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I had to rescheduled my trip to stay at the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata in December to February as I did that trip to Texas to ride the Texas State Railroad before it closed down for good. The Texas State Railroad got an extension of life until August 31st, 2007. I picked Saturday February 10th as the date I would stay at the Depot Inn & Suites. This would be my chance to really enjoy the Depot Inn and relax there before I return to La Plata on my Million Mile Trip in late April when it would be a major media event. Needless to say I had been looking forward to my first stay ever at the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata, Missouri.
2/8/07 I worked at McFadden all day then coached Track having a long practice. By the time I got home it was 4:10 PM and I still needed to finish packing up. A quick steak for an early dinner before I drove down to the Santa Ana Train Station taking the furthest parking spot in the far northwest corner of the parking lot. I ran into the station to turn in my parking permit to park in the lot for more than 72 hours. I returned to the car, unloaded my bags and got across to the east platform at Santa Ana Blvd grade crossing just before Metrolink 686 came into the station.
Metrolink 686 departed Santa Ana as I heard a horn blow from the south.
Surfliner 583 2/8/07
Surfliner 583 pulled into Santa Ana.
I was greeted at the door by the ever friendly and smiling Jeffrey McConnell who welcomed me aboard as I started this second trip to La Plata. This train had Surfliner Cab Car 6903, Coaches 6412 and 6414, Coach/Cafe 6303 and Pacific Business Class 6806 with engine 461 pushing on the rear. I took a down stairs seat and we were off and running to Los Angeles Union Passenger Station which we arrived at a few minutes early. I walked from Track 10 down, over and up to Track 12 to wait for the Southwest Chief.
My Surfliner 583 over on Track 10 that I had come into LAUPT on.
At 5:30 PM the Southwest Chief backed into LAUPT with a consist of engines 68 and 141, Baggage 1753, Sleepers 62047, 32093 Missouri, 32076 Delaware, Diner 38016, Lounge 33001 and Coaches 34016 and 31042. Rudy, the coach Car Attendant started to board our car at 6:05 PM and I was assigned seat 47, a right hand side large window seat. I settled in for the trip listening to a solo album by Paul Stanley of Kiss called "Live to Win". I heard this one twice which after we left LAUPT on time it got me to Fullerton. I had inquired about upgrading to a sleeping car room and got a positive response. I put on Kansas "Live at the Whiskey" and after Fullerton Conductor Joe Knappe sold me Room 13 in the Missouri. I hauled my bags through the lounge, diner, Delaware and into the Missouri. I settled into my room for a much more comfortable trip to La Plata. Henry Ford would be my Sleeping Car Attendant for this trip. I enjoyed the view from my darkened room as we made our way east to Riverside and San Bernardino.
Fresh air stop at San Bernardino. Once we were on the move again climbing Cajon Pass, I made up my room and called it a night.
2/9/07 I awoke to my train stopped just east of Flagstaff on a bright sunny morning. I went to the Dining Car where I enjoyed a French Toast and sausage patties motionless breakfast as we sat behind a few BNSF freight trains. Once we were on the move again we passed a parade of westbound BNSF freight trains one after another running on each other's blocks signals. I enjoyed the view of the lounge car to beyond Canyon Diablo then returned to my room. I started my day off musical with John Mellencamp "Freedom Road" as I read the USA Today while we headed to Winslow and beyond. Once that had finished, I napped until after Grants before returning to the lounge car for the views as far as Dalies. I returned to my room for the rest of the trip into Albuquerque. As we came in I remembered that a unique rail item had been shipped back to its long time home. I went to the vestibule and hoped to see it.
Coming into Albuquerque we passed the Santa Fe M-190 Motor Car on a flat car that had arrived from the California State Railroad Museum just last week. We will see more of this unique train set when we return west through here on Monday. The Southwest Chief arrived into Albuquerque late for the first time in years.
Randy Jackson, a local friend of mine was waiting for a visit during my layover.
The Missouri State Name lives on the side of my sleeper.
Passengers enjoying the fresh air during our servicing stop here with a temperature of sixty degrees. We departed Albuquerque at 1:59 PM {12:55 PM} and headed to Lamy with me listening to Jethro Tull "Crest of the Knave".
Two views on the way to Lamy. We passed the on time westbound Southwest Chief as we took the siding at Waldo to let him continue west. As we left Lamy I switched to the Rolling Stones "Bridges to Babylon." We climbed through snow covered Apache Canyon then up and over Glorieta Pass. Rob Quist and Jack Gladstone "Odyssey West" was my next musical choice of the afternoon.
The famous "S" curve along our route. We went onto Las Vegas and I went to the lounge car to wait to be called into the diner for dinner. I was seated with a gentleman going to Raton then the bus to Pueblo and another young man returning home to Alderson, West Virginia. I enjoyed the Pork Chop and the Delicious Chocolate Cake. After dinner it was Billy Joel "Stormfront" which took me to Raton, the next fresh air stop.
Fresh air stop at Raton. I then took a refreshing shower and was back in my room as we exited the Raton Tunnel into Colorado. As I sat in my darkened room it was time for Deep Purple "Under the Gun". The train paused at Trinidad and after that I made up my room with us running an hour and a half late on the clear Colorado night
2/10/07 I woke to a clear morning as the train had just finished being refueled in Argentine Yard. I enjoyed a French Toast and sausage patties as the train was stopped at Kansas City. We departed Kansas City at 8:15 AM, half an hour late with me enjoying the view of the Kansas City Metro Area as we left town.
The Missouri River Bridge at Sibley where I plan to pass the Million Rail Mile Mark in late April.
C.A. Jct could be a back up location for that big event. The train stopped at a red signal at Ethel, Missouri as we waited for the BNSF 5504 West to clear the mainline out of our way. The Southwest Chief arrived into La Plata at 10:41 AM {9:57 AM} ending a relaxfull and quiet train trip eastbound.
I was picked up by Tom Marshall, owner of the Depot Inn & Suites, who drove me over to their motel. Once inside, he picked up my key to the Pullman Suite and led me to that room.
He opened the door and showed me my room and all the features that comes along with it. I walked back with him to the Ticket Counter {Front Desk} to sign my registration papers. I went back to the Pullman Suite and will now share the room with all of you.
In one corner of the room is the desk and drawers with a bed lamp on top of it.
The very large and comfortable bed.
The bath/sauna tub in the Pullman Suite.
Between the bed and sauna, another chest of drawers, bed lamp and a step box to get up onto the bed.
Big screen wall TV, DVD player and the room's fireplace.
Picture with St Louis Union Station information in the Pullman Suite.
Art work above the bed in the Pullman Suite.
The vanity area of the Pullman Suite with the bathroom with shower behind the wall.
The comfortable couch with tall lamp next to it. That is the Pullman Suite for you. Now lets take a look around the hotel. The long hallway has all kinds of railroad displays.
A look into the General Store at the Depot Inn & Suites.
Conductor Uniforms on display.
Various railroad related displays.
Pictures with a roundhouse map.
Santa Fe Timetables and model trains.
BN Employee Timetables and Rio Grande models.
More railroad memorabilia.
More pictures and interesting equipment.
Some China plates.
More pictures with more tools below.
Even more pictures. I had to return to the room to get another disc for this camera before we will continue the tour. We will now resume.
The Santa Fe passengers train display.
Additional picture displays.
This display included a switch broom for clearing the snow out of the switch points.
More model trains.
A collection of railroad lanterns.
There are sure plenty of things to see in the halls of the Depot Inn & Suites. Now we will take a walk into the lobby and share the views of it with you.
The Pool Table sits in one corner of the lobby.
The Fireplace with the famous May 10th, 1869 completion picture of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point, Utah.
There is a big screen TV in the lobby with very comfortable chairs. There is a selection of books including some on railroads on the shelves that guests can look at during their stay at the Depot Inn & Suites.
More railroad memorabilia on the ledge above the train that separates the lobby from the indoor heated pool.
The Ticket Counter is the front desk of the Depot Inn & Suites.
More pictures behind the ticket counter. I will now take you outside to see the grounds of the Depot Inn & Suites.
A handcar on a piece of track sit right outside the main entrance of the Depot Inn & Suites.
At the south end of the building is a railroad crossing signal. The words on the eaves on the building read "northbound, eastbound, southbound and westbound."
I next took a walk down the ex Wabash Railroad grade over to where the future train watching platform will be put in very soon.
The view from the future train watchers area. The Trainweb.com building is on the left and the Amtrak Station is down the track on the right. I next walked back down the old grade back to the Depot Inn & Suites.
The view of the rear of the Depot Inn & Suites.
On my way back inside to warm up, I passed this baggage room scale out in front of the motel. Time to get another disc for the camera and warm up on this 18 degree late morning with a 15 mile an hour wind blowing from the northeast.
Back outside the back door the playground area for the visiting children.
One of the many baggage carts on the property.
A Railway Express Agency {REA} Baggage Cart
Two more baggage carts out by the old Wabash Railroad grade.
A baggage cart with railroad ties on it.
A miniature train on wheels.
The Trainparty.com Gift Shop that won't reopen until spring.
The view of the Depot Inn & Suites from out along the highway.
Another railroad crossing device protects the northern way into the Depot Inn & Suites.
The view looking south down the driveway in front of the motel.
REA Baggage Cart with three barrels on it.
A derailer at the one end of the track panel.
A tool car rests by the derailer.
The speeder with the Depot Inn & Suites Sign.
The handcar at the south end of the track panel.
The Bank of La Plata sign reads a balmy 18 degrees out this late morning. With the pictures outside all done I returned to my Pullman Suite to watch my DVD I brought of Blackmore's Night "Castles and Dreams" on that large screen TV in the room.
What a great picture that TV provided me of the concert. After the concert was done I decided to try the indoor heated pool.
The view of the pool. Before I climbed down into the pool, I will show you what is around and above the poll area.
The railroad memorabilia surrounds the pool. I stayed in the pool about five minutes but since I was here to relax, all the noise from the kids made me decide to leave. Back to my Pullman Room I changed clothes before taking a few more pictures out the hallway to the suites.
A diesel display picture.
The Steam Engine display picture.
A Union Pacific Big Boy Diagram.
The Steam Train inside the wall between the lobby and the pool.
One last picture back in the hallway to my Pullman Suite. I bought a Depot Inn & Suites T-shirt before watching Blade Trinity on some movie channel. After the movie was over, I walked over the Red Rooster two buildings south of the Depot Inn & Suites for dinner. I ordered a Porterhouse Steak, baked potato and cottage cheese plus a chocolate shake. It managed to get up to 26 degrees today in La Plata, Missouri. I returned to my Pullman Suite and used that most wonderful sauna and boy did I feel relaxed. It doesn't get any better than this in a motel room. I next watched my DVD of "Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest" on that fantastic big screen TV. After the movie I called it a night after a great first day stay at the Depot Inn & Suites.
2/11/07 I slept so well in that bed in the Pullman Suite that I didn't awake
until 8:30 AM which is considered very late indeed for me. Looking out my window after a
great shower showed me more sunny skies. I called Julie at Amtrak to learn how the eastbound
Southwest Chief was doing today as I wanted to get a picture of it here in La Plata. She
had it arriving into La Plata at 10:20 AM. I walked over to the Red Rooster for breakfast
passing that Bank of La Plata sign that read 26 degrees with a southwest wind blowing the flags.
I ordered Waffles and sausage patties for this morning meal. I returned to my room and watched
ESPN Sports Center before I headed to the road bridge that crosses over the BNSF mainline. It is about
a few minute walk and offers a great view of the BNSF mainline.
First a BNSF eastbound blasted through La Plata.
Next came a BNSF westbound passing the eastbound.
A few minutes later another BNSF westbound came into La Plata.
The Southwest Chief next came into town, did his station work in under a minute before he headed by my location for points east. I returned to the Depot Inn & Suites with the temperature now 34 degrees so at least it got above freezing while I was in La Plata. I rented a trio of movies that I had never seen all of two and none of the other. The first movie was the new one called "Cars". During the movie I got a phone call asking me if I would mind changing rooms since someone had the Pullman room reserved for that night and I need to be cleaned so I said ok. So after Cars I went to the front desk and changed to Room A. I put my luggage in Room A and would now give you a tour of that room.
The vanity area in Room A.
TV, DVD player, chest of drawers and desk.
Nice comfortable chair next to the window with Chester drawers, telephone and bed lamp.
Another very comfortable bed with a picture of B&O steam engine 867 above it.
The desk area with a drawing of Western Maryland Shay No. 6. The next rented movie I watched was the new version of King Kong. After the movie I called home and then checked to see how my westbound Southwest Chief was doing towards La Plata today and it was running on time. I put on my last movie rental of "Open Season" and watched the first 45 minutes of it before walking back over to the Red Rooster for my last meal in La Plata on this trip.
The Bank of La Plata sign read 38 degrees which was the high for today here.
The Red Rooster where I ate in La Plata. I decided to try the Grilled Chicken Breast, home cut French Fries, cottage cheese and a chocolate malt. The weather did turn mostly cloudy this late afternoon with freezing rain in tomorrow's forecast. I wish I could have stayed here one more day since I had never experienced that kind of weather. After dinner I returned the three rental DVDs and at 7:00 PM returned the key to Room A before looking at railroad books in the lobby. At 7:30 PM Tom Marshall came in and after a cup of coffee to warm himself up, he then drove me back down to the La Plata Amtrak Station. I said my goodbye to Tom and thanked him for a very relaxing stay at the Depot Inn & Suites. You all must come and stay at this unique railroad theme motel in La Plata, Missouri.
The La Plata Amtrak Station where I waited for my Southwest Chief to take me home.
A BNSF eastbound freight came through La Plata during my wait for my train back to a warmer California.
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