The "Empire Builder" left Chicago on time and we were on our way. Day one was and adventure, in more than one way.
We’re on our way. This is my first really long distance rail trip in over 35 years. The trips from Louisville to Chicago and back were short trips compared to what was ahead. The last time I did anything like this was our family trip to New York City for the World’s Fair. I was 16 years old then. Now I’m old enough to get the seniors discount in a lot of places. I was wondering how this trip was going to be. Would I have trouble sleeping? I don’t usually fall asleep at the drop of a hat. If there is anything going on I’m usually want to see what it is. Oh well! I was on my way and it would be a week and 5391 miles before this trip would be over. I was looking forward to it but I had some second thoughts.
For the first few minutes we were still getting settled in. “Where’s the thing-a-ma-jig?” and “Who’s got the what-cha-ma-call it?, Did you put it in overhead?” By the time we got to Glenview, Illinois, 18 miles and 24 minutes from Chicago, we were all settled in. We had passed a southbound Hiawatha just before we got to Glenview. A few minutes later we passed the Chicago bound Empire Builder. Those folks were on their way to an on time arrival at Chicago. That was an encouraging thing to see. For about 6weeks before we left on our trip I had been checking the arrival times of the trains that we were going to be riding. The Empire Builder was averaging 23 minutes late at Portland. One trip was 7 hours 10 minutes late. Most of the severe delays were in the first 2 weeks that I tracked it. As the trip got closer the on time performance improved and there were trips when the train arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule.
Time to get out the maps and gadgets and do some railfanning. I had a GPS receiver with me, my scanner, the maps, and the route notes that I had prepared. I was getting real comfortable with the trip now. Let’s see… the GPS says 79MPH, bumping 80 or 81 every now and then. Turned on the scanner, channel 44 since we were on the Canadian Pacific (old SOO line.) Sometime before we get to Milwaukee we change to channel 94 but for now, I guess I’m on the right frequency. I’m hearing occasional chatter and defect detectors announcing “No defects” along with the other information. Milwaukee would be coming up pretty soon. Besides being a “beer town” in the “Cheese state,” Milwaukee is quite a rail town. If you’ve ever looked at a railroad magazine, you probably looked at a product of Kalmbach Publishing Company. Some of the biggest magazines in their field are “Trains,” “Model Railroader,” “Classic Trains,” “Classic Toy Trains,” and “Garden Railways” and they are products of Kalmbach.
We roll into Milwaukee right on time. It’s just a short stop. We pick up a few passengers. That would be the normal for the next stops and then we were far enough along that some passengers had reached their destination. From Portage on, we would be exchanging passengers at just about every station but, for the next 24 hours or so, we would be picking up more that we let off. Things were pretty quiet. The evening meal announcement was made and we pulled out our Subway’s around that same time. We made a few stops and the conductor announced whether the train would stop long enough for the smokers to light up or not. There was one family of smokers that got off to light up every time the train stopped. At one of the stops we noticed that they man had a cigarette in each hand and he would take a puff from one, blow it out, and take a draw on the other one and then repeat the sequence again. He almost got left at one station. When we got underway again the conductor announced that passengers were not to get off the train unless it was their destination or if it was announced that the train would be stopped long enough for a smoke break. A little further along the way we did have a longer break. I can’t divulge the exact content of the communications but about 5 miles out from one of our stops, the conductor requested the agent at the station to have the local police meet the train. Seems there was some “drug activity” on the train. When we arrived at the station there was a police car there. The train stopped to let passengers board and depart the train. After that short stop the train moved ahead about 3 car lengths and stopped again. The conductor met the officer and took him to the sleeper at the end of the train. A few minutes later they took someone off the train and into the station. About 10 minutes later the passenger re-boarded the train. We sat there for another 10 or 15 minutes while everyone did their paperwork. We were about 25 minutes late when we departed the station. That was the first time we had been behind schedule. About a minute after we departed I hear someone on the radio say “I aint strip searching nobody!” A minute or two later there was an announcement that “There will be no smoking on this train! No smoking of anything, anywhere, at anytime! Absolutely no smoking at all!”
I knew what was going on but I wonder how much the other passengers knew. There was a couple with a scanner at the other end of the coach we were on. He had heard the same thing that I had. I suspect that a few others on the train also had scanners but the rest of the passengers probably figured that someone was smoking in the restroom or in the baggage storage area.
As we continued we crossed the Mississippi around sunset. It didn’t take too long to make up the time that we had lost due to the “drug bust.” As it got darker I got a little sleepy. I don’t know where we were when my eyelids clamped shut but I woke up as we were entering the Twin Cities. We had about a 20 minute stop there. Seemed like a great place to get off and stretch a little. If we had any idea of finding something to eat around the station we soon discovered that we might as well be on the moon. There were no signs of “golden arches”, Taco Bells, Whoppers, a local bar or even a convenience store. The only things available were the vending machines in the station. I got a soft drink and walked toward the front of the train. I found that there were some preserved rail cars from the Hiawatha trains that used to frequent this area. The jewel of the collection was a rounded end car that would normally bring up the end of a train.
Toot! Toot! “All aboard!”
I knew what that meant. We were about to get underway again. Everyone quickly got back on the train. We were on our way again. I sipped on my soft drink, nibbled on some crackers or some other snack. It wasn’t too long before I would be out for the night.