Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
The Lakeshore Limited June 20th 2010
My dad and I boarded a midmorning New Jersey Transit North Jersey Coastline train to New York Penn station. Once in Penn Station we had lunch and checked into Amtrak’s Club Acela to await the boarding of train 49. The boarding process went smoothly, and soon we were on our way toward Chicago.
The run to Albany never gets old as you hug the banks of the Hudson River. It provides a great backdrop to the first leg of our trip. We had made a 5:15 dinner reservation, so we would be done eating and able to walk around the platform in Albany. Dinner was in a full a full Diner #8505 which was built in 1957 for the Northern Pacific. The car was in great shape, and had a sign hanging showing it was rehabbed in Beech Grove, IN. I had the manicotti which was excellent, and my dad enjoyed his trout. Our tablemates were from Iowa, and we had some excellent conversation. Both my dad and I had the cheesecake which was simply delicious.
We watched as the Boston section was joined with us, and we were soon on our way through upstate New York. Sometime after our stop in Schenectady my dad and I headed back to the Horizon Dinette serving as the train’s lounge car. It was the most alive I’ve ever seen any Amtrak lounge. Almost every table had 4 people in them talking, laughing, and playing cards. It was much different the lounge cars aboard NEC trains with people never looking up from laptops. I enjoyed the atmosphere, and we spent about an hour in the lounge. Then returned to our room which had be transformed into its night time configuration. I checked my cell phone where a message from AU member GG-1 reminded me about Sunday night chat. It was my first AU chat from aboard a train, and it made the evening even more enjoyable. I fell asleep somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester.
I woke up about 20 minutes outside of Toledo and decided I wouldn’t try and fall back asleep so I could take a walk on the platform. We only stopped for 5 minutes which put us back on schedule. Neither of the sleeper doors opened, and I didn’t want to walk through the diner, so I didn’t detrain in Toledo. My entrance into the room woke my dad up, so we agreed to just head to breakfast. We both had the railroad French toast with bacon which was excellent. Our tablemates were a father and daughter heading to a dance completion who wanted to try Amtrak since he didn’t feel like driving. The food and conversation were good, and after breakfast we went back to our room, and I dozed off for a little while. Our attendant dropped by and converted the room to the daytime setup.
Once seated I pulled out my laptop and began working on the report, as well as a little photo editing, since I didn’t want to get to far behind. We made a stop in South Bend, IN and ran through the industrial areas and suburbs of Chicago. We eventually began running along the METRA Electric South Shore Line and I knew Chicago was on the horizon.
We arrived into Chicago a few minutes early said good bye to Jeremiah an efficient but not overly friendly SCA. Walked the length of the train and walked into a bustling Chicago Union Station. There we left our bags in the luggage room inside the Metropolitan Lounge and strolled around Chicago. We took a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank which had several million dollars in cash on display. We had lunch at Giordano’s Pizza which didn’t disappoint there stuffed crust pizza is simply amazing. We headed back to the station to prepare for the departure of the Southwest Chief (which will be part 2 of this report)
Photos
You find my photos are here
My dad and I boarded a midmorning New Jersey Transit North Jersey Coastline train to New York Penn station. Once in Penn Station we had lunch and checked into Amtrak’s Club Acela to await the boarding of train 49. The boarding process went smoothly, and soon we were on our way toward Chicago.
The run to Albany never gets old as you hug the banks of the Hudson River. It provides a great backdrop to the first leg of our trip. We had made a 5:15 dinner reservation, so we would be done eating and able to walk around the platform in Albany. Dinner was in a full a full Diner #8505 which was built in 1957 for the Northern Pacific. The car was in great shape, and had a sign hanging showing it was rehabbed in Beech Grove, IN. I had the manicotti which was excellent, and my dad enjoyed his trout. Our tablemates were from Iowa, and we had some excellent conversation. Both my dad and I had the cheesecake which was simply delicious.
We watched as the Boston section was joined with us, and we were soon on our way through upstate New York. Sometime after our stop in Schenectady my dad and I headed back to the Horizon Dinette serving as the train’s lounge car. It was the most alive I’ve ever seen any Amtrak lounge. Almost every table had 4 people in them talking, laughing, and playing cards. It was much different the lounge cars aboard NEC trains with people never looking up from laptops. I enjoyed the atmosphere, and we spent about an hour in the lounge. Then returned to our room which had be transformed into its night time configuration. I checked my cell phone where a message from AU member GG-1 reminded me about Sunday night chat. It was my first AU chat from aboard a train, and it made the evening even more enjoyable. I fell asleep somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester.
I woke up about 20 minutes outside of Toledo and decided I wouldn’t try and fall back asleep so I could take a walk on the platform. We only stopped for 5 minutes which put us back on schedule. Neither of the sleeper doors opened, and I didn’t want to walk through the diner, so I didn’t detrain in Toledo. My entrance into the room woke my dad up, so we agreed to just head to breakfast. We both had the railroad French toast with bacon which was excellent. Our tablemates were a father and daughter heading to a dance completion who wanted to try Amtrak since he didn’t feel like driving. The food and conversation were good, and after breakfast we went back to our room, and I dozed off for a little while. Our attendant dropped by and converted the room to the daytime setup.
Once seated I pulled out my laptop and began working on the report, as well as a little photo editing, since I didn’t want to get to far behind. We made a stop in South Bend, IN and ran through the industrial areas and suburbs of Chicago. We eventually began running along the METRA Electric South Shore Line and I knew Chicago was on the horizon.
We arrived into Chicago a few minutes early said good bye to Jeremiah an efficient but not overly friendly SCA. Walked the length of the train and walked into a bustling Chicago Union Station. There we left our bags in the luggage room inside the Metropolitan Lounge and strolled around Chicago. We took a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank which had several million dollars in cash on display. We had lunch at Giordano’s Pizza which didn’t disappoint there stuffed crust pizza is simply amazing. We headed back to the station to prepare for the departure of the Southwest Chief (which will be part 2 of this report)
Photos
You find my photos are here
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