Head Clearing Journey Underway - DC to LA by Rail

[supplyguy]

Horrible night's sleep even in my sleeperette bunk bed - unlike euro trains or even Amtrak in the northeastern corridor, this thing rocked and lurched like a farm pickup on a rutted dirt road. Tossed more than any air turbulence. With only one a day (each way) passenger trains out west of Chicago the rails are beat all to hell by freight trains. Surprised old folks aren't getting injured.....constantly thrown off balance and that was before I uncorked the Beaujolais last night. First time off the train for fresh 20 degree air here in La Junta.

[supplyguy]

My ride:


And it has only maybe 4,150 more horsepower than my Spider?


Robert Earl Keen has a great song about the Raton Pass....Snowin' on Raton....a brief stop today.


Trinidad NM?


Sure is brown out here




Nice 45 minute stop in Albuquerque - took a chance and squeezed in a 4 mile run. Nothing makes a runner fast like fear....of missing the train.



I know we had one of these yesterday, and there's a real good chance we will have another tomorrow, but I can't help it.


Contrail crossroads? If you look close you can see the experimental aircraft the government doesn't want you to know about. Or maybe just a sneeze on the window?

[So Cal Mark]

not much rain in the west these days but the trip looks interesting so far

[supplyguy]

Leaving San Bernadino before sunrise on the last leg to LA. Looking forward to a real hotel bed and the solitude I could not find during 60 hours on the train. Amtrak is obsessive about bunching diners together for meals, seating singles and pairs of travelers with others to that all tables are complete foursomes - even when there are plenty of free tables. I really like to read a novel or the paper with my meals and I lost all five opportunities for quiet time. Enjoyed meeting the two Canadian ladies headed to Vegas, but the banker who popped his "p's" - and many other letters, spraying everyone's food with spit illuminated by the morning sun - not so much. And he talked incessantly because, well, he knew everything. Forced to sit with him twice. This morning I insisted on a new table for my final meal, hoping to read, and got it. Thought hell - I just needed to be more assertive. Then they sat the crazy lady with me, then the chain smoker.....I'm done. And I don't get the instability of the railroad cars. Have to stop typing every other sentence to grab the chair arms and not topple from my seat. Could these double deckers be top heavy? The lateral wobbling is crazy. All night the car crashed down on its suspension over bumps. If this were a plane, the pilots would be asking flight attendants to take their seats and beverage service would be suspended. Enough bitching. Never found the extended time to ponder and reflect - maybe Buddhist monastery is next. The scenery was fantastic - this is one massive nation - and the night playing music for the veterans in the lounge car made this all worthwhile. Another item crossed off the bucket list. Time to check into the hotel at LAX and fly home tomorrow. And if my pilot is Denzel Washington..........

[Danno]

I wish my cabin in the Timber was done, I'd offer for you to stop by and stay as long as you like. Sadly, though, all I can offer you is a nice tent, anything of my camping supplies you need, and access to some very secluded timber.

[baltobernie]

The Interstate highway system and cheap gasoline killed passenger rail service in this country. I recall a train trip from San Jose to San Fransisco taken a few years ago. About fifty miles in length, and I could have bicycled the distance quicker (and probably in greater comfort). Seattle to Vancouver - had to move because my head kept banging against the window.

Even the passenger rail enticements offered by the first Obama administration will be/are being frittered away with yet more "studies". You could have covered twice your trip mileage at 200 mph on China's high-speed rail. They have another 6800 miles planned for the next few years.

[supplyguy]

Agree, Bernie. Having enjoyed the trains of Germany, France, and Switzerland, I know what's possible. That said, rail in USA seems limited to high population-light rail, commuter-plus networks. Long distance pax service, based on my limited experience this week, is used by low income travelers and once in a blue moon retirees who want to enjoy the view. Not really sustainable. Ad apparently freight don't care about bumps and sways!