DSC_0245-Ottumwa
2015 Vacation, 27 Oct, Iowa, Illinois, Chicago, Toledo
In addition to the day being Trains Magazine day (from Trains' former address of 1027 N 7th St), it was M*A*S*H corporal day for us as we passed through Radar O'Reilly's hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa in the morning and Max Klinger's town of Toledo, Ohio at night.
In between, we saw lots of harvested cornfields on the way into Chicago on the California Zephyr, as well as crossing the Mississippi River on BNSF's new bridge.
Despite the light rain in Chicago, I walked to Roosevelt Road and watched some of Metra's commuter rush hour. The area around Roosevelt Road has changed a lot since I was last there 11 years ago, when there were a lot of vacant lots and old freight houses and warehouses, are now shopping areas.
I spent most of the time watching trains south of Union Station, but walked across the Chicago River to check out the departure of a Rock Island Line train from LaSalle St Station, which was in a concrete canyon between two more new shopping areas.
11 years ago, the White Palace diner at Canal and Roosevelt had bare lots around it, filled with the delivery trucks and cop cars of its customers. Today, it is wedged into a new shopping center, a bit of history still serving customers in the new era of its neighborhood.
We left town on time on the Capitol Limited, en route to Chicago. Amtrak's dining car menus have been standardized all over the country and the food offerings in the Capitol's diner were the same as those on the CZ.
I stayed up to take a walk on the platform at Toledo, where I discovered that new electric 662 that had come east on the Zephyr the day before we did, was behind the P42s on the point. After that, it was time for bed
DSC_0245-Ottumwa
2015 Vacation, 27 Oct, Iowa, Illinois, Chicago, Toledo
In addition to the day being Trains Magazine day (from Trains' former address of 1027 N 7th St), it was M*A*S*H corporal day for us as we passed through Radar O'Reilly's hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa in the morning and Max Klinger's town of Toledo, Ohio at night.
In between, we saw lots of harvested cornfields on the way into Chicago on the California Zephyr, as well as crossing the Mississippi River on BNSF's new bridge.
Despite the light rain in Chicago, I walked to Roosevelt Road and watched some of Metra's commuter rush hour. The area around Roosevelt Road has changed a lot since I was last there 11 years ago, when there were a lot of vacant lots and old freight houses and warehouses, are now shopping areas.
I spent most of the time watching trains south of Union Station, but walked across the Chicago River to check out the departure of a Rock Island Line train from LaSalle St Station, which was in a concrete canyon between two more new shopping areas.
11 years ago, the White Palace diner at Canal and Roosevelt had bare lots around it, filled with the delivery trucks and cop cars of its customers. Today, it is wedged into a new shopping center, a bit of history still serving customers in the new era of its neighborhood.
We left town on time on the Capitol Limited, en route to Chicago. Amtrak's dining car menus have been standardized all over the country and the food offerings in the Capitol's diner were the same as those on the CZ.
I stayed up to take a walk on the platform at Toledo, where I discovered that new electric 662 that had come east on the Zephyr the day before we did, was behind the P42s on the point. After that, it was time for bed