Tuesday 6/4/02
The Salem station, one of the most attractive on the Coast Starlight's route, thanks to a community restoration project undertaken a few years ago.
It appeared my train home would be on time, so we drove down to the Salem station at 3:07pm. When we arrived the counter was unattended for several minutes, but eventually an agent appeared briefly. I asked if the train was on time. He mumbled that it was, then disappeared abruptly into the back office. His attitude was in stark contrast to last year's attendant who was a really friendly guy. This fellow reminded me of the grumps who worked for Amtrak in the 1970s. Moreover, leaving the counter uncovered when people are arriving was a significant customer service blunder.
We then went outside took a seat on one of the attractive benches and waited in the sun. Before long the train was coming, and we all said our goodbyes. My attendant Al cheerfully greeted me at the door of car 1130 and helped carry my bags on.
Amtrak locomotive #119 leads train #11 into Salem
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Rolling to a stop |
My departure view from the vestibule |
Again I was in room #2. At 3:35pm I was settled in and our wheels were rolling. One of the first things I noticed was that this train had proper paper liners on the headrests, something that was lacking on my northbound trip.
We pass two UP locomotives in the Salem yard, a few blocks south of the station.
As I sat in my seat I took a photo of the spot where I photographed this train on Sunday (see page 4).
At 3:45 we were stopped again at the Renard siding, just north of Keubler Road, this time to wait for #14. Hey, that’s not fair! My #14 had to wait for #11, and now my #11 has to wait for #14. At 3:52 train #14 passed, and soon we were moving again.
After #14 passed I stepped to the other side of the train to see the spot at Boone Road where I had photographed the trains on Monday morning. In the hall I met Al, and we had a nice little chat about trains, Amtrak, and all of that. Al had come to the west coast a couple years ago after working in the eastern trains. He seemed a little uneasy about the future, but he was as optimistic as one could expect under the circumstances. Al was a pretty easy-going fellow. You could tell it would take a lot to ruffle his feathers. He was one of the most cheerful Amtrak employees I have ever encountered.
The Willamette Valley
I was interested in using my camera to capture some of the everyday life along the tracks on this trip. There were some mildly interesting things going into Albany.
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Life in Albany... A schizoid Cadillac Watering chores Albany FD waits for us. |
We stopped in Albany at 4:20. To my surprise a 1920s era "heavyweight" observation car was in the yard, along with a restored Great Northern caboose. Behind those was an old Willamette Pacific locomotive.
Some oldies in the Albany rail yard.
As I sat in my room the dining car steward came by and took my reservation, but she almost missed me. She did not stop at my room but walked on by saying “dinner reservations” before I got her attention. A small oversight, but she seemed a little too casual about making sure everyone was contacted. I took a 7:00pm seating, which was the latest she had to offer.
At 4:29 we were humming south through Willamette Valley farms and I saw the peaks of the Three Sisters to the east. At 4:31 we passed the tiny town of Tangent. We ran over a detector with a garbled transmission at 4:35, but I caught the milepost 681.1, and speed, 70 MPH.
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Above and below: Trackside scenes in the Willamette Valley |
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We hit another at 4:45 "UP detector, milepost 670.2, no defects, axles 56 , speed 68."
Just five minutes later we passed Wilco Agronomy Center at Harrisburg.
Out in the hall I met Pete, a conductor I talked to extensively last year while we were delayed in Klamath Falls. Though it was a long shot, I asked if he remembered the occasion. He seemed to recall the circumstances, but not the details.
We were approaching Eugene at 5:05, and an announcement was made that it was a smoking stop. Everyone was advised to stay close to the train. "Sometimes we leave people behind who don't heed our advice.” the announcer said. “We haven't for a couple of days, and we want a long streak where that doesn't happen. But sometimes people’s free will gets in the way and they are the ones who get left behind."
Before we stopped I went forward to get the names of all the sleeping cars: They were New Jersey (1140, mine), Minnesota (1141), and Pennsylvania (1132). I then stepped off in Eugene for a brief photo. This is a popular train town. Every time I have stopped here the platform has been crowded. With that kind of business you'd think they could make the effort to make it as nice as the Salem station.
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As usual, Eugene draws a lot of passengers |
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Attendant Al chats with a passenger |
The Eugene station from the upper level of the train |
There was a second track between our train and the station, and as I looked north towards the rear of the train I could see the headlight of another locomotive aligned with that track. It appeared to be stopped, but it was difficult to tell for sure. I had my scanner with me and heard a transmission saying "Amtrak 11 sound your horn but don't move." I heard the whistle, and got back on. We didn’t move for a couple minutes, but we did at 5:20.
Touring the train
At 5:30 I decided to walk the length of the train and took some interior photos, first in my car. Though the sleepers appeared to be pretty full, I found the coaches were sparsely populated today, the smallest crowd I had ever seen on any train. The last coach was completely empty, and the door was locked. There would be no photos from the rear today.
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The upper hallway of the sleeping car: |
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The hallway outside the Deluxe Bedrooms |
The stairway and complimentary beverage station |
The hallway between the Standard Bedrooms |
5:33pm "UP detector, milepost 616.0, no defects, axles 56, speed 47."
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The Sightseer Lounge, from the top of the stairway |
The well-stocked cafe on the lower level. |
I took a few shots in the Sightseer lounge and snack bar, then I stopped in the Parlor Car to use the Railphone (one of two on the train, the other was in the Sightseer Lounge). I called my wife at home, as she asked me to do about this time. She said that unless the train was very late, she would be able to pick me up and I wouldn't have to take that bouncy little minibus home. Good.
The Pacific Parlor Car as we begin our ascent into the forests of the Cascades
The phone was right next to the bar, and after I hung up I spent a little time chatting with Dana the bartender.
5:54 pm "UP detector, milepost 598.1, no defects, axles 56, speed 51."
Turn to page 6
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