Rail Freak
Engineer
Well, my original reservations (Nov '10) for this trip were
TPA-ABQ fly CO 6/14/11
ABQ-LAX SWC- 6/14
LAX-PDX CS- 6/15
PDX-WGL- EB 6/16
WGL-PDX-EB 6/18
PDX-MTZ-6/19
MTZ-DEN-6/20
DEN-TPA-fly CO 6/22
Sounds simple enough, right?
As time slowly passed towards my departure date, Mother Nature got Pissed about something & took it out on Amtrak!
Because of the EB problems, I cancelled my reservations @ The Village Inn At Apgar & Red Bus Tours of Glacier Park 72 hrs in advance so not to forfit my $!
Then the 14th, the morning of my flight, the Amtrak Train Status-Archives Site says the 6/13 #3 SWC had not left CHI, which to me meant a no-show on the 14th in ABQ!! (I began to perspire quite a bit!!! Now , with the airport shuttle to arrive at my house in 15 minutes, I was in a state of PANIC!!! I called Amtrak & was put on hold for at least 5 minutes (seemed like hours). She finally came back saying that the #3 had left on the 13th. But , at the time I knew of the fires around Raton & didn't know if I should just cancel everything, just fly to LAX to pick up the #14 CS or what!!! My long awaited trip was a MESS! But, my craving of another train trip took over & I stroked the cat good bye, grabbed my bags & jumped in the arriving shuttle. I still had doubts!!!
I arrived in ABQ around 12:30 pm & after that short $20 cab ride, I settled in for an afternoon of people watching, waiting for a 4:45 departure.This station was a friggin ZOO!!!! People trying to bum money because of all sorts of stories, tarnsvestites floating around several inches from ground level, a drunk couple fist fighting (& she won)! Seriously, all of this going on while I'm trying to watch my back & worrying if the fires of Mother Nature are gonna cause another Amtrak Route victim!!!!
Around 5:45 I saw the #3 backing in from the west & I finally boarded around 6 pm, safe from ABQ Station funny farm! My SCA,Joe, had made a 7:15 dinner reservation for me & I settled in room #2 and had a couple Adult Social Beverages, a little on the stiff side!!! What a sweet sound, those double toots of the train horn!!! And off we went, well for about 2 miles. We were stuck behind freight traffic all thru the night, at one point 3 hrs. down! The Bright Side of this day was the full moon that night, absolutely gorgeous!
The next morning, I was up around 3;30 ready for a shower. I went down stairs to the shower stripped down to my birthday suit hopped in, grabbed the nozzle & guess what? Nothing, the shower was not working!!! After getting dressed & sitting in my room for a few minutes, I decided it would be easier to apologize than get permission so off to the next slepper I went, only to return a new man!!!! Joe had coffee made early as the diner opened @ 5:30 with a limited menu. I made a cup of java & went to the SSL waiting for breakfast. I had the French Toast & loved every bite!!! With a lot of padding help, we made it to LAX around 9:30 & a Red Cap took me to a bench right where th CS car # 30 would stop for me to start a brand new day!!!
I had room #11,bottom level,which I found to be fine. After all, it was close to a working shower!!! dumped my bags into the room & took off for the PPC! I was the only one there for about 30 seconds, :lol: !!! To much disappointment the WiFi didn't work. But the rest of the CS trip was great. Had the Ham sandwich for lunch & the Flat Iron Braized Beef for dinner in the PPC along with a few more social beverages & plenty of conversation!!! Was in bed around 9 pm & back in the shower around 4:30 (slept in) & in the SSL at 5:30 as we arrived in Redding. Running behind gave everyone some daylight sites not normally seen. Like Mt Shasta. Beautiful day with a packed train. Someone said 459 pax??? We arrived in PDX aroud 5:20 with the #28 waitig. But I'm camping out in PDX, playing tourist for the next few days earning 1k pt. stays at Wyndham hotels!!! I took the the MAX Red Line to the airport where the Hotel Shuttle picked me up. I'm still laughing about that ABQ Station experience!!!
Having Fun,
Later
RF
TPA-ABQ fly CO 6/14/11
ABQ-LAX SWC- 6/14
LAX-PDX CS- 6/15
PDX-WGL- EB 6/16
WGL-PDX-EB 6/18
PDX-MTZ-6/19
MTZ-DEN-6/20
DEN-TPA-fly CO 6/22
Sounds simple enough, right?
As time slowly passed towards my departure date, Mother Nature got Pissed about something & took it out on Amtrak!
Because of the EB problems, I cancelled my reservations @ The Village Inn At Apgar & Red Bus Tours of Glacier Park 72 hrs in advance so not to forfit my $!
Then the 14th, the morning of my flight, the Amtrak Train Status-Archives Site says the 6/13 #3 SWC had not left CHI, which to me meant a no-show on the 14th in ABQ!! (I began to perspire quite a bit!!! Now , with the airport shuttle to arrive at my house in 15 minutes, I was in a state of PANIC!!!
I called Amtrak & was put on hold for at least 5 minutes (seemed like hours). She finally came back saying that the #3 had left on the 13th. But , at the time I knew of the fires around Raton & didn't know if I should just cancel everything, just fly to LAX to pick up the #14 CS or what!!! My long awaited trip was a MESS! But, my craving of another train trip took over & I stroked the cat good bye, grabbed my bags & jumped in the arriving shuttle. I still had doubts!!!I arrived in ABQ around 12:30 pm & after that short $20 cab ride, I settled in for an afternoon of people watching, waiting for a 4:45 departure.This station was a friggin ZOO!!!! People trying to bum money because of all sorts of stories, tarnsvestites floating around several inches from ground level, a drunk couple fist fighting (& she won)! Seriously, all of this going on while I'm trying to watch my back & worrying if the fires of Mother Nature are gonna cause another Amtrak Route victim!!!!
Around 5:45 I saw the #3 backing in from the west & I finally boarded around 6 pm, safe from ABQ Station funny farm! My SCA,Joe, had made a 7:15 dinner reservation for me & I settled in room #2 and had a couple Adult Social Beverages, a little on the stiff side!!! What a sweet sound, those double toots of the train horn!!! And off we went, well for about 2 miles. We were stuck behind freight traffic all thru the night, at one point 3 hrs. down! The Bright Side of this day was the full moon that night, absolutely gorgeous!
The next morning, I was up around 3;30 ready for a shower. I went down stairs to the shower stripped down to my birthday suit hopped in, grabbed the nozzle & guess what? Nothing, the shower was not working!!! After getting dressed & sitting in my room for a few minutes, I decided it would be easier to apologize than get permission so off to the next slepper I went, only to return a new man!!!! Joe had coffee made early as the diner opened @ 5:30 with a limited menu. I made a cup of java & went to the SSL waiting for breakfast. I had the French Toast & loved every bite!!!
With a lot of padding help, we made it to LAX around 9:30 & a Red Cap took me to a bench right where th CS car # 30 would stop for me to start a brand new day!!!I had room #11,bottom level,which I found to be fine. After all, it was close to a working shower!!! dumped my bags into the room & took off for the PPC! I was the only one there for about 30 seconds, :lol: !!! To much disappointment the WiFi didn't work. But the rest of the CS trip was great. Had the Ham sandwich for lunch & the Flat Iron Braized Beef for dinner in the PPC along with a few more social beverages & plenty of conversation!!! Was in bed around 9 pm & back in the shower around 4:30 (slept in) & in the SSL at 5:30 as we arrived in Redding. Running behind gave everyone some daylight sites not normally seen. Like Mt Shasta. Beautiful day with a packed train. Someone said 459 pax??? We arrived in PDX aroud 5:20 with the #28 waitig. But I'm camping out in PDX, playing tourist for the next few days earning 1k pt. stays at Wyndham hotels!!! I took the the MAX Red Line to the airport where the Hotel Shuttle picked me up. I'm still laughing about that ABQ Station experience!!!
Having Fun,
Later
RF
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