UPDATE (19May17)—or maybe it’s a ‘Downdate’: We’re back from Wisconsin, but I’m down with a nasty cold (are there other kinds?) that seems to be devolving into bronchitis. So you’ll be treated to four full hours of pre-recorded HAH tomorrow. Sit back and enjoy it! /CL
Yup, we’re on the road—or rather rails again, this time on the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, then on the Empire Builder, but only as far as Columbus, Wisconsin. Dr Janie’s brother and his wife, Wally and Barb, picked us up and drove us to their home in Sun Prairie, WI (a suburb of Madison). We’ll also see my cousin Spike, who lives in Madison, and Dr J’s niece Casey and her family as well. The show will be pre-recorded, actually ending early for the last of the season Met Opry and “Prelude to the Met” with David Elliott (12:15). We’ll reverse literal tracks next week, so I should be back for a full four hours on the May 20th.
It’s nice that Amtrak has made a point of retaining the names of some of the nation’s most famous long-distance trains, like the California Zephyr and the Capitol Limited, and others, including of course the two I mentioned above. The Lake Shore Limited has two sections, one originating in Boston, the other in New York. At 6:00 PM (more or less—more on Wednesday as we got delayed in Pittsfield waiting for the eastbound LSL on the single-track line) the two trains meet at Albany-Rensselaer and link up, minus the locomotives from one. Here they are, from Boston on the left, and NYC on the right:
Boston section left, NYC section right, of the Lake Shore Ltd, at Albany-Rensselaer, Wednesday 10May17 (Copyright © L. E. Joiner 2017)
Although the New York locomotive bore the more striking ‘Empire Service’ colors, the pair of P42 Genesis locomotives from Boston won the day, and took over the combined 15-car train, overnight to Chicago.
That’s for the railfans in the audience. I’ll be back live with country music on the 20th. /CL
Mr Engineer take your throttle in hand/take me out to that Dairy Land!