New York to Oklahoma by Train

All my friends that I'm meeting now at the Beta Theta Pi Convention are asking me the same question:  "How was it?"  This of course is in reference to my 56-hour train trip from New York City to Oklahoma City.

The answer depends on the fact that I treat a trip like this as a cruise, where the travel is itself the experience.  Delays and such are simply a fact of life in rail travel, and I try not to get too wound up about them.  At the same time, my methodical mind wants to know if we are ahead or behind the published timetable, and by how much!

The trip began at Pennsylvania Station in New York, which occupies several underground levels beneath Madison Square Garden.  From the street, you simply walk in and immediately ride an escalator down into the station concourse.  It's very crowded -- the station is not nearly big enough for all the commuter trains and intercity trains using it.  After a short lineup, I got my big bag checked to Chicago.  The agent offered no explanation of why he couldn't check it all the way through.

I then made my way to Amtrak's Club Acela lounge to wait for my train.  This lounge is for first class passengers and for sleeper passengers, but is about 1/10 the size of the Business Lounge at Toronto's Union Station.  I got one of the very last seats left, and the lounge stayed that crowded until after a Florida train, a Washington DC train, and a Boston train had all boarded.  In due time a call came for us to assemble outside the lounge, and then an Amtrak agent walked us to the right escalator, down onto the platform, and along to where the train's chief conductor awaited.  In quick time we all got into our correct cars and rooms, and started figuring out where to put things.  Those sleeper compartments are very cosy!

The Lake Shore Limited rolled away about 15 minutes late -- that was a sign of things to come for sure!  The track rolls north for quite a distance through tunnel and then under cover of the West Side Highway, and finally emerges onto the bank of the Hudson River in the north end of Manhattan, just before we passed under the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey.  And wonder of wonders, for the first time in four days, the sun was actually shining.

Soon after that, we rolled across the short bridge off the island of Manhattan and north through the outer suburbs along the river.  In fact, the old New York Central Railway line sticks right to the east bank of the Hudson River almost the entire distance from New York to Albany.  Among the interesting sights was this construction site of a new double bridge across the widest stretch of the river, known by the old Dutch name of Tappan Zee.

Farther north, the mountains close in on either side and the dramatically-sited Bear Mountain bridge provides another crossing point.

Beyond Bear Mountain, the train for several miles gives a grandstand view of the imposing buildings of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point.

More mountain landscapes continue along the way.

Not far north of West Point, Pollepel Island is dominated by the crumbling ruins of Bannerman Castle, a replica Scottish Highland castle begun in 1901 by munitions dealer Frank Bannerman.

A power plant appears as the backdrop to one of the many barges and towboats which make the Hudson a busy commercial waterway.  

Finally, two and a half hours after leaving New York, the train rolls across the river itself at the state capital city of Albany -- and it's worth noting that even this far north the river is still a tidal estuary.

At Albany, there's a lengthy stop while the cars coming in from Boston are spliced into The Lake Shore Limited.  During that entire process, about 25 minutes, there is no power, no light, no air conditioning on the train.  This means that the dinner seatings in the dining car are at 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 (before the stop) or at 7:00 (after the train leaves Albany westbound).  We were actually a bit later even than that, and with the clouds moving in again it was soon dark.  I had my bed made up at 9:00 as I was pretty tired, and was soon asleep.  The roomette bed was so tiny that I was bumping my tailbone on the window frame and kissing my bag at the same time, except when I turned over and reversed that!  But I still managed to get a fair bit of sleep and woke up for good around 7:00.

By this time we well into Ohio and shortly after we stopped at Sandusky.  Since we should have been there at 4:30 it was obvious that we were about 3 hours behind.  Well, that left plenty of time for breakfast and to while the morning away.  It was now very sunny, but there was surprisingly little variety of scenery: level farm fields, an occasional village or belt of trees, and every so often a rough looking ex-industrial town.  That, for instance, was all we saw of South Bend, Indiana -- the famous campus of Notre Dame University is several miles north of the train line.  But then, railway lines rarely show you the best of any city.  Still, I think you have to admire the skill, tenacity, and bravery underlying the decor on this abandoned building in Chicago.

After South Bend it was time to reset to Central Time, and we arrived in Chicago still 3 hours behind schedule.  I then had to wait 40 minutes for my checked bag to come into the baggage claim area, and barely had time to make it back down to the gates before the boarding process began for the Texas Eagle -- the daily train to St. Louis, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio.  That damn big bag had to come on the sleeper car with me, as it was too late to check it in for this train.

It was such a rush that I had no time to eat lunch in Chicago, so I made a beeline for the cafe lounge car as soon as it opened.  A giant sandwich gave me enough fuel to get through till dinnertime, and a half bottle of wine rubbed off the remaining edges of stress from the Chicago connection.  

As the day wore on, the landscape remained much the same as in the morning -- it doesn't lend itself to pictures since you can't really tell what you're seeing.  But there were a couple of more interesting towns -- and it's hard to imagine a Middle America town more normal than this one in Illinois:

Shortly afterwards, we passed through the Illinois state capital of Springfield, early adulthood home of Abraham Lincoln, and one of no less than 22 Springfields in the USA.  The state capitol building is certainly imposing.

Although The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has stated that his Springfield is loosely modeled on his own home town of Portland OR, it's kind of tempting to imagine that station wagon racing into a driveway on a quiet peaceful street like this one.

After that super-late lunch, I opted for a 7:00 pm sitting for dinner.  And that was my undoing.  We weren't seated until 7:25, and 10 minutes later I watched, helpless, as the train rolled south down the Mississippi River past the iconic Gateway Arch, then across the river with a spectacular sunset view of all the bridges and into the city of St. Louis.  All that was clearly visible out the right side of the dining car.  I was helpless because I was stuck over on the left-side window seat at a full table, with a splendid view of an endless freight train on the Mississippi River bridge.  I couldn't even get out of the train for a walk during the 30-minute stop in St. Louis (and another brief power outage) as I was still waiting for my dinner to arrive on the table.  *SIGH*

It was almost full dark by the time we left St. Louis, and if there's one unfortunate aspect of the Texas Eagle's timetable it's the way that the train rolls through the beautiful scenic Ozark Mountain plateau country of Arkansas in the middle of the night.  At least I slept well again.  By the time I was awake, showered, dressed and eating breakfast we were stopping at Marshall TX only a bit late.  Then we got held up by a track repair job ahead of us -- a cracked rail.  Once it was repaired we had to keep waiting while a series of freight trains, half a dozen in all, rumbled past us in both directions.  When we finally got to Longview, we were three hours late.  So we had the regular extended smokers' stop in Longview instead of Dallas.

All through Texas the track was lined with belts of forest.  Sometimes they just screened the view of whatever farm or ranch lands were close at hand, but sometimes they were much denser.  Here are a couple of representative views:

Eventually we rolled into Dallas.  We got some splendid views of the city's burgeoning skyline on the way into town.

The station here acts as a terminal for the express train to Fort Worth and for the local light rail transit in Dallas, shown here.

Looming directly behind the station is the 561-foot Reunion Tower, a major Dallas landmark.  The lights studding the spherical top are illuminated at night in multiple colours, and the tower contains multiple restaurants and observation decks.

The stop in Dallas was cut as short as possible, and at the moment we started out of the station I was glued to the window with my phone in hand.  Remember this historic moment?

The railway line rolls right across the underpass at the bottom of Dealey Plaza, mere feet from the spot where the President was shot.  Here's how the scene looks today.

The leg from Dallas to Fort Worth is not long, and we made up some time but were still over 2 hours late.  Well, that was okay.  It meant a much shorter wait before the Heartland Flyer loaded up for the 4-hour run north to Oklahoma City.  Once again, though, we were the victims of freight traffic, and the train took almost an hour longer than scheduled -- all this on a super-hot day, with the air conditioning running at a minimal level, although it was running.

We passed through some characteristic ranch country as we headed north.

After the town of Ardmore, with night coming down fast, I got one final view of the serene Washita River as the train crossed.

It was almost 10:30 pm as we finally backed into the platform at the old Santa Fe station in the heart of Oklahoma City.  With the building and parking lot both under renovations, we had to walk out through construction hoardings and fences.  It took me a few very hot minutes to walk to my hotel, just a block away.  This morning, from my room, I got one final picture of the train at the station before it left to head back down to Fort Worth.

Beyond the station is Oklahoma City's crown jewel, the Bricktown historic restoration area, filled with shops, galleries, and restaurants.

Amtrak and VIA Rail: Point by Point Comparison

This post is primarily of interest to those thinking of taking long-distance train trips in either Canada or the United States.  Others, feel free to skip -- although it might give you some ideas too.

The important thing to remember, in both countries, is that these long-distance train routes are better seen as a "cruise on wheels" than as a means of getting from Point A to Point B.  As we rolled into Oklahoma City last night, almost an hour late, the complaints about how long the trip took and so on were all coming from people who used them as straight-up transportation.  Reality check: airlines are cheaper and far faster over distances in excess of 1000 miles/1600 kilometres.

So, my comparison and comments are based on considering the cruise-on-wheels aspect of these rail trips.  This precludes any examination of travel in coach class, since I have used the sleepers.

[1]  Buying tickets.  Easy and efficient online ticket sales at both companies.  Neither one allows for selection of your favourite accommodation online -- only the type of accommodation.  If you are very particular and just have to have that certain room, you still have to reserve by phone.

WINNER:  Tie.  It's long past time both companies' online booking engines 

                                     included individual seat/berth/room selections!

[2]  Baggage.  VIA Rail had no problem tagging my bag all the way from start to destination, even when two different tickets were involved.  Amtrak refused to tag my bag through, even on a single ticket, and no explanation was given.  They just wouldn't do it.  In the event, I think this was because they knew that the train would arrive in Chicago very late, due to track maintenance work.  VIA trashed my bag once, and paid minimal compensation.  Neither company has done that to me since.  Amtrak took 40 minutes to start delivering baggage into the baggage room in Chicago, their main hub.  VIA took 25 minutes for at least twice as many passengers in Toronto, their main hub.

WINNER:  VIA Rail by a small margin.  Both could do better.

[3]  Roomettes: on both companies, are very cramped when the bed is down.  Amtrak Viewliner roomette has a toilet which is usable 24/7, but so tiny and cramped that using it when the bed is down is a real challenge.  Amtrak Superliner roomette has no toilet at all.  VIA Rail roomette has a toilet, but the bed rests on it when folded down so it's only usable in daytime.  Amtrak Viewliner has better lighting, more controllable ventilation, and a more comfortable seat.  Beds are about equally comfortable, but VIA's roomette has a bed which is about 3 inches wider.

WINNER:  Amtrak.

[4]  Bedrooms: VIA's bedroom on their 1950s Budd equipment (on The Canadian) has a sink and toilet, Amtrak's bedroom adds a shower.  VIA's Renaissance sleepers (on The Ocean) have only bedrooms, with 60% of rooms having a shower, and all with basin and toilet.  The Renaissance sleepers are also the only ones of any of these trains that can be locked from the outside when you are out of the room.  All toilet/shower facilities are cramped.  Amtrak bedrooms are a little bigger, provide more leg room, and have a 1⅓ width bed, giving more sleeping room than any of the others.  The Renaissance sleepers have the narrowest beds of any of the bedrooms.  VIA's Budd car bedrooms have individual armchairs, by far the most comfortable daytime seating.

Pictures and floor plans of all accommodations can be found on both VIA and Amtrak websites.

WINNER:  Amtrak.

[5]  Service:  In sleeping cars, universally good across both companies.  Attendants pay attention to when people disappear for breakfast, and beds are made up into daytime seating when you get back.  VIA's dome cars include free coffee, tea, and snacks for sleeper passengers.  Amtrak has free coffee and water in each sleeping car.  VIA servers come around in the dome car to answer questions, tell about what you're seeing, host wine and beer tastings, introduce entertainers. and sell drinks.  Amtrak's single lounge car doubles as a cafe for coach passengers, and all food/refreshments must be bought at the counter.

WINNER:  VIA Rail, because of the dome car service.

[6]  Dining Car Seating and Service: just like any cruise ship, the quality and variety of all included meals and service at those meals is a major preoccupation.  Both companies take advance reservations for dinner.  VIA also takes reservations for lunch on The Canadian and The Ocean, in high season at least.  Reservations are taken by a dining car attendant who walks through the train.  Amtrak takes meal reservations in 30-minute increments, VIA has two or three time-designated "sittings" for those meals.  Service during meals is very good in both companies.  Amtrak servers have to use a cumbersome order form to record all your choices, and you learn to write your name, room number, and car number on the slip at each meal.  Bring a pen.  Because of the system for heating of food, meals on Amtrak tend to land on the table more quickly.  VIA Rail trains use linen table cloths, centrepieces, dishware and glassware, and good cutlery.  Amtrak's dinette-style tables are covered with a thick stack of paper covers, and all dishes and glasses are plastic -- thin enough that they flex ominously when they have to be lifted, or if they slide to the edge of the stacked-up paper covers when you are cutting food.  One train even had plastic cutlery, coloured with an ugly fake silverware colour.  The other at least had real cutlery.  I shudder at the thought of where all that plastic is going after meals.

WINNER:  VIA Rail, on presentation of meals.

[7]  Food and Beverage:  On both companies, each meal time offers three or four entree choices.  Wine and beer is available at an extra charge on both.  Most Amtrak trains use the same standard menu, which means that if you take a long multi-train trip you are likely to be eating the same limited round of dishes for as long as you are rolling.  Some choices are very limited.  For instance, all you can get in the way of breakfast bread is a croissant or a whole-wheat biscuit.  All food is reheated for serving.  VIA Rail, on The Canadian, still cooks food to order, and the round of dishes is organized in such a way that there are no repeats in either lunch or dinner menus across the entire four-day trip.  Dishes are in some cases geared to the region through which you travel.  Even the omelette of the day and the pancakes of the day change up daily on the breakfast menu.  There's a selection of wines or beers at each lunch and dinner meal.  On board The Ocean (to Halifax) the food is reheated, but the same menu principles apply and the wines are also regional products.

WINNER:  VIA Rail hits this one clear out of the ballpark. 

[8]  Customer Information:  On both companies, the long-distance trains have to take a back seat to freight trains because the freight lines own the rails.  On VIA and on two of my three Amtrak trains, regular announcements were made to keep us in the picture.  One Amtrak train offered no updates at all, even when running three hours late.  VIA's website does include a warning when you book The Canadian that you should not book connecting transportation for the day of arrival, which is a sensible precaution for most such train trips.

WINNER:  Tie.

So, which one is better?  I guess it depends on your priorities, but food is one of my big priorities when travelling so VIA Rail would get my vote.  By the way, I'm not just being a gourmand -- I am diabetic, and with Amtrak's menu selections it is really difficult for me to keep my diet in balance!

On the Trak in the USA

Last year, as my faithful readers will recall, I toured the two major rail routes running across Canada from Halifax to Montreal, and from Toronto to Vancouver.

This week I am going to sample, for the first time, the long distance train services offered in the United States by Amtrak, the National Passenger Rail Corporation.

The history of Amtrak is similar to that of VIA Rail Canada -- the establishment of a government-sponsored entity to keep passenger rail services alive when privately-owned railway corporations were trying to shut them down, and the subsequent ongoing budgetary battles as penny-wise and pound-foolish politicians tried repeatedly to slash funding to the trains.

In practice, both systems carry most of their passengers along heavily-travelled "Corridor" routes connecting several major cities with multiple trains requiring only part of a day to complete their journey.  Amtrak's main "Corridor" is the route Boston-New York-Washington; other "corridors" operate in half a dozen assorted states.  Both systems also operate a much smaller number of long-distance trains equipped with sightseeing lounge cars, sleeping cars and dining cars

At this point the similarities stop, because the demographic and geographic factors of the two countries are so different -- although there are some superficial similarities.

My interest as a traveller is primarily in the long distance overnight services.  VIA Rail has only three, including the Winnipeg-The Pas-Churchill route in Manitoba which I have yet to try.  Amtrak operates fourteen such trains, twelve of which operate daily (VIA's trio are all operating 2-3 times a week).  Here's a complete route map taken out of the Amtrak timetable.

One of Amtrak's roster is the nightly Auto Train, said to be the longest passenger train in the world, which runs from Lorton (Virginia) to Sanford (Florida) with a roster of coaches, sleepers, dining cars (in the plural!), and twenty or more double-decked car carriers.  All patrons of the Auto Train miss out on a whole day of boring freeway travel on congested I-95 and sleep the night away with dinner and breakfast included while their cars travel right along with them from the metropolitan Washington DC area to central Florida, just outside Orlando.

Also on offer are two daily trains from New York to Miami, daily services from New York and from Chicago to New Orleans, daily services from New York and Boston or from Washington to Chicago, and from Chicago to Dallas and San Antonio.  West of Chicago there are three daily trains to the coast, serving routes to Los Angeles, to the San Francisco Bay Area, and to Seattle and Portland.  The west coast carries an overnight service from Los Angeles north through the Bay Area and Portland to Seattle.

As well, there are two trains that operate 3 times weekly: from New Orleans to Los Angeles, and from New York and Washington to Chicago by way of the Virginia and West Virginia mountain country.  On all of these services (except one of the New York-Miami trains) the sleeping car passengers have meals included in the fare, similar to VIA Rail Canada's practice.

As the map shows, Chicago is the common terminal point of the majority of these long-haul trains, and schedules are organized to allow for numerous connections through this busy hub station.

The great distinguishing mark of the majority of Amtrak long-range trains is the use of double-decker Superliner cars, originally built in the 1970s, which include coaches, sleepers, lounges, and dining cars.  These cars are configured so that the walk from car to car through the train is all on the upper level.  Unlike VIA Rail, every single coach and sleeper includes accommodation for handicapped travellers (and a few other passengers) on the lower level.

The only long-distance routes not using the tall Superliners are the five overnight trains which operate to and from New York, where the tunnels in and out of Penn Station aren't big enough to accommodate those taller vehicles.  There, Amtrak uses a new generation of single-decked cars called Viewliners, built in the 1990s.  Again, every Viewliner sleeper has a handicapped room. The unique feature of the Viewliner sleeper is the double row of windows, which means that each upper berth -- for the first time ever -- has a window of its own.  And now you know why it's called a "Viewliner"!

The other key difference from VIA Rail's long-haul sleepers comes in the roomettes.  These are compact private rooms where the bed, when set up, takes up almost the entire space.  Unlike the older VIA Rail sleepers used on trains to Vancouver and Churchill, the Amtrak Viewliners and Superliners all have upper berths in each roomette as well as in the larger and more expensive bedrooms.    Thus, the Superliner sleeper can carry up to 44 people, and the Viewliner as many as 30 -- in contrast to the maximum capacity of 22 in the Canadian sleeper cars.  Due to this greatly-increased carrying capacity, Amtrak long-distance trains (except for the Auto Train) are much shorter than their Canadian counterparts, even in the peak seasons.

So which route will I be using?  I'll be travelling west from New York on the "Lake Shore Limited", a 19-hour run to Chicago via Buffalo and Cleveland.  In Chicago, I'll have a 4-hour stopover, and then board the "Texas Eagle" for the 24-hour journey down to Fort Worth in (where else?) Texas.  Another 4-hour wait, and then the final leg of my trip is on a 4-hour train with Superliner coaches running from Fort Worth north to Oklahoma City, called the "Heartland Flyer".

Does it really "fly"?  Time will tell.  But certainly, many parts of the Amtrak system are rated for much higher maximum speeds than corresponding lines in Canada.  That fact alone explains why any of the major cross-country routes can get you from New York or Washington to the west coast in 3 nights, whereas VIA Rail's Canadian takes 4 nights from Toronto to Vancouver or vice versa.

On the other hand, Amtrak -- like VIA Rail -- incurs chronic delays due to sharing tracks for the long-haul trains with their owners, the profit-driven freight railroad companies.  I've been tracking the daily performance of the trains I'm going to be riding, and delays of 2 hours or more are not uncommon.  But let's be fair; there are also days when trains arrive anything up to 45 minutes early!

I'm looking forward to this trip as a chance to really compare the services of the two systems, and of course I'll be reporting in detail on the pluses and minuses of each one once I have finished my Amtrak journey.  

Beyond any doubt, I've been seduced by the siren song of these long distance train trips.  I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy myself.

Out and About in New York, New York

This first visit to New York hasn't exactly worked out as I hoped.  For one thing, the weather has been foul: hot, sticky, cloudy, and apt to rain without warning at any moment -- and that's expected to continue for several more days here.  But, well -- when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.

Two nights ago, I happened to look out my 40th floor window one more time before hitting the hay, and saw this dramatic sight:

So cloudy weather does have its up side.

Yesterday morning, I was just finishing a lazy, late (for me) breakfast when I noticed that the watery sunshine was starting to appear outside.  I downed my coffee, signed off on the bill, and headed out for a walk around the neighbourhood.

And I very quickly discovered that in the area around Times Square you don't actually SEE the sun on the ground except if you happen to be in the right spot at the right time of day.  With all the tall buildings around, it's a kind of reverse sundial -- the clock time would be represented by where the light falls instead of the shadow!

From my hotel, it's literally just a minute's walk to the end of the block and turn the corner -- and you're on Times Square, the heart of the Broadway theatre district which spreads out for quite a distance in every direction from that point.

But if you're expecting to see an actual square, forget it.  Times Square is the intersection where the diagonal of Broadway cuts across the grid of Eighth Avenue crossing 43rd, 44th, 45th, and 46th Streets.  In a word, it's a canyon -- like every other street in this part of Manhattan, except wider because of the multiple intersecting roadways.

When you bring your eyes down to ground level, the whole area turns into a complete circus of a city neighbourhood.  You see cartoon characters and superheros on the sidewalks, tour bus touts, and street vendor food carts.  Every second person has their eyes cranked towards the sky, busily taking pictures.  For once, I saw very few selfie sticks.  They'd be useless here; you couldn't cram enough background into your pic to make it worthwhile!

The garish signs advertise theatres, of course, but also restaurants, hotels, amusement arcades, haunted houses, and more -- many of them in repurposed theatres.  For anyone familiar with Niagara Falls, Ontario, just imagine Clifton Hill on flat ground but blown up to super-ultra-giant size.

By the way, these pictures were taken between 8:30 and 9:00 on a Sunday morning, and it was already a totally happening area.  By 5:00 pm the sidewalks were so stiff with bodies that it took twice as long to walk any place in the area.

After an hour of that walk, I was bursting a sweat, so I got back into air-conditioned comfort and planned my next move.  At 11:30 I took a taxi up to Lincoln Center, almost 20 blocks north.  There, I grabbed a few quick pictures of New York's world-famous centre for the performing arts.  On the right side of Lincoln Plaza is David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fisher Hall), the home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

On the left side is the David Koch Theater, which houses the New York City Ballet.

And in the centre is the arcaded facade of the Metropolitan Opera House, which will assuredly be on my bucket list for a future longer stay in the city.

However, on this occasion it was the David Koch Theater which was my destination, and a glance at the National Ballet of Canada banners outside explained why.

I picked up my ticket from the box office, and then adjourned across the street in the rain to P. J. Clarke's, an expensive but old fashioned eatery which was packed to the gills by the time I finished eating.  I then had only to kill time until the 2:00 curtain.  I was amused to see that, although Lincoln Center sent out emails warning of large numbers of people needing to pick up "Will Call" tickets, there was still a huge lineup of 100 people or more at five minutes to go.  Everyone expected someone else to be there early so they could cut it close.

I was also amused when I realized that I felt right at home in this theatre for a very simple reason.  It was built within just a few years of the Sony Centre in Toronto, which used to be the National Ballet's home base, and the architecture was very similar: simple, monumental, acres of marble floors and walls, then thick plush carpets and red upholstery as the predominant interior colour.

The ballet performance was spectacular, of course, and my nephew Robert, who's a First Soloist with the company, danced splendidly and earned loud cheers at the curtain calls.

After the show, I went back to my hotel to change into something more casual and cooler, then walked four blocks to meet Robert and his husband Michael at a delightful Italian restaurant called simply Becco (on 46th Street west of 9th Avenue) -- and arrived late because walking up to speed in this part of town in the afternoon and evening "does not compute"!

As you could see in the pictures above, the area immediately adjacent to Times Square is stiff with brand name fast-food and chain restaurants, but you only need to walk about a block away to start finding more interesting choices.  This place has a daily all-you-can-eat special of the chef's three pastas of the day, as well as a lengthy menu of other dishes -- and some surprisingly reasonable wine choices too.  So we had an excellent dinner and a great visit.