Across America - Buffalo to San Francisco by Amtrak

I loved the different conditions of this plant. Parts looked as if being torn down, while others just hanging in there, although clearly there is activity there.







Those covered conveyors have always intrigued me, ever since I was little

 

What I first thought was a derelict train...



... turned out to be getting ready to pull out after we passed



And then we had our first good glimpse of the Chicago skyline

 

That blue building at South Bend sure isn't quite classy. Looks more like a warehouse.

 

I had started packing up the camera, and we had all our stuff ready to rush out as soon as we got into the station, when I noticed we were approaching Comisky Park, ok US Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Out came the camera







And, with that, I did pack up for arrival at Union Station. We got in 3 hours and 45 minutes late, at about 1:50pm. And so ended our first leg, on the Lake Shore Limited.

The California Zephyr is scheduled to leave at 2:00pm, but we were told that it was being held. Our porter suggested we use a Red Cap to take us and our bags to the CZ, but when we loaded onto his cart, he took us to the Metro Lounge, since our train was "delayed". As soon as we got to the lounge, we checked in, I had time to use the restroom, and was about to get a soda when boarding for the CZ was announced. The agent took a huge crowd of us back out to the platforms.

And where did we end up? On the same platform, adjacent track, that we just left! In the 15 minutes we were gone, they had backed the CZ consist onto the next track, and were now ready to board.

CZ photos start tomorrow

 

Since some have been asking about food, here are photos of our first dinner on the train.




Dinner on the Zephyr is by reservation, and the dining attendant first goes through the sleeper cars to take 1st class reservations, prior to opening up to coach passengers. Since we had completely missed lunch, and by the time the snack bar opened it was almost time for the dining car to open, we took the first available seating (5pm)

The food was very nice, well prepared and well presented (I had dug into my main course before going "oops, go to take photo"). The plates are all plastic. We had nice meal companions at every meal, but for this first night, we had a grandmother / granddaughter (10 yrs old) pair who had also been on the Lake Shore Limited from Rochester. Very much the most comfortable conversation and meal we had.

I had the steak and my wife had the Mahi Mahi. Our second dinner (no photos) was a (very moist and yummy) half chicken for me and a braised turkey shank for my wife.

Breakfasts, for me, were: Omelet with cheese, onions and peppers with bacon; oatmeal and croissant; scrambled eggs with maple - chicken apple sausage. For the wife: Oatmeal; Omelete with cheese, asparagus and onions; scrambled eggs with maple-chicken apple sausage.

Lunches were: Angus Cheese Burger (me) and Veggie Burger (wife); then we both had the 5-cheese grilled cheese sandwich.

We were good and finally skipped desert with our last lunch

 

The first stop out of Union Station for the Zephyr is Naperville. This is a stop to pick up passengers, only.

I didn't take any usable photos leaving Chicago. Between trying to get settled, and trying to find out if there was any chance of getting something to eat quickly, the city went by fast.

Here's the Naperville station as we pulled through (after the stop). Again, the sleeper cars are at the far back of the train, and we were next to last car.





And saying good bye to Chicago-land

 

Here is a view of the observation car



Unfortunately, there is only one for the train, so it got very crowded the next two days, as we traversed first the Rockies and then the Sierras. I did get some good photos from it, but also wanted to give others a chance to enjoy the view, since we could see just about as well from our room, without the sun shining down on us from the upper windows.

The old dome cars gave much better views, but wouldn't work with the new 2-story SuperLiner cars. In the photo, the snack bar is down the stairs immediately to the left of where I was standing.

 

We grow a lot of corn in this country

Between Naperville and Princeton IL -- some of the 4,897,263,196 stalks of corn I counted; and I was asleep through most of Iowa and Nebraska!



The route of the Zephyr really strikes home how important a crop this is for the country.

 

Stopping in Princeton, IL. Of course, our car wasn't in the station, but instead was blocking the street. But very cool stores / restaurants

Out our bedroom window


Out the hallway window



The little girl whom we would soon have dinner with wanted to jump off and go get a doughnut.

US Highways 34 and 6 are followed, crossed and crossed again many times between Chicago and Granby, CO.

 

Just next to the crossing were these grain elevators, with this building attached



The sign says "Ten dollars fine for driving more than thirteen horses, males (sic) or cattle at one time or for leading any beast slower than a walk on or across this bridge."

Don't actually know what bridge it was referring to, since I didn't see any nearby.

This is the Princeton depot

 

After pulling out of Princeton, it was time to clean up for dinner (see above). We were eating when we went through Galesburg, IL, so no photos from there. But, about 10 minutes after getting through the town, the train came to halt in the middle of a corn field, and there we sat for about 45 minutes. We were waiting for two long freights to come by on intersecting tracks, as they had priority over us for crossing the Mississippi River.

While we were sitting, and just as we got started again, this crop duster started working the field



Made us feel like Cary Grant in North by Northwest! Too bad we didn't immediately head to Mt Rushmore.



Neither my wife nor I were dressed like Cary Grant or Eva Marie Saint. Of course, they were on the 20th Century Ltd, between NYC and Chicago

 

We heard there had been lots of rain the prior week, and lots of flooding along the Mississippi River. In fact, the scheduled stop for Burlington IA was moved about 10 miles west, since the regular station was damaged.

Here are some of the flooded fields / swamps, on the Illinois side of the river

Our first glimpse

 

And then, the river came into view



You can see, by the sun angle, how late it was getting. The CZ is supposed to get into Burlington at 5:25pm, it was now closer to 8pm

 

Some views (up river) of the highway bridge that crosses here, as well

 

And, looking down river

 

A view of the railroad bridge, looking back from Burlington



You can see how high the river is.

I have no recollection of even seeing Mt Pleasant, IA (our next stop), and mostly all that was visible was more corn, and non-unique farm houses and barns.

The hour was getting late, and since both of us were working on very little sleep (from the late departure from Buffalo), we decided to go to bed early. But, before actually getting shut down for the evening, we stopped in Ottumwa, Iowa, home to Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly. It would have been cool if I could have had a Grape Nehi there! It was already dusk, so a shaky photo of the station here



As we pulled out, we shut our door and curtains, and (I, at least) went to sleep for the next 500 miles, missing both Omaha and Lincoln, and crossing the Missouri River.

To be continued....

 

I'm trying to think of which railroad built the Princeton depot. Southern Railway?

 

The Naperville station is kind of nice. Obviously modified/updated, but it looks like some care was actually exercised to not ruin the building's appearance.