bmjhagen9426
OBS Chief
As I had some time to spare, I have decided to take a quick trip to Sacramento, but I could have been to Portland. I chose Sacramento over Portland, because it was possible to do a day trip to Sacramento, whereas I would need overnight lodging for Portland.
Saturday, September 3: On this day, I took a cab that I hired the day before (September 2) from my college dorms to the Klamath Falls train station. There were some construction work on the train station (I was told that the construction work is about connecting to the city's water supply, and working on the ADA equipment for accessibility purposes), so people boarding and alighting the train had to exit at the front door (toward the street) and walk around the building to the platform. Tickets were scanned about half an hour prior to scheduled arrival. The train pulled in 5 minutes after 10, and left the station 20 or 30 minutes late. The train was in its usual consist: 1 transition sleeper, 3 sleepers, Pacific Parlour Car, dining car, Business Class, Sightseer Lounge, and three coaches. However, this train also had a privately owned car behind the coaches. I was lucky enough to get assigned a window seat AND have seats right in front of me, and the seat next to me was unoccupied until at least I detrained. Had an all-beef hot dog with a can of Pepsi, and went back to my coach seat to ride out the night.
Sunday, September 4: As everyone knows, good sleep on coach is not easy. Woke up and fell asleep multiple times. While I was awake, despite the darkness, was able to see some stars and constellations (particularly Orion). When the train pulled in to Sacramento, it made up the time lost and ended up arriving about half an hour early. After a bit of a walk from the platform to the station building (I saw the old platforms when walking), hailed a cab to go to Northgate (via I-5 and I-80), which ended up costing twice as much as Uber (without a smartphone, did not have the luxury of hiring Uber). As most businesses were not yet open at 6am, I did a bit of a hike until 7am. At 7, had breakfast at Wendy's across from Northgate business park, and stayed there until 9 (the joint was very quiet, with only one other table being occupied, and usually the sole patron at times). At 9, crossed the street heading for the Northgate business park. Surprised to see a security personnel on the property, but learned that his presence at the property was to maintain order should protesters gather up (the protests had something to do with Orlando), and entered a church on the business park, and was involved with the church's activities until evening, including the church services, lunch fellowship at Chipolte Mexican Grill, and evangelism activities. After church, went back to the train station. As I had some time, visited Old Sacramento and grabbed a light evening snack. Went back to the station until boarding time, after spending some time at Old Sac. Did not go to the Rail Museum, as it was closed for the day already. As for newspapers, passed on the Bee (which costs at least a dollar, and coins only) but grabbed a free California Rail News instead. When it was time, had my tickets scanned and walked to the platforms. The train was only a few minutes late when it pulled in. The consist of #14(4) was same as #11(3), minus the private car. Had the same type of seats, but assigned an aisle seat instead of window.
Monday, September 5: The train was a bit late, and barely got any sleep. Woke up somewhere past Dunsmuir, probably shortly after sunrise (but I may have missed the view of Mt. Shasta). The scenery between Dunsmuir and Klamath Falls was very good, only behind the California coast and just as good as the Cascades. Had a quick breakfast of English muffin and a cold bottled coffee in the Sightseer Lounge car. At least one toilet turned out as faulty, and the one particular toilet I used did not flush and was apparantly broken. Stayed in the Sightseer Lounge until shortly before arrival into Klamath Falls. The train had stopped at one point where there were no sidings, after moving very slowly for quite a while. I have seen a couple of Operating Crew on the track walking to the back of the train (thought that they had to throw someone off for being unruly, but I was told that the reason of stopping could have been due to red signal. Eventually the train started moving again, and rolled past hills, plains, farmland, tunnels, the small town of Dorris, before pulling into Klamath Falls. The train pulled in about half an hour late. After getting off the train, hired a cab and headed back to the college dorms.
More detailed trip reports and photos coming soon. To read a more detailed trip report, check out my blog, which should be up later this week. I will put up a link to my blog as soon as it is ready.
Saturday, September 3: On this day, I took a cab that I hired the day before (September 2) from my college dorms to the Klamath Falls train station. There were some construction work on the train station (I was told that the construction work is about connecting to the city's water supply, and working on the ADA equipment for accessibility purposes), so people boarding and alighting the train had to exit at the front door (toward the street) and walk around the building to the platform. Tickets were scanned about half an hour prior to scheduled arrival. The train pulled in 5 minutes after 10, and left the station 20 or 30 minutes late. The train was in its usual consist: 1 transition sleeper, 3 sleepers, Pacific Parlour Car, dining car, Business Class, Sightseer Lounge, and three coaches. However, this train also had a privately owned car behind the coaches. I was lucky enough to get assigned a window seat AND have seats right in front of me, and the seat next to me was unoccupied until at least I detrained. Had an all-beef hot dog with a can of Pepsi, and went back to my coach seat to ride out the night.
Sunday, September 4: As everyone knows, good sleep on coach is not easy. Woke up and fell asleep multiple times. While I was awake, despite the darkness, was able to see some stars and constellations (particularly Orion). When the train pulled in to Sacramento, it made up the time lost and ended up arriving about half an hour early. After a bit of a walk from the platform to the station building (I saw the old platforms when walking), hailed a cab to go to Northgate (via I-5 and I-80), which ended up costing twice as much as Uber (without a smartphone, did not have the luxury of hiring Uber). As most businesses were not yet open at 6am, I did a bit of a hike until 7am. At 7, had breakfast at Wendy's across from Northgate business park, and stayed there until 9 (the joint was very quiet, with only one other table being occupied, and usually the sole patron at times). At 9, crossed the street heading for the Northgate business park. Surprised to see a security personnel on the property, but learned that his presence at the property was to maintain order should protesters gather up (the protests had something to do with Orlando), and entered a church on the business park, and was involved with the church's activities until evening, including the church services, lunch fellowship at Chipolte Mexican Grill, and evangelism activities. After church, went back to the train station. As I had some time, visited Old Sacramento and grabbed a light evening snack. Went back to the station until boarding time, after spending some time at Old Sac. Did not go to the Rail Museum, as it was closed for the day already. As for newspapers, passed on the Bee (which costs at least a dollar, and coins only) but grabbed a free California Rail News instead. When it was time, had my tickets scanned and walked to the platforms. The train was only a few minutes late when it pulled in. The consist of #14(4) was same as #11(3), minus the private car. Had the same type of seats, but assigned an aisle seat instead of window.
Monday, September 5: The train was a bit late, and barely got any sleep. Woke up somewhere past Dunsmuir, probably shortly after sunrise (but I may have missed the view of Mt. Shasta). The scenery between Dunsmuir and Klamath Falls was very good, only behind the California coast and just as good as the Cascades. Had a quick breakfast of English muffin and a cold bottled coffee in the Sightseer Lounge car. At least one toilet turned out as faulty, and the one particular toilet I used did not flush and was apparantly broken. Stayed in the Sightseer Lounge until shortly before arrival into Klamath Falls. The train had stopped at one point where there were no sidings, after moving very slowly for quite a while. I have seen a couple of Operating Crew on the track walking to the back of the train (thought that they had to throw someone off for being unruly, but I was told that the reason of stopping could have been due to red signal. Eventually the train started moving again, and rolled past hills, plains, farmland, tunnels, the small town of Dorris, before pulling into Klamath Falls. The train pulled in about half an hour late. After getting off the train, hired a cab and headed back to the college dorms.
More detailed trip reports and photos coming soon. To read a more detailed trip report, check out my blog, which should be up later this week. I will put up a link to my blog as soon as it is ready.
