PeeweeTM
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- May 9, 2011
- Messages
- 265
Last winter I took a short trip to the US. 25+11 paid vacation days and no car can give someone that freedom. Wife and children will probably be able to take care of themselves.
On January 16th 2018 I started with the metro (subway) to Rotterdam Centraal.
In Rotterdam Centraal I changed into a Intercity Direct to Breda.
After changing trains I went on to 's Hertogenbosch to attend to a meeting about railway safety. After that I went by train to Eindhoven, here a picture about the signage in the Netherlands (Hello @Penn Station...):
Well, in Eindhoven I changed into an Intercity Bus from Deutsche Bahn, en-route from Antwerp, Belgium to Duesseldorf, Germany. And in Duesseldorf I took the S-Bahn to my hotel. From Rotterdam to Duesseldorf for about $25,-. The dutch trains, german bus and german train all with one ticket. And of course on time!
Next day I took the train to the airport. Here you can see me taking a picture.
I flew via Amsterdam to Newark. Nothing spectacular. Took the shuttlebus to a hotel in Elizabeth.
Next day back to the airport by shuttlebus and then with a NJ-transit bus to Newark Penn. Station. PATH to the Hudson river and by ferry to Wallstreet, Manhattan:
Made a walk to Penn. Station on Manhattan, drank a dutch (Douwe Egberts) 'coffee' from the lounge.
And walked to Central Park and back, to take the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago.
Had a nice talk over and after diner with a Republican guy. (I guess I would position myself on the left of Mr. Sanders. Being Dutch also means I know you have to work together with other people for the benefit of society.)
Had a good night in the upper berth.
Got some rotten / mouldy grapes for breakfast and found myself stuck in a discussion between some women about abortion. I won't dig in it further, but just wanted to give examples for a pro and contra for community seating in the diner!
In Chicago I could take a picture of two well looked after engines of Amtrak...
Walked a bit in Chicago, wanted to take a swim, but well, whatever.
And took the South Shore line to South Bend. It took some time to find the entrance of the Randolph Street station.
I had a hotel a short walk from the airport station in South Bend.
Next day took the train back to Chicago.
In Chicago I had time again to walk a bit around and do some shopping for the train towards Portland.
If I were a bird...
Well, boarded the Empire Builder on time.
Dinner staff made an announcement, that food was included in the sleeper fare, but tips weren't. Is that panhandling?
Arrival next morning in Minot was about 45 minutes early.
A bridge shortly after Minot:
Arctic scenery.
And a camping ground for freight cars:
Some pictures of the inside of coach in a Super Liner:
An BNSF locomotive:
It was dark when we entered the Rocky Mountains.
The second part of the night the ride, especially accelerating and braking became less comfortable. After arriving in Portland the probable cause was:
Walked to Powell's Bookstore and back to take the train to Seattle. Saw quite a lot of homeless looking people.
Above in Seattle. Below some pictures of a Talgo wheelset and a modern generation Flexifloat boogie.
Had some Seattle style fast food, with a ferry in the background. Saw again a lot of homeless looking people.
I had a hotel by the airport and the next day I flew via Salt Lake City back to New York, JFK.
Below few from my hotel in Manhattan:
Walked a bit and took another scenic picture:
Next morning I took a small detour back to JFK, starting in Grand Central Terminal:
Metro-North towards Bridgeport:
In Bridgeport I saw a leave-sucker:
And took a ferry to Port Jefferson:
In Port Jefferson I did some illegal standing:
And walked to the LIRR-station:
And two pictures of the inside of the train to Jamaica:
Smooth ride, nice diesel sound. Waited about ten minutes before a track was available in Jamaica.
Flight back to Amsterdam was okay. Flight to Duesseldorf too. In Duesseldorf I just missed the train to Arnhem, so had to wait a full hour and watch trains at the station. It was a nice new train, needing three current systems (15 kV AC in Germany, small 25 kV AC spot after the border crossing, 1,8 kV DC further into the Netherlands.) From Arnhem it was known territory again (I drove trains to Emmerich (Germany) a few times, but last one is almost ten years ago
back to Rotterdam via Utrecht, trains running every 15 minutes, so no timetable needed!
Well, I would like to say: "see you next time USA", but between last winter and now I've been there a few times again already...
On January 16th 2018 I started with the metro (subway) to Rotterdam Centraal.
In Rotterdam Centraal I changed into a Intercity Direct to Breda.
After changing trains I went on to 's Hertogenbosch to attend to a meeting about railway safety. After that I went by train to Eindhoven, here a picture about the signage in the Netherlands (Hello @Penn Station...):
Well, in Eindhoven I changed into an Intercity Bus from Deutsche Bahn, en-route from Antwerp, Belgium to Duesseldorf, Germany. And in Duesseldorf I took the S-Bahn to my hotel. From Rotterdam to Duesseldorf for about $25,-. The dutch trains, german bus and german train all with one ticket. And of course on time!
Next day I took the train to the airport. Here you can see me taking a picture.
I flew via Amsterdam to Newark. Nothing spectacular. Took the shuttlebus to a hotel in Elizabeth.
Next day back to the airport by shuttlebus and then with a NJ-transit bus to Newark Penn. Station. PATH to the Hudson river and by ferry to Wallstreet, Manhattan:
Made a walk to Penn. Station on Manhattan, drank a dutch (Douwe Egberts) 'coffee' from the lounge.
And walked to Central Park and back, to take the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago.
Had a nice talk over and after diner with a Republican guy. (I guess I would position myself on the left of Mr. Sanders. Being Dutch also means I know you have to work together with other people for the benefit of society.)
Had a good night in the upper berth.
Got some rotten / mouldy grapes for breakfast and found myself stuck in a discussion between some women about abortion. I won't dig in it further, but just wanted to give examples for a pro and contra for community seating in the diner!
In Chicago I could take a picture of two well looked after engines of Amtrak...
Walked a bit in Chicago, wanted to take a swim, but well, whatever.
And took the South Shore line to South Bend. It took some time to find the entrance of the Randolph Street station.
I had a hotel a short walk from the airport station in South Bend.
Next day took the train back to Chicago.
In Chicago I had time again to walk a bit around and do some shopping for the train towards Portland.
If I were a bird...
Well, boarded the Empire Builder on time.
Dinner staff made an announcement, that food was included in the sleeper fare, but tips weren't. Is that panhandling?
Arrival next morning in Minot was about 45 minutes early.
A bridge shortly after Minot:
Arctic scenery.
And a camping ground for freight cars:
Some pictures of the inside of coach in a Super Liner:
An BNSF locomotive:
It was dark when we entered the Rocky Mountains.
The second part of the night the ride, especially accelerating and braking became less comfortable. After arriving in Portland the probable cause was:
Walked to Powell's Bookstore and back to take the train to Seattle. Saw quite a lot of homeless looking people.
Above in Seattle. Below some pictures of a Talgo wheelset and a modern generation Flexifloat boogie.
Had some Seattle style fast food, with a ferry in the background. Saw again a lot of homeless looking people.
I had a hotel by the airport and the next day I flew via Salt Lake City back to New York, JFK.
Below few from my hotel in Manhattan:
Walked a bit and took another scenic picture:
Next morning I took a small detour back to JFK, starting in Grand Central Terminal:
Metro-North towards Bridgeport:
In Bridgeport I saw a leave-sucker:
And took a ferry to Port Jefferson:
In Port Jefferson I did some illegal standing:
And walked to the LIRR-station:
And two pictures of the inside of the train to Jamaica:
Smooth ride, nice diesel sound. Waited about ten minutes before a track was available in Jamaica.
Flight back to Amsterdam was okay. Flight to Duesseldorf too. In Duesseldorf I just missed the train to Arnhem, so had to wait a full hour and watch trains at the station. It was a nice new train, needing three current systems (15 kV AC in Germany, small 25 kV AC spot after the border crossing, 1,8 kV DC further into the Netherlands.) From Arnhem it was known territory again (I drove trains to Emmerich (Germany) a few times, but last one is almost ten years ago
back to Rotterdam via Utrecht, trains running every 15 minutes, so no timetable needed!
Well, I would like to say: "see you next time USA", but between last winter and now I've been there a few times again already...
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