Our recent trip to St Louis to visit relatives and friends in the area became an auto trip from Ohio due to time constraints and thus my only Amtrak Adventure involved a short ride on the Missouri River Runner from STL to HEM (Hermann, Mo).
As part of our pre-trip festivities, I visited the fantastic K-10 Hobbies near Maryville, IL which has a huge HO model railroad layout. The next day I spent time visiting an old friend and his HO layout and then tripped over to the St Louis Transportation Museum to view multitudes of 12" to the foot, locomotives, rolling stock and displays. My favorite of course, was their Big Boy and the restored Erie Lackawanna loco that probably once came through my home town back in Ohio.
But on Sunday morning, I boarded the Metrolink train from Swansea, IL and arrived at StL around 8am for my scheduled 9:15am departure on MRR # 311. The city was getting ready for a St Louis Blue Hockey game in the arena across from the station and so some extra security was showing up on the Metro platforms.
After some photos of some UP action and a nice shot of my MRR P-42 #69, I headed back into the Gateway Station to await a boarding call.
Of course no trip is complete in STL without some action in the Greyhound waiting area. I heard screaming and yelling among a female security guard and another lady who was irate that she was being prohibited from getting into a line which she had no ticket for. After a few calls to the local police, they arrived in force and took her away.
Well, it was now time to board my train and we moved quickly up the escalator to the walk bridge and by those great colored windows that adorn that crossing. Psychodelic comes to mind!! smile.
When I reached the platform the young female conductor said I would be in the last car while all the other passengers were moving toward the front coaches.
I told her I appreciated having my own private car on the train. She smiled and said enjoy it since it would be filling up when we arrived in Kirkwood. Since I was the only person leaving the train in Hermann, they decided to put me back with the newly boarding passengers *many of whom I learned were getting off in Hermann for the winery tours, etc.
The train left right on time and as we pulled out of the yards, I caught a nice double lash up of Kansas City Southern locos out the railfan window. It was nice to be able to move around the entire coach. The other conductor came back to scan my ticket and asked if I was enjoying my first class service. "Very nice" I said
We arrived in Kirkwood and as predicted a hoard of new passengers made their way to the train. But only about a dozen boarded my car as most were headed to Kansas City and had luggage for the other thru cars. Interesting conversations with some of the passengers, several of whom were from Wisconsin and were visiting friends in STL area.
A nice ride into Washington MO led to another large group of new passengers to board my "private car". It was great while it lasted. We arrived in Hermann on time around 10:45am and I had a little over an hour to explore the town before catching the eastbound #314 at 12:05.
I headed up the street to some antique malls and enjoyed walking the streets of this quaint old German town. Lots of old warehouses turned into restaurants, a beautiful courthouse on the hill and may B*Bs that wife and I may partake in on a future trip. I walked up the hill to the bridge over the Missouri River to catch a large barge heading up river.
Then back down the street for more antique shopping and then back to the station. It is an unmanned station with just some benches and nice restrooms inside. Several local volunteers are on the platforms answering questions. One particular gentleman was Australian and had lived in the town for only a few years. The town has several trolleys that take you out to the wineries and B&Bs for a buck. Highly recommend a stop here if you are traveling across Missouri.
My #314 was a little early and there were lots of passengers boarding so we all were directed to a coach with only a few seats available. Our loco was P-42 #58. I sat next to a lady from SE Missouri who had lived in California for many years and was forced to return to her hometown to care for relatives. This was her first train ride after visiting her grandchildren in Kansas City. She enjoyed the experience and we talked about Amtrak and AU and I invited her to join Guest Rewards if she chose to ride more trains.
A nice sunny day and except for the young man who was obviously having a rough day by spending time in the restroom vomiting, our ride back to STL was uneventful. My new friend departed in Kirkwood as did about 2/3 of the passengers. Good neighborhood and plenty of parking lent itself to this passenger movement.
I had the car almost to myself (about 8 people left for the remaining ride to STL. We passed a couple of U.P. freights along the tracks and I arrived back in STL on time. An Illinois Service train headed by P-42 Loco #55 was sitting waiting for its next run to Chicago.
A few more yard photos and then I boarded my Metrolink train back to Swansea and enjoyed a nice dinner with my wife and her cousin that evening. Some photos of my trip follow.
Got some double points for my trip (of course, not as many as in the old days) and had a nice train ride in the Missouri countryside.
I will be off to Utica NY on the LSL in a couple of weeks and then some NER riding after that. Hope you enjoyed my Missouri River Runner Adventure.
As part of our pre-trip festivities, I visited the fantastic K-10 Hobbies near Maryville, IL which has a huge HO model railroad layout. The next day I spent time visiting an old friend and his HO layout and then tripped over to the St Louis Transportation Museum to view multitudes of 12" to the foot, locomotives, rolling stock and displays. My favorite of course, was their Big Boy and the restored Erie Lackawanna loco that probably once came through my home town back in Ohio.
But on Sunday morning, I boarded the Metrolink train from Swansea, IL and arrived at StL around 8am for my scheduled 9:15am departure on MRR # 311. The city was getting ready for a St Louis Blue Hockey game in the arena across from the station and so some extra security was showing up on the Metro platforms.
After some photos of some UP action and a nice shot of my MRR P-42 #69, I headed back into the Gateway Station to await a boarding call.
Of course no trip is complete in STL without some action in the Greyhound waiting area. I heard screaming and yelling among a female security guard and another lady who was irate that she was being prohibited from getting into a line which she had no ticket for. After a few calls to the local police, they arrived in force and took her away.
Well, it was now time to board my train and we moved quickly up the escalator to the walk bridge and by those great colored windows that adorn that crossing. Psychodelic comes to mind!! smile.
When I reached the platform the young female conductor said I would be in the last car while all the other passengers were moving toward the front coaches.
I told her I appreciated having my own private car on the train. She smiled and said enjoy it since it would be filling up when we arrived in Kirkwood. Since I was the only person leaving the train in Hermann, they decided to put me back with the newly boarding passengers *many of whom I learned were getting off in Hermann for the winery tours, etc.
The train left right on time and as we pulled out of the yards, I caught a nice double lash up of Kansas City Southern locos out the railfan window. It was nice to be able to move around the entire coach. The other conductor came back to scan my ticket and asked if I was enjoying my first class service. "Very nice" I said
We arrived in Kirkwood and as predicted a hoard of new passengers made their way to the train. But only about a dozen boarded my car as most were headed to Kansas City and had luggage for the other thru cars. Interesting conversations with some of the passengers, several of whom were from Wisconsin and were visiting friends in STL area.
A nice ride into Washington MO led to another large group of new passengers to board my "private car". It was great while it lasted. We arrived in Hermann on time around 10:45am and I had a little over an hour to explore the town before catching the eastbound #314 at 12:05.
I headed up the street to some antique malls and enjoyed walking the streets of this quaint old German town. Lots of old warehouses turned into restaurants, a beautiful courthouse on the hill and may B*Bs that wife and I may partake in on a future trip. I walked up the hill to the bridge over the Missouri River to catch a large barge heading up river.
Then back down the street for more antique shopping and then back to the station. It is an unmanned station with just some benches and nice restrooms inside. Several local volunteers are on the platforms answering questions. One particular gentleman was Australian and had lived in the town for only a few years. The town has several trolleys that take you out to the wineries and B&Bs for a buck. Highly recommend a stop here if you are traveling across Missouri.
My #314 was a little early and there were lots of passengers boarding so we all were directed to a coach with only a few seats available. Our loco was P-42 #58. I sat next to a lady from SE Missouri who had lived in California for many years and was forced to return to her hometown to care for relatives. This was her first train ride after visiting her grandchildren in Kansas City. She enjoyed the experience and we talked about Amtrak and AU and I invited her to join Guest Rewards if she chose to ride more trains.
A nice sunny day and except for the young man who was obviously having a rough day by spending time in the restroom vomiting, our ride back to STL was uneventful. My new friend departed in Kirkwood as did about 2/3 of the passengers. Good neighborhood and plenty of parking lent itself to this passenger movement.
I had the car almost to myself (about 8 people left for the remaining ride to STL. We passed a couple of U.P. freights along the tracks and I arrived back in STL on time. An Illinois Service train headed by P-42 Loco #55 was sitting waiting for its next run to Chicago.
A few more yard photos and then I boarded my Metrolink train back to Swansea and enjoyed a nice dinner with my wife and her cousin that evening. Some photos of my trip follow.
Got some double points for my trip (of course, not as many as in the old days) and had a nice train ride in the Missouri countryside.
I will be off to Utica NY on the LSL in a couple of weeks and then some NER riding after that. Hope you enjoyed my Missouri River Runner Adventure.
)
