January 25, 2006:
When I got up,
the train was running along the Mississippi River, south
of St. Louis. I went to the lounge
car for breakfast. We were about four hours late. I took a couple photos as we
arrived.
Shortly after
we left, I saw the St. Louis arch.
I took a couple photos of it.
After I took
some photos of the arch, they made a call for lunch. This would be the last
meal that the dining car would be open. I had a fruit salad. After lunch, I
went back to the lounge car. We were pacing a freight train. I figured that we
might be able to make up some time since this is the fastest part of the Texas
Eagle’s route.
The train
stopped at several stations along the way. Outside of Joliet,
we had to take the siding so the southbound Texas Eagle could pass us. I filmed
the train passing by. When it did, I noticed it had a baggage car behind the
engine. I believe this was the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit that the
Eagle had a full baggage car unlike out train which just had a Coach-baggage
car. We soon reversed off the siding and were on our way again.
Train 22
stopped at Joliet, and soon, we
were under way again. The snack bar on the lower level of the sightseer lounge
closed so the crew could do their paperwork to prepare for the train to head to
New Orleans later in the evening as
the City of New Orleans which
shares equipment sets with the Texas Eagle.
As we
approached Chicago, the train crew
announced that people traveling on the Capitol Limited as well as a train bound
for Detroit would be on the Lake
Shore Limited and other people would have to see the ticket agents. This was
because of the train’s late arrival.
Outside of Chicago,
we stopped to let a St. Louis bound
Amtrak train pass by as well as a Metra commuter
train. We were underway again and we fronted into Union station. I had about an
hour before the Lake Shore Limited was scheduled to leave. After disembarking
from the train, I took a photo of it before I headed into the station.
Once I got
inside, I glanced around in the off chance Karl was there, but he wasn’t. I
then looked for a payphone to call home. The first phone I tried wanted me to
insert a dollar to make a collect call! “Screw this!” I thought.
The second
payphone I tried allowed me to make a collect call for free. I was able to call
home and let my mom know I would be in Buffalo
the next day as originally planned. After I hung up, I saw the Lake Shore
Limited backing into the station.
Soon, it was
time to board the Lake Shore.
Back on the first day of my trip, I wondered if I would ride in Amfleet 2 coach
#25100, the coach I rode on the Three Rivers back in February. However, I was
seated in coach #25041, a refurbished coach with a blue and white interior,
digital display boards, and AC outlets by each seat. From the coach, I filmed
the Hoosier State
departing. That train had a very interesting consist: A locomotive, a Horizon
fleet coach, Combine car #10400, and a Superliner sleeping car! The last two
cars were most likely deadheading to Amtrak’s Beech Grove shop in Indianapolis,
Indiana, where the train was going.
The Lake
Shore departed on time. As it left,
I filmed the Texas Eagle on the track next to us. I also filmed a switcher
stopped behind the Texas Eagle. After my ticket was taken, I went to the dining
car for dinner. When I got there, I discovered that the car was not a Temoinsa refurbished
diner. I had the chicken dinner which was pretty good. After dinner, I took a
couple interior photos of the dining car.
After I left
the dining car, I headed back to the lounge car which was Amfleet 2 lounge car
#28000. The car had a smoking lounge and was named “Miami Club”. Since smoking
is banned on all Amtrak trains except for the Auto Train, the smoking lounge
was used by the train crew. I took some interior photos of the lounge. One
member of the crew asked what I was doing, but didn’t continue to bug me about
taking photos.
At one point, I
saw a person smoking a cigarette in between two coaches. I told him that it
wasn’t a good idea. I went back to the lounge car. As we stopped at Elkhart,
I once again tried to film the New York
Central Railroad
Museum, but found it impossible
because it was too dark. I went back to the lounge car where I bought some
Skittles and a drink. I had a brief conversation with some people playing
cards.
Eventually, I
headed back to my coach to try to get some sleep. Before turning in, I changed
the memory sticks on my digital camera so I would have enough room to film the
whole Lake Shore
pulling out of Buffalo. I didn’t
want a repeat of what happened last year! After changing the memory sticks, I
brought out my Amtrak blanket and tried to get some sleep.
January 26, 2006:
I woke up as we
arrived into Erie, Pennsylvania.
The stop was a quick one and we were soon underway. I had a brief nap. Soon, we
were nearing Buffalo-Depew station. I looked out the window and saw it was dark
out. I wondered if the train would depart Buffalo
in darkness. However, the sun came up as we arrived into Buffalo-Depew 25
minutes late. At Buffalo, my dad
was waiting for me and he took my suitcase as I walked to the other end of the
platform to photograph the train.
After I took a
photo of the train, I stood around for a few minutes waiting for the train to
depart. When it did, I successfully filmed the whole train pulling out. After
it left, I snapped one more photo of the rear of the train and another of a
parked freight train.
I headed back
to the parking lot where my dad and I drove back stopping for gas before we
crossed back into Canada.
I learned that in an election that occurred while I was away that Prime
Minister Paul Martin lost to Steven Harper.
We stopped in a
restaurant near Fort Erie, Ontario.
When we left, it was snowing. I slept most of the way home. We arrived home
around 11:30 am.
Conclusions:
This trip was
the biggest trip I had planned to date. While I mostly had fun, I wish I could
have met up with my friends in Chicago.
Phoenix and Tucson
were nice cities. Despite the strange people I met. I also missed filming a few
things because I was either unprepared or things beyond my control.
I was a bit
annoyed with Greyhound’s scheduling, but with the Sunset Limited
arriving 12 hours late into Tucson,
I’m going to give Greyhound another chance. However, I am not off train travel
despite the lateness. The sleeper upgrade was small conciliation however.
As for my quest
to visit the 19 PCC streetcars that the TTC mothballed in 1995, I have now visited
all but two of them. The two remaining cars are both in Dallas,
but it may be some time before I visit them. When I do, I will most likely take
the Texas Eagle to Dallas. However,
when I return, I’ll make sure to ride the Eagle on a day were the Sunset
Limited doesn’t connect with it in San Antonio to improve the odds of me
getting to Chicago on time.
I was also
pleased to find a 76 gas station with a rotating ball in Tucson.
That was an unexpected bonus. Until next time…