Prologue:
On
By May of 2003, I had visited all
but four of the cars. In the summer of 2005, I began contemplating going down
to
This trip ended up unfolding in quite the interesting manner involving a 12 hour late train and other things.
I got down
to
I was seated in Amfleet 2 coach
#25007, an unrefurbished coach with a brown and beige interior, the old style
display boards, and no AC outlets. I noted that that coach was the same car I
rode from
Amtrak P32AC-DM #709 was leading the train. One thing I noticed that when I got on, the train had six cars; people in Business Class had a whole coach instead of seats taking up 1/3 of the café car.
The train made its regular stops in
After the inspection was done, we were allowed onto the platform for a smoke break. I used the time to take some photos of the train. I also observed Amtrak P42 #168 parked on the adjacent track.
We left Niagara
Falls, New York on time and shortly after, the café car reopened for lunch. I
grabbed a hot dog and an apple muffin. We stopped at Buffalo-Exchange Street
station. When we left, I saw a CP freight waiting by the old Buffalo Central
Terminal. We were stopped outside of CSX’s Frontier Yard for a freight train. We weren’t
stopped too long and soon, we stopped at Buffalo-Depew station. After we left,
we were still running pretty close to on time, and we stopped outside of
Rochester for another CSX freight to pass us. After we left, I got video of
Amtrak train 63 passing us. After that, I saw two CSX freights with a caboose
on the end of the train which is certainly rare! I also saw two MBTA commuter
coaches in a freight yard. We made a stop in Syracuse. After we left, train 283
passed us. We stopped in Rome, before arriving in Utica 30 minutes late.
Upon disembarking from
the train, I walked to the end of the platform to photograph the train and get
video of it pulling out. I also took a photo of equipment from the Adirondack
tourist train. After, I went into the station to see a store that sells model
trains, but it was closed. I went outside and took some photos of various
historic pieces of railroad rolling stock. I asked the ticket agent what track
train 49 was coming on. At first, he thought I was going on train 285 which was
to arrive around 6:00, but when I told him I was looking for train 49, he said
the train hadn’t left New York yet!
Train 285 arrived a
few minutes late. I took a picture of it and shot video of the train pulling
out. After, I kept calling Julie, Amtrak’s automated agent to find out the
status of train 49. It was running over an hour late, and was due in after
10:00 pm. I was originally planning on having dinner on the Lake Shore, but its
lateness made me look for another option since I was hungry now! I called home,
then after, I asked the ticket agent where I could eat. He pointed to a tavern
across the street which I went to. I told the waiter I was in a hurry. They
served me dinner in a timely manner which I much appreciated. After I paid my
bill, I headed back to the station and kept checking the train status of 49, I
ventured out onto the platform a few times. At one point, I saw a meteoroid. I
saw the lights of a train and wondered if that was 49. However, it was just a
westbound CSX freight. Finally, around two and a half hours late, Amtrak train
#49 arrived into Utica. As it pulled in, I noticed that there was a Horizon fleet
café car on the train, which is rare.
I originally boarded
Amfleet 2 coach #25109, another unrefurbished coach. I knew that my friend Bill
was on the train., I met him on the Lake Shore Limited back in February when I
was returning home from Chicago on the trip where I rode the Three Rivers which
was about to be discontinued. Shortly after I found a seat, Bill found me. We
then switched to the last coach which was refurbished. I immediately noticed
the coach number was 25000, the coach I rode on the Maple Leaf to New York City
on the same trip I had met Bill.
I got a carton of milk
from the café car. Upon entering the café car, I noticed that while at one end
had typical tables, the other had business class seats! This was also the first
time I ever rode in a Horizon fleet coach, period. I went back to the coach,
where Bill told me that his friend Geno may be at Buffalo since he works late.
I had visited Geno’s website quite a bit, so I figured it would be neat to meet
him.
January 17, 2006:
I snoozed between Syracuse and Rochester. As we approached Buffalo, we had a smoking break. Bill and I stepped off the train. We looked for Geno, but he wasn’t there. Bill and I believed that because the train was so late, we missed him. After we left Buffalo, I decided to sleep. I brought out the blanket I bought on the Three Rivers back in February of 2005 and tried to sleep. It was harder to get to sleep than I remembered. I did get some sleep as we passed Erie. I woke when we were in Cleveland, but fell asleep, waking up as we approached Toledo. We had a long stop in Toledo, but I didn’t try to get off the train. Bill was still asleep. After a small nap, I decided to get up.
I decided to go to the diner for breakfast in the dining car, which was a Temoinsa refurbished diner which is very nice inside. I had Railroad French Toast which was good. I thought, “They’re still calling it French toast, no wonder why Bush wouldn’t mind if Amtrak went under.” Back in 2002, when France wouldn’t support the war in Iraq, The U.S. retaliated by eliminating the word French from various items. One such example was that various restaurants called French Fries “Freedom Fries”.
During breakfast, the air line connecting the two Viewliner sleepers parted, causing every coach behind the first Viewliner to loose power and the train to go into emergency! The problem was soon fixed, but railroad regulations state that the crew has to inspect the train. Eventually, we were underway again. After I paid for my meal, I took an interior shot of the diner and headed to the Café car and took some interior photos of it as well.
I headed back to my coach. Bill finally woke up. The train stopped at Bryan, Ohio. We were still running late. We make a couple more stops before Elkhart, Indiana. I was hoping to get video of the New York Central RR museum which was across the mainline from the station, but just as we were pulling in and I was filming the museum, an eastbound Norfolk Southern coal train passed on the adjacent track ruining my shot!
As we progressed westward, I began showing Bill various train videos I had shot since my trip on the Three Rivers. Soon, we saw some coal hoppers that were derailed by the side of the tracks! I didn’t have enough time to get a video of that. We stopped in South Bend, Indiana.
Soon, we crossed into Illinois. I set the clock on my digital camera since we were now in the Central time zone. We were soon approaching Chicago, but we were going slowly. We were passed by a freight train that was reversing at a higher speed than we were going forwards! Bill and I weren’t sure if the train was going to front into Union station, or be wyed and back in. We ended up fronting in which saved some time, but we still arrived three hours late! Bill and I would still make our connecting train though.
A Horizon Fleet Café car, a rarity on the Lake Shore Limited.
However, I was hoping to meet up with a couple friends in Chicago. Because of the lateness of the train, meeting up with my friend Greg was out of the question. I could still have met up with my friend Karl. But he never showed up. I had him paged with no luck. I grabbed some lunch from a McDonald’s in the station. I called Greg, apologizing that we couldn’t meet up, and that we might be able to in a little more than a week. After I got home, I would later find out that Karl had been called to work. Bill, who had been out around Chicago, soon came back. I called home from a payphone, before we boarded the Texas Eagle.
I boarded Superliner 1 coach #34055, a coach that was in a previous derailment, but had been repaired and refurbished by the shops at Beach Grove, Indiana. The other two coaches, sightseer lounge, and crew sleeper were also refurbished. The coaches were all Superliner 1’s with the exception of the crew dorm. We left on time, where I got video of Amtrak’s 14th Street Yard. I observed a Pacific Parlor coach which is rare since in runs on the Coach Starlight between Los Angeles and Seattle. We also paralleled the CTA’s Orange line for a distance. One other thing I observed was that the Texas Eagle had two P42’s leading instead of the typical single P42.
We stopped in Joliet. After we left, I observed a Metra commuter train in the station. I headed to the lounge car and found Bill there. Soon, it was time for dinner, and I headed into the diner and had country fried steak which was a little spicy, but okay. After dinner, they showed the movie “Red eye” in the lounge car.
After the movie, we were approaching St. Louis. Bill and I looked for the St. Louis arch. We caught sight of it. Soon, we were nearly below it. We then arrived at the station where I saw another Amtrak train parked that had a P42, an Amfleet 1 café car, and two Horizon fleet coaches.
At St. Louis, passengers were allowed onto the platform for a smoke break. I used the time to take some photos of the train before I got back on. Shortly after leaving St. Louis, they showed the movie “Dukes of Hazzard” in the lounge car. I grabbed some snacks from the lounge car, and settled down to watch the movie. After the movie, I grabbed a carton of milk, and then I headed to back to my coach for some sleep.
