 |
Re: Forget Pittsburgh -- Here's A Better "Golden Triangle"
Author: Tom McCann
Date: 02-09-2011 - 13:50
Here are three trips from 2001 that stick in my mind:
June 2001, from Portland to Wishram and back through the Columbia River Gorge behind SP 4449.
June 2001, from Portland to Philadelphia on the Coast Starlight (Portland-Sacramento), the California Zephyr (Sacramento-Chicago) and the Three Rivers (Chicago-Philadelphia).
On this trip, I had the Cascades (Willamette Pass), the Sierras (Donner Pass), the Wasatch Range (Soldier Summit) and the Rockies/Front Range (Moffat Tunnel route) all in daylight, plus snow falling in the Rockies while enjoying stuffed Rocky Mountain Trout in the CZ's diner.
On the same trip, I was able to photograph the last true Santa Fe Warbonnet F units and the last SP E unit (the F7A/F3B pair and the E9A at CSRM) during my Sacramento layover (they were parked outside), the Big Boy/Centennial combo at Omaha (they were parked outside the old Union Station across from the Amtrak depot, before moving on to Kenefick Park), and a true CZ veteran (former CB&Q dome-sleeper-obs Silver Solarium) as the Amtrak CZ backed into Chicago Union Station.
September 2001, from Washington to New York on the NEC -- my first complete trip on the corridoe, and my first ever time on the corridor north of Philadelphia. I traveled from D.C. to New York while on the American Red Cross disaster response to the 9/11 attacks, having worked the response at the Pentagon and moving on to work the response at the World Trade Center.
June 2001, from Portland to Wishram and back through the Columbia River Gorge behind SP 4449.
June 2001, from Portland to Philadelphia on the Coast Starlight (Portland-Sacramento), the California Zephyr (Sacramento-Chicago) and the Three Rivers (Chicago-Philadelphia).
On this trip, I had the Cascades (Willamette Pass), the Sierras (Donner Pass), the Wasatch Range (Soldier Summit) and the Rockies/Front Range (Moffat Tunnel route) all in daylight, plus snow falling in the Rockies while enjoying stuffed Rocky Mountain Trout in the CZ's diner.
On the same trip, I was able to photograph the last true Santa Fe Warbonnet F units and the last SP E unit (the F7A/F3B pair and the E9A at CSRM) during my Sacramento layover (they were parked outside), the Big Boy/Centennial combo at Omaha (they were parked outside the old Union Station across from the Amtrak depot, before moving on to Kenefick Park), and a true CZ veteran (former CB&Q dome-sleeper-obs Silver Solarium) as the Amtrak CZ backed into Chicago Union Station.
September 2001, from Washington to New York on the NEC -- my first complete trip on the corridoe, and my first ever time on the corridor north of Philadelphia. I traveled from D.C. to New York while on the American Red Cross disaster response to the 9/11 attacks, having worked the response at the Pentagon and moving on to work the response at the World Trade Center.
