Trip Report: October 31 to November 26, 2007
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
GRAND LUXE LIMITED AND AMTRAK TO PITTSBURGH AND GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Day 4. Saturday, November 3.
Utah and Colorado
We have traveled this route so often, beginning in the 1960’s on the original California Zephyr, with Vista Dome cars and round end observation lounge cars, that we spent little time observing the scenery from the limited view available from Monte Carlo. Instead, we enjoyed the luxurious pleasures of the Grand Luxe Limited lounge car and dining car.
Every meal in the dining car was exquisite, even though we were limited to only two choices. Portions were small, all that was required to maintain the limited amount of activity that we indulged in during the trip. It was not possible to exit the train except in Denver, where the platform is long enough to accommodate the near double length of the California Zephyr with the Grand Luxe Limited added on, so we were limited in the amount of platform walking, and had to content ourselves with the walk through two sleepers and the lounge car to reach the diner.
All passengers who were members of Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program were credited with $100.00 at the bar, or $200.00 per couple. Even though only the finest quality beverages were stocked in the lounge car, we found it impossible to use more than half of our credit on this two day trip.
One advantage that we had over the Amtrak passengers was auxiliary generators, so that on those frequent occasions when Amtrak turns off its head end power, for reasons unknown, the Grand Luxe Limited’s generators would kick in and restore lighting and air conditioning.
Day 5. Sunday, November 4.
The Great Plains
We carried onward tickets for Amtrak’s Capitol Limited to Pittsburgh, so our usual worry is, "Will the CZ reach Chicago in time to make the connection?" We needn’t have worried, BNSF brought us into Chicago only a few minutes behind schedule. Although Chicago Union Station is well known for its exceptional Red Cap service, there just were not enough on duty to handle the extra load of the Grand Luxe Limited. We were able to load our luggage onto an electric cart, but walked the seemingly endless distance from the far reaches of the incoming track to the comfort of the Metropolitan Lounge. (We always use earplugs on this segment due the reverberating rumble of many idling locomotives in this covered facility.)
We requested Red Cap service to the Capitol Limited, and were pre-boarded onto our sleeper while our luggage was carried onboard by the Red Cap. I tip generously for this service, as the sleepers are usually a long walk from the station, and we carry two laptops and printers as well as our personal luggage. It is nice to have this heavy load delivered right to our room, in this case Bedroom E in the 3000 car, right next to the diner. This segment to Pittsburgh is short, so we retire early. Unlike on previous trips on this train, the Superliner Sleeper seems to glide along smoothly and quietly all night, and we arrive into Pittsburgh 15 minutes ahead of schedule feeling completely rested.
Autumn in Iowa
Monday through Wednesday, November 5,6,7.
Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Ambridge, Pennsylvania, 15 miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, is where Ted grew up, and his brother has returned to live in the family homestead which their parents purchased in 1958. Naturally there are ethnic food treats to be enjoyed here, derived from the Eastern European heritage, as well as some local treats such as salad with French fries (mixed in with the salad), and the famous hot beef sandwich with French fries smothered in brown gravy.
The Blishak Homestead
The H.H. Robertson Company, where Ted’s Dad worked for 40 years, is being torn down, to be replace by an industrial park, and the Ambridge Area High School, which Ted and his brother and their father attended, is in its last semester, being replaced by a new building next door.
Old Ambridge High School
The American Bridge Company office building, where Ted’s mother worked during the design of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, stands derelict and crumbling, the plans to remodel it into a retirement home very iffy, as we observe the splitting brick façade and fallen pediments. Times change.
But one thing still remains in Ambridge, the original Pennsylvania Railroad 4- track main line still curves through town, carrying the Capitol Limited as well as countless Norfolk Southern freight trains in and out of Conway Yards, just a few short miles downstream.
Thursday, November 8
Pittsburgh to Greenville.
It’s up early for the 5:45 am departure of the Capitol Limited for Washington, DC. The grand concourse of Pennsylvania Station has long been off limits to the uninvited (the building now houses condominiums), and Amtrak occupies a cramped basement level waiting room. But the service provided by the staff here is exceptional, even to the point of the agent on duty assisting us with unloading our luggage from our car. The Cap arrives a few minutes late, but not without excitement as it careens around the tight curve approaching the station and roars in under the platform canopy. (The original curve had become a challenge to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s T-1 4-4-4-4 passenger locomotives and had been expanded to a larger radius in the early 1940’s.)
We are quickly boarded and leave swiftly north up the Alleghany River, east through Panther Hollow, and southeast onto the banks of the Monongahela River, beginning its rugged climb over the Alleghany Mountains.
Although the Cap arrives nearly on time into Washington, DC, our connecting train, the Crescent, has been delayed by a balky electric locomotive at Newark and is delayed two and a half hours. The staff at the Club Acela provides us with $36.00 in cash for dinner at Union Station, where we enjoy the hustle and bustle of what may be the busiest station in the USA handling Amtrak trains, in addition to the Metro, MARC, and the Virginia Railway Express. It is certainly one of the most beautiful stations remaining, designed by Daniel Burnham, built in 1907, and rebuilt in the 1980s.
The Crescent finally boards at 9pm, and we find that the dining car has been held open for us, though we cannot utilize its amenities tonight after dining at the station. Our arrival into Greenville, SC, is scheduled for 4:54 am, extended now to 7:30am due to the delay, so we turn in immediately.
CSX in Cumberland, Maryland
Virginia Railway Express
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