December 2nd, 2007

As I was planning my holiday travel for Thanksgiving to St. Joseph, MI from Minnesota, I examined all of the possible options. Air, land, sea (a bit tough) and on foot, but as a railfan it wasn't a difficult choice. Amtrak! I purchased my round trip tickets on amtrak.com (which was very easy to do) and started to wind up with anticipation for my first rail adventure in 15 years. My trip began at Amtrak's Midway Depot in St. Paul, MN at 7am on Thanksgiving day. I entered the depot, walked right up to the ticket counter as there was no line, received my tickets and headed for a seat to read the paper. Shortly after I sat down the eastbound Empire Builder, Amtrak 8, pulled into the depot on track 1 about 5 minutes behind schedule. It has two P42DCs for power and 10 superliner coaches behind a baggage car. I could see a lone superliner coach sitting on track 2 and it wasn't long before Minnesota Commercial had a locomotive put that coach on the end of the eastbound Builder. At around 7:30 the conductor came into the depot and began the boarding process. Since I was heading for Chicago and was traveling by myself, I would be boarding last. Most of the people traveling to Chicago from Minneapolis were put in the newly added coach, but it was full when it was my turn to board. Thus I was put in a half full coach just behind the lounge car and was able to have my own row all the way to Union Station in Chicago.

Our train departed the Midway Depot about 20 minutes late and began our trip down Canadian Pacific's Merriam Park Sub to downtown St. Paul. It seemed like track speed was around 40 mph after we passed over Snelling Ave and the rail was nice and smooth. We didn't pass much freight traffic between St. Paul and St. Croix, just a lone CP unit pulling a short intermodal train west through Newport. Our train took the high road at Newport (where the tracks split up) and passed through the large 3M facility in Cottage Grove. As the Mississippi came into view, the water was calm with just a few birds cruising around the banks. Before I knew it, we were passing over the river in Hastings and were quickly up to track speed of 70 mph heading for our first stop in Red Wing, MN. We arrived in Red Wing about 15 minutes late and picked up a nice size crowd of people heading east. After just a couple minutes we were back on the move for the trip down river.

As we left Red Wing, I decided to leave my seat and head for the lounge car for the trip along the river. I parked myself in a seat facing out the window and made my way through the rest of the paper I had started in the depot. It was a cloudy day, but the scenery was still outstanding. We didn't meet much freight traffic between Red Wing and La Crosse, WI. In fact, I only remember one train sitting in a siding waiting for us to pass by. As we headed east out of La Crosse, the amount of freight traffic really picked up, including a high speed meet on the double track outside of Tomah, WI with CP's priority intermodal train 199. The conductor on 199 could be heard in my ear piece - "Happy Thanksgiving Amtrak! Your blue streak looked good with two red lights on the rear." Our new conductor, who boarded in Winona, MN, extended the same greetings and noted - "199 is all complete with a marker... good roll-by." I myself have no idea how they could see anything; we passed their long freight in a matter of a seconds. As we continued east the traffic picked up. I could hear CP's Wisconsin Dispatcher working hard to clear the freight traffic ahead of us, putting trains in sidings up to 80 miles away.

Now fast forward to lunch time, around 1pm in the afternoon. Our train was still about 15 minutes behind schedule when my name was called from the waiting list for lunch in the dining car. I arrived in the car and was directed to my seat in a booth with two other people that were just seated. I came to learn that they were from Detroit Lakes, MN and were making a circle tour on Amtrak via Chicago, Denver, Portland, and eventually back to DL. Our very friendly server Shelly had great stories to tell and kept the mood pleasant. My angus cheeseburger and glass of milk really hit the spot, and at $8 it was well worth the expense. As I paid my bill, our train was just pulling in for our stop in Columbus, WI (north of Madison). A few people boarded and we were quickly back on the move to Chicago with just two more stops to go, Milwaukee, WI and Glenview, IL. As our trip came to an end and after running behind (slightly) for most of it, we pulled in at Chicago's Union Station 5 minutes early.

I stepped off the train, grabbed my bag, and headed for the waiting room to see if my connecting train to Michigan was running on time. Train 370, the Pere Marquette was scheduled to depart on time at 5:20 pm, just an hour and a half from when I arrived. I went upstairs at Union Station to find something to read and a quick snack for the trip to Michigan. Most of the stores were closed for Thanksgiving, but I managed to find a newsstand that was open and found what I needed. I headed back downstairs and waited at gate F for the boarding to begin for my trip to St. Joe. At around 5pm the conductor came in and started the boarding of our train, which didn't take too long as it was a smaller train than the Empire Builder. Once on board the second superliner coach, I found my spot upstairs and settled in for the two hour trip. As the second hand tripped by 5:20, our train sprang to life and we were off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, grandmas and grandpas, welcome on board Amtrak train 370, the Pere Marquette, heading for the wonderful cities of New Buffalo, St. Joseph, Bangor, Holland, Grand Rapids, and finally the North Pole! If you're not heading to any of these cities, wave your arms and jump up and down."

One might say our conductor really enjoyed his job! After a little longer than expected trip, I arrived in my final destination of St. Joseph, MI about 25 minutes behind schedule.

Fast forward to Saturday... After a very nice holiday with extended family in Michigan, my family dropped me off at the depot in St. Joseph on Saturday morning around 9am for my trip back to Minnesota (they were coming home on Sunday in the family minivan). I made a quick call to my friend Julie at 800-USA-RAIL and learned that my train was running about 15 minutes behind schedule. Sure enough, at 9:54 am, fifteen minutes later than our scheduled departure, Amtrak 508 came into view with our westbound train 371 in tow. I grabbed my things and heading upstairs to find an almost full car. I found a seat next to another traveler and we were off. The conductor wasn't as exciting as my last trip, but he was still very friendly. He announced that the delay was due to our train tripping a trackside defect detector and several slow orders that were on the line for passenger trains. After a short trip, we arrived in Chicago about 20 minutes behind schedule. I had about 3 hours to explore Chicago, so I put my things in a locker and headed outside for State Street near the lakefront. The day was beautiful, the people were many, and my time went fast. I grabbed a quick bite and was back at my locker retrieving my bag. At gate B in Union Station, I noted a large crowd of people waiting for the afternoon Empire Builder to begin loading, which it did shortly after I arrived in the waiting room. Once on board, I found a seat at the front of the car, threw my backpack in the overhead bin and tore open a pack of fruit snacks as I sat down. A short while later, I met my seat partner who was from Afton, MN and was traveling home with her family after a short stay in Chicago. Her name was Maddy and her iPod was her friend for much of the trip. Once again, as my watch tripped to our departure time, the train jumped to life.

The trip home to Minneapolis went very smoothly and we were on schedule the entire way home. Even though it was dark for most of the trip, it was a great way to end my long weekend. I marveled at the scenery as our train flew by small, quiet towns in Wisconsin at 80mph. Entire families were waiting in their backyards for our train and would wave as we streaked by. The scenes were straight out of a movie or book as a new dusting of snow covered the ground, well bundled children waved at the fast moving train, and I relaxed as the world passed by. What an experience!

As we pulled in at the Depot in St. Paul (25 minutes early), the conductor noted that the train was sold out west of Minneapolis so everybody needed to be ready to share their row/seats with others. When I was walking into the depot I noted that our train had three locomotives and 11 coaches behind the baggage car, a very large Empire Builder to be sure. All in all, my trip was outstanding. So much more relaxing than flying and the people I met were wonderful, including every Amtrak staff member that I talked to. If you've never taken the train as a form of travel, you should! You will not be disappointed.