Tom's rail trips #7 - Missouri River Runner/Southwest Chief - trai

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siberianmo

Service Attendant
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
167
Location
25 miles west of downtown St. Louis, MO
Greetings Rail Travelers!

Logged another long distance rail trip . . . all are now repeat-repeaters, meaning been there done that more than once. However, as with many of you - I never grow weary of riding the rails.

Enjoy . . . .

Caveat: These reports are “memo’s to file” and are intended for inclusion within my foto albums as a record of my experiences – they are not “blogs.”

Amtrak

Missouri River Runner - Southwest Chief

August 26[SIZE=10.7px]th[/SIZE] - 28[SIZE=10.7px]th[/SIZE], 2014

St. Louis to Kansas City to Los Angeles

Southwest Airlines

LAX to StL non-stop

Note: This idea for this trip was to “test” my new hip aboard a long distance train roomette along with the rigors of sitting on an airplane for 4 hours. I also got rail and air fares at prices considered very good for these times. This was my first long distance venture since mid-May when I took the SW Chief from LA to KCity.

  • Tuesday, August 26th:

Left home @ 8 AM for Amtrak station downtown St. Louis. Heavy traffic on I-64 – took 50 minutes.

First to boarded train #311 – Missouri River Runner – bound for Kansas City in Business Class. Chatted a bit with familiar crew on platform while taking a few snaps.

Was told that the Café/Business Class car would probably remain behind the loco for as long as the construction goes on for the new Wye in downtown. Said I was not the only one who commented about it. He said there was always a chance that it could be put at the end – but with the crew they have assembling trains, doubtful.

Dropped off my carry-on at single seat along starboard side; put luggage in bin at forward end of car.

Equipment for the Missouri River Runner:

Loco AMD-103/PA42 #63

Amfleet Café/Business Class car #48175 <behind the loco>

Horizon coaches #54571-54513-54534

Note: last 2 cars were unoccupied for trip.

Departed on time @ 9:15 AM. As this was my first westbound departure from downtown; spent the time taking fotos between St. Louis and Kirkwood at rear vestibule window in the last coach.

Only 35 were booked for the entire trip seated with one coach and Business Class.

Decided to board in St. Louis for two reasons: (1) Had not done it before (2) the boarding at Kirkwood is uncontrolled and aggravating especially with luggage.

Returned to Business Class for solitude; coffee & pastry (from home). Surprisingly, there was a USA Today at my seat. Unlimited coffee and a complimentary iced tea. 3 more boarded Business Class at Kirkwood.

After Jefferson City, sat in Café car chatting with crew until Lee’s Summit.

Pretty much an uneventful trip with a few delays along the way. Conductor said the Omaha dispatcher has really been messing with them lately – causing delays here and there for “CS” reasons.

Took a different approach to KCity after Independence due to long freight ahead – just a bit north of regular route through industrial and railroad complexes. Interesting.

Arrived in KCity 5 minutes early.

Hot, humid, hazy and dry in KCity.

On time performance for the Missouri River Runner:

Departed St. Louis ON TIME @ 9:15 AM 2 in B/CL

Kirkwood ON TIME @ 9:44 3 on B/CL

Washington ON TIME @ 10:21

Hermann ON TIME @ 10:49

Jefferson City @ 11:43 <sked 11:36>

Sedalia @ 12:49 PM <sked 12:46 PM>

Warrensburg ON TIME @ 1:20

Lee’s Summit 2:08 <sked 2:04>

Independence 2:23 <sked 2:20>

Arrived EARLY Kansas City @ 2:50 <sked 2:55>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spent the afternoon into the night with an Amtrak friend – drinks, dinner, good conversation . . .

Returned to Union Station around 9:40 PM – not too many in waiting room or immediate area; probably 25 boarded with only a few for the sleepers.

Took the tram to my bedroom car – for the early arriving SW Chief, train #3. Car Attendant was there to greet me with a smile – very congenial.

Settled in to lower roomette #14 in car 331 then took a few snaps on the very, very uncomfortably hot platform. Spoke with an Assistant Conductor acquaintance who formerly worked the River Runner; now assigned to the SW Chief to Dodge City (crew change).

Condition of car appeared to be okay – noticed windows could have used some attention as there were smear marks on the inside with some grime on the outer panes.

Car Attendant said she would get me ice whenever I needed it. We departed on time and I remained up until around midnight . . . room was uncomfortably warm; took a long time to cool down.

Equipment for the Southwest Chief:

Locos AMD-103/PA42 #134 & 816

Baggage #1242

SuperLiner Dormitory/Sleeper #32117

SuperLiner Sleepers #32117 <mine> & 32063

SuperLiner Diner #38040

SuperLiner Sightseer Lounge #33049

SuperLiner Coaches #34030-31035-34056

  • Wednesday, August 27th:

Awake around 5:30 AM after a fitful night due to warmth of room. Window had raindrops as we appeared to be close to on-time at Dodge City, KS.

Diner opened at 6:30 where I barely got through a third of my breakfast – still very full from night before. Sat with two gentlemen who engaged in chit-chat. Nice.

Visibility was okay for a cloudy morning. Discovered that I had selected the hot side of the car for my bedroom – even numbers were on the sunny side for the westbound whereas for the eastbound it would have been okay. Must remember that!

Remained in my room except for getting off at authorized stops to stretch legs and take some fotos. Car Attendant provided me with a bucket of ice in a plastic bag – lasted all day. Very nice of her.

Some great visibility along the route where once again I snapped away foto after foto. I think I may be on “first name basis” with some of the scenery.

Did not see very many freights – in fact cannot recall any until we got to Albuquerque, NM. However, in a roomette one does not have the opportunity to view what is on the other side of the train.

Experienced many slow downs between La Junta, Colorado and Lamy, New Mexico – signal issues along with speed restrictions. However, the scenery is interesting and abundant along that stretch – always enjoyable.

Skipped lunch as is my practice and had dinner in my roomette served by Car Attendant. Had the Amtrak Angus steak burger – perhaps the best hamburger I have ever eaten – more than enough for me and prepared “just right.” Always enjoy a meal in the dining car and also in the room. What a way to travel!

I do not recall that burger being offered for an evening selection before – but glad it was as I hardly ever finish the entrée. The dinner selections appeared to be minus one – must be another Amtrak cutback.

Overheard more than a few bedroom passengers remarking about the loss of amenities – especially ice, flowers on the table and the dinner selections. Seems to me Amtrak is shooting themselves in the foot with these austerity measures at the expense of those paying the expensive fares for bedrooms. Some of us miss those little things . . .

Also got the impression that the train has lost passengers due to the extreme lateness of arrivals and departures in the past several months. Dining car crews said for the summer, things have never been this slow. The sleepers were not sold out either.

Noted that there were no newspapers provided during the trip – no route guides in the room and mine did not have a schedule. Fortunately, I always come prepared. There were tissues – but the box was nearly empty – I had my own. The car was obviously not prepared very well before departure from Chicago as my roomette was unused until I boarded.

The stop at Albuquerque turned out to be much longer than anticipated. Upon arriving only 28 minutes behind schedule, our lead locomotive was experiencing some mechanical issues and had to change places with the rear loco. This evolution took about 30 minutes. Fortunately, it was not blistering hot in Albuquerque, but with the train power off and the doors opened, the interior of the cars warmed up quickly.

After Albuquerque seemed the BNSF dispatcher was giving Amtrak many opportunities to pass west bound freights. As I recall, only crawled through a siding once and that was for an east bound freight.

My room continued to be very uncomfortable due to the heat as I decided to call it a day around 10 PM Pacific time.

  • Thursday, August 28th:

Once again I woke up around 5:30 AM where the room still had not cooled down; amazing.

Had breakfast around 6:15 and shared a table with a young man with some interesting insights into voice-over activities in Hollywood.

Returned to the room for the remainder of the uneventful arrival into Los Angeles, California where the sky had that familiar haze – but clear to them.

We arrived 33 late after having been running late for most of the trip. Padding the schedule strikes again!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On time performance for the Southwest Chief:

Day 1 - Departed Kansas City, Missouri ON TIME @ 10:45 PM CT –Aug 26th

Lawrence, Kansas ON TIME @ 11:52

Day 2 - Topeka ON TIME @ 12:29 AM –Aug 27th

Newton ON TIME @ 2:45

Hutchinson @ 3:46 <sked 3:20> 26 mins late

Dodge City @ 5:36 <sked 5:25> 11 mins late

Garden City @ 6:31 <sked 6:21> 10 mins late

Lamar, Colorado @ 7:46 <sked 6:59> 47 mins late

La Junta @ 8:53 <sked 8:15> 38 mins late – off for a few minutes

Trinidad @ 10:10 <sked 9:50> 20 mins late

Raton, New Mexico @ 11:28 <sked 10:56> 32 mins late – off for a few minutes

Las Vegas @ 1:12 PM <sked 12:38 PM> 34 mins late

Lamy @ 3:16 <sked 2:24> 52 mins late

Albuquerque @ 5:58 <sked 4:45> 1 hr 8 mins late – off for awhile

Gallup @ 8:25 <sked 7:08> 1 hr 17 mins late

Winslow, Arizona @ 9:11 <sked 7:50> 1 hr 21 mins late

Flagstaff @ 10:22 <sked 8:57> 1 hr 25 mins late

Williams Jct @ 11:07 <sked 9:33> 1 hr 34 mins late

Day 3 - Kingman @ 1:21 AM <sked 11:46 PM> 1 hr 25 mins late Aug 28th

Needles, California @ 2:27 <sked 12:49 PM> 1 hr 38 mins late

Barstow @ 4:21 <sked 3:39> 42 mins late

Victorville @ 5:45 <sked 4:18> 1 hr 27 mins late

San Bernardino @ 6:56 <sked 5:32> 1 hr 24 mins late

Riverside @ 7:16 <sked 5:53> 1 hr 23 mins late

Fullerton @ 8:12 <sked 6:34> 1 hr 38 mins late

Arrived LATE Los Angeles 8:48 AM <sked 8:15 AM> 33 mins late

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Took the FlyAway bus to LAX for my non-stop to St. Louis aboard SW Airlines. Uneventful but rather uncomfortable near-4 hours in one spot. Ugh.

Returned to wife, home, hearth and dog around 8:30 PM.

Another enjoyable rail venture logged into my aging memory banks!

End of Report

A few fotos . . . remainder to be posted on my web site: www.trainsrealandmodel.com

1st - Departing from downtown StL aboard #311

2nd - Constructing the new downtown Wye

3rd - Departing Kirkwood, MO

4th - Missouri capital - Jefferson City

5th - Missouri River Runner at Kansas City, MO now train #316 for east bound trip

6th - Blast from the past in KCity

7th - SW Chief #3 at KCity

8th - West of La Junta, CO

9th - East of Trinidad, CO

10th - Inspection car at Trinidad, CO

11th - East of Raton, NM

12th - East of Las Vegas, NM

That's it for now . . .


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Great trip report and pics, thanks for sharing!

Did you leave your Roomette door open during the night? I often do that with just the curtains closed when it' hot in my Roomette! Most of the time, in my extensive experience, (in warm weather) its the Cold from the Meat Locker AC that is more of a problem!

In the winter I often find the heat much too strong in the Roomettes!
 
I was confused as to why the Chief was leaving so late.... until I remembered you boarded in KC! Lucky fellow with the beautiful station. We were cooking in our roomette... right next to the diner and a metallic clanking made it kind of irksome and noisy... but the scenery is so spectacular and the crew great, we didn't mind. We did leave our door open but it did feel a bit odd trying to sleep that way...
 
I enjoyed reading your report! The SWC is my favorite route and I never get tired of it. Love to see the KCY station and I always go inside to take a look at the beautiful ceiling as well as displays of Fred Harvey Company dishes.
 
For: jimhudson - Glad you enjoyed the report! Yes, roomette door was definitely opened during the night - I had #14 and fortunately had no "neighbors" - but the warmth of that car was too much.

For: Railroad Bill - Thanx!

For: bobnjulie - KCity Union Station is worth the "prowl" - but at that hour of the night best to stick around the Amtrak counter. It is kind of a crap shoot regarding the heat in the bedrooms - I have

had far better luck in the bedrooms than roomettes. Nevertheless, there is an override feature for temperature, but many car attendants just will not use it. Oh well - still a good trip.

For: shelzp - Thanx! SWC is my 2nd fay-vor-iyte with the California Zephyr a runaway leader for moi. KCity Union station is a marvelous piece of work and we'll worth the visit.

Trip fotos are now on my website . . .
 
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