Passenger Trains > 1969 Transcontinental Rail Trip

In Part Two of Bob Hughes' 1969 transcontinental trip, he leaves Vancouver and continues down the west coast through Seattle, Portland and on to San Francisco on Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, and Southern Pacific. Story and many photos today on The Trackside Photographer

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/2019/01/10/no-time-to-waste-2/


Edd Fuller, Editor
The Trackside Photographer
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/

This is really a great series.  Thanks for posting the link for us to enjoy.

Great write up and photos.  Can’t wait for part 3.

Wow this was awesome.

Most enjoyable train travelogue, refreshingly with no mention of train food services. Wonder why.

Next time I take Amtrak from Vancouer BC to Seattle, I'll choose the round end observation car. Oh wait. 

Nice old shot of Brooklyn Tower. Which seems to be mistakenly labeled as taken in Seattle.

This brings back fond memories of my trip aboard GN's Empire Builder from Chicago to Seatle, during the summer of 1969. I was sitting in the Great Dome at night. The dome's overhead lights were off. There was a full moon in the sky that was illuminating the inside of the dome, and the Minnesota country side. An unforgettable experience !

curt416 Wrote:
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> This brings back fond memories of my trip aboard
> GN's Empire Builder from Chicago to Seatle, during
> the summer of 1969. I was sitting in the Great
> Dome at night. The dome's overhead lights were
> off. There was a full moon in the sky that was
> illuminating the inside of the dome, and the
> Minnesota country side. An unforgettable
> experience !

Unfortunately I was not able to experience riding the Builder or Great Domes until the mid-1970s after Amtrak took over, but my experience on at least one trip was similar to yours while riding through Kootenai Canyon on the Builder in the middle of the night.  Sitting in the darkened and almost empty Great Dome, full moon reflecting off the mirror smooth Kootenai River, watching the locomotives winding around curves and through tunnels.  It was one of the most beautiful sensory experiences ever, followed in the morning by watching fog rising from the Flathead river near Nyack as we started our ascent of Marias Pass.  Life just isn't better than that!

I rode the "North Coast Hiawatha" from Chicago to Seattle in 1974, riding in an untouched Northern Pacific dome sleeper. I count that as my best train ride ever, although I missed seeing the Milwaukee electrics in Montana by two weeks.