Lake Shore Limited – Chicago –Buffalo – Albany – NYC

This train left at 10PM from the famous Chicago Union Station. They have a Great Hall there built around 1909 that is over 110 ft tall. Yes it is a GREAT HALL. It was huge and soaring, and beautifully built. It is interesting though, the thing that stood out to me the most of all, was on the long marble staircases, the marble treads were worn down with footsteps over the last 100 years. Makes you stop and wonder how many million people have gone up and down those steps over the years. I spoke to a retired man on the train, who said his first memories of the station was right after WWII when the Great Hall was packed wall to wall with soldiers returning from the war. He said it was a sight he would never forget. In those days (because of the soldiers over 100,000 people a day came through the Union Station/Great Hall. Now it is still busy at 50,000 people a day. I think I saw all of them in about 90 minutes. I was there at rush hour in the evening. These insane people speed walk like no one I have ever seen… they are dangerous!! I thought California moved at to fast of a pace in life…. These people made CA people look like turtles.

I am on a train that is called a “viewliner: now. They are older trains that are only one story, not the 2 story superliners we see on the west coast. There is a specific reason for this, the superliners cannot fit in the tunnels under New York City. So any train in and out of there has to be a viewliner. In Chicago it is under ground kind of, but roomy enough for the superliners to go through. They are set up differently of course. The roomettes are a tiny bit roomier, with more storage, but you have to keep all your luggage with you instead of downstairs. These rooms also have a unique feature, that they have a half bath in them, sink and toilet. Now mind you, it is not a cute little door into a tiny bathroom, the room is the bathroom. The toilet sits next to one of the seats (which is a slight bit narrower than the other, and the sink is behind the toilet and folds out of the wall for use… pretty cool! The toilet, and small counter above it, and one above the sink, double duty as steps to the top bunk. NOTE: please close lid before attempting to use as a step! Other added benefits are… well think of being able to “sit” there, while watching the beautiful river go by out the window. Although it also has a bit of using a bedpan feel to it. You also want to make sure you did a good job of closing the window curtains to the hallway, because if you did not, you could wave at each person as they walked by 6 inches away. Well pro’s and cons all around. The lighting and A/C are much better in the viewliner’s roomettes. Dining is more limited on these trains as they have a much smaller kitchen. The Superliners use the bottom story for a kitchen and can turn out more and better food. But that is a small price to pay.

This trip has been beautiful with the primary daylight hours spent in upstate New York, Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, (following the Mohawk river between two small mtn ranges, the Adirondacks, and the Catskills) Schenectady, Albany, before heading down the shore of the Hudson river, and diving under Manhattan for quite a few miles to pull into Penn Station, which is UNDERNEATH Madison Square Gardens… the Basketball Arena… weird!! The fall colors in upstate New York are finishing up now, the trees are getting bare. I am hoping that as we go south there will be more and more fall colors to see.