Train Trip Day 1 - Wolverine and Empire Builder

After a brief hiatus as I was trying to sort through all the pictures I took during my trip, I'm finally getting around to posting them.  I've decided to break up the train portion of my trip into the daily legs.  I will post pictures of the cities I stayed in as separate posts.  So here goes....

 Every journey has a beginning and my beginning was at the train station in Ann Arbor.  This station was built for Amtrak as the train station that was built by the Michigan Central is now the Gandy Dancer.  It's not a bad station and serves its purpose well but I wish that I didn't have to cross a bridge from long term parking.  The folks at the ticket counter are friendly and helpful.  It is always a pleasure from this station.

 As they made the announcement that the train was approaching, I decided to head outside because I like trains and wanted a picture of the Wolverine.

 Just in case you forgot where we were.  As you can see, there is a bridge to cross for the long term parking.  It's not bad for a day trip but when lugging a ton of luggage it's not so good.  I hope that if they do end up building a new station, parking will be better.

 And the moment of anticipation as the train approaches.  This is now my fourth major trip on the Amtrak and it still stays pretty cool.  There is something about the train and how it seems like a throwback to another era.  It's neat to hear the horn and the train bells as the train approaches the station.

 And the train stops.  We get the all abard call and we are off.

 The first stop after Ann Arbor is Jackson.  Jackson still has its old Michigan Central station.  I decided to use this picture because I liked the reflection of the train in the window.

 After several attempts, I finally got a decent picture of this plane that is sitting outside Jackson airport.

 Between Jackson and Kalamazoo, there is the stop in Battle Creek.  I didn't get any decent pictures there though.  I like the station in Kalamazoo as well.  Shame that we don't have enough time to get out though.  I'd imagine it looks pretty nice on the inside too.

 Since I've done this leg several times, I wasn't really taking too many pictures.  This scene is pretty typical along the way though.

 This is probably one of my favorite parts along the way from Ann Arbor to Chicago.  I believe we are passing over I-94 here.  I just like how it seems like there is always traffic here.

 After a brief walk around Chicago, it was back to the train station to hop on board the Empire Builder.  The Empire Builder is the train that goes from Chicago to Seattle.  It was the nickname for James Hill who used to own the Great Northern Railroad.  It was also the name of one of the routes on the Great Northern.  For the most part, the modern version follows the original route with a few exception.  I think it is cool that Amtrak pays attention to the railroad's heritage by maintaining the names of the original routes.

 This is the car that would take me to Seattle.  This particular car is known as a Superliner and is based on a design that was used by the ATSF in the 1950's.  It is a double level car and can be configured many different ways.  I was riding in coach and as such there are 62 seats on the upper level and 12 seats in the lower level.  Typically the lower level is used by handicapped passengers.  The bathrooms are also on the lower level.  There is a fair amount of space between the seats and they are fairly comfortable.

One of these days I'm going to try the sleeper car though.

 One of the views of Chicago as we were leaving.  We left from the north side of Union Station and this gave views that  I don't normally get.  Not sure what the buildings are though.

 The Chicago River as it slices through the city.

 And a slightly cropped version of that picture.

 And we pull further away from Chicago.  I kind of like this picture because it shows a nice view of the tracks leading into Chicago.  As you can see there are a few of them.  It also shows the signal towers.  These are similar to traffic lights for cars.

 One of the buildings as we were heading into Milwakee.

 A shot of downtown Milwaukee.

 Another shot of Milwaukee.

 I'm not sure what river this is.

 This shot gives you an idea of the space between the seats.

 Passing another river.

 One of the nicest features of the distance trains is the sightseeing cars.  As you can see, there are quite a few windows and you get a nice view of the passing scenery.  There is enough seating for several people.  On some of the cars, the seats swivel a little bit.

 A pretty typical scene as we passed through Wisconsin.

 A similar scene with cows.

 One of my favorite aspects of riding on the train is the fact that we pass many other trains.  This is an engine that belongs to the Canadian Pacific railroad.

 The Empire Builder crosses the Mississippi River around LaCrosse.  This is one of the tugs that I saw.

 The barge in front of that tug.

 And we cross the Mississippi.  This is one of a handful of railroad bridges that crosses the river.  I would hate to think what would happen to rail traffic is this was knocked out.

 The train station in Winona, Minnesota.

 We follow the Mississippi for quite a ways.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, so I didn't get my stunning sunset shot this time.

 The stop in Minneapolis-St. Paul is a fairly lengthly one.  That gives some time to stretch out legs, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures.

 A picture of our train.

 Another one of the train cars in the area.

And a picture of the sign for the station.