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American Circle Train Trip
  • Sarah McCabe
  • Sarah McCabe

American Circle Train Trip

San Jose -> Milwaukee (via Portland) -> San Jose (via Denver) Read more
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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    5 am Tuesday: Fargo is Noisy

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °F

    Well, this is one of the downsides of train travel. We have stopped on a stretch of double track in order to wait for another train to pass us by. But the stretch of track we are stopped on is inside a town, Fargo, to be specific. And that means that the train crosses roads. Which means there are crossing gates with lights and bells that keep ringing as long as the train is in the way. And these bells are pretty much right outside my window. Which means I'm not getting it any more sleep until the other train passes us and we get on our way.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    11 am Tuesday: Missippi River

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    I decided to sleep in late and skip breakfast since there wasn't any big scenery I wanted to see in Minnesota. I woke up when we were coming into Minneapolis. Birth place of ... me! Not that I remember anything of the city, since I was all of 3 months old when we left.

    We made up some time and lost some time and at this point I really have no idea when we're going to arrive in Milwaukee except it'll probably be before 5:00 and after 2:00.

    We are paralleling the Mississippi River for a while. Here is a couple of photos. Ironically the icier pic is further south. We are heading south on the west bank of the river and I just keep thinking we must have crossed the river and I missed the crossing. I keep getting turned around on my head on this trip!😝    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    12:30 pm Tuesday: Crossing the Mississip

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F

    We crossed over at La Crosse (aptly named I guess). There are several islands in the middle of the river here so you never feel like you're crossing one big river but rather a whole bunch of little ones.

    There is a group of Amish or Mennonites on board now. I think they boarded at Winona MN, or possibly Red Wing. About 10 people all told ranging from babies to grandparents.

    Interestingly I could not at all recognize the language they were speaking. I expected it to sound Germanic but it was more Slavic. I just looked it up on the internet and it turns out there were two waves of Mennonite immigrants to America. One came from Germanic regions and one came from the Russia/Ukraine region. The language had lots of words I didn't recognize (but the accent was Slavic) and then every so often it would slip into English. I think they call that code switching. Really interesting to listen to but I did begin to feel like an eavesdropper (because I was totally eavesdropping) so I left the observation lounge.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    4:30 pm Tuesday: Walking Milwaukee

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    My first stop was to drop off my laundry and then it was off to the hotel. I was surprised to see very few people walking on the streets, but it was pretty cold and windy.

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    Random Train Stuff

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 37 °F

    Stuff you may be interested in if you are thinking of taking a train trip.

    Showering on a train is an adventure. Good thing there is a handle and a seat, because slippery and rocking don't go well together. To start the water you push a button but you only get about 60 seconds. it kind of encourages you to take Navy showers. When you look down at the drain you can see daylight because the water drains directly onto the tracks.

    Greg reminded me that you can store luggage in the top bunk of the roomette. That can free up a lot of space in the room and make it not feel so crowded. However it does mean that someone is short as I am can now bump their head on the top bunk. I think pretty much every normal adult could already bump their head but people my height are not used to looking out for head obstructions.

    Trains have to sound their horns at some road crossings. All trains in America use the same horn pattern: two longs, a short, and a long. Once you notice the pattern, you can't unnotice it. The All Aboard horn isn't always sounded, but when it is, it's a short and a long. Two (or sometimes three) shorts is just a greeting from one train to another, like 'hi," "I see you," or "I'm all the way past you now.".    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    5pm Tuesday: The Pfister Hotel

    March 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 37 °F

    In 15 minutes I traveled about a mile and about 100 years back in time. It is an extremely impressive hotel. I saw multiple people using the lobby for professional photos. No idea if they are staying here or just like the backdrop.Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    Wednesday: Milwaukee

    March 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 50 °F

    I walked around the downtown area near my hotel for a bit. I found a great used bookstore, so now I have even more weight in my luggage..

    It is a foggy and misty day.

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8 am Thursday: Leaving Mikwaukee

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ❄️ 34 °F

    This was the view from my window this morning. That kind of threw a monkey wrench into my plans to walk to the train station. Fortunately, my cousin Mary lives very nearby and so I texted her to get a ride instead of walking in the snow.

    This is the outside view of the side of the building. My room window was just to the right of the American flag.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    12:30 pm Thursday: Chicago Union Station

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    Now THIS is a train station. The above ground station takes up an entire city block. I know because I walked around the entire outside. Underground it is even bigger.

    There were workers repairing one of the tracks. 🎶 "That's the sound of the men working on the train gang!🎶

    There are seven long distance trains that leave from Chicago: three to the west, three to the east, and one to the south. In addition there are several commuter trains that feed in and out of here. There is a very large lounge for sleeper car and business class passengers. Lots of free snacks and drinks and plenty of seats to sit and relax in.

    I spotted several groups of Mennonites. The ones I heard that weren't speaking English sounded Germanic this time. I'm pretty sure at least some are Mennonites and not Amish, since I saw them using cell phones and watching TV.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    1 pm Thursday: Lunch in Union Station

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    I didn't want to just snack for lunch so I checked out the food court inside the station. Lots of options, nothing extremely healthy but I did get a chance to get one more serving of deep fried okra before I leave the midwest.

    While I was eating, there was a dog and handler team being trained. The trainer would set out several decoys and a real package (drugs? explosives?) and the handler would lead the dog around to see if the dog would signal at the right package when she did, she got a reward (got to play with a ball on a rope for a bit)

    The dog showed zero interest in my lunch. She sometimes had to be just disuaded from the decoys or maybe encouraged to look again at the real package but it's all a process of training.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    3:45 pm Thursday: All Aboard!

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 37 °F

    OK, I am settled in my roomette. I got my train shoes on and my train bag packed so I am ready to go!

    We got underway almost 2 hours late and I am guessing we won't make up any of that. Hopefully we won't fall too much farther behind, but who knows.

    They said the problem was with one of the engines so they needed to swap it out before we got underway instead of deciding to do that somewhere in the middle of Iowa. I'm cool with that.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    7:30 pm Thursday: Dinner in my Room

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    This train is much more full than the Empire Builder was. That means I couldn't get a table to myself for dinner. And that just seemed a little bit too close for comfort to strangers. So I ordered dinner in my room. Which was brought to me by a very nice sleeping car attendant. I'm glad we got such a nice guy on this leg of the trip.

    As the sun sank slowly into the west, or at least I think it was sinking I never saw the sun, but it kept getting darker, I tried to finish my very delicious dinner of cheese tortellini with chicken. Unfortunately I just couldn't even make a dent n most of the food. I think I overdid it on okra.    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8:45 pm Thursday: Ottumwa, IA

    March 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °F

    It was almost exactly 49 years ago that Paul and Greg and I spent a few early morning hours wandering around here. I don't know if this building is the same one as when we were there, but I don't think so. I recall the station being more cavernous, if equally empty. But then I was a lot shorter back thenRead more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    6 am Friday: Sunrise on the Plains

    April 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    I slept pretty well and woke to the sky just getting light and illuminating fields dotted with trees and occasionally cattle.

    It looks like we lost even more time overnight and we'll be getting into Denver at least 2 hours late.

    Denver is where my friends Cliff and Francis will join me for the last, and most scenic, leg of this trip. So I guess they get to sleep in a little bit more this morning    Read more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    7 am Friday: Model Town

    April 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 36 °F

    I don't know if it's the quality of light, or just the shape of the buildings, but this last little town we went through looked to me just like a model town someone would build for their miniature train display. It made me feel like I was riding on a miniature train in someone's very elaborate basement set upRead more

  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8 am Friday: April Fools Breakfast

    April 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 39 °F

    I came into the dining car for breakfast, and I asked the attendant, a very cheery Russian guy who has been very friendly the whole trip, if I could have coffee and orange juice. His face turned tragic and he said, " I am so sorry we don't have drinks right now." I'm just staring at him in puzzlement until he grins and says, "April fools!"

    Later he said it looks like it is going to rain or snow and I said, "you can't fool me twice!" but it appears he may be right.    Read more

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