I did not want to wade into this mess; however I must disagree with several of the posts. In Ed Emmel's 2nd post above, he mentions that"... the train was full." Really ??? I rode on Saturday; Amfleet cars 'D' & 'E' were 1/2 full, at best. In fact, my wife & I moved from our assigned seats in car 'B' to car 'D' for the return trip from Wishram, so we could enjoy a quieter car & cleaner windows. ( BTW, for $175. each, ya think someone could wipe down the windows the night before ??? ) While chasing the train on Sunday, I spoke with the other Ed in Wishram. He said Sunday's train was "...almost full; we had a family special today."
I do agree with the comments regarding kids roaming the aisles; the door hogs in the baggage car were just as bad. I thought the car attendants would do something about this; I was wrong.
I have been chasing 4449 since 1984; in all those years this was only the 2nd time I have ridden it. Personal finances & work commitments, as well as geography, have limited my riding. Every time I visited her in Brooklyn Roundhouse, however, I would slip a couple of bucks in the donation jar. Hopefully, those members of SPH & TS who attend this fall's convention in Portland, will pass the hat as well. I chose to ride the Wishram trip, rather than the NRHS Stampede Pass run, because the money went directly towards the 4449.