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?

If Today is Thursday, this must be Oregon

Not quite…. When I woke up around 7:00 am we were just approaching Dunsmuir – our final stop in California. We should have been in Oregon by then, but were running nearly two hours behind schedule. No stress though, as I have no deadlines to worry about today. Feeling like crap this morning. Not sure if it’s the altitude, lack of sleep, or after effects of So-Cal smog. Still, the scenery more than makes up for it, and the coffee sure helps too.

We are passing through spectacular pine forests in quite rugged country. Just the sheer scale of it all is quite breathtaking. Damn near impossible to photograph from a moving train though. After a while we emerge into an area of scrubby grasslands interspersed with wetlands, and the vistas open up as we approach the Oregon border, and our first stop in state number two. Klamath Falls provided an opportunity to go for a wee wander and enjoy the morning sunshine for a few minutes. The conductor on the PA referred to it as a ‘fresh air smoke stop’. Nice oxymoron! I discovered that sometime during the night, a couple of private cars had been attached to the rear of our train. Cool!

Approaching Klamath Falls

Onward we cruised toward Eugene, with the occasional stop, whilst waiting for UP traffic control to clear us further on our way. There seems to be a lot of track maintenance underway, which is causing the delays.

The scenery alternates between open grasslands and lakes to narrow pine filled gorges, and back again, with the transitions being startlingly abrupt at times. Especially when they involve tunnels. Several times I’ve caught myself exclaiming ‘H*ly Sh!t’ as a new and spectacular scene came into view.

My train finally arrived in Eugene just over 2 hours late. When I dragged my bags out of the station, wondering where all the cabs were, I saw something startlingly familiar, and very out of place…. More to follow.