Trip Report: Wisconsin Dells to Chicago to New York November 16, 2010
I was to board the Empire Builder at Wisconsin Dells at 12:09pm today. At 10:30am, I phoned Julie to ascertain the status of the westbound Builder, Train number 8. I was informed that the train was running on schedule as of 10:14am.
We went to the train station to await the arrival of the train. The station building was open and staffed by Mike, a volunteer. He was a very nice person and showed me the pictures of various trains and sights.
Shortly after noon, his telephone rang and it was the conductor saying the train would arrive Wisconsin Dells on time. When the train was one mile from the station, a light flashed in the station and I took my bags and went to the platform. Mike advised the sleeper cars were at the front of the train and showed me where to stand to board the train.
When the train stopped, Gary, my SCA greeted me and helped me to my room.
He told me to go to the diner for my lunch at once. I had a macaroni and cheese dish that was quite tasty and chocolate ice cream, then returned to my sleeper.
We were rolling along with an expectation that we would arrive Chicago on time or perhaps a few minutes ahead of schedule.
We arrived Chicago about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I detrained and walked to the Metropolitan Lounge. I decided to catch up on my e-mail and blogs rather than to go out into the station. I had bought two bags of Clark’s cashew nuts on my previous trip so I didn’t need anything. The lounge had many people but was not crowded. The call for the Cardinal followed by the Capitol Limited left the lounge quite empty. The Lake Shore Limited was called shortly after 8:00pm. There were only twelve of us who boarded.
As I approached my car, I saw my SCA, Tom Finningan. He remembered me from three previous trips this year and greeted me with a hand shake. It was good to see him again as he is an outstanding SCA. I dropped my bag and proceeded to the diner for the wine and cheese. I sat with a couple who were familiar with train travel and we exchanged Amtrak stories.
When I returned to my room, Tom had my bed ready and I went to bed. I slept until Cleveland (5:25am) and then got up. We were running about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so we waited until 5:50am before departing. I looked around for Railroad Bill but did not see him at the station!!
Promptly at 6:00am, Tom brought me a hot cup of coffee and shortly after, a USA Today newspaper. I was ready for my 6:30am breakfast.
We proceeded onward on schedule. I went to breakfast and sat with a rail buff from New Hampshire. He was in the Boston sleeper, eight cars from the diner. I had an egg omelet. I ordered a regular omelet thinking I would get a plain one, but it was stuffed with mushrooms and some other stuff and topped with cheese. I managed to remove many of the pieces of mushrooms and ate about one-half of the omelet. I also had bacon and a croissant. The bacon was good but there croissant was like a rock!!
As I returned to my room, I walked through the 4811 car and snatched a cookie from SCA Sharron’s room. She had quite a supply of goodies in her room!!
We arrived at Buffalo-Depew station on time. I got off the train and looked around for Stephen (Long Train Running) but he was not there!! I thought he might be on another of his BUF-CLE midnight points run!!
There were seven Border Patrol agents at the station. They removed one man carrying a young child from the train and walked them to one of their SUV cars parked at the station. This delayed the train about 10 minutes.
We departed Buffalo late heading for Rochester. I took out my laptop computer to do some listening. I have downloaded several old time radio shows and listen to them with ear devices. I listened to The Great Gildersleeve, Jack Benny and Father Knows Best. They are funny shows and I enjoy listening to therm. I also have several classical music pieces by Bach and Beethoven that I enjoy on my computer.
The trip was uneventful for a few hours. We arrived Rochester about 20 minutes behind schedule and Syracuse about 30 minutes off. I went to the diner for lunch and had a heated turkey and swiss cheese sandwich. It was good then I had a cup of ice cream. I returned to my room and did some work on my computer and enjoyed the scenery. It had started to rain and continued a light rain until reaching Albany.
We were more than one hour late arriving Albany. The conductor announced that the regular stop here would be cut short from one hour to approximately fifteen minutes to improve our arrival in New York Penn Station. I got off the train for a few minutes but it was cold and the rain was blowing in my face. The Boston cars were cut from the train and we were on our way in about 25 minutes.
We arrived at Penn Station New York eight minutes late. I was able to detrain and walk to my NJ Transit train and within ten minutes I was heading for Chatham. My wife and Prince Archibald, my puppy, greeted me. I loaded my luggage and I was home in about five minutes.
All in all, it was a good trip. I plan to stay home until after the holidays and then we will be off to Florida for a two week Caribbean cruise and a week visiting friends and family in Florida.
I was to board the Empire Builder at Wisconsin Dells at 12:09pm today. At 10:30am, I phoned Julie to ascertain the status of the westbound Builder, Train number 8. I was informed that the train was running on schedule as of 10:14am.
We went to the train station to await the arrival of the train. The station building was open and staffed by Mike, a volunteer. He was a very nice person and showed me the pictures of various trains and sights.
Shortly after noon, his telephone rang and it was the conductor saying the train would arrive Wisconsin Dells on time. When the train was one mile from the station, a light flashed in the station and I took my bags and went to the platform. Mike advised the sleeper cars were at the front of the train and showed me where to stand to board the train.
When the train stopped, Gary, my SCA greeted me and helped me to my room.
He told me to go to the diner for my lunch at once. I had a macaroni and cheese dish that was quite tasty and chocolate ice cream, then returned to my sleeper.
We were rolling along with an expectation that we would arrive Chicago on time or perhaps a few minutes ahead of schedule.
We arrived Chicago about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I detrained and walked to the Metropolitan Lounge. I decided to catch up on my e-mail and blogs rather than to go out into the station. I had bought two bags of Clark’s cashew nuts on my previous trip so I didn’t need anything. The lounge had many people but was not crowded. The call for the Cardinal followed by the Capitol Limited left the lounge quite empty. The Lake Shore Limited was called shortly after 8:00pm. There were only twelve of us who boarded.
As I approached my car, I saw my SCA, Tom Finningan. He remembered me from three previous trips this year and greeted me with a hand shake. It was good to see him again as he is an outstanding SCA. I dropped my bag and proceeded to the diner for the wine and cheese. I sat with a couple who were familiar with train travel and we exchanged Amtrak stories.
When I returned to my room, Tom had my bed ready and I went to bed. I slept until Cleveland (5:25am) and then got up. We were running about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so we waited until 5:50am before departing. I looked around for Railroad Bill but did not see him at the station!!
Promptly at 6:00am, Tom brought me a hot cup of coffee and shortly after, a USA Today newspaper. I was ready for my 6:30am breakfast.
We proceeded onward on schedule. I went to breakfast and sat with a rail buff from New Hampshire. He was in the Boston sleeper, eight cars from the diner. I had an egg omelet. I ordered a regular omelet thinking I would get a plain one, but it was stuffed with mushrooms and some other stuff and topped with cheese. I managed to remove many of the pieces of mushrooms and ate about one-half of the omelet. I also had bacon and a croissant. The bacon was good but there croissant was like a rock!!
As I returned to my room, I walked through the 4811 car and snatched a cookie from SCA Sharron’s room. She had quite a supply of goodies in her room!!
We arrived at Buffalo-Depew station on time. I got off the train and looked around for Stephen (Long Train Running) but he was not there!! I thought he might be on another of his BUF-CLE midnight points run!!
There were seven Border Patrol agents at the station. They removed one man carrying a young child from the train and walked them to one of their SUV cars parked at the station. This delayed the train about 10 minutes.
We departed Buffalo late heading for Rochester. I took out my laptop computer to do some listening. I have downloaded several old time radio shows and listen to them with ear devices. I listened to The Great Gildersleeve, Jack Benny and Father Knows Best. They are funny shows and I enjoy listening to therm. I also have several classical music pieces by Bach and Beethoven that I enjoy on my computer.
The trip was uneventful for a few hours. We arrived Rochester about 20 minutes behind schedule and Syracuse about 30 minutes off. I went to the diner for lunch and had a heated turkey and swiss cheese sandwich. It was good then I had a cup of ice cream. I returned to my room and did some work on my computer and enjoyed the scenery. It had started to rain and continued a light rain until reaching Albany.
We were more than one hour late arriving Albany. The conductor announced that the regular stop here would be cut short from one hour to approximately fifteen minutes to improve our arrival in New York Penn Station. I got off the train for a few minutes but it was cold and the rain was blowing in my face. The Boston cars were cut from the train and we were on our way in about 25 minutes.
We arrived at Penn Station New York eight minutes late. I was able to detrain and walk to my NJ Transit train and within ten minutes I was heading for Chatham. My wife and Prince Archibald, my puppy, greeted me. I loaded my luggage and I was home in about five minutes.
All in all, it was a good trip. I plan to stay home until after the holidays and then we will be off to Florida for a two week Caribbean cruise and a week visiting friends and family in Florida.
