RailForum.com
TrainWeb.com

RAILforum Post New Topic  Post A Reply
my profile | directory login | register | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» RAILforum » Passenger Trains » Amtrak » Empire Builder trip report

   
Author Topic: Empire Builder trip report
Henry Kisor
Full Member
Member # 4776

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Henry Kisor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
The report on my westbound EB trip to the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Montana, is at www.henrykisor.com/blog.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
20th Century
Full Member
Member # 2196

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for 20th Century     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Thanks Mr.Kisor. I am happy to read that you are enjoying your trip and making literary progress at the same time. I also like the photo you included.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Henry Kisor
Full Member
Member # 4776

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Henry Kisor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
I'm taking a bunch of photos and will post them when I get back to Chicago this weekend. The Izaak Walton's wireless Internet access appears to be attached to a landline dialup -- it is painfully slow and sometimes cuts out. After all, Essex is way out in the boonies and I don't think cable or DSL has gotten this far from Whitefish or Kalispell.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Wow -

wireless internet at the Izaak Walton? They didn't have that when I spent my honeymoon there!

Of course between trains and the honeymoon I didn't have time to think about the internet!

--------------------
David Pressley

Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!

Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes.

Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
train lady
Full Member
Member # 3920

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for train lady     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Henry, when I click on the url you have given I get a message that the page I want does not exist.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Henry Kisor
Full Member
Member # 4776

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Henry Kisor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Train lady, there's something fishy with the blog software. I can't see the 3/7 entry, either, when I go to http://www.henrykisor.com/blog -- it stops with the 3/5 entry.

But if you go to http://henrykisor.com/blog you will see it.

Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
HopefulRailUser
Full Member
Member # 4513

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for HopefulRailUser     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
I got the page does not exist message too but it also listed the various parts of Henry's website. Click on blog and you get there. Nice report Henry, I will be at the Inn in June for my first time. David - nice work taking your wife to a train place on your honeymoon. Once you got there did you say "Oh look, there are trains here, what a surprise?"

--------------------
Vicki in usually sunny Southern California

Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by HopefulRailUser:
I got the page does not exist message too but it also listed the various parts of Henry's website. Click on blog and you get there. Nice report Henry, I will be at the Inn in June for my first time. David - nice work taking your wife to a train place on your honeymoon. Once you got there did you say "Oh look, there are trains here, what a surprise?"

My wife is a little too savvy for that and realized what she was getting into when on drives while dating I seemed to arrive at train stations in every new town that we were exploring!

--------------------
David Pressley

Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!

Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes.

Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Henry Kisor
Full Member
Member # 4776

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Henry Kisor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Finally got the bug in the blog squashed. Either http://www.henrykisor.com/blog or http://henrykisor.com/blog will work now.

Another report posted this morning.

Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Thanks for the fix on the link Henry. Your trip report reminds me of a rail trip that I made in that pre-dawn period before most everyone had laptops and internet access......back when Amtrak's Capitol Limited had a dome car!

As spring break approached, I booked a roundtrip from Washington, DC to Denver....Capitol out, Cardinal back. I had been working in spurts preparing to write a 60-page seminar paper, one of the few remaining requirements for my Masters Degree.

I boarded the train, found my roomette, and immediately began taping note cards (yes, note cards.....that's how we learned to do it back then) to the walls around me......lot's of note cards.

To make the long story of a long paper a little shorter, in the four nights I spent on the train, I managed to write (longhand.....pencil on composition book paper) a complete first draft of my paper.

True.....I had been playing with ideas in my mind for several weeks BUT the process of actually writing....sitting uninterrupted in my room....on a moving train seemed much easier than it would have in my apartment for some reason.

--------------------
David Pressley

Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!

Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes.

Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Henry Kisor
Full Member
Member # 4776

Icon 1 posted      Profile for Henry Kisor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
David:

My theory is that a train's gentle rocking and pitching as the endless scenery slides by somehow lubricates the brain, smoothing the action of its pistons and wheels and causing the tubs of creativity to slosh over into the nerves, enabling the words to flow. Or something like that.

Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
George Harris
Full Member
Member # 2077

Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for George Harris     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Henry Kisor:
David:

My theory is that a train's gentle rocking and pitching as the endless scenery slides by somehow lubricates the brain, smoothing the action of its pistons and wheels and causing the tubs of creativity to slosh over into the nerves, enabling the words to flow. Or something like that.

Exactly! Precisely! Can't be expressed better. Conversely, riding in airplanes causes the contents of the tubs of creativity to evaporate into the thin dry air prevailing in airplane cabins. With the lack of lubrication due to dry creativity tubs, the pistons and wheels in the brain then sieze up and cease functioning.

This is an excellent explanation for the failures in our society, particularly in the political process. All politicians, business leaders, scientists, any anyone for who critical thinking and creativity is important should be required to spend no less than four 48 hour plus sessions in a train per year. Any politician who refuses to do so should be forthwith removed from office.

Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Cozyharbor
Junior Member
Member # 4868

Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Cozyharbor     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Thanks so much for the link to your blog. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about your recent experience on the Empire Builder since I'll be boarding it myself in just 2 days!

Re: the EB. I guess I'm very lucky to have had my first major rail experience aboard it, almost exactly one year ago today.

While on, I couldn't believe how nice the train was; how well kept my room; how helpful the attendant (unfortunately I can't remember his name but it might have been Louis); how delicious the food was; and how much fun it was attending a wine and cheese tasting while speeding along at a rapid pace!

I think what I like the most about train travel is the wonderful feeling of being suspended in time with no cares or responsibilities other than enjoying the scenery, chatting with newly made friends, and just relaxing.

I sometimes wonder if I had boarded any other line, if I would have had such a good time and booked 2 more trips. Though the Lake Shore Ltd's scenery wasn't as stunning as the EB's, it was still a pleasant experience and one I'll never forget.

Anyway, in two days I'll once again be on the LSL and the EB and am looking foward to it. However, this time I plan on keeping a journal on my laptop. I had done a little bit of that during the last two trips but just a few pages here and there. This time it'll be different thanks to reading the inspirational posts and blogs I discovered right here!

Cozyharbor

--------------------
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Posts: 15 | From: Maine | Registered: Mar 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Henry Kisor:
David:

My theory is that a train's gentle rocking and pitching as the endless scenery slides by somehow lubricates the brain, smoothing the action of its pistons and wheels and causing the tubs of creativity to slosh over into the nerves, enabling the words to flow. Or something like that.

If anyone would know this to be true, that would be you! I'll take your word for it!

--------------------
David Pressley

Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!

Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes.

Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

Quick Reply
Message:

HTML is not enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.

Instant Graemlins
   


Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Home Page

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2




Copyright © 2007-2016 TrainWeb, Inc. Top of Page|TrainWeb|About Us|Advertise With Us|Contact Us