Well, first off, I must say that our trip was amazing. I want to thank Amtrak and all of its devoted employees for getting us to Denver and back safely.
We departed Crawfordsville Indiana about 2 min. late. I thought that that was awesome that Amtrak was keeping so close to the schedule. We arrived in Chicago Union Station. Just about 15 min. late. We moseyed around Union Station for a bit while we laid over. (for only a meager 4 hours) Then we returned back to the waiting room that houses Amtrak trains that board on gates C,D,E,&F. We were all amazed at how PACKED the station was! The last time we took Amtrak the station was empty. So our boarding call came… “Now boarding Amtrak train No. 5 the California Zephyr for Burlington, Omaha, Denver, Glenwood Springs, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento, and San Francisco Bay area. Along with all intermediate stops. We stood in that hot, sweaty packed line for about 1 and a half hours. Finally we got on the train. Dad wasn’t able to sit near me and mom. He had to sit about 3 rows of seats ahead of us. Well, we whipped through the Canal Street “Y” and down the BN racetrack. Once we got on the racetrack we went to the Sightseer Lounge. It was cool to see things whip past us. We met a nice lawyer who was from France (he lived there for several years and was returning to see his parents in Iowa.) He told me about the TGV, I thought it was cool to talk about that stuff with him. I did admit that I would take Amtrak over any HST. Well, we went back to the coach. (The super liners are starting to show there age a little tad bit.) we got our Kleenexes Oh I mean pillows cough cough… Once we stopped at Osceola IA. The nice conductor moved us to a newer car. Where I sat behind Mom and Dad. We ate in the dining car… IT WAS AWESOME! I had a Flat Iron Steak. It was so tender I used a fork to eat it. No knife needed. Mom and Dad had the baked chicken and loved it.
Justin, that sounds like a wonderful trip!I’m glad that you were able to see some of the mountains, even though rail travel took you only to the foot of the Rockies; even though Denver is a mile high, I am sure you realized that it is on the Plains, and the Rockies begin west of there. I envy you your trip up Pike’s Peak and back down.
Perhaps the next time you go west you will be able to go “through the Rockies” on west of Denver. As you have been told, the scenery both ascending the Front Range on the way up to the Moffat Tunnel and descending to the Green River in Utah is magnificent. It’s too bad that you were not able to enjoy the view from a real dome car, which allows you to see ahead and to the rear as well as up and to the sides.
Justin, nice trip report, many thanks. If you came back into Chicago this past Saturday I believe we saw your eastbound train come through Eola yard as we waited for 4449 to arrive. I say this because it is so very rare to see any of the California trains WITHOUT a sightseer lounge car like yours was, so I think we actually could have waved to you as you came through. Glad to hear you had a good trip.
Quentin, he is referring to a comment Justin made --"We got off in Denver, went down the ramp and into a very nice Denver Union Station. We retrieved our baggage, and went to get the rental… It was less than perfect for us. They gave us a little stupid Toyota Yaris…. We were packed in there like sardines. The good thing is that the little rice burner(No offence to any people or owners of course. We just didn’t like the car) had a GPS system. That was nice."
I am not up on the various models of Japanese or Korean cars, so I cannot comment on the Yaris. Indeed, I have driven only one, a Toyota that we rented in Washington twenty-two years ago; it performed well on West Virginia mountain roads (I did not like the cruise control; it had to be reset after each dead stop, unlike the GM cruise controls that I am accustomed to).
Incidentally, when we were travelling this past spring, we rented three different Chevrolet Cobalts–one each in Jasper, Moncton, and Washington. The Cobalt had room for all our baggage (large and medium-sized suitcase, duffel bag and overnight bag), including Ricki’s walker (it did have to ride in the back seat), was economical on gas, and moved along on the highway.
Hey, I love my “rice burner” ('07 FJ Cruiser). It gets me around Colorado OK.[:D]
Seriously, though, I am glad you enjoyed your trip to Denver. There is a thing or two to see in Colorado. Actually it is good to see that trip report because we have considered taking Amtrak from Denver to Chicago (with a connection to Milwaukee). I hav
I have taken the Zephyr (Chi-SFO) or the Desert Wind (Chi-Las Vegas) about 10 times over the last 15 years and the timekeeping has been terrible. The only time any of the trains have been on time was this last April (when we were not only on time to/from San Francisco but actually early). Between Chi-Den the BNSF has almost always maintained the running times so your main worry will be traveling eastbound. Still, even though we miss the 5:08pm connection to Milwaukee, we have arrived in time for the 8:05pm. So, I would say that odds are in your favor. At worst you’ll layover in Chicago and take a morning Hiawatha the next day. I’d say go for it!
We did have a blast. I still wish that we could have went to Winter Park. That way we could have saw the Rockies by train. Still though. I’m glad we got to go. Deggesty, excuse me for saying this, but Dad almost crapped his pants. The donuts, and fries were good on top on The Peak. Daveklepper, I hope I get to take that many as well! I want to go again. It almost killed me to put away the suitcases today. BTW, I wish we could have ridden in a true dome as well. I got a GP38-2 W/O DNBKS and 5 pack of Bethgon Coal Porter hoppers at Caboose Hobbies. I’m proud of it. Jim, You say that you were at Eola eh, I saw a bunch of people fanning the racetrack. I might have saw you!
On the Cardinal home we rode on a Bombardier Cars (it was comfy) We were the last car. A guy went out on the rear Vestibule and sat smoking his pipe with his feet dangling off. He could have fallen off and we not evan have known it. The conductor was really mad!…
The cog is one thing that I have yet to do. My wife and kids have taken it up, but I love the drive to the top so it hasn’t really been a priority for me.
Did you happen to catch the connection between the Burlington and Garden of the Gods?
Justin, if you saw Jim at Eola Saturday evening, I wasn’t far away–I remember commenting to him at the time about the lack of a lounge car on that train. Of course, you know that we were all waiting for the 4449 to go through there (which it finally did, between two and three hours later).
And let me echo the people who commented positively on your trip report–very detailed, and nicely written! I’m glad that your experience was mostly positive, both for you and your parents.
I concur with you on the crusie control…My Xtreme {GM}, cruse does not need to be reset after a stop at a stop sign, but our “rice burner” Lexus does. That’s simply the way the manufacturer chose to do it…
And Justin, I agree, you did a good job of relating your Amtrak trip experience.
I love some of the patriotism in the US, the asian cars being built now are far more reliable than anything I’ve driven from the states, yes some arent as big but most are an break down on you far less often than american cars. While I dont own an asian built car and I drive a smart ForTwo I’d definately consider a Toyota or Nissan for my next purchase.
Many so called “rice burners” are actually built here in the United States, including Nissans, Hondas, etc. and that includes my former car, a 1994 Nissan Altima built in Symrna, GA.
This really got my curiosity up, so I checked the cruise control thing with my Toyota FJ Cruiser. It did not need to be re-set after I came to a complete stop at a stop light. Well, at the very least this thread helped me learn something new about my vehicle.
Maybe, maybe not. One comment on a Japanese-designed car led to another. I could also say that the same problem with the cruise control exists on lower-level GM cars. When you are used to Buick Le Sabres, you can have trouble adapted to lesser lines, even those by the same manufacturer.
Wow! A little comment ends up turning into a big thing![(-D] Ha. Should have expected that. Well, lets keep tot the topic of Amtrak… Where is Eola from Route 59? (Metra) We stopped at Aurora. Where is it from there?