by Dutch Myers
Due to a large
number of photos, the travelogue is
in three parts for
faster uploading.
PART 1 takes us
from Harrisburg, PA, through Pittsburgh and Chicago, to La Plata, MO.
PART 2 shares the celebration story of one million
passenger
rail miles attained by
Chris Guenzler at the Depot Inn, La Plata, MO.
PART 3 completes the trip from La Plata to
Harrisburg via a partially
different route.
With festivities of the
million-mile man celebration completed in La
Plata, Missouri, revelers began the journey back to their homes. People had come from many points, to
help Chris Guenzler mark his milestone of one million passenger rail
miles. Steve Grande, Barbara,
Tony, Andy, and the film crew were bound for California on Saturday
night's
Southwest
Chief. Carl Morrison, Richard
Hamilton and Bob Williams stayed in La Plata a couple of extra days.
You are cordially invited to jump aboard
this travelogue, as eight members of the Train Travel Meetup group
headed east
on Sunday morning's Southwest Chief of April 29, 2007.
Chris Guenzler, Tom Anderson and Mr.
& Mrs. Winston Walker would leave the Chief in Galesburg, IL, to
catch the
California Zephyr back to the west coast.
Chris Parker, Larry, Anton and I continued to Chicago. We parted company there as Chris P. and
Anton flew back to California, Larry took trains to the Southern
Illinois area,
and I caught the Capitol Limited to the east coast.
Don't forget to check the extra photos when you have
finished reading about our trip.
Tom & Kelly Marshall of the Depot Inn waved from the
platform as we
departed La Plata on the eastbound Southwest Chief.
We had just finished an enjoyable and exciting weekend of
celebrating
Chris Guenzler's one million miles of rail travel (see Part 2 In La Plata). Everyone agreed that the Depot Inn
& Suites had been the perfect host and facility for the event.
Although we
most assuredly would miss the good folks of the wondrous town of La
Plata, it
felt good to be riding the rails again.
With our luggage deposited in the overhead of a coach car, our
group
gathered in the sightseer car, where Chris P. and Anton were already
seated (Right). We were
relaxing and trying to clear our heads from the
recent rush of activity of getting our bags packed, arriving at the
station on
time, saying our goodbyes and climbing aboard the Chief.
A strange look suddenly crossed Chris
Guenzler's face. He peered round
at us and said; "Did anyone see Jonathan get on board"?
We looked at one another and shook our
heads. Jonathan, a young man with the
group from California, had apparently missed the train.
In a flash, Chris G was on his cell
phone to Carl Morrison still at the Depot Inn. Carl
found Jonathan sitting in his room at the Depot Inn and
tried to get him to the station in time, but the Chief had left.
This situation exemplified the benefits of being an old hand at
travel. Chris Guenzler, the million-mile
man,
asked Carl if anyone could drive Jonathan north from La Plata to
Ottumwa, IA. The town is a station stop
for the
California Zephyr. Chris G, Tom
and the Walkers would be taking that train west from Galesburg, IL,
after
leaving the Southwest Chief and could pick Jonathan up there. Tom and Kelly Marshall of the Depot Inn
ended up driving Jonathan the distance of eighty miles.
Now that is what is called going the extra
distance for your guests and hats off to them. Someone
called Amtrak to make sure Jonathan's roomette was
not sold as a no-show in Galesburg.
In the end, Jonathan arrived at Ottumwa in time to meet the
train home,
and kept his room to boot. A video
played in my head of the old days, when the train roared through a
station and
the conductor grabbed a mail sack off a hook. Nah,
they wouldn't do that to Jonathan. Anyway,
Chris had put this plan
together in minutes, on the spot, without consulting any train
schedules or
maps. Was I in the presence of travel
guru greatness? Well, I don't want
to give him a big head. However,
allow me to say this - the million-mile man was something to see in
action!
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Sitting next to Tom Anderson (the designer of those clever million-mile
man
T-shirts), I decided to jump up and take a couple of photos of these
fantastic
traveling companions (Below, Left and Right). Back
at the Red Rooster
Restaurant in La Plata, Carl Morrison, Larry and I had discussed
methods of
photographing moving trains.
Here
on the Chief, Larry, Chris P and I continued on the topic of travel
photography
and cameras (Above, Left). However, area scenes drifting by the
window provided little fodder for photo making. Somewhere
along the way, we crossed the Des Moines River (Above, Right) and passed an Iowa farm (Below, Left). It
was a relaxing time though, and Chris Guenzler (Below, Right) kept us chuckling with
humorous stories.
We arrived at the first station stop, Fort Madison (Keokuk) at
11:11 AM,
the only stop in Iowa (Below).
Chris P (Below, Left) and
Larry (Below, Right) stepped off
the train for a "look-see". Fort
Madison, named for President Madison, has the distinction of being the
oldest
American military garrison on the Mississippi River dating back to 1808. Rebuilt in 1983, the fort has
re-enactors and welcomes visitors (Below,
Center).
A
few photos were snapped from the rear of the train as we were leaving
town (Below), including a hi-rail truck
traveling in the opposite direction (Below, Right). The
Sheaffer Pen Company makes its home here. Its
large building can be seen to the left of the
train just before heading east across the mighty Mississippi (Below, Center).
The
bridge is a double decker with automobiles above and trains below. At 525 feet long, it is the largest
swing span bridge in the world (Below).
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Before we knew it, at just after noontime, the Chief arrived at
Galesburg, Illinois (Below) where alas, half of our party would
depart. Galesburg has a railroad history
spanning from the CB&Q
to today's BNSF and one of the largest railroad yards in the US. There are several museums and a
railroad festival in June. I
descended the train steps to grab a photo of Chris G, Tom and Mr. &
Mrs.
Walker on the platform as they departed.
I snapped a photo of Chris and Tom by themselves (Below, Left) and one of them with the Walkers (Below, Right) It was
a bit sad to see them leave the Chief, but I knew
they were excited to begin the next part of their journey -- westbound
on the
California Zephyr (see
Chris Guenzler's travelogue). We said
our goodbyes, and then I quickly re-boarded the
Chief. Glancing through the window
as we were pulling out of the station, there was Tom standing with
Chris. Chris was doing his usual thing --
taking photos of trains (Below,
Center).
At
this point, our Southwest Chief party was down to four -- Chris P,
Larry, Anton
and I. We stayed in the sightseer
lounge car and talked in earnest of what each of us would do once we
hit
Chicago. Less than an hour after
leaving the "Zephyr team" in Galesburg, we came into Princeton, IL
(Below, Left) within some 100 miles
of Chicago. I remembered Princeton on the
way to La
Plata, and from my 2005 trip to California as well.
Along the railroad tracks just east of the station, is a
little restaurant, appropriately named -- The Coffee Cup. It is one of those quaint places that stir
the imagination. It must be a
combination of the name and the old-fashioned sign.
I picture it as a local meeting place, with a sassy but
friendly waitress who knows her business.
One can almost hear her shouting to the cook; "hey Burt, order
up a ham
and cheese on rye, and drag it through the garden (with lettuce and
tomato)." What a great place to try for
breakfast. The problem would be getting
off the train for the night, finding transportation to a motel, and
then re-board
the next day's SW Chief. Would it
be worth the extra time and expense for a cup of coffee and some eggs? The restaurant appears to have been in
business quite a while, so they must be doing something right. These were the thoughts as we pulled
out of the station (Below,
Right),
and crept up on the rear of the Coffee Cup Restaurant (Below). Then
the sign came into view (Below).
Much to the delight of automobile
travelers (yeah right), we stopped on the crossing to tie up traffic (Below).
If you look closely at that last photo, there are many cars
parked in the Coffee Cup lot. There
must be something good cooking!
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Twenty minutes and miles later, the first glimpse of Mendota
came into
view (Above, Left). Amtrak
shares the station with the Union Depot Railroad Museum (free
admission) (Above, Right). A nice town with plenty of old time
railroad equipment in view (Below). They
celebrate Railroad Crossing Days in June.
Heading
east out of town is a prairie barn
and diminutive church. The Breaking
the Prairie barn building is an agricultural museum (Below, Left) with a little Country Chapel (Below, Right) behind it.
Wild Bill Hickok was born near here (there should be no need to
explain
who he was) before he headed west to become a lawman.
The Hume-Carnegie museum has a display on him and other area
histories. A little further down
the track was a working BNSF locomotive (Below, Center).
Less than an hour later, the SW Chief rolled into Naperville and
then
the suburbs of Chicago. Naperville
has a 19th Century Village, with costumed re-enactors that
would be
interesting to visit. We were
getting close to our destination, with each of us preparing mentally
for our
Chicago plans. For some reason, we
did not physically get up to check our bags for departure.
Perhaps we were trying to stretch these
last minutes. All except Anton
that is, who went below to ready his luggage. Suddenly,
we were approaching Chicago and Union Station (Below) with the
conductor
announcing our arrival. All
conversation abruptly came to a halt.
Chris P rushed off to find Anton with Larry and me sprinting to
the
coach car to grab our luggage.
Once off the train, Chris, Larry and Anton found each other on
the
platform. However, I never
had the chance to say a proper goodbye, thinking they would come inside
the
station. At the end of the platform
is an archway, through which passengers and crewmembers pass. I stopped there and pulled my camera
from the bag. I wanted to get a
photo of the three strolling through the archway with the rest of the
crowd. I waited and waited, however,
they never materialized. I later
learned in an email from Larry, that they had walked the other way to
get some
train photos. That should tell you
that "those guys" are the professional train traveling fans, and I am
the
amateur.
It was only about three hours until the Capitol Limited would head eastbound. If you read Part I (see Part I -- Harrisburg to La Plata), you will remember that I made one of my better decisions by taking a roomette on the westbound CAP. This time, a poor decision on the eastbound run won out. To make matters worse, I had made the same miscalculation back in 2005 when returning from California. Yes I know, some people never learn.
I took my Capitol Limited/Pennsylvanian tickets to the counter
and asked
the fateful question -- "are there any roomettes available on the CAP
to
Washington?" If the answer had
been no, I would have stuck with my original plan of switching to the
Pennsylvanian at Pittsburgh for Harrisburg and been OK.
However, the woman's answer was; "yes, we
have two roomettes left", and I promptly exchanged my tickets for a
roomette on
the CAP to Washington, DC. There
was a nagging hunch that this was a foolish move for which I would pay
the consequences
later -- and that suspicion proved to be true.
Actually, this would have been a good decision if the CAP had
not been overly
late getting into Washington. Arrival
at home would not have been much longer than if I had taken the
Pennsylvanian. I like riding trains, and
my thinking
had been the same as in 2005. The
roomette to Washington would be more comfortable than riding overnight
to
Pittsburgh in a coach seat, get off the CAP at the early hour of 5:30
AM, and
then depart for Harrisburg on the Pennsylvanian at 7:20 AM. Why not stay on the CAP in a roomette,
have a leisurely wake up and spend the day relaxing?
It should have been that way. Instead,
I was dashing for trains in Washington, only to
miss another in Philadelphia. The
CAP delay snowballed into missing those good connecting trains north to
Philadelphia, and then west to Harrisburg. I later
told myself; "well, with all the fun I'd had riding the rails this
week,
something was needed to complain about."
However,
all
that was to happen the next day and I was still blissfully unaware of
what was
to come. At this juncture, with
some extra time to spend, it was possible to wander around Chicago's
Union
Station looking in the shops. I
marveled at the number of fast food restaurants within the building. Heading back to the Metropolitan
Lounge, I decided to get into one of their comfortable chairs to read
and wait
for my train. As explained in the
Part I travelogue, the lounge is a pleasant place for first class
ticket
holders to relax, have a light snack, and check baggage.
Departure time seemed to come quickly
and, collecting my luggage from the attendant, it was time to head for
the
eastbound Capitol Limited. On
the same track and just west of the Capitol Limited, were several
special
Charter Club cars (Below). Just like
a little kid in front of a
candy store, I cupped my face to the window to peer inside the lounge
car. In fact, there was a whole row of "us
little
kids" lined up at the window. The
procession of travelers suddenly stopped to board the first sleeper (Below, Right); I did not realize at first
that it
was not mine.
Wheeling two bags
behind me, sleeper number 3001 (Above)
was next and I climbed aboard.
There were many opportunities for photos of Amtrak equipment
around
Chicago Union Station (Below).
The CAP departed on time at 7:05 PM. Stowing
my gear in the roomette, I sat
by the window to record fleeting scenes Amtrak facility at twenty-frist
street (Below, Left) and the
retreating Chicago
skyline
(Below, Right).
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The CAP was rolling along nicely as I moved to the sightseer
lounge. When we crossed into
Indiana, a long automobile bridge appeared on the right (Above, Left). An
Indiana power plant with CSX cars could be seen way off to our left (Above, Right), and then another
interesting
restaurant named Phil Smidt's was on our right at the first major
crossing in
Indiana (Below, Left). Interesting,
but the Coffee Cup
Restaurant in Princeton still won my thoughts. Then
stopping to consider, the only restaurant I had actually
been in that day was the wonderful Red Rooster way back in La Plata, MO. It was difficult to believe that so
many miles had been traveled since breakfast. Nonetheless,
it was now time for my reservation in the
dining car. During dinner, an
Amtrak station with a sign reading Hammond - Whiting, Indiana came up
on our
left (Below, Right).
Although in Indiana, Hammond is
considered a metropolitan area of Chicago. I
was looking off to our left again as the sky was
darkening to see a strange horizon.
If you look carefully at the photo (Above, Center), one of the Great Lakes can be seen low
on the
horizon, which is probably Lake Erie. With dinner over, the tiredness
of a very
long day made itself felt as I headed back to the roomette. After some reading, I asked Jamal, the
sleeper attendant, to make up the bed and I hit the hay a bit early. Awakening sometime in the wee hours, a
peek around my window curtain revealed tall buildings in Cleveland,
Ohio (Below).
Several hours after passing Alliance and on the approach to
Pittsburgh (Above), I was out of bed
and learning
that we were running over an hour and half late. Instead
of the scheduled 5:30 AM arrival, it was looking
closer to 7 AM or a little later.
You will remember that the Pennsylvanian leaves there at 7:20 AM. It was all too apparent that the CAP
was going to do what it did on the 2005 trip -- cause missed train
connections
in Washington and Philadelphia for a late arrival home.
Was it possible for me to quickly get
dressed and pack, in time to get off and catch the Pennsylvanian? Do they hold the Pennsylvanian for a
late Capitol Limited? Does a
passenger get a partial refund when he "jumps ship" half-way to
destination? These questions
became mute, because there was not sufficient time to gather my
belongings
anyway. A glance through the
window revealed that we were pulling into Pittsburgh (Below).
We passed the station, then stopped and backed onto a
platform track. I had to settle for
a step off the train, two quick photos of the CAP (Below, Left and Right) and one of my sleeper
number 3001 (Below, Center).
Back
on the train and once again
moving, it was time for breakfast.
Sometimes, when a plan starts to fall apart it can get worse. I ordered from the wrong menu
apparently. You know, the menu
with the food from hell's kitchen. Called a Bob Evans special, it
consisted of runny,
too spicy scrambled eggs, with French toast that was made of cardboard
and hard
to cut. It was hardly a meal to
remember. Therefore, I took a
photo of the one across the table -- the breakfast I should have
ordered (Left). No,
I never send food back to the cook. I
picture the look of rage on a cook's
face when food is returned for a new meal. He
sneaks out to peek at the offending person, then slowly
smiles as he rubs his hands together and cackles a laugh.
There would be no breakfast today.
Back at the roomette, Jamal had changed the roomette from bed to
day
travel seating. He was another good
Amtrak worker and thus, the only complaints were a bad meal and being
behind
schedule. Oh well, such are the
vagaries of travel. I decided to relax
in my room, photographing the beauties of the world passing by the
window. Pulling out my CD player, much
time was
enjoyed listening to Kenny G, Edie Brickell, Ocean City Pops, Celtic
Woman,
DooWop and Rock & Roll by Harrisburg's Pentagon Band, and several
CDs made
by Renaissance Faire performers Steve Sinnicks (guitar & vocals),
The
Tartan Terrors, Coyote Run, and Charlie Zahm (Irish & Scottish
vocals). It made me chuckle when I
wondered what
would happen if Chris Guenzler and I had gotten our CDs exchanged
during
travel.
Rolling through the McKeesport, PA area, a roller coaster could
be seen
(Above, Left), a dam (Above, Right) and several bridges (Below).
The countryside of Pennsylvania became even more beautiful,
as the Monongahela River near Elizabeth flowed along our right side (Below).
Connellsville with a rail
yard came into view next (Below).
Back
along the river (Above, Center), we
moved on to the Confluence, PA area (Below).
Entering the first of four tunnels (Below, Left), we emerged into dazzling mountain
scenery (Below, Right).
We passed a signal and piece of Amtrak
equipment (Below)
near Pinkerton (Below).
As the train approached Myersdale, travelers
saw windmills along the ridges before passing on to Hyndman (Below).
Our first stop in Maryland was at Cumberland (Below). After that stop, it
was at
least an hour and a half before we came into Martinsburg, WV, which is near
Hagerstown,
MD.
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![]() Martinsburg, WV |
There are some pretty towns in
West Virginia (Below)
and especially Harper's Ferry (Below) where plenty of Civil War history
exists.
We left Harper's Ferry
through a tunnel
(Above, Right),
which was when the
camera was put back in the bag. We
were running about two hours late.
Therefore, I wanted everything packed away and ready for the
rush once
we hit Washington, DC.
According
to the schedule, there might be time to run to the counter, buy a
ticket, and
get on the next train to Philadelphia, PA. Otherwise,
it would be a longer wait for connections. It
was a close thing, but unbelievably,
the CAP experienced no further delays.
The Philadelphia train did not break down as happened in 2005. This allowed me to catch a late, but at
least not the last, train from Philly (Below) to Harrisburg .
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Still, I
arrived home about six hours later than expected. Yet,
reminiscing over the last few
days, it had been well worth it. I
had a fabulous time riding the rails, re-acquainting with the folks
from the Fullerton
Meetup, TrainWeb and TrainParty groups, helped to celebrate the
million-mile
man milestone, and stayed at the outstanding Depot Inn & Suites in
La
Plata, MO. Measured by any
standard, it had been a spectacular trip!