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To TrainFestival 2009 in Owosso, Michigan

Last year, the first notice for TrainFestival 2009 in Owosso, Michigan was announced and it was an event that I wanted to attend. It would be the largest gathering of steam engines in years and would give me an opportunity to ride behind some new steam engines. When tickets went on sale, I bought both of the day-long trips behind Nickel Plate 765 and Pere Marquette 1225, and an hourly trip behind Little River Railroad 110. Once I had tickets, I acquired my Amtrak ticket to Flint, Michigan and Bob Cox set up the motel reservation there. I could also cover the Huckleberry Railroad in Flint and the Saginaw Railroad Museum in Saginaw.

Then the trip fell apart. Bob found out he could not attend and I suggested to Steve Grande we find someone else to cover the Trainweb table as there were going to be vendors at the event. Matt Melzer said he would but he learnt that the tables were already booked. I sent an e-mail to the group putting on the event and reserved a table for us. Matt and I would now be able to go and use the room reservations in Flint that Bob had made. One of Steve's friends, Randy, would also be coming to help at the table. I gave Matt my itinerary and we stayed in contact throughout the days until we departed our respective towns for the event.

In the five days I had at home, I relaxed and rested after that fantastic Colorado trip. Then my car stopped working about a long block from the house so I pushed my Geo Metro home and would worry about it when I finally returned home after the National Railway Historical Society convention in Duluth in late July. The morning of the trip, I rode down to San Juan Capistrano and back then packed and relaxed until it was time to be taken to the Santa Ana station where stopped to saw Marti, my excellent night-time Amtrak agent, before taking the elevators and bridge to Track 1 to wait for my train to Los Angeles.

The train arrived on time and I boarded the lower level of Pacific Business Class for my trip to Los Angeles. At Anaheim, we met Pacific Surfliner 582 which had a low-level trainset and the Great Dome running to San Diego for the night. That set was being used to expand the Pacific Surfliner consists during the Del Mar Race season. Our train ran to Fullerton before sprinting the final distance to LAUPT where it arrived early. I walked over to Track 11 to wait for the Southwest Chief to Chicago.

At 6:07 PM the train reversed into the station.

This evening's consist was P42DC 172 and 40, baggage 1242, transition 39031, sleepers 32098 "New Jersey" and 32033, diner 38062, lounge 33019 and coaches 34075, 34026 and 31003. I boarded the 32033 sleeper in Room 5 with Jesse as my Sleeping Car Attendant.

I always tape the front page of my website on the room's window so people can learn about who I am. Dave Arthur, that most wonderful conductor, was again working the train to Kingman. We departed on time and proceeded east to our first stop at Fullerton as I started to watch my first DVD of the trip, "Queen Live".

The unspoiled and scenic Los Angeles River. At 7:00 PM, I went to the dining car and was seated with some people from Meyersdale, Pennsylvania and had the Braised Flat Iron Bordelaise and Oreo dessert. Before Riverside, I was back in my room and the sky caught my eye.

The clouds over the San Bernardino Mountains before our Riverside stop. Next would be the fresh air break at San Bernardino. I watched the end of the Queen DVD as the train climbed Cajon Pass in the darkness of the night and I stayed up to Summit then made up my room for the night and went to bed.

7/21/2009 I woke up west of Winslow but had to wait for the dining car to open at 6:30 AM then was seated with a teacher from Los Angeles going to Memphis and a lady who lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I learned that the Hilltop House where I stayed during my first cross-country Amtrak trip in 1990 was closed for remodelling. I had French Toast and pork sausage patties then after breakfast, we sat in Joseph City for fifteen minutes due to freight train congestion.

An Arizona view. I watched the two-set Chris Guenzler Million Mile DVD's.

Buttes off to the southeast in Arizona.

Coming into New Mexico.

Later after Grants was this mesa.

I had never seen this butte before on any of my trips on this route. The train made its way into Albuquerque early and we would have almost an hour there today. I went outside for only a few minutes as it was the hottest it had ever been during a layover. Back in my room, I put on my DVD of "Randy Rhoads, Six String God" which I watched as the Southwest Chief departed Albuquerque on time. When that was done, it was nap time which lasted to Fox on the east slope of Glorieta Pass. The next DVD was U2 "Zoo TV Live from Sydney".

For some reason, since Las Vegas, we had been running on red signals and before Onanya, received a yellow signal so we picked up the pace until we came to another red signal. The U2 DVD finished just before 5:00 PM and I went to the dining car for dinner where I had the same meal as yesterday with a couple on a North American Rail Pass whose husband was raised on Valencia Street in my neighborhood in Santa Ana.

The stormy skies to the east of Raton. I took a fresh air break at cool and stormy Raton then watched my DVD of Jethro Tull "Live at Montreaux 2003" as we crossed Raton Pass then down to Trinidad.

Two interesting mesas south of the train on the way to La Junta. The train was stopped by a flash flood warning about twenty minutes before La Junta then proceeded into the station where we stopped during a driving rainstorm. I managed to access the Internet and cleared out my e-mail before we departed over an hour late into the night, after which I made up my room and called it a night.

7/22/2009 I awoke at 6:30 AM finding the train closing in on Lawrence, Kansas and went to the dining car for French Toast and pork sausage patties, eating while we stopped there.

The Kansas River. The rate of speed was slow for the first few miles as we made our way to the BNSF Argentine Yard fuelling pads and I listened to Billy Squire's "Greatest Hits" before we proceeded into Kansas City Union Station, our next fresh air stop. We departed there and went only a mile east before we returned for a coach passenger who had an medical emergency. We left Kansas City for good at 9:25 AM {7:45 AM} and I worked on the September Orange County Railway Historical Society program almost the whole way to La Plata.

The Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point in La Plata was still waiting to for the deck to be installed around its perimeter. I had lunch in the dining car and was seated with a gentleman and a couple who was celebrating the husbad's ten years in the Amtrak Call Center in Philadelphia. They had ridden the Capitol Limited, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, the Southwest Chief and tonight, the Capitol Limited again to return home. I had an Angus beef burger and chocolate ice cream for dessert.

After lunch, the Des Moines River as we entered Iowa and a fresh air stop at Fort Madison.

The Santa Fe swing bridge at Fort Madison as we crossed it into Illinois. I continued working on the stories then east of Galesburg, I timed the program which fitted into my time frame as we passed through two large thunderstorms on our way into the Windy City of Chicago. The train paused in Naperville before running the last miles towards Chicago Union Station, arriving there at 4:44 pm {3:15 PM}, or 1 hour and 24 minutes late. I detrained and walked to get a Hiawatha schedule before buying my Metra ticket for Morton Grove.

I boarded Metra 2137 that departed at 5:15 PM and in half an hour, detrained at Morton Grove. I walked towards the motel location but ended up in St. Paul Woods. Something told me this was not the right place. I called Carole Walker, my excellent travel agent at Buena Vista Travel in Los Alamitos, California and she gave me the phone number. When I called the motel, they said "You should have detrained at the Golf Metra station". I was not pleased but walked back to the Metra station and saw a headlight coming. I asked a passenger if this train stops at Golf and she said "yes" so I boarded Metra 2141 for the one-stop trip to Golf. Once there, the passengers pointed me in the correct direction towards the Best Western and I walked there, sweating as I went. I arrived at the Best Western Morton Grove Inn and checked in and was given the phone number of a taxi. If all went correctly in the morning, I would pay for the ride back to the Golf Metra station. After a few phone calls, I had Popeye's Chicken for dinner then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

I was up early on Day 5,300 of my Sobriety and after a light breakfast, checked e-mail when my taxi to take me to the Golf station arrived. It was a fast trip and down the tracks I saw the headlight of Metra 2103 approaching then boarded for the quick three-minute trip to Glenview, where I detrained. I would be able to watch the morning commuter rush on the Metra Milwaukee Road North Line.

Metra 2116 stopped at Glenview on its way to Chicago.

Metra 2118 went through without stopping.

Metra 2105 stopped before continuing to Fox Lake.

Metra 2120 stopped at this station before heading to Chicago.

Metra 2122 was an express train so did not stop.

Metra 2107 stopped on its way to Fox Lake.

Metra 2124 stopped here bound for Chicago.

Metra 2126 also stopped on its way to Chicago. I started looking down the tracks for my Amtrak train to Milwaukee.

This train arrived a few minutes late and had a consist of P42DC 167, Amfleet coach 82584, Horizon coaches 5457, 54555, 54572 and 54501, Amfleet coach 82660 and cabbage car 90029, which was formerly F40PH 229, which used to be in San Diegan service. I just sat back and enjoyed a ride since I had covered this line plenty of times. The new stop for me was the Milwaukee Airport station before we arrived in Milwaukee. I called Santa Ana Unified School District about the job application I submitted last night for an instructional assistant Autism position. Now we wait and see. I went on-line in the Milwaukee Amtrak station and cleared out the e-mail again.

There were two lines of people trying to go out of Door One to board the same trainset back to Chicago. I was relaxing and watching the countryside pass by on the way back to the Windy City of Chicago, where we arrived on time and I detrained to the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge and stored my luggage. I returned online and checked various websitse until it was time to get my Gold Coast Char Dogs as my linner today then met some people who were also going to Train Festival 2009 and talked with them until the unique boarding procedure commenced and walking out to the train.

The train consisted of P42DC 128, Horizon coaches 54802, 54557 and 54532, Amfleet cafe/business 48177 and P42DC 27. This sold-out train departed on time.

Amtrak P42DC 157 in its Disney's "A Christmas Carol" paint scheme was at the Chicago Amtrak Yard before it started to rain. I watched "Led Zeppelin Live" and enjoyed the band as we escaped Chicago and made our way into Indiana and then Michigan.

Lake Michigan.

US Steel.

The former Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad engines at the former Elgin, Joliet and Eastern yard, both now part of Canadian National. By Niles, Michigan, we were only five minutes late as the we proceeded to Dowagiac, our next station stop, on Amtrak's high-speed Michigan line then ran to Kalamazoo and onto Battle Creek, where we switched onto Canadian National's former Grand Trunk Western before we arrived. Battle Creek is a crew change point.

The Blue Water at Battle Creek.

The view ahead where we turn off the Detroit mainline and go northeast on the former Grand Trunk Western to our next stop at East Lansing. I listened to Metallica's "Death Magnetic" as the train rolled the miles ahead then it suddenly stopped as children were playing on the tracks. Luckily we did not hit any of them, but so much for an on-time trip. Then we were stopped by a pair of westbound Canadian National freight trains and we finally headed to East Lansing, now well over an hour late. I had been in contact with Matt Melzer and we came up with a plan that if the rental car office was not open tonight, try for the morning. East Lansing was departed at 10:52 {9:29 PM} and we were further delayed as the passengers in the coach ahead of us took a long time to detrain. We continued to Durand and then Flint, arriving there at 11:47 {10:40 PM}. Matt picked me up and took me to the Super 8 for the rest of the night.

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