The Mule... Part 2

[Willy2]

Okay, I got back into Omaha on Saturday Evening after riding The Mule from Independence to St. Louis, Missouri and back. Here's a report of the ride...

First, somehow, our train was 1 hour late arriving at Independence. Considering it's origin is Kansas City I have no idea how it managed to already be running an hour late after only a few miles.

The station in Independence is really nice on the outside. Tickets are not sold at the station and it is really just a place to get out of the rain on the inside. Also, the station is locked at all times except for an hour before a train arrives. According to the conductor on the train the timelock works only about half the time. We found that out because the station was locked when we got there. So... after standing around in 95 degree heat for over an hour the train finally arrived.

The trip to St. Louis was fairly uneventful. The ride is very very nice. The scenery is really nice and the trip is about the perfect length at around 5 and a half hours. There was a lot of track work around Washington, Missouri and we had about a half hour delay there. Traffic on the line is heavy. We passed well over 15 to 20 trains, mostly coal.

In St. Louis we rode Metrolink around the city which is also really neat. Also in St. Louis we saw a couple of rare locomotives. There was an unpatched Cotton Belt engine in the yards. We also saw an unpatched green Burlington Northern engine.

On the way back to Independence not much happened. There was a program on Rails and Trains in the cafe car. The dispatcher also made us wait over 30 minutes for a manifest freight.

When we got back, the station in Independence was actually unlocked.

All in all the trip was really neat and I do want to take The Mule again... That is, if Amtrak is still around by the time I have another chance.