Thundering Through The Night

The Lake Shore Limited follows some of the nation’s most beautiful shorelines, combining scenic beauty with interesting history. It traverses the shores of Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and the Mohawk River.

Our train had an extended stop at Albany, the State capital of New York State. Given the limitations of the onboard buffet, I sought refuge in the station cafe. Here in Albany, the Boston and New York sections of The Lake Shore Limited meet. Then on to Syracuse - named after a city on the east coast of Sicily - it reminded me of the Rodgers and Hart’s 1938 musical The Boys from Syracuse. What wonderful songs in that show - Falling In Love With Love, This Can’t Be Love, You Took Advantage of Me, and Sing For Your Supper. Why does no one do these wonderful shows any more? Another musical memory came in the shape of Buffalo on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. Shuffle Off To Buffalo from the musical 42nd Street seemed appropriate somehow.

Stops at Cleveland (setting for the musical Curtains) and Toledo, Ohio came during the night. Surprisingly I got a reasonable sleep, although I had a Marx Brothers moment trying to master the various levers to adjust my seat into a reclining position.

I read that the train route between New York City and Chicago was once the apex of luxury travel with glamorous trains such as the famed 20th Century. Passengers boarded after walking on a red carpet and dined on lobster on fine china in the dining car. By contrast, my breakfast consisted of a chewy microwaved bagel which might have been manufactured by Wrigley’s, accompanied by a tube of cream cheese which was impossible to open, until it squirted everywhere - apart from on the bagel! Still the coffee was good as I awoke to the cornfields of Indiana. Attractive clapboard houses lined the track, many proudly displaying the Stars and Stripes.

The musical references keep coming. Elkhart, a town people say was the inspiration for Broadway’s hit, The Music Man was known as the Brass Musical Instrument Capital, and the first U.S. produced cornet was made here. We whizzed passed Gary, Indiana but I refrained from doing a Winthrop - too early in the morning for that!

We had to put our watches back by one hour, having moved from Eastern Standard Time to Central Standard Time. Running late by 2 hours, the Lake Shore Limited finally limped into Chicago’s Union Station at 11.45am after a journey of over 20 hours.

The entry into Chicago was not in the least glamorous - miles of gas and industrial works lined the tracks and the station itself looked dingy. That is until I got into the Great Hall of Chicago Union Station which was magnificent. I felt like Dorothy walking out of a dark nightmare and into a beautiful fantasy world. What a fitting welcome to the Windy City!Read more