Greetings railfans!
Tonight I board the California Zephyr, heading West to Salt Lake City. I'll be attending the final screening of "Beast of the Southern Wild" at the Sundance Film Festival, a show I had the pleasure to work on (visual effects compositing), and one that has "Ripped through Sundance"! But that story is for another forum.
This story is about my journey through the Rockies and beyond aboard the Zephyr!
I hope to post location, interesting (to me) sights, and news along the way using my mobile phone whenever service is available.
I try to post photos/videos directly when possible, but the best way to check for latest photos is to visit my main album on Photobucket: http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff504/WildMarker/
So, with that its time to get packing! The train departs tonight at 12:14am, assuming it's on schedule (knock on wood)...
I'll see ya at the next milepost! :)
-Mark
www.MarkWatson3D.com
Mark - Welcome to Trains.com!
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Mark,
I am excited to see another ride-along, and congratulations on having a film at Sundance!
I'll just find my seat now and kick me feet up.
Adam
Thanks Darren and Adam!
I just had a final dinner with dad and now it's time to clean up all my messes in the train room and work shop.
Amtrak estimates train 5 is running just 4 minutes late. :)
Wonder if Ms. Mookie - a frequent reader and poster here - and her Driver will be there at the platform in Lincoln to wave goodbye and wish you a good trip ?
Anyway, thanks for the 'heads-up', and we'll be looking forward to your 'real-time' (almost) trip report !
Might be interesting, too, to see who your fellow passenger are, and what they might have to say about the trip and the sights along the way.
Do you have a scanner ? If not, it might be worthwhile to find someone on the train who does, so you can be better informed about the railroad's operations.
- Paul North.
Ms. Mookie and her Driver have a 10:30 pm bedtime, so won't make the departing. But I do hope Amtrak is on time at least tonite. Sometimes it gets lost in the dark coming to Lincoln. (and the midnite+ boarding is a bite...)
Have a good trip er....ride.....
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
My goodness! I dont think I've ever encountered a fellow Lincolnite online this quickly before!
Speaking of getting to Lincoln, I still don't understand a thing of this new Arena and how they're planning to move the station tracks. I would say its a shame to abandon the old station building, but Amtrak barely uses but a small hallway on the side of it anymore anyways. If it wasn't for the Haymarket, I'd say that building's days are numbered. Of course, maybe they already are.
Ok, about an hour left to pack the lunch box! :)
All packed and heading to the Haymarket. Amtrak says they left Omaha 18 minutes early!
How quickly we go from 18 minutes early to 15 late. :p
Ok, let's test out the image posting:
Burlington Route 710 sits outside Lincoln Station.
And I'm on board. Shucks, they have me seat #1 which means I get to feel how smooth (rough) the rails are.
I only counted 7 superliners on today's train. 4 up front, the lounge, diner then two on the back.
Wistle just blew and we're moving. Bye bye Lincoln.
And what do ya know, interesting spotlight #1: A guy who is clearly drunk has lost his seat. The conductor is trying to help him find it but the drunk guy can't even say where he's traveling to. :p
Looking good so far!
Time for a late night snack. :) Apple sauce and strawberry pineapple jello.
OH NO. I dont have a spoon! :( I guess I'll have to improvise until morning. :p
Now pulling into Hastings.
Im starting to drift to sleep so the next update will likely be in Colorado. :)
I think I m heading to bed, too. I'll check in tomorrow.
Eastbound Zephyr just zoomed past. Still in Hastings and now that the eastbound is clear we're crawling into the station.
One last bit of fun before bed. While in Hastings, we stopped just so that my window was on the end of the platform canopy with the "Hastings" sign. I decide I'd try for a quick snapshot so I pulled out the DSLR.
I took the photo and then we started moving and the idea hit me, let's play with the lights through the window of a moving train! I set up some 3 second exposures and just started clicking as we made out way through Hastings. I must say some of them look really cool! Perhaps in Denver I can try and post them. :)
Ok, now it's really time for bed. :p
Goodmorning. The first glimpse of dawn has reached the East. We're about 50 miles away from Denver yet.
Backing into Denver Station. Hey wait a minute! It's on the wrong side! :p
Bye bye Denver. Time for breakfast! :D
Just passed through Big Ten, now we're slowly entering the tunnel district. :)
Cell service usually cuts out for the next few hours but we'll see if I get any breaks.
Good Morning Mark!
While Mark is busy shooting in and out of tunnels, here is some video I took awhile back in this section that will give you a feel for where he's at right now...
watch?v=AetppJVAb1Y
Good morning Darren!
Pulling into Fraiser / Winter Park.
Man, it is BRIGHT outside, especially considering I've been in a dark train all morning. :p
A view of the mountains over the Moffat.
Doesn't look like much snow on the ground! Can't be great for ski resorts.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
Gorgeous scenery there, Mark! I like how you called that one feature "Hemi's Spire."
......All that was pretty neat. The "stills"....comments....and video. Enjoyed it all. What an expensive route that must have been to construct, back in the days of building thru the mountain territory.
So many tunnels, and so close together. Grade seemed to be very decent. Difficult to tell, but the sound of the train seemed to be quite consistent.
Quentin
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