What a fantastic report! And those wonderful, large photos! I took the LA to Indianapolis train trip in the 90's. It was great, even without a berth, but when we got to Chicago we were told we'd have to be bussed to Indianapolis. The driver went over the speed limit, was w/o his driver's licence until he stopped at some bus place on the road and ran it to get it.
He dropped something way down past the accelerator and then reached down to get it, all the time speeding along. I read him the riot act but we parted on friendly terms anyway.