Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
I honestly never thought I would make it to this year’s AU gathering I didn’t want to miss any of my classes, and how on earth could I afford it. Well in July the pieces started coming together, and things began looking up. Finally in late August I made all the reservations, and I was going to St. Louis! The hardest part was of course waiting for the day to arrive, and it finally did.
I left my dorm room around 10 PM and made the 40 minute drive to Buffalo-Depew station where there were already a few people waiting. I printed out my tickets and headed out to the platform CSX didn’t during my almost 2 hour wait 11 trains rolled by. I enjoyed my time watching auto racks and intermodal containers whiz by, and talked to a couple gentlemen who were just there to rail fan. The new crew came out on the platform and said the train was running about a half hour down. 2 CSX freight trains rolled up and came to a stop on other tracks, and were put in the hole for Amtrak. The conductor did something I thought to be very interesting when it came to pulling tickets, he made up all the seat checks using the manifest, and took your ticket right on the platform. Once you boarded you put your seat check over your seat, and his job was done.
The train was packed! I had already assumed there would be no chance of getting a window seat, but I had to walk a couple cars just to find an aisle seat! I ended up in one of the Boston coaches, and sat next to someone who was already asleep. I was a little nervous about my first overnight in coach I’d endured long flights to Europe and a 14 hour trip in an Amfleet I on the Carolinian. I knew that sitting in an Amfleet II coach was worlds ahead of sleeping in coach on a transatlantic flight. My theory proved correct, and somewhere after we left Erie, PA I fell asleep waking up briefly when the conductor was calling for Cleveland. I then slept soundly through until 10 minutes outside of Toledo. I got off the train in Toledo for a few minutes I was surprised that I wasn’t really stiff I actually felt pretty good. I guess my youth has its advantages!
I thought to myself after Toledo I will head to the dining car for breakfast in a half hour or so. I ended up dozing off and on all the way to Elkhart, IN. I felt bad, but I never made it to the dining car. I felt like I was committing some kind of crime by missing out on a plate of Railroad French Toast! We had made up all the time we had lost and when we arrived in South Bend, IN we were actually a few minutes early! I was excited about this because I had planned a rather tight connection in Chicago to a Hiawatha to Milwaukee to pick up some AGR points as well as cover some new track. Dispatch however wouldn’t cooperate with my plans. We came to a stop several times in several places losing more and more time. We finally backed into Chicago Union Station around 10:25 I knew all was lost with my rides on the Hiawatha, so I headed over to a ticket counter.
I had a very nice agent who was very courteous, and handled everything very well. I decided instead of spend several hours in Chicago, and then ended up on a bus for a couple hours I should take the Texas Eagle detour. He took my Lincoln Service tickets, and my Hiawatha tickets and a few moments later printed out a ticket on the Texas Eagle to St. Louis and a voucher for 6 dollars. I am sure I paid ultra high bucket for my seat, but hey I was going to ride the detour, and really had no use for Hiawatha tickets.
I then used on my Select coupons to gain entry to Metropolitan Lounge where I began to work on this report, and caught up on some online things. After a quick lunch it looks like I lucked out the train I would have taken back to Milwaukee was canceled and passengers are being bused in. About 20 minutes till they start boarding the Texas Eagle and the lounge is filling up.
As they began calling the Texas Eagle I saw a man I thought was Jay Hadley, and as we stood in line to board the train I introduced myself, and I was in fact correct. Jay was very gracious an offered me the other seat in his roomette. The conductor had no problem with this, and I joined him in room number 6 in car 2130. It came over the radio that we would depart on time, and that came to pass. A few minutes later our sleeping car attendant Charlie introduced himself to us he was a very charismatic character who clearly went above and beyond. He transformed his room into a nice area where passengers could find magazines and board games along with ice, and other little things. He seemed like a great attendant, and offered more then any other attendant I have ever encountered.
We were barely underway and already I was enjoying the unique experiences and stories Hadley had to share. Then somewhere down the line Rafi and Trodgor poked their heads in and soon we headed to the lounge to chat about all things Amtrak, and to track the trains progress through the detour zone. There was all kinds of interesting information being passed around the table, and I sat just trying to absorb all that I was hearing. After a few slowdowns and stops it was determined we had broken away from the route the Cardinal takes and were now on the former C&EI now UP detour. We must have looked pretty interesting to the other passengers with maps and papers laid out my laptop and Rafi’s iPhone providing our GPS location, and Hadley had his scanner on. Maybe we’d be classified as railfans? :lol:
The conversation continued quite literally for hours, which was fine by me! We talked about all kind of things and the hours passed quickly. The scenery on the detour was nice, but in a way repetitive. Lots of rural farm land interspersed with tiny little towns. It was easy on the eyes; one of the scenic highlights was crossing the Kankakee River. The scenery and the conversation carried on into our dinner seating where I had an excellent steak and my favorite Amtrak dessert the chocolate peanut butter pie. The service was as good as any full diner we received salads with our meals, which we didn’t expect.
After dinner a few members engaged in some currency exchange as Rob had an abundance of $2 bills and Jay had quite a few half dollars. After that we sat in the room for awhile just talking until we heard a defect detector give us a milepost and went to find Rafi, and Rob to consult how much longer until we arrived in St. Louis. We ended up hanging out in the hallway until we began our approach to St. Louis, crossing over the Mississippi River and arriving at the new Gateway Transportation Center. I know I had not originally planned to take the detour, but now seeing what I would have missed I’ve never been happier to miss a train.
Rafi, Rob and I all headed over to the Civic Center Light Rail Station where we caught a train and got off 2 stops later at 8th and Pine and checked into our respective hotels all with in a couple blocks of each other. It was a great journey to get to the AU host city and look forward to participating in the rest of the weekend’s activities!
Thanks again to Jay who allowed me to join him in his sleeping car!
Thanks for reading!
Pictures can be found here
I left my dorm room around 10 PM and made the 40 minute drive to Buffalo-Depew station where there were already a few people waiting. I printed out my tickets and headed out to the platform CSX didn’t during my almost 2 hour wait 11 trains rolled by. I enjoyed my time watching auto racks and intermodal containers whiz by, and talked to a couple gentlemen who were just there to rail fan. The new crew came out on the platform and said the train was running about a half hour down. 2 CSX freight trains rolled up and came to a stop on other tracks, and were put in the hole for Amtrak. The conductor did something I thought to be very interesting when it came to pulling tickets, he made up all the seat checks using the manifest, and took your ticket right on the platform. Once you boarded you put your seat check over your seat, and his job was done.
The train was packed! I had already assumed there would be no chance of getting a window seat, but I had to walk a couple cars just to find an aisle seat! I ended up in one of the Boston coaches, and sat next to someone who was already asleep. I was a little nervous about my first overnight in coach I’d endured long flights to Europe and a 14 hour trip in an Amfleet I on the Carolinian. I knew that sitting in an Amfleet II coach was worlds ahead of sleeping in coach on a transatlantic flight. My theory proved correct, and somewhere after we left Erie, PA I fell asleep waking up briefly when the conductor was calling for Cleveland. I then slept soundly through until 10 minutes outside of Toledo. I got off the train in Toledo for a few minutes I was surprised that I wasn’t really stiff I actually felt pretty good. I guess my youth has its advantages!
I thought to myself after Toledo I will head to the dining car for breakfast in a half hour or so. I ended up dozing off and on all the way to Elkhart, IN. I felt bad, but I never made it to the dining car. I felt like I was committing some kind of crime by missing out on a plate of Railroad French Toast! We had made up all the time we had lost and when we arrived in South Bend, IN we were actually a few minutes early! I was excited about this because I had planned a rather tight connection in Chicago to a Hiawatha to Milwaukee to pick up some AGR points as well as cover some new track. Dispatch however wouldn’t cooperate with my plans. We came to a stop several times in several places losing more and more time. We finally backed into Chicago Union Station around 10:25 I knew all was lost with my rides on the Hiawatha, so I headed over to a ticket counter.
I had a very nice agent who was very courteous, and handled everything very well. I decided instead of spend several hours in Chicago, and then ended up on a bus for a couple hours I should take the Texas Eagle detour. He took my Lincoln Service tickets, and my Hiawatha tickets and a few moments later printed out a ticket on the Texas Eagle to St. Louis and a voucher for 6 dollars. I am sure I paid ultra high bucket for my seat, but hey I was going to ride the detour, and really had no use for Hiawatha tickets.
I then used on my Select coupons to gain entry to Metropolitan Lounge where I began to work on this report, and caught up on some online things. After a quick lunch it looks like I lucked out the train I would have taken back to Milwaukee was canceled and passengers are being bused in. About 20 minutes till they start boarding the Texas Eagle and the lounge is filling up.
As they began calling the Texas Eagle I saw a man I thought was Jay Hadley, and as we stood in line to board the train I introduced myself, and I was in fact correct. Jay was very gracious an offered me the other seat in his roomette. The conductor had no problem with this, and I joined him in room number 6 in car 2130. It came over the radio that we would depart on time, and that came to pass. A few minutes later our sleeping car attendant Charlie introduced himself to us he was a very charismatic character who clearly went above and beyond. He transformed his room into a nice area where passengers could find magazines and board games along with ice, and other little things. He seemed like a great attendant, and offered more then any other attendant I have ever encountered.
We were barely underway and already I was enjoying the unique experiences and stories Hadley had to share. Then somewhere down the line Rafi and Trodgor poked their heads in and soon we headed to the lounge to chat about all things Amtrak, and to track the trains progress through the detour zone. There was all kinds of interesting information being passed around the table, and I sat just trying to absorb all that I was hearing. After a few slowdowns and stops it was determined we had broken away from the route the Cardinal takes and were now on the former C&EI now UP detour. We must have looked pretty interesting to the other passengers with maps and papers laid out my laptop and Rafi’s iPhone providing our GPS location, and Hadley had his scanner on. Maybe we’d be classified as railfans? :lol:
The conversation continued quite literally for hours, which was fine by me! We talked about all kind of things and the hours passed quickly. The scenery on the detour was nice, but in a way repetitive. Lots of rural farm land interspersed with tiny little towns. It was easy on the eyes; one of the scenic highlights was crossing the Kankakee River. The scenery and the conversation carried on into our dinner seating where I had an excellent steak and my favorite Amtrak dessert the chocolate peanut butter pie. The service was as good as any full diner we received salads with our meals, which we didn’t expect.
After dinner a few members engaged in some currency exchange as Rob had an abundance of $2 bills and Jay had quite a few half dollars. After that we sat in the room for awhile just talking until we heard a defect detector give us a milepost and went to find Rafi, and Rob to consult how much longer until we arrived in St. Louis. We ended up hanging out in the hallway until we began our approach to St. Louis, crossing over the Mississippi River and arriving at the new Gateway Transportation Center. I know I had not originally planned to take the detour, but now seeing what I would have missed I’ve never been happier to miss a train.
Rafi, Rob and I all headed over to the Civic Center Light Rail Station where we caught a train and got off 2 stops later at 8th and Pine and checked into our respective hotels all with in a couple blocks of each other. It was a great journey to get to the AU host city and look forward to participating in the rest of the weekend’s activities!
Thanks again to Jay who allowed me to join him in his sleeping car!
Thanks for reading!
Pictures can be found here
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I'm planning to ride that in reverse order from LA to CHI, on Jan. 4th.
