Train Trip to Chicago


Dave has always been a big train buff, so we decided this year to take the train to Chicago over the Christmas holidays. The idea was to book the Coast Starlight train out of Emeryville, and then to switch to the Empire Builder in Portland, which would take us into Chicago. We planned a four-night stay in Chicago, and a return on the California Zephyr. These photos were taken during that trip. The train was scheduled to leave Emeryville at 10 PM on December 23rd, but Amtrak's website said it would be 90 minutes late. We arrived at the station at 8:30, because we weren't sure what the parking situation was going to be. As it turned out, that wasn't an issue. When we arrived at the station, though, the train was reported as arriving at 1:40 AM! We decided to leave and see if we could get some food, but couldn't find a place. We returned to the station at 12:40 just as our train unexpectedly pulled into the station early! We hurriedly boarded and got into our "Family Bedroom". Dave and I stayed up pretty late watching the lights go by.
The next morning, we awoke rather late, but early enough that breakfast was still being served. We were near Mt. Shasta, and the scenery was beautiful. There was a person aboard the train describing what we were seeing. We ate breakfast and watched.
		All the waiting the previous night had left us rather exhausted by the time we showed up for breakfast, as can be seen by this photo of Carone and Dave.
There had been a lot of snow in the higher elevations. We had a good view of Black Butte (not looking so black with its mantle of snow) and Mt. Shasta from the dining car.
		The Coast Starlight is Amtrak's best train, and is quite popular. This is a view of the dining car.
The train runs parallel to Highway 97 for awhile, and I took this photo of fog in the Scott Valley near Grass Lake.
		We arrived in Klamath Falls, Oregon, just before lunch. This is a view towards the city and Hogback Mountain. It was here we received the bad news that those of us connecting to the Empire Builder in Portland had to leave the train and get on a bus to ensure we made our connection (this because the train was so late). We had approximately five minutes to pack everything up and schlep it over to the bus.
The bus was supposed to take us from Klamath Falls to Portland faster than the train could. Little did we realize that this was not to be the case.
		The bus went over the Cascades on its way to the Willamette Valley. There was quite a bit of snow at the top of the pass.
For some time after going over the pass, we smelled brakes. We thought it was the traffic ahead of us, but a passenger near the back of the bus finally convinced the driver to stop and take a look.
		Turns out that the bus had a locked brake on one of its back wheels. Dave is pointing it out in this photo. The wheel got so hot it burned off the white paint. We were stranded.
The driver didn't really seem to know what to do. He had no phone or any other way to contact Amtrak, and just stood around. After about 15 minutes, I decided to see if my cell phone could reach Amtrak. Fortunately, we had a GPS with us that could pinpoint our position, and after many phone calls to Amtrak personnel in Eugene, we finally had a replacement bus on the way. An hour into the incident, our original train passed us on the other side of the creek.
		After about four hours, a new bus (in much better shape) arrived to pick us up. However, now we were told that, because we were so far behind schedule, we would have to ride the bus to Pasco, Washington at least, and possibly Spokane. Here's a delighted Dave at a brief rest stop outside Portland.
We arrived in Pasco to a deserted and closed Amtrak station. I called from within and checked the Empire Builder status using Amtrak's automated utility, and discovered we'd missed it by over an hour. Back on the phone to Amtrak personnel who said the train would "probably" hold for us in Spokane. Fortunately, it did, and we were finally aboard the Empire Builder at about 2 AM in the morning, after fourteen hours of Bus Prison. Another late night, so we missed most of the morning ride through the Rockies. This picture was taken right after I woke up, and shows the end of them.
		It was now Christmas Day, and few people were on the train, which made it very enjoyable. The observation car was decorated with lights, and a special Christmas Dinner was served. We were finally able to start relaxing.
On both the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder, we had what is known as a "family bedroom". This is a small compartment with windows on both sides, and includes fold-down beds. Here, Dave and Carone are playing cards as the landscape rushes by (much of the time, the train traveled near 80 MPH).
		The train included one sleeping car and several coaches, but while traversing Montana, not many people were onboard. This is a view of a typical coach car--imagine sitting here for three days!
The first stop the train made where we could disembark was Cut Bank, Montana. This is a small community of about 3,500 people on the plains. I was able to get a photo of the train.
		It was quite cold, but since we were off the train for a few minutes, it wasn't too bad to deal with. Dave looks a little incongruous in his shorts, though.
After Cut Bank, we stopped briefly at Shelby (where we talked over our FRS radios with a child who had just received them for Christmas in Shelby) and went on to Havre for a service stop. Havre had this beautiful oil-fired steam locomotive on display at the station.
		In Havre, the locomotives were re-fueled. They are known as type P42, and were built by General Electric. They are quite sleek.

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