Crossing the Mighty Mississippi

Back on Tracks

    What a difference a train makes.

    The day started out at the Metra commuter rail station in Fox Lake where we bid adieu to Ernie and Kathy. The ride into the Windy City takes about an hour and a half and because it’s mid-morning, the cars aren’t crowded. Straight as an arrow the tracks course due south and we quickly put Northern Illinois and the ghosts of Al Capone in the proverbial rear-view mirror.

    It’s good there’s plenty of room because we need the space for our overly heavy suitcases. While they aren’t giant by two months in Europe standards, with all the stuff we figured we’d need for a five-week adventure, they are heavy enough.

Fortunately, when we get to Union Station, a couple of kind young guys offer to grab the big ones and schlepp them down the five steps to the platform. We instantly said “yes.” Does that make us old?

    Soon after pulling out of Chicago the terrain shifts from suburban to rural. Handsome brick stations and Prairie-style homes give way to increasingly larger fields of corn and wheat and small towns with homes clustered around towering grain silos, an agricultural society’s answer to the monuments at Stonehenge. It’s a marked contrast to the run back east which is basically tree-lined for much of the way. Here you can see for miles and miles. We notice too, a third crop seems to be sprouting on the plains—windmills. They line the tops of the modest rises that pass for hills in these parts. 

Southern Illinois

    It's harvest time in these parts and the land is dotted with small clouds of dust where harvesters go about their work.

    The only thing blocking the view are the fast and frequent BNSF freight trains passing us in the opposite direction. You only get nanoseconds of a view through the gaps between cars, creating a kind of cinemascope effect, like blinking real fast to make people look like their walking like Charlie Chaplin. 

    The first two days on trains we pretty much headed due west. Today it’s southwest all the way, making the name of the train, The Southwest Chief,” spot on. We get off in Albuquerque tomorrow afternoon although the train's final destination is LA.

On this train our roomette is in a “Superliner” car which is slightly different in design than the “Viewliner” models on the Lake Shore Limited. Both are the same size—3.5 by 6.5 feet. The main difference is that Superliners have two levels because they don’t have to deal with the low bridges found back East. No potty under a shelf in these rooms. It’s down the hall which actually seems to be a better setup.

    Nick our friendly sleeper car steward makes the rounds and hands us the menu for this evening. Sleeper passengers can make dinner reservations and this time the dining car is the next one over. Due to COVID, they won’t seat you in a booth with strangers as was the practice pre pandemic unless you agree. But they don’t socially distance parties either. None of the booths and tables are left empty so quarters are pretty tight.

    Fortunately, they do take out and it isn’t long before Nick arrives at our door with dinner-- pan-roasted chicken breast with fresh carrots and green beans for Roxie and the Flat Iron steak with baked potato for me. It was actually quite tasty, cooked well, and even the Russian judge would give it a 9 for presentation. A marked contrast to the Lake Shore Limited fare. The complimentary adult beverage was appreciated as well.

Photo by Roxie

Just before dark our dessert was a wonderful sunset as we crossed the mighty Mississippi River just before stopping at Fort Madison Missouri. In the next few hours we’ll add Iowa, Kansas and eventually Colorado to our checklist.

    The tracks do seem smoother here although the ride isn’t without a few “What the hell was that?” moments. The next major stop is Kansas City, which of course isn’t actually in Kansas. Now we know how Dorothy felt. But we’ll be asleep or at least pretending we are, looking forward to dreams of sunrise over the desert Southwest.