Day 2 - Friday, September 4, 2015
The Royal Street was moved to the shop
and the condenser was repaired during the night. When we returned
after the Chicago Tour our stuff had been moved back to our Royal
Street bedrooms.
The Pacific Union had its own coffee at the end of the car that
wasn't ready early. The City of Angels Sleeper Lounge with kitchen
had coffee ready with continental breakfast to hold us until Chef
Carol's breakfast. After breakfast the Pacific Union and City of
Angels cars were moved to the station platform area siding for our
detraining for the 10 AM tour bus departure.
Chicago Tour - We hadn't seen Chicago and enjoyed the tour. (Page 6 of the Tour Book)
 |
 |
| Chicago Tour Bus | "The Bean" |
When the bus returned us to Union Station we waited in Amtrak's
Metropolitan Lounge for our three cars to be connected to Amtrak #30
for a 6:40 PM departure. We used our private car name tags for
access to the Metropolitan Lounge. The Lounge was carpeted,
had comfortable seating, free snacks and drinks, and restrooms in
the Lounge area. A big private car advantage is very limited
contact with Amtrak.
 |
 |
| Amtrak Ticket Counter | Lounge Drinks and Snacks |
We were able to go straight to our cars. (a private car perq) Snacks and drinks were waiting for us in the Royal Street Lounge. Dinner was served in the City of Angels dining area and the Royal Street dining area.
 |
 |
 |
| City of Angels Dining Area |
The GPS was tracking well until we began losing the signals in tunnels, woods and canyons along rivers. I gave it up for the old fashioned way of knowing our location. Use the train number timetable and a watch to estimate location. Roger usually knew if Amtrak was on schedule. An aerospace engineer later told me GPS needs signals from three different satellites to stay on track. I probably could have reacquired the signal with a little effort. The learning curve takes time away from enjoying the ride.
Day 3 - Saturday, September 5, 2015
When the train started getting near Cumberland, MD we started watching for the CXS railroad bridge replacement south of Cumberland that caused us to start a day early. We saw the new bridge and cranes ready for the swap.
 |
 |
 |
| Cumberland, MD | Cumberland Trackside Hotel | MOW Equipment |
 |
 |
 |
| Running before Washington, DC |
After lunch on board and arriving late to
Union Station we were on our own for the afternoon and dinner. We
rode the trolley with a narrated tour to see the city. Before
returning to the train for evening snacks and drinks we got ice
cream from Baskin- Robbins in Union Station.
Roger gave me a copy of the Amtrak frequencies used for our travels.
All were in my scanner except two for Richmond.
Scanners allow passengers to eavesdrop on train crews and Amtrak
employees.