Our WindStar motorcoach gets ready to take passengers from the Depot Inn & Suite to the eclipse epicenter
Passengers enjoy lunch about an hour before the eclipse in a horse barn at Vintage Hill Farm
One thing no one could control
was the weather, of course. On the ride down and most of the time
setting up, the skies were clear and it looked like we were going to
have clear skies for viewing of the eclipse. Unfortunately, just as the
motorcoach arrived around 10:30am, skies began to cloud over.
People were concerned they were not able to see anything. In fact, it
was very cloudy for the entire time the eclipse was starting to form.
Amazingly just two minutes before totality, the skies broke and
everyone was treated to an amazing show in the sky. It didn’t get quite
as dark as Midnight, but the darkness was on-par with sunset. In fact,
since everyone were near the top of a hill, we could see what appears
to be a sunset in every direction. Just as remarkable were the
cattle at the Vintage Hill Farm. Since they thought it was evening they
started coming in from their pastures. They stopped in their tracks at
the time of the eclipse and as it began to brighten up again, they went
back out in their fields.
One of the real treats of this trip was having a scientist ride
with us who was able to explain the details of what was going on with
the eclipse. While the APRHF and the Rail Rangers focused on
planning the excursion activities and providing narration on the train
between Chicago and La Plata, Timm Bottini was with the passengers for
the weekend also. He is friends with Zephyr Route President Mike
Abernethy and lives in the west suburbs of Chicago. Timm brought
a special solar eclipse telescope and pair of binoculars with him which
helped everyone at Vintage Hill experience the eclipse a lot more. Not
only did Timm provided the basics to everyone about the eclipse they
could get an up-close view of the event with his astronomical devices.
Timm’s wife Lori also rode along and enjoyed the weekend with us.
The travelers ended up staying a little longer at Vintage Hill
than expected because skies cleared up to see the eclipse recede…
because of the cloudy skies we were not really able to see it
build. Everyone boarded the motorcoach and left Vintage Hill
around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. It was about two hours back to
La Plata.
APRHF President Bob Cox wears an Amtrak shirt and his handy dandy eclipse glasses as the afternoon begins
APRHF Vice-President Robert Tabern
(black hat) looks through the special telescope brought by science
expert Timm Bottoni (grey hat)
Confused cattle at Vintage Hill Farm come in from the pasture at the start of the eclipse thinking it was sunset
Moments before totality passengers experience sunset-like sky conditions in every direction at Vintage Hill Farm
There it is! Eclipse Totality - as seen at Vintage Hill Farm, MO on 1:12pm on August 21, 2017
Earlier, it was mentioned that
the one thing one couldn’t really control was the weather – and that
also put a damper on the Farewell BBQ Cookout Dinner that the Rail
Rangers had planned for their travelers at Lookout Point Park. For
those of you who are not familiar with Lookout Point Park, its main
feature is a heated cabin and deck where people can watch the trains
pass by the on the BNSF main line between Chicago and Los Angeles. The
Rail Rangers planned to cook hot dogs and hamburgers. As all were
approaching La Plata, a line of heavy thunderstorms began to fire up.
APRHF President Bob Cox quickly made the decision to cancel the BBQ and
order in some pizzas from Domino’s in Kirksville instead. Even
though the night didn’t have the same atmosphere as the BBQ cookout at
the overlook, everyone still enjoyed each others company with the
impromptu pizza party hosted in the conference room at the Depot Inn
& Suites.
The good news is a few hours after the pizza party started, the
skies cleared which allowed those who wanted to brave the wet pathway
to head down to the overlook at Lookout Point Park. About a dozen or so
passengers ventured out with us along with the Coxs and Taberns. In a
period of about 20 minutes, people at the lookout saw 5 freight trains
and the westbound Southwest Chief, Train #3, pass through town.
Most travelers had never been to La Plata before and were quite
impressed with the amount of trains that passed through town, the speed
of the freight trains, and the large amount of people getting on at the
station. By about 8:00 pm Monday night, it appeared the eastbound train
the next morning would still be ontime, so a lot of travelers headed to
bed early.
An imprompteau pizza party is held at
the Depot Inn & Suites due to a severe thunderstorm cancelling the
planned cookout at Lookout Point Park
Skies cleared enough before sunset for
some passengers to still enjoy Lookout Point Park - here are some local
kids who joined our travelers!
Monday night into Tuesday morning,
August 21, 2017, ended up being a stormy one. La Plata saw some good
thunderstorms during the evening, but the Kansas City area saw the bulk
of the rain. Portions of the city saw as much as eight inches of rain
and many roads were closed. While the eastbound Southwest Chief was
able to make it through okay, it did lose about three hours due to
Flash Flood Warnings.
In order to kill time until the eastbound Southwest Chief would be
arriving, passengers were allowed to sleep in a little later than
normal at the hotel. Amy Cox, APRHF Treasurer and Amtrak station
caretaker, also was able to provide a brief depot tour to passengers
while they waited. She told everyone stories of the trains that passed
through La Plata in the 1950’s and how, if you a climb a hidden latter,
you are able to see some of the original walls of the depot. Many
passengers were impressed that one can actually see some of the names
of the original trains burned into the background of the arrival board
still.
Good things come to those who wait – and that was the case with our
return home on the eastbound Southwest Chief on Tuesday morning. Not
only was the second engine back the #822 40th Anniversary Engine… two
other private cars were on the back of the train, too. These treats,
along with 38 passengers boarding “Sky View” to return to Chicago ended
up providing quite the scene at the La Plata Amtrak station. It will
definitely be a day to remember.
APRHF Treasurer Amy Cox gives passengers an "behind the scenes" tour of the old Santa Fe La Plata Depot
Time to head home -- Sky View arrives back in La Plata, MO on the rear of the eastbound Southwest Chief - Train #4
A private car tri-fecta! The two Patrick Henry Creative
Promotions Cars are also on the back of the eastbound Southwest Chief
on August 22, 2017
The Southwest Chief leaves Fort Madison, IA and crosses the Mississippi River Bridge into Illinois
Lot of corn -- passengers enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the dome car looking at farm fields of Central Illinois
Because of the delayed departure,
lunch was served almost immediately. Since passengers were traveling on
the same route that they did on Saturday afternoon, the Rail Rangers
used the time to answer passengers questions and provided a more
one-on-one interaction and experience. Some stories that were missed on
Saturday were shared with passengers.
A special treat for the two of us was getting an invite back to the two
other private railcars on the back of the train by their owner
Patrick Henry of Patrick Henry Creative Promotions. The Taberns had
seen the cars many times, but this was the first time they got an
invite back from Mr. Henry and the first time we got to ride on the
cars. The first car was a sleeper used by crew and guests. The
second (and last) car was probably the nicest private car we have ever
experienced. It featured both a dome car with very luxurious seating, a
beautiful ‘living room’ area, a nice bar area, a meeting table area,
and the crown jewel – a rare open ended platform car. Mr. Henry
was traveling to Chicago and then on to Denver with a friend. He
invited the Taberns to ride any portion of the route back to Chicago on
the open platform that they wanted. They chose to ride from Galesburg
to Princeton to pass some of the rural landscapes of Illinois – and
then again from Naperville into Chicago. Riding “The Racetrack”
and passing numerous Metra commuter trains (who we were fighting
“upstream”) was a real treat – especially for Robert who grew up in
Chicago and would often railfan on the BNSF as a boy. We also got to
finally see Mark Hinsdale – who operates a web camera for railfans
known as “MH Tower” – near the Western Avenue stop on the BNSF. He was
out to see the anniversary engine and three private cars on the back of
the Southwest Chief. Upon arriving into Chicago, the Taberns
thanked Mr. Henry for his hospitality and gave him a copy of our large
“Outside the Rails: A Rail Route Guide from Chicago to La Plata, MO”
route guidebook. Their hope is that he will leave it on the car and use
it whenever he is traveling between Chicago and Kansas City and has
passengers who want to know the landmarks of the route.
