When you tell people that you’re going to take a train across country as part of a vacation, the responses come in a few forms. For the most part, thanks to the fact that I only have a few friends and even fewer hobbies, those closest to me were not surprised at all by this revelation. Those who don’t know me so well were a bit surprised by my choice of cross-country conveyance. I chose it because there is still, in my old fashioned mind, there’s something about rail travel… I can’t put my finger on it, but needless to say, I love it. Some might say that rail travel is romantic or exciting, and they would be right except in my case, I was traveling alone. Romance is not something that is common amongst those of us who fly solo in this crazy world. Besides, the days of romance on the rails is long dead.

There was a time in this country when rail travel wasn’t just a means to an end, it was an Occasion. People dressed up in their “Sunday Best” to board one of the former great passenger trains of the early to mid twentieth century. On the east coast, there were many famous trains, but few were as famous or as legendary as the New York Central’s “20th Century Limited” or the Pennsylvania Railroad’s “Broadway Limited”. The two trains were the premiere passenger offerings of two of the largest railroads this side of the Mississippi. Both were fierce competitors, and both trains ran from the same starting point to the same endpoint. The “Century” started out from the magnificent Grand Central Terminal, and the “Broadway” started out from the legendary Pennsylvania Station. There were many differences in service between the two trains, but both whisked the traveler from New York City to Chicago in 20 hours or less. Both trains were “All Pullman”, which meant that they both featured cars and staff provided by the once great Pullman Palace Car Company. Neither train featured coach seating, and everything was a bit extravagant. Train travel between big cities was already an occasion, but both the Broadway and the Century elevated that occasion to an unforgettable experience. Service on board was second to none, and the food, well… it was quite something as well. There was a time when you could order world-class cuisine that rivaled any first-class restaurant from your table in the dining car aboard the Century or the Broadway. When the Age of Streamliners came along, the trains became just as beautiful on the outside as they were on the inside, and they were pulled along by the latest in motive power be it Steam or Diesel. Regardless, it was the best of the best, and during this time, freight traffic largely took a back seat to the movement of people on the rails. It was a time when people came first, not the almighty dollar, and woe and misery to the unfortunate person who delayed such trains as the Century and the Broadway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those were very different times…

Train travel went largely unchallenged in the marketplace for many decades, and it wasn’t until Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected that what we take for granted today, the Interstate Highway System, was just beginning to emerge as an alternative to long distance rail travel. Around the same time, Air travel was in its infancy, and with some help from the government (through higher taxes on the railroads) helped usher in a brand new way to travel long distances in drastically shorter times. The number of people traveling by rail began to decline, and any hopes of the maintenance of wartime traffic levels was lost forever. The Interstate Commerce Commission, the government body that oversaw the transportation industry in the US, forced the freight railroads to maintain intercity rail service long past the time it was feasible for them to do so. In May of 1971, the government created entity called the National Rail Passenger Transportation Corporation (better known as Amtrak) took over the bulk of passenger train service from the struggling railroads. Buildings, locomotives, rolling stock, names of famous trains were all turned over to Amtrak (with some exceptions of course). Some of the surviving railroads didn’t want the good names of their legendary trains to potentially be tarnished by the upstart quasi-private corporation. As a result, lauded names like the “20th Century Limited” slipped into the pages of history, and since the ICC had forced the railroads to plow on longer than they ever should have, the last runs of some of America’s most famous trains were rather unceremonious and sad. The last run of the Century arrived at Chicago’s La Salle Street station over five hours late. Such was the state of rail travel in the US in the 1960’s and ’70’s.

Since that time, there has been something of a rail renaissance in this country, and once again rail travel is critical to the movement of people in and out of our cities and towns. Millions of people each year take the train, and the numbers continue to grow. Flying isn’t what it used to be either, but there to, the people that fly regularly don’t really know anything else. It’s an efficient-ish way to get from point A to point B, and for long distances, most people would rather not drive.

I am not most people.

The idea for this journey started late last year when I read that the Friends of the SP 4449 were in the early stages of planning for a two-day excursion from Portland to Bend Oregon. I decided then and there that if the excursion was confirmed, I was going to fulfill a dream; namely, I was going to travel cross-country by rail to then fulfill yet another dream. I have wanted to see the legendary Ex-Southern Pacific GS-4 #4449 since I saw it in a documentary years ago.  With every new political administration, someone always takes a swipe at reducing government subsidies of Amtrak, and since the future is less than certain for the country’s only passenger rail carrier, I figured that I should get some rail miles in before it was too late.

The plan was as follows:

Start out from Erie, PA (ERI) aboard the Lake Shore Limited and head west for Chicago (CHI). 

There I would board the Empire Builder to Portland (PDX).

The whole trip would take the better part of three days, but time wasn’t a concern. Rail travel is all about “just rolling with it”. The schedules are rarely met precisely on time (long gone are the days of setting your watch to the arrival of a train). Rail travel might not be as glamorous as it once was,but it is still the most relaxing way to get where you’re going, and if you truly want to see our Country, take the train. Not only do you get to see the countryside from a unique angle, you get to see areas that remain largely untamed by anything but the railroads. I won’t soon forget some of the breathtaking scenes that were just outside my window. Never were the lyrics to “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” more meaningful to me than when I was riding the rails heading west.

Before we get to all of that however, I should probably start back at the beginning of the trip, this is a travelogue after all.

Around 1:15am on June 21st, my Dad dropped me off at Erie’s Union Station. The depot used to be a fairly important stop on the New York Central mainline, but that too has passed. Now the station’s waiting area isn’t much more than a bus stop. Around 2:15am, my train (Amtrak No. 49 the Lake Shore Limited) arrived. I was traveling in Sleeper accomodations between Erie and Chicago since I would see precious little on this portion of the trip, and so I decided to spring for sleep and privacy. I was the only Sleeper car passenger boarding at Erie, and the train, due to its length, had to make a separate stop on the platform for me. I boarded car number 4912 and made my way to Room 6. The attendant quietly helped me get settled in (everyone else had been in bed for at least three hours at this point), and so my trip began. I crawled into the small bed (two seats during the day) and relaxed as the train sped west at around 80mph. I stayed awake until Cleveland, and sometime after that I nodded off. I awoke some time later once we reached the other side of Ohio, and I decided to take breakfast in the Diner. We were just passing through Bryan, Ohio as I sat down to an empty table. I ordered “Railroad French Toast” as well as some bacon, Coffee and Cranberry Juice. Once upon a time, there was a full kitchen available on the Lake Shore during the days of the Heritage fleet, but since the switch to the Amfleet II equipment, now there are only microwaves and small convection ovens. My breakfast was tasty, but it was nothing remarkable. The french toast on board Amtrak trains carries on a long tradition started by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe aboard such trains as the Super Chief. The French Toast that they served was the stuff of legends, and even today it is spoken of in hushed whispers… ok, not really, but it was Famous! My breakfast didn’t quite measure up to that standard, but it was still hot and tasty. Once I was finished with breakfast, I returned to my Roomette.

While I was gone, Rob the Car Attendant, had changed my room back to daytime configuration. I settled in for the ride into Chicago. There isn’t much to see between western Ohio and Chicago, but it was still pleasant. We arrived into Chicago about an hour and a half late (pretty typical given freight traffic), and I made my way to the Metropolitan Lounge. Since my last visit, the old Metropolitan Lounge had been replaced, and instead of being right off of the platforms, now the Lounge is located just off of the Great Hall in Chicago Union Station.

Most major cities in the US have a train station. They aren’t all used for rail travel anymore, but for the most part they are truly remarkable pieces of architecture. They were a big part off why rail travel felt like such an occasion, and Chicago Union Station still is quite something to see. It’s a few years from its Centennial, and it is currently under restoration to mark the occasion. It is one of the busier rail terminals in the US, and all of the major West-bound trains originate here. A good number of Eastbound trains also stop or start at Chicago.

After I arrived, I checked in with the attendant at the Lounge. The new space is a two story affair that is a mix of modern architecture while still holding to its heritage and position in a grand railway station. I had a few hours to wait, so I took the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures around the station.

The journey west would continue when my next train, The Empire Builder, departed Union Station at 2:25 that afternoon.

Until next time…