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[aricat]

  I would like to share my memories of a train trip from Minneapolis Minnesota to New York City on August 6-7 1959. My family rode the Burlington Morning Zephyr from Minneapolis to Union Station in Chicago; then the Pennsy's General from Chicago to Penn Station in New York. The Zephyr left Minneapolis promptly at 9:00 am and headed across the Stone Arch Bridge for St Paul. The sky was overcast with a threat of rain. I noted that the North Coast Limited was just pulling in to the GN station as the Zephyr departed. We picked up speed a we passed by the University of Minnesota and the East Minneapolis yard. The train was operating on standard time,however, Minnesota Wisconsin and Illinois were all on daylight time. The morning load factor seemed pretty good and the Vista-dome was about half full. The Zephyr left St Paul on time and made its way quickly through Newport and Cottage Grove before coming to halt at the signal near St Croix tower. After about a 15 to 20 minute wait guess what we were waiting for; the North Coast Limited. We started up again and headed for Wisconsin. When we crossed the St Croix river at Prescott it was pouring rain. The ride was uneventful as we made our way along the Mississippi. It stopped raining by the time we arrived at Winona Junction. La Crosse was our next stop then East Dubuque. We would have lunch in the diner and sat with a woman who was traveling to New Orleans. At East Dubuque I saw an IC freight powered by a trio of black Geeps. Savana brought sunshine and the final run into Chicago would be bright skies. My Mom noticed that the train was running late and it would be a very tight connection with the Pennsy. At Aurora the Burlington porter came through the train and asked if any one was making connections.He would make sure bags were on the platform and ready to grab when we got off. The North Coast Limited needless to say occupied the track between the Zephyr and the General,the connection in Chicago would get intersting. My Mom and my Sister both in high heels were not going to move very fast. We made our way up the platform and there was no stopping to admire the Burlington E's this trip. We finally found a redcap and were to make the General with only a moment to spare. The train was moving even before we got to our seats. I spent the 30 minutes to Gary watching action; my Mom was very happy that she did not have to pay for a Pullman on the Broadway Limited. School teachers are on a limited budget. The General's run through Indiana was made with skies sunny and fast running until we decided to go to the diner when we stopped in front of a string of boxcars and remained their while we ate our supper. The food was good. I remember that a coke was 20 cents on the Pennsy, 15 cents on the Burlington and dime in most vending machines. We started to move again when dessert came. It stayed light until Van Wert Ohio. I remember the thrill of racing through small Ohio towns at night. I stayed awake until Canton Ohio and slept solid until Harrisburg. I was excited this was my first ride behind a GG1. I remember a wonderful Pennsy breakfast and the ride through eastern Pennsylvania and the main line towns nears Philadelphia. I remember going by the Budd plant and thought of the Burlington. We crossed the Delaware near Trenton hoplessly 90 minutes late. The train was nearly full now as the train neared Newark. We made our way under the Hudson into Penn Station and its high level platforms. We were all tired from our long  trip, sometimes I wish we had missed the General and rode the Pullmans on the Broadway. Riding coach all night takes a lot out of you.

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Beauty, Lars!

 

Check this one out . . . .

 

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

I'll match that C&NW . . .

 

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Diversity doesn't hurt a thing, Lars! Let's see what this brings . . .

 

  

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Just a wee bit of something to keep this lonely thread up 'n runnin' . . .

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Thanks for the NYC poster - really enjoyed it!

Something from the old country . . .

Norwegian State Railways Class 73 EMU high-speed train - photo credit: Ian Britton from www.freefoto.com

 

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Hey Lars! New YAWK Central is always a good choice!

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Not a huge fan of UP, but they did operate some fine streamliners . . .

How about a little NYC today?!!?

 

NYC F7A #1851 (courtesy: http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net)

 

 

NYC PA3 #4210 (photo credit: Bill Waller)

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

I enjoy both of the NP schemes! Good to see CM3 Shane over here . . .

Can't go wrong with the New Haven! Nice one from Lars . . .

From the bar . . .

Some drumheads of the Union Pacific

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Is that SHANE I see?? <double wow>

A little something from New England for Da Man!

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[coalminer3]

Hi Tom - I touched on this on my visit to the bar today.  The pciture on the book cover is the "older" NP livery I mentioned.

work safe

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Northern Pacific is a "keeper," Lars . . .

Check this one out!

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

A steamer from France - now we don't see that very often!

My offering for this Thursday .  .  .

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Back to you 'n me on the lonely Thread, eh Lars? That's okay - we're havin' fun!

From ExpoRail Canadian Railway Museum . . .

SNCF (France) 030C841 (0-6-0) - Built by S.A.C.M (1883) <personal foto>

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Something from our side of the pond . . .

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Appears that Ron is operating on a different main line! <grin>

Something for the day . . . .

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[Anonymous]

Them Swedish electric's are fine looking engines.

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Like those UltraDomes, eh Lars Guess that's why your called LoveDomes!

From my 2006 Alaskan Rail Adventure . . . .

AAR Denali Star northbound in the Alaska Range <personal foto>

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Now that's a nifty bit of steam loco engineering from Alaska.

Changing pace a bit . . .

Colorado Railcar UltraDome- Princess cruise lines

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Those UltrDomes are fine looking cars - somehow just can't get used to cruise ships using 'em . . . ya know, hardly "real" trains 'n all of that. But, in this day 'n age, "we takes, what we gets" eh

Something from my Alaska trip last year <personal foto>

 

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Let's see what is in the 'hopper' for this Saturday . . .

 

Colorado Railcar Ultra Dome - Celebrity cruise lines

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

The UltraDomes are "cool" . . . really enjoyed traveling in 'em up in Alaska. Thanx, Lars!

Here's "our" car at boading time in Anchorage for the Denali Star (Anchorage to Fairbanks) . . . <personal foto>

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Good to see Ron over here! Yeah, that looks about right as far as the scale goes. An eye catching monument, huh Probably should post your comments at the bar - get far more "play" over there.

I see Da Boss has moved on to Euro Domes! Here's one much closer to home.

 

Colorado Railcar Ultra Dome - ARR

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

A most interesting shot from Lars 'n some dialogue from Ron!

Switzerland TEE, built in 1962 by DBAG (Deutsche Bahn AG), Germany (courtesy: www.trainweb.org)

Enjoy!

Tom

[Anonymous]

Lars, It looks like the monument of that first dome car was built to a scale of 1-1/2" to the foot. Does that sound about right? I regret to have never ridden in a dome car. Not until I saw the pictures taken from the dome do I realize what fantastic views are available. I have a friend from Scotland, whom I have known for about 35 years. He doesn't drive a car and doesn't like flying. He works as a "job shopper" and always travels by rail to where ever the job is. He packs all of his belongings into a steamer trunk and goes. Of all the people who travel due to job requirements, I bet my friend has more miles by rail as a passenger than anyone. Sounds like he has the right idea. We have all fantasized about what we would like to do when we grow up. To me it was a locomotive engineer. I always regarded it as the perfect job, but that is from today's perspective. The only other job I would like to have would be that of a lighthouse keeper. Later dude, Ron. P.S. I probably should have posted this over on "Our place", but I got carried away after my initial sentence.

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Here's one not seen on this thread . . .

 

The monument erected to commemorate construction of the first dome car. The monument originally stood in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado; it is seen here in its current location at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. (credit: Sean Lamb - wikipedia.com)

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

Hmmmmm, a challenge from Lars!

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

A bit disjointed this day . . . got far too much on my plate for a retired old guy. But, here's something on a road we don't get much info on . . .

 

 

 

 

Until the next time!

Lars

[siberianmo]

G'day!

A real keeper from Lars - X2000 all the way!

 

Sweden: The Y3-class diesel multiple-unit trainsets were built by the German company LHB in 1966-67 (courtesy: www.trainweb.com)

 

Enjoy!

Tom

[LoveDomes]

Ahoy Cap'n Tom!

Futuristic Swede!

Sweden X2000 (SJ AB) (photo credit: unknown)

 

Until the next time!

Lars