I was ticketed for this trip way back in early July at the start of my unemployment problems. Not being one to get down about such a thing, I just lived my life until the Christmas Day, when I had a fantastic turkey dinner at home and opened gifts. At about 4:25 PM, my brother Jon drove me to the third level of the parking structure at the Santa Ana station and I walked over the tracks and put my bags on a bench and bought my one-way Amtrak Pacific Business Class ticket from the Metrolink ticket machine then waited for my train to Los Angeles.
Pacific Surfliner 583 12/25/2009
The train arrived and I boarded the empty lower level of Pacific Business Class and started writing the story. Anaheim and Fullerton passed quickly and soon we were making our final sprint to Los Angeles Union Station, where we arrived early and I walked over to Track 11 to wait for the Southwest Chief to La Plata.
Southwest Chief 4 12/25/2009
The Southwest Chief reversed into Track 11 at 6:10 PM with a consist of P42DCs 151 and 167, baggage 1211, transition 39046, sleepers 32078 "Florida" and 32118 "Wyoming", diner 38007, lounge 33006 and coaches 34001, 34013 and snack coach 35007. I had Room 2 in the 32118 with Regina as my Sleeping Car Attendant. I watched "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobbie" before our on-time departure and since I had that great meal at home, skipped dinner and watched the movie and about half of the extras before calling it a night outside Victorville.
12/26/2009 I awoke at Winslow and went straight to the dining car for a breakfast of French Toast and sausage patties while seated with two ladies on their way first to Gallup and then New Jersey, along with a man going to Newton, Kansas. I returned to my room and watched the rest of the extras of "Talladega Nights" before switching to "Ian Anderson Plays Orchestral Jethro Tull" which took me into New Mexico.
The first photograph with my new Nikon D3000 camera was of a mesa on the way to Grants.
Another mesa off to the north.
Mount Laguna to the north.
Our train passed four freights and here are the first eastbound BNSF trains that were waiting for us.
Rio Grande River. The Ian Anderson DVD took me all the way into Albuquerque, where we arrived at 11:21 AM. I walked into town but my usual store was closed so two blocks further west I found somewhere and bought a Klondike ice cream bar and more Coca-Cola. As it was twenty-seven degrees, I did not stay outside too long and started to watch my new Monty Python DVD set "Monty Python Almost the Truth, The Lawyer's Cut" and we departed Albuquerque on time.
North of Albuquerque, the mountains to the west of the Rio Grande.
Mountains behind Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe Southern was in Lamy when we arrived there.
Later, coming down the east side of Glorieta Pass, Starvation Peak could be seen across the valley. I put on the second Monty Python DVD as the we made our way north to Las Vegas.
After Las Vegas and Shoemaker Canyon, the high plains on the way to Raton.
The mountains northwest of us on the way to our next fresh stop, Raton. I finished the second Python DVD and would sit in my room with the lights out until I was called for my 6:30 PM dinner reservation, at which time I enjoyed a steak and vanilla ice cream with a lady from Las Vegas heading to Kansas City. After dinner, I watched "Uriah Heep The Magician's Birthday Party" that took me to La Junta then made up my bed and called it a night.
12/27/2009 I awoke at 6:20 and went to the dining car for my French Toast breakfast, sitting with a lady returning home to Kansas City. The train was refuelled at BNSF Argentine's Yard before we arrived at Kansas City early on this snow-covered morning. We departed on time and proceeded to the next stop of La Plata.
Leaving Kansas City.
A Kansas City Terminal Railroad SW1200 as seen from the BNSF flyover.
Crossing the Missouri River.
Later, Santa Fe 2-8-0 2546e in Marceline.
The former Santa Fe Marceline station, built in 1913 and home to the Walt Disney Museum. The train then sprinted the rest of the way to La Plata, where it arrived a few minutes late. It had been a great Amtrak trip here; now time to relax.
La Plata Depot Inn & Suites 12/27/2009Shelli Tucker picked me up and took me to the Depot Inn & Suites where I checked in and reeived the key to the Pullman Suite. After I stored my luggage, I took the minivan and drove out to the bridge near Riggs. Unfortunately, when I parked, the left front wheel sunk into the mud under the ice and I tried to get it out but with no luck. I called Bob Cox, the La Plata station caretaker, who was in Sedalia this morning, who then called Tom Marshall. My mobile phone seldom rings, but I received a call from Kelly Marshall, who had just sat down for lunch at the Red Rooster and said they would be out to get me out after their lunch and to enjoy the trains while I waited. It was cold and windy but I then heard a horn and knew an eastbound was on the approach.
The eastbound BNSF piggyback train passed and I continued to wait. Just about noon, Tom and his family arrived in their truck, pulled me out then followed me back to La Plata, where I drove out to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point and was just going insiden when I heard the crossing gates at Owensby Street.
Another eastbound BNSF piggyback train with a stack car tucked behind the power. After that, I returned to the hotel, had a sauna tub bath and caught up on the story then relaxed the rest of the day before going to the Red Rooster for a hamburger and returning to the Pullman Suite for the night.
12/28/2009 I awoke and put on warm clothes then picked up my breakfast and walked out to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point, taking my laptop with me and listening to Metallica's "Death Magnetic" as I went through e-mail and checked various items on the Internet. I missed a westbound because I could not hear it approach but checked the ATCS monitor and knew a westbound was on the way in about twenty-five minutes, so would not miss it.
The scene on this cold December morning.
>
The westbound BNSF stack train with two DPU's on the rear.
Amtrak's eastbound Southwest Chief arrived at La Plata a few minutes early, after which I walked back to the Depot Inn & Suites and waited for Amy Cox to pick me up as I had agreed to help sort books and magazines at Show-n-Off Photography. I went next door and thanked Tom Marshall for pulling me out yesterday. When Amy went home for lunch, I planned more details for tomorrow's trip to Iowa then later returned to the hotel and visited with Maria Snodgrass, the manager, and Sally, one of the employees, before working on this story some more. That was followed by a sauna tub bath in my Pullman Suite and later, a steak dinner at the Red Rooster before relaxing the rest of the evening.
Tomorrow, Bob Cox and I will be visiting Iowa, but alas that is the next part of this story.
| Click here for the railfanning journey to Iowa |