Sing along with me ...
Riding on the California Zephyr,
Galesburg, Illinois Monday morning rail,
Fifteen cars and 450 restless riders,
Three Conductors and my seatmate just got out of jail
My apologies to Arlo Guthrie and Steve Goodman who wrote the classic train song “City of New Orleans” but I had plenty of time to write my own version of modern train travel on my 45-hour trip on Amtrak’s California Zephyr from Galesburg to Reno, Nev.
In all seriousness, I actually enjoyed most of the ride and met some very nice people along the way.
That’s the thing about riding trains. People are in no hurry and take the time to get to know each other.
Let’s face it — if you’re going to eat, sleep, and ride with a group of people for two days you better learn to get along.
I was on my way to an informal IVC Class of ’73 Reunion hosted by my longtime friend and classmate Donna Miller Nielsen at her home at Lake Tahoe.
I had waited till the last minute and most of the airlines were booked solid so I decided to relive one of my childhood memories of traveling by train out west.
Our family had taken the old El Capitan on the Santa Fe line from Chillicothe back in the ‘60’s to Arizona and my recollections were a bit foggy.
I could remember waking up and looking out the window at the desert landscapes with their red rocks and pulling into the stations where Navajo ladies sold colorful rugs and baskets.
This time around I would be traveling a different route through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and finally, into Nevada.
I had a few minutes to kill when I arrived at the station in Galesburg and noticed the signs to the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site nearby.
Sandburg, whose father was a Swedish immigrant who worked on the railroad, was born in a humble cottage very near the tracks and his ashes are scattered behind it under Remembrance Rock Park.
Here you may walk a winding path of stepping stones featuring short quotes from Illinois’ poet laureate while you pay your respect.
But soon the California Zephyr rumbled into the station and I boarded a full train heading west from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay area.
I was seated by the conductor next to a quiet little old lady who was traveling from the East Coast to her home in Hastings, Neb.
She and I had a pleasant conversation before I headed up to the dining car for dinner somewhere in the middle of Iowa.
Traveling alone, you are usually seated with another party and it was my good luck to be seated with Bob Foley.
Bob had begun his journey in St Louis and traveled to Chicago by train to catch the California Zephyr back to his home in Roseville, Calif.
He was one of those people who truly love riding the rails and we talked about his experiences with Amtrak.
Despite some lengthy delays and the discomfort of sleeping in his seat, he had nothing but good things to say about train travel.
He had made this trip many times before and knew exactly what lay ahead around each bend in the track. He even kept a timetable handy to record our time of arrival and departure at each station along the way.
He told me we were in for a scenic treat the next day when we traveled through central Colorado’s canyons and along the Colorado River. He was right!
After climbing up through the Rockies in a series of tunnels from Denver, we followed the Colorado River through five gorgeous canyons while enjoying the antics of the dozens of whitewater rafters.
In fact, a mother and daughter from Rockford in the seat in front of me were making the trip to Glenwood Springs for a rafting adventure of their own.
I noticed an unusually large number of families traveling together and was told Amtrak had been running a half-off special for kids.
The second night at dinner I was seated with a grandmother and her two grandchildren heading to Seattle from Denver.
They had actually been seated next to me and I had given up my seat to allow Grandma to have a seat of her own across the aisle from the two children.
Grandma made sure they minded their manners and when they put their elbows on the table they were reminded that was not acceptable.
I quickly got mine off the table and made sure I didn’t talk with my mouth full either. Just another advantage of train travel!
The second night found us rolling through Utah and I was thankfully able to sleep as we rolled past the Great Salt Lake and across the flats towards Nevada.
When I awoke from a contorted fetal position, I found myself near Winnemucca, Nev., and got off for a breath of fresh air while the crews changed.
I had to move several yards away from the platform to avoid the dense cloud of cigarette smoke as the smokers puffed furiously away in the brief amount of time allowed before the conductor shouted “All Aboard!”
I made my way to the dining car for breakfast as we made the home stretch run to Reno and as I enjoyed my scrambled eggs and bacon we were told the train might actually arrive early.
Suddenly we ground to a stop in the middle of nowhere and the announcement came over the loudspeaker.
“Folks, one of our locomotives is having trouble and we’re going to have to shut it down but don’t worry, we have another one that will get us to Reno. However, we will need to have a second one to get up over the Sierra Nevadas and we have called ahead to Sparks (suburb of Reno) where a replacement locomotive will be waiting. Should only take 15-20 minutes to change them out.”
In a few minutes we were rolling again and when we pulled into the Sparks railyard I could see the casinos in downtown Reno less than two miles away.
Twenty minutes came and went. Forty-five minutes came and went. One hour came and went. Finally another announcement.
“Sorry for the delay but it seems the replacement locomotive hadn’t been officially inspected and we’ll be under way just as soon as we find somebody to sign off on the paperwork.”
After and hour and a half delay, we finally chugged the final two miles to the Reno station completing my nearly two day journey.
Three weeks later, when I made my return trip to Galesburg we took a different route through southern Wyoming which I can assure you is one of the least scenic places in the country.
Nevertheless, I realized you have to take the good with the bad and finished reading my book before rolling into Denver two hours early.
We all welcomed the chance to explore the many trendy restaurants and bars near Union Station and nearby Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team.
After sleeping through much of Nebraska (no great loss) I awoke to the verdant green rolling hills and cornfields of Iowa and before I knew it was crossing the Mississippi at Burlington back into the Land of Lincoln.
Modern train travel in the U.S. is not for everybody but if you’ve got the time and your travel budget is limited you may want to take a look at Amtrak.
To finish the song ...
“Good morning America, how are you?
Don’t you know me, I’m your native son,
I’m the train they call the California Zephyr
I’ll be gone 1,000 miles when the day is done.”
For more about Mark Bradley, click here.
For the IVC Class of 1973 reunion -- Tales of Tahoe Part 1, click here.
For the IVC Class of 1973 reunion -- Tales of Tahoe Part 2, click here.
