Recent content by MccfamschoolMom

You'll probably enjoy your first night's sleep on the TE, then, as a good part of it will be during the layover at San Antonio while it connects to the westbound Sunset Limited.

The hubby and I will be riding the Texas Eagle from Pontiac, IL to Fort Worth in October, and the TE tracks run right past our workplace, so perhaps I can answer a few of your questions. You will be riding the Heartland Flyer (a regional train) to Fort Worth, then boarding the westbound TE to...

That's the typical consist for Chicago-St. Louis. However, the southbound TE consist yesterday (5/6/24) had 1 additional car, and I'm not sure what it was. ETA: 2 engines on the southbound TE today (5/7/24), and back to the usual 5-car consist behind the engines.

I saw the southbound TE go past my town (20 miles NE of the Pontiac, IL station stop) yesterday afternoon with 6 cars behind the 1 engine, which was 1 more than the usual consist Chicago-St. Louis (sleeper + CCC + 3 coaches). Since the Eaglette doesn't stop in my town, it was going by too fast...

True, there are still freight trains using the IL HSR tracks. The passenger trains are faster than they were pre-HSR, though, and one is reminded of that whenever approaching a railroad crossing, by the crossing gates which extend the full width of the street/road, plus crossing gates extending...

I haven't yet seen a map of the proposed Texas HSR route/routes; does this mean no intermediate stops?

Whether or not bridges & underpasses would work in a particular situation might depend on how close homes and businesses are to the existing crossings. In my town, there are businesses and local government buildings quite close to the tracks, so adjusting/splitting 1 of the streets at a 4-way...

When high-speed rail was being implemented in Illinois, the original plan was to eliminate all but 1 railroad crossing in each town the high-speed tracks went through. This idea got a LOT of pushback from all of those towns, especially the small towns like mine, as it would have caused major...

I did a quick search on Bing Travel, and it looks like the nearest place to the Amtrak station is the Great House bed & breakfast, approx. 8 blocks N of the station. The other hotels in Galesburg seem to be mostly near either I-74 (E of downtown) or possibly US 34 (N of downtown), and would...

Since the hubby & I don't consume "adult beverages," perhaps we should just share one of those too-rich chocolate desserts between the two of us. (Although that won't truly be a concern until at least next year, as the portion of the Texas Eagle we'll be riding in the fall has only the flex...

That probably says something about my fellow Illinoisans restocking the TE's cafe car in Chicago -- but it might not be printable! ;)

And there's a fifth car between Chicago & St. Louis. Maybe the St. Louis passengers are eating all the burgers? ;)

Parents accompanying their kids to Galesburg, IL who will be attending Monmouth College in nearby Monmouth, IL (a shuttle bus to campus meets the train) can stay at the Super 8 just a few blocks N of the Monmouth College campus, and next door to a County Market supermarket (handy for snacks for...

Back in the late 1980s, the hubby and I would walk from the convention center in downtown Milwaukee to where our car was parked at the adjacent mall late in the evening, and we were quite uncomfortable even then, as barely 30-somethings. Being in our mid-60s now and totally unfamiliar with...

I knew I'd forgotten something! ;)