higthomas
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- 27 Nov 2012
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I recently had the immense good fortune to take a trip across America by train. We started in Boston, and took the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago. After a few nights there we then took the California Zephyr all the way through the Rockies to San Francisco. This is a most amazing journey, and I thought I would share some of my observations of the second leg.
The first thing to mention before I start is that everything railway related, as well as everything else in this country, is BIG, really big. This was my main realisation as we made this journey, and kind of makes the UK seem very small, although at least we still have Scotland.
We left Union Station Chicago about an hour late because One of the locos had broken and they were having problems finding another. Eventually we did leave, and one the way out passed some pretty impressive commuter trains, enormous double deck coaching stock, hauled by some enormous trains. As we left we got up to quite some speed, faster than I knew these trains went. We passed through both pleasant suburbs and freight yards and the like. The shear amount of rail freight facilities in this country is incredible, and although it wouldn't be economical in GB it would be brilliant if it were like that here.
Soon we were entering the prairies. They really are incredible, a bit like Norfolk, except I can cross Norfolk in about an hour and a half by train, and this took twenty. We were soon eating dinner, which is pretty good all things considered. I had some chicken, which was a bit dry, but no more so than a typical boarding school meal. During dinner the train was shaking quite a bit, that led to quite a lot of spilled food, how they cook in that I don't know. On the whole that is one thong I have noticed, the train rocks a lot more than any I've encountered in Europe.
As dinner was coming to a close the sun started to set, and boy was it incredible. It was almost crimson at one point, and the whole sky was a beautiful shade of pink. On my way back to my room, there were a lot of people in old fashioned dress with odd haircuts. This was also a feature of the first train, and got me thinking perhaps travelling by train is in some way encouraged by their religion/culture.
The room itself was actually a lot smaller than on the first leg, despite the actual carriage being larger. This is because the cars are double decker. This meant that whereas on the first leg I had had a nice view out of the window when I woke up, on this leg I was far too close to the ceiling for comfort.
Just before bedtime we had a 'smoke stop' at Ottumwa. There were many of these stops, which whilst not a smoker myself, did me good opportunity to stretch my legs and take some photos.
At Ottumwa there were three locos on the front, more than would be needed for the rest of the journey. This was because one of the locos, along with five extra carriages, were being taken off at Omaha to form a special train for a football train, the sort of joined up thinking that could never happen in the U.K. This though took quite a while, and led to an extra two hours delay.
The next morning I woke, after an ok nights sleep, a very odd but amazing Experience, being able to feel the rocking of the train as I fell asleep. I had more trouble though the next morning using the shower, at one stage being thrown quite violently against the wall. The scenery was more of the same, although with slightly more trees this time. One feature that I noticed all through is that both the BNSF and UP parts have been recently resignalled, all colour lights. Another frequent feature of the plains was small grain loading facilities every five to ten miles. These frequently had just a few wagons around, and it seems as if they still do wagonload freight here, which did produce some great looking trains.
Just outside Denver we travelled through both something that looked like some sort of chemical or oil works and the BNSF yard. This must have had thirty locos in, which when combined with the vast numbers just sitting in sidings along the way meant I saw an awful lot of locos.
At Denver we didn't travel straight into the station, but instead travelled past and then were propelled in, not something I have ever done before, and not something I think is allowed in Britain.
Denver station itself has clearly been rebuilt, seemingly in preparation for a new railway service to the Airport, for which both earthworks and electrification masts were much in evidence. Whilst there we had a long stop, during which the train had a mini service, with someone getting on to fix a broken light, and others washing the windows. I also walked through another sleeping car which as it turns out was much nicer than mine.
As we left Denver we went straight up into the mountains, via an impressive series of switchbacks, overtaking two trains on the way. Soon though we paused at a loop, waiting for UP maintenance teams to come off the line ahead. An hour and a half later we left the loop and proceeded ahead. Ahead was the most beautiful piece of railway I have ever seen. Valleys with rocky rivers along the bottom and beautiful green trees up the side, it truly was breath-taking.
We soon, in the grand scheme of a 50 hour plus train journey, we were heading through a ten minute long tunnel, inside of which we were told not to move between carriages to prevent diesel fumes entering the train.
We soon passed through a series of ski resorts, and passed the train in the other direction, before joining the Colorado river.
At some point a coal train passed us that must have been at least 60 cars long, and had six locomotives hauling it, quite an impressive load.
Going along the Colorado river there were some spectacular white water, before it gave way to calmer waters, full of fishermen and campers. Whilst on this stretch I was sitting in a coach car with a couple who had two very grumpy children, who clearly were a bit sick of the train by now. Sadly I didn't think there was anything I could do to help, so just got back to reading my book.
The next morning we awoke passing though the Nevada desert, where strangely it was raining. Beside the track, as there had been for much of the journey, there was a series of absolutely classic telegraph poles, which did make me feel as if I could have been crossing the desert some time in the nineteenth century. There were also quite a few level crossings, amazingly all of which had full half barriers and lights, possibly something to teach us.
Later on we seemed to be joined in our valley by another railway. I thought it was just another companies line, but then we came to a yard that seemed to be shared by both lines, and later on realised that both that line and our one were only signalled in one direction. It seems as if these two tracks that took quite separate paths down the valley, and sometimes through different valleys were being used as one double track line, fascinating.
As we travelled through the desert, there were a few other features of interest I noticed, such as the perfectly green circular fields, which really stood out in contrast to the barren desert landscape. We also passed the Tahoe valley industrial centre, which claimed to bee the worlds largest, but we couldn't see it over the ridge, so I cannot currently verify that fact (I am writing this on the plane home.) But my main conclusion about the desert is that I is really dull. The parallel road had a sign on it saying that I was the worlds loneliest road, with something like six towns in 200 miles, and over lush later that day I met someone who had gotten do tired of the road he had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed his rental car into just about the only obstacle within 10 miles, a post. As you can guess I got quite bored, and so watched star wars on my phone, which led to a few people coming up to me and spontaneously engaging me in conversation about it, which was quote nice.
Eventually we reached Reno, which I have been reliably informed is a horrible place. Of interest to me though was an industrial estate on the outskirts as you entered the city, in which every single building was rail connected, quite unlike how we build our industrial estates sadly.
We soon entered the Sierra Nevada, where things became more lush, and I saw my first proper tree for hundreds of miles. Sadly though IO did not get to see the beautiful views of the valleys that we had been promised, because they were full of smoke from a nearby forest fire, a sad indication of just how dry it is at the moment in California. Eventually we reached Roseville, where some private cars were added to the train. They looked very nice, but sadly I couldn't get a good look, because we were all herded back onto the train before they did the coupling. Also in the yard opposite Roseville station I saw signs warning of remote controlled locos, a strange, and to me, scary idea.
Finally though we reached Emeryville, and it is not often I say this, but I was glad to be off the train. Whilst I would highly recommend the journey, I would definitely advise you stop of along the way for a day or two; 55 hours on a train does actually get dull.
My concluding remark would be that I would quite like to be a rail enthusiast over here. Whilst there is a real dearth of passenger services, which is terrible, the rail freight scene is amazing.
To see my photos, go to https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DB4BF6AA367006C9!147
The first thing to mention before I start is that everything railway related, as well as everything else in this country, is BIG, really big. This was my main realisation as we made this journey, and kind of makes the UK seem very small, although at least we still have Scotland.
We left Union Station Chicago about an hour late because One of the locos had broken and they were having problems finding another. Eventually we did leave, and one the way out passed some pretty impressive commuter trains, enormous double deck coaching stock, hauled by some enormous trains. As we left we got up to quite some speed, faster than I knew these trains went. We passed through both pleasant suburbs and freight yards and the like. The shear amount of rail freight facilities in this country is incredible, and although it wouldn't be economical in GB it would be brilliant if it were like that here.
Soon we were entering the prairies. They really are incredible, a bit like Norfolk, except I can cross Norfolk in about an hour and a half by train, and this took twenty. We were soon eating dinner, which is pretty good all things considered. I had some chicken, which was a bit dry, but no more so than a typical boarding school meal. During dinner the train was shaking quite a bit, that led to quite a lot of spilled food, how they cook in that I don't know. On the whole that is one thong I have noticed, the train rocks a lot more than any I've encountered in Europe.
As dinner was coming to a close the sun started to set, and boy was it incredible. It was almost crimson at one point, and the whole sky was a beautiful shade of pink. On my way back to my room, there were a lot of people in old fashioned dress with odd haircuts. This was also a feature of the first train, and got me thinking perhaps travelling by train is in some way encouraged by their religion/culture.
The room itself was actually a lot smaller than on the first leg, despite the actual carriage being larger. This is because the cars are double decker. This meant that whereas on the first leg I had had a nice view out of the window when I woke up, on this leg I was far too close to the ceiling for comfort.
Just before bedtime we had a 'smoke stop' at Ottumwa. There were many of these stops, which whilst not a smoker myself, did me good opportunity to stretch my legs and take some photos.
At Ottumwa there were three locos on the front, more than would be needed for the rest of the journey. This was because one of the locos, along with five extra carriages, were being taken off at Omaha to form a special train for a football train, the sort of joined up thinking that could never happen in the U.K. This though took quite a while, and led to an extra two hours delay.
The next morning I woke, after an ok nights sleep, a very odd but amazing Experience, being able to feel the rocking of the train as I fell asleep. I had more trouble though the next morning using the shower, at one stage being thrown quite violently against the wall. The scenery was more of the same, although with slightly more trees this time. One feature that I noticed all through is that both the BNSF and UP parts have been recently resignalled, all colour lights. Another frequent feature of the plains was small grain loading facilities every five to ten miles. These frequently had just a few wagons around, and it seems as if they still do wagonload freight here, which did produce some great looking trains.
Just outside Denver we travelled through both something that looked like some sort of chemical or oil works and the BNSF yard. This must have had thirty locos in, which when combined with the vast numbers just sitting in sidings along the way meant I saw an awful lot of locos.
At Denver we didn't travel straight into the station, but instead travelled past and then were propelled in, not something I have ever done before, and not something I think is allowed in Britain.
Denver station itself has clearly been rebuilt, seemingly in preparation for a new railway service to the Airport, for which both earthworks and electrification masts were much in evidence. Whilst there we had a long stop, during which the train had a mini service, with someone getting on to fix a broken light, and others washing the windows. I also walked through another sleeping car which as it turns out was much nicer than mine.
As we left Denver we went straight up into the mountains, via an impressive series of switchbacks, overtaking two trains on the way. Soon though we paused at a loop, waiting for UP maintenance teams to come off the line ahead. An hour and a half later we left the loop and proceeded ahead. Ahead was the most beautiful piece of railway I have ever seen. Valleys with rocky rivers along the bottom and beautiful green trees up the side, it truly was breath-taking.
We soon, in the grand scheme of a 50 hour plus train journey, we were heading through a ten minute long tunnel, inside of which we were told not to move between carriages to prevent diesel fumes entering the train.
We soon passed through a series of ski resorts, and passed the train in the other direction, before joining the Colorado river.
At some point a coal train passed us that must have been at least 60 cars long, and had six locomotives hauling it, quite an impressive load.
Going along the Colorado river there were some spectacular white water, before it gave way to calmer waters, full of fishermen and campers. Whilst on this stretch I was sitting in a coach car with a couple who had two very grumpy children, who clearly were a bit sick of the train by now. Sadly I didn't think there was anything I could do to help, so just got back to reading my book.
The next morning we awoke passing though the Nevada desert, where strangely it was raining. Beside the track, as there had been for much of the journey, there was a series of absolutely classic telegraph poles, which did make me feel as if I could have been crossing the desert some time in the nineteenth century. There were also quite a few level crossings, amazingly all of which had full half barriers and lights, possibly something to teach us.
Later on we seemed to be joined in our valley by another railway. I thought it was just another companies line, but then we came to a yard that seemed to be shared by both lines, and later on realised that both that line and our one were only signalled in one direction. It seems as if these two tracks that took quite separate paths down the valley, and sometimes through different valleys were being used as one double track line, fascinating.
As we travelled through the desert, there were a few other features of interest I noticed, such as the perfectly green circular fields, which really stood out in contrast to the barren desert landscape. We also passed the Tahoe valley industrial centre, which claimed to bee the worlds largest, but we couldn't see it over the ridge, so I cannot currently verify that fact (I am writing this on the plane home.) But my main conclusion about the desert is that I is really dull. The parallel road had a sign on it saying that I was the worlds loneliest road, with something like six towns in 200 miles, and over lush later that day I met someone who had gotten do tired of the road he had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed his rental car into just about the only obstacle within 10 miles, a post. As you can guess I got quite bored, and so watched star wars on my phone, which led to a few people coming up to me and spontaneously engaging me in conversation about it, which was quote nice.
Eventually we reached Reno, which I have been reliably informed is a horrible place. Of interest to me though was an industrial estate on the outskirts as you entered the city, in which every single building was rail connected, quite unlike how we build our industrial estates sadly.
We soon entered the Sierra Nevada, where things became more lush, and I saw my first proper tree for hundreds of miles. Sadly though IO did not get to see the beautiful views of the valleys that we had been promised, because they were full of smoke from a nearby forest fire, a sad indication of just how dry it is at the moment in California. Eventually we reached Roseville, where some private cars were added to the train. They looked very nice, but sadly I couldn't get a good look, because we were all herded back onto the train before they did the coupling. Also in the yard opposite Roseville station I saw signs warning of remote controlled locos, a strange, and to me, scary idea.
Finally though we reached Emeryville, and it is not often I say this, but I was glad to be off the train. Whilst I would highly recommend the journey, I would definitely advise you stop of along the way for a day or two; 55 hours on a train does actually get dull.
My concluding remark would be that I would quite like to be a rail enthusiast over here. Whilst there is a real dearth of passenger services, which is terrible, the rail freight scene is amazing.
To see my photos, go to https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DB4BF6AA367006C9!147
. The very long tunnel further west is the Moffat tunnel, opened in 1934 to join two parts of the Denver & RioGrande Western railroad to create a more direct Denver-Salt Lake City route. It has no ventilation shafts, so big doors close at one end after each train has passed through and fans are used to blow the fumes out of the other end.