On Saturday I ended up heading over to Chicago on the train because I needed to feel the rails under me. I was going to do it the Saturday before but it did not quite work out that way.
Waiting at the train station.
A map of the Amtrak routes. Amtrak visits 46 of the 48 contiguous United States. The only states it does not visit are Wyoming and South Dakota. Something tells me there isn't enough business to warrant going there.
A shot of the Wolverine Train Schedule and one of the Amtrak employees.
The train as it approaches. There is something to be said for the sound of an approaching train. First you hear the whistle and then the sound of the bells as it approaches the station.
This is the point that you would hear the bells.
The cars start to stop.
The Wolverine basically uses a commuter train configuration. The leg room isn't too bad but not as good as the leg room on the distance trains.
It was a nice foggy morning. Made for some nice pictures.
For all the times that I've tried to get this picture, I finally got a decent shot.
One of the buildings of Albion College.
Somewhere between Albion and Battle Creek.
After Kalamazoo, the tracks are rated for going at higher speeds. At this point, I think we were going 100 miles per hour.
Another nice idyllic farm scene. Sadly the windows were dirty, hence the spots in the picture.
The Michigan City Lighthouse with a tugboat.
It's kind of amazing to see some of the cars. They make for a nice history lesson.
Pan Am is sort of an abbreviation for Pan American Airways. It was incorporated in 1927 by Hap Arnold, Carl Spaatz and John Jouett. In 1928, it merged with Juan Trippe's Aviation Corporation of the Americas. It was famous for having well trained pilots and calling it's planes "Clippers". It was the unofficial national carrier of the United States. It also was responsible for launching a number of aircraft, including the 747. It stayed in business until 1991.
One of the things I like about taking the train to Chicago is that I pass through some prime rail country. Here is a CN engine.
A shot of one of the buildings at the Gary Steel Mill.
A switcher car for the Chicago Short Line.
A Norfolk-Southern engine.
Probably one of my favorite shots along the way.
An Amtrak switcher car.
An Amtrak Engine in historical livery.
An engine for one of the commuter rails.
The engine on the right is the Wolverine.
No comments:
Post a Comment