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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- This video is part one in a series of four videos that I call "A Train Odyssey". Please be aware that when I was shooting the video, I envisioned a three-part series, instead of a four part series, and some of that my spoken dialogue still references Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, out of three videos, but it was too late to re-shoot those videos once I realized it would actually be a four-part series. I have tried to correct all TYPED text and add pop-up text correcting myself when my voice is referring to the original three-part series.
Part 1 is a combination of the Chicago Metra train trip from my home in the suburbs to Chicago Union Station to catch the AMTRAK "Cardinal" train, which I was taking as far as Washington DC, although the train continues from there to its terminus. Once I arrive at Chicago Union Station, I do an extensive tour of that station, the immediate surrounding area in downtown Chicago, and the Metropolitan Lounge in the station. This video was taken on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
Part 2 is the first day on board AMTRAK's "Cardinal" train, ending before the scenic video portion starts. The majority of this is taken up with my 'Viewliner Roomette Tour', similar to my two well-received 'Superliner Roomette Tours'. I tried to be as thorough in this video as I had been in those other videos. This video was taken on Sunday, September 25, 2016.
Part 3 is the second day on board AMTRAK's "Cardinal" train, starting from first light somewhere near Cincinnati and ending at Washington DC's Union Station. This route mostly follows various rivers upstream from the Ohio River up into the Appalachians and then over into that mountain range's eastern foothills in western Virginia.
Part 4 is a trip on the AMTRAK "Northeast Regional" train, from Washington DC's Union Station to Petersburg, Virginia, a couple days after the trip on the "Cardinal". This video highlights AMTRAK's recently added "Business Class" service. I end this video with a brief shot of a nice rainbow taken from a car in northern North Carolina right after a massive rainstorm, and then some pretty video taken from my commercial airline trip from Richmond, Virginia back home to the Chicago area. This video was taken on Tuesday, September 27, 2016.
Not part of the four video series, but shot during the same trip, is my video taken at both of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museums (National Mall and Steven Udvar-Hazy locations).....see my TH-cam channel. These museums were not the purpose of my trip, which was mostly to visit friends, but I thought I would share them with TH-cam viewers. These museum videos were taken on Monday and Tuesday, September 26 & 27, 2016.
You have the best train trips , I enjoy every one.
Love your videos, very informative. You really explain everything. Great job.
thank you for this video tour of union station. I've never been there before, but am scheduled to take metrA from Libertyville to Union Station and then catch Capitol Limited in a few months, and this is a great orientation.
I have followed all your published train trips. I find the extremely interesting and in depth. I would be interested in the type of camera and radio you use. I am 81 years old and hope to one day take the long trip you took from Chicago to LA to Portland and back to Chicago. I would enjoy seeing this great nation before I check out. Thanks again for the many hours of enjoyment you have given.
Bill Whetzel, all of my recent train videos are done using a Canon PowerShot SX610 HS digital camera in video mode. These are no longer made, but are still available from online sources, both new and reconditioned.
My scanner is quite old, but similar inexpensive handheld scanners are readily available. Mine is made by Uniden, a major brand.
Well if anyu of the NEWTON GANG is still ALIVE then Happy Anniversary of your braZEN train robbery on this daTE, June the 14th, 1924. Is that still the largest "haul" of money in train-robbing history ?
I've watched just about all the train videos made by many different people. Yours are my favorite. Good job.
Tracks 21&23, the north-south track, is used by Amtrak and Metra to move their trains back and forth to their respective services yards South of CUS.
I just love your videos. I am not able to travel anymore, but whenever I want to take a trip, all I have to do is put on one of your videos... Thank you. Keep them coming!
Riding Metra down the old Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha" tracks from the north bring back lots of memories. I appreciated your walk around the Union Station with running commentary. The building above the "Great Hall" use to be the operational offices for the Pennsylvania , the Chicago Burlingtion & Quincy, the Gulf Mobile & Ohio and the Milwaukee Road Railroads. All long gone, but not forgotten.
Good Day From Australia Mate.
Don't you think? That having that open area on the upper deck a big waste off space. Could you please do a tour of a suburban carnage, like that one" It'll be great if you show us all from outside on the platform through the door, then show the way too the stairs that go up & down. Then pls walk though car to order side then show toilet etc. On the way back pls come via the top deck, pls show & tell why they have that open area there, which, they could of put more seats in that place. I'd love to know the reason for that being open. Ok thanks mate love your flims. Back in the 1980's before the NSWGR's (new south whales gov railways) close all our country trains . I use to travel just like you it's a great hobby. It's a real shame as we only, Use XPT' s, now not good. Look up Y-Tube, for trains n Australia I think you'll like.. Bye mate you've found a friend.
Colin Wilkie, I have a hard time figuring out a lot of what you wrote here.....perhaps you had autocorrect on and it changed some of your words?
This train trip that you comment on is about the Amtrak Viewliner trains, which do not have an upper deck. Perhaps you are referring to the beginning of the video when I show the Metra commuter train......that has an upper deck.
The Metra upper level has an open area where the conductor can see, and interact with (and take fees from) upper level passengers. There is no upper level aisle from car to car, so the conductor stays on the lower level. The upper area over the lower level aisle is the luggage and coat storage for upper level passengers. There is not enough height in the cars to have the layout be two separate floors, as it is on the Amtrak Superliner cars. Having the two narrow upper level seating galleries on the Metra cars allows them to carry more passengers than they would otherwise, and it affords people traveling alone, or desiring more personal space, isolation and quiet (for reading or to get work done whilst commuting) to have that. I think it is a good system.
Regarding what you seemed to be writing about a tour of the train(s), look at my other train videos, where I have mostly done just that.
+youtuuba
Great. Mate you explained the Metra pretty will. Sorry I did have spell check on watch changes words, from "often to other" etc. Anyhow I've seen a couple, off your videos. There all great. So next time I'll read through before posting.
Ok thanks for your reply.
+Colin Wilkie
Darn I did it again, with "watch instead off which, 1000 sorry's "lol" ha ha ha.
Don't worry, Be happy "mate.
The bridge construction is due to replacement of the protective pilons caused the flooding a anouther small mail train tunnel that connected the business district basements for mail delivery back in the proabition days ! ;-)
I remember the old lounge as a darker and smaller place. Also Princeton, NJ in my neck of the woods has very toned-down signs for McDonald's, etc. Like Lake Forest.
i'm glad that more of this station is being utilized than it had been in the past. i rode first class to LA in July and didn't have time to wait in the metro lounge when my party had finally arrived. thanks for the look at the lounge perhaps the next time i take a trip first class there will be time for me to enjoy some of these amenities.
Thanks youtuuba.I have only been to CUS 4 times, one round trip before the renovation of the Great Hall and the move of the Metropolitan Lounge and one trip after. I kept getting disoriented, thinking that when I came up out of the station and saw the river that I was facing north. Your thorough tour around the station made it much easier for me to envision in my head how it's all laid out. Will be invaluable for a trip I have coming up in a couple months. Thank you.
Now are you coming down from Lindenhurst where you currently live?
I’ve just spent a few days in Chicago (off the California Zephyr from San Francisco). I spent some time on both the Metra and the ‘L’ but really wish I’d seen your video before I got there. But it’ll be handy for next time. Unfortunately, the walls of the Great Hall were covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting so I missed one of the great delights of Chicago (for a foreigner at least). Thanks for posting this video.
Crosshead1, yes, I have been to Chicago Union Station a few times recently (May & June 2018) and observed the construction mess at the Great Hall. A worker told me that they are repairing the ceiling (with all of its glass panes) as well as the ceiling on the walkway under Canal Street.
Hey youtuuba, the luggage storage area in the new lounge is as secure as a two sided barn. I found people handling and moving other passengers bags around with no regard to damaging or trashing the bags. I had five bags secured together and found an old lady trying to move my bags so she could put her bags in the space where mine were. I raised such a stink I had three Amtrak personnel attending to the situation. I could have walked in and taken any number of bags and when it gets real busy in the lobby by the front desk no one is checking to see if you belong in the lounge. Twice now I have complained only to looked at like I was a real trouble maker. Now days I check on my bags every ten minutes and secure them together with several bike locks and around a leg of shelves. Like you videos. Did you use to go by a different name?
Kerry Langford, I agree that the luggage storage area in the new Metropolitan Lounge at Chicago's Union Station is less secure than the room in the old lounge; this is not due to the room itself, but rather because there is no longer a Red Cap attendant there to watch the bags. It is certainly more secure than leaving the bags some other place, because the likelihood of some random thief getting in there is fairly low, but when the single Antrak employee at the entrance to the lounge gets busy, a determined and watchful thief could snatch something. On recent trips, since I travel with a small 'carry on' wheeled suitcase and a small backpack, I just pull those around the station with me, as I would in an airport, while I go to shops or restaurants at the station, usually to kill time. Once I am in waiting mode in the lounge, I always keep my bags with me regardless. But during longer waits, it would be nice to check the bags securely so that I could leave the station and go into the city for a while.... Sears/Willis tower is two blocks away, and there are other nearby attractions. The station authorities should make sure that Red Cap is assigned to that lounge baggage room.
Keep up the good work on videos I love trains
Do you realize that a lot of coach boarding is now done from the Great Hall? There were even announcements to that effect in the background while you walked through there. That has made things quite a bit less crowded in the old boarding lounges. Another announcement referred to a new lounge for which coach passengers can pay for admission.
Yes, I was aware that at least some coach class boardings are now being made from the Great Hall at Chicago Union Station. I did notice the same thing that you did in my video, but I did not comment on it.
There is a room in the southwest corner of the Great Hall, called the Legacy lounge, that is for coach passengers. I've used it a couple of times. It costs $20 to go in, and I felt that it was worth every cent. There are free beverages and snacks and free wi-fi. There is also priority boarding. They announce the trains, and all of those passengers gather by the entrance and someone leads them to the priority boarding area in the proper loading lounge. That alone made it worth the money for me.
Cool. I love trains.
Where are the elevators
I arrived from the northeast on metra at union station. The outbound metra train was at a different location maybe north of union in a modern building. Is this some other station?
Rj Online probably the old Chicago and Northwestern station.
Rj Online, there are two train stations in downtown Chicago that serve most of the Metra commuter lines. One is Union Station and the other is Ogilvie Transportation Center a few blocks north. But a line using one station or the other always uses the same station for both directions of travel. Ogilvie is right next to where the northbound tracks for Union Station start going under the buildings, and there are stairs and a walkway from Union's not platforms to Ogilvie.
Great video, but I never heard a McD's described as "highbrow" LOL
Robbi496, I doubt that the food is any different, but the building and decor are more highbrow than most of the chains restaurants.
I know, I live about 15 miles from there :)
Robbi496 they had to do that or the town would not have let them build it all. God knows they complained enough as it was.
The Lake Forest McD in this video is no more. Now a bank is on that site
By the way ... they used to have a custom omelette station on weekend mornings. Is that highbrow or what?
The original Union Station occupied at least a full city block across Adams street from the current station. The original main hall was huge. What is now the "Great Hall" was only an annex to the the station to provide even more seating than the origunal station could supply.
Track 21 is used to bring the Empire Builder from the coach yard to the North concourse.