Just recently, we reread some of our trip reports from years ago. One that we found particularly memorable describes a trip we made to Ohio in May-June of 2005. That was the year when both our eastbound trains arrived at their destinations early. On our return trip, the fact that we’d bought our tickets in March almost had serious consequences for us connecting with our westbound CL #29 train. Also, our westbound SWC #3 train had a close encounter with a tornado west of Chicago and later, flooding west of Newton, Kansas. Since this trip report was never posted on AU, we thought we’d share it with you now. Because this trip was made almost 15 years ago, we’ve added some annotations in italics to clarify a few points.
Eric & Pat
Part 1: San Diego to Toledo, Ohio
Stage 1: San Diego to Los Angeles (May 21)
We arrived at San Diego’s historic, mission-style station at 1:40 p.m.
Although it was Saturday, the waiting room was noticeably empty. (The large weekend crowds first begin to appear after the start of the summer vacation season.) Since we had plenty of time before our train left, we sat down on one of the long, heavy-duty, wooden benches that date back to when the station first opened in 1914. Not far from us sat six young men whom, because of their haircuts and physically fit appearances, we judged to be U.S. Marines, even though they were dressed in civvies. We also saw an Amish family dressed in their traditional garb.
The waiting room itself was clean and well maintained. All the while we sat waiting for our train, we could see a contract cleaning person busy polishing metal work and making periodic searches for any minute traces of litter.
The only extra security measures we noted were an unarmed security guard who occasionally walked by, and a poster instructing passengers on how to report any suspicious activity they observed.
At 2:00 p.m., a southbound Surfliner arrived and discharged its passengers.
By 2:30 p.m., the station had begun to fill up with passengers for the 3:00 p.m. Surfliner. A gentle breeze was blowing in from the harbor and, despite the warm weather, the waiting room was cool and comfortable.
At 2:46 p.m., a taped message announced the first boarding call for the 3:00 p.m. northbound Surfliner. We made our way to the platform and were soon seated in unreserved coach #6408. While we were sitting there, a southbound Surfliner pulled in. (Among the passengers who got off, we saw one who was carrying what looked like a ‘cello case.)
Our train left at 3:00 p.m., exactly on schedule. Moving through downtown San Diego, we could see off to our left the 1850’s sailing ship STAR OF INDIA (now a floating museum) with its sails set.
When the conductor took our tickets, she told us that the Southwest Chief would be departing from Track 12 in Los Angeles. (We made a note of this for later use.)
At 3:24 p.m. our train began paralleling the ocean. Being a clear, sunny day, the view was right out of an AMTRAK advertising brochure.
Passing through the little resort communities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and Cardiff-by-the-Sea, we could see that the beaches and campgrounds were busy but not overcrowded.
We arrived on time at Solana Beach, our first scheduled stop.
At Oceanside, the young men whom we’d seen earlier in San Diego got off, undoubtedly headed for the nearby Camp Pendleton Marine base.
Continuing north, there were times when the right-of-way came so close to the shoreline that the waves seemed to breaking right next to the roadbed.
About 5 minutes south of San Juan Capistrano, the tracks curved inland and we had our last view of the ocean.
At 5:30 p.m., we crossed the Los Angles River and made a sharp turn to the right for the approach to Los Angeles Union Station. In the rail yard to our left, we saw cars from the American Orient Express.
We passed Mission Tower at 5:35 p.m. and came to a stop LAUS two minutes later, exactly on schedule.
Stage 2: Los Angeles to Chicago (May 21-May 23)
Since we had about an hour to wait before our next train, we made our way into main waiting room and found two comfortable seats. [Back then, we were unaware that LAUS had a Metropolitan Lounge for sleeping car passengers.] The waiting room was quite a bit warmer than San Diego’s had been, but fortunately was not crowded.
At 6:00 p.m., a taped message announced that there would be a delay in boarding the Southwest Chief. Not being in any great hurry, we continued to enjoy the waiting room’s historical ambience while watching the parade of guests filing into a posh, private wedding reception that was taking place in one of the outside patios.
At 6:15 p.m., the first boarding call for the Southwest Chief was made. Rather than wait for the Red Cap shuttle, we walked directly to Track 12, arriving in time to see the #4 back into the station. The consist was made up of a pair of P42 Genesis locos (AMTRAK #73 and #64) a GE “Pepsi can” P32-8 loco (AMTRAK #518), a baggage car, a transition sleeper for the onboard staff, the sleeping cars District of Columbia and Wyoming, a dining car, a Sightseer lounge car, three coaches, and three freight cars. [Transporting the three freight cars across country undoubtedly generated some much-needed extra revenue for AMTRAK.]
Our reservations were for bedroom D in the District of Columbia and, as we boarded, our sleeping car attendant R-J checked off our names on his list. (What a difference from the indignities that airlines passengers must go through before they can board!)
Once we were situated in our bedroom, we broke out our little Uniden desktop scanner and started monitoring radio traffic. Almost immediately, we began to hear L.A. Station Services discussing the loading of passengers and their luggage on board #4.
We left Los Angeles on time at 6:46 p.m.
An announcement was made that, when tickets were collected, a random ID check would be made, and that AMTRAK apologized for any inconvenience this might cause. (What airlines passenger nowadays ever gets off so lightly?!)
We responded to the first call for dinner at 7:15 p.m. and were already seated when #4 arrived at Fullerton.
The dining car tables were set with linen tablecloths and napkins. Protecting the tablecloth was a layer of white paper sheets that had been cut to the dimensions of the tabletop. (After each seating, the servers had only to remove the top sheet to have a clean tabletop ready for the next set of hungry patrons.)
The staff consisted of a dining car steward, (looking very debonair in his AMTRAK blazer and black beret) and two male servers. (As near as we could tell, these same three men handled all of the dining car chores related to seating passengers, taking orders, and serving meals for the entire trip to Chicago.)
Our dinner companions were a retired policeman returning home to Chicago, and a woman traveling to Las Vegas, N.M. to help a relative drive back across country.
I ordered the rack of lamb and Pat ordered steak, both of which were excellent.
After dinner, we returned to our bedroom and continued listening to the scanner. (Among other things, we heard another train report a defective signal.) Deciding to call it an early evening, we had R-J make up the bed and were soon settled in for the night. (Once turned off, the scanner did double duty as a bedside digital clock.)
(To Be Continued)
Eric & Pat
Part 1: San Diego to Toledo, Ohio
Stage 1: San Diego to Los Angeles (May 21)
We arrived at San Diego’s historic, mission-style station at 1:40 p.m.
Although it was Saturday, the waiting room was noticeably empty. (The large weekend crowds first begin to appear after the start of the summer vacation season.) Since we had plenty of time before our train left, we sat down on one of the long, heavy-duty, wooden benches that date back to when the station first opened in 1914. Not far from us sat six young men whom, because of their haircuts and physically fit appearances, we judged to be U.S. Marines, even though they were dressed in civvies. We also saw an Amish family dressed in their traditional garb.
The waiting room itself was clean and well maintained. All the while we sat waiting for our train, we could see a contract cleaning person busy polishing metal work and making periodic searches for any minute traces of litter.
The only extra security measures we noted were an unarmed security guard who occasionally walked by, and a poster instructing passengers on how to report any suspicious activity they observed.
At 2:00 p.m., a southbound Surfliner arrived and discharged its passengers.
By 2:30 p.m., the station had begun to fill up with passengers for the 3:00 p.m. Surfliner. A gentle breeze was blowing in from the harbor and, despite the warm weather, the waiting room was cool and comfortable.
At 2:46 p.m., a taped message announced the first boarding call for the 3:00 p.m. northbound Surfliner. We made our way to the platform and were soon seated in unreserved coach #6408. While we were sitting there, a southbound Surfliner pulled in. (Among the passengers who got off, we saw one who was carrying what looked like a ‘cello case.)
Our train left at 3:00 p.m., exactly on schedule. Moving through downtown San Diego, we could see off to our left the 1850’s sailing ship STAR OF INDIA (now a floating museum) with its sails set.
When the conductor took our tickets, she told us that the Southwest Chief would be departing from Track 12 in Los Angeles. (We made a note of this for later use.)
At 3:24 p.m. our train began paralleling the ocean. Being a clear, sunny day, the view was right out of an AMTRAK advertising brochure.
Passing through the little resort communities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and Cardiff-by-the-Sea, we could see that the beaches and campgrounds were busy but not overcrowded.
We arrived on time at Solana Beach, our first scheduled stop.
At Oceanside, the young men whom we’d seen earlier in San Diego got off, undoubtedly headed for the nearby Camp Pendleton Marine base.
Continuing north, there were times when the right-of-way came so close to the shoreline that the waves seemed to breaking right next to the roadbed.
About 5 minutes south of San Juan Capistrano, the tracks curved inland and we had our last view of the ocean.
At 5:30 p.m., we crossed the Los Angles River and made a sharp turn to the right for the approach to Los Angeles Union Station. In the rail yard to our left, we saw cars from the American Orient Express.
We passed Mission Tower at 5:35 p.m. and came to a stop LAUS two minutes later, exactly on schedule.
Stage 2: Los Angeles to Chicago (May 21-May 23)
Since we had about an hour to wait before our next train, we made our way into main waiting room and found two comfortable seats. [Back then, we were unaware that LAUS had a Metropolitan Lounge for sleeping car passengers.] The waiting room was quite a bit warmer than San Diego’s had been, but fortunately was not crowded.
At 6:00 p.m., a taped message announced that there would be a delay in boarding the Southwest Chief. Not being in any great hurry, we continued to enjoy the waiting room’s historical ambience while watching the parade of guests filing into a posh, private wedding reception that was taking place in one of the outside patios.
At 6:15 p.m., the first boarding call for the Southwest Chief was made. Rather than wait for the Red Cap shuttle, we walked directly to Track 12, arriving in time to see the #4 back into the station. The consist was made up of a pair of P42 Genesis locos (AMTRAK #73 and #64) a GE “Pepsi can” P32-8 loco (AMTRAK #518), a baggage car, a transition sleeper for the onboard staff, the sleeping cars District of Columbia and Wyoming, a dining car, a Sightseer lounge car, three coaches, and three freight cars. [Transporting the three freight cars across country undoubtedly generated some much-needed extra revenue for AMTRAK.]
Our reservations were for bedroom D in the District of Columbia and, as we boarded, our sleeping car attendant R-J checked off our names on his list. (What a difference from the indignities that airlines passengers must go through before they can board!)
Once we were situated in our bedroom, we broke out our little Uniden desktop scanner and started monitoring radio traffic. Almost immediately, we began to hear L.A. Station Services discussing the loading of passengers and their luggage on board #4.
We left Los Angeles on time at 6:46 p.m.
An announcement was made that, when tickets were collected, a random ID check would be made, and that AMTRAK apologized for any inconvenience this might cause. (What airlines passenger nowadays ever gets off so lightly?!)
We responded to the first call for dinner at 7:15 p.m. and were already seated when #4 arrived at Fullerton.
The dining car tables were set with linen tablecloths and napkins. Protecting the tablecloth was a layer of white paper sheets that had been cut to the dimensions of the tabletop. (After each seating, the servers had only to remove the top sheet to have a clean tabletop ready for the next set of hungry patrons.)
The staff consisted of a dining car steward, (looking very debonair in his AMTRAK blazer and black beret) and two male servers. (As near as we could tell, these same three men handled all of the dining car chores related to seating passengers, taking orders, and serving meals for the entire trip to Chicago.)
Our dinner companions were a retired policeman returning home to Chicago, and a woman traveling to Las Vegas, N.M. to help a relative drive back across country.
I ordered the rack of lamb and Pat ordered steak, both of which were excellent.
After dinner, we returned to our bedroom and continued listening to the scanner. (Among other things, we heard another train report a defective signal.) Deciding to call it an early evening, we had R-J make up the bed and were soon settled in for the night. (Once turned off, the scanner did double duty as a bedside digital clock.)
(To Be Continued)
