After a great night's sleep at the Best Western Pioneer Inn at Grinnell, Iowa, I had a good breakfast before checking out then drove south on Iowa 146 to US 63, which I took into Oskaloosa.
A Union Pacific freight train in Oskaloosa. From here I drove US 63 south to US 34 and turned left onto Iowa 16, stopping at the bridge over the BNSF tracks, but alas no trains were to be seen. I continued into Eldon and found more than I knew was here.
The Eldon Rock Island depot is the centerpiece of a railroad-themed park called Mainliner Park.
The Eldon Rock Island station built in the 1870's.
Painted as Rock Island pool caboose 52554, it is really Chicago Central 199036, ex. Illinois Central Gulf 199036, exxx. Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, exxxx. Gulf Mobile and Ohio 2710, nee Alton Railroad C3055 built by Western Steel in 1946. The number 52554 is the USPS zip code for Eldon.
A shed with a Rock Island emblem.
Plymouth HL switcher 3002 built by the company.
A Rock Island signal.
A Rock Island crossbuck.
A Rock Island crossing signal.
There is a wooden trainset for children to play on. From here I continued south on Iowa 16, which took me to Iowa 98 and into Douds where I found the station.
The Douds Rock Island station built about 1907, replacing one that was built in the 1860's. The first trains were those of the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines and Minnesota Railroad, reaching Douds in September 1860. For a six month period ending June 30, 1869, 616 passengers, 346 tons of wheat, 187 tons of coal and 10 tons of butter/eggs, among many other commodities, were transported. The depot officially closed in November 1972 with the line abandoned soon thereafter.
Faced with destruction of this historic structure, local citizens formed the Douds Historical Preservation Association, Inc. in 1974 to save the depot. With the personal interest and generosity of Leon Yates, owner of Douds Stone, Incorporated, the Van Buren Foundation, local businesses and individuals, the association moved the depot to its present location in Yates Park on land donated to the association by Mr. Yates. The depot, with its unusual architecture, is only one of four depots that have been saved and restored in Van Buren County. It serves as a railroad and mining museum and a tribute to those local industries, past and present.
The Douds nameplate on the station.
I returned to the car and found that Iowa 98 ended but after crossing the Des Moines River, it turned into V64, which I took south to the junction with J40, taking that west into Bloomfield.
There is a house, that has among other items, Santa Fe caboose 999438, nee Santa Fe 2186 built by the railroad in 1942.
Track worker cars.
Speeder 160-57 of unknown origin.
Two different styles of signals. From here I found the town's station.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Bloomfield station. From here, it was an easy drive back to La Plata with a stop in Queen City for some Coca-Cola for my trip home. I parked the rental car, good riddance to it and stored my luggage behind the front counter since the Pullman Suite was not yet ready then took the golf car out to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point and found out the Wireless Internet was down. I worked on this story while I took pictures of a few trains that went by this early Sunday afternoon.
BNSF 5062 West.
BNSF 7420 was the second engine.
The rear DPU was BNSF 7211.
BNSF 7491 East.
Union Pacific 7746 West.
Union Pacific 7884 West. I returned to the Depot Inn & Suites and obtained the key to the Pullman Suite, checked e-mail, had a sauna bath and finished this story to this point before watching some pro football. Bob Cox picked me up at 4:30 PM and we drove to Colton's Steakhouse in Kirksville where I had a fantastic steak dinner then Bob returned me to the hotel where I watched a little television, had a shower and another sauna bath before uploading the corrections Winston had sent me. I then checked the status of the train and at 7:10 PM, Brock drove me to the Amtrak station where I waited for the train to arrive.
Southwest Chief 3 11/14/2010When the train arrived, I asked the Conductor about upgrading and she said we would take care of that in coach. They loaded a family in the sleeper then pulled the train up, whose consist was P42DCs 158 and 138, Great Dome 10031 "Ocean View", baggage 1206, transition 39027, sleepers 32034 and 32086 "Louisiana", diner 38024, lounge 33014 and coaches 34042, 34048 and 31017. I boarded the 34042 and was given Seat 7 which I was in for less than five minutes. The Conductor helped me take my bags to Room 9 in the 32034 and then the Assistant Conductor wrote me a ticket for my sleeping car room. I worked on the story for a while before calling it a night with me having a bed for my next two nights on this train.
10/15/2010 I was up at 6:30 AM for breakfast in the dining car and had French Toast and bacon while seated with a gentleman bound for San Luis Obispo. I went back to bed until La Junta where I took a fresh air break.
The Southwest Chief at rest at La Junta.
Amtrak's Great Dome 10031 "Ocean View. We departed La Junta 16 minutes late this morning and headed west to Trinidad and I read the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper before working on the first part of my December Orange County Railway Historical Society program and finished the timing of it as we climbed Raton Pass. Later, I took a fresh air break at Raton and did some Sudoku puzzles before going to the dining car at 11:30 AM for lunch and was seated with an older couple from Australia and we had very nice conversations about both of our homelands. I had the Angus beef burger along with vanilla ice cream then afterwards, watched my DVD of "Alice Cooper Theater of Death Live at Hammersmith 2009", which took me to Las Vegas and beyond. This was the same show that I wrote a story about, with complete picture coverage when Chris Parker and I saw it at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles last November.
That took me past the meeting of Train 4, the eastbound Southwest Chief, when we ran through the siding around him today at Fox. We crested Glorieta Pass then dropped down grade through Apache Canyon to Lamy and continued the journey into Albuquerque, our next servicing stop on the trip. I detrained into more cold temperatures then accessed the Internet and uploaded the story to this point before searching the Web while we departed on time for points west. At 5:30 PM, I went to the dining car and was seated with a mother and son from Fairfield, California. I had the steak and more vanilla ice cream then once back in my room, I enjoyed my DVD of "Aerosmith Live" which took me to Gallup and on into Arizona. After that, I made up my room for my last night aboard the Southwest Chief.
11/16/2010 I was up at San Bernardino and enjoyed some donuts along with some orange juice on the way to Riverside. We departed there on time and soon I was at Fullerton, where Pacific Surfliner 562 was taking on passengers. The train made the final sprint into Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal and arrived there at 7:17 AM, or 58 minutes early. It had been another great trip aboard the Southwest Chief.
Pacific Surfliner 564 11/16/2010It was nice to walk from one train to another right from my sleeper to the Pacific Business Class car for my trip home to Santa Ana. We departed on time and it was a relaxful trip home to Santa Ana where I was picked up and taken home for three nights before my next trip on Friday.
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