious fall Friday in Chicago.
Boarding for Train 21 began at 1:15 PM. I gave my ticket at the gate, and was given a seatcheck for PBF, and told to board the third coach down. I secured a seat on the front of stairway portion of the upper level. We rolled out on time at 1:45, and all seemed to be well.
The train was I estimate only about a third full. I headed for the Sightseer Lounge, and sat at the table end with my cell phone displaying Verizon Navigator. It was nice that there were power outlets at this location and the coach seats. We were making fairly good progress until we got to 'Malone Tower'. There we sat for almost 45 minutes waiting for a freight train and Train 22 to clear. We then continued on, running at a fairly steady 60 mph. We then stopped at Villa Grove for about an hour waiting for a new pilot to board. These delays caused us to miss a lot of the remaining distance in daylight. It was now dark for the rest of the way. I was still full from my huge breakfast, so I chose the late, 8 PM dinner serving, knowing that we were late enough for me to have time to do it before St. Louis. I had the "Garlic Butter Marinated New york Strip Steak". I chose this based on the strong recommendations of the early seating folks. The cut of meat was not exactly 'Prime',
but it was well prepared and very flavorful, and a generous portion. This was my first meal in a "Cross Country Cafe", and the service was very good.x The plastic dinnerware was of a good quality, with stainless utensils. The menu, (I kept a copy), looked good. We had a spectacular night view of downtown St. Louis as we rolled south along the river, and crossed the Mississippi, arriving finally around three hours late.
The Superliner train consisted of three coaches, sightseer lounge, cross country cafe, sleeper, dorm-sleeper, and P42 number 53. Sorry I didn't copy all the car numbers. This was my first time in the new St. Louis station. My last was in the 'shack'. While not a palace,
it did seem functional, and had all the amenities needed, even a private waiting room for sleeper passengers. It shared the building with Greyhound, and had a light rail station also.
As I left the station, the town seemed to be jumping, as the crowd was just letting out from the hockey game at the nearby arena. I took a walk over to the old St. Louis Union Station, for a quick look-see. Marriott was renovating its hotel there. I then took the light rail out to Lambert and checked into an airport hotel for a short stay. Woke up early this AM, and took the first AA flight back to LGA, two MTA buses and home.
A nice quick weekend getaway that was very enjoyable.
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