Across America - Buffalo to San Francisco by Amtrak

My wife and I just did a 2 1/2 day cross country rail trip, as the conclusion of our vacation to visit family in western New York. We flew to Buffalo, and spent 6 days in Chautauqua County, where she grew up and still home to much of the family. To end our journey, we decided on a little adventure, returning via Amtrak, specifically the Lake Shore Limited and California Zephyr.

I took about 400 pictures on the trip, so will be posting select ones from the collection, here, over the next few days.

All in all, it was an enjoyable adventure, but not one we will repeat anytime soon. While I was able to watch the endless miles go by (only really getting bored in Nevada) my wife wasn't quite as enthusiastic. We had a bedroom compartment on both trains, with private toilet/shower, but the space was very small. Also, with only one observation car on the train (CZ), it was quite crowded, so spent most of the time in the bedroom.

The Lake Shore Limited was a bit over an hour late getting into Buffalo, and then we lost another two hours between Buffalo and Cleveland. It is supposed to arrive in BUF at 11:55pm, but we didn't board until after 1am. We went immediately to bed, and I woke up about 4 hours later, and we were near the Cleveland airport. Have no idea why the added delays, but by the time we arrived at Chicago's Union Station, we were almost 4 hours late! The same amount of time as our connection window. But, Amtrak was holding all the trains for those connecting, and we had about 15 extra minutes to get settled. (More on that portion when I start posting photos)

EDIT: With the July 2015 TB upgrades, all the links for photos for this thread were broken. Anyone wishing to view the photos can see them in this Trainboard/Railimages album: http://www.trainboard.com/highball/...erica-by-train-buffalo-to-san-francisco.1463/

 

It was already past dusk when we arrived at Depew, NY Amtrak for our midnight train (already an hour delayed). Unfortunately, a slightly blurry photo of the station sign

 

Waiting was getting boring, so I thought to try taking some track photos in the dark. I first put the camera down on the platform, but then found two footstools which I stacked, and used as a camera stand. Didn't carry a tripod on the trip.

This is looking east down the platform



And this is looking west

 

This is what the eastward looking view was more like (quicker shutter speed)



As I turned to take the photo west looking, a freight was pulling in from that direction, for a crew change.



The train was headed by GE-AC45 UP 7718, which I got this cool photo using small flash from distance


Here's the flag side

 

Nice start on what should be a fun photo-essay. Like the night shots, esp the way the Scotchlite lit up on the diesel.

 

Sounds like it was aloooong trip. Seems like there are a lot of delays being reported, everywhere on Amtrak. Hope you had daylight for the best places to be viewed.

 

Perfect timing, so no issues with Colorado Rockies or Sierras. Slept through most of Iowa and Nebraska, and Utah and far eastern Nevada. More photos tomorrow.

 

Thanks for posting. Keep them coming.

 

An Amtrak Bedroom

For those of you who have never seen what the bedrooms on Amtrak are like, here are some shots of the one we had on the Lake Shore Limited. This is a Viewliner car, so there is an upper window (and small storage area above the bathroom). On the Cal Zephyr, being a Superliner, which is two stories, there are no upper windows, and the room is about 7 ft high, rather than 8-ish here.

Other differences are the Superliner is slightly "plusher" in the appointments. Instead of the bare plastic as seen here, we had carpeted surfaces, except around the sink (some of the cars were upgraded with wood paneling, and nicer faux marble sinks, but not ours).

This view is looking into the room, from the doorway (and for those wondering, these are taken with a 9mm fish eye lens). The bench seats my wife is on fold down into a bed, and you can see the upper bed latched up.



This is standing with my back to the window. You can see the door to the shower/toilet, and the sink. The windows are in the corridor, and there is a sliding door with privacy curtain



In the area in front of the bathroom door, there is also a swivel out chair. Most of the compartments are like this, but on the Zephyr, the "A" compartment actually has the shower/toilet door in a small alcove next to the corridor, and not quite as much room on this side. We had the "A" room on the Zephyr, and "B" on the LS Ltd.


Looking from the chair back to the rest of the room
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I was still pretty groggy in the morning, after only a few hours sleep. Woke up as we were passing the Cleveland Airport, it was dark, rainy outside, and was more interested in cleaning up and finding caffeine and food. By the time I thought about "take lots of pictures", had already gotten to Toledo (home to Corporal Max Klinger and the Toledo Mud Hens).

It was a "cigarette" break stop, so I jumped out and got a good photo of the platform



and this was our car


and our room from outside



The sleeper cars (on both trains) are at the back of the train, so we tend to have the really scenic area of the station, if we even make it to the platform

 

I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures of Bryan OH or Waterloo IN. I think I was just zoned out, and worrying about the creeping lateness of the train.

Anyway, when we got to Elkhart, Indiana, I got very excited about what was on the left side of the train -- a New York Central Museum.



The front of our train is to the right in this photo, and there was another 2 cars behind us, so you can see we were blocking the road

The main part of the museum


And the far right area, with a steamer!

 

Being stopped "before" the station, we had a nice view out our window of the street leading from the station



Pulling through the station



Bye Bye, Elkhart!

 

Coming into South Bend, Indiana, was rather disappointed in this small station. Was hoping for something cooler for Notre Dame. Saw modern tall buildings, plus churches, over trees, but no good views of the city.

 

About an hour outside Chicago, we sat next to these woods for about 45 minutes due to freight traffic.

 

Coming into Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited, you get to ride past lots of old factories, in Gary, IN and South Chicago

Here's the Gary US Steel Plant (everyone start humming "Gary Indiana" from The Music Man)



This old and very long plant fascinated me