November 1, 2023
So now I was left with only two trains, a total of 15 hours onboard. That did not seem like much after my seven trains and 115 hours I had ridden over the past two weeks.
And yes, I was still happy to be getting on another train.
The first train would be the Lake Shore Limited. It was leaving Chicago at 9:30 pm, destined for New York City, but I would be getting off in Buffalo in the morning. After a brief stroll around that beautiful city, I would board the Maple Leaf at 3:16 pm, near the end of that train’s route from New York City to Toronto. I was scheduled to arrive in Toronto at 7:38 pm, my train rides finished for this trip.
After enjoying a great croissant and latte, I left the Paris Baguette café just after 4 pm and headed for Union Station. It had become a lovely fall afternoon. I took a final few shots along the way.
The American train network is rather limited, and Amtrak trains leave a lot to be desired, but Chicago Union Station, as well as the city of Chicago itself, can still provide a sense of romance, harking back to the golden days of American train travel.
I took this final photograph of the station as I crossed over the Chicago River on the Van Buren Street Bridge, one of the many bascule bridges (drawbridges) in downtown Chicago, a photograph of an iconic station taken from an iconic bridge.
There are 37 movable bridges in the city. At the beginning and end of boating season, the bridges are lifted to allow for the movement of sail boats to and from Lake Michigan. The boats move in a group, wait at each bridge for it to be lifted, then repeat the operation at the next bridge. I watched the lifting of the Orleans and Wells Street bridges on my October 25 visit.
It was just after 5 pm, and I had walked almost 10 km. I was ready to spend the rest of my Chicago time at the station.
Union Station is Amtrak’s major hub with named routes leaving there to all part of the United States, including New York City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay area, and Miami.
Unlike many of the Amtrak stations I have encountered, especially on this trip, Union Station fits the image of an important station. I was quite taken with the station’s architecture when I took this photograph in October 2022 before I boarded the California Zephyr, on my way to the west coast.
It did not look like that on this day, as the trade show was now in full swing. I was invited in by a young woman at the entrance and learned that it was “Hermès in the Making”, a touring show by the luxury goods design and sales company. Artisans were showing the public how they produce the company’s high-end products, including scarves, watches, and bags.
I did not stay long. Watching the artisans took a bit more energy than I had at that moment, and besides, although the reader might be shocked to hear, I have never bought anything from Hermès. I have not seen a lot of their products being sold at Costco.
I went to the station’s food court thinking that a quick snack would be sufficient for supper but then discovered that many of the vendors had already closed for the day. With limited choices, I bought more pizza, a switch to thin crust this time, and a spinach Stromboli. I thought that the lounge would be more comfortable than the food court, so I walked back with my supper, getting lost a few times along the way. Then I found that the nice upstairs lounge was closed and had to sit downstairs.
Even though I had carried my food court Stromboli around for 15 minutes, it was still far superior to what Amtrak sells on its trains. I am sorry to keep repeating it, but the Amtrak management are criminals for what they serve.
I had a chat with a couple who were on their way to Rochester, NY. They agreed with my assessment of Amtrak’s food. Or maybe they did not want to disagree with such a disturbed traveller like me.
It was time. I got my bag from storage and waited with several other passengers until we were called for boarding. We then did the long walk together through the station and onto the track area to our waiting train where the porter directed me into my car. Having boarded several Amtrak trains, I was at first confused since I was looking for the stairs to the second level. Then I remembered that this would be a different style of carriage, a single level Viewliner car rather than the two-level Superliners on all my other overnight trains. This train was going into New York City, and the Superliners do not fit in the tunnels that take the trains to Penn Station on the island of Manhattan.
I was pleased to find that I had a Viewliner I, the older cars that date back to the 1990’s. That meant that the car had a toilet and a basin. I had long lost the queasiness of having a toilet in my sleeper rooms. This one was under the foot stool used to get to the upper bunk. A big difference between the one- and two-level cars is the amount of window and head space.
I talked to the couple across the corridor who were struggling to get situated with the two of them and their luggage in their tiny roomette. They had just been in Colorado, taking the train and stopping along the way. I had done the California Zephyr through Colorado the year before and have thought about doing it again, but with a plan to stop along the way to visit the national parks, just as this couple had done.
I went to the lounge car and was really amazed by the vintage look of the Heritage diner.
We were offered drinks and a snack box. I declined but was convinced to take one "for later", which I did appreciate, later being my flight to Newfoundland.
The attendant was there and told me that he was ready to set up my bed, but I asked if I could do it myself. He said sure, “It is less work for me.”
I wondered if there was a shower on this train, but I did not want to wander down the corridor wearing my flipflops in order to find out. Then, thanks to Google, it was confirmed. I wondered how much this particular shower was used, but since this was my second consecutive night on a train, and I had several hours to wait in Buffalo before catching another train, I really appreciated having the facility. I was now quite proficient at taking showers on trains, even like this time, when it was in motion.
Back in my little room, I decided that I would try to sleep in the upper bunk, thinking it would be fun to do something different, plus I would not need to convert my seat into a bed. This bunk seemed much less claustrophobic than the upper bunks on the Superliners. I climbed up, using my handy step that covered my ensuite toilet. But then I could not figure out how to set up the harness which is provided to keep passengers from falling out in the night. I thought about just not using it but ultimately gave up and set up the lower bunk and crawled under the covers.
November 2
I was scheduled to get off the train at 8:53 am, so I knew that I would be in no rush in the morning. But then of course I woke up early and was at breakfast by 6:15 am.
I ordered the continental breakfast, but asked for both cereal and oatmeal, even though the menu stated it was a choice. I told the attendant that I was sure he would give me both. He did.
The scenery was not beautiful as we approached Buffalo. It was a grey, rainy day.
I took my last selfie of this trip wearing my Newfoundland Railways hat.
I discovered that we were not going to the downtown Buffalo Exchange Street Station but instead were only stopping in the suburbs, the Buffalo Depew station. My next train, the Maple Leaf, which was coming from New York City would stop at both.
We arrived at the Depew station, and I disembarked with a very nice Buffalonian (had to fit that one it). He told me that I should go to the downtown station to wait since it was a lot more interesting area.
He even showed me the bus stop and told me the buses that I would need to get there.
The first bus arrived just as he was showing me the stop. It was a bit too rushed for me to decide, so I did not jump on bus and went into the station. There the agent told me that I would have to pay $10 to check my bag and that the charge would be the same at the downtown station. I thought that was rather ridiculous.
It did not look like a place where I would want to spend six hours. I did get to see my first Buffalo.
I am not sure why I still hesitated as I looked at the empty station with its row of vending machines to provide refreshments.
I checked the cost of a ride share. I had used Uber for the first time in New Orleans, but I had also installed the Lyft app, and it was showing a much cheaper cost to get to downtown. I could get a ride in five minutes. Then the agent told me that I should definitely go downtown. I clicked and my ride arrived in two minutes. I had a great chat with the driver on the way there.
We arrived at the station, which is set virtually underneath Interstate Highway 190. There I saw another Buffalo.
I made it just in time as the agent told me that she was going to close the station for cleaning but that I could leave my suitcase. She did not ask for money, no $10 charge that the Depew agent said I would have to pay.
I headed towards the water, technically first the Buffalo River and then Lake Erie, which narrows here as its water enters the Niagara River, soon to be heading over Niagara Falls.
I came to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, a museum that features some decommissioned US Naval vessels. I saw a sign for tours but was told that there were no tours available on this day. I walked along the wharf and saw that people were walking on the ships and appeared to be getting some type of tours. Nothing had been said about just visiting the ships without a tour, so I just kept on walking.
In addition to the ships, there were some war memorials.
I turned around at this point. I would normally have walked around to the lighthouse, but this was not the day to do it.
It seemed like it could be quite a beautiful area on a nice day. I was trying to like Buffalo.
By this time, I wanted a coffee, and I really needed to pee. I looked for Tim Horton’s which had been recommended by both my Lyft driver and the station agent. It might say something about Buffalo that the best place for a quick meal or coffee is a Tim Horton’s, the ubiquitous Canadian franchise, famous for its doughnuts. I found it but was told that the restroom was not available. They were waiting for a plumber.
I was getting a bit desperate at this point, not for a coffee but to relieve myself. I felt that I had taken a turn to Siberia. This part of downtown Buffalo seems to be made up of the big highway going overhead and a giant parking lot. I considered doing my pee in the middle of the parking lot.
I came to a gas station where I ignored the sign said that the facilities were only for customers.
I walked into a mall and found a coffee shop. They had a yoghurt dish on their menu but had no yoghurt, so I had a greasy sandwich instead.
I returned to the station just as the eastbound Toronto to New York made its stop. The agent saw me and was quite concerned that I was missing my train, “Are you supposed to be on this train? Do you need your bag from the office?” I assured her that I was waiting for the train to Toronto.
The Buffalo Exchange Street station is not iconic since it is basically brand new, having opened in November 2020, but it is a nice little station. Six trains use the station, the two stops for the Maple Leaf between New York City and Toronto, including the one I was going to board and two daily Empire Service round trips between Niagara Falls and New York City.
Not long afterwards a new agent came on duty. She checked my ticket and made note that I was boarding at this station rather than the Depew station that my ticket had shown.
I soon boarded with two other passengers.
I was now on my ninth and final train of this trip. Thanks to my original ticket as a sleeper passenger, I was in business class on this train, which was coach only.
We crossed the Niagara River.
We arrived at the Canadian border. Everyone had to disembark and entered a narrow room where we left our bags next to one wall and lined up on the other side. A Canadian Customs agent then ran up and down with her sniffer dog. It seemed to go on and on. Finally, the agent thought there was enough evidence that we were all clean and were not bringing anything illicit in our luggage, whether that was drugs or vegetables.
We were finally allowed to move on and went quickly through immigration and then around the corner to a lounge. There an agent kept loudly announcing instructions about reboarding the train and especially wanted to make sure that were no GO (the local regional transit system) ticket holders with us.
I chatted with a young man, a PhD philosophy student from Cambridge.
We finally boarding the train, which was now featuring a VIA Rail crew. I thought that drinks might be free for business class passengers, but that was not the case. I decided to skip it.
We arrived a few minutes early into Toronto Union Station.
I actually had one more train to ride today, a GO train for one stop. GO is the regional bus and train service in the Toronto urban area. I was soon at Mary Pat and Dennis’ house. I would spend two nights with them before returning to Newfoundland, but that would be by plane. My train journey was over.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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