This year's National Railway Historical Society convention was occuring in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a place that I always wanted to return to after a family camper trip in summer 1971. I had pre-registered for this year's convention at the last year's event in Ohio. In April, the convention booklet arrived and from Fullerton Railroad Days 2007, I mailed it off and received all the convention train trips that I wanted. Now it was time to decide on what to do before the convention. I had toyed with the idea of arriving and departing from Atlanta, but finally settled on Charlotte as my Amtrak jumping off and on point, so I would not have to miss the start of the next school year at McFadden.
Steve Grande of Trainweb.com booked me two nights at the Depot Inn in La Plata, Missouri and with that, I decided to rent a car and go to the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad in Iowa. I would then reboard the Southwest Chief to Chicago then ride the Cardinal and Crescent to get me to Charlotte. My good and dear friend Chris Parker would fly in the day before and reserve us a room for the early morning when I arrived. Day One would be the Spencer shops, day two would be riding the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, day three would be spent at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum and some photography on Norfolk Southern's Rat Hole.
Day four would be a ride on the Big South Fork Scenic Railroad and more of the Rat Hole. Day six we would be in Chattanooga doing various local touristy activities. After that, three days of train riding at the convention. On the Friday meeting day, we planned to drive to Georgia to ride the Stone Mountain Railroad, visit both the Southeastern Railroad Museum in Duluth and the Southern Museum of the Locomotive and Civil War in Kennesaw. The final convention trip was the steam trip to Summerville, Georgia, then we would make our return to Charlotte and I would leave that night. Chris planned to fly home the next day and my return was to be the Crescent, Capitol Limited and Southwest Chief.
On departure day, my mother drove me to the Santa Ana station and I made my way to Track One.
Pacific Surfliner 583 8/10/2007
This train arrived with cab car 6951, coach 6402, coach/café 6352 {inactive} and 6361{active}, Pacific Business Class 6863 with F59PHI's 458 and 464. I boarded Pacific Business Class and stored my luggage downstairs before finding one of my usual seats upstairs. We waited for Pacific Surfliner 582 at CP Lincoln, passed through the construction zone for the double-tracking project and made our station stops in Anaheim and Fullerton before arriving at Los Angeles Union Station.
Southwest Chief 4 8/10/2007
The Southwest Chief was already in the station with P42DCs 177 and 22, baggage 1755, transition 39029, coaches 31043, 31041 and 34032, lounge 33046, diner 38025 and sleepers 32072 "Arkansas" and 32000. I was in the room 9 of the 32000 sleeper room at the very rear of the train. We departed on time as I started my trip to La Plata.
Leaving the station.
I could see downtown Los Angeles out ofthe back door window.
Passing Mission Tower.
A Union Pacific freight was running across the scenic Los Angeles River.
Downtown Los Angeles from the Redondo flyover. Conductor Dave Arthur stopped by for a visit.
We went through Atwood, California before passing through Santa Ana Canyon.
The West Corona Metrolink station.
The La Sierra Metrolink station. I watched a little of "Rush Live in Rio" until it was time for dinner at 8:45 PM and I detrained at San Bernardino for a fresh air break.
The Metrolink fleet at rest.
We were finally called into the dining car and I was seated with Victor d'Agostino, an Amtrak Conductor, his father Victor, an Amtrak machinist and Ken. The three of them were taking this train to Chicago, then the Lake Shore Limited to New York, followed by the Queen Elizabeth II to Southampton. I had the pork chop and chocolate cake. Dave and I chatted for a bit before we arrived in Barstow and I made up my bed and called it a night after we left there.
8/11/2007 I was up for some fresh cool air in Flagstaff then slept to past Winslow. The four of us had breakfast together with me enjoying the French Toast and sausage patties.
A New Mexico mesa on the south side of the train as we neared Gallupm New Mexico. I watched "Tuxedo", a Jackie Chan film, followed by the extras.
Later another New Mexico mesa.
The train crossed the Rio Grande River just after the DVD finished. We arrived in Albuquerque very early at 11:30 AM and I called Let's Talk Trains, the Internet Radio Show then it was off to Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream on this 94 degree afternoon before returning to my nice cool room on the train. I watched the Milwaukee Road Scrapbook DVD before our on-time departure and enjoyed it all the way through Apache Canyon. At Lamy, I had a nice surprise!
The Santa Fe Southern's mixed train was in Lamy and then departed while we waited on time. Next, I watched "Minnesota Steam Spectacular".
We met the westbound Southwest Chief at Sands siding. After that we crossed the Pecos River heading towards Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The top of the "S" curve at Blanchard.
I then switched to a Led Zeppelin DVD.
Semaphores as seen from the rear door. The Zeppelin DVD lasted until almost Raton, where I took a fresh air break and a hundred Boy Scouts boarded then we continued our journey.
The train climbed Raton Pass to Raton Tunnel.
We exited the tunne and passed the State Line marker before descending to Trinidad.
After we departed there, I could look back down our route about thirty miles out of town.
Great-looking thunderheads as we made our way to La Junta. The four of us had dinner together for the second evening, with me having the pork chop and chocolate cake, which were excellent. We arrived at La Junta over an hour early and detrained into the warm evening air then once back in my nice cool room, I worked on the story before watching more of the Led Zeppelin DVD. We departed La Junta on time and I called it a night after Lamar.
8/12/2007 Ken and I had a breakfast of French Toast and sausage patties as we entered BNSF's Argentine Yard.
We stopped to be refuelled in the yard on the mainline.
An most interesting mixture of motive power with Burlington Northern, Canadian Pacific, BNSF and Santa Fe locomotives on this freight.
Our train was rolling along the south side of Argentine Yard.
Passing through Santa Fe Junction.
Going through Stateline Junction as we entered the State of Missouri.
Kansas City Southern F9A 34, ex. VIA 6507, nee Canadian National 6507 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954, was at Kansas City Union Station, from which we departed a few minutes late at 8:13 AM. Next, a ride across the Kansas City flyover.
Just before the flyover, we passed this eastbound BNSF stack train.
Crossing over the BNSF line to Springfield.
Crosseding the Kansas City Southern mainline.
We came off the flyover.
Later was the crossing of the Missouri River bridge at Sibley, where I passed the one million rail mile mark on April 27, 2007. From here, I relaxed the last few minutes until we arrived at La Plata a few minutes late. It had been a really good journey for this first segment of my trip to the NRHS convention.
La Plata and the Depot Inn 8/12/2007I was picked up and driven over to the Depot Inn & Suites but since my room was not yet ready, I took a golf cart and drove out to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point. When I passed the bank the temperature was 90 degrees with high humidity, a good practice for the deep south later this week. There I found two couples, one from St. Louis and the other from St. Joseph. We all talked for a while until they both had to go home. I stayed, but alas, no trains passed by.
The Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point and the golf cart that brought me here this late morning.
The new restrooms and information board. I stayed out there until noon then returned to the hotel and received my Pullman Suite, relaxing here and in the swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner, it would be a meal of top sirloin at the Red Rooster on a 98 degree evening when I walked there.
After dinner, I walked out to the new track that was laid for the Amtrak eExpress cars that were bought to house the Exhibition of Amtrak History, but they had not yet been delivered. I used the golf cart again and went back to the Lookout Point.
The westbound Southwest Chief was running a couple of minutes late at this point. After that it was a quiet night in my suite. Tomorrow, the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad, but that will be another story.
