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"The Adirondack" Utica to Lyon Falls May 19, 2011 Part 3

Before I left Lyon Falls, I visited the Dollar General there, my first time in one of those much to Bart's amazement, and bought an ice cream bar. The train departed and our next stop would be at the Boonville Black River Canal Museum where we would have until 2:45 PM to tour or take pictures of our train.

The inside of a canal boat.

Hands on Canal Lock and Boat Display with Sarah Jennings in pink having a good time.

How the locks were moved display.

Black River Canal Locks Today.

Our train in Boonville.

Black River Canal.

Another view of our train in Boonville.

Circuit Crossing stop sign.

The Boonville Black River Canal Museum Sign. I reboarded and continued to work on this story then we departed but did not go too far down the track as we stopped for another photo runby.

The train headed forward to come back to us for the photo runby.

The northbound photo runby northbound.

The southbound photo runby at Boonville.

The New York Central freight house. We all reboarded for the rest of the trip back to Utica but came across a disabled freight train.

An eastbound two-unit CSX train stopped in Utica.

CSX SD60 8707 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1989.

CSX C40W-8 7345 built by General Electric in 1993.

CSX 7345 East at Utica. Another CSX eastbound roared by him before he took off. Once we had pulled back into the station, I detrained, thanked Bart for two days of excellent trips then heard another CSX eastbound approaching.

CSX 9353 East. We retrievedt our luggage from Dave and Cathy then said goodbye to them and they were off to start their trip home to Chicago. David and I then walked over to Babes where I had barbecue chicken breast. Back at the station, I found a plug and recharged the computer battery as I wrote this part of the story. I then joined David, Randy and Dwight as we all waited for the Lake Shore Limited.

I was boarded in the Boston Section and given the rear-facing seat until Syracuse, where I happily moved to a forward-facing seat. About 45 minutes later at MP 282.5 on the CSX Mohawk Sub which is 2.5 miles west of Kirksville, New York, I passed my 1,300,000.0 Rail Mile. With that done, it was time to call it a night. I slept off and on that night as my left shoulder hurt more than my left lower rib. I did not know what I did to it, but hoped it would go away soon.

5/20/2011 I was up at Toledo and after getting some orange juice to go along with those chocolate doughnuts I bought with me from Utica, I started my day. As I caught up the story, I put on my Jeff Beck "Wired" CD as the train headed west toward Chicago on a foggy morning. That took me to Bryan, Ohio, then John Cougar Mellencamp "Scarecrow" CD took me into his home state of Indiana to just west of Waterloo, as the foggy morning continued with the train rolled west down the Norfolk Southern mainline. I did manage to go online in Waterloo during the station stop and cleaned out my e-mail. The next CD of this morning was Asia "Omega" which lasted until, where I started taking pictures of the New York Central Railroad Museum.

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific observation car 454 "Minnesota", a former instruction car built from a coach in 1965 and originally built by the Budd Company in 1937.

New York Central coach "St. Joseph River" is really Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific coach 196691, ex. Illinois Central 2691, exx. Illinois Central 2808, exxx. Illinois Central 2907, nee Illinois Central 2234 built by Pullman in 1919 and later modernized. It is the museum's exhibit car.

New York Central coach "Elkhart River" is really Illinois Central 3664 built by Pullman in 1918, later modernized and became Illinois Central 2694. It houses the museum's archives.

New York Central 4-8-2 3001 built by American Locomotive Company in 1940. 3001 hauled both freight and passenger trains, including the 20th Century Limited. In 1957, it was sold to the City of Dallas to replace Texas & Pacific 638 at the Texas State Fairgrounds. In 1984, it was traded to the National New York Central Railroad Museum in exchange for former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4903.

New York Central E8A 4085 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953. This locomotive had the distinction of being the lead unit on the 20th Century Limited when the train departed Chicago for New York City for the final time on December 3, 1967.

Pennsylvania Railroad wooden box car 499656, with steel reinforced sides.

New York Central transfer caboose 18136 built by the railroad in 1967 from a 1949 box car.

New York Central bay window caboose 21084, built by the railroad in 1963.

Conrail bay-window caboose 21230 built by Fruit Growers Express in 1978 and is the only survivor of the three units built. It ended its days as part of the wreck train in Selkirk, New York and was donated by Conrail in 1997.

New York Central idler car 504472 for crane X-13 built by Industrial Brownhoist in 1949. It was the first of four oil fired, self propelled steam cranes built by the company and was based in Selkirk, New York then donated by Conrail in 1997.

New York Central railway post office-baggage car 5104, nee Michigan Central 1016, built by the Standard Steel Car Company in 1914. It was converted for work train service in the 1950's.

Chicago, South Shore and South Bend electric commuter car 15 built by Pullman-Standard in 1926. It was part of an initial order of twenty six all-steel cars to begin replacing the electric line's wooden cars, some of which had been in operation since the South Shore’s predecessor, Chicago Lakeshore and South Bend Railway, began operations in 1908. It was the first of the South Shore's cars to be lengthened to 78 feet by adding a new section in the middle.

Car 15 remained in service until the 1980's, when the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District began acquiring new equipment to replace the pre-World War II cars. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District continues to operate South Shore electric passenger trains between South Bend and Chicago. The National Parks Service acquired Car 15 after it was taken out of South Shore service and later released it to the National New York Central Railroad Museum.

Conrail maintenance-of-way car 45710, ex. Pennsylvania Railroad RPO-baggage car 710, nee New York Central 9036. When owned by Conrail, it served as part of the Selkirk, New York wreck train and donated by Conrail in 1997.

My next CD was John Cougar Mellencamp's "Whenever we Wanted" as we made our way to South Bend, followed by Rush's "Snakes and Arrows" as we made the final run to Chicago Union Station at a much slower pace than normal. The train arrived into Chicago at 10:37 AM, ending another excellent trip on the Lake Shore Limited.

I detrained and walked straight to the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge where I checked in, uploaded the stories before picking up a pair of Char Dogs and surfed the World Wide Web while I waited for the corrections from Winston. The announcement to board the Southwest Chief, my train towards home, came very early.

I was boarded in the second coach with a broken seat to my left. The train had Engines 45 and 130, baggage 1230, transition 39019, sleepers 32118 "Wyoming" and 32091 "Minnesota", diner 38046, lounge 33007 with coaches 31031, 34113 and 31002. We departed Chicago on time and headed out onto the BNSF Racetrack to our first stop at Naperville.

The Keith Emerson Band DVD was my first program of this trip, after which I talked briefly with the members of the 20th Century Railroad Club of Chicago who were on their way to the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata. Now the bad news. Due to 100 people who prepaid their dinner aboard the train, only sleeping car passengers would be able to eat in the diner. The rest of us would have to eat out of the lounge cafe. Now will this cause the lounge to run out of food? Will there be dinner for us all tomorrow night? I had an early dinner of hot dogs, pretzels, Chips Ahoy Cookies and Mug Root Beer.

Now the good news, my last night of this trip would be in a sleeping car out of Albuquerque to Los Angeles for $158, a very good price. The train made its stop in Mendota and Princeton then I visited with the 20th Century Railroad Club members in the coach ahead of us. At Galesburg, the 100 boarded in a mass of confusion. After a lengthy station stop we finally departed and proceeded west to the Cameron Connection, where we headed onto the former Santa Fe for Fort Madison.

The sky was looking as though we were heading into a storm as we came to our crossing of the Mississippi River. I put on my Rush "Snakes and Arrows Live" DVD which would take me into Missouri. By Dallas City, Illinois, it was raining. The train crossed the Mississippi River into Fort Madison where I skipped the rainy fresh air break, instead walking a car ahead and visited with my 20th Century friends. The train now made its way towards La Plata on a rainy evening, where the weather broke once we returned to Missouri. At La Plata, my 20th Century friends detrained and Bob Cox, the station agent, and I exchanged waves. It then began to get dark as we sped off towards Kansas City. The Rush DVDs took me almost all the way across Missouri as they finished just east of the Missouri River. In Kansas City I went online and cleaned out my e-mail, then had an on-time departure where I was up to witness this for the first time before calling it a night.

5/21/2011 I arose after Dodge City and after freshening up for my day, went to the dining car at 6:30 AM CDT for a breakfast of French Toast and some crispy bacon which hit the spot. During the meal we stopped in Garden City, Kansas. Back at my seat and now on Mountain Daylight Time, I put on my Selena Gomez and the Scene "Kiss and Tell" CD which took we west to Lamar, Colorado. From there to La Junta, it was Selena Gomez and the Scene "A Year Without Rain" CD. There I made a note of the train consist, met Randy Jackson on the platform and bought two Coca-Colas out of the machine.

We departed La Junta as I enjoyed the lounge car and Randy soon joined me and we talked to Trinidad and over Raton Pass. At Raton I took a fresh air break and once back on board, after leaving there on time, I called Let's Talk Trains. I put on my DVD of "Alice Cooper Theatre of Death Live at the Hammersmith 2009" as the train headed south to Las Vegas. There I put it in pause and recalled "Let's Talk Trains" where I learned the host Gene Holmerud of Phoenix would be on the Northern California Explorer Trip with me in two weeks.

The Southwest Chief passed Starvation Peak, the Blanchard "S" Curves and the Pecos River, where my DVD ended just west. My next program was Jeff Beck "Performing this .... Live at Ronnie Scott's" DVD which would take me by the eastbound Southwest Chief at Fox, over Glorieta Pass and down through Apache Canyon to Lamy and beyond. I went and found my wonderful train crew when we were stopped for a Railrunner Train, to thank them for taking care of getting my upgrade ticket After that we ran the rest of the way to Albuquerque, where we arrived early, and I detrained and walked forward to the sleeper.

At first the attendant Javiar was not going to let me go to my room because he had not made it up. I put my luggage in the doorway opposite the open door and took my laptop out onto the platform and went online then receiving an email from Bob and Elizabeth, I went to my room where I reply more easily. Javier came and changed out the pillow cases before we left Albuquerque on time. At 5:00 PM, I went to the dining car for dinner and was seated with a mother and daughter from Jackson, Mississippi going to the Grand Canyon who were getting off at Williams Junction, and a student from Bethel College going to San Bernardino. I enjoyed a Flat Iron steak and a chocolate cream puff for dessert. After dinner, I had a much-needed shower then it was back to Room 2 in the "Wyoming" Sleeper for my DVD of "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest" and then the bonus disc that took me through Gallup, into Arizona and onto Winslow and onto Flagstaff where I stopped it on Captain Jack's Wardrobe. I took a fresh air break at Flagstaff meeting Danny of ProAmtrak Fame on Trainorders.com. After that we left Flagstaff on time and I made up my room for the night.

5/22/2011 I woke up after San Bernardino after getting an excellent nights sleep in my room. After the room was made up at Riverside, I went online and put the corrections in this story from Chicago to Albuquerque. I never know where or if I can get on the Internet when on the train so am always surprised. The train was running right on time on this Sunday morning with no Metrolink trains in our way as there are on weekdays.

I put on my CD "The Best of Poison Twenty Years of Rock" to start my day off as the train sprinted to Fullerton, where it made its penultimate station stop of the trip on an overcast morning and I detrained here. I crossed over to Track 3 to wait for Pacific Surfliner 564 to take me home to Santa Ana, ending another excellent rail adventure with Bart and Sarah Jennings, and of course Amtrak for getting me to and from Utica.

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