Seattle Center & Beautiful British Columbia

Greetings from beautiful British Columbia, where I am writing from the kitchen table in my friend Janet’s house on Sunday, August 5 at about 6:30 PM PT.  It has been a busy past three days, and I’ll get into all of it in a few moments.

My cousin Aviva and I decided to make Friday morning a lazy morning, so I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and downloaded my email for the first time in days (no Amtrak train has Internet capabilities, and I doubt the Empire Builder will anytime soon).  Shortly before noon, we walked out to a nearby bus stop, and took a King County Metro bus to near the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle.  The last time I was in Seattle was in the summer of 2004, at which time the Seattle Center Monorail was not in service due to some sort of mishap.  Therefore, I was unable to ride it then.  (Luckily, the bus tunnel was open then.  It is now closed for work pertaining to the new light rail that is under construction).  We rode the monorail to the Seattle Center, and then walked over to the International Fountain.  There are some very creative benches in the circular walkway around the fountain, and I got some more photos of the fountain with the Space Needle as a backdrop.  I also got some photos of the benches in the area.  After some time, we walked around the Seattle Center some, and then went to the new sculpture garden located along the waterfront.  I found the sculptures to be quite interesting, and we then found a bench whose back was designed to look like an eyeball (there were other similar benches nearby, appropriately positioned to create pairs), and made some phone calls to family back on the East Coast.  The bench was also within earshot of a grade crossing for a BNSF freight line, so I was able to get a few photos of passing trains.

After this, we walked along the waterfront in the direction of the aquarium, in search of some food.  Since we were going to the Seattle Mariners baseball game that night, we didn’t want to eat too large a lunch and not have an appetite for ballpark food.  At about this time, Aviva’s husband Jonah called to say he was off work, and we agreed to meet him for falafel at a place near 4th and Main.  We took our falafel to a courtyard with waterfalls that was the birthplace of UPS.  After finishing this, it was nearing time to head over towards the ballpark. and I made another phone call back to the East Coast while doing so.

I think that Seattle is a very interesting city, and I like it a lot.  I find places such as the Seattle Center to be wonderful urban paradises in the middle of bustling cities, similar to Central Park in New York City or Millennium Park in Chicago.  Additionally, I enjoy the waterfront (and will be interested to see what is done with the elevated highway running along the Alaskan Way) and find that Seattle is a very easy city to get around, despite its steep hills.  So far, I have been able to enjoy excellent weather when I’ve been in Seattle, and seeing what are supposedly more “normal” conditions might change my opinion of the city, but I think it is an exciting and fun place, and hope to be able to go back again soon.

Before the baseball game, which seems to be my Friday night Seattle tradition, Aviva, Jonah, and I went to Pyramid Brewery, people watched, and chatted.  Then at about 6:20 or so, we went to buy food from a vendor outside the stadium, and then went in to Safeco Field from the main entrance.  For that night’s game, in which the Seattle Mariners hosted the Boston Red Sox, we had sections in the upper level looking straight out along the third base line towards left field.  The Red Sox lost for the first time at a game that I have personally attended (that I can recall), mainly because they were unable to produce runs in the first two innings when they got 6 of their 11 hits.

Overall, I like Safeco Field.  Last time I was there, my seats were in right field, and I didn’t enter the park through its majestic foyer, which I liked a lot (the new stadium for the Mets, CitiField, is supposed to have a similar foyer, which was a feature of the old Ebbets Field that was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers).  Safeco Field is very similar to Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play.  The concessions on the lower level are set up so that one can see from the concourse to the playing fields, there are views of the city skyline from the stadium, and the scoreboards are large and easy to see from many vantage points.  I especially like that they show how to score most plays on the scoreboard, since I keep score at the games I attend and occasionally miss something (such as the 9-4-2-5 play that resulted from Manny Ramirez’s poor baserunning.  However, I found the frequent promotions and sound effects, especially between each pitch made by Seattle closer J.J. Putz, to be overkill.

After the game, we drove back to Aviva’s and Jonah’s, and went to sleep.  The next morning (Saturday), after a quicker breakfast than the day before, I was driven to the King Street Station to take Amtrak Thruway Bus 8948 to Vancouver, BC.  Yes, that last statement was a bit of an oxymoron, since this was a bus where my ticket was purchased through Amtrak and was timed to meet the Empire Builder from Chicago, but the bus was operated by some Canadian company whose name I forget, and was most definitely not a train.  (Janet, the power behind the scenes as she calls herself, thinks the best description would be a “bus that is pretending to be a train”, among other ideas, but I’ve gone with the wordy description above).  Since Amtrak can only operate one Cascades round trip a day between Seattle and Vancouver, it operates additional bus service for the times the train does not run.  The bus ran non stop to the border, where we arrived at about 1:10 PM PT.  For buses crossing the border, every bus must unload its passengers, after which they claim their luggage and proceed to a customs inspection.  Meanwhile, the bus is inspected (we were warned not to leave anything on board or else it would be confiscated).  After every passenger went through customs, the luggage was reloaded onto the bus, and we set off again at about 2:10.  This wasn’t too bad of a border experience, since only one bus can be processed at a time, and we only had to wait 10 minutes for the bus in front of us to finish once we arrived, and no other buses were in front of us.  After a stop in the Vancouver suburbs in Richmond to let a few people off, we arrived at Vancouver Central Station, which is served both by buses and trains, at 3:07 PM PT. 

I only had a few minutes to wait for Janet to come and pick me up, after which we went back to her house, before setting out to see the University of British Columbia campus.  The campus looks like that of a school in the United States in many ways, with lots of utilitarian buildings that seem to have been constructed in the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, based on the exterior designs.  However, there are a number of vistas that overlook the Pacific Ocean which are quite pretty.  We returned to the house to eat, then set out on a long walk through the UBC campus down to the beach, then walked about 7 kilometers (5 miles) along the beach to Vanier Park.  Each summer, there are four fireworks displays as part of a competition.  The three countries each have one night where they make their own display, set to music, that goes off over English Bay.  Then, the fourth display is a finale, in which all participants each do about one third of the entire display.  That fourth display took place Saturday night, and we watched it from this park.  Being from the Washington, DC area, I get to see fireworks each July 4th on the National Mall.  However, I found that the Vancouver display was interesting since the people who made it had more leeway in the music they used since they were not limited to patriotic songs.  They also used a number of effects I had never seen before.  After the display ended, it was back to the house to sleep.

This morning, we drove out to Whistler, an alpine village about 110 kilometers from Vancouver where a number of 2010 Olympic events are scheduled to take place.  The drive from Vancouver to Whistler is quite scenic, and it goes along the ocean for much of the first half.  This road is being widened to accommodate Olympic traffic, and it is quite interesting to see how they are widening the road that runs between a cliff leading down to the water and a steep rock face.  While on our way out there, we stopped at Shannon Falls.  Once in Whistler, which is a village that seems to be trying to be European and isn’t exactly succeeding, we had lunch, and then went for a walk out to what is called Lost Lake, but Janet and I decided that the lake is no longer lost since we found it.  The scenery on this walk and at the lake itself was simply breathtaking, as we walked along a blue-gray stream that probably originated at a glacier, and then reached Lost Lake with its blue-green waters set among a variety of trees, including evergreens, and tall mountains still capped with snow.  We walked around the lake after sitting on its shore for awhile.  We didn’t have bathing suits so we were unable to go in, although it would have been quite refreshing to do so.  Then, in the interest of time, we took the less scenic but most direct route back to Whistler Village and headed home, where I write this post from.  Today was quite tiring, so I think it might be an early night to bed after some reading, before yet another packed day tomorrow.

Building Up to a Phenomenal End, the City of Roses, and Cascading to Seattle

Good evening from Amtrak Cascades train number 508, which just made an on time departure from Portland’s Union Station.  I have been seated on the wrong side of the train for the purposes of seeing scenery yet again, despite requesting a left side seat from the conductor when our tickets were collected inside the station and seats were assigned.  On the Capitol Limited and Empire Builder, this was not a significant deal, since my side of the train was on the good side yesterday, and I made use of the sightseeing car on the Capitol Limited and this morning on the Empire Builder.  The Puget Sound will be to our left (west) further up along the line, so the right side of the train offers a view of next to nothing.  I’ll provide some play-by-play of the Cascades as I recap my last evening and morning on board the Empire Builder, and my wanderings in Portland during the day today.  For the purposes of the Cascades play-by-play, all times will be Pacific and I’ll try to italicize those parts of the entry for easier reading.

(6:24 PM: We have crossed the Columbia River, crossing from Oregon into Washington State)

After signing off last night, I returned to my sleeper and prepared for bed, making sure to unplug the electronics I was charging since the train would lose power during our Spokane, WA station stop.  I took what could possibly be called the fastest shower ever, in the sense that the train was actually moving at higher speed this time than the previous two on board showers (anyone who knows me well enough knows I like long, warm showers).  However, by the time I was finished, we were stopped in Libby, MT for the station stop at that location.  After changing my watch in advance of crossing into the Pacific Time Zone overnight, I went to sleep at 11:16 PM MT. 

In the morning, I was half awake for the station stop in Pasco, WA, and then actually woke up for the day at 6:06 AM PT.  (6:31 PM: Arrived at Vancouver, WA, departed 2 minutes late at 6:33 PM.)  I then proceeded to the lounge car to pick up my complimentary cold breakfast.  The Empire Builder splits into two sections.  One goes to Seattle while the other heads to Portland.  I was on the latter.  The train’s cars are arranged in such a way that upon arrival in Spokane, WA, where the split occurs, the Portland cars are uncoupled from the rear of the train, and the Seattle section pulls away.  Then, two different engines back down on to the Portland section, and leave.  That is how it worked last night, but sometimes, engines for both sections pull the train from Chicago to Spokane, in which case the front engine(s) are uncoupled in Spokane, the other engines take the Seattle section, and then the uncoupled engines are recoupled to the Portland coaches.  No matter what happens with the engines though, the diner always goes to Seattle, and the sightseer lounge goes to Portland, and sleeper car passengers get a complimentary meal since there is no diner available, and meals are included with the ticket.  However, the prepackaged breakfast contained food that I was unable to eat, so I purchased a bagel and cream cheese, in addition to eating the complimentary food that I was able to have.

I then took a spot in the lounge car so that I could watch the scenery go by and take photos as the train traveled through the Columbia River Gorge.  This is the scenic highlight of the Empire Builder’s route from Chicago to Portland, and I don’t believe that the scenery on the Spokane-Seattle section is superior to that on the Spokane-Portland section.  For most of the two and a half hours, the train ran right next to the river, and I was able to get photos of some of the barges and dams along the river, as well as a photo of Beacon Rock, discovered by Lewis and Clark, and so large that only Gibraltar is larger.  I also continued to read the book I started the day before.  Much of this section of track is a single track, so we twice had to wait for freight trains to pass us coming in the other direction before continuing, causing us to be about 30 minutes late for our station stops at Bingen-White Salmon and Vancouver, WA.  However, there is some time built into the schedule, and we arrived in to Portland’s Union Station at 10:15 AM PT, five minutes ahead of schedule.  I then proceeded to the Metropolitan Lounge, to find out that I could not store my luggage there for the day, since the lounge closed at 5 PM but my train to Seattle did not depart until 6:15 PM.  I then proceeded to the baggage check, where bags are usually stored for 3 dollars per day per bag.  However, since I mentioned I had been in the sleeping car on the Empire Builder and was unable to use the lounge storage due to my late departure, the agent there said he would not charge me for the baggage storage.

Having completed the long distance Amtrak segments of my trip, I think it is a good time for me to comment on the Amtrak Long Distance experience.  First off, I have had a great time, and would certainly consider doing another trip like this if the opportunity presented itself again.  However, long distance Amtrak travel is not for everyone.  You will not find anyone wanting to get anywhere quickly on board these trains.  In fact, because Amtrak does not own almost all of the track its trains use throughout the country, passengers generally assume the train will be late and don’t plan anything time sensitive for several hours after the scheduled arrival time.  There are also people who are afraid of flying, older travelers, and some kids.  There are also some railfans and people who have always wanted to take an overnight train somewhere.  Since the Empire Builder has three stops in Glacier National Park, many people use the train to get to their vacations there.

The train is a great way to see the country.  All you would likely see from an airplane flight from Washington, DC to Seattle are the tops of clouds, and few distinguishable features on the ground, if any.  When taking the train, you get to see quite a number of small towns, as well as endless scenery, whether it be plains, mountains, or river gorges.  I now know why North Dakota and Montana are called Big Sky Country, and I traveled through quite a number of places in the country I will likely not travel to again, since I tend to prefer cities over national parks or isolated places when on vacation.  Unfortunately, one doesn’t get to see much of the towns that are passed through, since one can’t wander from the platform or station during a smoking or service stop, but with trains such as the Empire Builder only operating once a day, creating layovers along the way is difficult.

Train travel also offers one the chance to meet a variety of different people.  People riding the train tend to be friendly and relaxed, since they are frequently on vacation (or not concerned with the travel arrangements at this point).  The dining car has tables of four, so smaller parties are put together to maximize the table space.  With the occasional exception (such as the first dinner on the Empire Builder), the mealtime conversation is quite interesting, as people frequently talk about where they are from, where they are going, and previous travel experiences.  There are also the rare times you realize you and one of your dining companions have a common bond (such as lunch on the Empire Builder or at the wine and cheese tasting, where we were all baseball fans).  People in the sleeper car also are social, and I talked with many of the other people in my car at various points on the trip.  One couple even called out to others when the view was especially good.

However, one should keep in mind that if you are looking to find a 4 or 5 star hotel on wheels, you are bound to be disappointed.  Amtrak food, while better than what is served (or not served) on an airplane, is not gourmet.  The sleeper rooms provide enough space, but are not extremely spacious.  The bed allows you to lie flat, but it isn’t like sleeping in one’s own home.  Train travel is certainly worthwhile and quite enjoyable, but it is important to realize what NOT to expect, in addition to being excited about all that there is to look forward to while traveling by train.

(7:08 PM: Arrived at Kelso/Longview, WA, departed 7 minutes late at 7:10 PM.  I am now going to venture to the Bristo Car to see about getting something to eat before writing about how I spent my day in Portland)

(7:52 PM: Dinner has been completed, and I will now pick up where I left off.  So far, I wouldn’t classify the scenery as being super spectacular.  Additionally, the sun is in the west since it is late in the day, so even if I were sitting on the “right” side of the train as it were, my ability to see and/or take photos may still be limited.  We arrived at Centralia, WA at 7:54 PM and departed 14 minutes late at 7:56 PM.  We did pass some track workers between Kelso/Longview and Centralia and ran at a reduced speed as a result.)

I left Union Station and walked to the Old Town/Chinatown TriMet MAX Light Rail stop, the closest one to Union Station, where I bought an all day pass.  While making this walk, I was able to get photos of the locomotives attached to the Empire Builder’s Portland section.  I took the Light Rail to Washington Park, where I boarded a TriMet operated shuttle to the Rose Garden , where I took a self guided tour.  I then boarded the shuttle again (it operates in a loop around the park every 15 minutes) to return to the light rail station.  I then went for a quick joyride. taking the Blue Line out to Willow Creek TC, before taking an inbound Blue Line to Beaverton TC.  I got off there to photograph the buses waiting for passengers at that location, and then got on the next Red Line to head back to the City Center as it is called.  Since it was now almost 2 PM, I searched for a place to get lunch, ultimately found one, and read the USAToday that I had picked up while in the Metropolitan Lounge at the train station.

After lunch, I took the light rail back to Old Town/Chinatown, and then went for a walk in the Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which as the name suggests, is along the western side of the Willamette River.    While on this walk, I saw the southbound Coast Starlight cross the Steel Bridge, saw two drawbridges go up so a tall sailboat could pass underneath the bridges, went by the Salmon Street Springs, and saw Mill Ends Park, which is the world’s smallest city park.  The park consists of a plant in a circular planter in the median of Naito Parkway at the intersection with Taylor Street; the planter measures 24 inches in diameter.  My walk took me to the Portland Streetcar stop at 6th and Montgomery (the stop has a more specific name but it slips my mind), and I rode the (crowded) streetcar to Central Library, which is the stop at the corner of 10th and Yamhill.  I then walked over to 11th to photograph the streetcar coming the other way, then walked back to 10th to photograph the next streetcar going in that direction.  I then boarded MAX one last time to get to 3rd Avenue, where many of the city’s bus lines operate.  Walking along 3rd Avenue back towards Union Station, I got photos of the buses, and arrived back at Union Station at about 5 PM.  I bought a bottle of water since it was a clear but warm day in Portland, especially in the afternoon, went to reclaim my luggage, and awaited the boarding call for the train I am now on.

I like Portland’s small feel.  The city blocks are small, the buildings are not very tall, and some of the progressive planning methods used in the city were quite apparent to me.  Cars yielded to pedestrians, the public transit is well used, many people ride their bikes, places to lock bikes are abundant, and all sorts of traffic calming devices are in use.  While Portland did make a good impression upon me in the brief time I was there this afternoon, I think I might need a second visit before I can pass full judgement.

(8:16 PM: Arrived at Olympia/Lacey, WA, departed 14 minutes late at 8:17 PM) 

The Cascades operates with Talgo trainsets, which are unique because they are trainsets, like those on the Acela Express, that are semi permanently coupled together.  However, each car is only half the length of a standard Amtrak car.  The train also has a Bistro Car with a setup similar to that of the cafe/bristo on the Acela, but there is also a car with tables where one can take food purchased in the cafe and eat it there.  On the trains to and from Vancouver, BC, the car with tables is used as a full service dining car.  I believe the train has tilting technology, because the curves have been very smooth.  (8:30 PM: We are running right up next to the Puget Sound.).  They showed a movie, which I did not watch, and the TVs are supposedly capable of showing our location and estimated time of arrival, but right now they show nothing.  The trains have large windows, but small overhead luggage racks, so finding a place for a large bag can potentially be difficult.  I think there is a connection between the large window size and small overhead rack, and don’t believe the sizes are what they should have been.  Additionally, the at seat tray tables seem to be too low and the center armrest is in a strange position.  But all in all, I like this train very much. 

It is now 8:40 PM, and I will now do some work on trip photos (I have filled my first 1 GB card, reaching its capacity just outside Union Station upon my return there this afternoon), but will update this as the Cascades trip goes on.  And while this is the last train leg of my trip, there is still plenty more to come. 

8:55 PM: Arrived at Tacoma, departed 15 minutes late at 8:56 PM

9:22 PM: Arrived at Tukwila, WA, departed 14 minutes late at 9:24 PM.  An announcement has been made that we have 15 minutes to go until Seattle.

9:44 PM: Arrived one minute early in Seattle, essentially making my prediction that despite running late most of the way this evening, we would get in on or close to schedule.  My cousin. Aviva, was on the platform waiting for me.  After getting some photos, went to her soccer game (she and her husband, Jonah, play on a coed team together) and then returned to their house to sleep.

Ever Wake Up Not Knowing Where You Are?

I did at 7:07 AM CT this morning.  Unlike on Sunday morning, when I woke up during the Capitol Limited’s Elkhart, Indiana station stop, the train was in motion this morning when I woke up.  However, we shortly arrived at the station stop for Devils Lake, ND, at which point we were running a little over one hour late.  When we got to Minneapolis/St. Paul last night, we were only about 30 minutes late.

At the moment, we are on time, and are running through the Flathead Tunnel, which measures 7 miles long and is one of the longest tunnels in the world.  Of course, since the sun has already gone down, one can’t really tell from the sightseer lounge where I am currently sitting  that we are in a tunnel.  However, the sounds from around the train are those that result from tunnel running, so I have established that we are in the tunnel as a result. 

After signing off last night, I went out to get some fresh air at the Minneapolis-St. Paul stop, which is a service stop for the Empire Builder.  While at Minneapolis, the local coach for Chicago-Minneapolis passengers and the private coach at the end of our train were removed, making my sleeper the last coach of the train.  I then went to take a shower.  The sleeper I have on this train has been refurbished, and therefore has a slightly different shower setup, with a door instead of a curtain.  Also, one must push a button for the water to come out, and it only stays on for about 30 seconds until the button needs to be pressed again.  The train was still stopped for most of the station stop, so showering was not difficult.

After waking up this morning, I went to breakfast, where I was seated with an older couple taking their granddaughter on a vacation trip.  Shortly after breakfast, we arrived at Minot, ND, which is a service stop for the train.  I walked the platform, still unable to photograph the engines, and bought a USA Today.  A complimentary copy of whatever the local Minot paper was also given to the sleeper passengers, but I decided it would make more sense and be more interesting to read the USA Today.  We departed Minot at 9:29 AM CT, 38 minutes late. 

To all the naysayers who say no one rides Amtrak, today’s train was oversold from Minot until Whitefish, Montana, necessitating that the lounge be used for regular seating and was unavailable for sightseeing.  (At 10:10 PM MT, we have left the tunnel and are again outside.) I spent most of the morning in my sleeper room, which was on the better side of the train for views, reading The Way to Win, a book recommended to me by one of my housemates, and doing some work on my website. 

The overselling of the train also meant that many people wished to eat in the dining car for lunch, which was first come first served.  So far, this has been my biggest issue on the trip.  It seems to me that in the event that the train is so full, reservations should be taken for lunch and breakfast if necessary.    At the very least, sleeper car passengers should have priority on the waiting list.  I had to wait over an hour to be served, and did not finish until 2 PM MT (we had crossed time zones when we left North Dakota and entered Montana).  At that time, dinner reservations were taken.  Given a choice between 5, 6:45, and 8:30, I chose 5, since I wished to be in my room so I could photograph the scenery in Glacier National Park.  For lunch, I was seated with a man who was originally from Chile but has lived in the United States for ten years and is moving from Albany to Portland, a woman who went to Cornell University and her husband, both of whom now live in West Virginia.

Shortly after lunch ended, we arrived at Havre, MT for another service stop.  We left Havre at 3:23 PM, and soon after, sleeping car passengers were invited to a wine and cheese tasting that was held in the dining car.  I was seated with yet another older couple from Upstate New York that was traveling to visit their children on the west coast, and a younger, married woman who was traveling with her railfan husband and two kids to Glacier National Park.  The wine, cheese, and crackers were all good, and the tasting ended at about 4 PM.  We were still running about 30 minutes behind schedule.

Shortly before 5 PM, we arrived at Shelby, MT, a smoking stop, meaning that passengers could leave the train, smoke, or just get some fresh air.  At this stop I was finally able to get photos of our engines.   We also made up time somehow, and arrived here about 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time of 5:22 PM.  At 5:00, people on the platform with 5 PM dinner reservations were asked to go to the dining car, and I was seated with two women, each of whom was traveling alone to Portland.  By now, the dining car was out of desert, so I returned to the room at about 6:30 and had some chocolate that I had brought along while continuing to read.  Later on in the evening, I did more work on the website.  While doing all of this, I had an eye looking out the window and my camera ready to be grabbed for any scenery that came by. 

We crossed the Continental Divide, marked by a small sign next to the railroad tracks, at 7:03 PM MT, and left Essex, MT at 7:39 PM, two minutes early.  The Whitefish, MT stop was also a smoking stop, so I used that opportunity to stretch and get more engine photos.  The Whitefish station building is styled in a European manner, and is the nicest station I’ve seen on the Empire Builder route thus far.

After Whitefish, my sleeper car attendant, Anthony, announced he was making up rooms for the night, so I tidied mine up so he could do so and came to the lounge to write this.  As of now, we are still running on or close to schedule.  Overnight during our Spokane, Washington stop, the train will be split in two.  The dining car, forward sleepers, and forward coaches will go on to Seattle, while the lounge/sightseer, rear two coaches, and my sleeper will travel through the Columbia River Gorge, said to be the scenic highlight of the trip, to Portland.   I want to be up early to get a choice spot under the dome, so it is off to shower and sleep.  Good night!

First Night on the Builder

Greetings from somewhere between Red Wing and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  It is currently 9:58 PM CT, and this post comes to you live from the sightseer/lounge car of the westbound Empire Builder.

I got back to Union Station this afternoon just before 1 PM, purchased lunch, and went to the Metropolitan Lounge to reclaim my luggage and to await the boarding of the Empire Builder, which I am taking to Portland.  The lounge was quite crowded, since both the Texas Eagle and California Zephyr were scheduled to depart just before my train.  Once announced, I headed out to the train, and discovered that we have a private car on the back of our train, in addition to the regular consist.  We will drop that car (along with one coach) at Minneapolis/St. Paul.  The train itself is quite long.  I am in the Portland sleeper, which is currently the third to last car of the train (after Minneapolis, it will be the last car).  The train itself has about 12 cars, including the diner and lounge cars, a baggage car, and two engines.  It is also quite full.

We left three minutes late at 2:18 PM CT.  The ride itself thus far has not been much to write home about.  The scenery on this part of the route has not been terribly exciting in my opinion.  Throughout Wisconsin, we could see flat fields and some lakes.  For much of the late afternoon and early evening, we ran alongside the Mississippi River.  However, I am to understand that there is much better to come, once we get out to Glacier National Park tomorrow afternoon and go through the Columbia River Gorge on Thursday morning.

I am in a roomette again on this train.  This time I am in room 7, which is on the right side of the train.  From my pre-trip research, I was not on the good side in terms of scenery watching today, but I will be tomorrow.  Thursday morning, I’ll need to stake out a spot in the lounge early for the gorge trip. 

After getting situated, I went to the lounge with National Pastime, but unfortunately, the lounge on this train is not nearly as pleasant as it was on the Capitol Limited.  They have a rail-to-trails guide from the National Park Service providing information on the sights we are passing, but between the NPS volunteer, the cafe stand being open on the upper level (in addition to the lower level), and other people’s conversations, the lounge is not a very quiet place where one can bring a book, camera, and enjoy the scenery. 

My being a single traveler has its advantages.  Not only is the Roomette fairly spacious, I have more flexibility in making dinner reservations.  Today, people in the Seattle sleeper cars got to make reservations first, but I had more options even when they got to us on account of my traveling alone.  (Tomorrow, the Portland sleeper will get to reserve first).  Unfortunately, I was seated with a party of three people who are much older than myself, and this resulted in a meal longer than I would have liked (close to two hours long).  I also missed several opportunities to photograph the river and other scenery as a result of the long meal.  The food on this train seemed to taste better.  It is also served on real dishes and the glasses are actually glass, as opposed to the Capitol Limited, where there were plastic plates and cups.  The silverware on both trains has been real though.  I would say that train food is a step above airline food (or as others have pointed out to me when I’ve said this, the food that the airlines used to serve since they no longer do on many flights). 

After returning to my room, I got a few river photos from there, since the river was on my side of the train, and finished reading National Pastime.  I then did some photo organizing and wrote these entires.  We seem to have arrived at Minneapolis now (at 10:26 PM CT), so I will sign off and see if I can step off the train for a few minutes during the service stop.

Stepping Back in Time

Before composing tonight’s regularly scheduled post, here are some photos that correspond to previous entries I have made:

(Recent discovery: You can click on a photo to see a larger version of it!)

From the Capitol Limited:

 

Downtown Silver Spring, MD

Sightseer/Lounge Car

Dining Car

Our engine at Cumberland, MD

From Comiskey Park (AKA US Cellular Field):

The exploding scoreboard (see also below)

Amtrak Has Yet to Live Up to its Reputation

I begin where I left off last night, going downstairs to take a shower while on board a moving train. This might go without saying, but it isn’t the typical showering experience, unless being compared to what one might go through at a sleepaway camp. Luckily, we made the Connellsville, PA station stop while I was in the shower, which made things easier. The shower stall is about 6 feet high, so the top of my head is against the ceiling. The showerhead is one of those detachable ones that can be held in your hand, and the result is one gets something slightly better than a sponge bath. There is also a shower curtain with snaps between the shower itself and a small changing area, which allows one to make a possibly futile effort to keep the water in the shower and the changing area dry.

I turned off the lights in my room and went to sleep at 10:06 PM ET. I slept soundly from about 11 until our station stop in Toledo, Ohio, at about 5:10 AM ET, went back to sleep, and woke up for good at 6:47 AM ET during the Elkhart, Indiana station stop. We actually arrived here early and had to wait for the departure time to leave! Shortly thereafter, I went to the dining car for breakfast, where I was seated with a man traveling to Seattle, Vancouver, and possibly some points in British Columbia. He wasn’t exactly sure of his itinerary, but his train from Fort Lauderdale to Washington was delayed, so he was bussed with some other passengers to meet the train in Pittsburgh. After breakfast, I went to the lounge car with the Sunday New York Times, and remained there until we were about to arrive in Chicago, at which point I tidied up my belongings. We arrived at Chicago’s Union Station at 8:40 AM CT, almost a full hour early!

I proceeded to the Metropolitan Lounge to leave my things for the day, having put the items I needed for the day’s activities in a separate bag while on the train. I had a ticket to the 1:05 PM CT White Sox-Blue Jays game, so I decided to do some railfanning before that. I walked to the nearest L station at Quincy and Adams, and rode the following trains:

• Brown Line (Car #3361) from Quincy to State/Lake
• Brown Line (Car #3382) from State/Lake to Fullerton
  • The work they are doing at Belmont and Fullerton stations is phenomenal, I can’t wait to see the finish products.
• Red Line (Car #2647) from Fullerton to Lake
• Green Line (Car #2480) from State/Lake to 63rd/Cottage Grove
• Green Line (Car #2437) from 63rd/Cottage Grove to Garfield
• Green Line (Car #2474) from Garfield to 63rd/Ashland
• Green Line (Car #2494) from 63rd/Ashland to Roosevelt
  • The connecting passageway from the Green/Orange station to the Red Station is very well done in my opinion
• Red Line (Car #2709) from Roosevelt to Sox/35th

Then, it was on to the ballgame. I think the new Comiskey is nice. It isn’t a retro ballpark, but it is not a cookie cutter stadium either. There did not appear to be any obstructed views, but the scoreboards were hard to see from many vantages in the park, and there was music playing at almost every possible moment. There were also endless promotions and advertisements being made over the PA. One nice thing about the music is that it was much softer and more subdued than at other parks, but the quantity did not improve my opinion of it despite the quality. The game itself was quite good. It only took 2.5 hours to play the game. The Blue Jays won, 4-1, and their two pitchers only faced 28 batters over the course of the entire game (one over the minimum), allowing two hits (including a home run to Jermaine Dye) and no walks.

After the ballgame was over, I hopped on the Red Line (Car #2409) from 35th up to Monroe, planning to walk over to Union Station. However, a 130 bus came up (D40LF 1195) and I took that over to Union Station, to help ensure that I would catch the 4:35 METRA Fox Lake train to Deerfield. It is from the home of my relatives in Deerfield (where the local time is 7:22 PM CT on Sunday, June 29) that I am currently writing this, and it will be posted as soon as I can get the wireless to work right, or once I transfer it to a different computer to post it.

Tomorrow, I intend to finish my tour of the CTA’s train lines (more on my opinion of how they have deteriorated since my last visit in a future post) and will revisit Wrigley Field. And if you are wondering how Amtrak didn’t live up to its expectations since I never directly dealt with that issue in this post, let’s just hope that the Empire Builder performs as well as the Capitol Limited did.

A "Capitol" Experience Thus Far

Greetings from on board the Capitol Limited. It is currently 8:56 PM ET on Saturday, June 28 as I begin to write this entry. We left our previous station stop at Cumberland, MD at 7:29 PM and do not stop again until about 9:40 PM, when we arrive in Connellsville, PA.

However, before I begin to go into the details of the on board experience, I think I should backtrack and recap the last 48 hours prior to departing. Packing for this adventure, as I frequently like to call it, deserves some attention. I think that packing and preparing for such a trip is a somewhat unique experience, since the train ride is an actual part of the vacation. When I pack for a trip by airplane, my packing considerations are made for where I am going to eventually wind up. However, for the train, part of the vacation is getting there, and one must pack not only for the destination(s) but also for the train trip itself.

In all actuality, what I packed is not all that different than if I were flying. However, greater thought had to be put into figuring out what to pack where. My Superliner Roomette is about 3.5 feet wide and 6.5 feet long. Therefore, space is at a premium, and in the name of convenience, I want most of the things I will need overnight to be in the bag that I am keeping in my room, and everything else to be in my larger suitcase. The end result is that I have my camera, books to read, some snack food, my laptop, toiletries, a change of clothes, and things I want to be able to easily access upon my arrival in Chicago with me here in the room. My suitcase, currently on the lower level of this car in a luggage rack, has other clothing items, reading material I did not expect to want, and some miscellaneous items.

Now, on with the trip. The first segment is on board the westbound Capitol Limited, which departed at 4:05 PM from Washington, DC’s Union Station, and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning in Chicago’s Union Station at 9:25 AM CT. I took the Metrorail to Union Station, as I usually do, riding on board Rohr 1288. I ride the Metro frequently; there is no need for a detailed description of this leg of my journey. Once at Union Station, I picked up my tickets on one of Amtrak’s new self-ticketing machines (I finally have a use for my Guest Rewards card), and went to the ClubAcela to await the boarding of my train. The ClubAcela is nice, and has some nice chairs, Internet access, and complimentary drinks and snacks. At about 3:40, we were taken out to the train. For this trip, I am in Room 2, a Roomette on one of Amtrak’s bilevel Superliner coaches. The room itself is quite simple. There are two, wide chairs facing each other. The chairs convert into a bed, and an upper bunk is available were there to be a companion traveling with me. There is also a large window on one side of the compartment and a window and sliding door leading out into the corridor. A small foldout table is also in the room.

The room is on the right (north) side of the train, but the best views are to the left, according to my printouts from Trainweb.com and USA by Rail. Shortly after the Rockville, MD stop, I took my guides, camera, and Barry Svrluga’s National Pastime to the dome car, but not before getting a few photos of some Montgomery County areas that I am familiar with from walking and driving the streets there. I also got some more of the same photos from the lounge car. Also, before that, the dining car attendant came by, and I made a 6 PM reservation for dinner. I remained in the lounge car until just before that time.

In doing reading in preparation for this trip, I read many times that eating in the diner is one of the highlights of the Amtrak experience. I was seated with three other people: a man traveling to San Francisco to meet family, a teenager traveling back home to Pittsburgh after visiting family in DC, and her boyfriend. We discussed a variety of topics, such as what we enjoyed about train travel, where we were going, and other travel experiences. I’ll write more about the social aspect of train travel and meeting people some other time, but what I’ve read about that element of Amtrak travel thus far is accurate.

We finished dinner just before arriving at Cumberland, which is a crew change point and smoking stop. I used that opportunity to get off the train, stretch my legs, and get a photo of our lead engine, #14. There were three stops at Cumberland, so I reboarded the train at the rear and walked through the train to get my books, and went back to the dome car. After doing some more reading, I ventured to the back of the train to watch the tracks from the rear window, got some Cabernet from the lounge car on my way back to my room, and am now writing this post. The sun finished setting as I was writing this. Once complete, I am going downstairs for the Amtrak shower experience, and then going to sleep.

So far, I am impressed by the Amtrak long distance experience, and am having a great time. Like I said before, I’ll write more about some other topics in future writings. After arriving in Chicago tomorrow, I am going to see the White Sox play the Blue Jays at Comiskey Park (I don’t call it US Cellular Field), before spending the next few nights with cousins of mine in a Chicago suburb (I don’t call them distant cousins because in terms of my family tree, they could be hundreds of years more distant).

Good night from the Allegheny Mountains. Here is to hoping that our arrival in Chicago is on or close to time!