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CHI/ALB/BOS #48/448, The Lake Shore Limited Even with a later than schedule arrival in CHI, we have about four hours wait for the Lake Shore to ALB with a change of equipment to continue on to BOS. We wait in the Metropolital Lounge. It's a much nicer atmosphere than last year when the Lounge was being refurbished and we waited in a temporary facility. Even the folks behind the counter are nice...must be the ambiance. I go out an shoot Union Station's Great Hall and staircases from EVERY possible angle, and some that seem impossible with my combination DVD camcorder using the digital card/still mode. We boarded at 1900, plenty of time to make a schedule departure. We settle into our Viewliner accomodations (B/4810) and meet our sleeping car attendant Jeff Karsh. Dinner is being served so we head to the diner where we're greeted by Mr. Curry the Dining Car Steward. Our server is Zane, as in Zaney...and he is. Don't know whether to take him seriosly...and do, just in case. Our table mates are Ward and June. Swear to heavens, that's their names. No!, they answer our question with feigned disgust; their last name is NOT Cleaver! Ward and June are returning to Skaneatlas, NY after attending the 100th Anniversary Rotary convention. It seems all the folk on the train,except for us are Rotarians. And let me tell you, Rotarians party hard and LATE! Although no announcement is made as to why we're still in the station an hour after schedule departure a little common sense and keen eye sight tell us, we're waiting for connection passengers from the Southwest Chief, which is running just a little late tonight folks. The SC, finally pulls in on the next track some five hours late; we get our connecting passengers and we're on on well before 2100. Oh, well, it's the LS. Next morning; we have breakfast with Marge and Doreen. Doreen is a rotarian, and Marge is like us, just a civilain. Before Doreen announces her occupation it's quite clear...she's a REALTOR. She's returning to CT. Her 'significant other' who can't stand to waste time, has flown back from CHI and is already in CT. We quickly learn about Doreen's life from cradle to current moment. When we mention Ward and June from Skaneatas; she just has to meet them. They may know a guy she used to date (he too is from Skaneatas). With a great deal of guilt, we point Ward and June out to Doreen...heaven help them. We running about three hours late which isn't bad for the LS. The delay has caused more constenation with the crew than the passengers. Seems during the night we had to stop because of a problem with the crew's car. After a couple of hours it was determined it couldn't be fixed. The crew had to find some place to rest and evidently Zane wasn't very fortunate in finding a place. He is VERY petulant, bordering on the hysterical. This time we know to take him seriously. By lunch (our table mates are Adam and Coco from CHI) Zane has returned to his demeanor of last night...I still take him seriously. We arrive at ALB about 1640. Our continuing equipment to BOS is across the platform. But no one directs any one to which car is which. By trial and error we finally locate the Business Class car. The transfer of baggage is "uncoordinated" at best. Finally at 1713 we're on our way to BOS. Since we're running late AND we no longer have a Dining car, we try our luck at the "cafe" in the center of our "Business" class car. It's good that we're lucky in love, because we certainly were't in our selection of food. We had two over priced cold chicken plates; fortunately the two over priced white wines made up for them. After leaving WOR our slow progress becomes no progress. After an interminable wait the conductor advises us there is a freight in front of us with a broken coupler (shades of SL between PSN and ONT). Finally a repair is made, gratefully before the crew ran out of time. We arrive finally at BOS at 2345, a little over five hours late. Not good, but certainly better than the ten hour late arrival last year. AMTRAK has marshalled it's troop (one agent), who has marshalled his forces, a number of taxi's. We're put in a cab to Newburyport to pick up our car. Just as we're about to dive into the big dig and head north the cab driver is called on his cell phone to return to the station for another passenger to Newburyport. At last we make our escape from the Hub. Unfortunately the delay in picking up the extra passenger prevents us from using I-93 north because of continuing construction at night. We therefore have to take the Ted Williams Tunnel, transit Logan and travel local streets to route one. At last midnight thirty or so we arrive in Newburyport, pick up our car and head home, arriving just before 0100. Would we do it again? Just wait 'till next year! Epilogue: When we wake in the morning there are about a dozen messages on our answering machine. One of which is from AMTRAK lost and found in SEA. They have my cellphone! I arrange with them to mail it and that puts the the cap on:2005 TRANS-CON TRIP 2 Best regards, Rodger and Lee
Posts: 83 | From: MERRIMAC,MA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Thanks for the trip report. Next time go out and see Chicago in those 4 hours!!!
Skaneatles (pronounced skinny-atlas!) is a pretty little town on the Finger Lakes, for those who've never been. There is an old inn with good food, especially dinner (too many tour buses lunchtime) and a wonderful bakery behind it; there is also the Krebs, an 1800s restaurant still in business (I think seasonally, closed in winter?) that offers the kind of dinner you might have had on a stagecoach stop in the 1890s--a huge meal, roast beef and similar Sunday dinner fare, OK a little boring to those of us who don't love meat n potatoes when we eat out but still, the way it is served is well worth the visit (and you have to have the whole multicourse deal; you can go upstairs for smaller dinners but it's not the same!). The owners are super nice folks too. In summer there are boat rides on the lake (Lake Skaneatles). Well, all this info could be a little dated--it's been about 5 years since I've been there! but that was how it used to be!!!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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