NOLA Trip: Taking the City of New Orleans to New Orleans (Part 1)
About two years ago, Loyola Streetcar line started running in New Orleans. Knowing that I was interested in public transit, phoenix_anew sent me some photos of the streetcar - right from the window of the office building when she worked.
And a thought occurred to me:
"You know," I told her on Twitter. "Now and I can take public transportation from my house to your work."
And she said that it would be pretty cool.
Since then, the idea germinated. When Angie and her boyfriend, jaklocke, were in town for FailCon, she invited me again. At this point, my financial situation was in a better shape than ever before, and it would only improve from there. I made plans to start setting some money aside for the trip, but then, you know, cancer happened. But once I was cleared (and with the help of Christmas gifts from my parents), plans were made and, before I knew it, three months passed. It was Thursday, March 19, and I was at Union Station, waiting for a train. And not just any train - the iconic City of new Orleans.
This particular route has a long history. In some form of another, this train has been linking Chicago and New Orleans together for over a hundred years, making its way through cities and villages across Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. It could be argued that this train route played a vital role in Chicago history - it was one of the routes countless African-Americans who lived in the South took to the Windy City in hopes of finding good jobs and less segregation. A pretty decent chunk of the city's current African-American community can trace its roots to people who made the trip along the City of New Orleans.
March 19: Getting on Board
It was hard not to think about the history of the City of New Orleans as I waited for the train in the Chicago Union Station's iconic Great Hall. Normally, the passengers who ride in coach gather in the North Boarding Lounge (if their train is going north) or South Boarding Lounge (if their train is going anywhere else). But this time, the Amtrak staff specifically sent passengers to wait at the Great Hall.
Over the past few years, Amtrak has been known to do this sort of thing to relieve congestion in the boarding lounges. But that couldn't really been an issue this time - there weren't many other Amtrak trains leaving after 7:00 PM. I can't help but think that this is more of a customer experience thing. Amtrak has been trying to market long-distance travel as unique experience, the sort of experience airplanes and buses can't provide. And the Great Hall is definitely a cooler place to wait than the more utilitarian boarding lounge.
At about 7:45 PM, twenty minutes before scheduled departure, we were asked to get in line and get ready to head for the train. (That's standard procedure. Amtrak tip: always try to arrive at the station at least half an hour before departure) Some passengers took it as a cue to start walking toward the train. After thinking it over, the Amtrak staff decided not to send them back, and to simply have everyone keep walking to the platforms.
As we got closer to the train, I realized something. I've written before about Pullman Rail Journeys, a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Railroad that offers a more upscale train traveling experience to certain destinations. They attach their train cars behind the regular Amtrak trains. And, on some Thursdays, they offer trips to New Orleans, so their cars got attached to the back of our train.
I've written before about Amtrak boarding procedures. You get sorted into different train cars based on where you're headed. From there, the procedures vary. On some trains, it's first come, first sit experience - if you get on board first, you can sit whenever you want, and whoever comes after you gets stuck with whichever seats are available. On others, you get assigned seat numbers before you board.
This time, it was a weird mix of both. The early arrivals - like yours truly - got to pick their seats. But people who came in later came in with assigned seats. I do have to wonder what the method behind the madness is.
This would be as good place as any to talk about who rides the City of New Orleans. There were more then a few people - like me - who rode the train beginning to end. A pretty sizable chunk of people rode the train from Chicago to Memphis - one of the biggest stops on the line. People who rode to destinations within the state, to places like Urbana-Champaign, Kankakee and Carbondale, accounted for another large slice. Many of them traveled to smaller towns outside the state, places that can be much easier to reach by train than by plane.
For most of its existence, the City of New Orleans was part of Illinois Central Railroad, and left Chicago from the Central Station terminal. But after Amtrak took control of most passenger trains, it wanted to put them under one roof - Chicago Union Station. This presented a bit of a problem for trains that used to leave from Central Station. There is no nice, straightforward way to get from the Union Station to the Illinois Central tracks. So it has to make a complicated maneuver where it goes west, backs up onto the tracks that go east and then goes under McCormick Place, over what are now Metra Electric tracks and onto freight tracks nearby.
But all those twists and turns did give me a pretty nice view of the Chicago skyline (which the photo just barely does any justice)
As we left Chicago, it became clear that our train was running a bit late. We reached our first stop - Homewood - 20 minutes behind schedule. Which didn't worry me too much. It was within what I call Standard Amtrak Margin of Error. Now, if we were running an hour late, then I would be a bit worried.
I decided pretty early on to try not to worry about the delays. To be honest, the stressful experience of running into countless delays while trying to reach Washington D.C. hasn't exactly ruined Amtrak for me, but it did dampen my enthusiasm. I was determined to try get some of it back. I figured that I warned Angie in advance that the train might run late, and I didn't strictly speaking need to be there at exactly 3:32 PM.
That is not to say I wasn't worried at all. I didn't want Angie and Jak to spend hours waiting for me, and I would've felt really bad if they did. Even with the warning.
The train traveled at full speed, but it only barely made up the delay. By the time it reached Kankakee, it was running 12 minutes behind.
To be honest, I didn't really do much that evening. After we cleared Homewood, I grabbed my laptop and headed for the lounge car. I bought a cup of tea at the lower level (an old Amtrak tradition of mine) and then headed back to the upper level to take advantage of awesome Superliner Lounge Car chairs.
During the day, they are great places to watch the passing landscape. During the night... there wasn't really much to see. I mostly just sat there and wrote.
By about 10:30 PM, I decided to head back to my seat and get some sleep. One, because I was started nodding off, and two, because I wanted to get up early. Assuming the delays didn't get any worse, the train would arrive at Memphis at 6:00 AM, and we'd have half an hour to get out and walk around. I wanted to get up early enough to brush my teeth, put on contacts, shave and be ready to leave the train once we arrive.
Shortly before I left the lounge car, one of the crew members stopped by. He told the group of passengers playing cards at one of the Lounge Car tables that they should try to get breakfast as early as possible.
"One the people from Memphis get in, they're going to eat everything," he said.
Which, as far as I was concerned, was all the more reason to sleep early.
March 20: Breakfast south of Memphis
Sleeping in coach train cars is very much luck of the draw. On some trips, I could barely get any sleep at all. On others, I slept fairly soundly. The rest were a lot like this one, which went something like this:
But once I did wake up, I went to do the morning routine, finishing just in time to see the train stop at Memphis Central Station.
As I've written before, once passengers get on the train, passengers do have some opportunities to get out and stretch their legs. There are smoke stops, where smokers get a chance to satisfy their cravings (something that federal law forbids them to do on board the train). You don't have to be a smoker to take advantage of this, but you do have to follow the same basic rules - stay on the platform and get back inside as soon as the crew tells you.
And then, there are stops like the Memphis stop, where the train refuels and gets supplies. Because it takes longer, passengers have more leeway to move around - but they still must make it back to the train before it leaves. Otherwise, they risk getting stranded.
Me, I wasn't taking any chances. I stuck to the platform, watching as some passengers got on the train and other passengers got off
While the clew loaded their luggage onto the train. Amtrak gives you a great deal of leeway as to what you can carry with you on board. At major stations like Memphis, Amtrak also offers baggage service, and larger bags must be checked in.
After mulling about fora few minutes, I decided to get back inside. But before I climbed back to the coach car sitting area, I got a picture of what Memphis looked like on the other side of the train.
By the time we left, only slightly behind schedule, sun already started to rise. Well, for a certain definition of "rise" - the sky was pretty cloudy.
Remembering the crew member's warning a day earlier, I headed to the Dining Car to get some breakfast.
If you haven't read any of my previous Amtrak trip logs, this is what a dining car table looks like
And here's what the Dining Car menu looked like. These days, the dining car menus tend to be fairly similar across Amtrak system, but each train menu gets its own, individualized cover.
In dining cars, you get assigned seats based on space, and you almost never get a table by yourself. I shared my table with a British family that was part of a group of eight people. They got on in Memphis, but this was actually just one part of an elaborate vacation trip. They flew into Chicago, spent a couple of days there, took the train to Memphis, spent a day there, and were now heading for New Orleans, where they were going to spend a day before taking a cruise to Panama.
I know, right?
We wound up having a pretty nice conversations about BBC shows, their impressions of Chicago, the differences between trains in UK and trains in United States. Oh, and we spent a good five minutes trying to figure out what that was.
I ordered what I usually order for breakfast in a Dining Car - scrambled eggs with sausage paddies, potatoes and a croissant (the last two are included with scrambled eggs), along with a cup of coffee and a cup of milk.
When I got the bill, I saw that it was about $5 more then I expected. I checked the menu and realized why - drinks were no longer complimentary.
Lesson learned.
Working on the railroad
After I paid he bill, I went back to the Lounge Car. I took a seat at one of the tables and started working. You see, I still had two articles I had to finish before Monday's deadline, and I figured it would be easier to finish them on Friday then to try to wrap them up on Monday, when I would be leaving New Orleans. I didn't really need Internet for much - I had most the info in my notes. And I was actually able to get Internet more than I thought I would. My Clear Wireless router was able to pick up the signal at most stops. If I had to do heavy-duty research, I would be very much screwed, but the signal lasted long enough for my purposes.
(Only downside, really, was that there was one point where the signal cut off just before I could send an article, and I had to wait over an hour until it came back).
I did occasionally pause to take some pictures, but at that point, it was raining outside, which distorted the class. Only a few photos came out alright, and many of those wound up looking kind of depressing.
While I wrote, I couldn't help but overhead a group of passengers discussing everything from Lord of the Rings to religion. Some of the things I overheard... Well...
"Apostle Peter was the biggest retard. He failed at every opportunity." #TrainConversations
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
"The church is not a place for perfect people. It's a hospital for hurt people" #TrainConversations
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
Eventually, a British-Indian student who was heading for a conference of some kind joined the conversation. He and one of the men in the group had a discussion about politics and economics that lasted hours. And while they had very different positions on many issues, they never once raised their voices at each other, never insulted each other. They just presented evidence for their side, acknowledging mistakes and pointing out flaws in each others' arguments. I could tell that they both enjoyed speaking to someone who was their intellectual equal.
It was really quite remarkable.
Greenwood, Mississippi was the next stop. The city played a surprisingly important role in American Civil Rights movement. Looking out the window, I thought the city had its charm - though I figured it looked better in a sunny weather. The pictures I got don't quite do it justice.
After we left Greenwood, there were more fields, forests, rivers and small towns for a while. But I wanted to post one particular picture that, to me, helps show one of the things I find so appealing about train travel. Nowhere else would you get that kind of peek into a day-to-day life of the places you pass through.
Our next stop was Yazoo City, which is best known for its federal prison.
The Yazoo City Amtrak station
A ruined industrial structure of some kind
About half an hour later, the City of New Orleans approached our last smoke stop - Jackson, Mississippi.
Here comes the sun - and warmth
The pictures don't show it, but as the City of new Orleans pulled into Jackson, the clouds slowly started to part.
Slowly but surely, downtown Jackson came into the view
And before long, we arrived at Jackson Union Station.
In recent years, the station became a major transit hub for the city's bus system, and it doubles as the city's Greyhound Bus station. Which makes it a convenient transfer point, especially since the City of New Orleans actually reaches Jackson at a reasonable time.
I knew that Jackson Union Station would be the last smoke stop on the trip, so, of course, I took the opportunity to stretch my legs one last time before we arrived in New Orleans.
I also took the opportunity to get some shots of the Pullman Rail Journeys cars. Because the station platform was never meant to accommodate those extra train cars, they just kind of hung awkwardly out back.
Usually, when you gt off at a smoke stop, it's usually just smokers, plus one or to people like me, who are just there to stretch their legs and take pictures. But at Jackson Union Station, there were plenty of people out and about looking around, taking pictures and taking selfies against the backdrop of the City of New Orleans.
Another thing I couldn't help but notice was the weather. As I prepared for the trip, Angie warned me repeatedly that New Orleans weather would be warmer than the 30-40F weather we've been having in Chicago. The day before I left, she said it would be 80F.
When I got out in Memphis, it was still jacket weather. Before I stepped off the train in Jackson, I decided to leave my jacket off. That turned out to be the right call.
Stepped out of the train for few minutes to get some pictures. -There's- the warmth and humidity @phoenixanew promised :)
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
Even though the smoke stop lasted a few minutes longer than expected, it did eventually have to end. We got called back in, and the City of New Orleans was off.
As the train left Jackson, I got some decent pictures of the city.
Originally, I planned to cover the entire train trip in one post. But it is getting late, and there are so many pictures left to post that I'm honestly worrying about bumping against Livejournal post character limit, so I decided to split the post into two.
So tune in next time as I cover the final third of the journey as the train arrives in New Orleans. Loads and loads of pictures coming your way tomorrow.
-----
And a thought occurred to me:
"You know," I told her on Twitter. "Now and I can take public transportation from my house to your work."
And she said that it would be pretty cool.
Since then, the idea germinated. When Angie and her boyfriend, jaklocke, were in town for FailCon, she invited me again. At this point, my financial situation was in a better shape than ever before, and it would only improve from there. I made plans to start setting some money aside for the trip, but then, you know, cancer happened. But once I was cleared (and with the help of Christmas gifts from my parents), plans were made and, before I knew it, three months passed. It was Thursday, March 19, and I was at Union Station, waiting for a train. And not just any train - the iconic City of new Orleans.
This particular route has a long history. In some form of another, this train has been linking Chicago and New Orleans together for over a hundred years, making its way through cities and villages across Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. It could be argued that this train route played a vital role in Chicago history - it was one of the routes countless African-Americans who lived in the South took to the Windy City in hopes of finding good jobs and less segregation. A pretty decent chunk of the city's current African-American community can trace its roots to people who made the trip along the City of New Orleans.
March 19: Getting on Board
It was hard not to think about the history of the City of New Orleans as I waited for the train in the Chicago Union Station's iconic Great Hall. Normally, the passengers who ride in coach gather in the North Boarding Lounge (if their train is going north) or South Boarding Lounge (if their train is going anywhere else). But this time, the Amtrak staff specifically sent passengers to wait at the Great Hall.
Over the past few years, Amtrak has been known to do this sort of thing to relieve congestion in the boarding lounges. But that couldn't really been an issue this time - there weren't many other Amtrak trains leaving after 7:00 PM. I can't help but think that this is more of a customer experience thing. Amtrak has been trying to market long-distance travel as unique experience, the sort of experience airplanes and buses can't provide. And the Great Hall is definitely a cooler place to wait than the more utilitarian boarding lounge.
At about 7:45 PM, twenty minutes before scheduled departure, we were asked to get in line and get ready to head for the train. (That's standard procedure. Amtrak tip: always try to arrive at the station at least half an hour before departure) Some passengers took it as a cue to start walking toward the train. After thinking it over, the Amtrak staff decided not to send them back, and to simply have everyone keep walking to the platforms.
As we got closer to the train, I realized something. I've written before about Pullman Rail Journeys, a subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Railroad that offers a more upscale train traveling experience to certain destinations. They attach their train cars behind the regular Amtrak trains. And, on some Thursdays, they offer trips to New Orleans, so their cars got attached to the back of our train.
I've written before about Amtrak boarding procedures. You get sorted into different train cars based on where you're headed. From there, the procedures vary. On some trains, it's first come, first sit experience - if you get on board first, you can sit whenever you want, and whoever comes after you gets stuck with whichever seats are available. On others, you get assigned seat numbers before you board.
This time, it was a weird mix of both. The early arrivals - like yours truly - got to pick their seats. But people who came in later came in with assigned seats. I do have to wonder what the method behind the madness is.
This would be as good place as any to talk about who rides the City of New Orleans. There were more then a few people - like me - who rode the train beginning to end. A pretty sizable chunk of people rode the train from Chicago to Memphis - one of the biggest stops on the line. People who rode to destinations within the state, to places like Urbana-Champaign, Kankakee and Carbondale, accounted for another large slice. Many of them traveled to smaller towns outside the state, places that can be much easier to reach by train than by plane.
For most of its existence, the City of New Orleans was part of Illinois Central Railroad, and left Chicago from the Central Station terminal. But after Amtrak took control of most passenger trains, it wanted to put them under one roof - Chicago Union Station. This presented a bit of a problem for trains that used to leave from Central Station. There is no nice, straightforward way to get from the Union Station to the Illinois Central tracks. So it has to make a complicated maneuver where it goes west, backs up onto the tracks that go east and then goes under McCormick Place, over what are now Metra Electric tracks and onto freight tracks nearby.
But all those twists and turns did give me a pretty nice view of the Chicago skyline (which the photo just barely does any justice)
As we left Chicago, it became clear that our train was running a bit late. We reached our first stop - Homewood - 20 minutes behind schedule. Which didn't worry me too much. It was within what I call Standard Amtrak Margin of Error. Now, if we were running an hour late, then I would be a bit worried.
I decided pretty early on to try not to worry about the delays. To be honest, the stressful experience of running into countless delays while trying to reach Washington D.C. hasn't exactly ruined Amtrak for me, but it did dampen my enthusiasm. I was determined to try get some of it back. I figured that I warned Angie in advance that the train might run late, and I didn't strictly speaking need to be there at exactly 3:32 PM.
That is not to say I wasn't worried at all. I didn't want Angie and Jak to spend hours waiting for me, and I would've felt really bad if they did. Even with the warning.
The train traveled at full speed, but it only barely made up the delay. By the time it reached Kankakee, it was running 12 minutes behind.
To be honest, I didn't really do much that evening. After we cleared Homewood, I grabbed my laptop and headed for the lounge car. I bought a cup of tea at the lower level (an old Amtrak tradition of mine) and then headed back to the upper level to take advantage of awesome Superliner Lounge Car chairs.
During the day, they are great places to watch the passing landscape. During the night... there wasn't really much to see. I mostly just sat there and wrote.
By about 10:30 PM, I decided to head back to my seat and get some sleep. One, because I was started nodding off, and two, because I wanted to get up early. Assuming the delays didn't get any worse, the train would arrive at Memphis at 6:00 AM, and we'd have half an hour to get out and walk around. I wanted to get up early enough to brush my teeth, put on contacts, shave and be ready to leave the train once we arrive.
Shortly before I left the lounge car, one of the crew members stopped by. He told the group of passengers playing cards at one of the Lounge Car tables that they should try to get breakfast as early as possible.
"One the people from Memphis get in, they're going to eat everything," he said.
Which, as far as I was concerned, was all the more reason to sleep early.
March 20: Breakfast south of Memphis
Sleeping in coach train cars is very much luck of the draw. On some trips, I could barely get any sleep at all. On others, I slept fairly soundly. The rest were a lot like this one, which went something like this:
- Fall asleep
- Wake up an hour later feeling uncomfortable
- Adjust position
- Fall asleep
- Repeat 2-4 until 5:45 AM
But once I did wake up, I went to do the morning routine, finishing just in time to see the train stop at Memphis Central Station.
As I've written before, once passengers get on the train, passengers do have some opportunities to get out and stretch their legs. There are smoke stops, where smokers get a chance to satisfy their cravings (something that federal law forbids them to do on board the train). You don't have to be a smoker to take advantage of this, but you do have to follow the same basic rules - stay on the platform and get back inside as soon as the crew tells you.
And then, there are stops like the Memphis stop, where the train refuels and gets supplies. Because it takes longer, passengers have more leeway to move around - but they still must make it back to the train before it leaves. Otherwise, they risk getting stranded.
Me, I wasn't taking any chances. I stuck to the platform, watching as some passengers got on the train and other passengers got off
While the clew loaded their luggage onto the train. Amtrak gives you a great deal of leeway as to what you can carry with you on board. At major stations like Memphis, Amtrak also offers baggage service, and larger bags must be checked in.
After mulling about fora few minutes, I decided to get back inside. But before I climbed back to the coach car sitting area, I got a picture of what Memphis looked like on the other side of the train.
By the time we left, only slightly behind schedule, sun already started to rise. Well, for a certain definition of "rise" - the sky was pretty cloudy.
Remembering the crew member's warning a day earlier, I headed to the Dining Car to get some breakfast.
If you haven't read any of my previous Amtrak trip logs, this is what a dining car table looks like
And here's what the Dining Car menu looked like. These days, the dining car menus tend to be fairly similar across Amtrak system, but each train menu gets its own, individualized cover.
In dining cars, you get assigned seats based on space, and you almost never get a table by yourself. I shared my table with a British family that was part of a group of eight people. They got on in Memphis, but this was actually just one part of an elaborate vacation trip. They flew into Chicago, spent a couple of days there, took the train to Memphis, spent a day there, and were now heading for New Orleans, where they were going to spend a day before taking a cruise to Panama.
I know, right?
We wound up having a pretty nice conversations about BBC shows, their impressions of Chicago, the differences between trains in UK and trains in United States. Oh, and we spent a good five minutes trying to figure out what that was.
I ordered what I usually order for breakfast in a Dining Car - scrambled eggs with sausage paddies, potatoes and a croissant (the last two are included with scrambled eggs), along with a cup of coffee and a cup of milk.
When I got the bill, I saw that it was about $5 more then I expected. I checked the menu and realized why - drinks were no longer complimentary.
Lesson learned.
Working on the railroad
After I paid he bill, I went back to the Lounge Car. I took a seat at one of the tables and started working. You see, I still had two articles I had to finish before Monday's deadline, and I figured it would be easier to finish them on Friday then to try to wrap them up on Monday, when I would be leaving New Orleans. I didn't really need Internet for much - I had most the info in my notes. And I was actually able to get Internet more than I thought I would. My Clear Wireless router was able to pick up the signal at most stops. If I had to do heavy-duty research, I would be very much screwed, but the signal lasted long enough for my purposes.
(Only downside, really, was that there was one point where the signal cut off just before I could send an article, and I had to wait over an hour until it came back).
I did occasionally pause to take some pictures, but at that point, it was raining outside, which distorted the class. Only a few photos came out alright, and many of those wound up looking kind of depressing.
While I wrote, I couldn't help but overhead a group of passengers discussing everything from Lord of the Rings to religion. Some of the things I overheard... Well...
"Apostle Peter was the biggest retard. He failed at every opportunity." #TrainConversations
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
"The church is not a place for perfect people. It's a hospital for hurt people" #TrainConversations
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
Eventually, a British-Indian student who was heading for a conference of some kind joined the conversation. He and one of the men in the group had a discussion about politics and economics that lasted hours. And while they had very different positions on many issues, they never once raised their voices at each other, never insulted each other. They just presented evidence for their side, acknowledging mistakes and pointing out flaws in each others' arguments. I could tell that they both enjoyed speaking to someone who was their intellectual equal.
It was really quite remarkable.
Greenwood, Mississippi was the next stop. The city played a surprisingly important role in American Civil Rights movement. Looking out the window, I thought the city had its charm - though I figured it looked better in a sunny weather. The pictures I got don't quite do it justice.
After we left Greenwood, there were more fields, forests, rivers and small towns for a while. But I wanted to post one particular picture that, to me, helps show one of the things I find so appealing about train travel. Nowhere else would you get that kind of peek into a day-to-day life of the places you pass through.
Our next stop was Yazoo City, which is best known for its federal prison.
The Yazoo City Amtrak station
A ruined industrial structure of some kind
About half an hour later, the City of New Orleans approached our last smoke stop - Jackson, Mississippi.
Here comes the sun - and warmth
The pictures don't show it, but as the City of new Orleans pulled into Jackson, the clouds slowly started to part.
Slowly but surely, downtown Jackson came into the view
And before long, we arrived at Jackson Union Station.
In recent years, the station became a major transit hub for the city's bus system, and it doubles as the city's Greyhound Bus station. Which makes it a convenient transfer point, especially since the City of New Orleans actually reaches Jackson at a reasonable time.
I knew that Jackson Union Station would be the last smoke stop on the trip, so, of course, I took the opportunity to stretch my legs one last time before we arrived in New Orleans.
I also took the opportunity to get some shots of the Pullman Rail Journeys cars. Because the station platform was never meant to accommodate those extra train cars, they just kind of hung awkwardly out back.
Usually, when you gt off at a smoke stop, it's usually just smokers, plus one or to people like me, who are just there to stretch their legs and take pictures. But at Jackson Union Station, there were plenty of people out and about looking around, taking pictures and taking selfies against the backdrop of the City of New Orleans.
Another thing I couldn't help but notice was the weather. As I prepared for the trip, Angie warned me repeatedly that New Orleans weather would be warmer than the 30-40F weather we've been having in Chicago. The day before I left, she said it would be 80F.
When I got out in Memphis, it was still jacket weather. Before I stepped off the train in Jackson, I decided to leave my jacket off. That turned out to be the right call.
Stepped out of the train for few minutes to get some pictures. -There's- the warmth and humidity @phoenixanew promised :)
- Strannik (@Strannik_REB45) March 20, 2015
Even though the smoke stop lasted a few minutes longer than expected, it did eventually have to end. We got called back in, and the City of New Orleans was off.
As the train left Jackson, I got some decent pictures of the city.
Originally, I planned to cover the entire train trip in one post. But it is getting late, and there are so many pictures left to post that I'm honestly worrying about bumping against Livejournal post character limit, so I decided to split the post into two.
So tune in next time as I cover the final third of the journey as the train arrives in New Orleans. Loads and loads of pictures coming your way tomorrow.
-----