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Summer of Steam Part I - Milwaukee Road 261 and Union Pacific 3985 6/15-25/2002

Several months ago, I purchased tickets for Milwaukee Road 261's excursion from Minneapolis to Chicago and then bought tickets for a two-day excursion behind Union Pacific 3985 from South Minneapolis to Kansas City.

I could not wait for this school year to be finished. I saw Jethro Tull and the Young Dubliners at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and took my mother with me, who really enjoyed the evening, then I showed a program at the Orange County Railway Historical Society on June 3rd. Everything had been ticketed for months and all hotel reservations had been booked so all I had to do was to live up to departure day and start a most very interesting trip by finishing the school year at McFadden Intermediate with the caseload of students I worked with. My mother left for Europe and a bus tour three days before my trip started so after I checked out of McFadden, I packed and relaxed before the night before.

Gil Terry, a friend of my father's, drove me to the Santa Ana station and I enjoyed the warm California morning as I waited for my train which arrived on time. Jeff McConnell, the conductor, took my ticket and I rode in the lower level of the coach-baggage car. It was an uneventful trip to Los Angeles, where I detrained back into that bright sunshine to wait for the Coast Starlight to reverse in. I watched 765 leave, Pacific Surfliner 567, the Southwest Chief Pacific Surfliner 772 arrive, where I said hello to Conductor Jim. About twenty minutes before departure time, the Coast Starlight arrived.

I was assigned to a half window seat on the Pacific Ocean side of the train for my northbound run to Portland. My main goal, besides getting to the Empire Builder, was to just sit back and relax. We left ten minutes late and began to read Gasten Leroux's "Phantom of the Opera", on which the musical was based. I read for a bit, did some word fill-in puzzles, had lunch from the café car, listened to some music and enjoyed the scenery, with a nap thrown in for good measure. We arrived early at San Luis Obispo, which allowed for a nice long walk and I picked up a copy of the Tourist Magazine.

We waited for a late southbound Coast tarlight before we proceeding up Cuesta Grade, where a Union Pacific freight train was sitting in the siding at Chorro, the location where we normally meet the southbound Starlight. As the train made the slow trek down the Salinas Valley, I had a steak and turtle cake for dinner before returning to music at my seat and the "Phantom". Later I went to the lounge car to watch "Snow Dogs" and Jim Carrey in "Majestic" before I retired to my coach seat for the night.

6/16/2002 I awoke just as the train passed Castle Crags and we stopped in the lower Dunsmuir Yard due to a medical emergency in the sleeper. The resulting delay negated my ability to take the Coast Starlight all the way to Portland. We climbed the Cantara Loop and had a beautiful trip beneath Mount Shasta before it was announced that all passengers would be bussed to meet the Empire Builder in Portland, my only tight connection on the whole trip. I expected this to happen, knowing how the Starlight runs. My advice is, if you have the time, to give yourself an extra day so you could spend the night in either Portland or Seattle in order to catch the Empire Builder the next day. As I always say, "Every trip is an adventure!" The rest of the journey to Klamath Falls was uneventful and Lindsay, my most wonderful coach attendant, said that I was one of the nicest passengers that she had met. At Klamath Falls, I detrained and walked to the bus.

This ride on a bus would be the means to an end. We departed about fifteen minutes after the Coast Starlight did and drove north on US Highway 97, stopping at a rest area south of Chemult, then north of that townn, we took Oregon Highway 58 over Cascade Summit, which is actually Willamette Pass on the highway. We dropped down the grade, saw the snowsheds and while passing under the Salt Creek Trestle, I wondered where the Coast Starlight was? The bus stopped at a McDonald's in Oakridge for lunch and of course, they messed up my plain order. Back on the road, we drove north on Interstate 5 into Portland and I was glad to have finally ridden over Highway 58. We arrived at Portland Union Station at 4:05 PM with thirty-five minutes to spare before my next train.

I boarded and found a large window seat, very happy to be aboard for my trip to Minneapolis. It was a cloudy afternoon as we departed on time and made our way across the Columbia River to our first station stop in Vancouver, Washington then travelled east into the Columbia River Gorge as I had a hot dog dinner and enjoyed the ever-changing scenery. Mount Hood made an appearance and by Bingen-White Salmon, it became clear and windy.

I detrained at Wishram for a windy picture session and fresh air break before we continued along the Columbia River.

A pause at Pasco for another fresh air break. The male passenger behind me was caught with his own liquor and then cursed on his cell phone all the way to Spokane.

6/17/2002 The Empire Builder arrived in Spokane with an hour-and-a half to spare. I detrained to visit the station before returning to the train to sleep and awoke just to the west of Whitefish, where I staked out a spot in the Sightseer lounge car for the crossing of Marias Pass. The Middle Fork of the Flathead River was above flood stage and BNSF was far more active than back in April. The sky was clear and it was a glorious morning for our crossing of the pass. At Essex, I had the opportunity to chat with Larry Veilleux, owner of the Izaak Walton Inn, before I continued to point out sights to those in the lounge car, then returned to my seat after the Two Medicine Bridge for a brief nap.

I caught up writing this story before listening to the Rolling Stones then Yes as the train crossed the High Plains to Havre. I enjoyed a sirloin steak sandwich in the dining car fromo the now-standardized Amtrak National Menu, finishing with an ice cream as we arrived at Havre for a windy overcast fresh air break. Continuing east, we continued to fly by westbound BNSF trains and passed the four-hour late westbound Empire Builder with a BNSF locomotive on the point east of Glasgow, Montana. I watched an afternoon showing of "Time Machine" before having a steak dinner as we entered North Dakota then made a fast trip to Minot, which allowed a long fresh air stop and a walk to the bridge over the yard. I picked up some Empire Builder route guides for my Orange County Railway Historical Society brethren then returned aboard the train, did one final word fill-in puzzle for the day prior to retiring for the evening.

6/18/2002 I awoke two miles short of Midway station and we sat for forty minutes for access, then arrived fifteen minutes late, ending an excellent trip on the Empire Builder.

Since I knew I could not check into the University Best Western until 1:00 PM, I decided to walk to the hotel where they let me store my bags. With time to spare, I walked to Harrison Street, home of Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261.

The Twin Cities and Western, as well as a BNSF local, went through Minneapolis Junction.

Milwaukee Road 261 reversed out of the shop building to start to make up its trainset. About noon, I was given a room and had a well-deserved shower then relaxed and went to Arby's for some roast beef sandwiches. Later, I mailed a letter and went for a walk over to the small BNSF yard before relaxing for the rest of the evening and had a good night's sleep.

It was pouring rain when I woke up and after a continental breakfast, checked out and waited for a taxi cab and showed the driver the way to Harrison Street. The rain stopped and I waited to board my old friendly coach "Nokomis" of Central of Georgia and Atlantic Coast Line lineage. I chose a large window seat on the right side so I would have the view of the Mississippi River. BNSF held back our departure until 9:00 AM before could commence our travels on the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy racetrack on this two-day excursion to Chicago.

After a BNSF freight passed us at 9:15 AM, we slowly pulled forward onto the mainline at Minneapolis Junction, starting down new trackage for me, and went east down the Midway Subdivision towards St. Paul. We passed the grain elevators that I had walked to last night then travelled through the intermodal yard on our way to Division Street in St. Paul. Along this section, we ran by the minor league baseball St. Paul Saints Stadium on the north and later the Minnesota State Capital building's dome could be seen. Milwaukee Road 261 steamed by the Minnesota Transportation Museum then curved around St. Paul to the Mississippi River and passed beneath the Dayton Bluffs before both the Soo Line and Union Pacific yards.

We cruised through Newport along the base of the bluffs with the Soo Line tracks along the river and came down to river level at Lock and Dam 1, and at St. Croix. the Soo Line crossed the Mississippi River. Milwaukee Road 261 ran to Burns, where we crossed the St. Croix River into Wisconsin. Our special train then ran along the bluffs, sometimes right along the river or lakes off it, or by fields on the flood plain then passed beneath Diamond Bluff, flew through Bay City, where through the trees, the bluffs across the river in Minnesota could be seen across the Father of Waters, an alternate name for the Mississippi River. Further on, Red Wing, Minnesota, famous for those shoes was seen across the river. We crossed the Rush River before stopping to grease the rods of the steam engine at Pepin.

We crossed the wide Chippewa River and ran to Nelson, where a photo runby was performed. Further south along the Mississippi River, we crossed the Buffalo River before passing Lock and Dam 2 at the town of Alma, followed by the Dairyland power plant. The river curved away and we cut across some farmlands below the bluffs. I bought some safety glasses to protect my eyes from the coal cinders after we passed below Indian Head Rock, the face of the chief, then came to Lock and Dam 3 before stopping briefly at Winona Junction then crossing the Trempealeau River. We rode over a long causeway before returning to the shore beneath the bluffs. As always, the Mississippi River was to my right. We passed Lock and Dam 4 at Trempealeau as Milwaukee Road 261 easily pulled our consist at track speed crossing Black River. Our route paralleled the old Chicago and North Western right-of-way, the Route of the 400, to Rochester, Minnesota, now the 400 Bike Trail. We traversed the farmland before returning to the Ole Miss. At Sullivan, Milwaukee Road 261 went under Interstate 90 before stopping in LaCrosse then after a few minutes, we pulled across the Soo Line at Grand Crossing prior to reversing into a yard track where we detrained.

I boarded the first of the school buses, with no luggage space underneath, for the ride to the Days Inn. The driver became lost on the way but we were able to check in, after which I walked over to the IGA store for postcards before enjoying the hotel's sauna for twenty-five minutes. I watched "Waterboy" before having a steak dinner and going for a walk then returned to the hotel and watched "U2 Live from Boston" prior to calling it a night.

Up early and ready to go, I was offered a taxi ride to the train, which was a much easier way of getting my luggage there. I chose the same seat in "Nokomis", had my breakfast, listened to music and read the newspaper until nearly departure time. In order to conserve costs, the air conditioning was never turned, which would would have been nice to know when we boarded this morning. "If you want it on, you can buy us the fuel when we get to Chicago!" said one of Milwaukee Road 261 crew members to me. I moved back two cars to the much cooler former Louisville and Nashville coach "Minnehaha".

We jerked for a few minutes and finally started rolling out of our yard track then ten minutes later, were out on the mainline. Our train crossed the Soo Line at Grand Crossing and proceeded out of La Crosse, through Herrington with the steam engine whistling freely before we returned to the water's edge. We passed Lock and Dam 8 before the Dairyland Power Cooperative-Genoa Station power plant. At Victory, where the decisive battle of the Blackhawk Indian War was won, we crossed the Bad Axe River and across the Mississippi River was now the State of Iowa, as we continued south. The train passed through Desoto, named for the Spanish explorer who had discovered the Mississippi River, which we were running beside. We next passed Lock and Dam 9 before the river bent away, with us running below the omnipresent bluffs with farmlands then stopped at Prairie du Chien where the rods were greased.

South of town at Crawford, we crossed the former Milwaukee Road mainline, now operated by the Wisconsin Southern then crossed the Wisconsin River prior to returning to the flowing waters of the Old Miss. The river bent away once more as we sped along south then raced through Bagley before returning to the estuaries and flew through both Glen Haven and Cassville. We went by both the Nelson Drewey Generating Station and the Mid-America Power Station. There were plenty of westbound BNSF trains this morning, but none were causing us any delay. We passed Lock and Dam 11 prior to our train's entrance into Illinois and went by the Illinois Central bridge leading to Dubuque, Iowa, whose track immediately tunnels into the bluff on the Illinois side of the river before swinging around to run by us into East Dubuque with its former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy depot still standing.

At East Cabin, we ran on the rails of the Illinois Central for 12.5 miles to Portage, where we stopped to let a BNSF Z train pass so we would not be blocking it when we stopped at Savanna for servicing. The cottonwood seeds were prevalently floating in the air while we waited for that train to pass. On the move again, at Galena Junction, the IC tracks curved off to the east before we crossed the Galena River then our excursion train ran by the Blanding Recreation Area where the Mississippi river curved away, not returning until after our train passed the Savanna Army Depot. We crossed the Apple River before we graced the diamond of the former Milwaukee Road, now I&M Rail Link, as we arrived at Savanna and turned east with our last glimpse of the Mississippi River for this steam trip. We paralleled the empty BNSF yard before stopping for water and to grease the rods in front of the Savanna yard office.

We continued our trek towards the Windy City of Chicago as we departed Savanna at 1:45 PM for the 143.7 miles to our destination, all of which are new miles until Aurora. The steam engine attacked the grade, taking us out of the Mississippi River Valley, crossing the Plum River then accelerating to 60 mpH as we travelled over the Illinois farmlands before bridging Rock Creek west of Milledgeville. At Carter, we held the mainline for a BNSF local before returning to our speedy pace, only to have to stop at Stratford for both BNSF 9292 West and BNSF 6833 West. We took off again running through Oregon, Illinois and crossed the undulating countryside. 261 crossed the Rock River on a double truss bridge then met BNSF 4681 West, pulling into the siding at Chana and slowing until he cleared the main. Our train picked up two main tracks at Flagg Center and I rode the vestibule through Rochelle then stopped at Steward Junction to switch out the road foreman, who had been with us from La Crosse and to wait for another westbound BNSF freight.

During the stop, the rods were greased one more time before we continued to cross the now-flat countryside. We went through Shabonna, Waterman, Hinckley and Sugar Grove before reaching the mainline used by Amtrak, thus ending my new mileage. We curved onto the Race Track and after a few minutes, crossed the Fox River, the Comfort Inn where I stayed last summer and the old Aurora Roundhouse, with the Metra station in the foreground. After we waited for a spot in the afternoon commuter rush, Milwaukee Road 261 took off and it was announced that we would make a special stop at La Grange for anyone needing to get to the western suburbs.

I rode the vestibule all the way down the Race Track, waving to everyone standing trackside; I always get such a special feeling when I do that, and stayed there until it was time for Milwaukee Road 261 to wye the train and to reverse into Chicago Union Station. Everyone was told us to walk back through the train to detrain as the steam engine needed to stay outside of the Post Office building. I was sitting in a roomette as we reversed in and saw parts of Chicago Union Station that I had never seen as we came in along the track along the Chicago River. We detrained on the river side and had to walk behind the rear of "Cedar Rapids" to reach the station, a fitting way to end an exciting two-day excursion behind Milwaukee Road 261, and one I would never forget.

Everyone walked into the station with my seatmate Mark and I continuing to the Ogilvie Transportation Center for his train to Crystal Lake and mine to Kenosha. We bought our respective tickets and had dinner in the food court and I was able to get a good deal on Popeye Chicken as they were about to close for the day. After dinner, Mark boarded his train and I went inside the Metra waiting room and worked on this story to this point then rode Metra's UP North Line Train 357 to Kenosha and walked to the Holiday Express for the night, having completed two fabulous days the Milwaukee Road 261. I went to bed thinking it was funny that last night, I was on the far western side of Wisconsin yet tonight I was on the far eastern side of the state. Was it only me who would realize that?

6/21/2002 I was awoken by the loudest claps of thunder I had experienced and lightning right outside my window. Since it was only 5:30 AM, I went back to sleep while the rain poured. When the wakeup call came at 7:30 AM, I showered and found a news station with the weather radar so knew where the rain was. I used Express Checkout and after a quick continental breakfast, walked to the Metra station on a very windy and cool morning; it was at least twenty-five degrees cooler than when I arrived last night. I took Metra 330 back to Chicago and read USA Today during the ride, then had a pair of Gold Coast Char Dogs before going to the north waiting room to wait for the Empire Builder to take me back to Minneapolis.

I boarded the Empire Builder and while we were waiting for a late-running Lake Shore Limited, I was interviewed by ABC News of Chicago and was allowed to share my views on Amtrak, since it was announced today that Amtrak had not received its 200 million dollar loan it needed to continue running until September 30th. I gave my honest opinion on that subject starting out with, "How can the most prosperous county in the history of the world not be able to support its passenger service?" I was very well received by all who heard the interview.

Our train departed fifty minutes late after that late-running train arrived and we ran at a good pace to Milwaukee, where we were greeted by the private cars "Silver Foot" and "St. James Place". Our westbound train was delayed here by a SOO Line coal train and number eight slowed later at Cooney for a Canadian Pacific Railway 101-car freight train. East of Portage, I enjoyed a thunderstorm from the dry environment of the train and felt sorry for anyone boarding or detraining in Portage during the downpour. The Builder next stopped at the beautiful Wisconsin Dells and after Tomah, we went through the lone tunnel on this trip at Tunnel City, then dropped down to La Crosse and after the station stop, we crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota. The stops at Winona and Red Wing were made, where members of the Overland Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society detrained to reach their hotel early for tomorrow's Union Pacific 3985 excursion that I was also riding. In addition, a drunk was removed from the train who had tried to open a side door to get off while we were still moving; he was handed over to the Red Wing police. I napped for the rest of the way into Minneapolis, where I detrained to start my next rail adventure.

Three of us going on the Union Pacific 3985 trip taxied to the Best Western in South St. Paul, where I had booked a room. When it was my turn and I gave them my name, they said, "Another Camerail!" and I would be taken to another hotel. I just wanted a bed at this point, so happily went and was taken to the Country Inn for the night. I checked in and after a quick shower, hopped into bed. About five hours later, the wakeup call came so I checked out before having a quick continental breakfast then rode the van back to the Best Western, then the shuttle with the train crew to Union Pacific 3985.

I photographed my old friend, Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 3985, the world's largest operating steam engine before boarding another old friend, dome-coach "Challenger", to which I had been assigned a window seat in the front. This would be a rare mileage trip down the length of the former Rock Island "Spine Line" to Des Moines today and Kansas City tomorrow. All of this trip would be new mileage. When the Rock Island went bankrupt, the line was taken over by Chicago and North Western, which was then merged into the Union Pacific system. This was the route of the Twin Cities Rocket, which ran from Minneapolis to Des Moines in five hours and eight minutes, and on to Kansas City in nine hours and twenty-three minutes, a 493 mile journey.

Union Pacific 3985 departed South St Paul at 8:05 AM, ran by industries and behind the backyards of the city to escape out into the rolling Minnesota farmlands with trees along property lines. We steamed through Rosemount and to the east of Farmington, where a Union Pacific freight was in the siding of the same name. The small creeks were all running high after all the rain; six inches fell yesterday and the airports were closed for hours, delaying people trying to reach St. Paul for today's excursion. Union Pacific 3985 picked up the pace through Castle Rock before slowing for Northfield, home of the Malt-O-Meal Company plant then crossed the Cannon River after passing through Dundas, which we followed south then steamed through Faribault, which had its Rock Island depot still standing, then made our way to Owatonna, which had the nice lake of the same name just south of town.

We ran through Hope and Ellendale before Union Pacific 3985 did a double photo runby in excellent light which allowed two different angles of our train. We arrived at Albert Lea and stopped to service the engine, where most of the town came out to see the steam engine. As we departed, we crossed the Milwaukee Road which had a depot still standing to the west then continued our journey southward through the last of the southern Minnesota miles before crossing into Iowa and passed through Northwood with its large grain elevators. We traversed the Rock River before going through Kensett then Manly, with its old roundhouse still standing and a Rock Island caboose on display. After that, we crossed the Winnebago River and ran down to Mason City, where Union Pacific 3985 was completely serviced and we were allowed to detrain into a very hot and humid afternoon. I talked briefly with Steve Lee and Bob Krieger of the Union Pacific Steam Crew before retreating to the coolness of the train. We departed at 1:30, crossing Willow Creek into Beartrap, where we crossed the former Milwaukee Road mainline, now I&M Rail Link, then crossed Iowa Traction with their 50 ton electric locomotive 50, built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in 1920. Outside town, the cornfields were working on reaching for the sky.

Representatives from the Best Western in Des Moines boarded and distributed room keys to those of us staying in their hotel that night. Our route was now due south, crossing the West Fork of the Cedar River before we crossed the former Chicago and North Western (Union Pacific) and entered Brandon, which still had its Rock Island depot, as well as a Rock Island caboose, on display. More miles of cornfields took Union Pacific 3985 to Mills, where we crossed the Illinois Central where a tower still stands then passed the Rock Island's Iowa Falls depot before crossing the Iowa River with its falls of the town's name. We went through Purina, where the company's large plant is located before we had a Canadian National freight come into town from the west on the former Illinois Central just as we were leaving.

Our train went into the siding at Buckeye for a Union Pacific freight then our route took us to Garden City, McCallsburg and Fernald, where, as all through the day, most of the townspeople came out to see Union Pacific 3985 pass through their town. We went under the former Chicago and North Western line and at South Nevada, met Union Pacific 6473, then travelled through the town of Nevada and went through Chicago Junction, prior to steaming into Shipley before traversing the South Skunk River. The Challenger rolled into Cambridge and stopped at Elkhart, where this entire town came out to see us before we continued into Des Moines by descending into the Des Moines River valley with a great view of the Iowa State Capital building. We entered the Union Pacific yard and the buses for the hotel were waiting. More yellow school buses made my baggage a pain.

At the hotel, my luggage was taken out via the bus' window, which was much easier. I went straight to my room then went to the hotel's restaurant and had an excellent steak dinner with Robert, who had been on several other excursions with me. I went in search of Iowa postcards in the closed downtown Des Moines and with luck on my side, I found some at the Hilton then walked back a different way to the hotel and spent some time at the pool before relaxing in my room and calling it a night.

6/23/2002 After the best night's sleep so far on this trip, I was the first one on the bus with my luggage piled on the front seat so getting on and off was extremely easy. We rode down to the train and found the fuel truck hung up on the crossing, with Steve Lee underneath, telling the driver how to get the truck off so it could refuel the Challenger. I enjoyed my fellow passengers' company in the dome while the truck was successful in reaching the steam engine and refuelling 3985.

Day two of our journey down the former Rock Island "Spine Line" behind the world's largest operating steam locomotive started off riding the vestibule on my brother Jon's birthday; it seemed that every year I was on a train on his birthday. Union Pacific 3985 departed Des Moines at 8:30 AM and proceeding out of town, crossing former Chicago and North Western, Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern and Burlington Northern rail lines before making our way to our crossing of the Des Moines River. We travelled south through the forests and rolling hills crossing the North River and passing through Carlisle, where the pacers and chasers soon discovered that Iowa Highway 5 was closed. Our train crossed the Middle River, passed through Hartford, crossed the South River and at Beech, the church services were held outside so parishioners could wach Union Pacific 3985 steam through. Just as yesterday, everyone was out to watch the Challenger pass through their town. At the old site of Purdy, Iowa, a pair of photo runbys were performed, complete with a steam tractor on the west side of the tracks. The local sheriff ran all of the locals out of the location and a special thanks to Butch the farmer for the use of his land, as well as the Camerail members, who prepared the site. It was an excellent set of photo runbys.

Our wonderful train proceeded south as I was now in the vestibule going through Williamson, then on to Chariton, where the Rock Island station was still standing. We went under the BNSF mainline used by Amtrak's California Zephyr, crossed the Chariton River and south of there, the terrain became less rolling. Union Pacific 3985 steamed by Millerton and at Allerton, the former Rock Island line from Chicago joined ours, which was the route of the former Golden State, that joint Rock Island-Southern Pacific train. We entered the centralized traffic control mainline, leaving our track warrant line behind then went through Lineville, with all of the fireworks stands, which were illegal in Missouri, and crossed the state line into Missouri at South Lineville. The Challenger went through Princeton before entering Missouri's rolling hill countryside covered with forests and we crossed the Grand River prior to steaming through Tindall, before we arrived at Trenton, where Union Pacific 3985 was serviced.

Once we departed there, I was up in the dome for the rest of the journey, starting with our trek through the forests of Missouri. Union Pacific 3985 went through Lock Springs and at Polo, the I&M Rail Link (formerly Milwaukee Road) tracks joined, making a joint double track the rest of the way to the drawbridge over the Missouri River. We went near Excelsior Springs and Liberty before going by the flood gates to Birmingham, where we crossed the joint Norfolk Southern/BNSF tracks, where my friend Bill Compton and I once photographed trains. We then crossed the Missouri River on a lift bridge, passing the yard leads for the former Missouri Pacific Neff Yard then went to Southwest Junction, where we reversed to Rock Creek Junction so we could take the "Sheep Jump" over the former Missouri Pacific and Kansas City Southern tracks. Union Pacific 3985 ran along the north side of downtown Kansas City, passing the Armour- Swift-Burlington lift bridge built in 1909 to the West Bottoms then crossed the Kansas River into Kansas before we reversed into the former location of Union Pacific's Armstrong Yard, where we all detrained, ending an exciting adventure behind Union Pacific 3985.

With no taxis to be found, I asked a chaser if he could give fellow passenger Rocky and I a lift to the Amtrak station, which he and his friends happily did. They had been chasing both Milwaukee Road 261 and Union Pacific 3985 and offered to make a video of both trips. At Amtrak, I purchased a room for the two-night journey back to California then stored my luggage. Rocky and I toured the restored Kansas City Union Station then went outside to view the Kansas City Southern business train which was laying over between trips. The two of us took the Skywalk to Crown Center where we ate at the Crayola Café having an excellent grilled chicken. We went to the movies and saw "Juwanna Mann" which was a funny film, then returned to the station, watched the trains go by and walked over to the old Milwaukee Road freighthouse, now a steak restaurant, and saw the local switcher in a fenced-in area along the mainline. Rocky and I returned to the depot, I picked up my luggage and worked on the story to that point while waiting for my westbound train back to California.

Due to construction work, the crew had to double stop the Chief and I boarded the 330 car and had Room 12 downstairs. I was in bed and fast asleep before we departed and slept soundly into the Kansas night.

6/24/2002 I was up early for some reason so rode in the lounge car until Dodge City, where I went to the dining car for a breakfast of pancakes. I showered while my room was being made up by Garry Keller, my excellent sleeping car attendant, then visited with Robert from the Union Pacific 3985 trip in the lounge car before returning to my room, where I listened to the Doobie Brothers as the train ran the final Kansas miles into Colorado. The Southwest Chief arrived at La Junta twenty-three minutes early and I went postcard shopping, as well as to count our 39 cars on this train. I then read the Pueblo Chieftain as we departed on time and napped before enjoying our long train snaking up and down Raton Pass.

I enjoyed a steak sandwich and Amtrak's problems were discussed at the table. Later, we had a nice rain shower prior to the wonderful sight of our train rounding the curves at Chappell. The Chief crested Glorieta Pass and at Canyoncito, we passed our eastbound 29-car counterpart. We arrived at Lamy and for once, the Santa Fe Southern passenger train was in the station at the same time I was since it had arrived early and I hoped to be able to ride it some day. We arrived at Albuquerque almost an hour early so I picked up more postcards for my 50 State postcard wall in Room 29 at McFadden Intermediate and also picked up a USA Today. I escaped the heat to the coolness of my room and waited for our on-time departure from New Mexico's largest city.

The dinner announcement was made and I had steak along with ice cream for dessert then returned to my room for the red rock mesas and the smoke-filled skies from the western wildfires as my music continued on. I went and watched "Ocean's Eleven" and an announcement was made that was inaudible regarding the derailment of five cars of a BNSF freight at Darling, Arizona. There was a possibility we may be delayed three, four or five hours as we waited our turn to pass through the derailment site. I made up my bed at Winslow and went to sleep and we travelled through the site as I slumbered and I awoke as we were leaving Flagstaff two-and-a-half hours late before I fell back to sleep.

6/25/2002 Waking up in Needles, I enjoyed the twilight-into-daylight crossing of the Mojave Desert and Ash Hill. I had a French Toast breakfast that lasted from Ash Hill to Daggett then connecting Coast Starlight passengers detrained at Barstow to be bussed to their train at Santa Barbara. I stepped off at Barstow for some fresh air while all of this was going on then the Southwest Chief crossed a Union Pacific stack train at Frost and made a fast trip over a very busy Cajon Pass as we passed ten BNSF freights in our journey across the divide. The train passed through the fire zone from earlier in the week below Summit and I picked up a Los Angeles Times at San Bernardino and read about Amtrak's current financial crisis needing 200 million dollars or shut down as early as tomorrow. We stopped at Riverside, a new stop for me, on the south platform then Train 3 ran though Santa Ana Canyon before arriving at Fullerton at 10:44 AM, four hours and six minutes late.

I detrained and visited the offices of Trainweb.com on the second floor of the Fullerton Depot. Steve Grande, the co-founder, accessed my website and found that my great webmaster, Jeff Hartmann, had been busy adding the rest of the stories that I had written. After we talked for a while, I climbed the pedestrian bridge over to Track 3 to work on my suntan while waiting for my train to Santa Ana. Conductor Lisa Washington took the last ticket of this very interesting trip and we arrived back in Santa Ana early, where I walked home, ending a fantastic trip behind two great steam locomotives, Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261 and Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 3985.

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