Where in the US is AlanB

[MrFSS]

Great reporte, Alan. I'm exhausted from reading these last two. What a trip!!!

 

[AlanB]

Now for the final round of pictures:

Some private varnish sitting at the MSP station:

 

[AlanB]

Running along the mighty Miss on our way to Chicago. It's not a sunset or a sunrise, simply a stormy morning.

I just love these shots where my car lands in the middle of the crossing and I get to look at the waiting traffic.

We must be getting near Chicago.

 

[AlanB]

Jumping to the Lake Shore Limited now:

The poor old Buffalo station.

A CN caboose sitting at Utica.

Some Adirondack Scenic RR equipment:

 

[AlanB]

Crusing through downtown Albany.

Crossing the Hudson River from Albany into Rensselaer, looking north.

Looking south.

The rear of our train as we make the sharp curve just off the bridge and into the Albany/Rensselaer station. The bridge towers are visible over the tree tops.

 

[AlanB]

P32 AC-DM waits at Albany to haul us south to NY City.

Running south alongside the Hudson River.

Metro North P32 AC-DM sits just north of Poughkeepsie station. Sadly I was a hair too quick on the trigger.

Bannerman's Castle sits on an Island in the Hudson River.

West Point sits on the opposite shore. Sadly the lateness of the hour and the angle of the sun made this shot less than it should be.

As we prepare to round a small bay in the river just before Peekskill, one can make out the containment domes for the Indian Point Nuclear power plant.

 

[AlanB]

A new M7 Metro North train set sits in Croton Harmon yard.

The Tappan Zee Bridge sits in the distance as we zip through Metro North's Tarrytown station.

A few more shots of the Tap.

Metro North tracks curve off towards Spuyten Duyvil, the Bronx, and their junction with the Harlem and New Haven lines.

The Henry Hudson bridge and the East River as it flows south from the Hudson.

The George Washington Bridge comes into view. Almost home.

And last but not least, running alongside the West Side Highway, with New Jersey in view on the other side of the River. Right after this, it's underground and into Penn Station.

And that wraps up the photos.

 

[had8ley]

As I mentioned in our last episode, thanks to the late arrival of Cascades #506 and several connecting passengers, train #8 the eastbound Empire Builder left 2 minutes late at 4:47 PM. For this leg, as well as our next, we’re back in a roomette. Our home this time would room #14 on the lower level of the 30 car. This would be the only leg where we didn’t have to walk through another sleeper to reach the dining car.
Our ride up the shoreline was largely uneventful, although I did manage to catch yet another glimpse of a Sounder train; my first had come just a bit earlier when we had waited on one for a few minutes just out of the Tukwila station. Of course technically, my first real sighting of a Sounder train came a few years ago when I saw one and later rode on one being leased by VRE. :lol:

Shortly after making our stop in Edmonds, we made a right hand turn starting our eastbound journey and headed into a tunnel taking us off the shoreline. Shortly on the heals of that, was the Everett station, which is where I saw the Sounder sitting on the adjacent track.

After Everett the first few miles seemed rather flat, but then we started our long climb up into the mountains to reach Steven’s Pass in the Cascade Mountains. To save climbing all the way up to the top of the pass, we pass through the 7.79 Cascade Tunnel, which according to the onboard guide is the longest tunnel in the US. It was completed in 1929 and sits 4,061 feet above sea level.

Had we gone through Steven’s Pass proper, we would have needed to climb yet another 500 feet higher. The tunnel eliminated the need to climb those extra feet. The train also follows the Skykomish River for much of the 65 miles from Everett to the top of the mountains. Hopefully time will permit my posting some photos from the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago later today.

We took dinner at the 6:30 seating and for the first time on our trip, tried the old style of dining car food and service. The service was just fine and with one exception, all in the dining car were very nice, polite, and pleasant. One waitress, while always polite to the patrons in the car, seemed a bit gruff when she was in the service area. At time she even was telling the LSA what to do. I’m not quite sure why he didn’t tell her to stop it, since he seemed perfectly capable of doing his job and running the crew.

Perhaps he just felt that it was easier to not fight with her. She wasn’t unpleasant like I said and was very efficient; I just got the impression that she was a know-it-all who thought that she should be in charge. We were only served by her once. Most of the time we were served by Clasina (I hope that I spelled that correctly), whom I thought was doing a very nice job considering that she had just rotated back to dining car service from sleeper service and she was on her 8th day of work in a row.

Jason the LSA/dining car steward quickly came to know his regulars and was always wonderfully polite and pleasant. He kept all passengers informed of dining car hours, when there was a waiting list, calling those on the list to the diner, and generally keeping the show running smoothly.

I probably should have tried the Salmon shank that they had as a special the first night out as a comparison, but instead I opted for the turkey medallions. They were a bit dry, but otherwise ok. Everything else was just perfect on the plate. My mom opted for the steak and was quite pleased with her choice. We both had ice cream for desert. By the way, I forgot to mention that the Coast Starlight also had ice cream. Both only had vanilla, which was fine by me as I’m not a chocolate fan.

Shortly after dinner we reached Wenatchee, just as the sun was setting. We then continued on through the night to our next stop at Ephrata. Shortly after Ephrata, we turned in for the night. I did wake up for our stop at Spokane, but didn’t get up to look out or note the times.

GREAT pictures, great report...I'm jealous of your ice cream. I'll just ask for chocolate syrup if I make it to the EB this winter.

 

[Guest]

Alan,

They certainly know the difference between an active duty military ID card and one that's not. Everytime I purchase a ticket I produce the ID, watch them twist it back and forth, eyeball me and then I explain to the station agent why I deserve an active duty discount. There was no way I would ever visit the area in question were it not for my spouse about to leave for Iraq and in training. I also told the agent exactly how many hours of "you know what" would take place once I got to see said spouse to make my point that there was nothing else in that area worth paying money to see. His face turned red and he gave me my discount. FYI, there are more things to do at the moment than update my id from reserves to active and I do travel with the perfectly filled in form, dutifully signed in triplicate, etc. that authorizes an active duty id as well as my spouse's Iraq orders.

-Guest

It continues to amaze me that some big-wig at Amtrak in conjunction with the Dept. of Homeland security continues to think that he’s done his job and made trains safer by requiring photo Id’s for Amtrak travel.
First, I’d defy any Amtrak conductor, none of whom have received any special training, to tell me that my license is valid or phony.

Second, there is no way that some guest services personnel at a desk is going to know if my license is valid.

 

[JayPea]

I know this is from last year, but the details of the trip on the EB still get me excited, as I'm taking the EB on its entire Seattle-Chicago run in six weeks. In fact, I'm going to catch the train in Spokane, ride to Seattle, and then back to Chicago. That way I can say I've ridden the train for its whole length, and also see the Cascades during daylight hours, as it should be sunup just as the westbound EB reaches the mountains and it will be dark through the Cascades on its eastbound run. Can hardly wait!

 

[CA Amtrak]

A new M7 Metro North train set sits in Croton Harmon yard.

The Tappan Zee Bridge sits in the distance as we zip through Metro North's Tarrytown station.

A few more shots of the Tap.

Metro North tracks curve off towards Spuyten Duyvil, the Bronx, and their junction with the Harlem and New Haven lines.

The Henry Hudson bridge and the East River as it flows south from the Hudson.

The George Washington Bridge comes into view. Almost home.

And last but not least, running alongside the West Side Highway, with New Jersey in view on the other side of the River. Right after this, it's underground and into Penn Station.

And that wraps up the photos.

I really like the photos. I wish I could take that kind of trip, but I don't have time.

 

[CA Amtrak]

A new M7 Metro North train set sits in Croton Harmon yard.

The Tappan Zee Bridge sits in the distance as we zip through Metro North's Tarrytown station.

A few more shots of the Tap.

Metro North tracks curve off towards Spuyten Duyvil, the Bronx, and their junction with the Harlem and New Haven lines.

The Henry Hudson bridge and the East River as it flows south from the Hudson.

The George Washington Bridge comes into view. Almost home.

And last but not least, running alongside the West Side Highway, with New Jersey in view on the other side of the River. Right after this, it's underground and into Penn Station.

And that wraps up the photos.

BTW, what camera did you use?

 

[AlanB]

BTW, what camera did you use?

A Kodak EasyShare DX3900.