Outside of Union Station - Chicago, IL
Note: This is a continuation of another post, Taking a Train Across the Country – Springfield to Chicago.
Also, don’t forget, you can click any of the pictures to enlarge them
I was lucky on the first night of the trip, because I had an empty seat next to me, but I found out this wasn’t the best solution for sleeping. As you read in Part One, I woke up early. I have a journal entry from 7:18am.
Things to do today:
- Make my connection in Chicago
- Take a shower in a sink somehow..
- Figure out a better way to sleep, I did have two seats to myself last night so I curled up under my blanket, with my hoody and little train pillow under my head.
7:18am - Scary looking, huh?
I was excited to see Chicago, I had never been before and didn’t really know what to expect. I was also looking forward to hopefully finding somewhere to take a shower in a sink. I wouldn’t recommend trying to shave on the train. Even holding a toothbrush by your face could be dangerous with the constant movement of the train, let alone a razor.
We had one last stop before Chicago, and I remember hopping onto the platform for a few minutes, and it was cold. I was on my way to Cali, and figured I wouldn’t need too many warm clothes. Brilliant.. I had one hoody and was stuck wearing it for most of the trip. We boarded the train and soon enough, things changed drastically from the scenery along the Great Lakes, into a more urban area. On the train, you aren’t presented with “Welcome to..” signs for different cities and towns. You get to see parts of them that aren’t cleaned up and beautified for your view. You get to areas that aren’t so pretty, and that’s another reason why I loved the experience.
Inside Union Station - Chicago, IL
We rolled past alleys, streets, and soon enough, a lot of other trains. Chicago seems to be quite a major hub, and it was busy. Freights, Amtrak, local Metro trains.. The amount of tracks and signals was amazing. The sunlit morning came to a halt for the passengers on the Lakeshore Limited when we rolled into Union Station’s platform. The entire platform is inside a massive “garage” for the trains. I grabbed my luggage and made my way inside the station. The architecture of Union Station was really amazing. Here’s another excerpt.
I made it to Chicago with plenty of time to spare. I think we were 10-15 minutes late. I was exhausted and in need of a smoke so I stepped into the Chicago street to see what was around. I walked around the station and some surrounding streets just scoping the new surroundings. Union Station itself was awesome. It is a giant old building, the lobby was massive. Huge ceiling, and old school benches with plenty of room.
I was looking at departures and noticed there was another train going to Cali other than mine. I asked ticketing about it, and it turns out for a small fee I could change to that one and get to see my baby a day earlier than expected.3 Southwest Chief Route Map
I stopped at a CVS and snagged a new toothbrush, more smokes, etc. They sell alcohol in CVS.. rad.. I ended up snagging a fruit salad and a pasta salad for some lunch. My new train offered me a little more time, so I just bummed around and explored Chicago a little bit. It’s cold and windy. While waiting for my train I met some punk rock kid with a giant Mohawk from Oklahoma who plays in a band called “Awkward Sex”.
Cold and Windy in Chicago, IL
So, instead of taking the Texas Eagle, I transferred to train 3, The Southwest Chief. This would cut a whole day out of my trip, and I would only spend two more nights on the train. Instead of cutting through Texas, we would go through Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. I still had time to kill, so I ventured around Chicago a bit. I found a Starbucks and was able to use their WiFi to download a PDF of the trip I was taking. Everything from here on out would be new territory to me, and I was more than excited to see it all.
From the journal:
Looking out the window of an Amtrak Viewliner Car on the Southwest Chief
I ended up sitting next to some thugged out looking kid from Colorado on the train, and an older guy who was actually pretty cool. The kid I was sitting next to just kept getting phone calls and talking about rap. We chatted for a bit and he informed me that Cali has some of the “Prettiest mother f***ers” there. The train makes less stops than the other one, so that means less cigs, but that’s probably a good thing.
The Southwest Chief was a huge train in comparison to the Lake Shore Limited. The larger trains have View Liner cars, which are like Lounge Cars on steroids. I found my way to one and instantly knew that this was a great place to enjoy the trip from. They are two floors, the top has windows from top to bottom, and a lot of comfortable seats on one end, and restaurant style booths on the other. On the bottom level there are more booths and a place you can buy food, drinks, and other small items. To say the least, I was content. I bought a cold beer, grabbed a seat by the window, and got an amazing first hand view of parts of our country that I had never seen before.
Stay tuned for the next part of Taking The Train Across the country! And be sure to read Part One!
Hey Ryan, are you planning on stopping in Phoenix? And is harder to sleep on a train or an airplane? I would think that the click clack of the train might actually put you to sleep with the hypnotic rhythm.
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Hi Thos,
This trip is from last year actually, although I think we might take the same trip this coming summer. We don’t actually go through Phoenix, but I believe there was a bus you could take from the Amtrak station. The click clack of the train is nice, but every once in awhile there will be a loud section of track, or the whole car might jerk a little bit, haha. I’d find it easier to sleep on train probably, but that’s just me.
Thanks for reading and responding! I look forward to seeing you around again!
Hi Ryan
You look pretty out of it in the photo!
Sounds as though you met a real cross section of people on the trip.
The guy constantly on his mobile is my worst nightmare.
In the UK some train carriages are mobile phone free – shows what an old fart I am. LOL
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Hi Keith,
Hahah I guess I was pretty out of it. Lack of sleep will do that to ya’!
Meeting people on the trip was awesome, you definitely see people from all walks of life. You can hear everything from deep conversations to drunken banter. It’s an experience. I don’t think you’re an old fart, people who are constantly yakking on their phones can annoy anyone of any age.
Makes me feel better knowing that I’m perhaps not an old fart.
Just noticed the two small symbols under the names.
Firefox and MacIntosh under yours and IE7 and Vista under mine. Is that done with a plugin?
.-= Keith Davis´s last blog ..Flying in formation =-.
Yep, the OS and Browser info are displayed using the Advanced User Agent Displayer plugin. I like learning about usage stats and similar things. I can admit it, I’m a bit of a nerd, haha!
Man, I wish I could say that I envy you this trip, but nope, I’d be going stir crazy. I took the train from Syracuse to Chicago about 10 years ago, and it ended up being rough. One bad bump and I threw my back out for the week I was in Chi-town; not a lot of fun, that’s for sure. That plus the 14 hours it took getting there; definitely not a lot of fun for me. Still, you’ve got an adventure going, and it gives you a story you can tell for the rest of your life. That’s worth the trip… once, at least. lol
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Hey Mitch,
Thanks for stopping by! Traveling by train definitely is not for everyone. I’ll admit, there were a few times when I was trying to sleep and couldn’t get comfortable and I might have been thinking “What the hell am I doing here?” I can only imagine trying to sit on a train with my back out.. Does not sound fun at all. But at least you did take one train trip! From my own experiences the good outweighs the bad significantly, but I can’t blame you for buying a plane ticket next time either, haha!
Hi Ryan,
I love traveling independently and going to new places by various means of transportation. I find it great to follow your trip to Chicago! I haven’t been to US yet, so your posts give me some more ideas how it is there. You seem to be a curious type of person, does this trip give you some new creative ideas to put into action?:)
Greets
Justyna
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Hi Justyna,
Going new places is amazing, and the trip to get to them can be just as wonderful! Stay tuned for the rest of my trip, from Chicago to Los Angeles. The total trip was almost 3,000 miles. I haven’t left the US yet, and there’s so much to explore here. I can’t wait to see other parts of the world! This trip definitely gave me new ideas, and they lend themselves to great creativity!
Thanks for stopping by!
very good in the photo, can I go there for now, and get the same thing
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I’m sorry, can you go where and get what? Haha
I want to enjoy things like that, but it is not possible, would probably spend a lot of
Surprisingly, the trip wasn’t that expensive. The tickets were cheaper than flying, so you just have to buy or bring food for the time. It’s well worth it in my book!
I didn’t realize trains were bumpy. I would have thought it would have been the smoothest way to travel because you’re always on the tracks. We’ve actually considered taking a train on a couple of occasions to try to save money. Never worked out though. After reading your post, I’m kinda glad it didn’t work out.
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They are bumpy, haha. I didn’t mind it too much, but I can definitely see why some people might find it annoying.
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