I’m not going to fully blog about my time in the Twin Cities. The main purpose of the visit was seeing old friends. I did manage to ride Northstar on Sunday one stop from Target Field, Minneapolis to Fridley. This trip was after I attended a Minnesota Twins game and was a New York City Subway worthy packed like Sardines trip. The train had six BiLevels pulled by two locomotives with the front most door of the first car not able to open becau It didn’t give me a good impression of crowds on Commute Times Trips but made me realize just how well used the Northstar is during game days and other special events (there was also a Pride Parade going on). The most amusing moment was when the conductor (an older BNSF Railway Employee that is the contractor for this commuter line) poked his head in the door to tell people about an emergency switch to avoid leaning on. I spent the ride standing in the vestibule so I didn’t get any decent notes about Northstar. I guess finally riding this line and the Green Line Central Corridor that will open next year will just be excuses to visit my friends in the Twin Cities again.
On Monday I did have a chance to ride the Hiawatha Line (the name Blue Line is getting phased in) and got my three missing stations (one didn’t exist yet the other was closed for the building of a new parking garage) and more to bring that section up to date from my initial visit in 2007.
Tuesday came sooner than I would have liked and I tracked my train the Empire Builder finding it to be its usual hour late. The time all lost on the overnight segment through North Dakota where track work is currently occurring I’ve yet again booked a complicated multi-city ticket to get a nearly free Hiawatha Trip from Milwaukee to Chicago Tomorrow (the fare difference MSP to MKE vs CHI is something like $5). The exact ticket is MKE-CHI-SVT-GLN-CHI.
At 8:52 I get dropped off by my fiends and flash my ClubAcela card at the ticket office to get access to the Sleeping Car Lounge. The first agent is clueless about my card, the second is fine with me sitting in the lounge but tells me when the train arrives I need to take a seat in the regular lounge when the train actually comes in for the ticket collection inside the station. They collect tickets and do boarding based on destination here at MSP-Midway Station for coach passengers. This through kind of defeats the purpose of lounge access. After I go past the rope into the lounge the same agent follows me in to remind me that I need to grab a seat with the coach passengers after the train actually arrives. I even ask if I get priority boarding and the answer is a strict “No” like I’m being difficult, not an apologetic No. I need to send AGR a note about this trip and see what the response is concerning getting treated better outside of the NEC. I’m surprised how crowded the lounge is. I grab a seat on a warn out couch, the only amenity food and drink wise is a coffee maker (with only real coffee) that looks on.
- 9:01 – They make an announcement that the train is approaching at least 15 minutes before we will actually board announcement and to remain seated.
- 9:04 – The train arrives as I look out the lounge window.
- 9:08 – The conductor comes to scan the Sleeping Car passengers. I hand over my ticket, flashing my Select+ card to show why I have lounge access. She scans my ticket and tells me I still need to come inside to the podium to get my seat check (that acts like a boarding pass here at MSP).
- 9:10 – The conductor comes and hands me a seat check with MKE and tells all the sleeper passengers their attendant will come get them. She doesn’t question my presence.
- 9:15 – They board the first passengers and I get on I’m directed to the rear Portland Coach. A friendly attendant gives me an asile seat. I don’t really care since its a day train. I ask if there is any chance of an asile seat. He’s response is a “I’m sure you would prefer it.” The 808 car that has been attached to the rear of the train is clearly Chicago-bound only, fair enough.
- 9:26 –”All Aboard” call.
I snag the rear window of the 808 Coach (that’s nice and clean) as we leave Midway Station. We leave town following the Mississippi.
- 9:50-Pass the future Amtrak St Paul-Union Depot station and I notice how the switches are still under construction.
- 9:52-Come to a stop.
- 9:55-Come to a stop along the Mississippi and then owl follow it. I’m sick of standing up and return to lounge. I notice a couple of MKE in my car and wish I had asked if I could sit there. There a bunch of freight cars. There is also a technician of some type.
- 10:02-East Mississippi. We then follow a bend in the river, and it appears on the opposite train.
- 10:39-Slowly go through the rivers of Wisconsin.
At 10:43 we arrive in Red Wing, we clearly get a double-spot. We leave at 10:54 as I get the rear window.
It’s the nice scenic ride down the Mississippi through the towns and at about noon we pull into Winona. Winona is my only fresh air stop of the day today. I get off as the very rear of the train blocks a grade crossing. I walk up towards the front of the station platform across from the depot (that is set back from the platform with other tracks between it and the platform that I can’t risk venturing inside).
At 12:04 get the all aboard standing by the Seattle Sleepers. A very friendly attendant says “That’s our sound” and I reboard with the Sleeping Car passengers. She is extremely friendly to me a measly coach passenger today. I get back on Superliner II Kentucky that has had a renovation that looks different than the Superliner I Renovations. The big issue getting back to the coaches is they make the call for lunch as I’m tying to pass through the diner back to coach. It takes a while to get through the dining car as Sleeping Car passengers have lined up at the door waiting for the call.
- 12:13 – Dining Car is already on a wait list for lunch.
- 12:22 –We pass a freight train as we go along the Mississippi River.
- 12:27 – The conductor is coming through for La Crosse. I go back to last coach to look out the rear window. The attendant actually asks me what I’m doing at the door to the sleeper. I tell him I want to look out the rear window, finishing with its a coach now. We cross both banks of the Mississippi and enter La Crosse very slowly.
- 12:45 – Arrive La Crosse, we get the drone of dining car names over the pa.
- 12:53 – Cross another railroad at Grand Crossing and gain a bit more speed.
- 12:56 – The lounge car makes an announcement that were running out of food even though we brought more on in Havre. So make your selection soon. It seems like a marketing ploy to me.
- 1:13 – Pass piles of grain moving.
We get the announcement for Thomah that I visited by car and that they will have to do a two spot, a sleeper is detaining. We depart Thomah at 1:33
- 1:24 – Pass some new ballast that looks under construction.
- 1:45 – Pass some junked cars.
See an RV campground as we enter Wisconsin Dells, the tourist trap. We stop at 2:15. I get the exit photo and decide to see if anyone will notice me in the lower level of the 808 coach their two elderly couples and the car won’t be opened anywhere else as far as I know until CHI. The perfect place to try for a nap! I head downstairs and grab two empty seats to zone out and doze off in the quiet of the small Lower Level seating section.
- 2:28 – Annoucement for Portage and that only the 12 coach will open.
- 2:32 – Pass a CP freight as we enter Portage on the other track. Portage is the division Point for freight engineers. There also some BNSF locomotives. Worried about getting found I don’t bother with a rear window photo.
We arrive at 2:35 in Portage for a quick stop at leave at 2:37 to pass the passenger shelter and larger employee division point.
- 2:54 – Announcement for Columbus, 10 minutes away, I forgot how close together these stops are!
- 2:59 – They announce two stops, one for luggage and the front sleeper, the second for the 12 to 15 coaches.
- 3:02 – Arrive for the first Columbus stop, just an hour left to Milwaukee. I head upstairs and to the observation car, the time and doze in the lower level coach was exactly what I needed.
- 3:15 – They announce that Milwaukee is a fresh air and smoke stop (it wasn’t on my last trip).and that he upper portion of the observation car will be closed for cleaning. That’s a new announcement. It’s clearly an attendant who’s trying to finish early. I thought cleaning is done in Chicago after arrival?
- 3:45 – Pawkanee
- 3:51 – The last call in the lounge before our Milwaukee arrival.
- 4:00 – Through Wauwatosa
- 4:03 – Westbound 7/27/807 Passes as we enter Milwaukee. I see Miller. Everyone is worried about Chicago Connections.
I arrive in Milwaukee at 4:16. To my delight we have arrived on Track 3. All Hiawatha Trains seem to arrive on Track 1 closest to the intermodal station. I take my time getting photos of the slightly disgusting platforms with an old decrepit train shed above them. Eventually I head down the ramp and into the underpass that really needs some work done on it and back up into the modern Intermodal Station.
I get on the bus and head up to the friends house where I’m staying the night