Merry Christmas, Chicago Style!
December 15 & 16, 2008

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Fort Wayne, population just over 200K, has had no Amtrak service since 1990. The nearest stop is about 30 miles north at Waterloo, Indiana, population about 2,200 and served by the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited, connecting Chicago with New York/Boston and Washington, D.C., respectively.

On Monday morning, Amtrak's web site showed the Lake Shore Limited running a little more than an hour and a half late. I allowed some extra time to look around and take some photos at Waterloo. I got shots of a couple of fomerly railroad-related buildings, but the temperature was 24 degrees fahrenheit with winds gusting to 35 mph.

I sought the warmth of the cozy depot ...

... cheerfully decorated for the holiday season. I decided to wait in my car.

Amtrak 49, the westbound Lakeshore Limited, arrived a few minutes after 9:15, and departed at 9:21, one hour and forty-eight minutes late.

Amfleet coaches, introduced with Amtrak's first order for new coaches in the mid-1970s, ride quite nicely on well-groomed track. Well-groomed track isn't an everyday occurrence on the long-distance routes in the Midwest. The ride on typical freight-railroad track is somewhat noisy and shaky.

Legroom is abundant and the seats recline nicely, but the seat construction is unyielding for anyone who hasn't grown their own padding. The old-time Heritage Fleet cars gave a smoother, quieter ride and their original seats were built like good furniture, with tied coil springs and padding covered by durable upholstery fabric.

Amfleet coaches' electric baseboard heating works well to keep them cozy in winter, and the air conditioning is effective in summer.

A few photos from the coach windows on the way into Chicago.

We arrived in place to back into Union Station about 11:00 a.m., pretty good running, and then sat for twenty minutes.

Then, we backed around the wye and I thought detraining would come at any minute. Instead, we stopped just outside the station and sat again. We didn't come up to the platform for detraining until 11:58 a.m., two hours and thirteen minutes late. I had plenty of time to take photos through the window as Metra crews switched equipment.

Putting dinner in the diner; another train being prepared for boarding.

Chicago Union Station's design was initiated by Daniel Hudson Burnham, but Burnham died before the project was completed; the project was finished by successor firm Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White.

Temps were around ten degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago, with fierce winds. Rather than do any sightseeing and photography, I took care of an appointment and then holed up in my hotel until morning.

On Tuesday morning the temperature was seven degrees. Instead of walking to the Green Line, I sprung for an 18-dollar cab ride. Good cabbie, good conversation, and I got to see some sights that I don't see from the Green Line.

University of Chicago Medical Center, from the second floor of the Center for Advanced Medicine at 58th Street and Cottage Grove. Construction on this campus is a continuous process.

Looking north from the sixth floor. The arched roof on the left is the armory on Cottage Grove. This photo was taken about noon, just as snow was starting; in clear weather, you can see the Sears Tower and other tall Loop buildings beyond the Armory.

My Chicago photographer friend, Chris, and I made plans to meet up downtown. For a warm, sheltered place, we chose Randolph Street / Millennium Park Station. South Shore and Metra Electric commuter trains terminate here. The station is beneath the street at Randolph and Michigan.

We walked around for a couple of hours. Snow was getting started in earnest by the time we set out.

Chris enjoying winter in the Loop. If you're looking for a top-notch pro photographer to shoot your wedding or other event, activity, or business venture, this is your guy. He's chris at ockenphotography dot com .

Vietnam Memorial

Chris had an appointment to keep, so we adjourned at the Thompson Center. From here, I took off solo to hoof it around until 5:30, when I headed back to Union Station.

Back to Randolph Street Station to try to get some feeling back in my fingers.

I watched a few South Shore trains board and depart for Indiana.

Back out into the snow for a last-minute stroll around Millennium Park. This is the first time I've been there, that there wasn't a crowd around the Bean.

The obligatory reflection self-portrait. The much-loved Bean is properly known as Cloud Gate. It was created by Anish Kapoor, and is polished stainless steel.

Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry.

To restore one's Christmas Spirit, there's nothing like a stroll along Michigan Avenue in gently-falling snow.

Union Station is such a grand, monumental piece of architecture. I think it may be the city's finest treasure.

One corner of Amtrak's corral - er - gate area at Union Stockyards - er - Station. Despite the standee crowd, folks were mostly in a good mood.

The photo below was taken by my aunt, Dr. Jeraldine Baumgartner, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the 1950s. It shows the original passenger councourse that they tore down in 1969 and replaced with the claustrophobic, congested space they have now.

Amtrak business car 10001 was on the rear end of Train 30, the Capitol Limited.

On the next track, a Hiawatha Service (Chicago-Milwaukee) trainset. This former locomotive has had its engine, generator, and traction motors removed and functions as a baggage car and a cab car, for bidirectional operation that eliminates the need to turn the train around.
Cab + baggage car = Cabbage car. Seriously. That's what they call them.

Amtrak provides pre-boarding for handicapped, seniors, and people with small children. It's a nice amenity, but on this occasion there was a glitch; they were having problems bringing the power on line from the locomotive, and there were no lights in the cars. Employees were ushering passengers to their seats on the darkened train, one at a time, using flashlights.

The accumulated snow and ice atop the cars cascaded down from time to time. The crew member ahead on the left had just gotten hit with a heavy, wet mess that might have been enough to knock down a frail elderly or handicapped person.

I've taken a few long-distance winter rides on Superliners, including two round trips between Chicago and Oakland, California, and I've never gotten comfortably warm on them. Apparently they have circulating air HVAC systems instead of electric baseboards like the Amfleet cars, and the air is never really warm and my feet are always cold. On this mercifully short ride, I know it wasn't just me. Two younger, robust men were sitting across from me, and one was wearing gloves the whole time. The other kept rubbing his hands together to warm them.

Train #30 left Union Station at 7:32, 27 minutes late, and departed Waterloo at 11:18 p.m., 36 minutes behind schedule. Here, eastbound passengers are boarding at Waterloo.

That's all, folks. See you in Fort Wayne, after a 40-mph white-knuckle drive on icy I-69, regularly terrorized by speeding 18-wheelers.

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