Seat 2A

It’s that time of year again.

The summer tourist season at Denali National Park has officially come to a close. On Thursday September 14th, I drove the 10:00am Toklat run. The day was surprisingly sunny and warm with lots of animals and a spectacular view of North America’s highest peak towering 18,000 feet above the surrounding tundra. Returning to the bus yard at 6:00pm, I post tripped the bus, turned in my paperwork and headed up to the Gold Spike Saloon for the first beer of the post season.

One of the best parts of my job in Denali National Park is the post-season. We work from early May until mid-September and during the winter many drivers head off to all manner of remote locations around the planet. Antarctica, southern Asia, South America and Africa are all popular destinations. This is particularly true of Antarctica where seasonal support service jobs at McMurdo Station attract a couple dozen drivers each year.

As some of you may have gleaned from my more recent trip reports I spend a fair bit of time during the off-season mixing mileage runs and pleasure travel. As a result, I long ago transcended Gold status in Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan and am now well on my way to Super Duper Diamond encrusted Kryptonite MVP level. I’ve got lots of miles to play with and I’m always ready to go.

My original postseason plans included First Class travel aboard Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong followed by First Class rail travel across Mongolia and Russia to Moscow aboard the Chinese train that operates along the Trans-Siberian Railway between Beijing and Moscow. From Moscow I’d planned to continue north by train to St. Petersburg and on to Helsinki, Finland. There I would catch a ferry over to Stockholm and head up to the far north of Norway before descending through Finland and across to Estonia before returning to Moscow and continuing on to Vladivostok aboard Russia’s Trans-Siberian train, the Rossiya. A two-day boat trip would get me from Vladivostok to Japan, thence onward to Hong Kong where I’d continue my journey in Cathay’s First Class cabin over to South Africa if Cathay had seen fit to return the First Class cabin to its HKG-JNB services. If not, I’d head for Adelaide and into Australia’s Red Centre.

Unfortunately, an ongoing medical condition has progressed to the point where I now walk with a limp pretty much all the time instead of just once in a while. Thankfully, it appears my condition can be addressed later this fall but to do so will mean putting a journey of this magnitude on the back burner. In the meantime, I have come up with a shorter though no less ambitious itinerary that includes visits to the Desert Southwest, Florida’s Everglades and Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton followed by rail journeys from Halifax to Montreal to New York. Next, I’ll fly a never before reported upon airline from Newark to Ft. Lauderdale before making a quick return to Alaska to do laundry. Then it’s back to the “Lower 48” for a rail excursion through Colorado’s Royal Gorge followed by First Class train travel down the California Coast and through Mexico’s Copper Canyon. Along the way, I’ll fly twenty-seven flights aboard eight different airlines, travel First Class aboard trains in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and drive over two thousand miles in a variety of rental cars. Overnight accommodations will include everything from cheap motels to airport floors.

As such, the resulting trip report will be somewhat shorter though hopefully no less engaging. The hardest part will be trying to write about Economy Class air travel around North America. It’s so bland these days that I question if it’s even worth the effort. Still, it is part of the trip, so I’ll give those flights some mention though without the embellishment one would expect from a report on International First Class. Perhaps some solace can be found in reading my reports on USA 3000, Aviacsa and Azteca Airlines, three airlines very rarely if ever reported upon at FlyerTalk.

WARNING: Readers who enjoy super elite status in their frequent flyer programs or normally dwell in the rarified air of Starwood Suite upgrades may want to hit their back buttons about now. This will allow them to avoid insulting their sensibilities with tales of Economy Class travel and substandard accommodations. A wide variety more relevant and probably better written trip reports can be found in the trip report forum index. As for the rest of you diehards, go grab a beer or something similarly satisfying and settle in for the read.

Pictures from this trip can be found HERE

Seat 2A

September 20, 2006
FAI-ANC 1:02p – 2:00p ALASKA 737-400 N788AS Economy Class
ANC-CDV 3:22p – 4:23p ALASKA 737-400 N779AS Economy Class
CDV-YAK 3:22p – 4:23p ALASKA 737-400 N779AS Economy Class
YAK-JNU 3:22p – 4:23p ALASKA 737-400 N779AS Economy Class
JNU-SEA 7:50p–10:58p ALASKA 737-400 N779AS Economy Class


Rarely do I get to enjoy a relaxed day prior to my departure on one of these big trips. As usual I spent the morning running errands all over Fairbanks before finally returning to my cabin to finish packing just 25 minutes before the cab to the airport was due to arrive. I got everything accomplished though and by the time the cab arrived at noon, I was ready to go.

It was a cloudy day in Alaska’s Interior with snow forecast for the weekend. Part of me wanted to stay a bit longer because I love a good snowstorm, especially while safe inside a nice warm cabin. Still, there’ll be plenty of time to enjoy those storms later this winter. After a ten minute cab ride I was dropped off at Fairbanks International and strolled up to the completely empty Alaska Airlines counter. It was 12:15pm and I’d been told by Alaska reservations that my 1:00pm departure was almost booked to capacity. Where was everyone?! Already checked in, was the reply. God bless ‘em all for showing up so early and leaving me an empty counter. Unless it’s a holiday, I rarely show up more than forty-five minutes ahead of time for a flight out of Fairbanks. Within five minutes I was on my way through security and headed down to the gate.

I’m traveling on a Saver Award ticket between Fairbanks and Miami and the cheap seats out of both Anchorage and Fairbanks have been sold out for weeks. One of the reservation agents at Alaska’s Partner Desk told me that it’s because all the fishermen are now starting to leave the state. Really? I’ll have to keep that in mind when planning future trips. Kind of like avoiding driving down to Anchorage via the Richardson Highway during caribou migration.

My original itinerary had me departing Fairbanks at 1:00pm to Anchorage, then laying over until my 8:30pm departure down to Seattle, arriving at about 1:00am. Five hours later I was due to connect to a 6:05am flight down to Las Vegas. This would make for a horrible overnight layover at SeaTac. Of course I would have preferred to take a later flight down to Las Vegas but to do so would have made Seattle my one and only allowed stopover and I needed that to be in Las Vegas. During the last month leading up to these flights I’d called Alaska reservations about once a week to see if anything earlier out of Anchorage might have opened up. That way I could get a decent rest in Seattle. Alas, everything was sold out. Only two flights even had revenue seats available, and very few seats at that. Finally, the day before departure, I was looking through my pocket flight guide and noticed AS 66, the milk run to Seattle via Cordova, Yakutat and Juneau. It departed Anchorage at 3:22pm, just an hour and twenty minutes after my arrival from Fairbanks. A quick call to Alaska reservations confirmed that saver seats were available on AS 66 between Anchorage and Juneau and between Juneau and Seattle. However, they were unable to be booked between Anchorage and Seattle. Perhaps I could connect in Juneau then? Click – Click – Click. Yes, Juneau’s in the routing.

Book it, Danno! Now I was set to arrive Seattle at 11:00pm, much better than 1:00am. Finally, on the day of departure I called back and asked about the possibility of flying between Seattle and Las Vegas via Portland. Earlier, all saver seats out of Portland to Vegas had been taken but now some showed available. My new departure time out of Seattle would be 8:00am. Marvelous! I now had a nine-hour overnight layover in Seattle, leaving more than enough time to set up camp in my secret corner of the airport and get a decent night’s rest.

Having all this taken care of in advance made for an enjoyable and stress free afternoon flying down Alaska’s beautiful southeastern coast. I even had an exit row seat for all segments. Unfortunately, my seat was on the ocean side of the aircraft so I was unable to check out the spectacular mountains, ice fields and glaciers between Anchorage and Juneau. I took small solace in the fact that it was a mostly cloudy day. I spent my time aboard reading and munching on pre-purchased mixed nuts while taking advantage of Alaska’s abbreviated beverage service that consisted of either glasses of water or single serving cups of orange juice. I drank a lot of both.

Interestingly – at least for one who logs his flights as I do – the aircraft that I flew between Fairbanks and Anchorage I’d only flown once before. The aircraft assigned to AS 66, N779AS, I’d flown twelve times before, the most of any of Alaska’s 737-400s.

Also worthy of note in this day of BYO airline food was that a snack was offered to Economy Class passengers on the 30-minute flight between Cordova and Yakutat. It consisted of a small plastic tray bearing a bag of chips, a cookie and yet another sealed cup of orange juice. I wonder what they got in First Class?

We landed ten minutes early on a rainy night in Seattle. All in all, it was a nice day of flying with Alaska Air.


September 21, 2006
SEA-PDX 8:00a – 8:45a HORIZON DHC-8-200 N349PH Economy Class
PDX-LAS 9:55a–12:06p ALASKA 737-400 N706AS Economy Class

One of the best benefits of being an elite level Mileage Plan member (MVP Gold) is the right to use the First Class and Elite lanes at airports. At 7:00am, SeaTac was extremely busy and the lines or should I say mobs at the security checkpoints were quite large. My aversion to these checkpoints is almost as strong as that of a bomb-toting terrorist. I understand why we have them and of course support that but the overall process is the least enjoyable aspect of a trip aloft. It’s a good thing I don’t live somewhere like Israel or I’d have probably switched to ground based transportation long ago. In any event, thanks to the First Class & Elite lane, I was through security in five minutes instead of fifteen.

Alaska Airlines’ Boardroom at SeaTac offers perhaps the finest selection of breakfast breads of any airline lounge in America. At the food service center were two different baked breads along with blueberry scones and a nice selection of bagels. I chose a yogurt from the fridge to go with a big slice of banana nut bread. Breakfast on the road.

Horizon Air shuttles passengers from Seattle to Portland with flights every half-hour between 7:00am and 9:30pm. Business is brisk on the route and this morning’s flights were particularly busy. My 8:00 departure was in fact oversold. I immediately added my name to the list of hopeful bumpees and found a spot along the wall. Unfortunately no bumps were required, so I grabbed my gear and headed out to the aircraft. Parked next to us was N425QX, a brightly colored Dash 8-400 commemorating Horizon’s 25th anniversary.

As I paused to admire the commemorative aircraft, I took a stroll down memory lane to my first ever flight with Horizon. It was October 15th, 1984. Earlier that day I had flown into Pasco, Washington aboard a Hawker Sidley HS-748 wearing the green and blue livery of Cascade Airlines. My return flight to Seattle with Horizon was aboard a DC-9-10 leased from All Star Airlines. Sadly, the aircraft still bore the colors of its owner. It would have looked much nicer in the orange and red livery of Horizon.

Also of interest was my first ever flight between Seattle and Portland. It was in August of 1976 aboard a Northwest 747 continuing on to Honolulu. Since then, I’ve flown the 130-mile SEA-PDX route aboard L-1011s, DC-10s, DC-8-61s and 727-200s. These days, the largest aircraft serving this route is Horizon’s CRJ-700.

The aircraft for today’s flight was a Dash 8-200. Its larger cabin and comfortable seating make it a much more passenger friendly aircraft than the little Embraer 120s operated by competitor United Express. Once airborne, we were offered muffins and coffee. Very nice for a thirty minute flight. Well done, Horizon.

Following a brief visit to Alaska’s small but otherwise well appointed PDX Boardroom, I boarded my connecting flight down to Las Vegas. Although the 737-400 was almost completely full, we sped down to Las Vegas in just one hour and thirty-six minutes thanks to a strong tailwind out of the north. Interestingly, last night’s flight on the one hundred and fifty mile longer route between Juneau and Seattle took just six minutes longer to cover. Must’ve been a stronger tailwind. I collected my backpack from the carousel and headed off to Thrifty Car Rental.


A DRIVE AROUND THE WEST

I got a great rate from Thrifty – $96.00 all in for a four day rental of a full size car. As a Blue Chip member, I proceeded directly to a kiosk on the lot where my contract was already printed and awaiting my signature. All I had to do was show my license and credit card, then go and pick out a car. Unfortunately, the only vehicles available were Dodge Magnum station wagons and a variety of big SUVs. I rented a Magnum once. Cool looking car – it looks like something out of a comic book with those big wheels and little windows, but the gas mileage is nothing to crow about. And, in these days of exorbitant prices at the pump, the last thing I need is a gas guzzling SUV. I decided to pick out a midsize car instead. Moments later I was heading out of the lot in a burgundy Chrysler Sebring sedan. I’ve rented Sebrings a number of times before. They’re comfortable and surprisingly roomy for a smaller car. They also provide decent performance when you put quality high-octane gasoline in them and they sport a surprisingly good sound system as well.

My first destination was the Mojave National Preserve, a 1.8 million acre desert wilderness area located west of the Nevada border between Interstate highways 15 and 40. I love the landscape of the Mojave Desert with its broad sun blasted valleys and rugged brown and gray mountain ranges. The midday sky is huge and the sun incredibly bright. Summertime temperatures routinely climb above 115° each day. Thankfully, the Sebring has an excellent air conditioner and my journey through the preserve was both comfortable and cool.

On to Needles, California located above the Colorado River on the Arizona border. Historic Route 66 passes through the town, and the main drag is lined with motels and other shops from that era. My favorite place to stay is at the River Valley Inn, a classic single level motel built during Route 66’s heyday in the early 1950s. The motel offers twenty-five spacious rooms, each equipped with refrigerator, microwave and a 27” color remote television. Travelers in the 1950s never had it so good. The price is right, too. Single rooms cost just $24.95 plus tax.

After a long day of cruising around the Mojave, I like to check into this motel in the early evening, crank the air conditioner in my room, and then go sit out under the cabaña by the pool. There are usually a few fellow road warriors in attendance out there and it’s always fun to trade stories of our adventures while downing ice cold beers. Tonight the pool was pretty quiet as it was the slow part of the year and only a handful of guests were staying at the motel. However, my old buddy Gary and a couple of friends of his from Indiana were out under the cabaña, so I grabbed a couple of beers and headed over to join them. I’ve been coming to the River Valley Inn for about fifteen years and I met Gary about ten years ago. He’s the maintenance man and part time desk clerk of the motel. He also provides maintenance for a number of other motels in the area. He came to Needles from Lubbock, Texas in 1950 and is a font of information about the history of Needles as well as southern California in general. While I cooled off with ice cold St. Pauli Girls, Gary smoked unfiltered Camels and regaled us with tales of the early days on Route 66 along with a bit of local Colorado River history. River boats were once a regular means of transport before all the dams went in. That would’ve been a great way to travel through the region. Today however, there are six dams on the Colorado between Las Vegas and the Mexican border. As darkness fell and more guests started to arrive, I excused myself and headed into town for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. Later, I returned to a nice cool room. The temperature at 9:00pm was 86°.

I awoke the next morning to clear blue skies, 80 degrees and a flat tire on the Sebring. Further inspection revealed a lot more tire wear than a car with only 21,000 miles should have. Not only that, but all four tires were in poor condition. The right rear one sported a potentially dangerous bulge just above the rim. At a nearby service station, the mechanic instantly noted that the car was a rental and tried to set up a deal with Thrifty to sell them four new tires. Thrifty quickly nixed that idea and told him to put me on the phone. I was told that since I’d declined the LDW, I was responsible for any tire damage. I agreed with regard to the flat tire, but not about the condition of the rest of the tires. Since Needles was only 120 miles south of Las Vegas, I decided to get the flat fixed and return the car to Las Vegas for an exchange. The mechanic said there was no way I’d make it to Vegas with the rear tire bulge and in fact refused to repair only the flat. He did however offer to sell me two used tires for the price of one. I’d gotten a bad feeling about this guy as soon as he’d noted I was driving a rental car and started talking about selling new tires. When I refused his generous offer, he got mad and said there was nothing he could do. He did however offer to put some air in the flat tire so I could drive next door to another service station that also repaired flats. As he was applying air hose to tire, I asked him if there was any charge for filling up the tire. $10.00, he snarled. No thanks, said I. I’ll just limp on over there as is. The mechanic disappeared into his garage mumbling unpleasant things about damned tourists. I headed next door and got the tire repaired for $20.00. Two hours later I exchanged the car for another Sebring, this one with only 6,000 miles on the odometer and four tires with proportionate mileage.

I chatted with the agent working the Blue Chip desk about my experience. Could Thrifty’s mechanics have put a bad set of tires on this car? Not likely. What probably happened is that some low life rented the car, changed out the tires and then returned it when the office was closed and nobody was around to inspect the vehicle. I always do a complete pre-trip inspection before accepting any rental car, but I’ve never thought to check the tires. I will from now on.

I’d like to note that Thrifty’s staff in Las Vegas were very helpful and accommodating. I suppose I could have ranted and raved about the loss of my precious time and pined for a discount or luxury car but it wasn’t all that big of a deal. I’m back on the road and heading off into the desert again with a minimum of hassle and that’s what counts.

Most trip reports tend to focus on activities like visits to cultural shrines, a museum or the suite upgrade enjoyed at a fine hotel. What I find most interesting are the natural attractions as opposed to the human ones. I wanted to see Monument Valley, Natural Bridges National Monument, Deadhorse Point State Park and all the beautiful land along the way. When it comes to writing about nature however, I’m no Edward Abbey, so in the interests of brevity it might be best that I avoid getting into a mile by mile accounting of my automobile travels and instead provide links to the highlights of the journey. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words…


MOJAVE PRESERVE

NEEDLES TRAIN STATION

ROUTE 66 HISTORY

LAKE POWELL

MONUMENT VALLEY

NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT

DEADHORSE POINT

Seat 2A

September 25, 2006
LAS-STL 4:25p – 9:30p AMERICAN 757-200 N624AA Economy Class
September 26, 2006
STL-MIA 6:57a–10:35a AMERICAN 757-200 N627AA Economy Class


Although I’d tried mightily to get a midday departure from Las Vegas to Miami, the only seats available on the 25th were the 11:30pm redeye or a 4:25pm departure through St. Louis connecting to a Miami bound flight early the next morning. Life’s too short to fly domestic redeyes, so I reserved a seat on the overnight connection via St. Louis and then arrived early (10:30am) at LAS in hopes of standing by for an earlier flight to Miami. According to the ticket agent at American’s counter, Mondays are notoriously busy days to fly out of Las Vegas. The huge crowds backed up at the security checkpoints lent credence to his statement. People were backed up in a line close to two hundred yards long before they even got to the zig-zag lanes at the security checkpoints. Given the crowds at security, I was too late to standby for the 11:30am departures to Chicago or Dallas. Unfortunately, the 12:30pm departure through Dallas was oversold by five and there would be seven people ahead of me on the standby list. Guess I’ll stick with my connection through St. Louis then. Thankfully I scored reclining exit row seats on both flights.

Now faced with a five hour wait until my St. Louis departure, I was reminded of an old adage from my childhood: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So inspired, I headed over to the old America West Club and brought this report up to date. By the time I emerged to head over to the D Concourse, the wait at security was only 20 minutes.

Interestingly, the 757 into St. Louis was only about half full and there was plenty of space for everyone to spread out. I had the exit row to myself and had beautiful sunset views of the Grand Canyon off the starboard side of the aircraft. Half an hour later, it was dark.

I hadn’t been in the main terminal building of St. Louis’s Lambert Field since 1977. Now, twenty-nine years later I didn’t even recognize the place. Gone were the comfortable leather chairs and the full service coffee shop in the corner. The lighting used to more comfortable too but now the entire terminal was brightly lit and the full service restaurant had been replaced by a Burger King and a take away rib joint. I sure do miss the days when TWA, Ozark and Eastern were the primary carriers at Lambert.

My flight into Miami the next morning was noteworthy only for the fact that American no longer offers Quaker Oat bars with its coffee service on early morning departures. We did see some impressive cumulonimbus cloud formations as we descended into Miami International.

The next two days were spent visiting with ex-Denali drivers who are now National Park Service rangers at Everglades National Park. The drive from Homestead down to Flamingo at the south end of the park is, I think, the prettiest drive in all of Florida. Here are some pictures:

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

Seat 2A

September 28, 2006
MIA-CLT 12:45p – 2:45p US AIRWAYS 737-400 N445US Economy Class
CLT- PHL 3:45p – 5:17p US AIRWAYS A321-200 N167US Economy Class
PHL-YYZ 7:55p – 9:26p US AIRWAYS 737-300 NXXXUS Economy Class


Although American and Air Canada combine to offer four daily nonstops between Miami and Toronto, US Airways offered a lower one way fare along with numerous multi-stop itineraries. After logging over 3.3 million miles aboard more than 3,600 flights, the adult in me just wants to get to Toronto. The kid in me says I’ve never flown a 767-200 with US Airways before. There’s a perfectly timed 767 departure between Charlotte and Philadelphia and the connecting flight up to Toronto is aboard a CRJ-200, another type that I’ve flown before but not with US Airways. As well, I’ve never flown the Philly-Toronto route, so add another line to the already overcrowded Routes Flown Map and another 350 miles to my over three quarter of a million miles of Unduplicated Route Mileage.

Given such impeccable logic, the kid always wins these arguments. The fact that I’ve flown plenty of 767s on other airlines is irrelevant because as any of you who’ve flown a lot know, it’s the airline – not the manufacturer – that determines the interior layout of its aircraft. I grew up during the sixties and seventies when airlines differentiated themselves from one another not by lower fares but rather by the comfort and service offered on board their aircraft. For a while during the early seventies, TWA had a mid-cabin stand up bar lounge with buffet seating on its narrow bodied 707s. Back in the 1960s, Continental offered the first domestic Business Class with five across 2-3 seating on its 707 and 720 Golden Jets. Braniff introduced the wide-bodied interior look on its 727s with fold down middle seats. American had a piano lounge onboard its 747s. To this day I’m still curious when I see an aircraft or an airline that I haven’t flown before – What’s the plane look like inside?

Other reasons to get excited about a flight on a US Airways 767-200 include the possibility that it might be an ex-Piedmont Airlines machine - only two 767s ever wore the livery of that fine carrier. As well, the 767-200 entered service in 1982 (I was on the inaugural flight) and many of the earlier models are soon to be retired. Many already have been.

No doubt some readers will think it’s just plane crazy to pick an airline for these reasons, but unless one really enjoys flying and airline history in the first place, very few of my travels or reports will ever make much sense. Many FTers were born in the 1970s or 80s and I’ve seen occasions where more than a few of them have groused that they have little or no interest in hearing about the “Good Old Days”. They live in the here and now, and there’s no point dredging up the past. Why ever study or even discuss history then? I’m not pining for a return to what I consider the “Good Old Days” but it’s fun to remember them as a point of reference against what we have today. For what it’s worth, history becomes more interesting once you’ve lived long enough to relate to it in your own life experience. In the meantime, thank goodness for modern day inventions like the Page Back button or the Delete key

Now uh, where was I? Oh yeah… Florida. Must be getting’ old…

Upon checking in at Miami International, I was disappointed to learn that the 767-200 scheduled to operate the 5:25pm CLT-PHL flight had been replaced for today at least by a 757. Thankfully, I was able to switch to an earlier flight operated by an Airbus A321, another type that I’ve flown upon but not as US Airways metal. Adding insult to injury, due to a schedule change the CRJ between Philly and Toronto had been switched to a relatively mundane 737-300. On a more positive note, I asked for and received exit rows on each flight. I must be living a charmed life.

US Airways flights depart from the nicely refurbished H Concourse at Miami International. Any of you who’ve flown out of Miami on airlines like Continental or Northwest know how dark, narrow and musty those older concourses are. The H Concourse has a clean, modern look to it with high ceilings, wide corridors and spacious gate lounges. A multitude of windows up in the roof and throughout the gate areas let in lots of natural light. Assuming the rest of the concourses will look this nice when reconstruction and refurbishment is finally complete, Miami International will be one of the finest facilities in the country. Supposedly the work will be completed by 2008 but I wouldn’t hold my breath for it to be done anytime before 2010.

Delta also operates from the H Concourse and thankfully has seen fit to provide a Crown Room for its loyal flyers along with us Priority Pass holders. My CO Presidents Club card will also get me into the Crown Room but only if I were flying Delta that day. No such strings are attached for Priority Pass members.

Surprisingly, the entrance to the Crown Room is via a plain gray utility door – rather spartan given such a nice concourse. The lounge itself may be the smallest one in the Delta system. I’d estimate that the entire room measured 20’ x 40’. Still, it offered tables, comfortable chairs, a couple of workstations and the usual drinks and lounge snacks so it certainly beat sitting out in the gate area. The only drawback was a TV in the corner that one guy had turned up so he could hear the entire debate over whether mercurial football player Terrell Owens did or did not try to commit suicide last night. Inquiring minds want to know…

Just prior to boarding, I stopped by the food court and tried to purchase a Chicken Caesar Salad from Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, none of the employees present could figure out how to ring up a salad. It brought to mind a recent report that Florida ranked as having the third least intelligent population amongst the fifty states. How do you rank statewide intelligence outside of high school SAT scores? Anyway, after the third employee had gotten nowhere with this ostensibly simple everyday transaction, I decided I’d better return the salad to the display case and get down to my gate. Buying a salad at Pizza Hut… what was I thinking?

Miami International is a great airport for plane spotters. All kinds of colorful, exotic aircraft visit or are stored at MIA. During our taxi out to the runway, the following aircraft stood out:

Arrow Air DC-8-62
BWIA 737-800
Centurion DC-10
American Trans Air L-1011 Old Colors
Falcon Air 727-200
Santa Barbara 757-200

On the subject of colorful liveries, I really like US Airways’ new look. The livery isn’t so much colorful as it is stylish. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for US Airways’ aircraft interiors, which remain battleship gray throughout.

Although it was overcast in Miami, the skies cleared by the time we’d reached Daytona. Those of us on the right hand side of the aircraft were treated to pretty views of the Florida coastline along with a full can of Sprite and a bag of mini pretzels. We landed in Charlotte right on time and parked right next door to the Airbus A321 that would be operating my flight up to Philadelphia.

I first flew into Charlotte in 1978 aboard an Eastern Airlines DC-9. Back then, a long and narrow single story red brick concourse served Eastern and Delta’s operations. There were no jetways. Eastern had recently commenced wide-bodied L-1011 service from New York and numerous posters throughout the concourse advertised its arrival. When’s the last time you saw airline marketing specifically related to aircraft?

US Airways offers twenty-eight First Class seats aboard its A321s. That’s only two less than Eastern offered on its big 250 passenger L-1011s. Unfortunately, my lot was back in steerage but my exit row seat was roomy and I had a good time discussing football with my seatmate, a longtime Atlanta Falcons fan. Poor guy.

My onward flight to Toronto was due to depart from gate A-24, located in the new west wing of Terminal A. The US Airways Club located upstairs on the fourth level is every bit as nice as the terminal it serves. Lots of dark woods, beige upholstered furniture and large windows made it a pleasant place to hang out until the departure of my Toronto flight. That flight was scheduled to depart at 7:55pm but the TV monitors showed a delay until 9:20pm. The inbound flight from Norfolk was scheduled to arrive at 8:47pm. No biggie. I either wait here or wait in Toronto where I’d be spending the night in the terminal before continuing on to Ottawa and Halifax the next day at noon. I bought a $5.00 beer from the bar, found a workstation and settled in for the wait. Little did I know that from that point on, my evening would be headed steadily downhill.

At a little before nine, I checked the TV monitor and noticed that the inbound from Norfolk still wasn’t showing AT GATE but it still showed an 8:47pm arrival. I decided to head down to the gate anyway since it was the very farthest one down the concourse. Along the way I checked a couple more monitors. No change.

Well imagine my shock and dismay upon arriving at gate 24 to find that my flight had been cancelled. Not only that, it had been cancelled as of about twenty minutes ago according to the gate agents. Why? Weather. Geez, don’t cha think it’d be considerate if they were to post that in a timely fashion on the monitors? Sorry sir, you’ll have to speak with the ticket agents at the counter. As in on the other side of security? Yep. US Airways has no service centers on the concourse.

Sigh. I turned around and trudged back up the concourse, through security and down to the counter. It was 9:20pm when I arrived. Seven other passengers were in line ahead of me. One agent was serving us while two other agents were dealing with passengers checking in. There weren’t many people checking in at 9:20pm. Three or four maybe. But it sure seemed to take a long time to check them in and meanwhile, fifteen minutes later the single agent serving those of us in line was still working on the same guy who was there when I arrived.

To try and make a long story shorter, I called US Airways reservations and rebooked myself on a 6:30am flight to Toronto via Pittsburgh. My Air Canada flight to Ottawa was scheduled to depart at 12:10pm and this one would get me in at 10:00am. When I finally got to the counter at a little past 10:00pm, the agent at first couldn’t find my newly booked flights and then finally found them further down the screen. It took her about a minute to figure out that scrolling through the PNR might be a good idea. I’m thinking she needed more training, and then she surprised me by offering me a seat on the Air Canada nonstop to Toronto at 6:20am. Sure, that’d be fine.

Meanwhile, the agent working on two guys at the next counter position kept coming over for help. Then the agent working about twenty feet down the counter to my left came by with some questions. I’ve got a 6:20am flight coming up and I want to get some sleep. Sorry to interrupt, I said, but if my Air Canada ticket’s electronic, can I just go? No no – we’ve got to issue you a new ticket. Fifteen minutes later I was finally out of there. I didn’t get the impression that any of these agents seemed very competent and in my case at least, that suspicion would prove true early the next morning.

Understandably, there was no complimentary hotel as the flight had been cancelled due to weather. The agent did offer a discount at some hotel across the river in New Jersey but I’d have to pay for my own transport there and back as the hotel had no shuttle service. I was told there was no way they could retrieve my backpack either, so I headed off to try and find someplace warm and reasonably quiet to get a bit of sleep. That’s asking a lot in most airports these days. It was asking too much at PHL. Had I had my Thermarest Pad and sleeping bag, at least I would have been comfortable and warm. As it was, I got about three hours sleep in twenty minute increments while lying on the floor of Terminal B.

Anyway, the next morning at 5:00am I head over to Terminal D where Air Canada is located. Check in was handled by United at their counter, though there was a designated line for Air Canada passengers. The line wasn’t too long when I arrived, but with only one agent very slowly checking in the AC passengers, the line began to grow at a prodigious rate. Soon there were twenty-three people lined up for a flight that was due to depart in forty-five minutes. Finally, at 5:50am, thirty minutes before departure, I get to the counter. There were seventeen people behind me but by now another United agent had come over to help. Meanwhile, the agent helping me called over a supervisor, conferred with him a moment, and then they both told me that I had neither a reservation nor a proper ticket for the Air Canada flight. I’ll need to go back to US Airways in Terminal C and get it all redone. So what are these things the US Airways agent gave me that look like tickets? The US Airways agent didn’t issue you a ticket. We don’t even show you reserved on this flight.

Grrr. By now I’m thinking of the letters I’m going to write that will hopefully bring about the downfall of US Airways or at least insure that those morons working the International Check-in counter last night never again work in anything more challenging than a landfill. By the time I get to the Terminal C check-in counters, it’s 6:05am. I explained my situation and that I needed to be in Toronto with adequate time to clear customs and get over to Air Canada’s domestic terminal for a 12:10 departure. The only nonstop flight that would accomplish that was sold out, so the agent hurriedly booked me on the 6:30am connection via Pittsburgh – the one that I’d originally booked the night before – and sent me on my way as fast as my gimpy right leg will take me. Unfortunately, a fair crowd had gathered at the security checkpoint and the TSA official there was unsympathetic to my request to use the Elite lane. You should have gotten here earlier then, she said. Lady, if you only knew…

By the time I got to the gate, the plane was still there with jetway attached but my seat had been given away. Once again I was chastised - You need to be in the gate area twenty minutes before flight time. Right…

Back to the counter limp I. Now I’m confirmed on the 9:45 nonstop (that gets in too late to make my connection) and added to the standby list for the 8:30 departure. Your flight departs from Terminal F. Oh, geez. Three hours of intermittent sleep and all this early morning nonsense – I’m a wreck. Terminal F or X or whatever the heck it is might as well be in New Jersey. Thankfully, I discovered a shuttle bus from Terminal C because I’m walking like Frankenstein about now.

I know I tried to shorten this tale of woe about a page ago, but let’s just cut to the chase here. After clearing standby, then having it denied, and then clearing it again, I was finally allowed to board the 8:30am nonstop up to Toronto. I got the very last seat. Pray that my backpack has also been put on this plane I hoped as I lapsed into unconsciousness until our landing in Toronto.


September 29, 2006
PHL - YYZ 8:30a -10:00a US AIRWAYS CRJ-200 N440AW Economy Class
YYZ-YOW 12:10p – 1:10p AIR CANADA ERJ-190 C-FFYM Economy Class
CLT - PHL 1:55p – 4:30p AIR CANADA 319-100 C-FZUL Economy Class

Thankfully my backpack had been rerouted onto the 8:30 flight to Toronto. That saved me a lot of hassles down the line as my plan upon arrival in Halifax was to pick up a car and head out towards Cape Breton. By now I’m not feeling quite so wrathful towards US Airways though I will probably avoid flying them if it ever means having to go through Philadelphia again. And I probably will write a letter addressing the incompetence of the agent who served me at the international ticket counter that night. I certainly don’t fault the airline for a weather cancellation or not offering a hotel or even not retrieving my baggage, but to bumble along as this agent did and then tell me I’m booked and ticketed upon a flight that I’m not is egregious in the extreme. Working a Rule 240 involuntary reroute is no big deal and probably a lot easier with today’s computers than it was when I was in the industry back in the eighties. Clearly this agent was not ready to be put on the counter, especially an international counter where tricky tickets, reissues and exotic linear fare calculations are more likely to be encountered. Really, the fault here would seem to lie with US Airways for poor training and putting this person out on the counter without adequately ensuring that she was capable of handling even a simple weather related reroute and reissue.

A lot has changed since I last passed through Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in
2002. The new Terminal One has opened and once I’d collected my pack and cleared customs, I headed straight over there via the new inter-terminal train. Once inside the cavernous building, I discovered that Air Canada provides one bank of counters for travelers flying westbound and another bank of counters for those flying eastbound. A moderate sized queue awaited me at the eastbound lanes but there were plenty of agents on duty and soon I was in possession of boarding passes for flights to Ottawa and on to Halifax.

I’d been looking forward to the short flight into Ottawa for two reasons. First and foremost, it was to be operated by an Embraer RJ-190 and this would be my first flight upon that type. Last year I flew United Express’ version of the RJ-170 and came away very impressed. Its wider interior and large windows are definitely much more passenger friendly than any other regional jet except perhaps the Avro RJ-85s, though only Northwest Airlink operates those and they aren’t long from being retired.

For those who fly out of small or medium sized cities that used to be served by DC-9s and 737s, the comfort of a cabin wide enough to offer both Coach and First Class is all but disappearing as many of these cities are now being served by CRJs and the smaller Embraers such as the RJ-140s. For today’s frequent flyers, the ability to upgrade to First or Business Class has always been a most cherished perk. Aboard Embraer’s RJ-170 and 190, the Economy Class section has nice wide seats and, in the case of AC and UA at least, better legroom. Given a choice between flying an Embraer 170/190 or any other regional jet, I’d definitely take the larger Embraer.

Air Canada’s 190s featured three rows of 2-1 configured grayish green Business Class seating and 21 rows of blue upholstered 2-2 Economy Class seating. I settled into exit row 19F and fell asleep soon after take off. Not the optimal way to enjoy a first flight, but I still had a long day ahead of me and needed to make up for lost sleep.

The second reason I wanted to fly via Ottawa was that I’d never flown into Ottawa before. YOW was to be the sixteenth Canadian and three hundredth overall airport that I’ve flown into. I was immediately impressed by the architecture of the terminal building with its attractive combination of wood, steel and large glass windows overlooking the tarmac.

My flight into Halifax was aboard an A319 and try though I might, I was unable to procure an aisle or window seat. The flight was completely full – oversold in fact – and Air Canada was offering two volunteers a $200.00 voucher towards future travel if they’d take a later flight. I was eighty feet away buying a newspaper when I heard the announcement and saw one guy literally stop what he was doing and run towards the podium. Oh well ~ maybe next time.

My pocket flight guide showed this flight as offering a snack service though in Economy that translated into light snacks and sandwiches for sale. I declined both food and drink and instead reclined my seat, which allowed me to better drift in and out of consciousness for the duration of the flight. Clouds had gathered as we flew east towards Halifax and by the time we landed, the airport looked well and truly socked in. Low fog and persistent drizzle were the order of the afternoon and all I could do was hope that tomorrow’s drive around Cape Breton would see better weather. As things turned out, it did. Here’s a link to some pictures in addition to what you’ll find at my Fotki site.

CAPE BRETON HIGHLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Anyone considering a visit to Canada’s Maritime Provinces, particularly Nova Scotia, should be sure to take the drive along the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton Highlands National Park. What a spectacular drive up, down, over and around a magnificent landscape. My only regret is that I couldn’t spend more time here but that can easily be remedied in the not so distant future.

Seat 2A

October 1, 2006
Halifax – Montreal 12:35p – 8:15a Next Day
ViaRail “The Ocean”
Comfort Class Sleeper Car 23, Room 7

Pictures from this trip can be found HERE


How convenient that I was able to return my Alamo rental (another Sebring) to their city office conveniently located in the Westin Hotel right next door to the ViaRail Station in downtown Halifax.

From the outside, Halifax’s CN Station looks like a classic old train station. Inside however, it’s basically a big barn. Ticket Sales and Baggage Check offices take up one side of the room while restrooms, snack machines, pay phones and a couple of seating alcoves for Sleeping Car passengers occupy the other side. Steel girders crisscross the ceiling above a few rows of old fashioned wooden pews. I was reminded of a slightly nicer version of Seattle’s King Street Station.

During peak season, three different levels of service are available aboard The Ocean. First Class is called Easterly Class. It’s an enhanced product from the everyday First Class in that it is inclusive of all meals and all the bedrooms come with showers. As always, First Class passengers have exclusive use of the Park Car at the end of the train. Economy Class is branded Comfort Class and entitles one to a reclining seat and use of the Comfort Class Bar and Lounge car. In between these two services is what’s called Comfort Sleeper Class. That’s what I’ve purchased for this trip. I’ll get the same sized bedroom that Easterly Class passengers get, but it won’t come with a shower. I’ll also eat in the same dining car as Easterly Class, but from a different menu. I do get the use of two separate Bar and Lounge cars dedicated to sleeping car passengers. Unfortunately however, I won’t get access to the Park Car. My Comfort Sleeper fare came to $250.00 USD. An Easterly Class ticket would have set me back over $630.00 USD. Overall, I just didn’t see paying out almost $400.00 more for a shower, an inclusive lunch and dinner and a chance to hang out in the Park Car.

Check-in for sleeping car passengers started one half hour before departure. I was next door buying ice for my beer and by the time I’d returned, the check in line was pretty long. As is usually the case, I was the youngest person in line – certainly the only one younger than fifty and the only one carrying a backpack. I reckon I was probably the only person in that line who’d thought to buy ice to chill his beer with. Then again, I was probably the only one who’d thought to bring my own beer along, too... Why pay $5.00 per beer in the lounge when $10.00 will get me a 6-pack of that same beer and a bag of ice.

The call to board came as I was still waiting in line behind a couple of silver haired octogenarians. Once my ticket had been verified as genuine and the appropriate stubs pulled, I gathered all my belongings - I had my big backpack, an overloaded daypack and the bag of ice - and teetered on out to the train with the rest of my fellow travelers.

I last rode The Ocean back in 2002 when it still had the old stainless steel Budd cars from the 1950s. As a rail fan, I really like riding in those older cars but on this trip I was looking forward to checking out ViaRail’s new Renaissance equipment.

Built in Europe in the mid 1990s, these new cars were to be used for the projected Nightstar service through the English Channel tunnel that never materialized. ViaRail acquired all 139 of them for the bargain basement price of just 130 million Canadian dollars. That’s about the price of one new 747 these days. They entered service with ViaRail in 2002 and finally showed up on The Ocean in 2004.

As I stepped out of the station, the tapered end of dome observation car “Assiniboine Park” loomed in front of me. Built in 1955 for the Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental streamliner “The Canadian”, this car is one of only fourteen of its type still in regular scheduled service, all of them being operated by ViaRail. The rest of them are either privately owned, sitting in museums or have been scrapped. Their graceful rounded ends hearken back to a time when passenger trains were designed to be as beautiful as they were functional. These cars certainly look nicer at the end of a train than the raw, dirty doorway of an unconnected car. ViaRail calls these cars “Park Cars” because they are all named after provincial parks around Canada. They are for the exclusive use of First Class clientele and are hugely popular with the passengers, many of whom are old enough to remember having ridden on cars like this back in the days before Amtrak and ViaRail.

The rest of the train consisted of fourteen teal, blue and yellow cars – six Sleepers, three bar/lounge Service Cars, one Diner, three Coaches and a Baggage car. Heading up the consist were two big General Electric Genesis Model P42DC locomotives. Each locomotive generated 4,250 horsepower, more than enough combined power to dispatch us into Montreal at speeds of up to 110 mph.

My ticket was for Car 23, Room 7. The first car after the Park Car was numbered 37. Uh oh, could be a long walk... I don’t want that ice to start melting. Thankfully there were only three cars in the thirties, after which came Car 23. Go figure. As I climbed the steps into my car, I was met by Gordon, the Car Attendant. He showed me to Room 7, and then took a couple of moments to explain the emergency exit procedures as well as show me how to lower the bed.

I must say I quite liked the look of these new Renaissance Car rooms. My room looked quite modern and bright with wood inlaid closet and cabinet doors, pre-molded fittings and superior lighting to the older 1950s era cars. I’d estimate the dimensions of the room at about 5 feet wide by 7 feet deep. Along one side of the room was a full-length couch that converted to a bed at night. Simply pull the back of the couch down and a ready-made bed was good to go. Above the couch was an upper bunk that folded out from the wall. A nice sized window with pull down blinds provided ample light and viewing while enroute. A small table lifted out from the wall underneath the window. As well, the middle back cushion of the couch folded down to create a small table and drink holder. Across from the couch was a small closet and two cabinets stocked with plastic cups and toilet paper. The closet was only about 8 inches wide, just enough room to hang a jacket and a couple of shirts on the three hangers provided. A doorway opened into a fairly spacious lavatory complete with toilet, sink, mirror and cabinet. The toilet was of the new airline design that uses a little water combined with lots of air and suction. No more poop on the tracks.

My only real complaint with this room is that I couldn’t find any decent place to stow my carry-on luggage. Two people traveling with a suitcase or two would be better off checking their luggage and just carrying what they needed for the journey onboard. After putting a couple cans of beer on ice, I put my pack at the far end of the couch and settled in by the window. There was no recline but I was thankful for the individual armrests that had been built into the back of the couch.

Train departures usually always get off to a rough start. The cars have settled and the tension between them relaxes as the train sits in the station. When the engine powers up, its energy moves back down the train like a domino effect, pulling the first car, then the second, then the third, etc. Thankfully, the Renaissance car designers seem to have eliminated this effect. We simply glided smoothly away from the station. I looked at my watch. It was 12:35pm. Right on time.

Aside from crossing a big bridge soon after departing Halifax, the scenery during the first couple hours of this trip is nothing special. The first call for lunch rang out at 12:45pm. During check-in, I’d been offered a chance to sign up for either the 12:45 or 2:00 seating but decided to hold off until dinner. Now I had second thoughts. Long distance train travel, in a bedroom no less, is a rare and cherished treat for me. Live it up!

The diner was located two cars up from mine, just past the Service Car. Unlike older style dining cars that have a kitchen at one end, this entire car was configured for table seating. I immediately liked the bright décor and spacious seating arrangement. On one side of the car were tables designed to seat four, two seats on each side. A dividing wall topped with stylishly etched glass separated each table. On the other side of the car were single tables designed to seat one or two.

Since I didn’t have a ticket for the first seating, I was instructed to check with the Dining Car manager for a reservation. This turned out to be a mere formality because there were never more than a dozen people seated in the diner while I was there. It was explained that lunch was a set price - $12.00, but that there was plenty of space. Would I care to get a table for lunch? I would. I was seated at one of the larger tables and presented with a menu.


LUNCHEON / DINNER MENU

Appetizer
The evening meal is served with your choice of a house salad or the Maritime Fish Chowder

MAIN COURSE

Grilled Atlantic Salmon
A fillet of grilled Atlantic salmon, topped with fish velouté, served on a bed of fettuccini with sautéed vegetables

Agnoletti
Tender raviolis stuffed with mushroom and leak, served with strips of grilled chicken, and topped with Alfredo and Marinara sauces

DESSERT
Sweet Sensation



While the entrée choices looked nice, I was surprised to see that there were only two. I was even more surprised to learn that this is the exact same menu for dinner, but for the higher price of $16.00 one is entitled to the appetizer choices. The Easterly Class menu entrees included seafood, lamb and a vegetarian choice. Otherwise, I didn’t see a lot of difference.

Worst of all, despite the fact that the ViaRail website claims that meals are “prepared on the spot by one of our chefs”, on this train all of the meals were pre-made entrees much as you’d find in the freezer section of your local supermarket. They were simply reheated in a microwave located back in the Service Car. So that’s why there was no kitchen…

One of the nicest parts of traveling by train is heading up to the dining car to enjoy a nice cooked meal. Entire books have been written on the subject, complete with recipes of favorite meals from famous trains like Santa Fe’s Super Chief or the Union Pacific’s City of Los Angeles. Don’t confuse railroad fare with airline food. Railroad meals were prepared in a fully stocked onboard kitchen and created from fresh items restocked at service stops along the route. More than a few travelers used to claim that the entrée or dessert they’d enjoyed in their restaurant on wheels was better than anything they’d ever been served in a traditional restaurant. Readers born after 1970 are unlikely to have ever experienced anything like this, as progressive reductions in operating budget have reduced the quality, quantity and presentation of the meals on many trains, especially in America.

I chose the Grilled Atlantic Salmon for my entrée. I was presented an approximately 5oz portion of salmon placed atop a mixture of egg noodles (not fettuccini) and green beans with flecks of pimientos. The entire entrée was served in a bowl rather than on a plate and in both size and flavor was very much like a Lean Cuisine or Marie Callender’s type frozen entrée. It was tasty enough but otherwise disappointing given the standard that had once been set. Dessert was a small but tasty cup of maple custard atop a half-inch portion of cake. I did like the coffee and the service was friendly and attentive. Still, if I were an Easterly Class passenger having paid $400.00 more for my trip, I would have been very disappointed.

After lunch I returned to my room for a couple of hours. It was a cloudy day and the scenery between Halifax, Truro and Moncton wasn’t particularly inspiring. We looked to be making good time though, rolling along at about 60 mph. I plugged in my laptop, popped open an ice cold Molson and put in some time on this report.

At about 5:30 I headed up to the small lounge in the Service Car. On a wall mounted TV, a hideous sea creature was menacing an attractive Hollywood starlet. She screamed as I walked by towards the food and drink service bar. The movie soundtrack was in French. Even the roars from the sea monster sounded vaguely Gallic. I took four years of Spanish and two years of French in high school. At the time of my graduation I was reasonably conversant in French. Unfortunately, living in the western half of North America allowed little chance to converse in French and, as the saying goes – if you don’t use it, you lose it. Everyone sitting in the lounge was either watching the movie or speaking French, so I decided to continue on and have a look at the rest of the train.

The Economy Class cars looked pretty comfortable for a daylong journey. However, I wouldn’t have cared to overnight in those seats. There didn’t look to be quite as much space or recline as found on the coach seats in the older stainless steel cars. In the Economy Class lounge, the scene was fairly lively. Both English and French were being spoken and people looked to be having a pretty good time. I ordered a beer and ended up chatting with a couple from Alberta who’d been touring Nova Scotia for the past two weeks. Their trip included some sea kayaking and an overnight camping trip up in the Highlands. Nice trip! I bought the next round of beer – actually I discreetly poured from a couple of extra cans in my daypack – and we had a fine old time as darkness began to descend upon the hills and valleys of New Brunswick. They disembarked at Rogersville, a small community just west of Moncton, and I headed back to my end of the train to look into dinner options.

Regardless of class served, all the Service Cars are designed the same. At one end is the service area where the usual variety of snacks, drinks and cold sandwiches can be ordered off a wall mounted menu. Hot items such as hamburgers and pasta entrees are also available. Comfortable lounge type seating with couches, chairs and tables takes up the middle of the car. Just beyond that is a stand-up bar, as in a place to congregate around though no liquor is sold from there.

One of the passengers walked by with a pasta dish that looked and smelled pretty good. For sure it looked a lot more filling than the salmon entrée I’d had for lunch. Pasta it is, then. Although two or three different pasta entrees are usually stocked, all that was left was the Chicken Pesto. It was excellent and at only $5.00 it offered far better value than the $16.00 dinner ever would. Unless and until ViaRail installs real kitchens on its Renaissance fleet, I’ll likely never eat in a Renaissance Dining Car again.

I spent the rest of the evening reading and putting in a bit more work on this report. I suspect that for some putting in the time to write these reports ranks pretty low on a list of enjoyable activities, and this occasionally reflects in the lack of depth and detail evident in some reports. Then there are geeks like me who actually writing them, especially during times like now, when I’m sitting at gate 52 at EWR with an hour to go before my flight’s due to depart. Try though I may, I’ve never been able to write about all this as it happens. Either I’m busy enjoying the here and now and/or the level of detail that I include is so excessive that I’d never be able to write it all down as it happens anyway. Still, on a trip like this there are plenty of opportunities while sitting on planes, trains or boats to put in the required amount of work.

I awoke the next morning just as we were pulling into St. Hyacinthe. It was 7:10am and The Ocean was running right on time. Montreal was only about an hour away, and upon arrival I had yet another train to catch – Amtrak’s southbound Adirondack to New York City.

Overall, I enjoyed this ride on The Ocean. The Renaissance Cars are attractive and well appointed, in addition to providing a very smooth ride. My standard bedroom was comfortable and the onboard staff was always friendly and capable. The dining car situation is a real disappointment for one so enamored of the old service standards, but reasonably priced and flavorful meal options were available in the Service Cars. Would I ride this train again? Yes.


October 2, 2006
Montreal – New York 9:50a – 7:20p
Amtrak “The Adirondack” Coach Class

I really liked the main hall in Montreal’s Central Station. It featured a nice variety of shops and restaurants as well as a nice lounge for ViaRail’s First Class passengers. By the time I’d detrained from The Ocean and made my way upstairs into the main hall, it was 8:30am and the New York bound Adirondack would be boarding in just forty-five minutes. Rather than take advantage of a traditional breakfast in the full service restaurant, I headed over to McDonald’s for an Oeuf McMuffin. Two of them actually, with a big cup of coffee and a copy of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper. Aside from enjoying Canada’s take on world affairs, I was particularly interested in yesterday’s NFL scores as well as finding out who won the AL Central. How bout them Twins? Go, A’s!

Amtrak’s Adirondack is an all coach train. There are no assigned seats amongst the three or four coaches, so it would behoove those like myself who appreciate a good window seat to be prompt when the call to board is issued. In fact, be early because the line starts forming about ten to fifteen minutes before boarding is announced. By the time I arrived, the line to board was already about fifty people deep.

Once boarding was announced, we all headed down to the train in an orderly fashion. Today’s train consisted of four coaches and a cafe/lounge car. As I stepped aboard the third coach down – one of two designated for New York City bound passengers – I was immediately impressed by the modern and uncluttered look of the new retrofitted car interiors. The seats were wide and comfortable with decent recline and legroom. I was particularly happy to see 110-volt outlets located along the wall at each row of seats. I’d be able to use my laptop longer than its two-hour battery life. Overhead storage space was ample and the windows appeared to be clean, something especially appreciated this time of year when fall colors are the main attraction along the route. I stored my backpack on the large shelves located at the back of the car and selected a seat with a good amount of window beside it. At some seats you’ve got the edge of a window right in your main field of vision, so it’s nice to find a seat with a clear, unfettered view.

The last time I rode this train was in October of 1984. Due to track repair work, we were unable to use the tracks immediately south of Montreal and so ended up getting bussed to Westport, New York. As such, the 112 miles between Montreal and Westport will be new territory for me. I’m always up for checking out new scenery along Amtrak’s national route system because there’s not much territory that I haven’t already covered. During the eighties I rode every single long distance train that operated in America. Long distance means anything over 300 miles. So yes, I haven’t ridden trains like the Wolverine between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan or the Kansas City Mule between Kansas City and St. Louis, but hopefully I’ll find time to knock those off in the next ten years provided Amtrak’s still around in ten years. More on that in a moment, though.

Because Central Station is located underground, diesel engines are not allowed to run while the train is sitting in the station. The train was plugged into standby power while passengers were boarding but at 9:45am the power was shut off and the train remained dark until we’d cleared the station shortly after an on time departure.

Montreal is located on an island at the junction of the St.Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. On the way out of the city, we crossed the St. Lawrence on the century old Victoria Bridge and turned south towards the border. Southern Quebec is not particularly scenic, being comprised mainly of flat farmland. Now seemed like a good time to head back to the Café Car for a cup of coffee. There were plenty of tables available, so I took a seat and perused the Adirondack schedule. We had almost ten hours of travel and some of the prettiest scenery in North America yet to come.

At about 11:30 an announcement was made that we were approaching the U.S. border and the Café Car would be closed during Customs inspection. We passed through the border town of Rouses Point and came to a stop in front of the station. Four customs inspectors boarded the train. Two of them worked from the front of the train back while the other two worked forward from the rear. The whole process took about twenty minutes and soon we were on our way again.

South of the border the route becomes much more scenic as the tracks run along Lake Champlain for many miles. Often, the tracks ran atop rock ledges overlooking the lake, though at other times we were right down near water level. Fall colors were still a week or two away from their peak, though even now the mix of early autumn colors was very pretty.

A few miles south of Ticonderoga, we stopped on a siding and waited over twenty minutes for a freight train to pass. Waiting for freights is an unfortunate part of Amtrak’s operation and is the primary reason why so many of its trains run late. When Amtrak – the government owned and operated National Railroad Passenger Corporation – took over rail passenger services in 1970, the railroads retained the rights to control the flow of traffic over their rails. Since freight is where the profits lie, the host railroads make Amtrak trains yield to most freight trains.

By the time we pulled into Albany it was 6:40pm. I hadn’t been paying attention to the time, but somehow we’d ended up running over an hour and a half late. When we weren’t stopped on sidings, we must have been ordered to run at slower speeds. I’d been so taken with the scenery that I must not have noticed. In any event, we didn’t arrive into New York’s Penn Station until 9:20pm, almost two hours behind schedule. I’d missed my 8:30 connection to Newark Airport and the next Amtrak departure wasn’t until after 10:00pm. I had a rental car awaiting me at EWR but the car rental office closed at 11:00pm. Thankfully New Jersey Transit trains operate regularly along the same route and I was able to catch a 9:35pm departure that got me into Newark with time to spare.


NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY / PENNSYLVANIA

When I first started putting this trip together, I’d wanted to spend a couple of days in New York City. I’d stayed in the city twice before, once at a hostel and once at a budget hotel. This time I wanted to do it in style. At a halfway decent hotel. Preferably one with a nice midtown location. Now I know that in midtown Manhattan, even the lower end hotel rooms are not inexpensive. Still, I figured I’d be able to work out something via Priceline. At biddingfortravel.com I’d even heard of Priceline users getting rooms in the city for less than $100.00 per night. Alas, I was not to be one of them.

I started out bidding $110.00 per night for two midweek nights in a three star hotel. Pretty darned cheap. But you never know. The response came back: We’re sorry, but Priceline was unable to find you a room for $110.00 per night. Please change or consider increasing your bid and try again. Ultimately, I went up to $150.00 per night for a three star midtown location and still got rejected. Maybe I should have bid the Bowery. I mean, Priceline claims they’ll save you up to 40 to 50% off your hotel room, so bidding $150.00 per night I should be looking at rooms priced in the $200.00 to $300.00 per night range. Still, there was nothing available. Who knows – maybe the city is very popular this time of year. All I know is that by my standards – which are admittedly in an entirely different realm than most folks – $150.00 per night for a hotel room is a lot of money, way more than I’ve ever spent before for the privilege of a bed in a private room. Thus far on this trip the total amount I’ve spent for five nights in what I consider perfectly clean and comfortable motels comes to $183.00. As much as I’d like to spend a couple of days in the Big Apple, $150.00 per night via Priceline is the most I’ll pay. Since I don’t know anyone in the city and don’t want to stay off Manhattan, I reckon I won’t be staying in New York City on this trip.

So - with two days in the area until my flight back down to Florida, what should I do? I considered a mileage run out of Newark but couldn’t find anything decent. I did however find an amazing routing on an American roundtrip fare between Newark and Miami. Get this: I was able to book and price EWR-BOS-ORD-STL-DCA-MIA and back via ORD for just $118.00 base fare, $171.00 all in. Noted AA mileage runner CMK10 would have been proud of me. I probably could have worked in a longer itinerary for the way back but I had to get back to Newark in time for my 3:40pm departure down to Ft. Lauderdale. Unfortunately, the overall cost per earned mile of $0.0166 did not meet my threshold of $0.015 or lower so I nixed that plan. Amazing routing, though.

What I ended up doing was renting a car out of Newark and heading west into the Poconos, then north along the Delaware Water Gap. The fall colors, the winding road and gorgeous autumn weather combined to make for a most enjoyable journey. I then turned east on US 6 and headed into Westchester County where I spent some time in the towns of Katonah and Bedford before making my way back down to Newark. I camped out both nights and got showers in truck stops along the Interstate. My over all expenditures were a fraction of what I’d have spent for two days in the city. Even so, I’ve not given up on my attempts to spend a couple of days in New York someday. Based on the bids that I’ve seen at biddingfortravel.com, that $150.00 a night may well be enough. It just wasn’t enough for this particular time.

Seat 2A

October 04, 2006
EWR-FLL 3:40p – 6:30p USA 3000 A320-200 N261AV Economy Class

I arrived at USA 3000’s counter in Terminal B at 2:00pm. After checking in, I figured there’d be plenty of time for a lounge visit prior to my flight. Check in was efficiently handled, though I found it interesting that no computers were involved in the process. First my name was matched against a list, and then checked off. Next I was asked what kind of seating I’d like. Window, please. Do you have any exit row seats available? The agent went off to check and returned a couple of minutes later with a pale blue boarding pass printed on card stock. My name, flight number and destination had been typed onto the card, though my seat and gate number had been written in. Seat 11F. Exit row window. Yes! An old-fashioned orange colored baggage tag imprinted FLL was attached to my backpack and I was given directions to the appropriate concourse. So far, so good.

One of the USA 3000 employees caught my eye, though. He was in uniform and standing behind a counter with this dreamy kind of smile on his face. He’d look around, smile, and look around some more. Then he’d smile again. He looked to be in his own little world. I think he was high on something. He sure didn’t appear to be of any use to his fellow agents.

Both Northwest and Delta have lounges in Terminal B. Unfortunately, they’re past security on different concourses than the one USA 3000 operates from. Not wanting to deal with the hassle of having to clear security twice, I headed on down to the gate, read for awhile and then watched as USA 3000’s red, white and blue Airbus A320 was towed to the gate. Flanking the A320 was an El Al 777 and an Alitalia 767-300.

I bought my one way ticket off the USA 3000 website for just $66.00 before taxes. Service on board was simple but efficient. We got a pass with the beverage cart and a bag of snack mix. A brochure onboard claimed that Conde Nast Traveler Magazine had rated USA 3000 among the top four US airlines for domestic service. The top four? I guess that sounds better than fourth best. For this trip at least I’d rate them number one in terms of value for dollar spent. The plane was clean, the service was simple and friendly, and we landed on time. All for a bit less than I’d have paid had I flown on one of the legacy carriers. Well done, USA 3000.

My next flight was scheduled to depart tomorrow morning from Miami International. Two options exist for transport between FLL and MIA. The first and more expensive choice is to take a shuttle van for the flat rate of $20.00. Total time enroute is about 30-40 minutes.
The second option involved using the local transit system. An airporter type bus takes you straight to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Tri-Rail station. From there, it’s a 30-minute train ride to the Miami Airport Station where a waiting bus takes you straight to MIA. Total travel time from FLL to MIA: One hour and twenty minutes. Total cost: $3.00.


October 05, 2006
MIA-SEA 8:10a – 11:31a ALASKA 737-800 N556AS Economy Class
SEA-ANC 3:55p - 6:45p ALASKA DC-9-80 NXXXAS Economy Class
ANC-FAI 7:43p - 8:32p ALASKA 737-200 NXXXAS Economy Class

Alaska Airlines flights depart from MIA’s E Concourse. Getting to the gates requires a train ride followed by a security check. Interesting that one wouldn’t have to pass through security before getting on the train. Anyway, I took advantage of the newly changed security regulations and purchased a large cup of whatever Starbucks had on tap that morning. I really wish Starbucks would have a separate line for those of us that simply want a regular cup of coffee. Having to stand in line for five minutes while the staff prepares endless foo foo coffee drinks is irksome.

Earlier this summer Alaska Airlines instituted a new boarding process designed to allow easier and faster boarding for First Class and MVP Gold passengers. During the three times I’ve flown recently flown out of Miami, the gate agents seem either unwilling or unable to implement this system and so boarding remains as it always has been – a free for all mob scene. To be honest, I’ve never been impressed by any of Alaska’s ground operations in Miami. From the check-in counter to the departure gate, the process is not handled with anywhere near the professionalism and aplomb exhibited at Alaska’s stations in the west. Do the staff in Miami simply not care or are they poorly managed or both?

Thankfully, the cabin crew was not from Miami. Once on board, we quickly returned to the friendly and capable service for which Alaska is known. The captain welcomed us aboard, apologized for the short delay in our departure and promised a speedy flight. Thanks to light 20mph headwinds, we’d cover the 2,720 miles up to Seattle in just five hours and forty-five minutes.

At a time when most airlines no longer offer their coach passengers complimentary inflight meals, even on transcons, Alaska offered us a hot ham, egg and cheese bagel sandwich accompanied by a tub of yogurt. Later in the flight, pre-packaged cookies were passed out. Thus fortified, I pulled out the laptop and brought this report up to date. We landed in Seattle ten minutes early, due in no small part to our straight in approach from the south instead of the more time consuming northern loop over Bothell.

With a four-hour layover until my connecting flight to Anchorage, I hopped on the southbound 174 bus for a five-minute ride to 188th Street where lunch at Dave’s Diner awaited. I discovered this great diner a couple of years ago during an overnight stay at the airport and both the food and the ambience is right up my alley. It’s worth noting here that I could have caught an earlier flight up to Anchorage but the later flight included an MD-80 up to Anchorage connecting to a 737-200 into Fairbanks. These aircraft aren’t long for Alaska’s fleet and I’d like to log as many miles on them as I can before they’re gone for good.

Back at SeaTac, I obediently showed up at gate C-18 twenty minutes in advance of the scheduled departure time of 3:55pm. A mechanical delay had just been announced, with the promise of an update in ten minutes. Unfortunately, the delay turned out to be considerably longer and once it became clear I wouldn’t make my connecting flight in Anchorage, I began to investigate other options. Alaska wanted to switch me to a flight getting in well past midnight but I managed to talk them into allowing me to overnight in Seattle (Thanks to Priceline for a $35.00 bid on a local hotel) and depart for Fairbanks at a more civilized hour the next morning.


October 05, 2006
SEA-ANC-FAI 10:20a – 2:26p ALASKA 737-400 N795AS Economy Class

The aircraft for this morning’s flight was a 737-400, the two hundred and fifty second of that type that I’ve flown in Alaska’s colors. Total mileage I’ve logged solely aboard Alaska’s 737-400s so far: 216,240 miles. Service up to Anchorage and on to Fairbanks was pretty basic – a pass with the beverage cart and an offer to shell out $5.00 for Alaska’s Northern Bites special of the month – a cold Roast Beef sandwich served with chips and a packet of Dijonnaise. I held out in anticipation of a good Thai lunch in Fairbanks and spent the rest of my time aloft reading and burning a CD for my seatmate.

Seat 2A

October 11, 2006
FAI-ANC 3:35p – 4:37p ALASKA 737-400 N760AS Economy Class
ANC-SEA 6:09p -10:18p ALASKA 737-400 N784AS Economy Class
October 12, 2006
SEA-DEN 7:35a-11:08a ALASKA 737-700 N614AS Economy Class

Pictures from this trip can be found HERE


Nothing particularly special to report on any of these flights except the following:

Ship 784 is the original Disneyland plane – the one with Mickey Mouse on the tail.

My Exit Row Window was double assigned. Since possession is 9/10ths of the law and I was the second to arrive, I ended up with the middle seat.

The Northern Bite was a hot barbecued chicken and cheese sandwich. I thought it was pretty good once I’d removed the cheese.

I overheard that the First Class breakfast between Seattle and Denver was a sausage and egg muffin. Those cost a buck at McDonalds these days. How low can domestic First Class sink…

From DIA, the cheapest mid or full size rental car I could find for the next four days priced out at $188.00. Sorry, that’s not acceptable. Try again. This I did, ultimately finding an Advantage Rent A Car location in south suburban Denver that rented me a Hyundai Sonata with airport return for just $103.00. All I had to do was spend an hour getting there on a couple of city busses - a small imposition given the substantial savings I enjoyed. I spent the next three days in Colorado visiting friends and family in Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and Greeley. Ah… the good life…


October 15, 2006
Cañon City, Colorado
The Royal Gorge Train
First Class Super Dome seating

After a snowy day on Saturday, I awoke Sunday morning to mostly sunny skies with temperatures projected in the 70s. What a fine day indeed to head down to Cañon City for a train ride through the Colorado’s fabulous Royal Gorge.

When I was younger, I mapped out every single rail line ever built in Colorado. I cannot imagine a state with a more colorful railroad history than Colorado. On just about every one of those routes I traced I found myself wondering what it must have been like to have ridden those trains through incredible mountain scenery to places like Telluride, Lake City, Leadville or Craig. As a child I remember a visit to the suspension bridge over the Royal Gorge and watching as a train passed by over 1000 feet beneath us. Suspension bridges are cool but I wanted to be on that train! Unfortunately, passenger rail service through the Royal Gorge ended in 1967, a bit before I had the means and the freedom to have taken advantage of it.

I should note here that the Royal Gorge is the name given the spectacular chasm carved out over the past three million years by the Arkansas River. Also known as The Grand Canyon of the Arkansas, the Royal Gorge’s history as a rail route includes a war between competing railroads as well as being the most dramatic portion of the original transcontinental rail route through the Rocky Mountains. The history is fascinating…

In the 1860s, miners began to head into Colorado’s upper Arkansas valley in search of lead and silver. Interestingly, this area was not known for its gold deposits. By the late 1870s, the large number of successful claims in the Leadville district attracted the attention of the Denver & Rio Grande and the Santa Fe railroads. After all, there was a lot of money to be made from “mining the miners” by supplying them and their towns with food, equipment and other supplies. Both railroads had already established operations in the lower Arkansas valley and both wasted little time in making plans to build tracks to Leadville. Unfortunately, given the lay of the land the only reasonable access to the Leadville area was via the narrow, thousand foot deep Arkansas River canyon just west of Cañon City.

Ordinarily it would not be a problem for two competing railroads to occupy the same river valley or canyon but at its narrowest point the Royal Gorge is only about thirty feet wide. This width combined with sheer granite walls on both sides of the river made the prospect of building a railroad through the canyon a seriously daunting task. Two railroads would be sheer folly! The result was a race to build tracks through the gorge.

Unfortunately, what might have started out as spirited competition quickly devolved into legal bickering and injunctions followed shortly thereafter by armed confrontations between the rival track crews. Over the next two years, trains were commandeered, depots and engine houses were put under siege, bullets flew and people died in what came to be known as the Royal Gorge Railroad War. A treaty was eventually signed granting track rights to the Rio Grande on condition that it reimburse the Santa Fe 1.8 million dollars to cover the cost of what it had already built in the gorge. Once that was settled, construction resumed in earnest and the tracks reached Leadville a couple of years later.

As for its transcontinental heritage, train travel through the Royal Gorge was part of the original route between Denver and Salt Lake City. Leaving Denver, trains rolled south to Colorado Springs and Pueblo before heading west through the Royal Gorge, over Marshall Pass, then through Gunnison, Montrose, and Grand Junction before passing into Utah and on to Salt Lake. Later, the main line was routed via Leadville and tracks were laid over Tennessee Pass through Glenwood Springs and into Grand Junction. I’ve driven through all of these areas many times over and I assure you there are few places any prettier through which to travel by train.

Any route through the Rocky Mountains is going to be a gorgeous ride but I often wish I’d been born fifty years earlier so that I could have enjoyed travel by train along some of those bygone routes. Today, I get to experience a small but spectacular piece of Colorado’s rail history.

During the off season (October through May) the Royal Gorge Route Railroad operates on weekends only. There is a midday departure at 12:30pm and an evening dinner train at 6:00pm. I opted for the 12:30 departure since I had to be back in Denver in time for the 6:15pm kickoff of the Broncos – Raiders game. No true Bronco fan would ever miss a game against the Oakland Raiders. But enough football talk. Let’s head on out to the train.

I arrived at the Santa Fe depot in Cañon City at 11:45. By now the day was totally cloudless and the temperature felt like it was substantially warmer than 70. Although boarding wouldn’t begin until 12:15, I noticed that lines for both Coach and First Class passengers were already beginning to form.

Four different types of tickets were available for the midday departure. The least expensive entitled one to a simple Coach seat. Next up was First Class, though the seating was basic wooden chairs around tables in a parlor car with a bar at one end. For just a few dollars more, you could have a seat upstairs in the super dome, under the glass. Seating was buffet style, i.e. comfortable padded bench seats facing each other with a table in between. The primary benefit of dome seating is not comfort but rather the ability to see not only out to the side but also above and forward of the train. This is especially appreciated when traveling through mountainous country or in a canyon like the Royal Gorge. The most expensive tickets entitled you to dome seating along with a “gourmet” lunch in the attractively refurbished “William Jackson Palmer” dining car.

I had purchased a seat in one of the 1950s era super dome cars. What’s interesting is that prior to their service in Colorado, these dome cars were owned and operated by Holland America Westours who operated them between Anchorage, Denali Park and Fairbanks. I may have even ridden on one of these cars while up in Alaska. These older domes were much nicer than the newly manufactured dome cars Holland America Westours currently operates in Alaska. It would be good to get reacquainted with these old cars.

Although the scenery is the primary attraction of a trip on this train, to any true railfan the old equipment and especially locomotive power would rank a very close second. Of particular interest to me was the ex-Canadian National Railway F-7 diesel locomotive positioned at the rear of the train. The F-7 was the most popular of a number of passenger and freight diesels produced by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division in the 1940s and 50s. Their rounded noses and streamlined design likely make F-Units the most recognized diesel locomotive in North American history. Their silhouette is still the standard for the popular media to indicate anything to do with train travel. Of all the F-Units, the F-7 was the most popular (over 2,300 were built) and they served on railroads throughout the United States and Canada through the 1970s. Some Canadian examples operated well into the 1990s.

Aesthetically speaking, the F-7 is what a passenger train engine should look like. Today’s more modern engines are certainly more powerful and efficient but don’t hold a candle to the F-Units when it comes to appearance.

The rest of the train was made up of predominantly ex-Canadian National/ViaRail equipment that included two coaches, a café lounge car, a parlor/bar car, two diners, two open air observation cars and the three domes. Leading us out of Cañon City were a relatively pedestrian set of SD-9 and GP-7 locomotives. The entire consist was painted in Rio Grande’s classic ochre, black and gray livery with the exception of the dome cars which still retained their Holland America colors though not titles. The reason why the F-7 was positioned at the rear was because the train travels through the Gorge to Parkdale and back, reversing direction but not the train. The F-7 would lead us back to Cañon City.

There was no indication that I had an assigned seat, so I assumed that I’d be sharing a table with three other people. Upon boarding however, I was surprised to find that an entire table had been reserved for me. Each table was set with napkins, plasticware and menus. The menu offered a decent selection of hot sandwiches, burgers and appetizers, very affordably priced. I wasn’t all that hungry however, so when the server stopped by to take orders, I settled for an ice cold Guinness (Only $3.50!) and ended up chatting with some visitors from Germany. The four of them were on a month long journey around the Western US and were quite excited to be riding upstairs in the big dome. Cars like this were never seen in Europe, they said.

At 12:29pm, the traditional call of “All Aboard” was made and the engineer gave a couple of toots from his horn. One minute later the engines powered up and we slowly glided away from the old depot. About two minutes into the trip we were treated to some commentary as we passed the old Colorado Territorial Penitentiary built in 1868. It was later known as Big Mac when it became the primary maximum security prison for the state. It now serves as a medium security facility. I found it interesting that the prison was located right in the heart of downtown Cañon City. Also interesting is the role that prisons play in the economy of Cañon City. Fremont County is home to not one but fourteen prisons, including the latest Federal Maximum Security Penitentiary at Florence, Colorado.

The entrance to the Royal Gorge is no more than a couple of miles from Cañon City. The terrain very quickly changes from the mellow hills around Cañon City to mountains to the sheer rock walls of the canyon. It was a gorgeous autumn day and as nice as the scenery was from the glass topped dome car, I knew I’d enjoy it more from the open air observation car.

If the weather is good, the open-air observation car is really the place to be. It is open to all passengers and because of this I would suggest that for daytime departures, unless you really like dome cars, buy a coach ticket on this train. You’ll probably be spending the majority of the two-hour roundtrip outside anyway as the scenery practically calls out to you to come out and get a better view.

About halfway into trip, we got our first view of the famous suspension bridge that spans the gorge. The bridge sits 1,053 feet above the river and not surprisingly is the highest suspension bridge in the world. Built in 1929, the bridge took only six months to construct. It spans 880 feet but is only 18 feet wide. Over 1000 planks make up the wooden walkway. I found it interesting that the bridge was never intended for transportation purposes. It was always intended as a tourism attraction. Kodak stock probably went up a point the day this bridge was completed!

The Arkansas River was our constant companion throughout the twelve-mile journey to Parkdale. At times, the river was no more than a few feet away. One such place in particular is where the gorge is at its narrowest – only thirty feet wide. Because the granite walls drop so steeply into the river on both sides of the gorge, the tracks run over a 175 foot plate girder that is suspended over the river via a series of A-frame girders that span the river and are anchored to the rock walls on either side. The Santa Fe built this “bridge” in 1879 and although it’s been strengthened over the years, the main structure has served as the only way through this section of the gorge for the past 126 years.

When there was regular passenger train service through the gorge, it was traditional for trains to stop down by the A-frame bridge and allow passengers off to check out the scenery. Years ago I heard a great story about this stop. A Rio Grande dining car steward who had worked for the railroad for over thirty years told it to me. Colorado Rainbow Trout, however it was prepared, was always one of the favorite dishes of passengers riding the Rio Grande. One day, the commissary had been unable to stock the train with adequate supplies of trout and so the kitchen only had about a dozen to work with. It was decided that an announcement would be made advising passengers that due to a shortage, no trout had been stocked and so would not be available for that evening’s meals. After the thirty-minute stop in the Royal Gorge, another announcement was made advising passengers that a limited amount of trout dinners was now available. The reason for this was that some dedicated members of the kitchen and dining room staff had used the break time in the Royal Gorge to make the perilous hike upstream and catch some trout for that night’s dinner. Needless to say, the passengers were as thrilled as they were impressed with the dedication and fishing ability of the Rio Grande staff.

Visitors to the suspension bridge can actually take a cog railway that runs at a 45-degree angle down to the hanging bridge. It’s called the Royal Gorge Incline and is recognized as the world's steepest railway. I don’t remember doing this when we visited years ago. Guess I’ll have to make a return visit someday…

Soon after leaving the gorge on its western side, we arrived at Parkdale. I saw a single house with some out buildings and a bridge where US 50 crossed over the Arkansas River. Other than that, there was nothing more to Parkdale. The engineers climbed down from the SD-9 locomotive that had pulled us into Parkdale and walked down the length of the train to the very end where the F-7 awaited for the return journey. One hour later we pulled into Cañon City right on time, bringing to a close one of the more dramatic rail journeys I’ve ever taken.

Here’s a link to a video of the trip I found on the internet:

ROYAL GORGE VIDEO

As I was driving back up to Denver, I took a moment to reflect on my travels of late. Three weeks ago I was driving between Page, Arizona and Green River, Utah. Two weeks ago I was riding the train between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Montreal. One week ago I was enjoying an unseasonably warm autumn day in Fairbanks. Six days from now I’ll be riding Amtrak’s Coast Starlight into Santa Barbara, CA. Eleven days from now I’ll be riding yet another train through Mexico’s Copper Canyon. Ah, the life…

Okay, that's all for this installment. In the next week I'll be heading northwest, then way south. The upcoming report includes First Class on Amtrak's Coast Starlight, Business Class on the Pacific Surfliner, First Class on Mexico's Copper Canyon train and flights aboard Mexican carriers Aviacsa and Azteca. Thanks for reading!

ss278

What can I say? Fabulous as always. I look forward to reading about the rest of your journey's.

Kiwi Flyer

Great, another report by Seat 2A to read on my next batch of 11 flights this week. Must resist reading until then. Is there a way I can hide this thread for a few days?

HawaiiTrvlr

One of the best things to look forward to on Flyertalk is to find a trip report by 2A. If only I could write as well. Keep the reports coming.

MrBo

Couldn't agree more - riveted to the screen....

dcstudent

Very well done! By the way, you and I were at the Gorge the same day, but as I also had to get back to Denver, I could only do one thing and chose the incline railway!

SMART51

Wooow.So much info in one report.This is better than a reading a book.Plus photos,videos,sightseeing info.What more can we get? I forgot very well written. ^ ^ ^

Mwenenzi

Seat 2a routing
Aircraft Sept 20 to Sept 29
Trains Oct 1 to Oct 4 Haliafx - Montreal - New York
Aircraft Oct 05 to Oct 11

Kiwi Flyer

Great report as ever Seat 2A ^