Pushme-Pullyu

Saturday started with a quick trip back to Hertz, to return the lumbering beast. I’d ordered a cab the previous evening, to pick me up from there at 8:30am, and surprise, surprise, he was there on the dot. Auckland cabbies could learn something from this!!!!

A quick 5 minute drive to Eugene Station, left me with plenty of time before my train’s scheduled departure at 9:15. This train, the 1004, was a push-pull service which arrived from Portland just before 9:00, and then disappeared back towards Portland, on time, with me on board.

It was an interesting consist, with an F40PH locomotive on each end, and one single level coach and a snack car sandwiched between. The only bugger was that there was no checked baggage service, so I had to wrestle both bags on board, and nearly blew a foo-foo valve in the process. I breakfasted on the train, partaking in something Amtrak euphemistically call a ‘Breakfast Sandwich’. It was actually a hot Bagel, filled with a sausage patty and scrambled egg. Odd, but actually quite nice when accompanied with a coffee.

We duly arrived in Portland, Oregon after a couple of hours traveling through mainly open farmland – more cropping than livestock, with a few stops in smaller towns en route. The last 20 minutes or so were alongside the Willamette River, through scenery remarkably like the section of SH1 that parallels Lake Karapiro back home. Very pretty, and a pleasant contrast after the rather dry, depressed looking cropland further south.

The approach to Portland Union station is via a very impressive two-level steel bridge, with the railroad on the bottom level, and vehicular traffic up top. The station itself is very impressive, and what was even better was having my baggage whisked away by a waiting attendant, straight to the very posh lounge reserved for us up-market types traveling onward by sleeper. Frank, the helpful lounge attendant sorted me out, so I was ticketed all the way through to Boston, and also checked my big suitcase all the way through to there as well. That is quite literally a big load off my mind, and I won’t need to worry about it until after I pick up my next rental car in Boston.

I had a four hour layover in Portland before my first leg on the Empire Builder. Hmmm – what to do?