Christmas Train Rides

[aricat]

Merry Christmas; I wonder how many of you have ridden a train on Christmas or are a railroader who worked on Christmas. It might be fun to share those  memories with others. I rode the Desert Wind from Salt Lake City Utah to LAUPT on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1979. I was going to meet a girlfriend in Southern California the day after Christmas and go to Disneyland and see other sights before flying back home together. I flew to Salt  Lake City on Western Airlines and boarded the Desert Wind. The Desert Wind was a new train Amtrak had started earlier this year and I had never ridden this route between Salt Lake City and LAUPT before. The conductor still wore his UP uniform not Amtrak's. The consist was Amfleet coaches which rode nicely on good UP track. I had a window seat to myself and quickly fell asleep. Amtrak still had a few microwaved omelets available  Christmas morning and since I awoke early I was able to purchase one before they were all gone and walked it back to my seat to eat it. Most of the other passengers found that only sandwiches and burgers were all that was available for breakfast. I felt that many passengers were upset that there were not more omelets available.

I was very surprised how many passengers boarded at Las Vegas. I got to see my first UP DD Centennials; they were very impressive. I'm from the Midwest and both the Centennials and the Mohave Desert were very interesting and quite a contrast to both the locomotives and the scenery of the Midwest. I began to see both UP and Santa Fe locomotives as we neared Barstow. On the way to Barstow I had a Christmas dinner of a microwaved Cheeseburger,potato chips and a soft drink. A Santa Fe crew took over at Barstow and wore Amtrak uniforms. The ride through Cajon Pass was fabulous needless to say. Surprisingly, there was a lot of trains; mostly Santa Fe. I wished I could have seen SP but didn't. It was busy until San Bernardino and then the Desert Wind had a leisurely run to Pasadena. The trip to Los Angeles from Pasadena was spectacular, quite a decent. This trip on the Desert Wind was a Christmas present to myself, a real railfan treat.

[henry6]

Trains are very closely related to Christmas if only because for over a century they were the way people travelled....and getting home for Christmas was the most dear.   And that thought is kind of what started my Ridewithmehenry persona and name for my semi retired lifestyle.  I grew up in New Jersey along the Lackawanna tracks in Denville so the railroad was a 24/7 affair for me...riding when I had to or could.  But it wasn't until over 20 years after leaving for college that Ridewithmehenry got started.  Yes, as I said, I would ride trains when I had to and wanted but those were commuter trains with a few college bound trips to upstate NY, a few fan trips spread around.  The family home was there in Denville and when I earned enough whiskers to get Christmas off for more than just a day or two, I started riding trains the day after Christmas. and maybe a time or two during the year.  But as trips home for long periods of times began to dwindle so did the train trips.  Then one day I called a friend and suggested we just go down to NJ or Port Jervis, NY and ride trains for the day.  We did that every month or two and soon there was a regular group going with us...no more than a car full at most from Binghamton but groups up to about 10 meeting along the route....but we have ridden every commuter route in and out of New York City on NJT, MNRR, LIRR, some Amtrak, all light rail lines, some SEPTA, and lots of the surface subway lines of MTA. (working on a few more of these routes to finish Brooklyn then will head to the Bronx for the rest).  Yeah, most of us qualify for the senior fares which keeps the price down and the milage up which makes it more possible than before.  But it is fun each time I post from my email or on FB,  I usually drive, we split the gas, parking and tolls as applicable, get the senior fares for most of us, we eat on the fly.   Bus, boat, and boots help us make connections.  For those younger of you, I call it Ridewithmehenry from the rhythmic early 50's R&B tune Rock  With Me Henry and later Pop tune Dance With Me Henry.  The whole idea came about because of the need to ride trains around Christmas.  It's fun to put the trips together and fun to Ridewithmehenry.  

A hard fan experience early on that helped.  The PC had just finished extending their third rail from Brewster to then Brewster North (today Southeast) on the Harlem line then employed a Budd RDC car to cart the stragglers on up to Dover Plains.  It was a perfectly snowy day after Christmas about 1984 or 85, I grabbed a EL train from Hoboken, PATH'd up Sixth Ave. then subwayed to GCT and the PC's two hour trek to Southeast to board the RDC to Dover Plains.  I was not the only one to choose this day to ride the RDC that day; it was overcrowded to say the least.  But probably 60% or more of the riders were railfans and the only way all could fit aboard was by opening the vestibules for standees.  On both ends of the car. In both directions of the trip.  Yeah, train trips and Christmas go together.  And I've figured out how to make it the day after Christmas about 10 to 12 times  year!.