I was wondering if any of our forum members were planning on being at Chicago Union Station for the National Train Day festivities on Saturday? I went to the NTD web site (www.nationaltrainday.com) and found the listing of events at CUS (and other locations nationwide) including equipment displays, etc., etc.
My wife and I are considering taking Metra down to CUS for a few hours as Metra has maximum $5 weekend fares (unlimited usage per day)…not bad at all considering gas for the car is approaching $4 per gallon around here.
My 85-yr old mom and I are planning to visit my sister in Elgin, and we’d take Amtrak to/from Milwaukee using the Hiawatha. We’re going to take Metra from CUS to Elgin. She was wondering how convenient it is to get from the Amtrak-portion of CUS to where Metra departs from? I’ve only been to CUS a few times, and that many years ago. Is it fairly easy to get between the Amtrak tracks and Metra’s in that facility?
While I am not familiar with the specific location of the Metra tracks for the Elgin service, generally speaking the distance from the Amtrak tracks (they come into the North side of CUS from Milwaukee) to the Metra tracks are normally very short distances.
Are’nt we all? Who can afford to be speed racer anymore…Im just sittin and thinkin about how much I want to spend for fuuuuuel to chase trains today and tomorrow…
I shake my head in wonderment when I see some kids blast by me in their little four or six cylinder cars with the loud aftermarket exhaust systems only to have me catch up to them at the next light a few moments later and think of the dollars of gas they wasted doing to…but then I remember having done the same darned thing when I was a kid…oh, well, I guess we all go through the same phases, don’t we?
As far as railfanning goes, these days I don’t chase the trains any more but rather sit at Eola Yard or some other nice spot and wait until the BNSF or UP brings the trains to me to see.
I’ve had a train chasing & independent league baseball game trip to Sioux City planned for a while (I’ll hit Mason City, Ft. Dodge, Tara, Storm Lake & LeMars on the way). I’m going, but the gas prices are gonna be a bite in the shorts.
$3.39 today with my 40 cents off incentive from the grocery store.
The NRHS chapter I’m a member of is doing some cleanup around their steam engine display in Utica on Saturday, but I really don’t want to use the gas. Bad enough I have to mow…
I have now posted my photos for NTD on flickr…Im registered there as marshal17645 NOT AS VIDEOMAKER…
The weather was crappy but I did the best I could by playing with the fstop…Several other people have photos already posted…All commets welcomed…Thanks and enjoy…
I was there, and so was our associate editor Angela Pusztai-Pasternak. We were thoroughly impressed. Amtrak had a lot of displays, activities, and events to keep people informed and entertained. (I posted some photos on the news wire.) There were lots of free giveaways, too–never a bad thing! It was a wonderful day all around.
Matt, no, my wife and I had our annual eye doctor appointments very early on Saturday and our eyes were not fully recovered (due to dilation drops) in time for us to make it down to CUS…did you get any photos? Sorry I missed it.
Amtrak had their Wheel of Fortune painted coach, and a couple of superliners including a newly remodeled diner car on display. They were also providing free food on the dining car, plus there was a lot going on in the great hall.
My friends went to Penn Station New york for their festivities and said they were good. I would have gone after work but things only went on til 2, which I thought was early considering all the fuss about it. Is this going to be yearly?
