[?]

The Journey Home from the Connect the Dots Rare Mileage Trip

Randy Jackson dropped me off in Greensburg, Pennsylvania and I waited for Train 43, the Pennsylvanian, to arrive. I learned it was thirty minutes late and enjoyed conversations with the other people waiting. Finally, a headlight and here it came.

I boarded the second Amfleet car, turned on the laptop and worked all the way to Pittsburgh, where I went into the station, found an electrical plug and continued to work on the story. Soon I was joined by another mileage rider friend and after doing as much as I could, we went up into the cool nighttime air to wait for our train to Chicago.

Station scene in Pittsburgh.

The Capitol Limited arriving.

This Capitol Limited had a consist of P42DCs 74 and 18, Amfleet coach 82630, baggage 1754, transition 39016, sleepers 32091 "Minnesota" and 32017, diner light 37001, lounge 33008 with coaches 34024, 34084 and 34002. I was in Room 8 of the "Minnesota" with Brian as my Sleeping Car Attendant. My bed was already made up so I stored my bags in the upper bunk and climbed into bed. The train departed Pittsburgh twenty minutes late and I stayed up to see the train leave before calling it a night.

I awoke east of Elkhart and had to sit in the lounge end of the Diner Light car where the server set a table up for me and a gentleman from Minnesota. I had French Toast and some crispy bacon then back in my room, worked on the story for the rest of the trip to Chicago, where we arrived 25 minutes early.

I went inside Chicago Union Station, stored my bags in the lounge then used the wireless Internet to finish and upload the story before calling Winston Walker to let him know it was ready to proof. I bought a pair of Char Dogs for lunch then started finishing this story. Winston send me the last proof just as the first call was made to board the train. I posted it on Trainorders.com then walked out to the waiting train on Track 25.

This California Zephyr had a consist of P42DCs 156, 176 and 154, baggage 1162, transition 39035, sleepers 32006 and 32003, diner 38004, lounge 33038 with coaches 34103, 34064 and 31023. I had Room 3 in car 32006 with Juice as my Sleeping Car Attendant. I would be relaxing all the way back to California.

Looking out of Chicago Union Station as this train will be taking me to Sacramento. I watched "Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl" to start the trip then we departed on time, running to Naperville and after Aurora, I knew there were some picture I wanted to take.

Engines of the Burlington Junction Railroad. The movie took me almost to Galesburg and I relaxed until my 5:00 PM dinner reservation.

Illinois countryside on the way to Galesburg. As there was no public address system from the dining car, I was told to come in at 4:55 PM and was seated with a couple heading to Fort Bragg, California and a lady going to California who had lost her voice. I had the steak and vanilla ice cream and during dinner, we crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, then after Mount Pleasant, I had a nice shower and watched the bonus material of the film I had watched this afternon. Nearing Ottumwa, I had the camera ready.

A Burlington Junction Railroad locomotive. There was a crew change and fresh air stop at Ottumwa.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Ottumwa station built in 1951.

Two views of the California Zephyr.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 4-6-4 3001 built by Baldwin in 1930. They were designed for fast passenger service and went into service pulling CB&Q "varnish" passenger services such as the Ak-Sar-Ben between Lincoln, Nebraska and Chicago (Ak-Sar-Ben is "Nebraska" spelt backwards), the Chicago-to-Denver Aristocrat and the Black Hawk which travelled overnight from Chicago to Minneapolis/Saint Paul. The S-4 was one of the most successful steam locomotives operated by the CB&Q as it eliminated the need to swap one locomotive for another on long trips, and they were also fast: one is credited with hauling ten standard passenger cars between Cochrane and La Crosse, Wisconsin at 112 mph.

The steam engine was donated to the City of Ottumwa in August 1959 on the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first train into Ottumwa on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad, later part of the CB&Q. It is on display in Ballingall Park next to the Amtrak depot.

Once on the move, I watched the end of that DVD before making up my room and calling it a night.

I arose before Fort Morgan and went to the dining car for breakfast and was seated with a couple who were going home from Indianapolis to Reno. I enjoyed French Toast and bacon for my meal.

Three views of the old Colorado Railcar facility as the California Zephyr made its way into Denver.

The skyline of Denver.

An empty BNSF coal train waited for us to clear at Prospect Junction as we wyed and reversed into Denver Union Station ten minutes late. I enjoyed the fresh air and talked with the other passengers on the platform. Before we departed, I went online and cleared out my e-mail then we left twenty minutes late and came to a stop just short of Prospect Jct before we were switched to the old Moffat Route for the Colorado Rockies. I decided to work on my July program for the Orange County Railway Historical Society so I would take pictures as I worked west today.

Leaving Denver, the Front Range of the Rockies could be seen. The train climbed the grade to Rocky, rounded the Big Ten Curve and passed through Clay before it entered the Tunnel District.

The train climbed the grade through South Boulder Canyon to make its way to the Moffat Tunnel. Once the train exited, we ran by the Winter Park Ski Resort lacking snow.

The view before our Winter Park/Fraser station stop, which was a fresh air break.

The train on its way to Granby along the Colorado River.

After Granby, we proceeded to Byers Canyon.

The California Zephyr in Byers Canyon.

Later, Gore Canyon.

Little Gore Canyon.

The view forward as the train headed to Bond. They had an open call for lunch and I receeived a first seating as the train travelled through Red Rock Canyon. I was seated with a nice couple from Chicago and my friend with her voice beginning to return. I had an Angus Beef Burger and vanilla ice cream then rode in my room through Glenwood Canyon and tried, but failed, to get online in Glenwood Springs.

The California Zephyr leaving Glenwood Springs.

Views of De Beque Canyon and after that, we arrived at Grand Junction, where I took a fresh air break on a warm afternoon. We departed on time, making our way west to Fruita before entering Ruby Canyon.

Views of Ruby Canyon.

Later views of the LaSalle Mountains.

Views of the Book Cliffs as we made our way to Green River. At 5:30 PM, I went to the dining car and was seated with a woman from Fremont and a couple from Martinez. I had the steak while good conversations took place. Back in my room, I caught up with the story before going back to work on my OCRHS program as I listened to music on my computer with headphones. The train made its stop at Helper and after Castle Gate, I stopped working but would have to tweak it a bit more tomorrow. It was a beautiful early evening crossing of Soldier Summit. I showered then listened to Elton John's "Caribou" CD as we crested Soldier Summit then dropped down the grade towards Provo, our next station stop. I made up my room and called it a night once the CD was finished.

I awoke at Winnemucca and went back to ride in the lounge car until they opened at 6:30 AM. I had French Toast and bacon with the couple from lunch yesterday and a lady from Modesto. Afterwards, I just sat back and watched the miles of Nevada pass by outside my window. The Union Pacific was busy sending many freight trains east this Wednesday morning.

The view after we started running adjacent to the Truckee River.

The Truckee River which we followed into Sparks and Reno, our next fresh air break. The train stopped at Vista, just before Sparks and I managed to get online during this delay. We passed the Union Pacific Sparks Yard before entering the Reno Trench to the Reno station and I took fresh air on a very cool morning while it was trying to rain. We departed at 9:30 AM {8:36 AM} and proceeded to Truckee as I read USA Today.

On the way to Truckee.

A flume along the Truckee River on the way to Truckee, our next station stop of the morning. From here we climbed up Donner Pass.

Views of the climb before the Donner Summit Tunnel known as the "Big Hole".

Exiting the "Big Hole" into a very late May snowstorm.

Views as we dropped to Norden.

The Norden Snowsheds.

Looking down the sides of the train as we stopped to let a welding rail train go east.

View as he descended to Soda Springs.

The ski area at Soda Springs. The train dropped downgrade and by Shed 10, the snow had turned to rain. We then dropped through Yuba Gap, also known as Yuba Pass, and Emigrant Gap as we descended the western slope of the Sierra Nevada on a very wet day.

The clouds parted briefly and the American River Canyon can be seen in these views before the clouds returned.

Later the California Zephyr passed over the bridge across Interstate 80 prior to our arrival in Colfax 12:51 PM {11:48 AM}.

Southern Pacific station in Colfax built in 1905 before we continued our descent to Roseville, our next station stop. The clouds lifted as we dropped into the Sacramento Valley below Auburn and arrived into Roseville at 2:04 PM {12:57 PM}. The train then made its sprint to Sacramento, where I detrained at 2:26 PM {2:13 PM} and was met by my brother Bruce, at whose home I would stay for one night before heading south down the valley tomorrow.

Bruce took me with him to work at the Sacramento Amtrak station and I accessed the Internet with the wireless there. The crew opened Train 702 at 6:22 AM and I took one of the rear single seats in coach 8003. This train had Cab Car 8302 "Mount Shasta", Cafe 8811 "Antelope Valley", coaches 8003 "American River" and 31934 "Cedar Grove". We departed on time and headed south to our first stop at Lodi. From there we ran to the Stockton Ace station before continuing to a rainy Modesto stop. Next came Turlock/Denair before sunshine returned as we approached the Merced station. I had been watching Jackie Chan's "Police Story 2" up to that point.

After some fresh air at Merced, I watched my "Aerosmith Live" DVD. At Madera we went into the siding and reversed before entring the station then also took the siding at Figarden before we reached Fresno. I saw plenty of BNSF freight trains on this trip. At Fresno, a large group of schoolchildren boarded but this train crew was no help. From here we proceeded to Hanford where the group of 44 children detrained and we continued to Corcoran and Wasco before making the final sprint to Bakersfield, where I detrained.

The bus left Bakersfield with a few of the passengers complaining about the noise the bus was making in the rear. We travelled over Tejon Pass and encountered some light rain coming down the south side of the pass through San Fernando. The bus arrived at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal at 2:15 PM and I bought my Metrolink ticket first, then picked up my luggage and walked to Track 8 for my train home to Santa Ana. Taking this saved me almost two hours of waiting for Pacific Surfliner 582.

The train departed Los Angeles on time and made stops at Norwalk, Buena Park, Fullerton, Anaheim and Orange before dropping me off at Santa Ana on its way to Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. It was a fantastic trip on Amtrak, Reading and Northern 425, Metro North and all the rare mileage trips and museums I visited this trip. My mother picked me up and I could honestly say "It's good to be home!"

RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE