The world of railfunny

A Beautiful Day of Snow and Trains in the Pacific Northwest

2012-01-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was a snow day for me, so I spend the day riding trains and buses, photographing the beautiful snow around Olympia, Auburn, and Seattle. All photo's were taken by railfunny with a Canon 100HS camera on January 18, 2012. Cheers!

Inclusive Adult Recreation and Self Advocacy - A Year of Participation in Review

2011-11-15T18:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a short video of photo's from my past year of participating in inclusive adult recreation and self advocacy. I'm still working on many of the socialization aspects, and in the interim, I'm learning some great practical skills along the way, such as cooking, hiking, and skiing, and I get to hang out with a lot of fun and amazing people.

Amtrak 40th Anniversary Train in Seattle, WA

2011-10-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today I got to take a tour of Amtrak's 40th Anniversary Train at King Street Station in Seattle, Washington. The train was chock full of great exhibits, some of which were interactive. After buying a commemorative poster for the low price of $5, the attendant told me that the artist, J. Craig Thorpe was on board, and signing autographs, so I have an elegant piece of history to remember this day by.

The train has many more stops to make across America, visiting Portland, Oregon next weekend, and Sacramento, California the following weekend. Admission is free, and it's a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday. Check out http://amtrak40th.com/ to see when the train will be visiting your part of the country.

Is it Autumn already?

2011-10-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's already Autumn, because it seems like Summer just started here in Washington a month ago!

I've survived the busiest two weeks of the year at my job however, and enjoying the start of Fall activities. During a recent trip on the Sounder between Auburn and Kent, I noticed an interesting difference between the ORCA card readers at the two stations. Take a look at the photo's and see if you can spot the difference.

I've been seeing a lot more foreign power (CP, CN, and TFM) since BNSF started running export coal trains to Robert's Bank recently.

I've been on some fun day trips recently, including a trip to the UW Arboretum for the first time, where I saw some great inspirations for potential elements to include in a proposed sensory wall in a city where I live.

I'm also taking cooking classes for the first time. Next week, Chef Rob will teach us how to make tomato and basil bisque from scratch. I already know several of the other adults in my class, and I was happy when I found out that Kory is also in the class, as she also is a big fan of the Backstreet Boys and NKOTB.

I've shot lots of train video recently, but it's hard to get shots that aren't shakey at my old age of 34. I've ordered a Canon Elph H100 however, which features anti-shake for videos, so I should have some new uploads for YouTube soon.

There's also a new name for the Relay for Life team I will be participating with again next year. While I liked the name "Aspies Against Cancer", Dan's mom made a good point in that additional non-aspies might want to join our team, and it would be silly to keep the "aspie" name if the majority of the team members aren't on the autism spectrum. We had a team meeting, and voted on a new team name which is both more inclusive, and more positive, which is "United for Hope". If you would like to join our team for May of 2012, we would be glad to have you, so please send me an e-mail.

Lastly, Amtrak's 40th Anniversary exhibit train is coming to the Pacific Northwest this month, to Seattle the weekend of 10/22-23 and Portland the weekend of 10/29-30. The exhibit is free, and contains lots of great displays about this important piece of American history. Official site: http://www.amtrak40th.com/exhibit-train

Cheers!

railfunny's Summer vacation

2011-07-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation on a budget doesn't have to be boring. These past couple of weeks I've enjoyed hiking my sister, nephew, and a few guys from Square Pegs, and even had the chance to chase trains near Skykomish with one of them. I also got to visit the Reptile Zoo where I got to handle snakes and see a two headed turtle, and also went horseback riding. Square Pegs and other disability self advocacy groups have been very busy, with lots of potlucks, a group hike to Saltwater State Park, and the signing of a club charter at city hall. I also got a bike, and I'm starting to get good at riding it, and hope to go on the Foothills Trail and others soon. Of course there's been lots of trains too, such as a train with special cars for carrying Boeing 737 fuselages which I saw on my way to a group hike, and I've also enjoyed the foxgloves, which are blooming later into the Summer than usual thanks to a cool Spring.

NRHS 2011Tacoma Convention Trip Photos - Easton and Portland

2011-06-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a handful of photo's that I took this weekend during trips with the NRHS, including travels behind SP 4449 to Easton, WA via Stampede Pass (BNSF, former NP), and via the BNSF mainline to Portland, OR.

If you would like to see more photo's and descriptions of each, please check out my facebook page. There's only two Benjamin Gran's, and I'm the one from Washington State.

Also, be sure to check my railfunny page on YouTube, as I expect to upload a video compilation within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks!

Relay for Life, Science Cetner, and Square Pegs, all in 40 hours

2011-05-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

I did a 40-hour day, 6am Friday to 10pm Saturday. I started with Aspies for Life, a team in the overnight Relay for Life in Auburn, then it was on to the Science Center with some friends, and then a great BBQ with the Square Pegs at Mark's place in Seattle. It was a lot of fun, but I was sure tired afterward.

A week of adventure in Seattle

2011-04-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

This week I had all sorts of adventures in Seattle.

On Tuesday, I got to volunteer with Outdoors for All in their Spring Break Day Camp. I got to Seattle early, and when I arrived at Magnuson Park, I already had 53 transit related photos from Auburn and Seattle, which I combined with some more on the way home to create the YouTube clip below.

Due to rain in the forecast, we skipped doing adaptive bicycles, and took the campers on a field trip to the Pacific Science Center. It was a lot of fun, although keeping an eye on multiple wanderers in public was challenging. The campers really enjoyed the exhibits, as well as the 3D IMAX film about the Hubble Space Telescope. We didn't have enough time to see the Star Wars exhibit though. It's a real bummer that Outdoors for All is closing their offices and canceling most activities for two weeks due to the budget, and I hope that the Spring Fest at Stevens Pass next Sunday raises lots of money for them.

On Saturday, a friend invited me to go to Seattle, and we went to Game Works, and then to a social group called "The Crew", where we played charades, ate pizza, and played a game where you have to say "zip" or "bomb" without showing your teeth. Outdoors for All was also there doing an adaptive bike demo, and I got to try out this cool side by side bike that costs $5,000. One of the group's facilitators got 30 tickets for the Science Center Donated, and I might get to go with, and maybe even see the Star Wars exhibit this time.

After "The Crew", I did some homework at Starbucks, and then headed to the monthly Square Peg adult Asperger's meetup, where we enjoyed a gourmet baked potato bar. I brought pesto, and Bert brought goat cheese, which I found to be a tasty combination. We had some interesting conversations, but I will be glad when the deck furniture is back next month, since it gets so noisy inside.

It was a really fun week, but I would have rather been skiing, if I had a way to get up to Crystal Mountain. After learning how to ski this year, I'm really hooked!

Trains compilation video:

Winter adventure in Houston

2011-02-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

I'm back from my adventure in Houston. The weather was great, close to 80, and I saw lots of trains.

After checking in Sunday night, I got an early start Monday morning, working on some homework at the Dykes Library at University of Houston Downtown. The library was surprisingly small, smaller than the one at GRCC, but the people were nice, and they have a Starbucks on campus. Besides the library, I checked out the remnants of two railroad lines (T&P and Katy) and a former interurban line, in addition to the remaining rail line (UP, former SP) which hosts Amtrak's Sunset Limited through campus, as well as the Houston MetroRail line. Besides the rails, there were lots of ants on campus, building mounds of dirt right in the middle of the sidewalks, as well as lots of ducks and other birds. The former SP office across the street has been converted into condos, but a ghost of the SP logo remains.

The Houston Museum of Natural History was OK, but it lacked variety compared to most other museums, covering paleontology, Native Americans, and petroleum, but little else. Nearby Hermann Park was nice, with a pair of 2-foot imitation Central Pacific steam trains running, even though it's the middle of winter.

The best part however was certainly the light rail. Unlike other cities with their boring bell or horn, Houston's Siemens Avanto S70's have a large speaker which blasts the sound of a steam whistle. Some of their crossings are very creative as well, featuring red neon tubes around traffic signals or LED's embedded int eh pavement vs. the standard flashing lights around the crossbuck (see videos). Getting to and from the airport was also easy, with a new $4.50 express bus, and three hours of free transfers on MetroRail if using a Q-Card (RFID). It was nice overall, but Houston needs to do something about their air pollution before I will be back, as the smog not only limited visibility, but the air smelled of sulfur, reminiscent of "the Tacoma aroma" back when the ASARCO smelter was still in operation.

Video:

Photo's:

First Mountaineers Hike - Point Defiance

2011-01-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

Today was my very first hike with the Mountaineers. While one other hiker was new, most were seasoned veterans, with one person, a retired OT, having been a Mountaineer for the past 53 years!

The hike around Pt Defiance was pretty easy, with little elevation change since we didn't go down to the beach. I was worried that any talk would be about boring stuff like sports, but given the professional backgrounds of our hikers (Dr.'s, librarians, anthropologists, mental health professional, and etc.) we got to talk about stuff that interests me like colleges, bacteria and viruses, conditions at group homes, and etc.

One of the hikers was at the navigation class I attended on Wednesday, even though I didn't recognize her. She will be attending the same field trip/test that I'm going to at Heybrook Ridge near Index, WA in March. I meant to practice with my compass today, but I forgot. The weather was lousy for photo's, but very comfortable for hiking, with clouds, but without any rain or snow.

After the hike, we went to Duke's Chowder House where the fish tacos were a hit, and then one of the other hikers gave me a ride to the Tacoma Dome transit center where I caught the 574 express home. I was pretty impressed that not only had most of the other hikers rode Amtrak before, but a couple were pretty familiar with buses in our area as well.

It was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to my hike in March, and hopefully more hikes in the future.

Bay Area Day Trip - Tech Museum and More

2011-01-20T06:35:00.000-08:00

With MLK Day off from work, I used some $49 sale tickets on Alaska Airlines to SFO. My journey from SFO to the Tech Museum in San Jose included four types of rail, the Air Train between terminals at SFO, BART from SFO to Milbrae, Caltrain from Milbrae to San Jose Diridon, and VTA Light Rail to the Convention Center station.

My PacSci membership got me free basic admission to the Tech Museum, and a discount on the Body Worlds Vital exhibit, the latter of which was interesting, but non-interactive. All of the exhibits in the main Tech Museum were new since my last visit, and most were interactive, such as a Google Earth setup with seven 50" plasma displays enveloping the user, and a racing game using wheelchairs as controllers, as well as static displays such as an 1898 Baker electric car, and the evolution of solar panels. I also enjoyed the exhibit of vintage tech toys donated for display by prominent inventors, including an old steel Erector Set, and an O gauge model train. The interactive microchip fab was gone, but a 1980's wafer stepper was on display. It was also nice to see something from close to home on display, some samples of Hexcel from Kent, WA in the display of materials used in outer space.

Despite being downgraded from Alaska Gold to standard MVP due to less travel last year, I still managed to receive free MVP first class upgrades both ways. While the food didn't meet Alaska's usual high standards (processed chicken on the salad), it was certainly better than the pretzels served in coach. My new backpack also fit OK into the overhead bins which the flight attendants thought were too full, a benefit of having a carry on which is semi-flexible instead of rigid. It wasn't all play and no work however; I borrowed a friend's Kindle and read a book required for one of my college classes during the trip. The screen on the Kindle is amazing, much easier on the eyes than an iPad, or even a paper book.

Below are some photo's. Sorry about the blurry Caltrain shot; it was taken through the dirty window of the cab car of my train.

Seattle Mountaineers - What, Where and When

2011-01-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

After my Outdoors For All Ski instructors mentioned the Mountaineers, I attended a "Meet the Mountaineers" open house near Magnuson Park in Seattle on Thursday. There was a wealth of info provided, and I signed up for two events, which I learned one can do as a guest to see if the Mountaineers are a good fit before purchasing a membership. For those who missed the Seattle open house, there's another on in Tacoma this Friday, January 21, 2011. Info: http://www.tacomamountaineers.org/default.cfm

One event I signed up for is the navigation seminar and field trip, which is required if I wish to later snow shoe at Meany Lodge, in Martin next to the East Portal of BNSF's Stampede Pass Tunnel. I'm terrible at directions and math, so I hope that whoever my instructor is has lots of patience, as I'm sure I can learn how to use a compass, but it may take me awhile. Course info: http://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/navigation/

The other event is a fairly easy hike around Point Defiance on Sunday January 30th. This should provide me a chance to see what I need to do in regards to personal and gear prep for the more moderate hike/test for the navigation class. Info: http://www.mountaineers.org//source/aTrips/viewTrip.cfm?event=24728&source=pop

Transportation is a bit of a hassle compared to programs like Outdoors For All which has a scheduled shuttle each week between Auburn and Crystal Mountain. Just to get home from the Mountaineers activity center in Seattle on Thursday, I had to take four buses (175, 172, 578, 181) to get home. While a carpool from Auburn will likely be available for large hikes (90 people expected for the navigation hike/test), I was told to plan on finding my own ride to the trail head, or at least close to it, for smaller group activities, which could be a deal breaker.

I currently have no plans to participate in any of the more extreme Mountaineering activities like rock climbing or scrambling at this point, but I'm going to try some simpler rock climbing with Outdoors For All this Summer to see if I can figure things out and build up some upper body strength, and maybe try some more strenuous indoor climbing with the Mountaineers if I'm up to it. Info: http://www.outdoorsforall.org/RockClimbing.html

Photo 1: Me at the top of the Marion Lake trail in Marias Pass near Essex, MT a couple of years ago. The Mountaineers have already taught me a few things to do differently on my next hike(s), such as: Wear non-cotton pants, bring the 10 essentials to be prepared no matter what, bring a compass in addition to a GPS, and most importantly, never hike alone.

Photo 2: The "Meet the Mountaineers" event in Seattle.

Backpack 4.0

2011-01-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today I used my REI gift card from Santa to pick out my first new backpack in four years, which is my 4th backpack ever.

I didn't get my first backpack until I was nearly done with high school because I didn't like the feeling of the shoulder straps, but once I got used to them, I never left home without my pack. I liked my first pack so much, that when it wore out, I bought another JanSport 30 liter just like it, not once, but twice.

The zippers on my 3rd JanSport are worn out, and as I'm starting to do more stuff outside of school and work, I figured it was time to try something besides the typical book bag type pack. While I've been happy with JanSport, none of the local stores have their larger packs in stock, and I'd hate to order one from online to find out that the fit or fabric is uncomfortable. REI in Seattle has a great variety of packs to try however, and after trying about 10 different brands, sizes, and styles, I settled on the Atmos 50 (53 liter) by Osprey. Even though it holds almost twice as much as my previous packs, it's easier on the back thanks to its rod and wire frame design which distributes the load more evenly. While there's many bags that hold even more (65 or 80 liters), this is the largest bag that most airlines will accept as a carry on bag, which is important since I fly often. I can't wait until next Saturday to be able to take all of my ski clothes with me in a single pack instead of two loads. I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy. :)

Below is a photo of my old pack, and my new pack. Also here's a list of the technical details for my new pack: http://www.ospreypacks.com/Packs/AtmosSeriesMensBackpackingVentilated/Atmos50/

Adaptive Ski Lessons with Outdoors for All at Crystal Mountain

2011-01-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

January 7, 2011: Today was my first day of adaptive ski lessons at Crystal Mountain with Outdoors For All (OFA). Mike, my instructor from OFA was very nice and patient, and even knows a bit about trains and neuroscience. He's traveling to Europe on business next week and will be riding the Eurostar train through the Chunnel for the first time, and he recommended a book related to neuroscience called "The Ethical Brain: The Science of Our Moral Dilemmas". After a few hours on the bunny run (Discovery), we decided to brave a couple of the beginner runs, Tinkerbell via the Chinook lift, and Forest Queen via a lift of the same name. There were a lot more falls on the latter run, and my frequent falls made us a few minutes late for the rendezvous with my bus, but I was fine other than a couple of bruises, and the bus waited for me. There's a few other guys from the Auburn area on my bus, and they seemed like nice guys who had a good time today as well. I'm looking forward to next week.

Update January 15, 2011: Dan and Frederick, my subs today were nice and each taught me a couple of new things. We stuck with Chinook/Tinkerbell this time, and I had fewer falls. In fact, I manged one of the runs down Tinkerbell with a couple of slips but no falls. Dan works for the same tech company as Mike, and told me about some train trips in China, where he went to visit his wife's family. It was so warm at the mountain that I took my cap off, and Frederick insisted I was nuts, as everyone else kept theirs on, LOL! On the ride from Auburn, I read some of my book on the history of the Mountaineers, and also the first chapter of two books that I need to read and report on for my college classes. I'm sore, but not as sore as last week. Perhaps next week I will give the slightly trickier run another try.

Update January 22, 2011: Mike was gone again this week due to his business trip running long, so I had Ben and Frederick for subs today. Ben, who works for PSE had me doing drills for most of the morning, trying to work on edging and side slipping. I was surprised that he knows about the flume-top railway PSE has near Electron, WA, and even more surprised that it's still in operation, as I heard rumors on trainorders that it had been shut down. Fred let me try the Queens Forest lift for the first time since my first lesson, and despite a few falls, I managed to make it through "the toilet bowl" twice without falling. I think I need to start wearing a helmet now that speeds are increasing. During one wipe out, a ski went airborne and almost landed on my head, LOL! Despite my progress, I have a ways to go before I can go beyond Forest Queen to an intermediate run like the Rainer Express, which is too bad, since Mt. Rainier must have looked stunning with today's blue skies. If I keep making progress however, I might get to do an intermediate run or two by the time the season ends.

Update January 29, 2011: We had eight instructors out today, so although Mike was back, he had to fill in for another instructor since he's one of the few who are sit ski certified. Brad, our driver, was back, and was expecting his phone to ring at any time as one of his daughters is giving birth to his 5th grandchild. Kristen was my instructor today, and it was neat to hear about her experiences with differently abled people, and she also gave me some good tips about the Mountaineers, in which she also participates. She's a regular on the Amtrak Cascades to Portland, and already knew about the recently added free onboard WiFi. The ski lessons went well, focusing on practicing and refining some things introduced last week. I actually enjoyed today's slushy snow, as it made it easier to feel what my feet were doing. I did well enough on the Forest Queen that my instructor said I might me able to try CMAC next week, which would be my 1st attempt at an intermediate run. Rebeca was also up at Crystal today, and met me for lunch and gave me a ride back to Auburn at the end of the day. On a serious note, OFA has announced that it may have to suspend lessons at Crystal unless they can raise an additional $12,000. I really hope they're able to do so, and will try to find some people who might be able to donate.

Update February 05, 2011: Today was the most intense day yet at Crystal. It was so intense, that I fell asleep on the couch as soon as I got home and didn't wake up until 2:30am, LOL! I tried my first intermediate/blue on CMAC with Kristen, and the steeper slope really takes a lot more out of you. I had a pair of "half yard sales" on my first couple of runs, losing a ski and a pole and sliding 50-100ft, but on the third attempt, I made it down without falling. I twisted my left knee a little, but I don't think it's anything too serious. I didn't realize until today that next Saturday is the last of the Jan/Feb lessons. I thought that since it was 4 weekends in Jan it was also 4 weekends in Feb, but Feb has only two. Bummer! I'm hoping for some more snow. My instructor wants to take me up Rainier Express next Saturday, but not if it's slushy and icy like it was today.

Update, February 12, 2011: Today was the last day of ski lessons for the Jan/Feb season. The top of the mountain was closed due to high winds, so I didn't get to go with Kristen on the Rainier Express, but we did get to do a couple of new runs off of Forest Queen, and also tried the Quicksilver lift for the first time. I still need to work on standing up straight and putting pressure on the front of my boots, but my turns are good enough that I'm not too worried about running into other skiers or off the train, so I might try some skiing on my own or with family and friends, which is very exciting. I'm so glad that we have programs like OFA. They didn't just teach me to ski, but they made it fun and gave me confidence too.

I really hope the program at Crystal Mountain continues next year, as I would really like to try snowboard lessons. I would encourage anyone from the Seattle area to check out OFA's Spree event at Alpental on March 13, as it's a lot of fun for a great cause. Spree info: http://www.outdoorsforall.org/Spree_About.html

WSU Acceptance Letter

2010-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

I was very excited to get this after waiting about a month for the university to review my application and transcript.

Visiting my grandpa in Mesa, AZ

2010-12-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend I had a chance to visit my grandpa in Mesa, AZ, and we got to visit and see some great sights.

I had a chance to skim through his 1971 doctoral dissertation on employment security, and I was very impressed not only by the writing but also by the elaborate spreadsheets, done in time without PC's.

I was surprised to learn that pre-Calculus wasn't a required course back then, and that he struggled to complete two out of three quarters of statistics class that his advisor recommended. The fact that my grandpa struggled with advanced math but excelled enough in other areas to complete his PhD gives me hope that I can do the same eventually.

Besides visiting, we went on a road trip to form a circle via Mesa, Phoenix, Tempe, Payson, Punkin Center, Roosevelt Lake, Tonto, Globe, Miami, Florence, Queens Creek, and back to Mesa. We also spent the evening of my arrival with my Grandma Rosie viewing holiday lights around the neighborhood, and also at a local church and temple.

In Phoenix, we visited the Pueblo Grande Museum, and learned about the Hohokam people who once dominated this area with their extensive system of canals along the Salt River before vanishing around 1500AD, perhaps due to salt buildup in the soil.

In Tempe, we visited the Arizona State University center for the arts, which features a large fountain with a walkway above the municipal water supply and its rubber dam, which creates the effect of people's upper bodies floating through the water as they walk or ride along the path. We could also see Metro light rail trains cross a bridge adjacent the an old bridge which once carried passenger trains for the Southern Pacific and Amtrak in and out of Phoenix before Union Pacific bought SP and downgraded the tracks to lower speeds, necessitating the move of Amtrak trains serving Phoenix to operate out of Maricopa, AZ, 32 miles to the South, making Phoenix the largest city in the USA not to have direct Amtrak service.

In Punkin Center, we crossed the Tonto creek, as it flowed across the road which was already covered in mud and pebbles, and then stopped at the Butcher Hook Cafe for breakfast, where we ran into one of my grandfather's friends who has worked with him in his outreach. The green chili omelet was very good for only $5. At Roosevelt Lake, we got to view the Roosevelt Dam and bridge. While the new bridge carries auto traffic since the dam was encased in concrete and heightened in 1995, the remnants of the old road which used to run across the top of the dam are still visible just above the water line of the lake. The Tonto Pueblo of the Salado people was quite a site, although we didn't hike all the way to the top due to lots of bees and time constraints.

In Globe and Miami, we saw the massive copper mining operations, now under control of Australian Behemoth BHP Billington. While Southern Pacific used to serve this area, UP sold the line to shortline operator Arizona and Eastern, which operates freight on the line South to an exchange with the UP at Bowie, AZ. The railroad also operates occasional passenger specials via Globe: http://www.copperspike.com/

In Florence, we saw the prison facilities where my grandfather has done extensive outreach over the past decade, along with a uniquely deteriorating saguaro cactus. While passing through Queens Creek, we passed over a lightly used UP (former SP) branch line which doesn't see much traffic from the looks of the clogged flange ways. We also got to see large flocks of sheep, which migrate annually between here and the mountains in the NE corner of the state.

By the time we arrived back in Mesa, it was time for me to get to the airport for my flight back to Seattle.

It was nice to see my grandpa, and while I enjoyed all the sights he showed me, it was his advice and encouragement which made this trip most memorable.

BNSF Holiday Express Train - Auburn Washington - December 5th, 2010

2010-12-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

On my way home from the Y today, I was surprised to see the BNSF Holiday Express train heading toward the Sounder station. It did an excursion for military families yesterday from Auburn to Tacoma and back, but I thought it was on it's way to another city after that. I missed the train yesterday as I was helping to prep for the Math and Science Fair at my college during the time the train was in Auburn.

I didn't have my regular camera with me, but I did manage to get some semi-decent shots with my Nokia N86. It wasn't without excitement however, as Auburn K9 Officer Bentz pulled up with his lights on asking why I was taking pictures of trains. After checking my ID, he left me alone to take photo's however. I used to be in the Auburn Police Dept "Citizen's Academy" back when I was in high school, but I don't think Officer Bentz was with the force at the time, as I didn't recognize his name, nor did he mine. Besides Officer Bentz, there were three other Auburn PD vehicles at the event, as well as an unmarked SUV parked in the bus lane. I couldn't figure out why there was so much security for this train vs. a Sounder train which carries more passengers, but as posters on train websites pointed out a few minutes ago, "You never know when Warren (Buffett) might be onboard, so local PD's probably want to put on a good show when this train goes through..." For non-railfans, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchased BNSF Railway a few months ago.

A photo from the roof of the Sounder Station captures the train nestled in downtown Auburn, and if you look carefully in another photo, you can see Santa sitting inside BNSF business car "Red River".

Most of the equipment in the consist with the exception of a couple of bi-level cars is the same as in the business train I photographed in Essex Montana in 2007, as seen in this previous blog post: http://railfunny.blogspot.com/Essex_Montana_Train_Adventure

For a news story with more info on the train and its special mission, please see: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/BNSF_Holiday_Express_Train

I also have a short YouTube clip of the train pulling into the Auburn Sounder station. My phone stopped recording before the end, but I got most of the train. I would have stayed to video the train departing, but by the time my bus came at 4:12pm, light was mostly gone. At least I got a few shots and a little bit of video of this hard to catch train.

Consist info from George Andrews at Altamont Press: BNSF 7874 facing South, Fox River, Colorado River, Bay View, Flathead River, Powder River, Missouri River, Mountain View, Lake Superior, Snoqualmie River, Cajon Pass, Marias Pass, BNSF 7269 facing North.

Photos:

YouTube Video:

2010 Winter Wonderland

2010-11-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

This week we got the earliest snow day that I can recall on the afternoon of Monday the 22nd, and Green River Community College has remained closed two more days since then.

The 181 bus I take to work has been mostly unaffected, other than some minor delays, so I could have still made it to work had they not decided to cancel. Some other Metro routes weren't quite as lucky, such as the route 43 which I take between downtown Seattle and Capital Hill for my Square Pegs meetings, which can be seen sliding out of control at 3 minutes into this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZCyQ3emQg

Other than the traffic mess, the snow and ice have been a bit of fun. Big Bend (a park along the Green River near my house) was beautiful, and while the ice on frozen mud puddles was too thin to slide across yesterday, I had no problem today, as the ice is now over three inches thick. Where I broke the ice yesterday, it's refrozen into beautiful patterns with crystal clear ice over the mud covered ice. It's hard to imagine that this area was packed with sunbathers and swimmers just two months ago.

Trains have done much better than cars and buses, with Amtrak, Sounder commuter rail, and Link light rail all running close to on-time. I bet these drivers on SR 518 wish they were on this Link train instead of being stuck for hours on the highway Monday afternoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dmYduyLkjM&feature=player_embedded

Update: I forgot some papers needed for homework at the college, so I took the bus up there and explored the trails while I was there. The roads weren't bad, but walkways around campus were very slick, even after being sanded, so it's probably a good thing that they chose to cancel school again today. The trails weren't bad however, as the trees prevented much snow from accumulating. Mt. Rainier wasn't visible from the overlook, but there were lots of other neat things to see along the Foundation and Able Loop trails. Pictures below.

Enjoy the snow, and stay safe!

railfunny

Finding my zone of proximal development (ZPD) at a party in Seattle

2010-10-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended my first Square Pegs meet up in Seattle, and it was an incredible experience. Unlike other social groups I've been to for people on the autism spectrum (mostly Aspie's and a few other social misfits), this group is actually run by persons on the spectrum instead of parents, doctors, or teachers. Also, everyone at the group is there because they want to be, not because someone asked them to go. This for Aspie's by Aspie's approach makes for a completely different experience than any other group I've been to. The setting was wonderful, a cabana atop some luxury condo's overlooking Seattle.

Unlike a typical social gathering where I'm a bit lost socially, but bored intellectually, this group was consisted of individuals who were mostly a little further developed than me in both areas, yet not so much that they were outside of my zone of proximal development (ZPD) as Vygotsky would say. Also, being that this is a meetup/party and not "therapy", there's no cost to attend. Besides talking about Vygotsky and other educational theorists, topics included anthropology, the pro's and cons of different medications, g-forces on various roller coasters, the reliability or lack thereof of IQ tests, the persistence of COBOL and FORTRAN in business systems, and the balance between the need for people on the spectrum to learn social skills and for NT's (neurotypicals) to learn to be less xenophobic. Unlike a typical party, it's OK to be a little awkward and inappropriate, and not worry about each and every little unwritten rule about social interaction, as long as you remember the most important rules, which everyone managed to do. I don't mind someone asking me questions that might be considered a little too personal among acquaintances if I can also have the liberty of asking others the same in order to satisfy my curiosity. In other words, it was a geek paradise!

I had wanted to check the group out sooner, but I haven't been to Seattle much on weekends since Metro Transit cut the direct Auburn-Seattle bus #150 back to Kent in 2006, making getting to Seattle circuitous and time consuming. Sound Transit has fixed all that, with route 578 providing express service from Auburn to Seattle, providing a one seat ride to Seattle in 30 minutes less time than the old Metro route 150.

The group also validated my "crazy" idea of pursuing a BA or higher in one or more areas of study which I may never apply to a career different than my current one. Over half of the ~25 people in attendance have a BA or higher degree, and none of them are directly related to their current profession, even though many of the people there are doing well for themselves professionally. I feel like a slacker however, as I was the oldest person at the group without my BA. One of the people there asked how old I was, and followed up by saying "You're 33 and you don't have your BA yet? I didn't get mine until I was 25, and I thought I took a long time!". Hopefully I can change all that by 2015 when I finish my part time classes to get my BA in Social Sciences from WSU Online, with concentrations in Psychology and Human Development. I'm definitely keeping UW in mind for my graduate studies however, as there was a clear consensus among our group that UW is the most Aspie friendly college in the Pacific Northwest. Although I have yet to get my BA, others at the group who also do volunteer work were impressed with my number of hours logged at several agencies, and we also browsed through the curriculum for the social skills class for kids I will be assisting with at CTC this winter. Hopefully once I get my BA, my volunteer experience will improve my chances of being accepted into graduate studies sooner rather than later.

If anyone reading this lives in the Seattle area and is an adult on the autism spectrum, I would highly recommend checking out this group. Link: http://www.meetup.com/Squarepegs/

Amazon.com Widgets

Seattle Asperger's Picnic

2010-07-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today I visited the annual Seattle Asperger's Picnic for the first time.
http://seattleaspergers.org/moreevents.aspx

Besides another aspie who likes trains, there were a few other computer geeks, although they were more into coding than hardware, such as myself. There were other aspies with driving difficulties, and we talked about different things which might help with the challenges.

I didn't see my former social skills instructor, Dr. Steve Becker, but there were some other people from his group there, just not people that attended at the same time as me.

Some of the people at the picnic commented on "how normal" I look, which I thought was funny, since I don't think people on the spectrum typically look any different than other people. When I was a kid, I definitely looked a little different however, as in this photo of me in Cub Scouts before I became too much for my den to handle.

The event was nice, but conversations were a bit hard to hear at times due to noise from some cars and motorcycles left behind from an auto show earlier in the day. It was nice to come to Seattle and meet some other aspies, as I don't seem to run into any in Auburn.

Railroad History of the Cedar River Watershed

2010-06-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I enjoyed a wonderful tour of the railroad history of the Cedar River Watershed, hosted by Seattle Public Utilities and the Ceder River Watershed Education Center (CRWEC). CRWEC website link.

We started our journey at the CRWEC, about a mile East of the Rattlesnake Lake recreation area, built on the site of a former Milwaukee Road (Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul and Pacific) company town. Upon entering the facility, was the sound of "rain drums", which are played by dripping water to create a rhythm that seems at home in the forest. The CRWEC, opened in 2001 and is built to resemble the numerous small buildings of a railroad town. It includes exhibits and activities for people of all ages, from historical archives available by apt. to researchers, to waste water treatment simulations, complete with info about how biosolids (dried poop) are sold for use in creating methane gas for electricity generation. There's also exhibits on plants and old growth forests, including a cross section of a tree that's 645-years-old. Best of all, the exhibits are free, and the various weekend tours are of minimal cost, as low as $5 per person. Whether you enjoy science, forestry, butterflies, history, or trains, there's an exhibit or tour for you!

The first stop on our tour was the remains of Milwaukee Road powerhouse #26, which converted AC power to DC power for electric trains traveling between Cedar Falls and Renton in the West (powerhouse #27) and Hyak in the East (powerhouse #25). The Milwaukee road was a pioneer in the use of electric locomotives for long distance trains, which may have continued past 1971 if not for poor company management leading to deferred maintenance and the failure to close the gap in electrified track between Othello, WA and Avery, ID, requiring that trains switch back and forth between electric and diesel locomotives. Milwaukee Road's deferred maintenance also negated the increased speeds possible with lighter electric powered trains. As a result, the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt for a final time in 1977, and competitor Burlington Northern acquired Milwaukee Road assets from Butte, MT West. While BN operated some freight over former Milwaukee Road tracks, it was soon decided that the deferred maintenance was too expensive to justify a 3rd route over the Cascades via Snoqualmie, even though it had gentler and more efficient grades than the former Northern Pacific Line of Stampede Pass, and the former Great Northern line over Steven's Pass. The last Burlington Northern freight train rolled through Cedar Falls in March, 1980. Over the next decade, most of the former railroad buildings at Cedar Falls would be torn down, with the exception of the depot, which Fred, a member of our tour group, bought from BN in 1988 and moved board by board to Covington, WA, where it was reassembled and turned into a residence. Foxgloves grow where the passenger platform for the Cedar Falls depot once stood. The former Cedar Falls-Snoqualmie-Snohomish-Everett branch line is now a trail paralleling Rattlesnake Lake. The former Tacoma-Chicago mainline is now Cedar River Road within the watershed (Landsburg, WA to Cedar Falls, WA), the Cedar River Trail West of Landsburg to Renton, WA, and part of the John Wayne Ironhorse Trail State Park for much of the former ROW East of Cedar Falls. Before leaving the general vicinity of the CRWEC, we stopped to see the remains of a brick tower which was part of a facility used by the Milwaukee Road to store and heat bunker fuel for their steam locomotives prior to electrification of their mainline, and for locomotives plying nearby branch lines. The site is contaminated, and BNSF, who still owns the site, has refused to clean it up, but offered to sell the land for cheap if someone else will clean up the mess.

After leaving the CRWEC area, we crossed the Cedar River on a 1907-1909 Pratt double lace through truss steel bridge, formerly part of the Milwaukee Road main line. Before walking onto the bridge, Clay Antieau, our guide, made everyone take an oath saying "I, state my name, understand and accept the risks present, which include lead pain and no guard rail. Therefore I pledge not to lick or eat paint, or to lean or jump from the bridge." It was required to satisfy the liability folks at HQ, but Clay did in it a way that made the trip fun.

The highlight of the trip was the former Milwaukee Road trestle over Taylor Creek, near Bagley Junction, outside of Selleck, viewed from a parallel deck girder bridge on the mainline grade. This trestle was once part of a branch line which left the mainline near Selleck, crossed the Green River at Kanaskat-Palmer underneath the Northern Pacific mainline on a bridge that no longer exists, and continued into Enumclaw. Despite being more than 100 years old, the bridge still smelled like fresh creosote, which is a concern to the watershed, which may lead to the bridge being disassembled and removed in the near future, before a logjam or other even causes the bridge to fail and the creosote treated timbers to enter the water supply.

The former Northern Pacific bridge from Selleck to Barneston and Kerriston is long gone, so we crossed the Cedar River once more on a modern truck bridge built for watershed and forest maintenance. All that's left at Barneston is literally a wide spot in the road, where the grades of railroad lines from the Northern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, and Kent Lumber Company converged.

Our tour wrapped up with a drive through the former staff housing (now offices) around the Cedar Falls power house. This hydro-electric project once powered all of Seattle with its 3,000 kilowatts of electricity, which is now just 1.5% of Seattle's electricity needs. Once back at the CRWEC, we could see dozens of tourists sitting up on Rattlesnake Ledge, which I'm told is a beautiful hike.

For those who haven't been to the CRWEC or the greater Cedar Falls area, I would highly recommend a visit.

Cheers!

One Night Cruise on the Golden Princess, May 14-15th, 2010 Vancouver to Seattle

2010-05-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Friday I went on an overnight cruise with my mom and step dad between Vancouver and Seattle.

I took the Sounder commuter train from Auburn to King Street Station in Seattle, and on the way through the coach yard, saw that our Talgo trainset, Mt. Adams, had a GE Genesis P42 #20 attached for the push from Seattle to Vancouver instead of the usual EMD F59PHI motive power. I've also included a photo of the Sounder that I took before class at GRCC's Kent campus the evening before our trip.

Once onboard the Amtrak Cascades, we enjoyed a mostly smooth trip up to Vancouver, BC. While the BNSF tracks on the USA side are in great shape, the CN nee BC Rail tracks on the Vancouver side could use some work, as the stretch from White Rock, BC to Vanvouver, BC was slow, even if we hadn't had to stop and wait for a freight train stuck on the track in front of us with mechanical issues. We still made it to Vancouver, BC with plenty of time to spare, and after a five minute ride on the Sky Train, we were at the Canada Place Pier, ready to line up for embarkation.

On the way into Vancouver, we saw a variety of unique equipment in the VIA Rail Canada coach yard, including Royal Hudson steam locomotive #2860, and a Colorado Railcar built dome from VIA's Skeena train.

Onboard the Golden Princess, we got some lunch at the buffet, and then lounged in our state rooms for a few minutes before heading to the lido deck for the sail away party, which included some great views of downtown Vancouver, the Sea Bus, the West Coast Express commuter train, and also two other cruise ships, the Holland America Rotterdam, and the Celebrity Millennium.

Dinner in the Donatello dining room was exquisite. We had escargots bourguignon, onion soup, and leek and ricotta mini-quiche for appetizers, followed by frog legs provencal, seared wild salmon, duck ala orange, and pasta with lobster sauce. All this was finished off with a rich chocolate mousse desert, cream puffs with passion fruit sauce, and cheese cake. Dinner alone could have easily cost as much as the $69 per person cruise fare had we eaten at a traditional restaurant.

After dinner, we saw a spectacular live show called "Cinematastic" at the Princess Theatre. The show included performances to the tune of more than twenty different songs from Hollywood blockbusters from the 1960's to present. We were blown away by the performances in a few of the songs, such as "Windmills of Your Mind" and "Footloose".

Then it was back to relaxing, enjoying a bit of Stevie Wonder on the outdoor LED movie screen above the midship pool, and browsing some of the boutiques, cafes, and wine bar on the plaza levels.

The next morning we awoke in Seattle, and after a nice breakfast and some strolling around the ship, it was time to disembark and return home. It was a short trip, but a sweet one as well.

While the food on Princess is outstanding, rumor among cruise critics has it that Holland America has even better food. Holland America has a one night Seattle to Vancouver Cruise coming up in September, which might be worth trying.

Cheers!

2010 Spring Vacation Part 3 - New York City

2010-05-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our adventure continued in New York City on Saturday. After checking out of our hotel and walking to the lower levels of Grand Central Terminal (main hub for Metro North RR commuter trains), as two minute ride on the "S" subway shuttle took us to Times Square. While the subways can get you to nearly every corner of Manhattan, it often required transferring between lines, and because the subways used to be operated by two separate for-profit companies (Interburrough Rapid Transit aka IRT and Brooklyn Mass Transit aka BMT), the lines run over and under each other, rather than using wyes and diamonds, resulting in many trips up and down stairs at the different stations.

Despite mobile police outposts and more officers than usual, residents and tourists milled about, working, talking, shopping, and visiting Broadway theatres, just as one would expect. We visited the TKTS booth, and while some of the shows we wanted to see were sold out, such as Mama Mia, Wicked, The Lion King, and Jersey Boys, we were able to get half price day of show tickets for the Tony Award winning production of Billy Elliott, the Musical. Despite mixed reviews from critics, I would highly recommend the show, as it was not only emotionally moving, but also full of kinetic energy and excitement. The music, by Sir Elton John, was also excellent, but not good enough for me to purchase one of the original cast recordings, which the theatre was asking $35 a piece for. I caught a quick photo of the cast taking a bow at the end of the show. There's multiple actors who play the main characters on a rotating basis, including five Billy's, three of which are multi-racial. On the day of our show, Billy was played by Alex Ko, Tracey by Maddy Novak, Michael by Jake Evan Schwencke, and Posh Dad by Eric Gunhus.

After the show, we took the "2" subway to Central Park, and then the "Q" subway to Coney Island for dinner at Nathans, including some fish and chips as well as their famous hot dogs. Coney Island was currently shut down, and under reconstruction, with a reoping as "Luna Park" set for next month. Individual ride operators are out, and a single park admission is in. Most of the old ride have been removed, except for the mainstay Cyclone roller coaster, and the Wonder Wheel. Many smaller rides are being added, most of them made by the Italian company Zamperla. During our ride on the "Q", we enjoyed a twilight view of the Brooklyn Bridge and the lower Manhattan skyline as seen from the Manhattan Bridge.

After spending a little more time back in Times Square (main hub for subways), we headed for New York Penn Station (main hub for Amtrak, New Jersey Transit (NJT), and Long Island Railroad trains) for a late night train to Newark, where we would spend the final night of our vacation.

The following day, we took NJT bus #62 to Newark Penn Station, and bus #25 to Newark Screens, where we saw Iron Man 2, which was good, but not as good as the original. While we spent $15 each the night before for an NJT train from New York Penn Station to Newark Airport Station, we later discovered that we could have taken the PATH train from the site of the Freedom Tower in Manhattan to Newark Penn Station for $2.25, and then taken NJT bus #62 to Newark Liberty Airport for $1.50, a fraction of $15.

Our flight home to Seattle went smoothly, and we enjoyed the new "XT" model of DigEplayers onboard, with larger screens, and more movies than the previous "5500" version.

It was a fun and exciting trip, but by the end of the week, we were glad to be home.

Cheers!

2010 Spring Vacation Part 2 - the Amtrak Cardinal

2010-05-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

We boarded Amtrak's thrice weekly Cardinal a few minutes before midnight on Thursday in Indianapolis.

While the routing of the train is a mess of alternating railroads from Chicago to Indianapolis due to the abandonment of much of the former Monon RR, almost all of the tracks from Indianapolis to Washington, DC are CSX, nee Chesapeake and Ohio.

While we were asleep, three private rail vehicles (PV's) were attached to the rear of our train at Cincinnati, OH. The PV's in Louisville and Nashville, Northern Pacific, and Chesapeakeand Ohio colors were returning to the East Coast for National Train Day, after being used for charters to the Kentucky Derby the previous week.

We awoke Friday morning as our train entered the beautiful New River Gorge, where slabs of sandstone dot the river with rapids, and lush forests spring forth from the rocky hills. While some mining spurs remain in the area, the mining in West Virginia, including the controversial mountain top removal mining, occurs outside of the immediate area we passed through, most of which is part of a national park. We had a breathtaking view of the New River Gorge Bridge, the highest steel span in North America.

On the way out of the gorge, we passed through the town of Thurmond, WV, with a population of 7 as of the year 2000. The town of Thurmond was used in the filming of the 1987 movie "Matewan" starring James Earl Jones.

After the New River Gorge, we passed through Shenandoah Valley, with more lush forests, and many farms and ranches. Near Hinton, WV, we saw some antique rolling stock, including a fireless steam locomotive, with no identifiable markings.

Soon we were off of the former C&O tracks, and on the tracks of the former Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad as we approached Mananas, VA, terminus of the Virginia Railway Express commuter railroad. Once we reached Alexandria, VA, Washington Metro trains (the same type of system as BART in California) became visible. Less than an hour later, we were at Washington Union Station, an beneath the catenary of Amtrak's (built by the Pennsylvania RR) Northeast Corridor.

Despite heightened security, I was still allowed to photograph the changing of our P42 diesel locomotive to an AEM7 electric locomotive. Once the locomotives were swapped, we were on our way to New York City's Penn Station at 110mph. Soon we were in our hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, and ready to call it a night before exploring New York the following day, in part 3.

Cheers!

2010 Spring Vacation Part 1 - Indiana

2010-05-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit some family in Indiana (this post), and later took a train to New York City for a couple of nights (next post).

We found a few morel sponge mushrooms on Sunday, but Monday through Thursday we got skunked, except for Phil's sister visiting from Piqua, OH, who found one last mushroom. We did enjoy the few mushrooms that we found however, both breaded and fried, and cooked with eggs.

Besides mushroom hunting, we played basketball and kickball, fished in the canal, and enjoyed some great BBQ chicken at Rex and Rita's. After mushrooms became a bust, I railfanned part of the CSX line (former Wabash) around Delphi, IN, and part of the TP&W (former PRR/Penn Central) near Monticello. I also walked a portion of the abandoned CSX/L&N/Monon line through the former township of Patton, IN, where some relatives own a home and some storage unit. The tractor trailer in the photo is parked on the former Monon ROW, and the "barn" in the field is the former Patton school house, which was built in the 1800's.

For info about remaining railroad routes and activity in the Monticello, Delphi, and Lafayette areas, as well as a live radio feed, check out this page:
http://www.railroadradio.net/content/view/18/151/

While in Patton, Rex cut the lock off of a storage unit which was several months behind on rent, and we got to see what was inside, which was rather exciting. We also got to see Dan and Dorena's new Blu-Ray/TV/Stereo setup, which made for a great viewing of Avatar.

Phil's niece gave us a ride to Indianapolis on Thursday night, after catching a quick IMAX, where we caught the Amtrak Cardinal to New York, aboard sleeper #62048 "Wayside View". I used my Amtrak Guest Rewards points, so the sleeper and our meals were free.

Photo's from the train trip and New York City will be posted tomorrow.

Cheers!

about railfunny - with a tribute to teachers and volunteers - inspired by Taare Zameen Par - Like Stars on Earth

2010-04-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

While this blog is normally about trains, I'm going to talk about something a little different today. I must warn you that it's a bit long and disorganized. If it were a college paper, I would edit to make things more organized and formal, but this is just a blog.

While some readers of my blog think that flying from Seattle to North Carolina and back for the weekend to ride a regional Amtrak train and a light rail line isn't "normal", there's a simple explanation. I'm not normal, or at least not "neuro typical", or NT. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just what is, and I wouldn't want to be any other way. Trains are my Aspie passion, and I go to much greater lengths than most others would for a similar interest or hobby.

I have Asperger Syndrome,a mild form of Autism. Through most of my younger years, most dr.'s didn't know what Asperger Syndrome was, and they gave up trying to figure out what was different about me after giving some rather ambiguous diagnoses such as PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified) and ADHD "plus a little something else". This made things very difficult for my family, teachers, and anyone else that had to be around me. Other than occupational and speech therapy provided by our local school district, my parents and teachers didn't have any other kinds of supports to deal with my behavioral and social skills issues.

Despite no clear set of "instructions", my family and certain teachers never gave up on me. In order to be successful, they had to disregard most of what they had been taught about raising or teaching a "normal" child. Parents and teachers thought that nearly all of my bad behavior was acting out for attention, which it was at times, but many other times it was because of sensory issues or simply because I acted impulsively and literally didn't think before I did something.

In the 1980's, most teachers didn't know how respond to playground situations such as me throwing pea gravel into the air and having it shower back down on me. Some teachers would make me stand on the wall in time out for a few minutes, because throwing rocks was against the rules, even though I wasn't throwing the rocks at other kids in this situation. As a child, I couldn't have explained why I did this, but looking back with what I know now, I can tell you that it was because I liked the feeling of the small pebbles falling on me, the visual effect of them raining down, and it provided an escape for me from the other kids.

The teachers who were most successful with me were the ones who tried to find creative solutions, rather than trying to manage me the same way as their NT students. My first grade teacher would notice when I was overstimulated and would help me to escape in a more appropriate way, such as helping to sweep the carpet, sort crayons, or other tasks. Not only did it redirect me away from less socially inappropriate behavior, but it made me feel like I was being helpful.

While I was close to my mom and grandmother, I couldn't yet relate to other kids when I was young. They were as mysterious to me as I probably was to them. I often did repetitive and annoying things to compare the reactions between different kids in my class, as a sort of experiment. Other kids would also do "experiments" on me, perplexed as to why they could get me do things that a normal kid with common sense would not, such as picking up candy off the ground with my teeth, repeating inappropriate things, sucking my thumb on command, and etc. I enjoyed getting attention, and often did not differentiate between positive or negative attention among my peers. On the plus side, I find just about any studies about people to be of interest. What may be a "boring" social studies, psychology, or multi-cultural class to most students is for me a study of "alien anthropology", which is both confusing and fascinating, and helps me to learn to understand myself as much as it does to help me understand others.

Despite all of the things I did to annoy classmates, the worst bullies I dealt with were kids that had no reason to harm me other than that they could because I was vulnerable. My parents dreaded calls from the school to either come and pick me up or bring a change of clothes for me because bullies had pushed me down into a mud puddle while I was doing "helicopter spins" on the playground blacktop.

While my sister would beat me up at times, it was most often because I had provoked her, as siblings are known to do in almost any family. Despite this, she acted as my neighborhood bodyguard of sorts. In one instance, after a neighbor boy pushed me down into a mud puddle, she confronted the bully and made sure that he knew that "No one is allowed to beat up my brother but me, got it?!". After that, this particular bully mostly left me alone.

While we get along well as adults, my sister and I had a tense relationship growing up. While I didn't really understand why back then, I understand things a bit more clearly now. My sister was very hard working and disciplined, and had many achievements as a result, yet these achievements were overshadowed by the time and energy spent dealing with my behavioral and academic problems. There was also the perception that my maternal grandmother favored me, which may be true. My grandmother always seemed to favor people with "defects", and if I had been NT and my sister an Aspie, I'm nearly certain that my sister would have been her favorite. I wish I could somehow go back in time and fix this imbalance, but that simply isn't possible.

Similar problems existed in school, in that many teachers felt that I took up too much of their time to be included in a mainstream classroom without shorting the rest of the class on the time and attention they needed as well. Although a paraeducator could have largely resolved this problem, paraeducators we're virtually non-existent in the 1980's.

A handful of teachers went above an beyond the call of duty however, and would spend a few minutes a day after school or during their lunch to spend time with me, even if it was answering questions that I felt were important but had little relation to the topic being taught in class that day. In after school activities such as track and field, where I proved to be weak in competitive events, teachers and coaches helped me to find niches in which I could make myself useful, such as videotaping the track meets.

By the time I got to high school and college, teachers helped me to find my own identity, rather than trying to be like everyone else. When I was the only male in my high school ECE class, my teacher didn't say I was odd, instead she welcomed the diversity that I brought to class. When I reached or surpassed my classmates in hours of volunteer service in high school, my Service Learning instructor didn't tell me to volunteer less and get a job like my dad did, she told me to keep doing what I thought was the right thing. I'm glad I took her advice and continued to earn 1,500 hours of volunteer service by the time I reached graduation. Not only did the positive feedback I received from volunteering help to boost my self esteem, but my previous job and also my current job are at work sites where I began as a volunteer. If it hadn't been for volunteering, I may have never attended college and be working in fast food today.

My biology teacher in college helped me with some social skills and other issues, at a time when I didn't know social skills classes and many other resources existed. My ECE and Intro to Education instructors helped me to understand the value of education to overall personal development, whether it's in preparation to be a teacher, to be a better volunteer, or simply a better person.

Volunteering and educational practicum has taught me that I wouldn't be a very good mainstream teacher or professor, at least not until I improve my verbal language skills. My voice puts a class to sleep! However, I love working with special needs kids and adults in small groups whether at camp or school. Although I volunteer much less today than before I became employed full time as a computer tech, I still volunteer occasionally when I'm not working or traveling, and I travel a lot due to my Aspie passion for trains, as anyone who reads this blog knows.

I have the utmost respect for those who choose to teach instead of chasing higher salaries, such as Anthony J. Mullen, who recently recognized as the 2009 National Teacher of the Year.

While I can't list all of my excellent teachers, I would like to at least list the ones who made the biggest difference in my life.

Dee Angel - Lea Hill Elementary
Sharon Nuss - Occupational Therapist
Derrill Fields - Buena Vista Elementary
Don Standley - Olympic Middle School
Jack Werkau - Olympic Middle School
Gary Boone - Olympic Middle School
Marilyn Valentine - Olympic Middle School
Sheryll Rosevear - Auburn Senior High School
Vivian Baglien - Auburn Senior High School
Ed Bean - Auburn Senior High School
Jennie Schell - Auburn Senior High School
Rich Ellison - Green River Community College
Diana Holz - Green River Community College
Steve Kinholt - Green River Community College
Dr. Steve Becker - Social Skills Instructor

Also, while not teachers by profession, many of my family members have been excellent teachers to me throughout my life, especially my mom and grandmother.

I think of myself as "differently abled" rather than disabled. There are certain things in life that I may never obtain, and I'm just fine with that. For me, the journey is more important than the destination. A person is like a plant in that if you nurture it, growth while occur over time, even if at a slower rate than other types of plants. There's also no such thing as "weeds" when it comes to people. While many people consider foxgloves (digitalis purpea) to be a weed, they're my favorite flower of all.

While I've never had much in the way of close friends, I've made many acquaintances over the years through volunteering and trains. For me, friends are a lot of work, and I prefer to have just one really close friend and my family rather than lots of friends. While Aspie's are often perceived as being friendless or lonely, many of us enjoy time to ourselves much of the time. While I love going on train trips and cruises with my best friend and our families, I also enjoy going on railfan trips and photographing trains by myself, often traveling on itineraries that fit a lot of things and places into a short amount of time, leaving little room for other people or socializing. I also spend much more time on discussion boards related to trains than chatting on social networking sites. It's not that I don't like my friends and acquaintances, I just find small talk in general to be boring, just as most NT's would find a lecture on abandoned railroad branch lines to be boring. The latter was lost on me before I took social skills classes, as I assumed everyone was as passionate about the same things as I am or was, and would ramble on for what must have seemed like an eternity about trains, computers, video games, or whatever I was feeling passionate about at the time. My blog provides an outlet for my passion, since I can talk as much as I want about trains, without others being forced to listen or read all that I want to share.

Sensory integration issues are much less of an issue now than when I was younger, although people will often ask me why I'm not wearing a jacket when there's snow on the ground, or why I don't wear nice (aka uncomfortable) clothes more often. My brain also will at times "hear" different words than my ears, although I usually know when this happens, because the sentence won't make sense, so I will ask the speaker to repeat themselves. Body language, tone of voice, and eye contact are all things which are difficult for me, but I'm able to work around this by using e-mail or comparing notes if I'm unsure of things. Also, while I do pretty well navigating 2-D space such as "shoot em' up" side or vertical scrolling video games such as Gradius, Raiden, etc. and 2-D platformers such as classic Super Mario Bros., processing space in a 3-D environment is difficult for me, especially if I'm also moving forward or backward within the 3-D space. For example, I can function acceptably well in a video game in which there's 3-D space moving around me, but I'm only required to move up, down, left, or right, such as Tempest, Gyrus, etc. On the other hand, if the situation involves movement on the Z-Axis of both myself and the environment and objects within it, then my brain gets directions all mixed up and I move left when I should move right, up when I should move down, and etc, such as in Super Mario 64, Galaxy, etc. This is why I'm not good at playing the currently popular type of video games known as "first person shooters" (such as Halo, Call of Duty, etc.), why I don't drive, and why I often bump into people or objects in the hallways at work. While this wouldn't affect my ability to operate a locomotive (you don't have to steer a train, and signals tell you when to go or stop), railroads require that you can drive in order to get to and from different locations, or as it's called in the railroad world, "rubber tiring it." People who work for the railroad tell me that I'm not missing much however, as trains, like many other things, are more fun as a hobby than as a job.

All people are special and should be valued, not only the ones who finish college on time and become lawyers and doctors. Like the renowned Indian director/actor Aamir Khan says in his film "Taare Zameen Par" (Like Stars on Earth): "If you want to win competitions, then breed race horses dammit, don't have kids!" - Aamir Khan

If someone is to focus on my weaknesses, such as my not driving, challenges with certain types of communication, and other "quirks", then they're not looking at the big picture, as I have many talents and a positive attitude. I'm also still growing and developing, and just because I haven't yet mastered a certain task, doesn't mean I won't at some point in my life. As a child, my challenging behavior required so much attention that my sensory and language issues were barely dealt with. Knowing what educators know today, earlier and better interventions in regards to sensory and learning issues could have greatly improved some of my behaviors when I was young. It's not too late to work on these issues, although it definitely requires more work as an adult as it would have in earlier years. It wasn't until I took a college course recently that I learned the difference between cognitive and associative tasks. For example, driving is an associative task for most people, and while I'm unable to do it well at the same time I'm listening to an instructor, I might be able to do it reasonably well on my own if I'm able to give it my full attention.

I really wish our schools had more paraeducators and volunteers, and teachers who utilize them properly. Many teachers who once objected to mainstreaming of special needs children are now teachers who accept special needs children in their classroom, but seem to regard their job as only ensuring the child's safety, leaving the teaching of that child up to a paraeducator rather than truly including the child in the classroom. A paraeducator is meant to work alongside a teacher, but not to entirely replace the teacher's interaction with the special needs child. The best teachers are also non-territorial, and don't try to prevent other teachers from trying to help their students because they think it will make it appear that they're not as committed or working as hard as the other teachers. Some teachers connect with certain children better than other children, and that's something that should be utilized rather than envied.

Teaching may seem like an unusual aspiration for someone with learning disabilities, and perhaps it is. While I relish being a role model for other people with learning disabilities, I'm unaware of any of my own teachers who are learning disabled, and it would be great to have a role model who was like myself, since my passion for teaching is often tempered with doubt of my abilities or potential. I recently had a college professor who shared with our class that she had a physical disability which we might have otherwise been aware of, so I don't think it's entirely unlikely that I've had a teacher or professor who was learning disabled, and simply wasn't aware of it. If male teachers in early childhood are rare, then male teachers with learning disabilities in early childhood are even rarer. While I consider Kevin Gallagher to be a role model, I can't imagine myself measuring up to him professionally, although I hope that this is something which might change over time with greater life experience. Seattle Times/PI article on Kevin Gallagher and men in ECE: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/252612_maleteachers19.html. NAEYC has also recently wrote about the importance of men in early childhood education, and noted that men can make a positive difference, even if we do so slightly differently than our female role models.

I highly recommend seeing the movie "Taare Zameen Par", aka "Like Stars on Earth", as this illustrates the difference between ordinary and exceptional teachers much better than I ever would be able to. The music for my video features the theme song, which was included on an audio CD with the retail version of the film on DVD. Lyrics for the song are at the bottom of this post. For in depth reviews of the film, check it out at Amazon.com.

If you've never volunteered before, please consider it. There's many worthy causes, most of which are in need of volunteers and donations. If you're already a teacher or volunteer, then congratulations for helping to foster greater understanding and diversity, and making the world a better place for everyone.

Thanks,

railfunny (Ben)

My video tribute to teachers and volunteers. Click on the YouTube logo to view in High Definition:

PS,

For any railfans reading this post who were hoping for a little rail related material, I just learned at last night's Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association presentation at Auburn's White River Valley Museum that Seattle Public Utilities will be hosting two walks through abandoned Milwaukee Road and Northern Pacific ROW's within parts of the Cedar River Watershed which are normally off limits to the general public. This may be the last year that the wooden trestle is left standing, as there's plans to remove it to prevent creosote from the treated timbers getting into the water.

Treasure Tour of Cedar River Watershed Railroad History
Dates: Saturday, June 5 or June 26; 9 am–1 pm
Speaker: Clay Antieau, Botanist, Seattle Public Utilities
Audience: All (age 8+)
Cost: $15

Summary: The Cedar River Municipal Watershed has a fascinating railroad history, but the evidence of that history is now almost completely gone or hidden within a mantle of forests. This tour seeks out some of the remaining structures, grades, and legacies created when railroads were King. Join Botanist and amateur rail enthusiast, Clay Antieau, as he explores these railroad treasures in the Watershed using maps, photos, and a field tour that will include an historic steel truss trestle, a wooden trestle, and the former Milwaukee Road switchyard.

http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/Water_System/Water_Sources_&_Treatment/Cedar_River_Watershed/Tours_&_Programs/SPU01_002067.asp

Taare Zameen Par lryics - English translation

Singer: Shankar Mahadevan,Dominique,Viviene
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Dekho Inhein Yeh Hain Aus Ki BoondeinPatton Ki Godh Mein Aasmaan Se Koodein
Look at them, like fresh drops of dew nestled in the palms of leaves, gifts of the heavens

Angdayee Lein Phir Karwat Badal Kar
Stretching and turning, slipping and sliding

Nazuk Se Moti Hans De Phisal Kar
Like delicate pearls, glinting with laughter

Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par
Let us not lose these little stars on Earth


Yeh To Hain Sardi Mein Dhoop Ki Kirne
Like sunshine on a winter's day


Utarein Jo Aangan Ko Sunhera Sa Karne
bathes the courtyard in gold


Mann Ke Aandheron Ko Roshan Sa Kar Dein
They banish the darkness from our hearts

Thiturti Hatheli Ki Rangat Badal Dein
and warm us to the core

Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par
Let us not lose these little stars on Earth

Jaise Aankhon Ki Dibiya Mein Nindiya
Like sleep trapped behind eyelids


Aur Nindiya Mein Meetha Sa Sapna
Where sweet dreams abound


Jaise Rangon Bhari Pichkari
Like fountains of color

Jaise Titliyan Phoolon Ki Kyari
Like butterflies upon blossoms

Jaise Bina Matlab Ka Pyara Rishta Ho Koi
Like love which is selfless

Yeh To Aasha Ki Lehar Hain
They're surging waves of hope

Yeh To Ummeed Ki Sehar Hain
They are the dawn of dreams and eternal joy

Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par
Let us not lose these little stars on Earth

Khusiyon Ki Nehar Hain
On the heavy darkness of night's blossom

Dekho Raaton Ke Seeney Pe Yeh Toh Jhilmil Kisi Lau Se Ugey Hain
They sit like a flame dispelling gloom

Yeh To Amboya Ki Khusboo Hain Baagon Se Beh Chale
Like an orchard's fragrance they fill the air

Jaise Kaanch Mein Choodi Ke Tukde
Like a kaleidoscope of a myriad hues 

Jaise Khiley Khiley Phoolon Ke Mukhdey
Like flowers reaching up to the sun

Jaise Bansi Koi Bajaye Pedon Ke Taley
Like the notes of a flute in the quiet of a grove

Yeh To Jhonke Hain Pawan Ke
They are breaths of fresh air

Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par
Let us not lose these little stars on Earth

Hain Yeh Ghungharoo Jeewan Ke
They are the anklet bells of life

Yeh To Sur Hain Chaman Ke
They are the tune of the garden of spring

Jaise muhaley Ki Raunak
Like the pulsing life of the neighborhood

Jaise Khilney Ki Zid Par Kaliyan Hain

Like the the buds determined to bloom

Muthi Mein Mausam Ki Jaise Hawayein
Like the breeze of the season caught in your palm

Yeh Hain Buzurgon Ke Dil Ki Duwayein
They're the blessings of our elders

Sannatey Mein Hansee Ke Jaise
Like the laughter in a silent environment

Sooney Hothon Pe Khushi Ke Jaise
Like the smile of joy on someone's dry lips

Yeh To Noor Hain Barse agar Teri Kismat Ho Badi
Your fate must be blessed to come across these gems

Jaise Jheel Mein Lehraye Chanda
Like the moon drifts at the reflection of a lake

Jaise Bheed Mein Apne Ka Kandha
Like the support of a loved one in a crowd

Jaise Manmauji Nadiya Jhaag Udaye Kuch Kahe
Like the exuberant river spumes

Jaise Baithe Meethi Si Jhapki
They sit like the sweet hugs

Jaise Pyar Ki Dheemi Si Thapki
Like the affectionate touch of love

Jaise Kaanon Mein Sargam Hardam Bajti Hi Rahe
Like the dulcet melody of the 7 swaras keep playing in your ears

Kho Na Jaaye Ye Taare Zameen Par
Let us not lose these little stars on Earth

2010 Northwest Passenger Rail Spring Conference, Seattle, WA

2010-03-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

There was an excellent turnout at the NARP Region 8 rail conference today, held at the Red Lion Hotel in Seattle.

With the conference lasting from 11am to 5pm, it would take many pages to cover it all, so I'm only listing the highlights here.

Antonio Perez, President and CEO of Talgo USA gave a presentation on Talgo's family of products, and also on the history of Talgo's partnership with Washington and Oregon. With the recent purchases of Talgo VIII train sets by Oregon and Washington, Talgo now has about 1/3 of the USA high speed rail market, and is confident that it can capture a share of the market for new equipment in other emerging USA markets.

Some of the things in Talgo's favor include its willingness to work closely with states on rail projects with a willingness to tailor their product to each market's needs, regardless of size. Talgo has the most experience in the USA HSR market, with their technology purchased from American Car and Foundry dating back to the 1950's on the New Haven and other railroads, and more recently since 1994 on the Cascadia Corridor. The Talgo's in service since 1994 have had better than 99% reliability, at a lower price than competing products.

The Talgo VIII is an evolution of the Talgo VI sets currently used between Vancouver, BC and Eugene, Oregon, borrowing many of the features of the European Talgo XXI design. Improvements include a lower center of gravity for increased comfort, and an end cab car with built in HEP/hotel power generation. Since Amtrak Cascades trains have been delayed more often due to faulty cab cars (rebuilt from gutted Amtrak F40's), the dedicated end cab car on the Talgo VIII should improve operational reliability, as well as enhanced aesthetics for better advertising and PR.

Talgo mentioned that while Oregon had initially decided on purchasing shorter trains to operate only between Eugene and Portland, OR, they eventually decided to purchase full 13-car trains which can be used interchangeably with the rest of the Amtrak Cascades Corridor.

When asked about the design of the Bistro car on the VIII series, Talgo responded that they provide the basic construction, and the Bistro can be furnished by the states however they like, either with the long bar and sit down seating like the current Talgo VI trains on the Amtrak Cascades, or with a more European design with a short bar and standee tables. I prefer the current design on the Amtrak Cascades myself.

When asked about the possibility of purchasing Talgo VIII end cabs for use with the older Talgo VI equipment currently in use on the Amtrak Cascades, I was told that this was not possible due to different floor/frame heights and also different connections between the air conditioning unit in the end cab car and the rest of the train.

As a nice surprise, Talgo USA distributed CD-ROM's to conference participants containing some very professional presentations not yet found at www.talgoamerica.com, as well as many videos and photo's which I had never seen before, including new products under development including a double decker, and a next generation "express high speed rail" train set code named "Avril".

Jonathan Hutchison, manager of Amtrak West Government Affairs gave a presentation which mostly repeated information given by Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman at last week's Amtrak Town Hall Meeting in Illinois. While some attendees were unhappy with some of the information provided, such as no restoration of the Sunset Limited East of New Orleans, or the Pioneer, or North Coast Hiawatha unless there's an annual operating budget allocated by Congress or the States for these trains, at least direct answers were easier to come by than at the Tacoma conference in 2007. I would rather receive an answer that I don't like than a non-answer. Hutchison made it clear that although there's lots of demands for restored or new service, Amtrak lacks the annual funding to even maintain existing services over the long term, with a state of good repair backlog of $5.5 billion and growing for the Northeast Corridor alone. This could explain why Amtrak hasn't yet ordered new bi-level equipment, which is needed to replace exisisting Superliner I's on existing routes, and also to allow for the restoration of routes such as the Pioneer (budget allowing), expaning capacity on existing routes, or providing more spares for existing routes.

Jim Hamre read a report prepared by C.B. Hall who was unable to attend, on the progress of the efforts to restore the Amtrak Pioneer. He expressed frustration that Amtrak has failed to respond to his group's Freedom of Information Act request for which data Amtrak used to determine the $1 billion plus cost estimate for restoring service on the Pioneer route. C.B. Hall's group estimates that service could be restored for as little as $690 million, and doubts the cost estimates that the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad provided to Amtrak. C.B. Hall and Cascadia's response to Amtrak's Pioneer restoration feasibility study: http://www.pioneertrain.com/PioneerResponse.pdf

Barry Green of Montana provided an update on efforts to restore the North Coast Hiawatha. Montana is looking at options for three different portions of the route, and is expected to release a report for public comment in the next couple of weeks.

I got to meet Andrew Wood, new deputy director of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Rail and Marine Office. I was impressed by his experience with passenger rail (many years of service with British Rail and a private rail consulting firm), and his zeal for improving the Amtrak Cascadia Corridor. While he didn't know for sure which of the 17 WSDOT projects would be funded with the recent $590 million on stimulus funds, he did say it was safe to say that the D to M St connection in Tacoma, and the Vancouver, WA freight bypass would be funded, since BNSF has stated that they will not allow two additional daily round trips Seattle-Portland without these projects. He also added that while it's not 100% certain, it's likely that projects between Seattle and Vancouver, BC will not be funded, based on some early information he has seen. I meant to ask if WSDOT has plans to improve locomotive and cab car reliability/availability on the Cascadia Corridor, but we ran out of time for questions before I could ask. I've sent Mr. Wood an e-mail, and will post the answer here when I receive a response.

Lloyd Flem of All Aboard Washington provided an enthusiastic wrap up, still excited over the $590 million which Washington State is expected to receive. While not everyone agrees with Amtrak's stance on restoring services, Lloyd and others agree with Amtrak and the freight RR's that PTC is an unfunded mandate, and Congress should be encouraged to find a way to fund its installation. In closing, Lloyd joked that "Seattle" is still a dirty word East of the Cascades and in Lewis County due to how much state money it receives, but that despite this, reps from Eastern Washington are still interested in more rail service connecting to Western Washington.

Overall, it was a very productive conference, other than some occasional marching bands and fireworks along 4th Avenue from the St. Patrick's Day Parade going on outside of our window, and a late arrival of participants arriving on an Amtrak Cascades train which was stabbed by the UP South of Portland and BNSF near Kalama. I wonder if UP and BNSF would have made more of an effort to get this train over the road on time if they had known who was onboard?

Here's looking forward to the 2011 conference in Oregon!

Cheers,

railfunny

3-15-10 update from WSDOT's Andrew Wood:

Thanks for your email and comments about the Amtrak Cascades service.

Our application for funds under the ARRA stimulus included new locomotives to operate the service. There were reasons other than the unreliability of the current locomotives. The main reason being that with newer technology we would be able to get faster acceleration and therefore reduce the journey time. The cab cars were not a part of our ask but I note that we have suffered with failure of these but not I believe to the extent of the locomotives.

Thank you for pointing out these issues and feel free to contact me in the future with any other comments or questions that you have about the service.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Andrew M Wood PMP
Deputy Director - Delivery
State Rail & Marine
Washington State Department of Transportation

Video of Talgo presentation:

Video of WSDOT presentation:

Video of Amtrak presentation:

North Carolina - March 2010

2010-03-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

While I usually blog about my trips -after- I get home, I have some time to spare at the Charlotte Airport. There's a sick dog at our gate (Delta "Mad Dog" MD80) with leaky hydraulics. While my flight has been delayed, I'm still hoping to make my connection in Atlanta, but that's uncertain at this point. I sure wish Alaska had direct service to NC, as equipment failures are much less common with them compared to Delta. - Update - I made it to ATL in time for my connecting flight.

This weekend I visited North Carolina for the first time to ride Amtrak's Raleigh-Charlotte "Piedmont" and also Charlotte's "Lynx" Blue Line light rail. The Piedmont region and its train are named for the surrounding hills and fall line which separate the Appalachian Mountains from the coastal plains. In French, "pied" means foot and "mont" means mountain or hills.

The sky's were clear from Seattle to Raleigh (via Atlanta), and I was able to get some through the window shots of the Blue Mountains of Idaho and downtown Atlanta.

After a quick stay in Raleigh, I boarded the 6:50am Piedmont for Charlotte. This state funded train features heritage equipment originally built for the Kansas City Southern in 1965, and completely rebuilt to modern standards in 1993-1994 by Delaware Car Company. The interior was very tasteful, and the comfort rivaled that of the Amtrak Cascades trains. This train lacks a bistro or cafe, but instead customers are encouraged to bring their own food which can be heated in the complimentary microwave, something I haven't seen on Amtrak before. There's also complementary coffee, tee, hot cocoa, and bottled water. Soft drinks and snacks are available from onboard vending machines. Our lounge car (NCDOT 400202 "Albemarle Sound") was originally built by the St. Louis Car Company as a hospital car for the US Army in 1953, making it over half a century old!

The ride was smooth, and the scenery was nice. While it's too early to see the deciduous trees in bloom, I enjoyed the evergreens, including the long leaf pine, for which NCDOT railcar 4000004 which I rode in is named for.

The locomotive on our train was EMD F59PHI "City of Salisbury". Unlike similar units in use on the Cascades and Surfliner routes, this locomotive goes without the standard fiberglass nose cone, instead applying custom NCDOT paint directly to the steel sub structure. NCDOT is currently refurbishing some former GO (Greater Ontario) Transit F59PH locomotives and some former UP passenger coaches for use in additional Piedmont frequencies and/or new routes.

There's no cab/control car on the Piedmont trains. Instead, the train is wyed at both ends of the trip. The Charlotte Amtrak station is next to a Norfolk Southern freight yard on the edge of town, as the downtown Southern Railway station was taken out of service prior to the start of Amtrak. The old station still stands, but instead of refurbishing the historic stations, plans are underway to build a new multi-modal station in the heart of downtown which would serve Amtrak, Lynx light rail, Lynx commuter rail, and street cars all from one station. NCDOT car 400001 "Honey Bee" is shown at the Charlotte platform.

Shortly after departing from Highpoint, our train went into the hole (a siding) for the Eastbound Amtrak Carolinian, which uses generic Amfleet equipment and continues on past Raleigh to serve New York City.

When I booked my trip, I looked for things to do in Raleigh and Charlotte, but didn't think to check in between cities. George, a volunteer guide on the Piedmont told me about a wonderful railway museum in Salisbury which has some great exhibits including a preserved WWII troop train complete with a hospital car. There's also a nice Norfolk Southern Museum in Durham, NC.

Charlotte made a nice impression on me, with less grime, and a more pedestrian friendly layout, include express bus service to and from the airport, and more importantly, the Lynx Blue Line light rail, opened in 2007 and featuring modren "Avanto" LRV's built by Siemens. The current line runs from downtown to the suburb of Pineville. In addition to new light rail routes, additional streetcar routes are planned, as well as a commuter rail service using existing Norfolk Southern tracks. Lynx is fast, covering about 10 miles in under 30 minutes, including more than 10 stops. This is made possible through a careful planning process which utilizing grade separations to eliminate most grade crossing related speed restrictions.

The only downside to this trip has been the airport delays, as mentioned at the start of this post. Otherwise, it's been a great trip, and I would love to visit NC again in the future.

-railfunny

Suggested links:
NCDOT passenger rail funding announcement: https://apps.dot.state.nc.us/pio/releases/details.aspx?r=3315
NCDOT passenger rail refurbishment program: www.bytrain.org/quicklinks/pdf/refurb_rebuild.pdf

Charlotte Lynx Rail and Gateway Station Plans: http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/Rapid+Transit+Planning/2030+Transit+Corridor+System+Plan.htm

Portland, Oregon, February 2010

2010-02-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

During my visit to Portland, Oregon last weekend, I got to ride the Trimet MAX Green Line for the first time.

Although I didn't ride all the way to Clackamas, the portion I covered was very smooth, and quite swift once we got outside of downtown. Being able to hop on MAX in front of the new tracks at Portland Union Station is very convenient. I also enjoyed the new Siemens LRV's, which rode smoother than the older Siemens MAX LRV's, and quieter than the Kinki Sharyo LRV's used by Sound Transit Link, which I rode from SeaTac Airport to International District stop, across from King Street Station. There's some progress being made on the King Street Station refurbishment, with the Seth Thomas clocks having been restored, and the glass tiles on the clock tower replaced.

Security in Seattle was very tight due to the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Amtrak Police were present along with K9 units, checking passengers and bags at random. While I wasn't allowed to photograph the K9's, "Kyra" and "Tira", I did get a photo of the SUV's that the dogs travel in, and also "Pacific Command", one of Amtrak's portable police command centers, created from a former UP 10-6 Budd sleeper.

The weather in Portland was great, with Daffodils and other flowers in full bloom, more than a full week ahead of the Seattle area.

On the way back from Portland, I noticed that the Bistro car on our "Mt. Baker" train was actually a Bistro formerly used on the "Mt. Rainier" train set. I'm guessing these got switched around during the recent refurbishing of the Talgo equipment.

Where is railfunny?

2010-02-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

While I stayed home most weekends in January to pay off bills accrued during the holidays, I'll be back on the road in February and coming months for some new adventures.

Next weekend I will be visiting Houston to get a feel for the area and its transit.

The weekend of the 20th, I will be traveling to Portland to visit a friend a ride the new MAX Green Line light rail for the first time.

In March I will be attending a conference on USA passenger rail on one weekend, and flying to North Carolina to ride the state sponsored Amtrak Piedmont between Raleigh (Home of Red Hat Linux) and Charlotte.

Later in the spring, I will be visiting family in the Midwest to go mushroom hunting, ride the endangered Amtrak Cardinal from Indianapolis to New York via West Virginia's scenic New River Gorge, and on Friday May 14th, take an overnight cruise on the Golden Princess with my parents from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, WA.

Cheers!

San Dieg-Doh!

2010-01-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

Although I love the Pacific Northwest, I dread the dreary winters there, so I usually escape one weekend of each month in winter to someplace sunny.

This weekend I visited San Diego, since Alaska Air had tickets for $59 each way when I booked a couple of months ago. Although I knew better, I forgot and booked a round trip ticket instead of two one ways. Why would that be a problem you ask? It's a problem because Alaska doesn't process first class upgrades for the return portion of a trip until the first portion of the trip is complete. This means that I got upgraded to first class on the way here, but I'm in coach on the way back because there's less than 48 hours between my flights, which allows MVP's to get upgraded to any remaining first class seats before I have a chance at getting upgraded. Coach isn't so bad for such a short flight however.

Other things turned out great however. An express bus and connecting trolley took me from the airport to my hotel for only $5, much less than a taxi would cost, and I got to see the Carnival Splendor on the way, new for 2008. My room at the Mission Valley Travelodge ($34) is clean and comfortable, and the sun rays today in San Diego were warm enough to feel them as I lounged next to the pool. After sun poolside relaxation, I was off to shoot some trains.

San Diego is a pioneer in light rail, with their first line dating back to 1981, when I was only four years old. San Diego was the first city in the USA to use Siemens light rail vehicles, except the company that made them, Duewag, wasn't yet owned by Siemens. Today there are only a handful of the Duewag U2 LRV's (San Diegans call them trolley's) left in operation, as some were replaced in the 1990's by Siemens SD-100, and in the later half of the oughts, Siemens Avanto trams.

Today was the first time I rode one of the Avanto trams, and I was impressed. While the SD-100 trams didn't seem to accelerate as quick as their Duewag U2 predecessors, the Avanto's really get up and go. Our Avanto powered Blue Line trolley departed the condo dwarfed Santa Fe passenger depot at the same time as the EMD F59PHI powered Amtrak Surfliner, and the trolley left Amtrak in the dust.

While riding the entirety of the Green and Orange lines, I was impressed with how San Diego took advantage of light rail's strengths (low axle loading/weight) to allow for routings above or around sensitive areas to minimize disruptions to the community and environment. With all of the hills and reverse curves, heavy rail would likely be restricted to 25mph or less to avoid excessive forces that would damage the rails. San Diego State University also made the wise decision of having their trolley station be subterranean, rather than cutting through campus at street level such as the Portland Streetcar does. Despite the curves and grades, the ride was very smooth, especially on the Avanto. Unlike most other cities that pair equipment with like equipment, every Avanto I saw was paired with an older SD-100, with the Avanto facing East on every train I saw on the Green and Orange lines. The only U2 trams I saw left in operation were on the Blue Line, which runs from Old Town to San Ysidro/Tijuana.

I got to see the Davenport built 0-6-0T Mohave Northern steam locomotive on display at La Mesa, although the accompanying train museum closed at 4:00pm, just 15 minutes before I arrived.

All of the Siemens trams since the SD-100 series have been assembled in the USA at a Siemens factory in Sacramento. Despite being assembled in the USA, many of the smaller components are still made in Germany, such as this control desk in an Avanto, which has a badge reading "Hanning Kahl - Germany".

The Fashion Valley Mall, which is the closest trolley stop to my hotel, has a nice outdoor feel similar to Kent Station in Washington, but without the annoying cars running down Ramsay Way. I tried the locally owned Greek joint "Cafe Socrates" which was good to excellent. I would especially recommend the tabbuleh, which is the best I've ever had.

That's about all for now. I captured some tram videos today, both on and off board, and hope to upload something to YouTube in the next few days. - Update, I've editing the video clips and uploaded it to YouTube. Use the thumbnail below, or you can use the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwlAav1FFW0

Cheers!

Where the Wild Things Are and HSR Stimulus

2009-11-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

For those who haven't yet seen "Where the Wild Things Are", I would highly recommend it.

It's not a kids movie. In fact, it's aimed at adults who grew up with the book. There's some sad parts in addition to the happy ones, along with lots of food for thought.

To get a good idea of what to expect, check out this clip with author Maurice Sendak and director Spike Jonze. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG16ceUP3v4

The film also has a catchy sound track, which inspired me to create an Amtrak montage to celebrate the rumored $590 million in rail stimulus Washington State is expected to receive to make our Cascades Corridor higher speed, and also the recent acquisition of BNSF Railway by Warren Buffett for $36 billion. With a railfan in charge of America's largest railroad, good things are likely in store for BNSF and Amtrak.

I would like to dedicate my Amtrak fan video to Conductor Reed Jackson, who passed away recently. Reed was the conductor on the BNSF Tacoma-Everett steam special featuring SP4449 back in May 2007. Reed loved his job more than any other conductor I've met, and the railfan community will miss him very much.

Video:

Amsterdam part 2 - Final portion of our trip

2009-11-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

The final inter-city trip of our vacation would be from Berlin back to Amsterdam.

At the German-Dutch border in Amersfoort, our train re-crewed , replacing our German crew with a Dutch one.

Our train also changed locomotives, swapping a Deutsch Bahn (DB) Class 101 locomotive built by Bombardier subsidary Adtranz in Germany in 1999 for a Nederlands Spoorwegen (NS) Class 1800 built by GEC-Alsthom in France in 1983. Other than the smokers and myself, there was only one other railfan on the ground to watch the swap take place.

Back in Amsterdam, we had a light dinner at an Indonesian style restaurant, and then we did laundry back near the hotel. We checked out the metro and decided we should take that or the NS airport train instead, since it's faster and has less chance of getting lost and missing our flight, even if it costs a little more.

We explored the area around our hotel later that night, and enjoyed the decorative elephants on display throughout the city, similar to the Pigs on Parade that Seattle had a few years ago.

The flight from Schiphol to Sea-Tac was much smoother than the flight there, with little or no turbulence. While it was an exciting vacation, we were a bit tired, and it was a welcome site to see Auburn displayed as a dot on the at seat display of our plane shortly before landing.

We would definitely like to do another trip to Europe, but we will likely choose to visit fewer cities on the next trip, to allow more time to get to know each location. Also perhaps I can talk my friends into visiting a couple of train museums in exchange for fewer inter-city train trips during our vacation. While train museums I've visited previously in Hengelo/Boekelo and Utrecht are great, there's many others, such as the one in Limburg that I would love to see.

Cheers!

Berlin part 2

2009-11-01T10:10:00.001-08:00

On our way back to Amsterdam, we again stopped in Berlin, this time spending the night there at the Berlin Marriott.

The train from Berlin to Amsterdam consisted of mostly German equipment, and was about an eight hour ride. On-board was a full Bistro, although prices were very high.

The German countryside was peaceful, and we at times followed the Rhine River, adrift with shipping barges and passenger vessels.

In Berlin, the city was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Following the collapse of the wall in 1989, and the unification of West and East Germany, the corresponding railroads also merged in 1994, with the former Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn forming today's Deutsche Bahn AG, or Die Bahn or DB for short. The modern day headquarters for the combined German Railways is located in Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, just a block from our hotel, and the site of the infamous "Checkpoint Charlie".

In continuing the theme of unification, Berlin has combined their two former main railway stations of West and East Berlin into a single central train station, or "hauptbahnhof" in German. The East-West passenger main tracks are on one level of the tracks, and the North-South tracks on another level, with the U-Bahn (metro) on yet another level, creating a "grand crossing". The historical hauptbahnhof in West Berlin remains as an S-Bahn (light rail) station, and the Zoological Gardens station in East Berlin remains in limited service with only local and regional trains still serving it. The outside of the new station is adorned with a massive sculpture of an "iron horse", which is actually a piece of industrial art work machined from a massive block of aluminum.

At a recreation of "Checkpoint Charlie" at Potsdamer Place, volunteers for historical organizations stamped passports with the same set of seven stamps once required for residents wishing to cross between the two different sides of the city.

A visit to East Berlin via metro revealed a thriving community with a vibrant nightlife. We had dinner at the Im Alex Bistro in Alexanderplatz, the former city center of East Berlin, and once a massive cattle market in the early 1800's, named after Alexander the Great.

After dinner, I enjoyed a dip in our hotel's pool, and a warming in the Finnish style sauna. We also captured a night time panorama of the street view of our hotel's neighborhood.

On our way out of town, we snapped some photo's of the German Parliament Building, and also the Brandenburg Gate, where former US President John F. Kennedy gave his famous "ICH BIN EIN BERLINER" (I am a Berliner) speech in 1963, declaring that US citizens support the citizens of Germany. Decades later, current US President Barack Obama would give a speech at the nearby Victory Column to declare that the people of the USA are now "citizens of the world", and that the people of the USA must work together with other nations in order to maintain world peace, trade, education, and other important aspects of life. The speech was well received, and an estimated 100,000 Berliners attended.

Breclav

2009-11-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

Breclav, Czech Republic, was one of my favorite cities visited on this trip.

Despite a population of only 25,000 people, the town is full of history and culture.

Located less than 10km away from the borders of Austria and Slovakia, Breclav is the major railway junction for both North/South and East/West mainlines. When the Wien to Brno Railway opened in 1839, Breclav was the most important intermediate city. Today, Breclav is the smallest city in the Czech/Slovak/Austria/Hungary/Poland region to be served by high speed rail, via Ceske Drahy's (Czech Railways) Super City Pendolino, with service in four directions, to Brno->Prague, Ostrava, Wien, and Bratislava.

Prior to 1839, Breclav was a sleepy town established as a castle and market in 11th century AD by its namesake Duke of Bohemia, Bretislaus I. The castle was destroyed several times through history, and was partially rebuilt one final time in the mid 1800's as an "artificial ruins" to commemorate the former castle.

Breclav was the only city which didn't have any Priceline participating hotels, and there was no need for such. Hotel IMOS provided 3-star accomodations for 1650 CZK (Czech Koruna), which at the current exchange rate is slightly under $100, and unlike the Hotel Bristol, included a free roll away bed for a third person, free breakfast, a sauna, and free high speed internet. Everything is within walking distance (see map), so there's no need for tram tickets or taxi fare. I had never heard of Hotel IMOS before, but after our stay in Breclav, I will definitely check out their premier hotel in Brno the next time I visit the Czech Republic.

Near Breclav Castle, we enjoyed some local food and beverage at a local sports pub, which was decorated with photo's and trophy's from Breclav's hockey team. While Rick and Phil enjoyed the local ale and the ale cat, I tried some Kofola on draught, a cola introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1962. Kofola was the #1 Czech cola under communist rule, and has competed with Pepsi behind Coca-Cola for second place in more recent years. While Coca-Cola has a chocolate like taste, and Pepsi a citrus like taste, Kofola has a hint of herbal flavor.

While Breclav leans more toward lower middle class than upper class (one traveler went so far as to call it "white trash"), there was no graffiti to be seen in town, and the closest thing to homelessness was the Czech equivalent of a trailer park, although this seemed to make up a very small part of town.

Near the castle, we spotted a dumb tourist taking a photo of the sign in front of the Dum Kultury (Cultural Center).

The weeping willow trees were still green, but the maples and other trees were bright yellows and oranges. Czech families explored the park surrounding the castle, collecting chestnuts for the upcoming holiday season.

To finish of the day, we had dinner at the restaurant at our hotel, which exceeded all expectations to become, in my opinion, the best meal of our vacation, at a very reasonable price to boot. Rick and Phil had the Moravian pork cutlet with bacon dumplings and I had the beef tenderloin with olive oil, capers, spices, and spiral cut roasted potatoes with Parmesan cheese. Dinner prices equated to $6-12 USD per plate, although the quality of the food rivaled many restaurants charging thrice or more per plate. The following link is a the English menu for the premier hotel in Brno, which is similar in selection and prices. http://www.hotel-imos.cz/en/menu/

The following morning at twilight, we caught the Super City Pendolino high speed train to Brno and Prague, for a connection to a non-high speed train to Berlin. On the way to the train station, we captured a panorama of the Dyje River, adjacent to our hotel.

On-board the train was a full Bistro, which had a full menu, as well as Plsner Urquell on tap, which some Czech's onboard ordered with their breakfast! Unlike Amtrak, Czech Railways actually washes the windows on their premier train, as they can be seen doing as we disembarked at Praha Hlavni Nadrazi (Hln) where we boarded the metro for a quick ride two stops down the line to Praha Holesovice for our connecting train to Berlin.

Wien (Vienna)

2009-11-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

We spent the night in Wien (Vienna to Americans), Austria at the Hotel Bristol.

Our hotel was one of the nicest in town, and is currently operated by Starwood Hotels, owners of the Westin and Sheraton brands. US President Theodore Roosevelt, and many other dignitaries spent the night at our hotel in years past. Despite a luxurious interior with a marbled bathroom, the rooms are only designed for two adults, which is all Priceline.com guarantees room for. I drew the short straw and ended up sleeping in the crack between the two beds, and my back and neck were very sore the next day. The view of the state opera from our hotel window was nice however.

Hotels, and other accommodations are very expensive in Wien. We didn't specifically choose the Bristol, but instead won it on Priceline for $141.07 per night when bidding for a 4 or 5-star hotel in Wien. The hotel wanted $36 Euro per night additional for internet, but we instead opted for the free Wi-Fi available across the street at the McDonalds located in the retail area surrounding the U-Bahn (metro/subway) station. While many tourist enjoy the scenery provided by Wien's many trams (S-Bahn), locals generally prefer the faster, less scenic U-Bahn.

We noticed that the busiest of the two major train stations in Wien (Sudbahnhof) appeared to be suffering from deferred maintenance and low retail occupancy, which was in contrast to the rest of the city. A quick search online revealed that the city has decided to combine its two major railway stations into a single central "hauptbahnhof" similar to what was done recently in Berlin. The new station is expected to be open in 2013, after which time Sudbahnhof will be demolished and redeveloped. Official site for the new station: http://www.hauptbahnhof-wien.at/

On our departure from Wien, we rode "The Wiesel", a local commuter train similar to Seattle's Sounder. We're guessing "Wiesel" is some sort of word play on "Wien", sort of how "Sounder" is a variation on Puget Sound. Unlike our Sounder however, the Wiesel commuter train extends across international borders, in this case, a handful of kilometers into the Czech Republic. Rick caught a photo of me taking photo's onboard the train with my Nokia N86 phone.

Bratislava

2009-11-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

On the way to Wien (Americans call it Vienna), we had a two hour stopover in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.

Despite having fewer people and resources, Slovakia chose to be an independent nation once again after many decades in 1993, as Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia following "The Velvet Divorce". The Slovakian economy is growing quickly, thanks to foreign investments, and the development of their wine and tourism industries.

Despite some graffiti and police presence, they're were fewer signs of crime and poverty compared with nearby Budapest. The cost of living, for tourists, was also the lowest of any city we visited. Lunch at a local cafe was less than 40SK (Slovak Koruna), or $1.50-$2.00 USD. While not gourmet (pork, rice, and peas), it wasn't bad, and we could hardly complain for the price. Of course there were fancier places to eat which catered to tourists, but we wanted to see what a typical lunch was like.

While the majority of former day Soviet Union locomotives and trams (light rail/streetcars) were made in present day Czech Republic, much of the automotive production occurred elsewhere, including the Slovak cities of Bratislava and Zilnia. This is interesting considering that following the Velvet Divorce, Slovakia tore up many of its tram lines, and replaced them with trolley buses, such as one shown below. The net result of this is fewer people using mass transit, and more cars and longer waits at pedestrian crossings in Bratislava compared to comparably sized Czech cities.

While in town, Phil and I had our picture taken in front of the Presidential Palace (actually a summer residence), while Rick was equally touristy, posing with a water sculpture and taking many photo's of his own, as can be seen in the panorama.

Budapest

2009-10-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Next we took a EuroCity train 2nd class (very similar to coach on Amtrak) on a six hour ride to Budapest, Hungary. We slept for part of the trip.

As we proceeded Eastward, the countryside became flatter, and crime and poverty became more evident.

The modern solar arrays of the Czech Republic gave way to primitive vineyards in the Slovak countryside, and later on, people living in shacks, across the border in Hungary.

We saw some lucky 1960's vintage Skoda (Czech/Soviet) electric locomotives still in operation in this territory, as well as some unlucky brothers and sisters sitting in scrap yards.

We asked our cab drive to take us to the Hilton Budapest West End, but instead ended up at the Hilton across the river on the Pest side of town. It was a scenic ride however, as we crossed the Chain Bridge and got to see ruins and buildings left by Celts and Romans before the city came under the influence and control of the Magyarok (Hungarian) people around 1300AD.

Unlike the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic, the middle class appeared to be the minority, with many more wealthy individuals (more BMW's than Volkswagen) and exponentially more poor. Crime was also more visible, with numerous signs warning of pick pockets, and numerous police visible, including a group conducting a search of some sort near the river as we approached town. Homeless people littered the streets and the metro stations.

In catering to the wealthy, Budapest was one of the most popular stops for the Orient Express before the train was greatly cut back in 2001. We arrived and departed via Keleti (Eastern) Station, which is one of three train stations in the city.

The city also has the oldest metro system in Continental Europe, first opened in 1896.

As we settled into our hotel for the night, we enjoyed some Czech beer, along with some "pivni syr" ("beer cheese"), which is an Olomouc style cheese. Olomouc cheese is tasty stuff, and has only 0.6% fat, but is not for the faint nosed. For more info on Olomouc cheese, take a read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olomouck%C3%A9_syre%C4%8Dky

Praha (Prague)

2009-10-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

We spent the fourth night of our trip at the Marriott Courtyard in Praha's (Americans call it Prague) Flora district, next to the Flora Mall.

The 2:30 train ride took us over looping viaducts as we soared over sleepy mountain towns, and past antiquities such as old wooden box cars with only two axles.

Rather than visit Prague Castle, we instead explored the area around our hotel, enjoyed a couple of Budvar's (the original Budweiser) with some snacks and dinner, and turned in a little before 7:00pm. Rick was still sore from the water park, and Phil was tired, so it seemed like the smart thing to do.

The Mall was very nice, especially the Nokia store with over 100 different phones available for hands on testing. Most of the photo's from our trip were taken with my Nokia N86 camera phone, which has an 8MP camera and dual LED flash.

We were unable to find a Starbucks at either the train station or the mall, only Segafredo licensees and local knock offs using Starbucks looking fonts and decor, such as Costa Coffee. Their $3.50 Euro 8oz equivalent lattes left a lot to be desired, as their roast wasn't very dark.

The Prague train station was lovely however, with lots of classical decor, including this dome above one of the atrium's.

Centrum Babylon, Liberec, CZ

2009-10-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

We spent our third night at the resort Centrum Babylon, in Liberec, Czech Republic, near the German border.

Three trains were required from Berlin, first with two varieties of Stadler DMU's (diesel multiple unit) from Berlin to Cottbus, then to Zittau, and a Czech two axle rail bus to Liberec. We encountered snow flurries along the way, with some snow on the ground near the Bad Schandau border crossing. We also spotted an active steam/heritage railroad along the way.

There were many other combinations of old and new, such was small farms with dynamo equipped wind mills near large industrial wind turbines looming over the forest, and a current year BMW waiting for the train at 1940's vintage crossing gates.

Centrum Babylon didn't look like much from the outside, but was very nice on the inside, with shopping, restaurants, a casino, a water park, bowling, and much more. Our room was right next to the atrium where the breakfast buffet was served, which also housed terrariums housing albino boa constrictors, turtles, and Prevost's squirrels.

The water park was fun, although Rick wrenched his neck on one of the plunges from the Royal Flush. Here's a video of someone else getting flushed at our hotel.

While room prices are a bit expensive, it's not bad considering that free breakfast and water park admission is included among other perks, and lunch and dinner are very reasonably priced as well. Resort info: http://www.centrumbabylon.cz/en/babylon/

Sleeper to Berlin

2009-10-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

We took a sleeper from Amsterdam to Berlin aboard EuroCity Train "Jan Kiepura", which had through cars bound for Warsaw (home of the namesake opera singer), as well as Minsk and Moscow.

Sleeper accommodations were sparse compared to Amtrak, with no free meals, but still comfortable.

We were surprised to see a large sign from Bombardier, a Canadian transportation and aerospace conglomerate, welcoming us to Berlin. While based in Canada, Bombardier has globalized over the past decade, with international acquisitions including, Talbot, the German rail car manufacturer which made the train set we rode between Schiphol Airport and downtown Amsterdam.

Arriving in Amsterdam

2009-10-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

After arriving at Amsterdam/Schiphol on an NWA/Delta Airbus A330, we spent a few minutes in the KLM first class lounge while we waited for our bags.

We boarded NS (Dutch Railways) train #916 for Amsterdam Centraal Station.

We checked into our hotel, the NH Hotel Barbizon Palace. We briefly explored Amsterdam's infamous "red light district" before turning in for the night.

2009 European Rail Vacation - Preview

2009-10-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

We're back from our 2009 European rail adventure.

I apologize for taking so long to post. While the trip was great, I came down with a terrible flu upon return to the USA, hence the delay.

Our trip started and ended in Amsterdam, and included visits to cities including Berlin (Germany), Liberec (Czech Republic), Prague (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), Bratislava (Slovak Republic), Vienna (Austria), and Breclav (Czech Republic).

I will be posting many photo's and trip details soon, and eventually a YouTube video. For now, please have a look at a map of our travels auto generated by the provider of my local SIM card, ekit.com. They provided excellent service, and the "passport" local SIM with free incoming calls allowed me to spend 80% less on phone service compared to my 2007 European trip.

Cheers!

Crossing the Finish Line - MVP Gold

2009-07-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

After several weekends of adventures, I've reached Alaska Airline's MVP Gold status for the first time, which has many perks over my previous MVP Silver status.

The best perk of all of these is that not only do I get a free upgrade to first class three days before my flight, but any friends and family traveling with me on the same reservation also get upgraded to first class if space is available.

My adventures over the past three months taken me from Seattle to Sacramento, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Cancun, Newark, Chicago, and this past weekend, Denver.

On the way there, I was upgraded to first class, and enjoyed a sun dried tomato quiche for breakfast.

In Denver, I visited Elitch Gardens for the first time. While the Mind Eraser is the newest and bigger coaster, my favorite was the old rickety Mister Twister, moved from the old park location to the new one.

Ben

Family Train Trip on the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight

2009-07-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

July 5th through the 8th, we had a great adventure aboard two of our favorite Amtrak trains with six members of our family.

Our journey took us from Chicago to Portland on the Empire Builder, and Portland to Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight.

We had never stayed in a family bedroom before, and while it lacks some of the amenities of a deluxe bedroom, it was bigger than expected, and is the only type of room with windows on both sides of the train.

Besides the usual highlights on these trains, such as beautiful Glacier Park, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, Cascade Summit, Paso Robles, and etc., we had a few unexpected surprises as well.

In Havre, Mt., we ran into SP #4449, the most famous steam locomotive in North America, which was one of the two locomotives pulling the Tacoma-Everett steam double header on my birthday in 2007. We got some pictures of the locomotive as it was being cleaned and fueled on its way to a steam festival in Michigan.

In Spokane, WA, we saw Disney's "Christmas Carol" tour train outside of our window as our train split into its Seattle and Portland sections.

South of Salinas, CA, there was a small brush fire which appeared much bigger from the amount of smoke it produced. Fortunately the wind was blowing away from our train.

Besides the scenery, we met lots of people, tasted new wines and cheeses, played classic board games, and relaxed for three days devoid of the hassles of everyday living.

It was a great trip, and was well worth the money, or rather 60,000 Amtrak Guest Reward Points.

Photos: Mouse over to see description.

Seattle Link Light Rail - First Day of Revenue Service

2009-07-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

I rode Central Link yesterday on its first day of full revenue service, and I was impressed!

The build quality of the vehicles seems much better than the LRV's that the builder, Kinkisharyo, built for the LA Metro Blue Line several years ago. The ride was very smooth.

The trains were pretty full going toward Seattle at rush hours, but light, as you would expect, for the reverse commute. I suspect this will be different on weekends however, as people will use this not only as a commute tool, but also as a neighborhood connector.

The stations and artwork were great, and the free bus shuttles from Tukwila to Sea-Tac Airport ever 10 minutes were quick and cheerful as well.

I can't wait for the University of Washington extension to open in a few years, as that's when I think this line will really see it's true ridership capacity realized.

Keep up the great work Sound Transit!

Some photo's of an LRV in the downtown bus tunnel, the interior of Sound Transit 123, Tully's and the ST Maintenance Facility as seen from the flyover leading to the Beacon Hill Tunnel, shuttle buses waiting at Tukwila, two ST LRV's at Tukwila Station.

You might be addicted to mileage if...

2009-06-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

After two overnight trips in two weekends, some friends and family have wondered if I might be addicted to travel and mileage programs.

Let's take a quick test and see if I match at least 50% of the questions. Please feel free to take the test yourself.

1. Do you prefer connecting flights over non-stop flights in order to earn more miles? Yes.

2. Do you travel to a city just to see if it's someplace you would like to visit again in the future? Yes.

3. Do you have at least five different point earning loyalty cards? Yes.

4. Are you a Select/MVP/Platinum member of at least two loyalty programs? Yes, Amtrak, Alaska Airlines, and Princess Cruises.

5. Do you schedule your trips around flights with many unfilled first class seats, in hope of free upgrades? Yes.

6. Do you earn enough points to get free tickets for family and friends? Yes.

7. Are you willing to pay $20 more for a flight that is from an airline which provides partner points for your primary mileage program? Yes.

8. Do you know which seats are good or bad seats without looking at a seat map for the plane or train? Yes.

9. Do you know your way around at least five of the ten biggest cities in your country using mass transit? Yes.

10. Do you have a paid first class lounge membership so that you get free food and internet at most airports? Yes.

Am I addicted? I think so. But the mileage and point rewards are really just an added perk to the excitement of traveling to new places and trying new things.

Here's some photo's from my recent visit to Newark Liberty Airport. Alaska Airlines had an excellent sale, is offering double miles toward MVP Gold status, and had lots of first class seats open, so I went on a mileage run.

I also had a chance to photograph the Air Train, which is a great option for getting to Manhattan. Simply take the Air Train to the Newark Liberty Airport Rail Station, and catch an NJ Transit commuter train or Amtrak Regional train to New York Pennsylvania Station for about $12. A cab would cost about $60.

JFK has a similar option, but with only the Long Island Railroad and no Amtrak, there's less flexibility. I also loathe JFK for its frequent delays. La Guardia offers no rail link, just a slow MTA bus that connects with a subway.

I was lucky enough to get first class on the way from Seattle to Newark, but was stuck in coach for the return. Our first class meal consisted of chicken Marsala with baby red mashed potatoes, green beans in olive oil, and a green salad with mini-pita's filled with roasted red pepper humus. Dessert was warm bread pudding with a caramel flourish, and fresh berries.

It sounds like an expensive hobby, but it's not really that expensive if you find great deals on airfare, stay at two star hotels or use Priceline's name your own price, research where to get a meal for a reasonable price in advance, and use mass transit instead of taxi's or a rental car. Besides seeing new places on my way to MVP Gold, I will also earn enough miles for a free business/first ticket to Europe. I already had enough miles for a free ticket this year, which is coming up in October. Using Priceline, I was able to book a five star hotel every night of the trip for $100 or less, which split three ways, is a very affordable vacation.

Ben

Photo's: Amtrak sign at Sea-Tac Airport, first class dinner and dessert, Air Train terminal, Air Train.

Video: Air Train passing by, approaching the terminal, and onboard.

Cancun overnighter

2009-06-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

I've returned from my overnight trip to Cancun, and I wish I had stayed longer.

The Cancun Hilton was excellent, albeit for their mediocre and overpriced food. Considering I got my room for $62 using Priceline's name your own price, I can't complain.

I loved their extensive network of pools, and prime beach along the Caribbean Sea, complete with loungers and umbrellas.

The Hilton, and Cancun in general were nearly deserted save for the local residents, despite H1N1 being on the decline, and there being no new cases in Cancun for over a week.

I was lucky enough to receive a free upgrade to first class on the outbound flight, and enjoyed a delicious egg and spinach "strudel" for breakfast, and a Cuban sandwich and salad for lunch.

For dinner at the hotel, I had an organic salad and beef tournedos (one of the least expensive choices), which set me back 481 pesos (about $37, since there's currently about 13 pesos in a dollar). The food was OK, but not great, but there's other options, as I will explain.

A couple of taxi/shuttle companies have a monopoly on service around Cancun, and make it difficult to save money by eating away from your hotel. There's a way around this however, as Mexico has an excellent bus system which only costs 7.5 pesos to ride, about 60 cents. The R1 line is designed especially for tourists, and runs every 3-5 minutes in each direction between the hotel zone and downtown. Since the schedule is a non-issue, you can hop on and off whenever you see something you like. There's no bus to the airport however, so you're stuck paying $15 for a hotel shuttle outbound, and $15 for a taxi from downtown to the airport or anywhere else in the area. For some odd reason, a taxi coming from the airport costs $50 instead of $15.

The best area of downtown for shopping is the Market 28 area. There you will fine a traditional farmers market, a Wal-Mart in case you forgot sunscreen or etc., and a Chedraui supermarket (similar to Safeway in the USA). At the Chedraui deli, I was able to get a complete meal of four tacos, flan, and a bottle of water for 239 pesos, or about $2.

To put things in perspective, you can commute by bus for about 25 times less than a typical tourist, and eat for about 18.5 times less than a tourist, if you know how to.

A note about water. Most hotels in the hotel zone have their own water purification systems, and the tap water is safe to drink. If you are downtown, be sure to buy bottled water or some cans of iced tea, coconut milk, or etc.

A note about money. Use an ATM to get as many pesos as you think you will need for spending. If you use American dollars, you will get shorted on the exchange rate. If you use a credit card, you will be charged a $3-5 international transaction fee for each purchase. Also, some stores downtown do not accept US dollars or credit cards.

Would I go again? Definitely! The pure blue waters of the Caribbean Sea are much nicer than the muddy waters off the West coast of Mexico. It's a long flight to Cancun, but it's worth it.

Cheers!

Photo's: A view from my room, inside my room, hotel golf course, hotel exterior, 1st class breakfast, beef tournedos with guacamole at the hotel, "Paquete desayuno tacos" at Chedraui, Autocar (city bus) R1 in the hotel zone.

Going for the Gold

2009-05-24T20:56:00.001-07:00

I've been an Alaska Airlines MVP for a few years now, but I've never tried to reach MVP Gold status as it seemed out of reach.

This year it will finally reachable, due to several factors, most notably being rock bottom airfares ($59 each way between Seattle and Denver for example), a 4x10 work schedule, and Alaska's "Double Miles Double Thanks" promotion.

While Alaska frequently offers bonus miles on flights, bonus miles don't usually count toward MVP or MVP Gold status. For the month of June however, every Alaska flight earns double miles, and every mile counts toward MVP status, or Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM's) in frequent traveler jargon. Info: http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/Promo/Registration/PromoEntry.aspx?pid=AS0906

Currently I have 9,407 EQM's with 10,593 to go to MVP, and 30,593 to MVP Gold.

How will I get there? full details follow, but in short, I will be more than 75% of the way there by the end of June thanks to two high mileage round trips.

The weekend of June 6th will take me 3,070 miles each way to Cancun, Mexico, for a total of 12,280 EQM's. I will be spending the night at the Hilton Cancun Golf Spa Resort, normally $119+ per night, but I was able to get it for only $62 using Priceline's name your own price service. I normally stay at two star hotels in the Wyndham family of hotel chains (Ramada, etc.) to save money, but they don't have any properties in Cancun, and the only two star hotel there (Holiday Inn) got very poor reviews.

The weekend of June 13th I will be flying to Newark, New Jersey at 2,393 miles each way for 9,572 EQM's. There's only a few hours layover between flights, so rather than get a hotel, I will spend the wee hours of the morning in the terminal surfing the net and enjoying free food at the Continental Airline's President's Club lounge, which is an Alaska partner lounge.

The weekend of June 20th I will be flying to Denver, Colorado at 1,021 miles each way for 4,084 EQM's. I will be staying at the inexpensive Microtel Inn, which is only a two star, but is newer, clean, and unlike the Hilton, includes free internet and breakfast.

That gives me 35,343 EQM's by the end of the promotional period.

I won't finish my MVP Gold qualification until July, which is beyond the double miles promotional period. I will be flying 1,715 miles SEA-ORD, 955 miles LAX-SEA (Amtrak ORD-LAX), and 2,042 miles SEA-DEN-SEA, for a total of 40,055 EQM's!

Why do I care so much about MVP or MVP Gold status? It's much more about utility than status. Alaska MVP's get free upgrades to first class if there's unsold first class seats within 48 hours of departure, and also receive priority boarding, no checked bag fees, and a dedicated phone line, among other perks.

MVP Gold has all of the perks of MVP, but with free upgrades to first class 72 hours before flying, for not only the member, but anyone else traveling on the same reservation. MVP Gold also earns double miles on every flight (the bonus miles are non-EQM's).

How much are miles worth? 25,000 miles "buys" a free coach round trip within the USA, but the real value is for international travel. For 80,000 miles, I bought a business class ticket on one of Alaska's partner airlines from Seattle to Amsterdam and back October 17-27th. For such a long flight, the extra room in business class is a must, but I've never been able to afford it before, not for $3,227 in "real" money.

If you're interested in finding the best deals on travel while also earning points/miles, here are some tips and recommended web sites.

For MVP/Elite programs, choose an airline with a major hub in your home region. Alaska Airlines is the top choice for the West Coast, but a person living in Minnesota would be better off with Northwest Airlines (NWA), and etc. First class upgrade availability varies by airline, with Alaska being the most generous due to fewer business travelers and a smaller route map. I get upgraded about 50% of the time on Alaska flights, but when I was an NWA Silver Elite (25,000 miles per year) I was upgraded on less than 10% of flights.

Don't go overboard on hotels. Save your money for tourist attractions, dining, and etc. Besides being very affordable, nearly 100% of Wyndham's properties offer free internet and breakfast. Hilton and other luxury chains charge $15 per day for internet and $7 for a bagel and cream cheese. Wyndham also frequently offers double points which can be exchanged for airline miles or Amtrak points in addition to free hotel stays. Quality varies widely by hotel however, so be sure to read some reviews before booking to ensure that your hotel is decent. Not all $50 per night rooms are created equal. http://www.wyndhamrewards.com/

If no Wyndham properties are available where you're visiting, or if they are sold out, you may be able to get a bargain from Priceline.com. While I rarely get a hotel for 50% off, nearly all of my offers for 30% off are accepted. Just be careful when picking your criteria, as there are actually bad 4-star hotels out there. Also be aware that most 4-star hotels charge extra for things such as parking, internet, and breakfast, so a 3-star might be a better choice, even if the price per night is similar.

Don't pay full price for airfare. The best airline deals are found at www.airfarewatchdog.com.

If you're flexible in your dates and locations, you can save a lot of money. Instead of deciding to visit a specific sunbelt city, instead pick "somewhere sunny". A flight to Miami could be on sale for a fourth of the cost of a flight to Atlanta for example. Also, you may be able to earn more miles along the way, with flights from Seattle to New Orleans sometimes costing as little as flight to California ($139 round trip). These special fares are usually only available for flights on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

For longer than weekend trips, consider a cruise instead of hotels. The cost per night is similar, but all of your meals and entertainment is included. They also offer free childcare and teen programs. My preferred cruise line is Princess Cruises, although Holland America and Royal Caribbean are also good choices. Avoid Carnival Cruises unless you enjoy drunk college kids everywhere. One way cruises can be an excellent bargain when combined with frequent flyer miles. For example, a one way non-stop ticket from Seattle to Anchorage normally goes for $517, but can also be bought with 12,500 miles. Combine this with a Princess 8-day Anchorage/Whittier-Seattle cruise for $399 per person, and you have a very affordable yet luxurious vacation. Princess also has an excellent frequent cruiser program, Captain's Circle. http://www.princess.com/index.html

For short trips, take the train instead of flying or driving. Taking Amtrak from Seattle to Portland is 1/3 the cost of flying, and you don't need to worry about parking either. http://www.amtrak.com

If traveling to Europe, consider exploring east of Germany. There's just as much architecture and culture, even if it's less "touristy", which I actually consider to be a plus. Cost is exponentially lower, with Bohemia (Western Czech Republic) costing about 1/2 as much as Germany or Amsterdam, and Moravia (Eastern Czech Republic) costing 1/4 as much. Language is no longer much of a barrier, with nearly anyone under 35-years-old speaking English in addition to their mother tongue.

Two places I would recommend to stay are Centrum Babylon in Liberec, and Pension Brno in its namesake city.

Centrum Babylon: http://www.centrumbabylon.cz/webview.php?cisloclanku=431&claneksablona=7

Pension Brno: http://www.pension-brno.com/en/

For general travel deals, http://www.webflyer.com is a great resource, with lots of bonus offers and discount codes.

Take lots of photo's, and use a good camera. Vacations are fleeting, but photo's last a lifetime. I recommend the Canon Powershot S series. The SX10 IS offers the best bang for your buck at about $320 from online vendors such as Newegg.com. Unlike smaller cameras, the SX10 and other DSLR-like cameras offer superior optics and low light performance, but with less size and weight than a true DSLR. For budget travelers, the Canon SX3 IS and SX5 IS are still excellent cameras, and can be found for about $100 on eBay or Craigslist.

That's a lot of info for one post, but hopefully someone will find it useful in their future travels.

If you have any questions or tips for me, please send me an e-mail.

Cheers!

Photo's - Hilton Cancun (aerial), Centrum Babylon, Amtrak Cascades Bistro Car, The Golden Princess.

Live Blogging - Coral Princess Los Angeles to Vancouver Cruise

2009-05-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend we're blogging live via satelite aboard the Coral Princess which is traveling from Los Angeles, California to Vancouver, British Columbia.

This is our first trip since I earned Captain's Circle Platinum status, which entititles me to 150 minutes of free internet in addition to priority boarding and other perks.

The Coral Princess is a bit smaller than the other Princess ships I've been on, carrying about 2,000 passengers instead of 3,000.

It was built in France by a subsidary of Alstom, a company which also manufactures rail vehicles, including the Amtrak California Cars.

What the ship lacks in size, it makes up for in excellent interior and superior service. It's also one of only two Princess ships designed especially to traverse the Panama Canal, a trip we hope to do in the future.

This four day cruise is more laid back than a typical seven day or longer cruise, with no formal nights. Even the champagne fountain and the Captain's Cocktail Party are smart casual.

Saturday morning we witnessed our first medical evacuation, which required the evacuation of the lido deck. While we don't know for sure what the exact emergency was, rumor has it was a possible stroke. We were North of Santa Rosa when our ship turned 180 degrees to port in order to intercept a US Coast Guard helicopter based out of San Francisco.

Saturday evening we enjoyed the great spectacle of the grand champagne waterfall in the central piazza. Our hosts handed out free champagne and mimosa's made with fresh squeezed orange juice. Dinner was very nice, with a great assortment of Italian dishes and a very friendly server from Bulgaria.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Bordeaux dining room. The salmon lox and bagel was especiaaly delicious. Afterwards we set a new record at the trivia competetion, with three correct anwswers out of twenty!

This even we're looking forward to meeting the capatin of the ship at the Captain's Cocktail Party, which is by invitation only for passengers who have cruised on Princess before.

More info and photo's to come soon.

Photo's: The tiny airport we landed at in Long Beach, California, the lido deck of the Coral Princess, the breakwater and light house of Long Beach Harbor, a sunset off the shore of Santa Cruz, Salmon Lox breakfast, The Grand Casino, Champagne Waterfall, Trivia in the Wheelhouse Lounge.

Phil and Ben's California Zephyr Adventure

2009-04-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a great journey aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr between Denver, CO and Sacramento, CA.

PV "Silver Iris" brought up the markers of #5 along the way.

Onboard, we got to meet John Shaske of Steel Rail Tours (www.johnsteel.com) and Chris Hanus of Way of the Rail Publishing (www.wayoftherail.com). I already own a copy of Chris's excellent BC and Canadian Rockies Railway Map Guide, and will be picking up a copy of Canada by Train (VIA Rail). Chris is working on a similar book about travel by Amtrak, which I hope will be as great as the first book.

Our train left Denver on time, and despite a delay of more than two hours due to UP track work near Gran Junction, CO, we made up time and arrived in Sacramento less than 30 minutes late.

The train was clean, and the food was pretty good, especially the flat iron steak and the chocolate cherry torte.

Soon after our train left Denver, we were swept up in Rocky Mountain delights including river canyons, red rock cliffs, snow covered trees, and so much more.

The second morning of our trip we rolled past ghost towns, ranches, and orchards irrigated by water carried in wooden flumes. The highlight of the day however was Donner Pass, with its white topped evergreens, snow sheds, and the blue waters of Donner Lake.

If you've never rode the California Zephyr, you're really missing out, as you can see in the photo's below.

High Quality YouTube video:

Photos:

Eight Amtrak segments in one day?

2009-04-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today I'm attempting eight Amtrak segments in a single day. I've tried this once before, but was thwarted by a missed connection.

So far things are on track, having just arrived in Centralia, WA aboard Amtrak Cascades #501, the Mt Rainier Talgo train set, bracketed by P40 #198 and NPCU #90278.

9:30am: I'm enjoying delicious home made cider and free WiFi at McNenamin's Olympic Club. Amtrak Cascades #500, the Mt Hood Talgo train set took me from Centralia to Olympia-Lacey. Our train was bracket by F59PHI locomotives #465 and #468, both in Cascades paint.

12:30pm: My connection at Olympia Lacey to Amtrak #11, the Coast Starlight was no problem, and I'm back at Olympic Club getting ready to enjoy a Southwest veggie burger and fish soup. Train #11 had P40 locomotives #150, #132, and bad ordered NPCU 90252. Best of all, this train had an ex-Santa Fe Pacific Parlour Car, "Napa Valley" #39972. Near East Olympia, concrete ties were being installed for one of the sidings.

Train #506 will take me back to Olympia-Lacey at 1:42pm, train #507 to Centralia at 3:44pm, and train # 516 to Tacoma at 4:17pm. Train #516 will be a very tight connection. There's only 14 minutes of scheduled time between trains, but both tend to run late. #516 is usually later than #507, but if #507 is late and #516 is on time, my whole plan could be ruined.

7:35pm: I made it, just barely. Catching my last train, #508 from Centralia to Tacoma right now.

Here's the remaining consists:

506 OLW-CTL Mt Baker

507 CTL-OLW Mt Hood

516 OLW-TAC Mt Adams

509 TAC-CTL Mt Rainier

508 CTL-TAC Mt Baker

Katrena's First Amtrak Ride

2009-03-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

Phil's sister Katrena was in town last week and went with us on her very first Amtrak ride. The last time she was on a train was before Amtrak had been created, and she was only six weeks old, so she didn't remember it very well.

Amtrak's crew were very gracious, friendly, and even a bit silly at times.

The conductor aboard the Coast Starlight #11 from Tacoma to Centralia gave us a tour of the train, including an empty first class sleeper, and the Pacific Parlour Car, where we got a picture with the mysterious Mima Mounds in the background. Katrena also got to have her picture taken with the conductor.

In Centralia we looked at antiques and had lunch at McNenamins Olympic Club, which allowed Katrena inside, even though the antique sign at the entrance clearly states "Ladie's Patronage Not Solicited". The food and service was great, and the atmosphere at Olympic Club is one of a kind.

I was able to use my Amtrak Guest Rewards Select perks to get free upgrades for all of us to business class on Amtrak Cascades #506 for the return trip Centralia-Tacoma. The newly refurbished Talgo trains were very nice inside, and Katrena enjoyed the faster and smoother ride thanks to the Talgo's articulated passive tilt design.

All together it was a fun little day trip and it didn't break the bank either.

I'm looking forward to July 5th-8th when myself and several family and friends will be traveling together all sleeper/first class from Chicago to Portland and Portland to Van Nuys/Los Angeles.

Here's some photo's from our trip.

Some special guests in Conductor Mark's Guest Book

2009-02-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

On yesterday's Amtrak Cascades 501, I noticed some unusual notebooks in the dining car of our train. At first I thought they were official documentation belonging to the crew, but I was only half correct. They were guest books which Conductor Paul invites all passengers to write appropriate quotes, life experiences, web sites, train experiences, comments, and drawings. They were full of great content from both passengers and crew, including some prominent guests from host railroads. See if you can guess who drew the BNSF "pumpkins".

Conductor Paul said he has been distributing and collecting the notebooks for five years, both for the passenger's enjoyment, and also so he will have something to help him remember his career after he retires. In today's high tech world, it's great to see a low tech "human" solution such as this that benefits Amtrak passengers without increasing Amtrak's operating costs. Kudos to Conductor Mark Flanigan!

Also included here is a photo of the Amtrak Cascades a couple of months ago with a BNSF Dash 9 leading the Cascades as it pulls into Tacoma, WA.

November 22nd Concert at the Tacoma Dome

2008-11-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to see New Kids on the Block at the Tacoma Dome for the first time since their break up back in the 1990's.

Unlike other bands such as the Backstreet Boys, who delivered disappointing results in their post-reunion efforts, NKOTB delivered an excellent show, with lots of classics, as well as some great new songs.

I had floor seats three rows from the very back, and little did I know that the group would be performing three of their songs on a rotating stage just 10 feet from where I was sitting.

While I enjoy the music of NKOTB, I'm not nearly the fan that the ladies sitting next to me are, one of who flew from Columbus, Ohio, and the other from Amsterdam to see the show. When they began performing on the rotating stage, I was nearly trampled by the hundreds of 20's and 30's women trying to to get close to the performers. I still managed to get a couple of good video clips of the performance however, which I'm uploading to YouTube.

It's too bad my friends and sister didn't want to go. They were New Kids fans back in the late 80's, but have since turned to being haters. It's their loss however, as the sold out concert was one of the best I've been to in a long time.

Peace out!

Video:

Pictures:

November 8th Coast Starlight over the Tehachapi Mountains

2008-11-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 8th, 2008, Amtrak's Coast Starlight made a historic detour over Tehachapi Pass, an area which has not seen regular passenger train service for nearly forty years.

Scenery was great, other than some limited visibility past tunnel #9 due to smoke from a nearby brush fire. Car attendants allowed us to take pictures from the vestibules (until it became too smoky outside), which is something not normally allowed were it not for this historic occasion.

The crew and passengers onboard were great. I met a few railfans from Trainorders.com, as well as rail activists from both California and towns close to my home in Washington State.

I especially appreciated the binder inside each sleeping compartment which lists the regular menu's and special for both the diner and parlour car for both days in both directions. It makes choosing what to eat a lot easier.

I ate in the PPC for every meal, and every meal was pretty good despite what seemed like smaller portions compared to the main diner. The carrot cake was especially rich and delicious! Meals in the PPC were much more relaxed and quieter than the diner, and the ambiance of the restored interiors was wonderful.

Matt Melzer from NARP (National Association of Railroad Passengers) was onboard enroute to the TRAC (Train Riders Association of California) conference in Sacramento, and touted many of the improvements. He also said that new linens are also coming, but are slightly delayed due to an issue with the supplier.

Railroad author and transit planner Joe Welsh boarded in Sacramento, returning from the Lexington Group conference (a historical society), and despite his cool demeanor, even he was a bit excited about the 61/39 passing of Proposition 1 around Puget Sound, expanding Sound Transit, even though he felt that certain details of the plan could have been better arranged.

The onboard crew was even friendlier than usual, which may be due to the wave of pro-rail proposals which passed last week, and renewed optimism expressed by the Class I's freight railroads about a brighter future for both freight and passenger operations. This was my first trip on Amtrak since Barack Obama was named president elect of the United States of America by a landslide, and while not everyone onboard agreed with some of his political positions, nearly everyone thought that he will bring positive changes to Amtrak and commuter rail.

My roomette was in sleeper #32009, the George H. Pullman, a special car, as it was the last Superliner built by Pullman Standard before they ceded operations to Canada's Bombardier. Our Pacific Parlour Car was # 39975, the "Willamette Valley", a former lounge car from Santa Fe's El Capitan train.

With California's 52/48 passage of Proposition 1A, we will one day see trains traveling at up to 220mph through the mountains and the Central Valley between Los Angeles and Sacramento, with branches extending to San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego.

I did the trip for the Tehachapi detour on the 8th, but with all of the improvements made to the Starlight, I'll be taking another trip on the regular route soon.

Speaking of the regular route, the sky near Mt. Shasta was clearer than usual, and I managed to get a nice photo near grass lake. While it was a bit foggy over Cascade Summit, I enjoyed the evergreens and snow sheds vs. the the flat brown land in much of the rest of the US this time of year.

It was a wonderful trip, and it reminded me of many of the reasons I love this country so much, with the natural splendor, intellectual discussions covering diverse views without fear of censorship, a government working on behalf of the citizens of our nation, and a country in which anyone can truly be anything. The economy may be in a tough place, but I believe in the American people, and we are going to make it through, and continue to become an even greater country.

If Willie Nelson were to have rode with us, he would have likely been singing about the "reappearin' railroad high" rather than the "dissappearin' railroad blues".

It's a great day to be an American!

My Video - Amtrak Starlight Tehachapi Detour Highlights:

Photo's:

Tehachapi Loop

Walong/Caliente

SP/UP Bakersfield, California Depot

Railfans meeting in the Pacific Parlour Car

Lower hallway of the sleeper George H Pullman

Changing head end crew at Klamath Falls, Oregon

Pacific Parlour Car 39975 "Willamette Valley" at Klamath Falls

Interior shot of the Pacific Parlour Car (first class/sleeper lounge)

Interior shot of the Sightseer (coach) Lounge

Early morning sun on my hallway window

Mt. Shasta as seen from Grass Lake, Oregon

Cascade Summit

Fern Ridge Reservoir

Willamette Falls

Cruise to Mexico on the Sapphire Princess, October 4th, 2008

2008-10-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a family cruise aboard the Sapphire Princess to the Mexican Riviera, and Princess Cruises provided an excellent experience as always.

The itinerary was as follows:

Saturday: Depart from Los Angeles
Sunday:Cruising at sea
Monday: Cruising at sea
Tuesday: Puerto Vallarta
Wednesday: Mazatlan
Thursday: Los Cabo (unable to go ashore due to approaching Hurricane Norbert)
Friday: Cruising at sea
Saturday: Arrive back at Los Angeles

The food was incredible, thanks to executive chef Marcello Berardi. I especially enjoyed the escargot and the Parppardelle al sugo di Lepre (Homemade wide egg noodles simmered with tender braised rabbit and roasted red and yellow peppers in a rich demi-glace and sage sauce).

We didn't quite win the blackjack or slot tournaments (although we did make it to the final round), although we did win a free bottle of champagne playing "Majority Rules", a game in which our team had to guess the answer that other teams would provide. One of our hosts, Danny, noticed my tripod and gave a shout out to viewers on YouTube.

We also placed second in "Liars Club", a game in which three crew members would explain what an obscure word meant, and we had to guess who was telling the truth. Juscinda enlightened us with the correct definition of "focculation", which is is the removal of balls/pils from linens.

Puerto Vallarta was our favorite destination, with beautiful scenery and friendly locals. We passed on the ship sponsored shore excursions, and instead hired a private driver and an air conditioned SUV for $30 per hour. Our driver, Esteban, was very friendly, and told us all about the local people and customs. If choosing your own shore excursions, be sure to look for a sticker on the back of the vehicle indicating that its licensed for tours by the state of Jalisco. Also, be sure to get a quote up front before embarking on a tour.

Mazatlan had some nice beaches, but otherwise was less picturesque and dirtier than Puerto Vallarta, although prices were also much lower, with beach front cafes selling beer for $1 per bottle. Ales were impossible to find, although one Mexican lager, Estrella, had a full malty character with plenty of hops.

Cabo San Lucas was relatively calm when our ship arrived, but we didn't go ashore due to concerns that the tenders (landing craft/life boats) would be unable to return later in the day due to high winds and choppy water expected by the approaching Hurricane Norbert. While we were a little disappointed, there was plenty to do on the ship, including water volleyball and an ice carving demonstration. This also gives me an excuse to cruise this itinerary again in the future.

The last day at sea was a bit choppy, but nothing a couple of Gravol tablets (Canadian equivalent of Dramamine) couldn't handle.

The highlight of our last day on the ship was an excellent variety show featuring juggling and comedy by Dan Bennett (of HBO and Showtime fame), and music and comedy by Steve Morris (of Beach Boys fame). Besides his juggling, Dan demonstrated why the TSA considers plungers a weapon, but using them to fight an imaginary battle to the tune of Mortal Kombat.

I can't emphasize enough how good the food is on this ship. Favorites included lamb shank, pesto and pine nut linguine, escargot, frog legs, braised rabbit, grilled pears, bagels with lox, chantilly swans in a chocolate lake, and much more!

For those who haven't yet been on a cruise, I highly recommend it, as an inexpensive and relaxing vacation. While the scenary can't match that of the train, it offers food and entertainment that is only possible with the extra space available on a ship.

We received an excellent rate from our travel agent, Rita Millhouse of Cruise Planners. For anyone considering a cruise, I would recommend calling her at 1-800-503-9600, and tell her you heard about her on YouTube.

Until the next cruise, have fun, but don't go overboard.

railfunny

Video: Railfunny's Sapphire Princess 2008 Mexican Riviera Cruise - click "watch in high quality"

Photo's: Blackjack Tournament, Champagne Fountain, Dinner, Dessert, Fruit Carvings Mom and Step Dad in Puerto Vallarta, Departing Los Angeles, Phil on Deck as we Leave Los Angeles, Mazatlan, Pool Volleyball, Leaving Puerto Vallarta, Slot Machine Tournament, My State Room, All Together at Majority Rules.

McChord 2008 Air Expo Show

2008-07-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the 2008 Air Expo at McChord Air Force Base with some friends from work.

Highlights included stunt planes, C17 Globemaster III transport planes, a rocket car, and several jets, including an F15, Mig 26, B2, and others. We didn't stay for the Thunderbirds, but I've seen them previously at SeaFair and other venues.

The C17 cargo and personnel drops were one of my favorite events, and I'm glad that McChord is a base which exists mainly to support these Boeing cargo planes, which don't drop cluster munitions and other such civilian killing devices, which are primarily made and promoted by Lockheed Martin. In addition to military support missions, our C17's are also involved in many humanitarian aid missions throughout the world.

This was also one of the greenest Air Expo's at McChord, with visitors being allowed to bring their own food and beverages in reusable containers for the first time, and Pierce Transit providing free shuttle buses from Tacoma every 5 minutes utilizing their latest and greatest CNG (compressed natural gas) buses made by New Flyer. The shuttles were a huge success, with nearly every 40ft bus filling up with passengers, taking hundreds of cars off the congested roadways near McChord AFB.

For those who haven't been to the Air Expo, it's definitely worth checking out. Did I mention it's free?

Below the pictures is a 1 minute YouTube video of show highlights.

Cheers!

June 2008 Alaskan Cruise

2008-06-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Last week we enjoyed a wonderful cruise from Seattle to Alaska and back via Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria, BC.

Our favorite parts of the trip included the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, and the White Pass and Yukon Railway near Skagway.

The food aboard the Golden Princess was excellent, and we especially enjoyed the frog legs.

The folks at the Eagles in Juneau and Skagway were a friendly bunch, and we tried some of the local beers, including a jalepeno IPA.

If you're buying souvenirs on a budget, I would suggest SOS outfitters in Skagway. Their store isn't fancy, but their prices and selection are the best of the ports we visited.

If you need internet, I would not suggest the slow internet onboard the ship. Instead, look for a chain of internet cafe's called seaport Cyber. You can buy a 60 minute card good for use in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, and their internet is truly high speed.

If you're considering a cruise, I would highly recommend Rita Millhouse at Cruise Planners, who got us a great deal on this cruise, and also an upcoming one for the Mexican Riviera. Her # is 1-800-503-9600.

Alaska is a beautiful destination, and things moves at a slightly slower, more relaxing pace than the sunnier cruises. The glaciers must be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Enjoy them while they last!

Here's a video of the cruise. Some photo's are posted below.

Enjoy!

National Train Day, Los Angeles, May 10th, 2008

2008-05-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

May 10th of this year was the first ever National Train Day, celebrating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, and I was at Los Angeles Union Station to celebrate.

Amtrak, along with several other groups, put on a great show. There were tours of Amtrak equipment, including the recently restored Pacific Parlour Car recently named "Willamette Valley", as well as a long distance coach, and a Pacific Surfliner business class car.

Amtrak gave away free T-shirts, bumper stickers, timetables, and other goodies, while vendors gave out info on vacation packages and tourist railroads.

Meanwhile, Drake Bell put on a concert in a wing of the station that was a definite crowd pleaser.

At the end of the day, Amtrak's Jonathan Hutchison announced the winners of the raffle for a free all expenses paid vacation, and also announced several improvements to the Coast Starlight which will re-launch on June 10th.

The event wasn't just fun, but helped to spread awareness of the important role rail can play in an environment where energy efficiency is crucial. It also convinced many people that the train is a viable alternative for their travel needs, especially when they saw how comfortable it is compared to flying.

While I was in the LA area, I caught a film at Hollywood's historic El Capitan Theatre, which in May 1926 made it's debut as Hollywood's "first home of spoken drama".

The next day, I paid a visit to Goliath, one of my favorite coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was able to ride Goliath 10 times in the first couple of hours, and there was almost no line, with everyone crowding the newest coaster, Tatsu, instead.

Next I rode the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena, and later took Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner to enjoy lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Fullerton, a former UP passenger station.

Altogether, the first ever National Train Day was a blast, and I certainly hope it won't be the last.

Midwest Mushroom Hunting Vacation

2008-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Last week Phil and I went to hunt Morel mushrooms in the woods of Indiana and Ohio.

After a couple of days of no luck, we managed to find a handful near Logansport, Indiana, and later, a couple of pounds worth in the woods near Piqua, Ohio.

Besides the delicious mushrooms, there was an abundance of wildflowers to enjoy, such as trillium, also found in the Puget Sound area, as well as varieties I hadn't seen before, such as May apples. The morels are nearly the same color as the dead leaves on the ground, and require a keen eye to spot. The mushrooms, while not looking very appealing, actually taste quite good when fried up in some cracker crumbs and butter.

We also visited the Great Cats of Indiana, an animal rescue which cares for a multitude of tigers, lions, and even bears. After seeing these animals tear up a whole pig, I don't think I'd want to run into one in the woods.

In the evenings, we attended a Little League game for Phil's nephew, who went 10-11 against the opposing team from Monon. On another day, we went fishing at the Norway dam, and later went out for catfish dinner at the Oakdale Inn.

We were drafted to help build a pergola in Monticello for Phil's family, which took a couple of days, and looked great once it was finished.

After some hard work, we visited the Monticello Redman's Lodge to cool off. Politics was on TV, and several folks there said they hoped Obama didn't win the presidency because "he wouldn't be good for the country", although no one could explain why they thought he wouldn't be good for the country. The lodge was also holding a dollar raffle for a 19" "colored" TV (see photo).

In Piqua, we celebrated the simultaneous college graduations of Phil's sister and brother-in-law. I learned about Piqua's history, and the ongoing renovation of the historic Fort Piqua Hotel. I also learned about the former Columbus, Piqua, and Indiana railroad (later Pennsylvania/Penn Central), which once went through Piqua on it's way from Columbus, OH to Logansport, IN. The tracks were abandoned in 1985, and the right of way is now a paved bike trail known as Linear Park. Phil's uncle is the former mayor of Piqua, and helped to make the trail possible.

Overall, it was a nice trip, even if we did spend some of the vacation working.

Indiana calls itself the crossroads of America. I thought about this, and wondered why Illinois doesn't have that title instead. Then, as I watched the sun set beneath a web of contrails, I stopped thinking so much, and simply enjoyed the natural beauty that was all around us.

Railfanning Reno on the Cheap!

2008-04-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the cheapest out of state railfanning I've ever done.

It started with a sale on Alaska Airlines for $39 each way between Seattle and Reno. The way there involved a transfer in Los Angeles, but since I was upgraded for free to first class on the way, I didn't mind a bit. Breakfast was a Tuscan style omelet with potato cakes, bacon, and fresh fruit.

The Reno airport is very small, and lacks any sort of first class lounge. There are about a hundred slot machines scattered around the terminals, but they are very tight, with the exception of the penny machines, allowing many of the machines to build up jackpots in excess of $1,000,000.

While I hadn't planned to get a hotel in Reno (weekend prices at the casino hotels are $130 and up, and the airport is open 24x7, with a comfortable passenger waiting area), a local merchant told me about a mom and pop place called the Hi Ho motel, for only $34 a night. The place was very old and run down, but the bed was clean and comfortable, and the room included a fridge and microwave. Best of all, it's located at the busy UP mainline grade crossing at 4th and Sutro, where I managed to catch a shot of private vehicle "The Patron Tequila Express" on the back of the eastbound California Zephyr.

I did a little bit of gaming at the downtown casinos, and found each to have its pros and cons. My favorite was the Cal-Neva, which while a bit run down, has a railroad theme, and the loosest slots in town. They also have incredible food deals, such as two huge tacos and a draft beer for $2.50, or spaghetti dinner with a glass of house chianti for $3.99. I tried five spins on their custom jackpot game, with little luck. If I had matched three locomotives, I would be rich right now.

The Fitzgerald was average in most respects, along with the Eldorado, which was far too smoky inside for this non-smoker. The Silver Legacy had a great ambiance, but it's slots were the tightest in town, and their food deals were nothing but.

Besides the Cal-Neva, I enjoyed Circus Circus, which is an MGM property. The inside is brightly lit and relatively smoke free, and the machines are fairly loose. The free circus shows are rather entertaining, and the food is reasonably priced. Best of all, you can board their airport shuttle without having to first check in at the front desk, which is great for those not who are playing but not staying at the property.

The trip home was nice and smooth, and I was able to get a shot of downtown Reno from the air as we departed. The UP mainline runs right through downtown, but is now in a cut for a section of a few blocks, returning to street level near Sutro street.

During our descent into SeaTac, I noticed a double halo around our plane's shadow as we prepared to pierce through the clouds. As land became visible once more, I caught a picture of Boeing Field, along with lots of activity on the BNSF mainline in the background.

While I had brought $80 to spend on this trip, I won $80 at the Cal-Neva, and even after paying for a hotel, more gaming, food, and some train magazines at Reno Rails, I still managed to return home with $50 in my pocket.

If you're looking for an adventure, and don't require a 5-star hotel or Zagat rated cuisine, then Reno makes for a fun, cheap weekend getaway.