Taking a Train Across the Country

Taking a Train Across the Country – Part Three

By Ryan on June 3, 2010

Rolling Through The Mid West

Note: This is a continuation of series of posts, Taking a Train Across the Country – Part One, and Taking a Train Across Country – Part Two.

Also, don’t forget, you can click any of the pictures to enlarge them

I left Chicago on the Southwest Chief, and was ready to see what else was between myself and California. The urban landscape of Chicago soon fell to rural surroundings. I had never seen anything like it. Fields that went on for ever, with giant farmhouses and roads scattered miles apart. The recurring thought of “This is everyday life to some people,” kept popping back in my head.

Rolling Through Endless Fields

I felt like I could see forever across these vast fields, but I didn’t see any signs of a city or even a town. Just endless fields, which were beautiful. You wouldn’t see a tree for miles, just fields and fences along the tracks. You could always tell where the next farmhouse was, because they all had a small group of trees by them. There would be a single road that would connect to the house’s driveway and then disappear somewhere far off on the horizon.

We passed through Illinois, crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, Missouri, and rolled right through Kansas. We crossed the Mississippi right around sunset, and it was beautiful. The bridge across the massive river seemed to go on forever, and it was beautiful with the sunset reflecting off of the water.

On the platform in La Junta, CO

After we crossed the Mississippi I relaxed as we rolled through Kansas, into Colorado and then New Mexico. I grabbed a beer and spent some time talking with people in the lounge car. I met a guy by the name of Israel, and also someone named Kenny who was completely wasted. They both told me about stories they had in LA, one of Kenny’s included partying too hard and not having money to get home, so he had to sleep in the woods. It’s funny though, because I have yet to see woods in LA. From the journal:

.. You hear everything on the train. People having serious in depth conversations about religion, politics, current events, history.. then you hear people drunkenly rambling and yelling nonsense. Yet somehow, this is the most relaxing trip I have ever been on.

I finally decided to get some sleep, and my next journal entry wasn’t until 1:05pm the following day.

Raton, NM
I’m currently sitting in the observation car while we go thru New Mexico. The mountains in New Mexico are impressive. I talked with a conductor for a while, and he was telling me about his job, and he gets to travel by train for free. I spent most of today talking with a 65 year old man who has been sitting next to me since Chicago. He is retired, and used to work as a manager at a Die Casting place. He said he retired just in time, because the whole industry is being outsourced overseas. His name is Tom and hes going to visit his daughter and Grand Kids in Santa Fe. He said he bought a small camper and one day he wants to drive Rt 66 and hit up the old “hippy places”. He told me he loved learning about other cultures, even ones that are in our own country.
House in the New Mexico Dessert
I agreed and had quite a good talk with him, everything from politics to what we saw outside the window. When I woke up this morning, he informed me we were stopped and I had just enough time for a smoke. Good lookin out Tom.

We kept rolling through New Mexico, and the scenery was so new and beautiful to me. The dessert looked like it went on forever. We were at a higher elevation in New Mexico and Colorado, so there was actually snow on the ground for a good portion of the trip.

Rainy Street in Albuquerque, New Mexico

I met a kid named Christian who was on his way to LA from Baltimore, MD and we ended up hanging out for most of the day on the train. We had a stop for about an hour in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so we tried to explore the city as much as we could in that hour. We walked around a bit and found a pizza joint, so we grabbed a few beers before we had to get back to the train. We ended up being a little late and our casual walk around the city turned out to be a pretty steady jog back. We got back to the platform, and on board the train just in time. Once on board, we started moving again almost right away. As always, we kept rolling, and talking. We also met a kid named Dakota who was heading home to Riverside, California from Colorado. He was a football player, and he had just joined the Marines. We were hanging out in the lounge car as the sun set across the never ending dessert and it offered a view beyond beautiful.

Sunset on the Rails

I wanted to sleep, but I was too excited. I would arrive in Los Angeles, CA the following morning around 8am!

Be sure to stay tuned for the conclusion, and additional pictures from the trip! Sign up for the RSS Feed or follow me on Twitter and Facebook! And if you haven’t already Read Part One and Part Two

Tourist Photography in Washington, DC

2800 Miles and Almost as Many Updates

15 responses to “Taking a Train Across the Country – Part Three”

Rakesh Solanki June 6, 2010 at 9:37 am | Permalink | Reply

Thanks for writing such a inspirational story.
1. Ryan June 10, 2010 at 8:37 am | Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Rakesh,
  
  I’m glad you found my story inspiring! Thanks for stopping by!
Tomas June 7, 2010 at 3:40 am | Permalink | Reply

Thank you for the pictorial story. Such journeys always refresh as us ourselves as our readers. Travel journals not only expand our horizons but help to look underfoot more attentively and thus as if link the artistic dreams to life, so to speak.
1. Ryan June 10, 2010 at 8:36 am | Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Tomas,
  
  Thanks for reading my story! I agree with you completely as well. One of my favorite things about travel is noticing the little things, and they give you such an appreciation for little things in your everyday life.
Denisse June 14, 2010 at 1:25 pm | Permalink | Reply

I’m waiting for the final part of your story! I mean I know how it ends haha, but you write so well :]
1. Ryan June 14, 2010 at 5:51 pm | Permalink | Reply
  
  Thank you for the compliment Denisse! You know, you’d make a good teacher, haha. I need to find the time to write the rest of the story; things have been a little hectic lately. Hectic in a good way though!
  1. Denisse June 14, 2010 at 11:45 pm | Permalink | Reply
    
    I hope by hectic you mean you and llamie are getting your things together for the move! and be sure to post it on facebook as soon as you finish! ;D
Keith Davis@Public Speaking June 28, 2010 at 4:50 pm | Permalink | Reply

Hi Ryan
Some adventure… makes me very jealous.
Noticed you mentioned “We crossed the Mississippi right around sunset, and it was beautiful. ”
I was looking for a spectacular shot of that sunset – perhaps sunsets are overrated.
I’m looking forward to some fantastic shots of California – perhaps even the “Hotel California” LOL
That gives my age away.
1. Ryan July 2, 2010 at 7:36 am | Permalink | Reply
  
  Hahaha, I think what happened was I tried to take a video with my little point and shoot camera of the Mississippi Sunset crossing. Unfortunately, I don’t think the video came out too well. I might have a shot somewhere.. I guess you’ll just have to check back for the last part! (I know, shameless self promotion)
Vinfotech July 2, 2010 at 9:19 am | Permalink | Reply

Hey Ryan, Must say its a adventurous story. I really like and waiting for more such post.
Alan July 8, 2010 at 8:34 am | Permalink | Reply

It’s great to think about various things, events and people when travelling by train.
Sydney Cole January 19, 2011 at 12:34 pm | Permalink | Reply

Hey Ryan! I was searching around the interweb for train sites, and noticed your plan was the same as mine, Chicago to California. Could you help me out with a few sites so I can begin planning more of my trip? I’m starting out at Maine, but figuring out the large jump from Illinois to Cali, would help my planning significantly!
1. Ryan January 20, 2011 at 7:51 pm | Permalink | Reply
  
  Hi Sydney!
  I’m glad you came across my site. The trip really was a great experience! What kind of information are you looking for in regards to planning? I would love to help, and I’ll see if I can dig up some useful info. The train we took was the Southwest Chief, which is a straight shot from Chicago to Los Angeles, with plenty of stops along the way. The Amtrak site itself has downloadable route maps. They were nice to have on my laptop when there wasn’t any internet available.
  If you have any question, please feel free to ask! You can respond here or shoot me an email if you’d like, ryan@metacomdesign.com.
  When are you planning on taking the trip?
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