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Austin to Seattle - A Train Travelogue
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Chandra Mouli
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Austin - Chicago
I began my trip from Austin, TX on a cool sunny day in March. I took a cab from home to reach the Austin AMTRAK station (a small non-descript building in North Lamar St.). The cab driver had to get directions to get me to the station -- so much for the popularity of trains here, I thought! He asked me where I was going and I could see a puzzled look in his face when I read out my long itinerary. He wished me `good luck'! AMTRAK train 22, the "Texas Eagle" was supposed to reach Austin at 9.25 AM from San Antonio, but after reaching the station I was told that it is going to be indefinitely late due to the derailment of a freight train near San Antonio. There was nothing to do or see in this small station and it was difficult to while away the two hours it took for the train to pull into the station.
I boarded the train and took a window-side seat. My first impression was very good -- the ride was very smooth, and the superliner coach seats were quite comfortable. To my surprise, the train was nearly full. We passed the Texas hill country and reached the Union Station in Fort Worth around 6 PM. Dinner was served in the dining car and I had the vegetarian pasta which was hot and quite good. This was my first meal in the train, and later I realized that the menu doesn't have much of a choice for vegetarians -- it was the same pasta in different forms, all the time! But it was nice to sit comfortably in the dining car and enjoy the meal as well as the passing scenery through the huge glass windows. The service was very professional and friendly and contrary to what I thought earlier, it was not that expensive. Sleeping was not much of a problem as the coach seats in the superliner's were quite spacious and had leg rests. The gentle rocking motion of the train puts us to sleep quite fast! The only time I could hear the train's motion was during the opening of the vestibule connecting the coaches. Early next morning, I woke up to see the beautiful country side in Missouri near Poplar Bluff. The train was already three hours late, but no one seemed to bother! We reached St. Louis, Missouri around 10.00 AM. AMTRAK stations are in general located right in the downtown area and this gives us an opportunity to pass right into the city and see several well known landmarks. We had a full view of the famous arch, and in fact when we left St. Louis, we passed right under the arch. Within couple of minutes, we had the first unobstructed view of the beautiful Missouri river, and we entered into the "Land of the Lincoln" -- Illinois. We passed through nice little towns and idyllic country side on our way to Springfield, Illinois, the state capital. (Incidentally, the ``Texas Eagle'' passes through three state capitals -- Austin, Little Rock, and Springfield.) At Springfield we were already three hours late -- I noticed this throughout my train journey -- the trains were never on time, at least an hour or two late! When I asked for the reason behind these notorious delays I was told that AMTRAK shares the tracks with freight trains, and it was very difficult to coordinate the schedules with them. Most the train routes have single tracks and it is very easy for a slow moving freight train to clog the track. I was relieved when the train attendant assured me that I will be able to take my connecting train to Seattle (the ``Empire Builder'') in Chicago. AMTRAK made arrangements to delay its departure by few minutes to enable us to take the connection. I reached the `Windy City' of Chicago at 3.20 PM and boarded the "Empire Builder". The Union Station in Chicago is very big and beautiful -- unfortunately, I had very little time to see the station.
Chandra Mouli
