Sweet home, Chicago !!

G'day trendsetters,

                                I have just spent 3 days in the windy city, and though it looked a bit scary on the way in on the Empire Builder, after 2 days walking and riding on the Metra trains, it's not that bad at all!!  I walked from Union station down to the Metra electric line, about 10 blocks I think, and it was a nice walk and I saw the elevated rail that the city is known for. Remember the scene from the Blues Bros as the race down under the girders that support the tracks over the streets, well, I was there and I couldn't stop thinking of Jake and Elwood screaming past..LOL

The guys and girls who work on the Metra were fantastic, the conductors are friendly, helpful and have loads of personality and made the trips so easy, especially for an "alien" from down under! I didn't make it out to the train watching platform at Rochelle, too far without a car , so maybe next time? Spent yesterday at the Science and Industry Museum, a wonderful place that really needs more than a day to see properly, but I saw their massive HO scale layout with some impressive scenery and a great model of Chicago city! 

 Off to Omaha today on the "California Zephyr" to meet up with another you-tuber to show me around and take me to Bailey yard in North Platte! 

Hooroo for now Groovers!

                                           Gregg.

More of Montana!

 

G'day all from Chicago, the windy and rainy city today!
                                                                                         Had a great time with Scott (the Scot) at the Isaac Walton Inn , even with daytime track closures..can you believe it!, we managed to get some great video of BNSF trains running through spectacular scenery! I'll be going back there for sure! Scott then drove us all the way to Helena, to visit his favourite location of Mulan's Pass, a 2.2 percent mountain grade of the BNSF with helper service by the Montana Rail Link (MRL) Fantastic scenery and big trains with four SD70 Aces pushing hard to get tonnage over the Pass. Loco's are in Notch 8 and down to 10 mph grinding their way up the hill, sounds unreal and the ground literally shakes as they go by. We spent 3 days there and guess what, more daytime track work!!! Scott was disappointed as there is usually many more trains , but it was still a great visit and I thank him so much for taking the time to drive half way across the state to show me around..thank you Sir!

Then it was back on the "Empire Builder" to visit  "Railman Fuzz" in Staples , Minasota, another great You-tube friend who took time out to show me around, along with his train loving nephew, 8 yr old (going on 28) Mr "D" Dylan. What a great pair , they know the Staples sub inside out and while the scenery is not as dramatic as in Montana, the trains and curves were more than enough fun and we got some top footage and some good horn blasts too! Normally there is plenty of older power on the Sub, but with traffic down a bit , and a lot of new locos arrived, it was mainly newer power but we did see a few Geeps and SD60M's in yards, so pretty cool just the same! Fuzz put me up at his place and picked me up and dropped me off at the station, a 40 min trip each way, so thanks again mate for all your help! See you again!

A rest day for me today, it's a bit hectic planning a trip as you go, so with the weather being lousy . I will do some planning for the week ahead! Going to the Science and Industry Museum tomorrow, a must see in Chicago and full of machines and technical stuff and recommended by everyone!! Trying to get out to the train viewing park at Rochelle, a bit of a distance from here so will  see what happens? Beautiful scenery coming into Chicago by the lakes and Mississippi river, saw barges and locks at dams, I kept thinking it's the ocean, but we're a long way from that..LOL

Next stop is Omaha, were I will travel to North Platte, Nebraska, to visit Union Pacific's "Bailey Yard", the largest rail yard in the world, so stay tuned for that!!  Trying to upload a few short videos, but free WI-FI is too slow for even the shortest clip, but I will keep trying! Thanks for watching and bye for now!
Cheers Gregg.

Izaak Walton Inn, Essex Montana.

G'Day everyone,
                           I'm now at the famous Izaak Walton Inn, built by the Great Northern Railroad in 1939 for rail workers and later passengers. The Inn is in the heart of the Glacier National Park and in winter is a mecca for cross country skiing . It's also right on the BNSF transcon mainline between Chicago and Seattle, so plenty of trains round the clock. Scott, a friend from you-tube has driven all the way from Seattle to show me his favourite filming locations!. Unfortunately, my dream run with the weather has come to an end, so we are sitting in the Inn watching trains from the balcony and from inside by the fire :-).We have spent 2 nights in a beautifully fitted out BN (Burlington Northern) Caboose....how cool is that!! , and the next 2 nights in a trackside room at the Inn. The upsides there has been track work traffic is very low so we're not missing many trains, but we managed to fim a few on our first day here.

          I caught the "Empire Builder" from Seattle to the Inn and it was a great trip in one of Amtrak's huge Superliner sleeper cars. From here Scott is taking me to his favourite locations in Mullan Pass, not too far from here.

Hooroo for now ,
                           Cheers Gregg.

Banff to Vancouver

G'Day all,
                The trip on the Rocky Mountaineer was spectacular, apart from the first class service on board the train, the scenery was amazing, changing from sheer rock faces to lush forest and raging rivers. Vancouver was a great city full of trains!!, the areas surrounding the city are full of industry with lines everywhere and I have to come back to explore some of them as 2 days is not even close to see even a small part of it! Spent a few hrs riding the robotic "skytrain"system, a mainly overhead and underground rail system which is fast and very easy to use, a bit freaky as there's no driver but you soon get used to it..LOL.

Two very gracious model railroaders showed me some of the hot spots and we went back to a friends house to view his layout, thanks heaps guys for a great night!
On the way to Essex in Montana and the Izacc Walton Inn, set in the beautiful Glacier National Park it will be home for 4 days! Sitting in Seattle now waiting to board the "Empire Builder" for the overnight trip to  the Inn.
Cheers for now!
Gregg.

More of Lake Louise .

More shots of the stunning scenery at the Lake!. The Hotel is in a National Park, so you are free to visit the lake and surrounding trails anytime. But if you wish to take in the luxury that the Fairmont is famous for, have deep pockets , it's 5 star service at a premium (ouch!!) price..LOL But you have to do it once!!
Gregg.

Lake Louise.

 
G'day all,
                 The last three days have been spent at the historic and opulent Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. This is a scene out of a movie and the lake is still semi frozen so I got the best of summer and winter scenery. The ski season only finished 2 weeks ago at Lake Louise fields, so there is still plenty of snow on the ground and today I hiked 10km through the trails around the lake, many of them with knee deep snow and deeper!!! More photos of the stunning lake and Hotel to come.
In Bannf tonight for 2 days to catch some CP action on the main line, then board the Rocky Mountaineer on Wednesday.
Hooroo for now.
                           Gregg :-)

G'Day all,

                 Today saw more great CN trains in crystal clear morning skies, even a black bear on the tracks was captured by "Fishplate Films"  ..LOL Then a fantastic day in the snow on top of Whistler Mountain. caught the cable car up to the snow and then walked another 200m up to the summit!! My first ever "real" snow and it was in beautiful warm sunshine!! Only a day and a half left in Jasper then off to Lake Louise!

Hooroo for now,Gregg ;-)