My Family is going on a long Amtrak trip Tomorrow on Amtrak Train 41 The Three Rivers from Latrobe, Pa to Chicago,IL.Then on The Southwest Chief from Chicago to Needles,Ca then on to Las Vegas to Win some Big Money[8D][:D] I hope we have good Crews on both trains and No-One on my Train jumping off of the train. We are taken Business Class both ways 41&40 then on train 3 &4 sleeping car. I will give a Full report on March 1 or 2.
I envy you! Hope you and your family have a good trip.You’re lucky to be riding the Three Rivers. It is being cut west of Pittsburgh sometime in June.
I’m GREEN with envy,Hope you have a great,and safe trip.
conrailman: Sounds like a great interesting trip…wish you a happy time. I’ve been on the platform there at the Latrobe Depot {restaurant}, just a few years ago. Have been in Needles too…Saw the hotest temp ever there…120 degrees…That was some years ago running tests in that area…
Westbound on the SW Chief is great. Dark not far out of Chicago but daylight in western Kansas and Colorado over Raton Pass and on down to Albuquerque. Enjoy.
Jay
I’ve railfanned from that Latrobe platform too. That Latrobe Restaurant is now called DiSalvo’s. Nice restaurant, need to dress up a bit for it. It has a model train that runs slowly all around the perimeter of the inside of the dining area.about 8 feet above the floor. And you can hear the Mainline NS trains running past almost overhead, as the Restaurant is below track level. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
I wish Amtrak train 41& 40 still had its Viewliner sleeping car. I liked it when I turn off all the Lights in the room and looked out the Window and my Scanner turn on.[8D]
Envy you your trip. My first visit to Latrobe was in June 1949, age 17. My highschool graduation present was four days in Western Pennsylvania. I rode the complete West Penn interurban trolley system, from Latrobe and Irwin on the north to Brownsville on the south end. Two days. Stayed at the Hotel Greensburgher in Greensburgh. $2.00/night. In Pittsburgh I rode the interurbans south to Charleroi-Roscoe and to Washington PA plus one of the local streetcar lines in Washington (no time to ride all four). Also the Donorra branch off the Charleroi-Roscoe line. Fineview of course was must in Pittsburgh plus Sewickley via Neville Island. Conecting the dots were the PRR commuter trains pulled by G-5 ten wheelers with shorty P-54 coaches. Wizing by were the limiteds with their E-7’s and K-4’s. From New York to Greensburgh and returning from Pittsburgh it was coach on the PRR overnight.
Dave: That’s a bunch of interesting rides…and in the area I travel through to reach my home area of Somerset Co., Pennsylvania…I’ve seen an abandoned interurban ROW in that area as it crosses the Lincoln highway…{Rt. 30}, somewhere east of Greensburg and wonder if that may be one you mentioned of riding.
Item: From the same area and era I still have the menu from the dining car when our high school class traveled to Washington DC in 1949…on the Pennsy.
Greensburg had a West Penn line east to Irwin. It used to go to Trafford and connect with Pittsburgh Railways and there was even through trolley-freight (remember it is wide gauge, even today in the South Hills, so trolley freight was isolated from the railroad system) to freight terminal near downtown Pittsburgh. The Pennsy local train service was good enough that even during WWII passengers on the cars between Trafford and Irwin were few, and there was a big steel bridge to maintain, which went for scrap to the war effort. The main line of West Penn went south from Greensburg to Conollsville and then to Uniontown. Between Conollsville and Uniontown there were two routes. Conollsville also had a local line which was held down by one of the last curved-side Cincinnati lighweights, the car now at the Arden museum. South of Uniontown were branches to Fairchance, with much trackage next to a B&O line still in steam, Mason “City” (an end of track in a Farmer’s yard!) and Brownsville. At Hecla Junction, there was a wye, and the track to Latrobe left, this was about midway between Greensburg and Conollsville. Most of the time the Latrobe car would just come down to the Junction and meet the mainline cars in both directions, but some runs went through to Conollsville. The main line, the lines sourth of Uniontown, and the Latrob line had big center-door cars, with the motorman’s front door adapted for passenger use for one-man operation, and the big center doors opened only at terminals and major stations. These cars did not have air-brakes, a combination of regenerative (like dynamic but back into the trolley wire), magnetic track brakes, powered from regnerative braking, and hand brakes were used to stop the big cars, which were very quiet. Other than the Cincinnati lightweight, the other lines used more conventional looking cars, with doors at the four corners like most streetcars, but I think they had the same braking equpment as the big cars. The lightweight was a regular one-man safetycar airbrak
Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy it! …and try to sleep! I usually wind up trying to stay awake all night afraid I’m going to miss some of the fun!
I hope you strike it big in Vegas. Better luck than what I had in '89.
Enjoy your trip. Iv’e done the SouthWest Chief twice (Chicago to Kingman AZ). Would be nice if the “Desert Wind” could still take you from L.A. to Las Vegas. Hopefully the Las Vegas Monorail will be up and running and you can try that out.
You’ll see my freinds house just after LaJunta Colorado, be sure to say hi for me
Las Vegas as I recall is the only city in the country where you can arrive in a 50,000. limousine and leave in a 400,000 Greyhound. Good luck. Remember my first visit to the city that never sleeps having just returned from overseas with a pocket full of money I bought a round trip ticket on the City of Las Vegas from Los Angeles, it sure was a good thing the fare included the buffet or I would have starved on the way back to LA. But still go to Las Vegas every chance I get and enjoy the view entering the city from any direction after dark. There used to be many blank spots in the basin but now as far as the eye can see its all lights. I just read where it is still the fastest growing city in America. Good Luck and enjoy the trip.
good luck on your trip.
stay safe
Joe
How are you getting to Vegas as the BNSF does not service this city?
…gregoryj…Used to watch the Sante-Fe passenger trains arrive in Kingman there on Andy Divine St. Depot…Worked in the area testing automatic truck transmissions some years ago.
Well,I am back from my Amtrak Trip. It was a snowly night to get on Train 41 The Three Rivers at Latrobe,Pa snowing about 1 to 2 inch of snow. I saw 4 NS Trains while waiting on train 41. Amtrak train 41 had Engine 18 and 6 Cars plus an Extra Cafe car going to Chicago. I twisted and turn all night in Business Class, nothing beats a sleeping car room Got into Chicago about 8:30 A.M. Went to Amtrak New Metropolitan Lounge, it is 2 to 3 Times Bigger than before. It has New Chairs, T.V., and Soda Machine. Depart on the Time 3:15 P.M. on the Southwest Chief . I had a Totally Rebuilt Superliner 1 Sleeping Car. The rebuilt cars look very nice inside Brand new Everything New Seats, Bathrooms, HVAC, they gutted the whole car inside and outside. The Heating didn’t work that well and Bathrooms Doors are hard to lock. Are Sleeping Car Porter gave everyone Blankets for night time, it was cold in that car. Train 3 had Engines 134, 68, 95, and 8 superliners plus 2 Boxcars. We had to Set-Off are Diner Car at Albuquerque, NM because of bad Wheels on the Car, So at Gallup, NM .We got KFC Chicken for the Whole train at Gallup. At Needles, Ca we got a mini-bus for Las Vegas, NV about 15 to 24 people on aboard. Amtrak got new Carriers for the Vegas Run. In Las Vegas we saw some Great Shows, Eat Great Food and Won some Money too[:)][8D] So are the way back to Needles,Ca the bus had about 12 people. Amtrak 4 the Southwest Chief had Engines 198,182 205 and 11 Cars 8 Superliners 3 Boxcars. At Springer, NM Amtrak had to call the Police and EMS people a lady in her 50s had Heart Attack on the train so we sat in Springer, NM about 20 Minutes for help. Amtrak Train 4 got into Chicago, IL about 2:40 P.M. . Got on train 40 about 9:30 P.M. It had Engine 76 and 4 Cars depart on time at 10:00 P.M. got into Latrobe, Pa on time too. A Very Nice Amtrak trip on the Southwest Chief and the Three Rivers.[:)][8D]
Thanks for the trip report. Glad you enjoyed it and hope you will have many more opportunities and without any mishaps at all.