|
Rail Journey through the Heartland
We're off! Follow our trip by clicking on the links
below.
Seattle to Los Angeles June
18-19
Los Angeles / Pasadena June 20-21
Los Angeles to San Antonio June
22-23-24
San Antonio to Oklahoma City
June 24
Jason in Oklahoma City June 25
Touring Oklahoma City June 26
Oklahoma City to Saint Louis
June 27-28-29
Saint Louis to Chicago June
29-30, July 1
Chicago to Seattle July 1-2-3-4
And we're back home now. Hope you enjoyed a vicarious tour
of the Heartland with us!
I assembled a few panorama images when we got home (using
Canon's nifty PhotoStitch software, which I neglected to take with us).
You might have to fuss a bit with your browser to view these full size (they are
1280 pixels wide).
 |
 |
 |
| The rose gardens at the Huntington.
Every imaginable color and fragrance. |
The Oklahoma City Federal Building
Memorial. 9:01 wall is on left; 9:03 on right. Church in
distance at right was destroyed by the blast, later rebuilt. |
Chicago's Grant Park from our hotel room
(Navy Pier at far left, Buckingham Fountain near center with crowd of
people for Taste of Chicago celebration, museums at far right. Field
Museum of Natural History is the largest building at the very right edge
of the picture. |
This June, we will be embarking on a rail trip taking us from Seattle to Los Angeles, San
Antonio, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, and Chicago. One of the
advantages of arriving at mid-town train stations (instead of airports) is that many attractions are
within easy walking distance. Excepting Los Angeles, we will reach
everything by foot from the train station and hotel.
Our route will take us
across about 6,750 miles of track. We'll travel on four different Amtrak long-distance (overnight) trains:
the Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, and Empire Builder. Each
of these trains is very likely to disappear forever next year unless Amtrak
funding is restored. We'll also sample regional services like the
Heartland Flyer from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City, and the Ann Rutledge from St.
Louis to Chicago. We'll spend five nights on board trains heading to our
next destination. That's one of the most attractive parts of long-distance
rail travel - being rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the train as it
rolls down the tracks.
One of the best passenger rail web sites I've seen is the Texas
Eagle site. There's a wealth of information about the route, and all
of the cities where this train stops, with links to attractions and hotels in
the area. This site was invaluable in planning stopovers in Fort Worth,
Oklahoma City, and St. Louis.
The itinerary was especially chosen to be tolerant of late trains. Some
Amtrak long distance trains, particularly those running on the tracks of the
Union Pacific, are routinely late by several hours. None of our stops
require any particular arrival time, so we can sit back, take in the
scenery or a meal in the diner, and get there when we get there.
Some attractions we plan to visit, by foot everywhere except Los Angeles:
Los Angeles: Walking tour of downtown LA (333 South Hope Street,
37th Floor), Huntington Gardens, Northwoods Inn (throw your peanut shells on
the floor!), Pasadena (307 South Wilson Apt #1), Griffith Park hiking, Medieval
Times Restaurant
San Antonio: Riverwalk, The Alamo
Oklahoma City: Nephew Jason McGuire (at Tinker Air Force Base), Federal Building
Memorial,
Bricktown historic district,
Myriad Botanical Gardens
Fort Worth: Sid Richardson Museum of Western
Art, Sundance Square, Cattle
Raiser's Museum
St. Louis: The Gateway Arch, Museum of Westward
Expansion, Union Station, Mississippi Riverboats
Chicago: Art Institute Museum,
Navy Pier, Field Museum of Natural History
Itinerary:
| June 18 |
Coast Starlight Seattle to Los Angeles |
| June 19 |
Arrive Los Angeles |
| June 20 |
Touring Los Angeles |
| June 21 |
Touring Los Angeles |
| June 22 |
Sunset Limited Los Angeles to San Antonio |
| June 23 |
Arrive San Antonio |
| June 24 |
Touring San Antonio |
| June 25 |
Texas Eagle / Heartland Flyer San Antonio to Oklahoma City |
| June 26 |
Touring Oklahoma City |
| June 27 |
Touring Oklahoma City |
| June 28 |
Heartland Flyer Oklahoma City to Fort Worth,
Texas Eagle to St. Louis |
| June 29 |
Touring St. Louis |
| June 30 |
Ann Rutledge St. Louis to Chicago |
| July 1 |
Touring Chicago |
| July 2 |
Empire Builder Chicago to Seattle |
| July 3 |
On-board Empire Builder |
| July 4 |
Arrive back in Seattle |
Part of the planning process for any domestic train trip is preparing for late
arrivals. To get an idea of realistic expectations, I've been studying
actual arrival times for each train we'll be taking using information available
on Amtrak's web site. The least
reliable train on our trip is the Sunset Limited, which has Amtrak's worst
on-time performance record. Even after schedule adjustments made in late
March, this train still has very unpredictable arrival times. Most of the
delays are a result of severe freight congestion on this track, which is owned
and operated by the Union Pacific. The star performer of the
long-distance group is the Empire Builder, operating over Burlington Northern
Santa Fe tracks, which is almost always on time or even early into
Seattle. The short haul routes (Heartland Flyer and Ann Rutledge) are
typically punctual.
In the table below, I've listed the scheduled, average, latest, and 80%
confidence arrival times for each train. The "80% confidence"
value is the time by which 80% of trains arrive (and consequently, 20% of trains
arrive later than this time). Trains on the Union Pacific routes (Coast
Starlight and Sunset Limited) are extremely unreliable, with average arrival
times about 3 hours late, and 80% confidence intervals extending to about 5
hours later than schedule. During the sample period, both of these trains
had several instances where arrivals were more than 8 hours late.
|
|
|
Coast Starlight
No. 11
Ar LAX |
Sunset Limited
No. 2
Ar SAS |
Texas Eagle
No. 22
Ar FTW |
Heartland Flyer
No. 822
Ar OKC |
Heartland Flyer
No. 821
Ar FTW |
Texas Eagle
No. 22
Ar STL |
Ann Rutledge
No. 304
Ar CHI |
Empire Builder
No. 7
Ar SEA |
|
|
Scheduled |
9:00 PM |
10:25 PM |
2:58 PM |
9:39 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:09 AM |
8:45 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
|
Average |
12:05 AM |
2:19 AM |
3:40 PM |
9:34 PM |
12:42 PM |
8:43 AM |
8:56 PM |
10:19 AM |
|
|
Latest |
12:40 PM |
1:30 PM |
9:13 PM |
10:20 PM |
1:37 PM |
12:45 PM |
11:52 PM |
4:28 PM |
|
|
80% Confidence |
2:20 AM |
4:45 AM |
4:18 PM |
9:39 PM |
12:54 PM |
9:59 AM |
9:20 PM |
10:35 AM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monday |
4/4/2005 |
2:16 AM |
11:55 PM |
3:27 PM |
9:22 PM |
12:33 PM |
7:37 AM |
8:18 PM |
|
|
Tuesday |
4/5/2005 |
1:44 AM |
N/A |
3:34 PM |
9:15 PM |
12:38 PM |
7:25 AM |
8:36 PM |
9:58 AM |
|
Wednesday |
4/6/2005 |
10:22 PM |
N/A |
3:17 PM |
9:38 PM |
12:40 PM |
8:21 AM |
8:50 PM |
10:05 AM |
|
Thursday |
4/7/2005 |
10:35 PM |
12:20 AM |
3:10 PM |
9:23 PM |
12:49 PM |
7:27 AM |
8:38 PM |
10:30 AM |
|
Friday |
4/8/2005 |
10:35 PM |
N/A |
4:55 PM |
9:37 PM |
12:34 PM |
8:08 AM |
8:36 PM |
4:28 PM |
|
Saturday |
4/9/2005 |
8:31 PM |
11:25 PM |
4:15 PM |
9:22 PM |
12:39 PM |
12:05 PM |
8:31 PM |
10:15 AM |
|
Sunday |
4/10/2005 |
1:51 AM |
N/A |
2:42 PM |
9:22 PM |
12:26 PM |
9:36 AM |
9:27 PM |
9:50 AM |
|
Monday |
4/11/2005 |
9:44 PM |
2:30 AM |
3:25 PM |
9:34 PM |
12:35 PM |
8:12 AM |
8:42 PM |
9:52 AM |
|
Tuesday |
4/12/2005 |
10:59 PM |
N/A |
4:56 PM |
9:12 PM |
12:44 PM |
9:55 AM |
8:20 PM |
|
|
Wednesday |
4/13/2005 |
11:15 PM |
N/A |
3:25 PM |
9:20 PM |
12:49 PM |
10:40 AM |
8:51 PM |
11:25 AM |
|
Thursday |
4/14/2005 |
9:54 PM |
12:45 AM |
3:35 PM |
9:37 PM |
1:06 PM |
9:01 AM |
8:35 PM |
|
|
Friday |
4/15/2005 |
9:56 PM |
N/A |
3:05 PM |
9:34 PM |
12:35 PM |
8:33 AM |
9:18 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
Saturday |
4/16/2005 |
10:00 PM |
11:10 PM |
3:15 PM |
9:34 PM |
12:39 PM |
9:32 AM |
8:53 PM |
10:28 AM |
|
Sunday |
4/17/2005 |
|
N/A |
2:54 PM |
9:30 PM |
12:32 PM |
|
8:55 PM |
9:50 AM |
|
Monday |
4/18/2005 |
10:45 PM |
11:33 PM |
3:25 PM |
9:28 PM |
12:30 PM |
10:12 AM |
9:15 PM |
10:10 AM |
|
Tuesday |
4/19/2005 |
9:36 PM |
N/A |
3:15 PM |
9:16 PM |
12:38 PM |
8:31 AM |
8:26 PM |
9:53 AM |
|
Wednesday |
4/20/2005 |
8:38 PM |
N/A |
3:32 PM |
9:29 PM |
12:34 PM |
9:38 AM |
8:48 PM |
9:55 AM |
|
Thursday |
4/21/2005 |
9:14 PM |
8:00 AM |
3:55 PM |
9:22 PM |
12:49 PM |
10:20 AM |
9:35 PM |
10:05 AM |
|
Friday |
4/22/2005 |
10:00 PM |
N/A |
5:09 PM |
9:33 PM |
12:40 PM |
10:13 AM |
9:47 PM |
9:53 AM |
|
Saturday |
4/23/2005 |
9:01 PM |
10:50 PM |
3:10 PM |
9:29 PM |
1:00 PM |
10:44 AM |
8:45 PM |
9:55 AM |
|
Sunday |
4/24/2005 |
8:40 PM |
N/A |
4:40 PM |
9:14 PM |
12:27 PM |
9:54 AM |
8:43 PM |
9:50 AM |
|
Monday |
4/25/2005 |
3:29 AM |
11:45 PM |
3:40 PM |
9:54 PM |
12:27 PM |
10:01 AM |
8:35 PM |
9:45 AM |
|
Tuesday |
4/26/2005 |
10:07 PM |
N/A |
3:51 PM |
10:17 PM |
12:57 PM |
9:12 AM |
11:38 PM |
9:50 AM |
|
Wednesday |
4/27/2005 |
6:54 AM |
N/A |
4:30 PM |
9:44 PM |
12:32 PM |
10:05 AM |
8:42 PM |
10:45 AM |
|
Thursday |
4/28/2005 |
11:28 PM |
2:15 AM |
4:15 PM |
10:12 PM |
1:00 PM |
12:45 PM |
8:32 PM |
10:43 AM |
|
Friday |
4/29/2005 |
10:32 PM |
N/A |
3:17 PM |
9:39 PM |
12:39 PM |
9:59 AM |
8:33 PM |
9:40 AM |
|
Saturday |
4/30/2005 |
11:09 PM |
12:17 AM |
3:44 PM |
9:31 PM |
12:39 PM |
9:07 AM |
8:53 PM |
10:08 AM |
|
Sunday |
5/1/2005 |
9:13 PM |
N/A |
3:00 PM |
9:18 PM |
12:24 PM |
8:39 AM |
8:23 PM |
10:03 AM |
|
Monday |
5/2/2005 |
8:23 PM |
10:53 PM |
3:30 PM |
9:38 PM |
12:34 PM |
11:17 AM |
8:28 PM |
9:50 AM |
|
Tuesday |
5/3/2005 |
1:40 AM |
N/A |
2:58 PM |
9:21 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:19 AM |
8:37 PM |
10:10 AM |
|
Wednesday |
5/4/2005 |
11:59 PM |
N/A |
3:27 PM |
9:49 PM |
12:51 PM |
7:39 AM |
8:25 PM |
10:15 AM |
|
Thursday |
5/5/2005 |
10:15 PM |
1:34 AM |
3:20 PM |
9:27 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:55 AM |
9:19 PM |
10:16 AM |
|
Friday |
5/6/2005 |
9:09 PM |
N/A |
3:26 PM |
9:44 PM |
12:28 PM |
7:48 AM |
8:40 PM |
11:06 AM |
|
Saturday |
5/7/2005 |
9:12 PM |
10:45 PM |
3:25 PM |
9:26 PM |
12:49 PM |
7:41 AM |
8:51 PM |
10:10 AM |
|
Sunday |
5/8/2005 |
11:05 PM |
N/A |
2:59 PM |
9:26 PM |
12:23 PM |
7:41 AM |
8:30 PM |
10:31 AM |
|
Monday |
5/9/2005 |
8:46 PM |
4:42 AM |
3:36 PM |
10:05 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:20 AM |
10:10 PM |
10:40 AM |
|
Tuesday |
5/10/2005 |
1:09 AM |
N/A |
2:58 PM |
9:24 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:56 PM |
10:52 AM |
|
Wednesday |
5/11/2005 |
10:27 PM |
N/A |
3:10 PM |
9:19 PM |
12:29 PM |
7:22 AM |
8:57 PM |
10:05 AM |
|
Thursday |
5/12/2005 |
11:53 PM |
1:27 AM |
4:25 PM |
9:24 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:35 AM |
9:38 PM |
10:05 AM |
|
Friday |
5/13/2005 |
1:01 AM |
N/A |
5:40 PM |
9:28 PM |
12:30 PM |
8:13 AM |
8:43 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
Saturday |
5/14/2005 |
3:50 AM |
10:40 PM |
3:48 PM |
9:18 PM |
|
9:30 AM |
8:51 PM |
10:10 AM |
|
Sunday |
5/15/2005 |
11:36 PM |
N/A |
4:45 PM |
9:31 PM |
12:34 PM |
7:14 AM |
8:48 PM |
10:03 AM |
|
Monday |
5/16/2005 |
9:16 PM |
10:44 PM |
2:50 PM |
10:03 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:28 AM |
8:50 PM |
10:05 AM |
|
Tuesday |
5/17/2005 |
10:12 PM |
N/A |
2:46 PM |
9:30 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:10 AM |
9:00 PM |
10:25 AM |
|
Wednesday |
5/18/2005 |
10:43 PM |
N/A |
2:40 PM |
9:23 PM |
12:36 PM |
7:19 AM |
9:09 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
Thursday |
5/19/2005 |
1:53 AM |
12:23 AM |
2:42 PM |
9:29 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:56 AM |
9:18 PM |
10:35 AM |
|
Friday |
5/20/2005 |
1:40 AM |
N/A |
2:58 PM |
10:20 PM |
12:35 PM |
7:36 AM |
8:33 PM |
10:41 AM |
|
Saturday |
5/21/2005 |
11:46 PM |
3:50 AM |
5:21 PM |
9:38 PM |
1:02 PM |
8:05 AM |
8:29 PM |
9:48 AM |
|
Sunday |
5/22/2005 |
1:20 AM |
N/A |
2:54 PM |
9:33 PM |
12:37 PM |
9:37 AM |
8:49 PM |
9:45 AM |
|
Monday |
5/23/2005 |
10:20 PM |
3:22 AM |
2:49 PM |
9:34 PM |
1:00 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:30 PM |
9:45 AM |
|
Tuesday |
5/24/2005 |
10:28 PM |
N/A |
2:58 PM |
9:44 PM |
12:36 PM |
7:10 AM |
8:40 PM |
10:25 AM |
|
Wednesday |
5/25/2005 |
1:09 AM |
N/A |
2:52 PM |
9:37 PM |
12:34 PM |
9:22 AM |
9:20 PM |
10:40 AM |
|
Thursday |
5/26/2005 |
1:15 AM |
7:40 AM |
3:50 PM |
9:28 PM |
12:58 PM |
7:18 AM |
9:22 PM |
10:25 AM |
|
Friday |
5/27/2005 |
2:51 AM |
N/A |
3:49 PM |
9:35 PM |
12:39 PM |
9:55 AM |
8:35 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
Saturday |
5/28/2005 |
2:31 AM |
7:12 AM |
3:10 PM |
9:57 PM |
12:39 PM |
8:45 AM |
8:32 PM |
9:58 AM |
|
Sunday |
5/29/2005 |
11:43 PM |
N/A |
3:40 PM |
9:26 PM |
12:28 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:45 PM |
9:45 AM |
|
Monday |
5/30/2005 |
11:51 PM |
1:22 AM |
3:48 PM |
9:31 PM |
12:33 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:33 PM |
9:45 AM |
|
Tuesday |
5/31/2005 |
11:19 PM |
N/A |
2:50 PM |
9:34 PM |
12:39 PM |
11:38 AM |
8:30 PM |
10:30 AM |
|
Wednesday |
6/1/2005 |
12:28 AM |
N/A |
3:25 PM |
9:30 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:52 AM |
8:43 PM |
11:30 AM |
| Thursday |
6/2/2005 |
2:38 AM |
1:30 PM |
3:16 PM |
9:24 PM |
1:37 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:30 PM |
10:25 AM |
| Friday |
6/3/2005 |
2:53 AM |
N/A |
3:22 PM |
9:36 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:25 AM |
8:25 PM |
10:20 AM |
| Saturday |
6/4/2005 |
1:15 AM |
12:35 AM |
3:34 PM |
10:11 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:30 AM |
8:35 PM |
9:48 AM |
| Sunday |
6/5/2005 |
2:31 AM |
N/A |
2:55 PM |
9:31 PM |
1:31 PM |
7:35 AM |
8:40 PM |
10:53 AM |
| Monday |
6/6/2005 |
2:05 AM |
12:42 AM |
5:50 PM |
9:28 PM |
12:39 PM |
7:34 AM |
9:17 PM |
9:50 AM |
| Tuesday |
6/7/2005 |
5:25 AM |
N/A |
3:15 PM |
9:40 PM |
1:18 PM |
9:02 AM |
9:18 PM |
10:05 AM |
| Wednesday |
6/8/2005 |
3:50 AM |
N/A |
3:05 PM |
9:36 PM |
12:37 PM |
8:15 AM |
11:52 PM |
10:13 AM |
| Thursday |
6/9/2005 |
12:40 PM |
11:45 AM |
3:19 PM |
9:38 PM |
1:20 PM |
7:15 AM |
9:30 PM |
10:44 AM |
| Friday |
6/10/2005 |
3:24 AM |
N/A |
5:15 PM |
9:39 PM |
12:44 PM |
7:10 AM |
9:27 PM |
10:15 AM |
| Saturday |
6/11/2005 |
2:42 AM |
3:23 AM |
9:13 PM |
9:19 PM |
12:51 PM |
9:34 AM |
8:30 PM |
10:55 AM |
| Sunday |
6/12/2005 |
12:52 AM |
N/A |
4:25 PM |
9:27 PM |
12:32 PM |
2:18 PM |
8:44 PM |
10:04 AM |
| Monday |
6/13/2005 |
10:58 PM |
|
2:50 PM |
9:39 PM |
12:37 PM |
8:01 AM |
9:35 PM |
9:50 AM |
| Tuesday |
6/14/2005 |
11:45 PM |
N/A |
4:52 PM |
9:37 PM |
12:55 PM |
7:28 AM |
8:59 PM |
9:53 AM |
| Wednesday |
6/15/2005 |
2:29 AM |
N/A |
3:40 PM |
9:48 PM |
1:00 PM |
9:06 AM |
9:03 PM |
10:17 AM |
| Thursday |
6/16/2005 |
12:05 AM |
4:42 AM |
3:27 PM |
9:58 PM |
12:38 PM |
7:09 AM |
8:42 PM |
10:10 AM |
| Friday |
6/17/2005 |
|
N/A |
3:17 PM |
9:36 PM |
12:50 PM |
9:59 AM |
9:22 PM |
10:20 AM |
|
