The Amtrak Adirondack
The trip involved taking 3 trains. The first being the Adirondack. A train I know very well. Before my wife and I were married we had a long distance relationship. She lived in Montreal and I lived in Brooklyn. She had a car and I took the train. We did this for 3 years. I love that train ride. It is long and slow and unbelievably beautiful. This time, though, I would be only taking it as far as Schenectady where I would have a 2 hour layover before catching the next train. I did a few minutes of research and found a great bar called The 20 North Broadway Tavern. It was half a block from the station. I spent 90 minutes swilling cheap cans of PBR tall boys while listening to hilarious people shit talk one another.
The Lake Shore Limited
The 2nd train was called the Lake Shore Limited. It goes from New York to Chicago. This was my least favourite of the train rides. I boarded the already pretty busy train in Schenectady but found a double seat and got cozy. I guess it being the Sunday before Thanksgiving made it a little busier than usual. I went to the cafe/lounge car and found a bunch of already pretty drunk people arguing about politics. It was friendly enough but loud. A lot of beer and food was already sold out. Which seemed crazy since we still had 12 hours to go. At some point an extremely intoxicated woman started fighting people in the cafe/lounge car. The train had to pull over and police came on to remove her. This put us behind about an hour. Which then resulted in us getting stuck behind quite a lot of freight traffic. Amtrak doesn't own the rail lines so has a pretty small window of time between the freight trains. We ultimately arrived in Chicago 2 hours late because of this drunken asshole. Anyway, I did my best to try and sleep in coach. Ear plugs, a white noise app, and noise cancelling headphones really helped. When I went to sleep around 1am I was surrounded by some pretty trashy looking people. When I awoke about 5 hours later I was surrounded by Amish people! I had about 10 seconds of terror which turned into 30 seconds of confusion before realizing where I was. It was a pretty funny moment.
I watched the sun come up. You could see for miles and everything was covered in snow. It was actually quite beautiful. I had that first snow of the year excitement since we hadn't even had any yet in southwestern Quebec. Even Gary Indiana was rather beautiful with all the decaying industry blanketed in snow. I had planned to wander around the Printers Row are of Chicago during my 5 hour layover but that never happened. Since the layover was shortened by two hours and it was cold as hell outside - I changed my plans as soon as I saw a sign that read "Big Ass Slices, Cheap Beer, Free Wifi".
The Southwest Chief
This train ride is fantastic. I mean, everything about it was great. From pre-boarding, to boarding, to the rooms, the beds, the food, the view. I enjoyed every minute of it. The train cars are all called a superliner (except for the baggage car and engines). A superliner have two stories. My room for the trip was located on the bottom level. It took a little time to get used to size wise, but it was absolutely perfect for me. It consisted of two seats that face on another (and fold into a bed); a bunk bed that comes down above it; a big window; a fold away table; and some space to hang a few things. Walking between cars took place on the 2nd level. The hallways were a bit tight and I found myself bouncing off the walls often. It was fun. The lounge car had big windows that went right up into the ceiling and chairs positioned all the way around it to allow you to soak in all the sights the trip had to offer. And what unbelievable sights there were: Prairies, canyons, mountains, desert, towns, rivers, and the big sky. So much sky. I had my dinners, breakfast, and lunch in the dining car. They sit solo passengers with other people to save room which makes for a real fun dining experience. At one point just after Raton New Mexico we hit an elk. Poor thing. They had to double check everything. luckily everything was fine, and we were back on our way.
I had some lovely little moments along the way as well. Stepping off the train and feeling the sun on my back in La Junta. Waking up in the middle of the night and gazing up on millions of stars somewhere out on the prairies. Stretching my legs on the platform in Kansas City. Watching hundreds of red lights from wind turbines blink at the same time. Seeing wild horses run through a field.
I met some really wonderful people along the way. My neighbours across from me were great. The grandson was taking his grandmother on a train to Los Angeles where they would board a cruise to Hawaii. I had a lovely breakfast with Dottie and Marylou. They were also on "the train to Hawaii". They were two retirees who had first tried to tip me for helping them carry their bags up to the 2nd floor of the superliner. As luck would have it I ended up seated with them the next morning. At the end of our breakfast there was only Dottie an I left at the table and she told me that her husband had passed away almost 20 years ago and she misses him as much now as she did back then. I had dinner with a guy named Steve from Orange County. A big gentle giant of a man. I had a bit of an awkward lunch with a vegan woman what was sitting next to a guy who ordered the steak. They started talking at one another about it until the kid next to me managed to change the conversation.
America is such a big beautiful country. Filled with contradictions and surprises. In the middle of this election season, with the right hating the left and race playing such a part of everything - one of the loveliest sights I saw on the train was a Pueblo Indian woman sitting with a table full of Amish people talking about life and laughing with deep joy. This is the America I love.
