In 2003 I undertook a solo Amtrak long distance trip to visit a friend in Chicago using the since-canceled Three Rivers for the outbound leg and the Lake Shore Limited for the return. This was before I had the money or the wherewithal to book sleeper rooms, but also after the point where I had obtained a digital camera and had enough online resources to find interesting things to take photos of. Today this trip would have consumed at least 2 or 3 photo sets, but back in 2003 I was pretty much limited to 300 or so photos between uploading them to a desktop so I will be presenting a rather wire variety of material as this trip to the Nation's rail hub wound up being a mile wide and an inch deep ( mirror ).
In the winter of 2003 the NY to Chicago Three Rivers ran practically its entire route in darkness, with the sun setting shortly after Philly and rising after South Bend. While this schedule is great for intercity travelers wanting a full day at their destination, it is sub-par from a railfan perspective. The highlight of the westbound trip was actually lucking into a tour of STATE tower while Train 41 laid over at Harrisburg to have mail and express cars attached, although much of that is a story for another post.
Both the Three Rivers and Pennsylvanian were part of Amtrak's experiment
with mail and express services, which was ultimately wrapped up in 2005
as the cost in staff hours and passenger impact (ie delays) did not
justify the revenue earned. At Pittsburgh I tried to get some photos of
the roadrailers behind the coaches, but night digital photography wasn't
great back then.
Fast forward 7 hours and I found my train passing HICK tower on the outskirts of Chicago.
I wasn't the only one getting some shuteye as I grabbed this shot of a CSX conductor sleeping in the cab of C40-8 #7525 just west of the Quad Draws.
Conrail Quality was still a thing with SD50 #5433 near Englewood. These would later be derated into SD40E's.
Passing through the yards on the approach to 21ST crossing I spotted Central Kansas Railway GP7u #903 and UP C41-8 #9078.
One interesting catch was LLPX #2247, which was actually a former LIRR passenger service GP38-2 which had been sold to Locomotive Leasing Partners and then leased to Union Pacific, which painted it in its own scheme.
It was customary for Amtrak trains to wye themselves prior to arrival at Chicago and my Train 41 was no different, pulling off onto the old CBQ tracks just west of the South Branch Drawbridge. While waiting to proceed Metra F40PH-2's #117 and F40PHM-2 #188 were making their own wye moves out of the Union Station yards.
2003 came during a real nadir of US rail transportation with many Amtrak routes running well under capacity and urban cores still at a low point after decades of high crime followed by 9/11. This is in evidence with the complete lack of foot traffic at 9am on a weekday in Chicago's Union Station. Today Amtrak makes much better use of the space, but in 2003 the preservation of the waiting room felt somewhat pointless as all the active station facilities were in a Penn Station style rabbit warren.
