|
|
| Re: PHOTOS from my Recent Travels, Part 2: The Southwest Chief (1307483) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > SubChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
Re: PHOTOS from my Recent Travels, Part 2: The Southwest Chief |
|
|
Posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Tue Aug 12 15:53:14 2014, in response to PHOTOS from my Recent Travels, Part 1: An Afternoon in Chicago, posted by WMATAGMOAGH on Wed Aug 6 14:53:07 2014. I wasn't planning to let nearly a week go by before posting the next installment of photos, but delays come up sometimes. Like they did on my Southwest Chief trip. As I mentioned at the end of the last post, after lunch with my cousin, I walked back to the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station, where I had checked my luggage. We were told that ticket scanning and boarding procedures would begin at about 2:15 and to be back at the lounge at that time. At 2:55, it was announced that due to the late arrival of the Lake Shore Limited (scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 9:45 AM), our train would be held for connecting passengers. Apparently, there was a tornado warning somewhere in upstate New York the night before which caused the train to be stopped for awhile. At about 4:45, we were led to the train for boarding, and I settled in to my sleeper and walked to get a photo of the train's head end power. The LSL showed up at about 5:15 PM (7 and a half hours late) and at 5:38 PM our train finally got under way, nearly 3 hours late.   Once we got going however, the joys of being on a long distance Amtrak train came back to me pretty quickly, even if the farm fields of Illinois are not the most spectacular scenery on Amtrak's network. I had good meal companions at dinner that night, too. Our delayed departure meant we wouldn't pass through Iowa in daylight. I was able to step on to the platform at Fort Madison however, and claim to have set foot in the state. I also got a photo of this BNSF locomotive:   Shortly after that stop, which we departed 3 hours and 39 minutes late, I showered (always an experience on a moving train) and went to sleep. I woke up somewhere east of Dodge City, KS; we hadn't really lost or made up any time overnight.  Shortly after waking up, we passed through Kinsley, KS, which is equidistant from New York City and San Francisco. It isn't mentioned in the route guide since the train is supposed to pass through here sometime before 5 AM, but I managed to snap a quick photo.  I had breakfast, and then went to the observation car to work on photo editing and take photos from there. Kansas is pretty flat and has lots of farmland, that's just about all I can say about this leg of the trip.    However, as the train continued west and crossed in to Colorado, the scenery became more rugged.    I enjoyed the scenic highlight of the Southwest Chief's route, Raton Pass, from the Observation Car:         Before we reached our next station though, our train would be significantly delayed yet again. A line of strong storms, visible from the train some distance away, combined with a single track, ultimately brought our train to a stop at Levy Siding, about halfway between Raton and Las Vegas. We had to wait for the eastbound Chief to pass us, but due to the storms, that train was speed restricted, and then once it was our turn to proceed, we were also speed restricted. When we finally got to Las Vegas, NM, we were now about 6 hours late.      We were able to run at speed after that the rest of the way to Albuquerque, losing no additional time between Las Vegas and the long service stop there.     The vendors who usually sell their wares on the platform weren't there for our late arrival, but I was able to get some photos of the engine and nearly full moon during the service stop.   I also got some very low quality photos of the New Mexico Rail Runner double deckers parked several tracks over from my sleeper. Although it was hoped that they could expedite the inspection of the train and make up some time (a lot of time is built in due to schedule padding and the service stop), we still spent an hour in the station. I went to bed shortly after we left Albuquerque and when I woke up the next morning, we were somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Due to our late running, we missed the supposedly fantastic scenery in western New Mexico and Arizona but we traversed much of the desert, which is usually crossed during the night, in daylight.    The last scenic highlight was descending through Cajon Pass as we came out of the mountains and approached the Los Angeles metro area.     After the station stop at San Bernardino, the rest of the trip is just passing through various exurbs and suburbs of Los Angeles and is about as unremarkable as the first few hours of the trip through suburban Chicago.  At some point, they also announced how passengers booked to points other than Los Angeles could reach their destinations. Despite our 6 hour delay, passengers who needed the northbound Coast Starlight were going to be bussed to Bakersfield, put on a train to Sacramento, and still easily catch the northbound train! However, a number of passengers booked on the Empire Builder who were supposed to connect from the delayed Lake Shore Limited (remember that train?) were put on our train for some reason instead of being held overnight in Chicago, and now were going to be getting to their destinations over 24 hours later than planned. They weren't so happy. At 2:07 PM on Friday, July 11, 5 hours and 53 minutes behind schedule, the train arrived in Los Angeles. We had been due in at 8:15 that morning.  Shortly before arriving, we passed a yard where some NJT Comet I cars were sitting.   This was my third LD Amtrak train trip and while my Capitol Limited and Empire Builder in 2007 were each early, I knew my streak with that would end. I thought the crews did a good job of keeping everyone informed of the delays, what was happening, how long things would take, and so on. Although the 6 hour delay essentially killed my touring plans for that day in Los Angeles, I was able to squeeze what I had originally planned for that Friday across my remaining days. Next post (when I get to it), my time in Los Angeles... |
|
|
|