I was able to enjoy sleeping in late for me, that being 7:30 AM, showered and went to make breakfast in the lobby. With the La Plata Spring Railfan Event now over all I had to do was relax until my train tonight. Back in the Pullman Suite I decided to show you the changes made by the Depot Inn & Suites.
The new wide screen television has hundreds of channels for you to watch.
The old wide screen television is still over the fireplace and can be used either to watch DVDs or the Lookout Point channel so I watched a few concerts during my stay. After that I got the golf cart keys and drove out to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point, my favorite place to just think and clear my head of things. I set the computer up, answered e-mails from good friend Carl Morrison before I called Chris Parker then checked things on the Internet before hearing a horn from the east. I went out to the deck to wait for the train to arrive and found it very windy.
BNSF 7839 West was the first train through La Plata this morning of my visit here.
BNSF 8340 West came through next.
BNSF 4139 East was the first eastbound train of the morning in La Plata. A hotel guest from Chicago walked out from the hotel to the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point to photograph trains and I read my April NRHS Newsletter as I waited for the next train.
BNSF 4641 West with Citirail 1209 came through during a light rain shower.
BNSF 7176 East was the next train through La Plata.
Union Pacific 8059 East with UP DPUs 7613 and 7944 was the next train this morning.
That was followed by BNSF 8081 East.
BNSF 6864 East came after a brief lack of trains on a wonderful windy day. I finished the April NRHS Newsletter in the peace and quiet of the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point. A thunderstorm came from the west moving northeast so I was nice and dry inside the Lookout Point then called Carole Walker and we caught up on things.
BNSF 7568 East came through during the storm.
BNSF 7199 West came through after the storm.
BNSF 7512 East came through town next.
BNSF 6607 West.
BNSF 7420 East went through here next.
BNSF 4559 West with BNSF DPU 7472.
Union Pacific 8750 West with CSX 4720 its consist as it ran through town. It looked as though my last set of train pictures in Missouri would be a late Southwest Chief due in at 12:54 PM, 2 hours and 54 minutes late today. I hope my train home does better than my eastbound trip here to La Plata.
Amtrak's Southwest Chief coming in and leaving La Plata on this day. Fifteen trains, not a bad morning spent at the Chris Guenzler Million Mile Lookout Point. I returned to the Pullman Suite and wrote this story as I watched my Asia "Fantasia Live in Tokyo" DVD. At 3:00 PM, Tom Anderson and I went to Colton's Steakhouse in Kirksville for the last time on this trip where I ate another great steak. I returned to the Pullman Suite and watched Jethro Tull Ian Anderson "Thick as a Brick 1 & 2 Live in Iceland" concert then called Carl Morrison who proofed this part of my story so I would not have to do it later. Thank you Carl! I took a sauna bath and washed my hair then waited to be taken down to the Amtrak station by Tom to end my visit to La Plata.
Southwest Chief Train 3 4/9/2015We went into the La Plata station and Bob Cox and I talked and caught up on things. The train arrived and the conductor scanned my ticket right at the door of the sleeping car. The train left La Plata as I entered my Room 5 in the 330 Car which was "Texas". This train had a consist of Engines 112 and 81, baggage 1750, transition 39041, sleepers 32109 "South Dakota" and 32111 "Texas", diner 38046, lounge 33026 and coaches 34097, 34085 and 31011 with private cars "Pacific Sands", "Silver Splendor" and "Tioga Pass", which were added in Kansas City. I listened to Ian Anderson's "Homo Erraticus" as the train headed west into the night then made up my room and called it a night.
4/10/2015 I bounced across Kansas during the night then at 6:40 AM arose and went to the dining car for a breakfast of french toast and sausage. We had to stop to switch conductors because they had died on the hours of service law. I went back to bed and woke up about ten minutes from La Junta, changed clothes then checked a text message informing me that the LA Kings had lost to the Calgary Flames and are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for this season. The train stopped at La Junta and I went outside for pictures and car numbers so a walk of the train was in order this morning.
The front of my train at La Junta.
Views of the LA Rail private cars here. I spoke to two of the three owners of those private cars then we departed fifty minutes late and I put on a Jackie Chan DVD of "Police Story" as the train headed to Trinidad and beyond. That movie took me through the Raton Tunnel and I relaxed until the fresh air stop of Raton where I detrained for a few minutes. My next movie of this collection was "Police Story 2" which I watched near Las Vegas. The next DVD was "Dragon Fist" and while that was playing, Southwest Chief Train 3 went into the siding at Fox for the eastbound Southwest Chief Train 4.
After Glorieta Pass I put on the last Jackie Chan movie of this set, "The Protector", which lasted through Apache Canyon to Lamy and almost to Albuquerque. The movie finished and we stopped for nineteen minutes for a New Mexico Railrunner train at Bernalillo. I put on John Cougar Mellencamp's Freedom Road to get me to Albuquerque and a fresh air stop here this late afternoon. Randy Jackson came down and visited with me during the layover. We left at 5:55 PM {4:45 PM} and headed west as I went to the dining car for dinner, being seated with a couple going to Salinas from Chicago and a lady going home from Santa Fe. I had the steak with chocolate bundt cake for dessert after which I watched my "Honeymoon Suite" DVD as we rolled west. Next it was John Mellencamp's "Farm Aid 2014" which took me west past Gallup and into Arizona. My "ABBA Live DVD" took me to Winslow and on to Flagsfaff, where I detrained to see Danny of Proamtrak fame on Trainorders.com. After that I made up room for my last night on the train.
4/11/2015 I arose at Cajon Jct and the room was made up by Devore, ate my cinnamon roll which I had purchased yesterday from the lounge car. I watched my DVD of "ABBA The Ultimate Collection" after taking a fresh air break at San Bernardino. The train stopped in Riverside and Fullerton before making the final sprint to Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, arriving there at 9:27 AM {8:15 AM}. That ended a much better trip home on the Southwest Chief than that five-hour late eastbound trip I made to La Plata.
Pacific Surfliner 768 4/11/2015I boarded Pacific Business Class and put on a CD to listen to going home. The train left LAUPT on time and made the fast trip back to Fullerton then headed to Anaheim, and a few minutes later dropped me off in Santa Ana, ending the excellent La Plata Spring Railfan Event 2015 trip.
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