9 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Post here about your travels to join the Denver RailFest 2019, whether starting out on the East Coast by train, or joining the trip in Chicago or Denver.   Any pre-Fest activities can be posted here as well.

[KevinKorell]

So far, so good for me. NJ TRANSIT got me from Cherry Hill to Philadelphia (and Bill joined me for the ride). My ride on the Pennsylvanian (#43) was I interesting as always, as the route is hard to beat for scenery. The train left Philadelphia on time and things went well until Huntingdon. We sat there for too long, and then it was slow over the Alleghenies with a lot of freight traffic. In fact at the Horseshoe Curve all 3 tracks were occupied, with us on the center track. So it was hard to see our train rounding the curve. And one of those freight trains ran next to us thru the Gallatzin Tunnels too.

Arrival in Pittsburgh was 8:42 PM, 43 minutes late. Now I await the Capitol Limited 29, which so far is just a few minutes late. We could get out of Pittsburgh on time around midnight.

[BillMagee]

I got to share the first 14 miles of the trip with you on a close but not quite on time NJ Transit train.  Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday morning in the MIle High City!

[KevinKorell]

The Capitol Limited did well out of Washington, DC and even though it was a few minutes late by Connersville, it arrived into Pittsburgh early (11:21 PM) through the magic of schedule padding.   Boarding took place around 11:30, and we left on time a minute beofre midnight.

 

My roomette was cold, and the switch that supposedly turned off the vents was there for show only.  Under the 2 blankets I was given, I was OK. The bed was already in the down mode when I boarded.  I did not sleep well, waking up throughout the night. I did peek out and saw the light rail tracks telling me we were in Cleveland, and I remember feeling the stop at Toledo.  The train remained on time at Cleveland, but here came the freight trains. By Toledo 29 was 15 minutes down. It lost more time west of there, and by Elkhart it was 48 minutes down.  It got as much as 55 minutes late.  We came into Chicago Union Station at 9:17 AM, 32 minutes late.

 

Today I'll continue up to Milwaukee, but want to have lunch in Chicago first. So I'll be on the 1:05 PM train.

[bratkinson]

Thus far, #449 from Springfield and now #49 from ALB are running on time.  #449 arrived ALB 8 minutes early, to my surprise, as we crawled along for 10 minutes or so waiting for a slightly tardy #448 coming out of Pittsfield.  I always ride coach or business class between SPG and ALB as I don't want the horn all night nor the usually higher priced roomettes on #449.

 

Interestingly, I 'met' another railfan on another web site about a month ago when he indicated he was going to be on #49 from SYR tonight.  He's in the BOS section sleeper, unfortunately.  He must like the horn noise.  I've arranged to meet him in the FC diner/lounge for breakfast.  It'll be my first 'try' at contemporary dining in perhaps 10 or so trips on the LSL and CL since it was implemented.

[KevinKorell]

After a well deserved lunch at Chicago's Beggar's Pizza, at which I met up with Steve, we walked back to the Metropolitan Lounge.  We went to our train, Hiawatha #335, on Track 1 and boarded.  The train left on time, and the ride was smooth, although we met up with some Metra and freight interference which set our timekeeping back a bit.   Arrival into Milwaukee was at 2:48 PM, 14 minutes late.

 

I went on my own briefly to check-in at my hotel and drop my baggage, and then returned to the Intermodal Station.  We took the 3:40 streetcar trip.  Very nice smooth ride, and we were impressed by the fact that along the route it starts out with electric pantograph, goes to battery operation without catenary for a while, and then the last segment of the route is again under wires.   At the Burns Commons end of the line, we stayed on but just like the operator we switched ends so we would be facing forward for the return trip.  The whole time elapsed at Burns Commons was just 3 minutes.  Back we went, mostly retracing the route through Milwaukee, although right downtown the line runs on a parallel pair of streets so the scenery was slightly different.  The whole round trip took 36 minutes.

 

Steve and I parted ways, as I went to get dinner at my hotel and take a walk, while he headed back to Chicago.   Tomorrow I, too, expect to return to Chicago and then the actual official Fest trip begins in the afternoon.

[BillMagee]

I left home at 5:15 PM moving though normal rush hour traffic to PHL Airport reasonably well.  Through TSA and into the American Airlines lounge just after 6:00 PM.  My aircraft - 737-800 N960AN - had arrived from Tampa at about 6:10 and was at the gate.  Boarded at about 7:10. departed on time at 7:37 PM and was off the ground at 7:47 - very snappy for PHL.  Nice flight with a pre-ordered sandwich and glass of wine. Take off to landing 3-1/2 hours.  Arrived DEN 20 minutes early at 9:24 PM.  Caught the 9:57 PM A-Line and arrived Union Station at 10:34 PM and checked into the Crawford Hotel in the station. A quick and easy trip west.  Looking forward to the rides.

[KevinKorell]

My trip south from Milwaukee to Chicago on Hiawatha #332 went well until the Glenview, IL stop.  Then one Metra station further at Morton Grove, we came to a stop.  Seems there was freight traffic ahead.  The explanation from the crew was that we were going to reverse over a switch, and then take the other track which would get us into Chicago quicker. Remains to be seen why we were dispatched onto that track to begin with, but maybe it had to do with the stop at Glenview.  #332 got to Chicago just 14 minutes late which was exactly the same deficit as my trip on #335 the day before.

 

Went for lunch at the food court at Ogilvie Transportation Center, took a walk, and then returned to the Metropolitan Lounge to prepare for the first departure of the official DRF fest.

[jebr]

Woke up around 2:30 am today to get ready. Decided to catch the Green Line bus and transfer to the 54 bus to the airport instead of driving to the Blue Line. Makes things a bit easier if there's unexpected flight issues as I don't have to worry about having my car moved or towed. I also got to transfer at Union Depot, so at least was able to see the Amtrak platforms! Worked out well, got to the airport around 4:30 AM, and no line at TSA Pre.

After grabbing breakfast at McDonald's, headed to my gate where we waited about 5 minutes before boarding started. Overall everything went according to plan, although there was a bit of turbulence due to a storm line just west of MSP. Flight got in about 20 minutes early, just before 7 AM. Bought my day pass for RTD on the Transit app and am now on my way to meet up with the group at Union Station.

[bratkinson]

Better late than never posting...I've been having various lost signal problems this entire trip aboard Amtrak.  Even on the LSL, I had to resort to using my cell phone as a hot spot connecting via blue tooth to my computer.  On the California Zephyr and now the Capitol Ltd as I write this, it's hot spot all the way.

 

Meeting Tim (from another forum) in the LSL first class lounge/food car.  My first experience of perhaps 10 opportunities with Contemporary Dining.  I sampled their new hot ham & cheese briouche (or whatever they call it) along with a banana and a cup of coffee.  They keep them hot and already wrapped in a steamer in the VL diner.  I joined Kevin at CUS and we adjourned from the lounge about 11AM to the C&NW station (Oglivie center these days...I used to pass through there with my Dad in the 50's) for lunch  at Arbys.  I decided to try their sliders.  The service was slow, but the food OK.  I had 2 beef sliders and a ham and cheese.  The breakfast sandwich on the LSL was acceptably tasty but perhaps 30% more bun than the Arbys H&C slider.  Both of them had about the same amount of ham and gooey, drippy cheese left behind in the wrapper.  Contemporary breakfast will remain an 'avoid' in my experience.  Far too many high carb and sugar choices.  I'm on the Capitol Ltd right now and have my breakfast for tomorrow with me. 

 

Boarding with Kevin for the 2:00 departure went as usual from the Metropolitan Lounge.  We left on time but after making our first stop at Naperville, we sat for 10 minutes while they figured out how to release the brakes! (I have a scanner).  Apparently the independent brakes wouldn't release and after a number of 'combinations' were tried, we were on our way.  Fast, reasonably smooth track, too.  Kevin and I had dinner with a couple from the tour group that had bought up most of the sleeper space before I booked my tickets for #5. I don't think I ever paid more than what I paid for a roomette on #5...not even on the Texas Eagle CHI-LAX! (I got a 'bargain' on the way back to CHI for about $80 less.)  Both are more than double what I paid for a night on the LSL going and CL returning.  Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Iowa, my cell phone lost all signal, so I watched some videos I had downloaded on my laptop a couple days earlier. 

 

With the expected 7:15 AM arrival in Denver, I went to bed early.  Had I known how rough the track would be through the night, I would have gone to bed right after dinner.  I got bounced off the walls of my roomette bed countless times during the night, including a jolt and bang so loud that I thought we were going off the rails.  Needless to say, for the first time ever, my second night out I did NOT sleep well.  Usually I sleep like a log 2nd & subsequent nights out.  Kevin had a similarly sleepless night.  Fortunately, we lost about an hour though the night so the 6AM breakfast I had was much more casual than originally planned.  Kevin stayed in bed and skipped breakfast. 

 

We finally came to a stop in Denver about an hour late.  Then it was 5-6 block walk to the hotel to check in (for me) and check bags (for Kevin), then back to Union Station.

Edited by bratkinson, 19 September 2019 - 08:35 PM.