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Trip Report: April 23 to May 8, 2003
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
TO PITTSBURGH AND GREENVILLE, SC
Day 2. Winnemucca to Denver.
We slept well as the Zephyr sailed out of Winnemucca and across the wastelands of the Great American Desert. We didn't awaken until our early morning arrival into Salt Lake City. I checked my watch, which I had set forward to Mountain Time. It was 4:15am, and we were sitting in the yards, no station in sight. We went back to sleep, waking up later at 8:30am. We were still in Salt Lake City, now at the station platform.
As we were enjoying a breakfast of French toast, sausage, coffee, and juice, we heard the first announcement. "All passengers for Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, and Winter Park, your busses are ready for loading." Gradually, the story unfolded. The Union Pacific route to Denver via Grand Junction was closed due to a rockslide in scenic Glenwood Canyon. Passengers going to Denver and points beyond would stay on the train, which would be rerouted through Wyoming; passengers to intermediate points would be bussed. (To prove that Murphy's Law was permeating every aspect of the run of CZ #6, we learned later that a chemical spill on Interstate 80 through Glenwood Canyon turned what should have been a three hour bus ride, from Glenwood Springs to Denver, into a nine-hour endurance contest.)
The Union Pacific route through Wyoming is actually shorter and faster than the more scenic route through Colorado. But before we could depart, we had to wait for a UP locomotive and engineer to pilot our train a necessary addition since the tracks through Wyoming are equipped with cab recognition signals, a feature which Amtrak locomotives are is not supplied with. It was nearly eight hours after our scheduled arrival into Salt Lake City when the UP finally delivered.
Passengers strolled along the platform, enjoying the bracing mountain air and the view of the snow-covered mountain ranges surrounding Salt Lake City. Some basked in the spring sunshine. Everyone seemed to be taking the delay in stride without complaint.
Frequent announcements about our "progress" advised us that our UP engine was here, but not the UP engineer. Then he was here, but checking out the route, etc
We finally left a little after 11am, more than seven hours behind schedule. We backed out of the station into a wye, and turned north towards Ogden and Weber Canyon. The word from the conductor was that it would take twelve hours for us to reach Denver on this routing, due to speed restrictions on the old freight locomotive supplied by the UP. This would put us into Denver at 11:15pm, but as it turned out, he was being optimistic by about two-and-a-half hours.
Union Pacific's Overland Route has a scenic beauty all its own, totally unlike the craggy Rocky Mountains on the former Rio Grande route through Colorado. The beauty, however, is somewhat dependent upon how much rain has fallen, and once we were out of the lush Weber Canyon east of Ogden, the color was predominately brown this season. Another change since our previous trips along this route in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, is the number of heavy trucks (the eastbound all overtaking and passing us) on nearby I-80, and the amount of development of the barren lands; with fences, industrial structures, mining sites, and dirt roads slashed through the scrub. The touch of industrial mankind has been laid upon much of it, everything from a gypsum processing plant, to oil pumps, to a Coca Cola and Dr. Pepper distribution center, out in the middle of nowhere, all thanks to the Interstate Highway System. Yet there are still stretches of empty sage with oddly shaped hills. Huge red chimney-shaped rocks are surrounded by eroded sandy soil; rivers have sliced down through multi-colored layers of silt from what must have been an ancient inland sea.
This forbiddingly beautiful land is heavily populated by antelope herds; with coats the color of caramel and cream, they stand out from the dun-colored landscape.
We have the opportunity to sample the new menu sets that were introduced at the beginning of April. One feature item for lunch is beef chili with fresh onions. I have two bowls. Cecil, our friendly but fatigued waiter, wonders if he will have to charge me for the second bowl, but the Steward, Mr. Ahmed, assures him that seconds are permitted to sleeping car passengers. Everyone raves about the new Chocolate Bombe, as rich a dessert as you will find anywhere. Sylvia has the Vanilla Bean ice cream.
We learn why the crew is looking tired. They had been expecting to reach Emeryville and overnight in a hotel before returning to Chicago the following morning. Instead, their train # 5 was turned at Sparks, and there was not time for a hotel break before they had to begin their return run to Chicago as train #6.
As evening falls over the Overland Route, we enjoy a dinner of salad, steak, and baked potato. The steak is cooked to order -- as long as you order it well done! I can't resist another Chocolate Bombe.
As nightfall settles in, our train turns south along the foot of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, heading for Denver. For the first time since Salt Lake City, we have a Sprint PCS Digital Cell Phone signal, so we can check our E-mail and our Worldspan reservation system. Looking at our own Amtrak reservation, I find that someone at Amtrak has booked a Deluxe Bedroom on the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Pittsburgh for one day later. They know we aren't going to make it for tomorrow night, so someone there is planning ahead. On the outside chance that we might make a connection to the Three Rivers, which leaves at 10:30pm out of Chicago, I check availability, and find that there is an Accessible Bedroom available for general sale. I book it and hope for the best.
Completing my office work by 2am, I settle in for a long sleep. We are not yet in Denver.
End of Day 2.
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