Home Sweet Home

Writing this from the comfort of my own home where I know I will sleep well tonight.

While waiting in Chicago to board our last train, I found out the the tracks at Donner Pass were closed not long after we went through due to a mud slide.  Whew, that was a close call.  The west-bound California Zephyr ended up being about 12 hours late as a result of the mudslide.

They called us to board and we pulled out of Chicago right on time.  Unfortunately, our almost perfect on time performance took a bit of a nose dive on this last leg of the journey as we were not twenty minutes out of Chicago when they put us in a siding and we sat there for an hour and a half while five freight trains went through.  You see, Amtrak does not own most of the tracks it travels on, but rather the freight companies do and they are supposed to give priority to Amtrak but sometimes they do not.  We never made up this time and ended up pulling into Staunton more than two hours late.  The Cardinal is probably my least favorite train because it is smaller and does not have a full diner nor a sightseer lounge car.  The tracks it travels on are extremely rough, too.  The scenery through West Virginia is very pretty, though.

As we pulled into Staunton, several police officers were there to meet the train and escorted a woman off the train.  She was in coach, so I don't know what her offence was, but it was obviously serious enough to get kicked off the train.  We had to have some drama on this trip, after all, though no where near my trip last summer.

All in all it was a great trip.  Now, where do I want to go next . . . . . .

Pictures are here if you would like to view https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3213484589157.139415.1627562189&type=1&aft=3213691514330&l=141f6ad3b5

One more train

I write to you from the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago as we await the boarding call for the eastbound Cardinal at 5:15.  The ride from Denver to Chicago is fairly boring as far as scenery is concerned with the only sights worth noting is the Missippi River and the many farms dotting the midwest.

Amazingly, we arrived in Chicago a little early.  The on time performance on this trip has been incredible with us arriving early or on time on every leg except for our arrival in to San Francisco due to the southbound train hitting a camper just ahead of us.  Considering that we will have traveled over 7000 miles, it is pretty remarkable that we have kept to the schedule.

Also amazing, the on board crews and staff have been super friendly and accomodating.  This trip has been much better than my big trip last summer for this reason and for not being many hours late each time.

The food has also been fantastic.  We have enjoyed delicious steak, crabcakes, duck with orange sauce, chicken cacciatore, angus burgers, soups, and fabulous desserts.   Here is a picture of the fabulous deep dish pizza we enjoyed in Chicago and a picture from the wine and cheese tasting on the Coast Starlight:

They will be calling us to board, soon, so I will sign off for today.  I'll post from home tomorrow night.  All aboard.

Rocky Mountain High

This morning found us speeding across the high Utah Desert headed toward the Canyons of eastern Utah.  Such beautiful rock formations are here.

Then we headed into the canyons of western Colorado which was dotted by ranches and a few vineyards.  We followed the Colorado river along until we reached the Rocky Mountains.  There was still some deep snow in spots as we crossed over the Rockies and then the snow was gone as we made the sweeping descent into Denver.  We are parked here in Denver next to Coors Field and we will soon be heading to dinner.  I think I will be having Ribs tonight.  We will turn in after that and wake up in Iowa after traveling through Nebraska.



Greetings from the desert

(written yesterday, but could not post due to no coverage)

Night is now falling on the desert outside of Winnemucca, Nevada.   This morning found us packing up early and hailing a cab from the hotel and heading to the Amtrak station at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.  We were ticketed to leave from Fishersman Wharf, but that is just a bus stop with no shelter and guess what, it was still raining in San Francisco.  So, we decided to leave from the Ferry Building stop instead because they have a waiting room there.  We waited there for them to announce the arrival of the bus to take us across the bay and into Emeryville where we would catch the number 6 train, the California Zephyr.  You may recall that the California Zephyr is rated one of the top ten scenic trains in the world, so we were pretty psyched to board to see the scenery, and to go home.

Unfortunately, the rain and fog followed us from San Francisco all the way up the summits of the Sierra Nevada obscuring what is supposed to be beautiful views of the American River and Cape Horn.  The clouds and fog did make for a pretty setting along the San Pablo Bay, though, with the multitude of shore birds to be found there.

Once we reached Donner Lake and Donner Pass, the sun did finally start peeking through the clouds and the rain slacked off.  It had snowed earlier in the week and there was a fair amount of snow on the Sierras.

After we reached the summit and started to descend into a cute little town called Truckee.  Once through Truckee, the train was busy as people who were headed to Reno for the weekend were getting ready to depart.  After Reno, the train was much quieter and the scenery became much more dramatic and desolate, in a beautiful sort of way.

At least we had finally left the rain and fog behind.

Tomorrow will be a big day of scenery, the canyons of Utah and the Rockies in Colorado.



The day that wasn't

When planning this trip, one of the things I really wanted to do while on the west coast was go to Yosemite National Park.  I heard and read much about Yosemite and it has been high on my "must do" list.  Unfortunately, because of the really lousy weather here in central California, I didnt feel like it would be worth driving the four hours to Yosemite and the four hours back, so it is something that is going to have to remain on my "must do" list a while longer.

We did have a nice day in San Francisco, though.  We started out early and headed over to Alcatraz for the cellhouse tour.  In addition to the old prison, the island is covered with beautiful flowers and is home to many birds.

After Alcatraz, we grabbed some lunch at Boudin's sourdough bakery, a San Francisco original.  We then headed to Golden Gate Park and went to tour the Japanese Tea Garden.  They had beautiful flowers and lovely Koi ponds.

Then we headed over to the icon for San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and we walked the span.  It was very windy and cold, but we enjoyed walking across.  I only wish we could have really seen the views, but it was too cloudy and foggy to enjoy much view.

Finally, we headed to China Town for some authentic chinese for dinner and enjoyed looking in many of the shops.

We are packing up our things and getting ready for early morning departure.  We will take a bus across the Bay Bridge to Emeryville where we will board the California Zephyr headed to Chicago. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the Zephyr last summer and am looking forward to seeing it again.  Happy rails!





Rainy, windy, and cold

We ended up waiting about an hour and twenty minutes for the accident between the southbound train and a camping trailer to be cleared away so that we could proceed and when we got off the train in Oakland it had started raining.  We took the bus across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco and finally got to our hotel about midnight. 

We slept in a little and then went out to explore the city.  We walked down to the Fisherman's wharf area and watched the Sea Lions and did some shopping.

We then purchased one of those hop on and hop off tours and went around the city.  It gave us a good idea of what we might want to do tomorrow. We are hoping that the weather will be a bit better as it was really nasty today.

We also went to the aquarium at Fishermans Wharf which was a nice warm, dry way to spend some time.  They have some nice exhibits of  local species.

We enjoyed learning about the city on the tour and tomorrow plan on visiting the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, and visiting ChinaTown.

Here are some more more pictures about town.

Keep your fingers crossed that we will have a clearer day tomorrow.  We will start out going over to Alcatraz in the morning and then on to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Until then . . . . .





Beautiful Southwest

Woke up on the second day on the Southwest Chief and the terrain was really beginning to change.  We were now in southeastern Colorado and it was looking very barren with lots of brush.  As we headed past Trinidad, Colorado, we saw snow on the mountains and the snow was pretty thick going over the Raton Pass.  Many of the small towns we passed through looked like the set of a western movie and you expected to see cowboys and indians at any moment.  At the top of the pass, we entered New Mexico and the snow continued through much of eastern New Mexico.  We enjoyed going through the small town of Lamy, NM where lots of people got on or off the train.  We enjoyed the dramatic scenery throughout New Mexico.

Not longer after Lamy, the snow disappeared and we were soon in Albequerque where we enjoyed a brief stop.  There were vendors on the platform at Albequerque selling native american goods and we bought a couple of items from Veronica Yellowhorse.  It was a beautiful day in Albequerque and felt very comfortable.  After leaving Albequerque, we had dinner and went to bed fairly early.

This morning found us getting up very early around 5:00 a.m. as we were preparing for an arrival into Los Angeles Union Station around 8:15 a.m.  Even though we had been late for most of the prior day due to daylight savings time, we ended up arriving into L.A. right on time.  The station in L.A. is a very beautiful station with lots of courtyards, fountains, and beautiful flowers.  We enjoyed walking around the Olivera Street area of downtown L.A. and looking over the wares being sold there. 

Back to the station we went as we prepared to board our next train, the Coast Starlight.  We had a red cap take us out to the train and we were glad we did since the station is an extremely busy station with lots of tracks and tunnels.  We boarded the train and after getting settled into our room, we headed to the Pacific Parlor Car to enjoy the scenery heading out of L.A.  This part of the country is absoutely stunning with the many canyons, hillside communities and of course, the Pacific Ocean.  This train runs right along the Pacific Ocean for many miles and we were able to spot several whales today.  We enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting in the Pacific Parlor Car as well as a wonderful dinner there.  We had been running early or on time all day but soon after dinner, we came to a halt because the southbound train had had a collision with a truck and damaged one of th engines.  We have been sitting for about an hour now, waiting for them to clear the tracks ahead and are currently about two hours away from San Francisco.  I will wrap it up here for the night but just wanted to comment on how fantastic all the Amtrak crews have been this trip and the early or on-time performance on this trip until just now has been amazing.

I have taken lots of pictures, but my internet connection is spotty, so I can't upload them.  I will upload some later when I have a better connection.  Until next time . . . .

I didn't get to update yesterday because I was too busy having fun and when I thought about it, I didn't have cell coverage, so here I am nearing the end of the second day with my first update while traveling.

Our train getting into Staunton was one hour late, but it soon arrived and we boarded our coach and set off.  Going through western Virginia and West Virginia is very slow going because of the condition of the tracks.  It is also extremely rough.  Since we were an hour late, we didn't get to see much of West Virginia as it was dark soon after White Sulfur Springs.

After grabbing something to eat in the lounge car, we headed back to our coach seats and relaxed until we could move to our sleeper.  Once in the sleeper, we settled in and tried to catch some sleep before breakfast, but the tracks were so rough that it was hard to sleep.  The Cardinal does not have a full kitchen and breakfast was not very good as it was just microwaved food.  The crew was nice, though, and our sleeping car attendant was very friendly.  We actually got into Chicago almost an hour early. 



After checking into the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago, we set out for the Willis Tower Sky Deck.  The Willis Tower, formerly called the Sears Tower, was at one time the tallest building in the world.  We went up to the observation deck and looked at the fantastic views over Chicago.  The weather was a bit windy but very sunny and clear.

They also have plexiglass observation areas where you can walk out and look down



After viewing the skyline of Chicago, we were hungry and wanted some Chicago style deep dish pizza, so we headed down Jackson Street to Giordano's for some pie.  Yummmm.

After enjoying our pizza, we headed back to Chicago Union Station and went and looked around the old great hall.  It was beautiful.  Then we checked back in to the Metropolitan Lounge and waited for the Conductor of our next train to come in and pull our tickets.  After this was accomplished, we had a red cap take us out to our sleeper car and we boarded.  We left Chicago on time and headed west.  We enjoyed watching the heartland of America speed by us as we headed toward the Mississippi River, which we passed just at sunset.  We had a nice dinner on the Southwest Chief and headed to bed early,  though I got up for the extended station stop at Kansas City.  They have a beautiful old station in Kansas City, too.  Back to bed I went and we slept great.  Until the next time.........

The big day is here

I just checked the status of the train and it is running approximately on time, (15 minutes late at it's stop in Manassas this afternoon), so we will be heading to the station in about an hour or so.  I like boarding at stations like Staunton or Charlottesville better than the big city stations like New York or Chicago because you stand trackside and watch for the headlight and flashing ditchlights to come in to view. As soon as you spot those and hear the whistle, you get that sense of excitement that your journey is about to begin.  When boarding from the larger stations where you wait inside and wait for the track to be announced, you don't have the same sense of anticipation but rather feel more like you are at an airport.  I like boarding from the smaller stations.

As I get ready to depart, I think about my morning.  This morning we laid to rest my husband's grandfather.  He was a decorated WWII veteran and a very quiet, unassuming man.  He was a very kind and gentle man and, like me, he liked trains.  In fact, it was with him that I first rode the old train pulled by the powerful steam locomotives back at Cass, WV.  I remember we went back to Cass riding in his old mint green pickup truck and we stopped and ate a picnic lunch that Mark's grandmother had prepared for us.  It was a great ride up the mountain on the old logging trains and even though it got pretty cold, we enjoyed the ride.  So, as I board the train today, I will be thinking of you, Brownie.

This afternoon, we will travel through the western part of this state and into the wilds of West Virginia.  I know that at least part of West Virginia is dark due to the Naval base and the radio telescopes, so my cell coverage and internet connectivity will be spotty, at best.  As such, I probably won't post again today but hope to be able to post from Chicago tomorrow.  Until then, ......

A little info about the routes

In 48 hours ,we will be well on our way.  I thought I would take this opportunity to talk a little bit about the routes we will travel and some of the areas we will travel through.

One of the best things about traveling by train is that you really get to see slices of american life.  You travel through America's back yards, both rural and urban.  Some folks stop and wave at the train, others continue on with their business.  You also get to actually "see" this beautiful country from the wetlands to the deserts, from the mountains to the coasts.

Our first and last train is the Cardinal.  The Cardinal will takes us across the Allegheny mountains and along the white waters of West Virginia through the New River Gorge.  We will see areas of wilderness only accessible by train or kayak.  We will also glide along the banks of the Ohio river and through the major cities of Cincinnati and Indiannapolis before reaching Chicago.

Our second train, the Southwest Chief, takes us through America's heartland across the Mississippi river and heads toward the great ranches, missions and pueblos.  We will traverse both mountains and desert and travel through the cities of Albuquerque and Kansas City before reaching Los Angeles.

Our third train will be the Coast Starlight and runs along the Pacific coast between Los Angeles and Oakland and travels along the beaches of the Pacific as well as through the fertile valleys of central California.

Our train from San Francisco to Chicago is the California Zephyr and is consisted one of the most scenic trains in the world.  This train will take us through the Sierra Nevada and across Donner Pass into the deserts of Nevada and Utah before traveling through the gorgeous canyons of Utah and Colorado.  After crossing the beautiful Rocky mountains and across the Continental divide, we will glide into the city of Denver and continue east through the heartland passing cities such as as Omaha.

Trainsets, consists, accomodations, and connections

This post is for those of you who enjoy the technical side of machinery, travel and logistics.  Since we will be taking Amtrak to the west coast, I thought I would provide some information about the trains that we will be traveling on, our accomodations onboard, and the connections we must make.



The map above shows the route of our first train except that we will be boarding in Staunton instead of New York.  Except for the Capitol Limited which runs between Chicago and Washington, DC and the Auto-Train which runs between Northern Virginia and Sanford, Florida, all other long distance trains east of Chicago are single-level trains.  This is because the larger, bi-level trains do not fit in the tunnels around Baltimore and New York.  The train we will be taking between Staunton and Chicago is called the Cardinal and is a single level train.  The Cardinal is pulled by a diesel engine and the consist includes a heritage baggage car, a viewliner sleeper, a combined lounge/diner car, and three coach cars.  When we start our trip, we will be in one of the coaches until Cincinnati.  At Cincinnati, we will move to a bedroom on the sleeper car.  For a tour of a viewliner sleeper car, click Here.  Estimated time for this portion of our trip is around 20 hours.



This map shows the route of our next train,  The Southwest Chief.  The Southwest Chief is a bi-level Superliner train.  These trains are very large and very impressive.  The Chief is also pulled by diesel engines and is made up of the following consist:  heritage baggage car, transitional sleeper, superliner sleeper, superliner sleeper, superliner diner, sightseer lounge, and three superliner coach cars.  The sightseer lounge car is my favorite train car.  For a really cool virtual tour of a superliner train, click Here.  We will have a bedroom in a sleeper car for this section of our journey which is schedule to last around 43 hours.

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The next leg of our trip finds us going from Los Angeles, CA to Oakland CA on another Superliner train, the Coast Starlight.  The consist for the Coast Starlight includes a baggage car, transition dorm, three superliner sleepers, a Pacific Parlour Car (more about this in a minute), superliner diner, sightseer lounge, and three coach cars.  The Pacific Parlour Car is specific to this train and is an old, restored lounge car used specifically for sleeper passengers.  Here is a picture found on the web of the car:


The Coast Starlight is also known to be very scenic as it travels along the California coast and beaches and the Pacific ocean.  Here is a photo of the Coast Starlight found on the Web:



Once we arrive in Oakland after a journey of eleven hours, we will transfer to a bus which will take us across the bay bridge to San Francisco.  We will have a bedroom for our trip on the Coast Starlight, too, even though it is a daytime journey.

Our return journey home will take a slightly different route:



This will be on the California Zephyr which is also a Superliner train.  We will have a bedroom for this portion of our journey which is scheduled to last approximately 52 hours.  The California Zephyr is considered one of the top ten scenic trains in the world.  The consist of the Zephyr includes:  baggage car, transitional sleeper, three coaches, sightseer lounger, diner, and three sleepers.

Our final leg of the trip will be on the Cardinal once again from Chicago to Staunton.  We will enjoy a bedroom for this portion of the trip, too.

As far as connections, we should be fine for making most of our trains.  We will have a five hour layover in Chicago going out and plan on seeing a little of the city during this time.  The connection I am most worried about is the connection in Los Angeles.  Because we arrive in LA on the same day that Daylight Savings time begins, we will lose one hour of our two hour connection.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.  Returning home, we will have another layover in Chicago of three hours.

So, this wraps up the technical and logistical summary.   One week to go . . . . . .