Segment 2: Sandusky, OH To Elkhart, IN On Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited

   I woke up around 1:30am from my useless nap to get ready to leave. I had called a taxi company which will remain nameless here on Saturday Morning and requested a cab show up at my hotel at 2:30am on Monday Morning because cab service in Sandusky, OH is very hard to come by at that hour so out of necessity as I didn’t think I could get a cab at 4:00am, I felt 2:30am was a fair time for the cab to arrive. After checking out of my hotel, I waited outside starting at 2:15am. By 2:45am, there was no taxi! I called the taxi company only to get an answering machine. So by now, as you can probably tell, since I’ve run into this situation before with another cab company, I wasn’t the happiest camper in the world! I called another taxi company phone number I had only to find out the number was out of service! I then went back to the hotel, looked in the phone book, called 3 more cab companies and finally the last one answered and showed up within 20 minutes!
   I got a phone call from my friend in Elkhart, IN who decided he wanted to ride with me so he picked up Amtrak Train #48 in Elkhart and would ride to Sandusky, then ride back to Elkhart with me. Train #48 arrived into Sandusky, OH at 4:48am, just minutes before Train #49 arrived so my friend was very lucky as he nearly could have missed his connection, talk about timing!
Train #49 arrived in Sandusky at 5:03am, running 33 minutes late. My friend and I boarded Amfleet II Coach # 25082, we left Sandusky at 5:06am. The consist for today’s train is shown at the bottom of this page.
   This turned out to be the exact same train set I rode on to get to Sandusky on Friday, I just ended up in a different car. My friend and I headed to the café car and chatted with a few other passengers along with the bartender who was setting things up so the car would open at 6:00am. A passenger walked into the café car all frantic complaining to the Assistant Conductor about another passenger who admitted to her she had forgotten to take her “medication”, so that made things interesting. I would come to find out that this passenger in question was removed from the train at our next stop in Toledo, OH. We arrived in Toledo at 5:54am, running 24 minutes late. This is a service stop and crew-change point for the train as the Conductor and Assistant Conductor on the train get off here, they brought the train here from Buffalo. The next crew will bring the train to Chicago, its Western terminus. Our crew was not on duty until 6:30am so at 6:38am, we departed Toledo running 38 minutes late. An announcement was made in the café car that the dining car was now open for breakfast. Right away when I arrived, a very happy and customer friendly server recognized me from several past trips and he ended up serving myself and my friend. I had the Pancakes with a side of Turkey Sausage and Home Fries with a Diet Pepsi to drink, I don’t have an exact price as my friend ended up paying for both our breakfasts which was very nice of him and unexpected but I’ll estimate it was around $10.00. After breakfast, we had both realized just how tired we were, I went back to my seat and ended up dozing off several times. We left Bryan, OH, our next stop at 7:31am, 41 minutes late. In Butler, IN, our train set off the Hot Box Detector and we immediately stopped, the train was inspected, there were no defects (derailed wheels) and we then continued on, this is the standard procedure when a detector goes off. This occurred in the vicinity of Milepost 364. Somewhere near CP-395, we had a rather lengthy speed restriction to contend with, then a series of Restricted Proceed Signals (Automatic Block Signal: Signal light with a number plate underneath it and it shows a red signal), which by rule meant we had to stop then proceed at restricted speed until a more favorable signal was reached. After we finally received a clear signal in Goshen, IN, our train quickly arrived in Elkhart, IN where my friend and I would get off. At 9:25am, we arrived some 1 hour and 15 minutes late due to the speed restrictions between Toledo and here. I took a few slides of the train as it departed Elkhart which is right across the tracks from the National New York Central Museum which I plan to visit while I’m here. My friend drove me over to my hotel, the Red Roof Inn on Cassopolis St, in Elkhart, I then got an early check in and very quickly got settled into the room, and went to bed for a much needed nap! This room is small but clean and neat so I’m happy. I woke up at around 5pm and grabbed a sub from a Blimpie Sub Shop near my hotel, it was OK but our subs back home in Buffalo are better! I ended up sleeping the rest of the night…

Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited - Monday, October 31st, 2005 - 52 Axles
Number:	Car/Engine Type:	Name:	Description:
183	P42DC		Power
67	P42DC		Power
1711	Heritage Baggage		Baggage Car
2518	Heritage 10/6 Sleeper	Pine Shore	Crew Sleeper
62037	Viewliner Sleeper	Southern View	Sleeping Car
62036	Viewliner Sleeper	Skyline View	Sleeping Car
62021	Viewliner Sleeper	Morning View	Sleeping Car
8531	Heritage Diner		Dining Car
28005	Amfleet II Cafe Car	Chicago Club	Cafe Car
25082	Amfleet II Coach		Coach (My Car)
25060	Amfleet II Coach		Coach
25016	Amfleet II Coach		Coach
25107	Amfleet II Coach		Coach