Thanks Thom I really enjoyed this and all your exploratory videos on lesser known cities and Amtrak routes 👍🏻 You really have found your niche and I'm loving every video atm 😍🙏🏻
My husband and I took a trip to Galesburg from Reno, Nevada. We were treated to a wonderful private tour of the train museum. We ate a coney island hot dog at a very old (1921 I believe) restaurant. We had a blast there!
@@Thom-TRA Yes. From Reno to Galesburg took us two days. We were able to stay in a bedroom because we "bid up" from a roomette. The railroad museum was the highlight of our trip. A must see! They don't allow you to take pictures inside the museum but we were allowed to take them of the train cars outside.
If you get a chance sometime, both Galesburg and Princeton are interesting towns to explore. Also, if you plan to continue these Midwest features, I'd suggest you take the Empire Builder to LaCrosse and the Twin Cities. LaCrosse is interesting itself, and Minneapolis/St. Paul is easy to explore on transit.
I like the way you give accurate information about this trips. I enjoy a lot watching you and also Lindsey following you everywhere, thank you for sharing.
Really enjoyed this and all of your videos!!! Thanks for sharing your adventures with all of us. Your information, historical background, and trip details are much appreciated!!!
Thank you for a wonderful video ! I thoroughly enjoyed your whole trip, and was glad you visited the Museum in Quincy. Being a huge fan of all American railroads, I was delighted to see the pictures in the Museum of the steam era of the CB&Q ! Glad Lindsay enjoyed the train too !
Unfortunately, the original Aurora passenger terminal that was directly next to the BNSF racetrack didn't make it past the absence of passenger service era. It was a beautiful masonry building and was demolished in 2013 due to the roof collapsing in a rainstorm. Why they didn't rebuild it there in favor of the current station, which is located on a dead-end spur next to an original CB&Q roundhouse, was probably METRA's fault. Now it's next to impossible to extend METRA service past Aurora to Montgomery and Oswego.
Thank you Thom and Lindsey for the video! I really enjoyed learning about the history and seeing both Quincy's! The views through Illinois looks stunning! I didn't realise the train ran across the Mississippi to layover. :-)
It used to even serve West Quincy, MO. This town was flooded in the 90’s and that’s when they moved the terminal to Quincy, on the IL side! I’d like to see them connect to St. Louis, it would provide an alternative route to the Lincoln Service.
Better than Phoenix of course. The fifth largest city in the US has a total of ZERO long distance trains that stop there. You have to go to Maricopa, about 30 miles south, to catch the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited. The platform at Maricopa is only big enough to serve a single car at a time!
Speaking of Mormons I think that Salt Lake City has some kind of light rail system and a railway linking to nearby towns although I have never been there.
Kudos for mentioning that Lincoln’s initial motivation wasn’t abolition. About 30 miles southeast of Quincy is the historic site of New Philadelphia, Illinois, a town founded by a former slave from my hometown in Pulaski County, Kentucky. “Free Frank” McWhorter bought his freedom and that of his family here and moved to Illinois. (Juliet E K Walker, “Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier”. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1983)
Thanks for citing your source, I think this is the most professional comment I’ve ever received! I have to travel around Illinois quite a bit for my job, hopefully one day I’ll get to New Philadelphia. Or maybe even Kentucky? Haha
I haven't been able to try the new seats on Amtrak but compared to the old purple seats these look uncomfortable to me😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕. Sure the old purple seats didn't look appealing to modern standards but in my opinion they were extremely comfortable. I guess being I have a birth defect in my spine the old seats gave me more comfort on my back and these don't look like they do.
I sadly never experienced the old seats on the single level cars. I do prefer the old superliner seats to the new ones. Though I imagine they’re a nightmare to clean.
I wonder if amfleet ii are used on long distance services, why would they also be used on Midwest Intercity routes since the carl sandburg is a Intercity route?
@@Thom-TRA I think since Chicago is the main hub for long distance services, Amtrak decided to use the amfleet ii on their Midwest Intercity routes too, so they can support the horizon cars and Midwest Siemens Venture cars.
Also, Naperville is almost as large as Aurora!
Thanks Thom I really enjoyed this and all your exploratory videos on lesser known cities and Amtrak routes 👍🏻 You really have found your niche and I'm loving every video atm 😍🙏🏻
My husband and I took a trip to Galesburg from Reno, Nevada. We were treated to a wonderful private tour of the train museum. We ate a coney island hot dog at a very old (1921 I believe) restaurant. We had a blast there!
Cool! Did you take the California Zephyr?
@@Thom-TRA Yes. From Reno to Galesburg took us two days. We were able to stay in a bedroom because we "bid up" from a roomette. The railroad museum was the highlight of our trip. A must see! They don't allow you to take pictures inside the museum but we were allowed to take them of the train cars outside.
If you get a chance sometime, both Galesburg and Princeton are interesting towns to explore. Also, if you plan to continue these Midwest features, I'd suggest you take the Empire Builder to LaCrosse and the Twin Cities. LaCrosse is interesting itself, and Minneapolis/St. Paul is easy to explore on transit.
LaCrosse is a wonderful little city. Very visitable.
I’d check back on the channel on November 2nd. I think you’ll be happy with what you see!
I’ve taken the EB through LaCrosse before. Does the town have any relation to the sport?
@@Thom-TRA I asked the very same question. No viable answers.
I grew up near Galesburg and I live in Princeton, so yeah, agreed!
I live in Plano Texas and was disappointed that you didn't show the Plano station.
Macomb station is the best place to smoke a doobie in the bathroom before getting on the train
Okay…
@@Thom-TRA Yes
Wow!
That food looks so good!
And so do those historical sights!
Thom in the Midwest is a really good name for a series
Thank you! It’s short and to the point 😂
Princeton-Dinky- I see what you did there. 😁
If you get the opportunity to check out the Illinois railway museum in union, Illinois. It's quite a amazing experience 😍
Your intro for this series has me mixed up thinking I've seen it before, ha ha. Love your Videos, love your wife and brother.
Sorry about that, planning to shorten it a little in future videos!
Actually, Bear booked this trip for us. Sadly, he couldn’t come along.
I like the way you give accurate information about this trips. I enjoy a lot watching you and also Lindsey following you everywhere, thank you for sharing.
I appreciate it! I love learning about the history of the places I visit, glad to know there’s more of us out there!
Really enjoyed this and all of your videos!!! Thanks for sharing your adventures with all of us. Your information, historical background, and trip details are much appreciated!!!
Thank you! This was a great trip! It felt like a mini-vacation, between the flight, the town, and the train home.
Thank you for a wonderful video ! I thoroughly enjoyed your whole trip, and was glad you visited the Museum in Quincy. Being a huge fan of all American railroads, I was delighted to see the pictures in the Museum of the steam era of the CB&Q ! Glad Lindsay enjoyed the train too !
The people in the museum were so friendly, it was impossible to get away from them! I was very pleasantly surprised by the charm of this town.
Unfortunately, the original Aurora passenger terminal that was directly next to the BNSF racetrack didn't make it past the absence of passenger service era. It was a beautiful masonry building and was demolished in 2013 due to the roof collapsing in a rainstorm. Why they didn't rebuild it there in favor of the current station, which is located on a dead-end spur next to an original CB&Q roundhouse, was probably METRA's fault. Now it's next to impossible to extend METRA service past Aurora to Montgomery and Oswego.
Thank you Thom and Lindsey for the video! I really enjoyed learning about the history and seeing both Quincy's! The views through Illinois looks stunning! I didn't realise the train ran across the Mississippi to layover. :-)
It used to even serve West Quincy, MO. This town was flooded in the 90’s and that’s when they moved the terminal to Quincy, on the IL side!
I’d like to see them connect to St. Louis, it would provide an alternative route to the Lincoln Service.
i like this series, looking forward to seeing more of these!
Wisconsin coming up this week!
I'd call 3 trains per direction per day a major rail hub for the US, considering larger cities like Tucson have 3 trains per direction per WEEK!
That’s kind of depressing to think about lol
Better than Phoenix of course. The fifth largest city in the US has a total of ZERO long distance trains that stop there. You have to go to Maricopa, about 30 miles south, to catch the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited. The platform at Maricopa is only big enough to serve a single car at a time!
Very personalized station hours. 🤓
Very specific indeed
Hey Thom! 4 trains per day in a town like Galesburg fairs well vs 3 times per week to Cincinnati???
Speaking of Mormons I think that Salt Lake City has some kind of light rail system and a railway linking to nearby towns although I have never been there.
Kudos for mentioning that Lincoln’s initial motivation wasn’t abolition.
About 30 miles southeast of Quincy is the historic site of New Philadelphia, Illinois, a town founded by a former slave from my hometown in Pulaski County, Kentucky. “Free Frank” McWhorter bought his freedom and that of his family here and moved to Illinois. (Juliet E K Walker, “Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier”. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1983)
Thanks for citing your source, I think this is the most professional comment I’ve ever received! I have to travel around Illinois quite a bit for my job, hopefully one day I’ll get to New Philadelphia. Or maybe even Kentucky? Haha
@@Thom-TRA Thank you for your comment. You’re welcome back in Kentucky anytime.
My Step Grandmother is related to Carl Sundberg!
Wow that’s so cool!
@@Thom-TRA Yes it is!
Interesting! So, Quincy Illinois is the "Quincy" referenced by Chicago Burlington & Quincy railroad. Learn something new every day.
Yep, that’s the Quincy! And Burlington of course is a town in Iowa a little bit north on the Mississippi. The California Zephyr stops there.
i wonder if it gets expanded into Hannibal if they would rename it to the Mark Twain
Could be a cool name
I use the word soda.
I'm going look at this later I'm about to go look for a ExUP Locomotive
Have fun!
I haven't been able to try the new seats on Amtrak but compared to the old purple seats these look uncomfortable to me😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕. Sure the old purple seats didn't look appealing to modern standards but in my opinion they were extremely comfortable. I guess being I have a birth defect in my spine the old seats gave me more comfort on my back and these don't look like they do.
I sadly never experienced the old seats on the single level cars. I do prefer the old superliner seats to the new ones. Though I imagine they’re a nightmare to clean.
@@Thom-TRA from what I've seen of The Superliner Seats on TH-cam they're pretty much the same as the ones that The Horizon had.
Btw, I don't say soda, I say Sodee water.
I wonder if amfleet ii are used on long distance services, why would they also be used on Midwest Intercity routes since the carl sandburg is a Intercity route?
I wonder the same thing
@@Thom-TRA I think since Chicago is the main hub for long distance services, Amtrak decided to use the amfleet ii on their Midwest Intercity routes too, so they can support the horizon cars and Midwest Siemens Venture cars.
I say soda and im from illinois
Proud of you