{"id":2959,"date":"2013-06-26T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=2959"},"modified":"2013-06-26T10:38:51","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T14:38:51","slug":"on-the-road-with-amtraks-lake-shore-limited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/on-the-road-with-amtraks-lake-shore-limited\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Road with Amtrak\u2019s Lake Shore Limited"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brian\u2019s Trip on 448<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I rode from Chicago Union Station<\/a> over the former New York Central Water Level route to Albany and then via the Boston & Albany to Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"Amtrak<\/a>
A contemporary work of fiction: Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited public timetable. Exposed with my Lumix LX3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A familiar run, I first made this trip in August of 1983 and I\u2019ve done it many times since. However, both my first trip and most recent have a commonality: I began these trips with some photography on the former Chicago<\/a>, Burlington & Quincy \u2018Triple Track\u2019 near Aurora, rode a \u2018scoot\u2019 into Chicago and changed for the Lake Shore<\/i> at Union Station.<\/p>\n

While I enjoy train travel, I\u2019m not especially keen on really long runs. My usual limit is about 8 hours. I make exceptions for the Lake Shore<\/i>. For me this is one of the most interesting American runs.<\/p>\n

\"Amfleet<\/a>
Amfleet II rolling east. Exposed with a Lumix LX-3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The queuing process at Chicago Union leaves much to be desired. It reminded me of a recent experience with jury duty. Yet once ensconced in my seat in an Amfleet II coach I was happy enough.<\/p>\n

We departed Union Station 3 minutes after the advertised and gradually lost more time over the course of the run. I don\u2019t mind this especially, after all the train\u2019s long standing nick-name is, \u201cThe Late for Sure Limited.\u2019<\/p>\n

Gliding east in the darkness, I squinted to pick out familiar landmarks, as this trip is the thread that really ties my recent posts together.<\/p>\n

At 9:37 pm we eased over the 21st<\/sup> Street Bridge; a few minutes later we clattered across the diamonds with the old Rock Island at Englewood, and at 9:58 we raced through Hammond-Whiting<\/a>, Indiana. I noted where Chris Guss and I had stood a week earlier to photograph both an EJ&E freight and NS\u2019s Interstate Heritage Unit.<\/p>\n

Northern Indiana was alive with trains. We passed a CSX stack train at Curtis on the adjacent former Baltimore & Ohio. East of Michigan City we overtook a South Shore freight led by a pair of GP38s roaring along under wire like an apparition from another era. I heard the Doppler blast as the South Shore hit a crossing alongside of us. It was just a momentary glimpse in the night and not far from a spot where Mike Danneman made photos on an icy February afternoon some 18 years ago.<\/p>\n

A seeming endless parade of Norfolk Southern<\/a> freights greeted us on the Water Level Route. Every few minutes a low base roar would precede locomotives blasting by on an adjacent main track. Although Conrail has been gone 14 years, I still find it odd that Central\u2019s old Water Level Route is now run by two separate railroads.<\/p>\n

I dozed off, waking briefly at Toledo to watch an oil train roll east, and empty hoppers used to move fracking sand clatter west. Somewhere between Toledo and Berea, Ohio<\/a> we lost about an hour.<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise<\/a>
A jet soars westward, as Amtrak 448 approaches Berea, Ohio. Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Near Berea we met the rising sun and passed the old tower\u2014sacred ground visited by my late friend Bob Buck and countless other fans over the years. This is the divide, from here east we were rode on CSX tracks.<\/p>\n

\"Cleveland,<\/a>
Cleveland’s skyline features the Van Sweringen brothers’ famed Terminal Tower (center, near the apex of the lift bridge). Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We paused for Cleveland, then Erie, and for many miles we ran parallel to the former Nickel Plate Road, which now carries Norfolk Southern freight east of Cleveland.\u00a0 I was pleased to see many photographers line-side; my train\u2019s journey was well documented!<\/p>\n

At Buffalo, I had a pleasant surprise: instead of taking the normal route via CP Draw and CP FW, we were routed over the Compromise Branch that takes a more northerly (and slightly longer route) through Buffalo, rejoining the other line at CP 437 (the control point near the ghastly decaying remnants of Buffalo Central Terminal<\/a>). Amtrak\u2019s 48\/448 serves the suburban Buffalo-Depew<\/a> station instead of the old terminal.<\/p>\n

Behind me a woman traveler was on the phone describing her trip on Amtrak from Oregon: \u201cWe live in such an amazing <\/i>country! Crossing the plains I saw endless herds of wild Bison and red Indians on horseback! There were wagon trains crawling dusty trails against purple mountains and rainbows! And amber fields of grain! Is that wheat, do you think? And Chicago was like the emerald city, its towers scraping the sky. Such a skyline! And all through the Midwest big factories making the produce of America! It\u2019s just wonderful!\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed. Was she on number 8? Or perhaps one of those \u2018Great Trains of the Continental Route\u2019 as advertised in my August 1881 Travelers\u2019 Official Guide?<\/i><\/p>\n

At Rochester, my old friend Otto Vondrak came down for a brief visit. He and I share various Rochester-area experiences. Then eastward into ever more familiar territory.<\/p>\n

\"Otto<\/a>
Otto Vondrak gives me a wave at Rochester, New York\u2014home of Kodak. Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Schenectady, a Canadian Pacific freight overtook us on the Delaware & Hudson before we resumed our sprint to Albany-Rensselaer, where we then sat for an eternity waiting for station space. Here 48 and 448 are divided, with the latter continuing down the Hudson to New York City.<\/p>\n

\"Amtrak<\/a>
My seat on the Lake Shore. Comfortable and relaxing. Certainly superior to flying, provided time isn’t an issue. With today’s technology, I can review photos I made of Metra’s train shortly before boarding the Lake Shore. I don’t have to wait days or weeks to see my results. Well, except for the Provia I exposed with my EOS3. (I like to keep the bases covered, as it were).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

East of Rensselaer, I paid extra special attention to our progress. There are few railroads I know as well as the B&A.\u00a0 At 4:38pm we met CSX\u2019s Q283 (empty autoracks) at Chatham. We paused at CP171 (East Chatham) to let pass\u00a0our westward counterpart, train 449. At Pittsfield, CSX\u2019s Q423 (Worcester to Selkirk) was waiting for us.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>
Brian gives Q423 a roll by.
Self portrait with Lumix LX-3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"CSX<\/a>
CSX GP40-2s at North Adams Junction in Pittsfield. It was here that Bob Buck photographed a Mohawk in the snow back in 1947. Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The highlight of the trip was the sinuous descent of Washington Hill\u2019s west slope. There was test of the Westinghouse brakes near the deep rock cut east of Washington Station, and I continued my trip through time and space. Familiar places and landmarks blitzed by the glass; Lower Valley Road, Becket, Twin Ledges, old Middlefield Station, Whistler\u2019s stone bridges along the valley of the Westfield\u2019s west branch, the old helper station at Chester, and east through Huntington, Russell, and Woronoco.<\/p>\n

\"'Twin<\/a>
Drifting downgrade at the famed ‘Twin Ledges’ (between Becket and Middlefield, Massachusetts). Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Middlefield:<\/a>
Middlefield: where I’ve made many photos from that grassy knoll. Lumix LX-3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chester,<\/a>
‘Chesta!’ (Chester, Massachusetts). Lumix LX-3. (Old Norvel C. Parker grew up here).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At West Springfield we passed the old Boston & Albany yard. Watching the parade of trains in evening at the west end of the yard were ghosts of departed members of the West Springfield Train Watchers; among them founding member Norvel C. Parker, Stuart Woolley\u2014retired B&A fireman, Joseph Snopek\u2014photographer and author, and of course, Bob Buck\u2014B&A\u2019s greatest fan and proprietor of Tucker\u2019s Hobbies.\u00a0 I waved and they waved back. (Hey, at least I wasn\u2019t seeing herds of wild bison!)<\/p>\n

\"Springfield,<\/a>
‘Ah! Lovely Springfield, Massachusetts.’ Lumix, LX-3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a stop at Springfield Station, I was on my final leg of this journey. We rattled over the Palmer diamonds\u2014where I\u2019ve exposed countless photos over the years, and raced up the Quaboag River Valley, through West Warren, Warren, West Brookfield, Brookfield, and East Brookfield\u2014where my friend Dennis LeBeau and his loyal dog, Wolfie, were line-side to salute my passage.<\/p>\n

\"Palmer<\/a>
Palmer, Massachusetts, looking railroad-south on New England Central. It is here, I’ve exposed countless hundreds of images since the 1970s. Home territory and all that. And it goes by in the blink of an eye on 448!
Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"West<\/a>
West Warren, Massachusetts along the Quaboag River. Another favorite spot for railway photography. Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Worcester<\/a>
Worcester Union Station at sunset. Lumix LX-3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Worcester,<\/a>
Boston & Albany carved in stone\u2014Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Worcester, my father, Richard J. Solomon was poised to collect me. And so concluded my latest Lake Shore<\/em> epic. And, yes, 448 was indeed late: <\/i>1 hour 15 minutes passed the advertised. Tsk!<\/p>\n

\"Worcester,<\/a>
Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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