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Eastbound to the 2010 National Railway Historical Society Convention

This year's NRHS convention was held in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a place I had wanted to visit for years. Scranton is the home of Steamtown, so I waited until there was a convention here to visit this unique railroad attraction. I started my planning earlier than normal, using last year's schedules of new tourist trains to ride. Once they announced their 2010 schedules, I contacted each of them with my usual excellent results. The convention booklet arrived when I was at Bob and Elizabeth's home in Lynnwood, Washington, but one phone call home to my mother and it was sent in the afternoon mail.

Chris Parker would not be joining me, nor any of my other friends, much to my dismay, so it would be a solo journey for this great trip I put together. I would ride Amtrak east via the Southwest Chief and Lake Shore Limited to New York then ride Port Authority Transit Authority to the Jane Hotel for two nights. The next day I would ride the Long Island Rail Road out to Greenport and back then out to New Jersey, ride to Dover on the Boontown Line and the rest of PATH, which I had not ridden. That would be followed by taking New Jersey Transit out to Spring Valley and back before taking an Amtraik Regional train to Wilmington to pick up the rental car.

I would attend a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game and stay in the City of Brotherly Love the first night. June 19th, I would ride the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad, Black River & Western Railroad and the Delaware River Railroad before staying in Bethel, Pennsylvania for two nights. June 20th would find me at the Middlestown & Hummelstown Railroad, visiting the Reading Railroad Museum in Hamburg then riding the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad. Monday would be the Pioneer Coal Mine and Steam Train before driving to Scranton and visiting Steamtown then four nights at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.

That brought me up to the convention dates of June 22 to the 26th. The convention trips I signed up for were The Susquehanna Limited, Birthplace of the American Railroads Stourbridge Line Trip, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, The Pocono Express and Lehigh Rambler. On the meeting day, I would visit the Electric City Trolley Museum and the Iron Furnace Museum before railfanning around the area and switch to the Clarion Hotel for the final night in Scranton. After the convention, I planned to drive south to Romney, West Virginia for the last day of Virginia Rails 2010 then onto Roanoke to visit the Virginia Transportation Museum and the day after that, ride to Bald Knob at the Cass Scenic Railroad.

Before starting home, it would be the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Strasburg Railroad then the drive to Wilmington to turn in the rental car and my journey home via an Amtrak Regional train, the Capitol Limited and the Southwest Chief. It turned out that when I left Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief, it will be my 52nd trip aboard this train since the Depot Inn & Suites opened in La Plata in 2006. I fine-tuned my rail mileage and if all went correctly, I would pass 1,250,000.0 rail miles on my 53rd trip aboard the Southwest Chief when the train stopped at La Plata, Missouri on the way home. It would just be during the station stop with nothing special planned.

A Coaster train one morning as I fine-tuned my rail mileage at Solana Beach. The morning of my departure, I did my chores early then listened to Let's Talk Trains from yesterday and did my final packing for this trip. My mother drove me to the Santa Ana station and I made my way to Track 1 to start what should be an interesting and fun trip. I had to give the agent my identification to get a luggage cart which I used to get my bags over to Track 1 and he kindly took the cart back to the station.

The train arrived about five minutes late and I boarded the Pacific Business Class car, taking a seat on the lower level for the trip to Los Angeles. The train stopped in Anaheim and Fullerton on the south platform before making the final sprint to Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, arriving there a few minutes late and I made my way over to Track 11 to wait for my train to Chicago.

This Southwest Chief consisted of P42DCs 184 and 2, baggage 1715, sleepers 32053, 32113 "Vermont" and 32094 "Montana", diner 38042, lounge 33047 with coaches 34047, 34106 and 31005. I had Room 14 in the Montana with Hak To Hang as my Sleeping Car Attendant. Today there was something else to take pictures of on Track 13.

The Amtrak Board was in town for a series of meetings and were staying on these cars.

Amtrak sleeping car 10021 "Pacific Cape", ex. Amtrak 2604, nee Union Pacific "Pacific Cape" built by Budd in 1950.

Amtrak Great Dome with new "Ocean View" lettering, nee Great Northern 1391 built by Budd in 1955. For the 15 years, it was part of the Great Northern and was mainly used on the Empire Builder line between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. In the late 1960's, it was re-painted in an experimental Great Northern/Burlington Northern green and white paint scheme. When the Great Northern was merged with other railroads in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern, the ownership of this car was transferred. The Burlington Northern continued to run this Great Dome on its Empire Builder train. Just about a year later, ownership was transferred to Amtrak, when it took over most of the Burlington's passenger train service in May 1971. This car was re-numbered Amtrak 9361. It remained in service on the Empire Builder under Amtrak, too, until being replaced by bi-level Superliner equipment in October 1979. After going through head-end power upgrades in March 1985, it was re-numbered Amtrak Car 9300 and was assigned to the route of Amtrak's Auto Train between 1985 and 1995. It went through additional upgrades in 1996 and 1999 and was re-numbered Amtrak 10031 when it was added to Amtrak's special services unit.

In 2001, "Ocean View" got the distinction of being Amtrak's last remaining dome car and has been used as an inspection car used by railroad executives and other VIP's. It has also been used for various charter trips, special trains, etc. "Ocean View" has made regular appearances during the autumn months on Amtrak's Cardinal, Adirondack, Downeaster, Hiawatha and the various Midwestern state-operated trains, as well as the San Diegans.

Two views of an old friend of mine, Amtrak 10001 "Beech Grove", ex. Amtrak 84-seat coach 21222 built by Budd Company in 1976. It was rebuilt into a company service car in May 1984 and renumbered 10001. The car today is Amtrak's President's Car and is used for travelling the system by Amtrak Executives and for special events.

I returned to my room, turned on my computer and put on my CD of Billy Joel "The Stranger" as I relaxed until departure time of 6:55 PM. The train left Los Angeles on time and made its way to Fullerton where I took fresh air before going in for dinner at 7:30 PM. I was seated with a Boy Scout whose rank was Life going to Raton and onto Philmont Scout Camp, a man going to Denver and a delightful young woman who does Mexican Gangster Rap, a cast of characters you could only find on a train at dinner in the diner. I had the steak with vanilla ice cream for dessert then returned to my room and listened to Asia "Omega" as the train had made its Riverside stop at the end of dinner then onto San Bernardino, the next fresh air stop of the trip.

San Bernardino. We started the climb up and over Cajon Pass and once the Asia CD ended, I made up my room and called it a night.

I started my morning awaking just as the train arrived in Winslow then at 6:30 AM, went to the dining car and was seated with two ladies going to Lawrence, Kansas and a gentleman, who also rides trains, going to Chicago for a high school reunion. I had the French Toast and bacon which hit the spot then back in my room, changed clothes and shaved before putting on a DVD to watch as the train made its way towards Gallup.

Mesas after Grants on a beautiful mid-June morning. The movie finished just after we past Dalies where there were a pair of photographers taking a picture of our train this morning. From there, it was a fast trip into Albuquerque, at which we arrived at 11:17 AM {12:12 PM} this morning and I detrained for some fresh air. After that, I was online thanks to Herzogdata and we departed on time as I listened to some CDs as the train made its way to Lamy. The train went through Apache Canyon before climbing over Glorieta Pass and while we would normally meet the westbound train here, today's version had to detour, as I did back in my drinking days, via Mulvane to get around some flooding problems last night in Kansas. We dropped down to the Pecos River before climbing up to the "S" curves and later passing Starvation Peak.

Two views along the way.

A culvert on a line relocation where the tracks once had been. We had to stop and I wondered if it was a signal problem again here at Ojita, or another test for our excellent crew?

It looked like a red signal to me.

A canyon before the train made its way to our next station stoop of Las Vegas, where we departed at 4:27 PM {3:35 PM} and proceeded to Raton. With our now lateness, it will be High Plains dining this late afternoon at 5:30 PM and I was seated with the couple from Ashland, Kentucky that I had met in the Pacific Business Class of the Pacific Surfliner yesterday afternoon, and my sleeping car neighbor who drove US Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. She travels by herself and is a fantastic person. I had the steak and vanilla ice cream for dessert then after dinner, watched my DVD of Poison "Live Raw Uncut".

On the way to La Junta. We met Train 3, the very late Southwest Chief at Mindeman with us only slowing. From here we headed to La Junta, our next fresh air break.

The evening clouds before we reached La Junta. More signal problems caused by an earlier storm delayed us in reaching the station in a timely manner.

The Southwest Chief at La Junta. We left here at 9:32 PM {8:13 PM} and were on our way to Kansas so I made up my room and called it a night.

I was up just after Newton and learnt that we were running two hours late on our normal route and saw water everywhere along our route. I went to the dining car for a breakfast of French Toast and bacon and later, arrived at Topeka.

The Topeka station platform.

A building as seen from the train.

Tracks into the BNSF Topeka shops.

Flooding water.

The BNSF shop. I did Sudoku puzzles until Lawrence then napped until after the stop at the BNSF fuel racks. From there we ran into Kansas City Union Station, our first fresh air stop of the morning.

Arriving at Kansas City whhere I briefly accessed the Internet and checked e-mail before departing at 9:31 AM {7:35 AM} and making our way to La Plata then put on my DVD of "Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx".

A KCS switch job seen from the Kansas City flyover. After that DVD, I switched to "Rock n' Roll High School" as the train made its way east on this wet morning and upon nearing La Plata, I paused the DVD to see Bob Cox waving at me from the Trainparty building just after we made our stop there. On the way to Fort Madison, we stopped again as we caught up to the BNSF freight train fleet with the rain continuing, then had a fresh air stop before we journeyed to Illinois.

A Union Pacific stack train at Fort Madison waiting for us to clear.

The Mississippi River from Fort Madison.

Our train about to cross the Mississippi River Fort Madison bridge and after that, entering Illinois.

The Mississippi River from the bridge. We later took the Cameron Connection from the former Santa Fe line to the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy to reach Galesburg as I listened to Alice Cooper's "Along Came A Spider" as the rain continued. It was announced that all Cardinal passengers would detrain at Galesburg and be bussed to Indianapolis. We departed Galesburg at 3:13 PM {12:00 PM} before heading next to Princeton and Mendota and I put on my CD of Chicago "If You Leave Me Now" as the rain stopped and the afternoon light returned. After that, it was Jethro Tull's "Songs from the Wood" as the Southwest Chief headed towards Naperville back into the rain then the final sprint to Chicago Union Station on a rainy late afternoon, arriving at 6:05 PM {3:10 PM}, ending another interesting trip onboard the Southwest Chief.

I made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge and after I plugged in my computer with someone watching my bags, I went up to Gold Coast for a pair of Char Dogs for dinner then worked on the computer until it was boarding time for my next train.

This train consisted of P42DCs 57 and 100, baggage 1703, Amfleet coaches 25006 and 25026, sleeper 62018 "Meadow View", Horizon cafe 53051, coaches 25051, 25018, 25020 and 25109, diner 8505, sleepers 62007 "Colonel View" and 62016 "Lake View" with baggage 1733. I had Room 3 in the "Lake View" with George as my Sleeping Car Attendant. The train departed Chicago twelve minutes late at 9:42 PM and we headed out into the rainy night. I sat in my room until George returned to make up my room and I called it a night. During the night, our train travelled miles at twenty miles an hour due to flooding along the tracks which caused it to be almost three hours late this morning.

I woke up at 7:30 AM, finding that our train was west of Cleveland and I went to the dining car for breakfast, enjoying French Toast and bacon. The train ran along the Cleveland RTA Line then passed the Cleveland Browns stadium to the Amtrak station then continued towards Erie.

Northeastern Ohio scenery.

New York Central Ashtabula station built by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern in 1901.

Nickel Plate 2-8-4 755 at the Conneaut Railroad Museum I visited last month. After our Erie stop, we passed the General Electric Locomotive plant as we started the trip to Buffalo.

Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company 0-6-0F 6 built by the Heisler Locomotive Works in 1937 where it worked until 1973, at the Lake Shore Railway Museum which I also visited last month. The train made good time until just short of Buffalo, where we were stopped to wait for CSX 9781 West to clear out of our way.

On the way again, we stopped a second time before arriving at Buffalo station. The United States Border Patrol took one woman off the train during our stop then we departed at 11:42 AM {9:08 AM} and made our way to Rochester on another rainy day aboard an Amtrak train. I had a 12:30 lunch reservation and was seated with a couple going from Portland, Oregon to Albany, New York, along with a gentleman whose first train ride was when he was nine years old, and rode the former Lackawanna Railroad out to his grandparents' house from New Jersey to western Pennsylvania in 1939.

The Kodak building in Rochester.

We crossed this river as we approached Rochester station. I had the Angus Beef Burger for lunch with vanilla ice cream to go and watched my DVD of Yes "90125 Live" then took a fresh air break at dry Syracuse during the engine crew change there. We departed at 2:30 PM {10:08 AM} and headed next to Utica, which was more slow running, departing there at 3:57 PM {12:42 PM}. Now a few pictures from here.

Adirondack Scenic Railroad baggage car 521 "Huntingdon", ex. VIA, nee Canadian National 92xx built by National Steel Company, year unknown .

Baltimore & Ohio business car "Silver Spring" PPCX 800329, ex. Baltimore and Ohio 905, nee Pullman 12-1 sleeper "East Norwood" built by the compay in 1925.

New York Central 0-6-0 6721 1936, ex. display at Carillon Park in Dayton, Ohio by Music and Arts Foundation in 1981, exx. Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society 7 1963 (North Freedom, Wisconsin) exxx. Central Illinois Public Service Company 7 1953 (Hutsonville, Illinois), nee New York Central 621 built by American Locomotive Company in 1913. In 1997, it was sold to a group in Utica and is now on display at the Utica Station.

Adirondack Scenic FL9 2031, ex. Metro North 2031, exx. Metro North 528, exx. Conrail 5052, exxxx. Penn Central 5052, nee New York, New Haven and Hartford 2052 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1960.

The train next headed for Schenectady, running along the Mohawk River and departed there at 5:19 PM {2:00PM} with the following stop of Albany-Rennesslaer.

Crossing the Hudson River.

A look at Albany, New York.

Curving towards the station.

A train getting ready to head to New York City.

Amtrak MP15 536 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1970.

Amtrak P32AC-DM 706 built by General Electric in 1995.

Amtrak P32AC-DM 713 built by General Electric in 1998. Before we reached the station, the Boston section would cut away from our train and go into the station; we would wait for our engine to couple onto us and pull us in.

A New York City-to-Albany train arrived.

The Albany-Rennesslaer station.

Another train passes through the station.

The Boston section arrived at Albany-Rennesslaer. Any New York baggage would be transferred from the Boston baggage car to ours which normally would have been easy, but as we were late and the Lake Shore Limited from New York was already here, it caused a large delay to our already late train. After some fresh air, the New York section departed at 6:57 PM {3:40 PM}, we headed to Penn Station in New York City and would now start our running along the east bank of the Hudson River.

Scenes along the beautiful Hudson River.

The sun and the Hudson River.

The first highway bridge south down the river.

A final view along the Hudson River before darkness took hold. I would now just sit back and enjoy the views to New York City. We made two special stops, the first at Rhinecliff and later at Poughkeepsie before we ran to Croton-Harmon, our regular stop. From there, it was the easy trip along the Hudson River into Penn Station, arriving there at 9:42 PM {6:25 PM}, ending an interesting trip aboard the Lake Shore Limited.

I went up into Penn Station and followed the signs to the PATH station on 33rd Street, bought my ticket then boarded the next train that took me to the Christopher Street stop. I went up to street level and walked one block north to Jane Street, before taking a taxi six blocks to the Jane Hotel, where I would spend my next two nights.

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