Thanksgiving 2007 trip, Part V: The ride home

Nov. 30, 2007, 4:08am - Sitting in Salt Lake City now for about an hour. Went and snagged a bottle of Diet Pepsi from the shack which passes for a train station here. It's below freezing outside and there are patches of snow here and there. Better get used to it I reckon.

Car attendant dumped the coffee before I had a chance to do an after dinner Baileys coffee. I don't know what the greater disappointment will be, going to bed completely sober or facing the Amtrak breakfast coming up in a couple of hours. After the Omelet House in Vegas, Peg's in Reno, the bagel shop in Sonora, and lest not forget the culinary talents of Pelican, it's a hard transition back to this timid fare. Oh well, at least I can pour me a fortified coffee for the day trip through the Rockies.

11:35am - In Grand Junction. Stepped off long enough to grab a bag of Señor Tom's Con Chile y Limon Corn Chips and take some snaps. View was remarkable through eastern Utah although somewhat gloomy. Even more so here, the skies even more gray and sprinkles of sleet pelting the ground.

A fellow passenger got word of an Amtrak train that collided with a freight consist near Chicago, perhaps even being a fellow California Zephyr down the line. If I can get a wireless signal in Denver, I'll satisfy my interest.

Appears the trek along the Colorado River up into the mountains will not be too picturesque. A blizzard would be a great thing to plow through; alas I expect conditions to be far from extreme.

I did fortify myself for the day with a Baileys and coffee. The Irish whiskey in the bag is too good to waste on coffee. I'll save that for the long night's haul across Nebraska.

The car attendant is a little too chipper right now, singing "Oh Happy Days" as he goes about his routine. But I imagine it's just his coping mechanism for the crushing boredom of menial labors.

8:10pm - Sitting still just east of Moffat Tunnel for over two hours. We had been running mostly on-time until now. Had ideas of jumping off early in Omaha and catching a bus tomorrow morning. Am now just hoping to catch the afternoon bus in Ottumwa, otherwise I'll have to wait until Sunday afternoon to make the final leg home. So much for a day of rest before resuming the life sentence.

Dec. 1, 8:30am - Nebraska. Shit, I'm still only in Nebraska. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. This is the end. My only friend, the end...

If we were on time we'd be coming up on Osceola by now. Instead we are sitting in Fairmont, a little town west of Lincoln, waiting for a crew change.

The Union Pacific maintenance crew working on the track east of Moffat held us up for two-and-a-half hours. Once we got down off the mountain, we were further delayed pulling into the Denver station due to issues getting through the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard. Then at Denver our layover there was longer than the expected twenty minutes.

Then once on the road we were slowed down by a broken rail somewhere in western Nebraska. After that we ran smack dab into the middle of an ice storm which caused some of the signals to malfunction, and so for a time we continued on blind to the traffic ahead. By the time we reached McCook we were running four-and-a-half hours late.

Ate breakfast going through Hastings, icicles hung from the light fixtures at the station there.

And now we sit because of our lateness. The crew change that should have taken place in Omaha will instead happen out here, wherever here is. The roads being icy as one would expect in an ice storm, the replacement crew is hitching a ride over on a freight train. And so we wait. The likelihood of missing my bus in Ottumwa this afternoon grows more and more certain.

For numerous safety issues we are unable to step outside while we await the replacement crew. The smokers are getting restless and our car attendant has issued a first warning. No doubt he caught a whiff of tobacco in the air.

The rain continues unabated but does not appear to be laying down any more ice. Likely the temperature has risen with the coming of day. Alas no sun in sight. All very appropriate for the return to toil and suffering. A day's rest in my comfy abode would have been nice, but such is my circumstance.

I wish they would let the smokers come out here and puff away while we sit and wait. The mass exodus of people seeking a fix at Lincoln will likely delay us further. The lounge car attendant is placating the masses with free coffee, but only for the next fifteen minutes. Hurry! Act now!

And now they are starting to escort passengers, one car at a time, to one of the coaches to enjoy one, and only one, cigarette. The last coach in our consist was empty so they piled the smoker's downstairs to pull a few drags. I wonder what that will mean for passengers boarding from here on. Was the last coach reserved for folks traveling from Omaha on? If so I can't imagine them being allowed on unless they can clear out the air first.

9:54am - Three engines pulled aside coming from the east carrying our replacement crew. We would have been a half-hour short of Ottumwa by now had we been on time. I'm unsure how far it is to Lincoln but am reasonably sure I'm hosed getting home tonight.

10:06am - Still here and a westbound freight is passing by. Is this the reason for our continued delay? Another five minutes have passed and we are finally pulling out of Fairmont, Nebraska. Lincoln is 56 miles away according to the sign on adjacent Highway 6. Fog shrouds the icy landscape and visibility is a half-mile at best. My day's pursuit is naught.



Dec. 2, 9:55am - Am home by way of an associate from the train depot in Osceola. I had called out in Nebraska to inquire about their whereabouts. Associate was eager to snag me at Omaha, but I opted for Osceola since it is only a 45 minute drive down I-35 as opposed to the two hours needed to get to Omaha.

Osceola was coated in a good quarter inch of ice, but the temperature had risen enough to make things slushy. I still had to watch where I was stepping. I did not want to finish my trip the way I began it in Chicago.

We finished the evening at Famous Dave's. With tip and the cost of covering the meal the bill came up to nearly the cost of a bus ride from Omaha. Simpatico.

So now I am home, typing on my computer while I transfer files. I look over at the photo I took of Vicki reading the paper when I was in Ottumwa two weeks ago. I've had that photo as my desktop background since that Monday morning at the Siegel household. It has been my constant travel buddy throughout this trip.