It all began back in 1959, at the age of 4½. My family and I were
heading up to Cape Cod and somewhere along the way I saw this railroad bridge
with these huge boxcars on top of it, wondering what they were. A few years
later I was at my Nana and Nunu’s summer cottage in Niantic, Connecticut and
come to find out that the New Haven Railroad was right down the street. In
fact, there was this green house with a back yard that was near the tracks and
it made for the perfect place to watch the trains as they rolled by. From that
year on, I was hooked.
Fast forward to present day and
I am in my hometown of Windsor Locks, Connecticut at Bradley International
Airport getting ready to fly out to Chicago, Illinois to begin my trip on the
rails.
This trip is unique in that it
is being sponsored by Trains Magazine out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Back last
June, I received an email from Trains announcing this great trip. It begins
aboard the private sleeper car Cimarron River operated by Altiplano Rail out of
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our car and 3 other private cars will be attached to
the end of Amtrak train #3, the Southwest Chief, out of Union Station in
Chicago, Illinois. Traveling on the railway owned by the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe (BNSF), we will go thru Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona and California, arriving in Los Angeles at 8am PDT on Saturday,
May 4.
As the trip proceeds, I will
post the segments of the trip. And while the journey goes on, here are some
useful links:
https://www.amtrak.com/track-your-train.html This
link will take you to Amtrak’s website. Just look for the arrow icon along my
route and click on it to see where the Southwest Chief is in route.
https://specialinteresttours.com/amfile/file/download/file_id/12/product_id/5/ this link takes you to the itinerary for each day of the trip
So, climb on board and join me
for a once-in-a-lifetime trip with other railfans from around the world. It
should be a blast.
I’m Philip J Zocco. On The
Road. In Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
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