dan72
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2006
- Messages
- 418
Sorry I'm so late in posting this report. Time has once again, gotten away from me...
After taking Amtrak to Arizona twice to visit family - once with my wife and the other with my dad in 2008, we decided that the next time should be with our kids. We had originally planned on summer of 2009, but given that our now 6-year-old was still on the cusp of dealing with long rides and being patient, we decided to wait a year. However, we did a ‘practice trip’ to Milwaukee so both our boys could get an idea of what a long train ride meant. We were both glad we waited.
Our point of departure was Midway Station in St. Paul. We arrived about ½ hour before the Empire Builder got in. It arrived on time and the crew got busy announcing boarding calls. We were assigned the ‘St. Paul Coach’, but with us being a group of 4, we were the first ones to board which gave us a nice seat selection. We departed on time and made our way down along the Mississippi. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative and we had quite a bit of rain along the way. The boys were fascinated with the GPS which kept them entertained a good part of the way was well. We had lunch in the dining car and I had the Angus burger. We spent a little time in the sightseer lounge car after lunch, but my oldest and I headed back after a short while. Our coach was nice and cool when we boarded, but had to deal with a seesaw of temperatures on the way down. We arrived into Chicago about 20 minutes early.
After getting our bearings at Union Station, we headed to our hotel, which was the Inn of Chicago. Interestingly enough, this is the hotel where Amtrak puts up its service crews and had a number of Amtrak employees checking in ahead of us. It’s a decent place, but the rooms are small (which is to be expected in Chicago). The proximity to the Navy Pier and the Magnificent Mile was great. We walked around the Magnificent Mile a little bit and then headed down to the Navy Pier for dinner and a ride on the Ferris wheel. Although it did not rain the time we were down there, the fog did prevent us from going up the Sears Tower – something I really wanted to take the boys up.
Breakfast the next morning was Dunkin’ Donuts which was across the street from our hotel and then we headed back to the Navy Pier to see the Children’s Museum. We stayed there until about 11:00 and headed back to check out of our room. At lunchtime, we headed to Chicago Union Station to drop off our bags at the Metropolitan Lounge and then headed to Lou Mitchell's for lunch. Of course, we had to stop by the Great Hall for some pictures - especially at the 'Untouchables' Stairway.
After returning from lunch, we relaxed for about 45 minutes in the Metropolitan Lounge and our tickets were called at 2:30 by the conductor. At 2:45, we got our boarding call. We decided to use a redcap this time to help with all of our baggage and the long trek out to the platform where we were boarded by Freddie, our sleeping car attendant. It was kind of funny that Caleb (our 6-year-old) was a bit upset at first that we were not in coach (he thought we went to a sleeping car only to sleep and spend our days in coach). We were in rooms 5&6 across the hall from each other in Superliner II-Illinois. At 3:15, I heard the okay on the scanner for departure and we were off for Flagstaff. The weather was overcast as we headed across Illinois. I also did my ritual of holding my breath at Somonauk (the sight of our derailment during our first trip in 2006).
After dinner, our first stop where we were able to step off was Fort Madison, Iowa after making our third and final crossing of the Mississippi River. Freddie was willing to pose with the boys (and had some fun with it). After dinner in the dining car, he made up our beds and the boys settled in for the night while I saw my GPS hit 90 mph through Missouri. As it got dark, fireflies whizzed and danced around our car and I could see large pockets of them in field we passed by.
While our car was quite cool when we boarded in Chicago, it had become very warm. I ended sleeping with my door open so more air could circulate better for my oldest son and me. We arrived into Kansas City about 15 minutes late and had about 20 minutes of dwell time. When my father and I made the trip in 2008, we headed into Union Station to check it out. Unfortunately, time was a bit shorter this time and it is a pretty good hike into the station. I instead decided to get some shots of the platform and the large Western Auto sign lighting up the skyline. We left the station about 10 minutes late and had the wait until almost midnight before leaving the Kansas City proper due to freight traffic in the yards. I hoped this didn't put us too far behind.
I awoke at about 6:00 a.m. and was greeted by a clouded sunrise over Kansas. About 5 minutes after waking up, we pulled into Dodge City-about 20 minutes down. Stacy and I got our showers in which was a welcome relief after sweating a good part of the night. The boys woke up and we made our way to breakfast in the dining car. I had the omelet which was quite good. As we made our way to La Junta, we were catching with our schedule and by the time we arrive in La Junta, we had a nice 20 minute stop while the train changed crews. The rest of our day was one time as made our way up Raton Pass, had lunch going through Apache Canyon, and the other sights along this route. We arrived in to Albuquerque about 10 minutes early giving us a nice hour+ stop on the platform.
We stepped off into the 95-degree heat. I explored the station, checked out the items for sale by local Native Americans, and even railfanned the New Mexico Railrunner Express which had two trains stop nearby as one loaded train headed north and another south.
The past two times I've taken the Chief, I've had to pretty much put my camera away due to darkness setting in. Not this time. Given that we were on time and longer daylight, I finally got the take in the New Mexico scenery. It was spectacular, to say the least. Our air conditioning also started to work again – and would not quit! It became quite cold in our area and Freddie ended up turning on the heat by the coffee and juice station It was not a trip for happy mediums of room temperatures.
We ate dinner as we passed through Gallup. Stacy and I enjoyed our final meal with an order of steak which was quite good. The sun started to set, but we still about two hours to go. Stacy got Caleb down to sleep for the remainder of the trip and Tyler and I watched the sunset from our compartment.
We passed a large coal fired electric plant near Holbrook and rolled into Winslow, the stop Stacy and I got off four years ago. About that time, I heard the conductor radio in saying that a passenger would be getting off as he was harassing several passengers in the coach car. I thought they would be sending him off at Winslow, but it would be Flagstaff. One of the last sights before it became too dark to see was Canyon Diablo. In the sunset distance, I could also see smoke from a fire in Winslow hand near the San Francisco peaks as we headed for Flagstaff.
We arrived into Flagstaff only four minutes off. We said our goodbyes to Freddie and gave him a well-earned tip and we stepped into the cool and clear Arizona night air. I called the hotel so they could send us a shuttle. My wife and kids waited in the station while I hung around outside waiting for the shuttle. In the meantime, the guy the conductor had radioed in about was having a pretty intense conversation with the Flagstaff police. After awhile, the police left and the marooned passenger made his way into the station to speak with the station agent. When I walked into the station, my wife subtly told me to stay nearby as the conversation was again getting heated. I don’t know why the police at least didn’t remove him from the area, but evidently the situation didn’t warrant it – at least not in their judgment. All the agent could tell him was to call customer service and lodge his complaint with them. Our shuttle finally arrived and we were off to our hotel.
Aside the up and down temperatures of our cars, this trip went really well and could not have asked for it to go better. Although it was my third time out on the Chief, seeing areas such as New Mexico west of ABQ made it a whole new experience. There is always something new to spot, it seems. Of course, I still need to take this trip EAST of these times.
Dan
After taking Amtrak to Arizona twice to visit family - once with my wife and the other with my dad in 2008, we decided that the next time should be with our kids. We had originally planned on summer of 2009, but given that our now 6-year-old was still on the cusp of dealing with long rides and being patient, we decided to wait a year. However, we did a ‘practice trip’ to Milwaukee so both our boys could get an idea of what a long train ride meant. We were both glad we waited.
Our point of departure was Midway Station in St. Paul. We arrived about ½ hour before the Empire Builder got in. It arrived on time and the crew got busy announcing boarding calls. We were assigned the ‘St. Paul Coach’, but with us being a group of 4, we were the first ones to board which gave us a nice seat selection. We departed on time and made our way down along the Mississippi. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative and we had quite a bit of rain along the way. The boys were fascinated with the GPS which kept them entertained a good part of the way was well. We had lunch in the dining car and I had the Angus burger. We spent a little time in the sightseer lounge car after lunch, but my oldest and I headed back after a short while. Our coach was nice and cool when we boarded, but had to deal with a seesaw of temperatures on the way down. We arrived into Chicago about 20 minutes early.
After getting our bearings at Union Station, we headed to our hotel, which was the Inn of Chicago. Interestingly enough, this is the hotel where Amtrak puts up its service crews and had a number of Amtrak employees checking in ahead of us. It’s a decent place, but the rooms are small (which is to be expected in Chicago). The proximity to the Navy Pier and the Magnificent Mile was great. We walked around the Magnificent Mile a little bit and then headed down to the Navy Pier for dinner and a ride on the Ferris wheel. Although it did not rain the time we were down there, the fog did prevent us from going up the Sears Tower – something I really wanted to take the boys up.
Breakfast the next morning was Dunkin’ Donuts which was across the street from our hotel and then we headed back to the Navy Pier to see the Children’s Museum. We stayed there until about 11:00 and headed back to check out of our room. At lunchtime, we headed to Chicago Union Station to drop off our bags at the Metropolitan Lounge and then headed to Lou Mitchell's for lunch. Of course, we had to stop by the Great Hall for some pictures - especially at the 'Untouchables' Stairway.
After returning from lunch, we relaxed for about 45 minutes in the Metropolitan Lounge and our tickets were called at 2:30 by the conductor. At 2:45, we got our boarding call. We decided to use a redcap this time to help with all of our baggage and the long trek out to the platform where we were boarded by Freddie, our sleeping car attendant. It was kind of funny that Caleb (our 6-year-old) was a bit upset at first that we were not in coach (he thought we went to a sleeping car only to sleep and spend our days in coach). We were in rooms 5&6 across the hall from each other in Superliner II-Illinois. At 3:15, I heard the okay on the scanner for departure and we were off for Flagstaff. The weather was overcast as we headed across Illinois. I also did my ritual of holding my breath at Somonauk (the sight of our derailment during our first trip in 2006).
After dinner, our first stop where we were able to step off was Fort Madison, Iowa after making our third and final crossing of the Mississippi River. Freddie was willing to pose with the boys (and had some fun with it). After dinner in the dining car, he made up our beds and the boys settled in for the night while I saw my GPS hit 90 mph through Missouri. As it got dark, fireflies whizzed and danced around our car and I could see large pockets of them in field we passed by.
While our car was quite cool when we boarded in Chicago, it had become very warm. I ended sleeping with my door open so more air could circulate better for my oldest son and me. We arrived into Kansas City about 15 minutes late and had about 20 minutes of dwell time. When my father and I made the trip in 2008, we headed into Union Station to check it out. Unfortunately, time was a bit shorter this time and it is a pretty good hike into the station. I instead decided to get some shots of the platform and the large Western Auto sign lighting up the skyline. We left the station about 10 minutes late and had the wait until almost midnight before leaving the Kansas City proper due to freight traffic in the yards. I hoped this didn't put us too far behind.
I awoke at about 6:00 a.m. and was greeted by a clouded sunrise over Kansas. About 5 minutes after waking up, we pulled into Dodge City-about 20 minutes down. Stacy and I got our showers in which was a welcome relief after sweating a good part of the night. The boys woke up and we made our way to breakfast in the dining car. I had the omelet which was quite good. As we made our way to La Junta, we were catching with our schedule and by the time we arrive in La Junta, we had a nice 20 minute stop while the train changed crews. The rest of our day was one time as made our way up Raton Pass, had lunch going through Apache Canyon, and the other sights along this route. We arrived in to Albuquerque about 10 minutes early giving us a nice hour+ stop on the platform.
We stepped off into the 95-degree heat. I explored the station, checked out the items for sale by local Native Americans, and even railfanned the New Mexico Railrunner Express which had two trains stop nearby as one loaded train headed north and another south.
The past two times I've taken the Chief, I've had to pretty much put my camera away due to darkness setting in. Not this time. Given that we were on time and longer daylight, I finally got the take in the New Mexico scenery. It was spectacular, to say the least. Our air conditioning also started to work again – and would not quit! It became quite cold in our area and Freddie ended up turning on the heat by the coffee and juice station It was not a trip for happy mediums of room temperatures.
We ate dinner as we passed through Gallup. Stacy and I enjoyed our final meal with an order of steak which was quite good. The sun started to set, but we still about two hours to go. Stacy got Caleb down to sleep for the remainder of the trip and Tyler and I watched the sunset from our compartment.
We passed a large coal fired electric plant near Holbrook and rolled into Winslow, the stop Stacy and I got off four years ago. About that time, I heard the conductor radio in saying that a passenger would be getting off as he was harassing several passengers in the coach car. I thought they would be sending him off at Winslow, but it would be Flagstaff. One of the last sights before it became too dark to see was Canyon Diablo. In the sunset distance, I could also see smoke from a fire in Winslow hand near the San Francisco peaks as we headed for Flagstaff.
We arrived into Flagstaff only four minutes off. We said our goodbyes to Freddie and gave him a well-earned tip and we stepped into the cool and clear Arizona night air. I called the hotel so they could send us a shuttle. My wife and kids waited in the station while I hung around outside waiting for the shuttle. In the meantime, the guy the conductor had radioed in about was having a pretty intense conversation with the Flagstaff police. After awhile, the police left and the marooned passenger made his way into the station to speak with the station agent. When I walked into the station, my wife subtly told me to stay nearby as the conversation was again getting heated. I don’t know why the police at least didn’t remove him from the area, but evidently the situation didn’t warrant it – at least not in their judgment. All the agent could tell him was to call customer service and lodge his complaint with them. Our shuttle finally arrived and we were off to our hotel.
Aside the up and down temperatures of our cars, this trip went really well and could not have asked for it to go better. Although it was my third time out on the Chief, seeing areas such as New Mexico west of ABQ made it a whole new experience. There is always something new to spot, it seems. Of course, I still need to take this trip EAST of these times.
Dan
