This trip was put together quickly. I had many VHS tapes that Jim Nowell, a former member of the Orange County Railway Historical Society, had donated to the Silver Rails Library in La Plata, Missouri. Once the Texas Eagle detour was announced, only sleeping car space was left, so I purchased a room and was booked on the Southwest Chief to Kansas City, a Missouri River Runner train to St Louis, where I would stay at the Drury Inn. The next day, the Texas Eagle and if all worked out correctly, the Southwest Chiefto La Plata. The Depot Inn & Suites was sold out for Friday and Saturday nights so I decided to sleep out in the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point. Sunday night I would move into the Inn and on Monday, would borrow the van to chase Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 3985, then start my journey home on Tuesday evening.
9/28/2010 After a Tuesday morning Solana Beach turn, I came home, finished packing and relaxed. After a 111 degree Monday, it cooled off nicely by the time my mother drove me to the Santa Ana station, where I saw Marty, the ticket agent and upgraded to Business Class upgrade since Amtrak Guest Rewards did not give it to me. I used the elevators to get to Track 1 and watched trains come and go.
The old Metrolink emblem was being removed from their coaches.
It was being replaced by nothing.
Pacific Surfliner 583 9/28/2010
The train arrived and I boarded Pacific Business Class for the trip to Los Angeles, working on this story until Fullerton then relaxing the rest of the way as I enjoyed the working Internet aboard. Santa Fe 3751 was seen minus its tender, at Redondo Junction. We arrived at LAUPT and a Red Cap gave me a ride over to Track 12 via Passenger Services where she dropped off a child.
Southwest Chief 4 9/28/2010The train reversed in with P42DCs 153 and 165, baggage 1225, sleepers 32081, 32103 "Ohio" and 32086 "Kansas", diner 38044, lounge 33025 with coaches 34102, 34109 and 31029. There was no transition car, so no Room 17, which I was ticketed for. After I stood outside for over 25 minutes, my Car Attendant Jose, who had to work two cars, finally put me in Deluxe Room D in the 32081 car and I was very happy with that decision. I received a 7:00 PM dinner reservation and relaxed until I was called in, after the train departed. I was seated with two ladies going to Framingham, Massachusetts and a gentleman going to Albuquerque and enjoyed my steak as we stopped at Fullerton, then had ice cream for dessert as we left. I went back to Room D and put on my new CD of Selena Gomez and the Scene "A Year Without Rain". We stopped at Riverside then San Bernardino, where a tired Chris made up his room for the night.
9/29/2010 I woke up refreshed at Winslow and went to the dining car for a breakfast of French Toast and bacon, being seated with two ladies, one going to Albuquerque and the other going to Lamy. After breakfast I returned to the room to shave and shower.
The train sprinted across the rest of Arizona and into New Mexico as I read two days' worth of USA Today. We stopped at Gallup and I put on my David Bowie Live DVD and enjoyed the view out of both sides of the train as we sped east.
I love the open beauty of New Mexico. The Bowie DVD took me way past Dalies, across the river into Albuquerque, where we arrived early at 11:25 AM. I found Randy Jackson who was going to Raton, then the bus to pick up his car from the American Association of Private Rail Car Owners excursion last week. We went to my room and visited before he walked outside the train to the coach section to officially board. I put on my DVD of the Ramones Live and while that was playing, we departed for Lamy. After Apache Canyon, Jose gave me a 5:00 PM dinner reservation then at Canyoncito, we held the main line for a few minutes late westbound Southwest Chief before climbing up and over Glorieta Pass and down to the Pecos River. The Ramones finished before Glorieta, so I switched to Alice Cooper "Live in Montreux 2005" DVD. By the way, Alice Cooper is finally going into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. It has been a long wait for him.
The train ran by Starvation Peak.
An interesting scene this clear afternoon on the way to Las Vegas. The train ran onto Wagon Mound then made its sprint to Raton, our next station stop. Just before 5:00 PM, I was called into the dining car and was seated with a couple from Arlington, Texas and a woman from Manhattan in New York City. I had the New York Steak and vanilla ice cream as the train climbed Raton Pass then dropped to Trinidad before we did the high-speed run to La Junta, where we arrived early at 7:00 pm. After departure, I made up my room and called it a night.
9/30/2010 My morning started before Holiday and upon looking at my watch, realized that we would not make the morning train to St Louis. I checked with the conductor who confirmed that fact so put my luggage downstairs and enjoyed the last few minutes in Deluxe Room D while the train arrived at Kansas City just after the time it was supposed to leave. I talked with the new conductor, who agreed to take the bags with the tapes to La Plata and would deliver them to Bob Cox. Bob called later to tell me he received them.
Kansas City 9/30/2010I paid $2.20 to take the later train and then $3.00 to check my bag during my stay here. I then walked out onto the Freight House bridge where I would be spending plenty of time today.
The first train was BNSF 7273 West with DPU's on the rear.
Next came BNSF 4141 East.
BNSF 5453 West came through town next.
That was followed by the Kansas City Terminal Railroad.
Kansas City Terminal GP38-3 3855, ex. Webb Asset Management 3855, exx. Canadian American GP35 501, exxx. Southern Pacific 6553, exxxx. Southern Pacific 6300, nee Southern Pacific 7441 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964.
Kansas City Terminal GP20 2005, ex. Midwest Locomotive Works 2034, exx. Santa Fe 3049, nee Santa Fe 1149 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1961.
BNSF 7549 East came through on a baretable train.
BNSF 7573 East followed along. From here I went back into the station.
The Kansas City Rail Experience 9/30/2010Opened in 2005, the KC Rail Experience offers an immersive, hands-on journey through the fascinating history of the American Railroad. The exhibit shares the sights and sounds from the golden age of rail travel, including a locomotive simulator that offers an engineer's view of the rails. Personal histories and unique artifacts bring to life a great American tradition.
Two views inside Kansas City Union Station. I bought my ticket for the 9:30 AM tour of the Kansas City Rail Experience.
I returned outside for a picture of Kansas City Southern F9A 34, ex. Kansas City Southern 4, exx. VIA 6507, nee Canadian National 6507 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954, then returned inside and waited until it was my time.
One is greeted by this counter scene.
The lit Union Pacific emblem leads one to the stairs which goes to the main exhibits.
Different railroad symbols are on the east wall as one walks downstairs.
Looking down the stairs.
Various timetable boards for trains which used to serve this station.
Centralized Traffic Control board and a modern operator.
BNSF 8109 is a walk-through exhibit and gives one the feel of a moving freight engine.
Trains Today display.
A handcar on tracks that one does not have to worry about tripping over.
A model of Union Pacific 4-6-4 5210.
Two famous trains that once served Kansas City Union Station.
Railroads and their merger partners.
Mock-up of a Missouri-Kansas-Texas passenger car.
The passenger car from a different angle.
Railroad china and baskets.
More displays in this part of the exhibit.
Two more display cases.
Mock-up of a caboose coming out of a tunnel.
Three more display cases.
Mock-up of a cattle car.
Inside the wooden caboose mock-up.
Inside the mock-up tunnel.
Baggage cart with a man helping the woman. Next we walked through the door to the real trains.
Texas Southern & Eastern platform observation car 100, ex. Kansas City Southern 99, exx. Private Car "Geraldyne", exxx. United States Railroad Administration 102, exxxxx. Kansas City Southern 100 "Geraldyne", nee Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf 200 built by Barney and Smith in 1899.
The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad was taken over by the Kansas City Southern Railway in April 1900. Kansas City Southern president Job Adolphus Edson became President of the KCS in 1905 and adopted car 100 as his private business car, naming it Geraldyne, after his daughter. Upon Job Edson's departure from the KCS in December 1918 for the United States Railway Administration, Edson took the Geraldyne with him and the car became USRA 102, until Edson returned to the KCS in February 1921. This car remained his private car until his retirement on December 31, 1927. The Geraldyne was renumbered in July 1930, becoming KCS car 99 and remained in KCS ownership until November 21, 1963 until it was sold into private ownership.
Great Northern Empire Builder round-end observation car 1292 "Going-to-the-Sun Mountain" built by American Car and Foundry in 1950. It became Burlington Nothern 1201 in 1970 then was owned by Henry Castro of Milwaukee from 1987 to 2002 before being acquired by Kansas City Union Station in 2004.
Kansas City Southern F9A 34.
Milwaukee Road 8-6-4 sleeper 24 "Jefferson River" built by Pullman-Standard in 1948. It was sold to Henry Castro of Milwaukee then sold to Don Barzak and used as Milwaukee Great Northern Bar-Lounge in Milwaukee before being sold to Kansas City Union Station.
Outside on the mainline, a loaded Union Pacific coal train headed eastbound.
One more view of BNSF 8109.
Looking back down from where we had been.
The KCS Lines sign as I made my way to the model train display room.
