In 2006 – with a bit of spare cash – we took what can only be described as in the old chestnut  – ‘The Trip of A Lifetime”.  This is a selection from the trip from East to West and back across the USA.

A is for Amtrak

As we travelled the whole trip using Amtrak it seems appropriate to start with 2 photos of locos in California -which was about 1/2 way through the trip.

Generally the service on and off the trains was excellent but the tracks are controlled by signallers paid by the freight companies and freight trains get priority. We never had a single train on time – I think about 6 hours was the worst delay!

B is for Boston

We arrived at Boston on the last stage of our 2006 visit to the US, but we had been a few years previously.

On out first visit we did the customary trolley tour which are always entertaining in any part of the States. Our first driver/guide was Igor. The problem with Boston is that they go on about the Battle of Bunker Hill (which they lost) and the instruction ‘Don’t fire till you see the Whites of their Eyes!’ It gets a bit wearing in the end! They didn’t even invent the phrase – it goes back to the 17th Century.

That said we liked Boston. It was the first place we visited in the US and at the moment our last.

One of the highlights of our second visit was the Kennedy Museum. You will also notice Dartmouth Street and Faneuil Hall.

C is for Chicago.

Our first stop after Washington on the tour. Less than 24 hours which wasn’t enough for this ‘windy’ city. A trolley tour late afternoon after arriving. There was an irritating group of younger visitors annoying the driver – so he dropped them off at the aquarium but forgot to tell them it was closed!

Next morning a walk by Lake Michigan with great artworks including the millennium ball. The bulk of the city transit is the ‘L’ or elevated railway which we didn’t have time to travel.

D is for Dining

We ate on trains for at least 1/2 of our tour – the meals were included in the ticket. The experiences were generally very good – if you could avoid sitting next to a garrulous American or one who wiped everything with an antiseptic cloth. (and that was 14 years ago!)

Breakfast was usually some version of bacon and eggs though on one occasion – to her eternal regret – Angela tried the American staple ‘grits’. They live up to there name!. Lunch was some form of sandwiches and there was a two course dinner.

Bottled Samuel Adams from Boston was usually available and one of the pleasures was travelling in Parlour Cars like the one on the Coast Starlight down the West Coast. Pictures below. Great Steward on this one!

E is for Emeryville and Oakland.

Although San Francisco had many municipal trains. trolleys etc, the main line form Seattle to Los Angeles does not cross the bay into the city.

Southbound you de-train at Emeryville and cross into SF by bus. When leaving to continue south you cross the bridge by bus to Oakland to continue your journey. More about San Francisco later in the alphabet.

The problem when we were there was two-fold. firstly the southbound train for Los Angeles was 3 hours late and when we arrive at LA our bags are still in Oakland!

Oakland is one of those cities with the main railway running down a main street. The sign in the photo was near the station.

F is for Flagstaff AZ

Flagstaff is a city in central Arizona. We have only been once but we love it. It sits at 7000ft above sea level so the air can be a bit thin and there are mountains to the East. (Picture 1). It has at least three claims to fame. It is on Route 66, the home of the Lowell Observatory ( picture 2) where Pluto was discovered and is a convenient train stop to visit the Grand Canyon (See G !).

We arrived at Flagstaff Station (Picture 3) early morning and after a brief rest had breakfast in a diner on Route 66. The station booking clerk in sorting out an upgrade for us was brilliant. flagstaff station has only 2 passenger trains per day – the Up and Down South West Chief. There are however over 100 freight trains per day on what was part of the Santa Fe railroad.

Even better are two (now three) brew pubs being the Arizona Brewing company and Beaver Street Brewery. The latter did excellent food.

G is for Grand Canyon

It does matter how many photos you take, or hours of video you film you can beat just having been there! (See picture of grockles!)

We travelled on a minibus tour from Flagstaff (see F !) with about 8 others and a knowledgeable driver/guide. Our first stop was Bright Angel – near the terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway. Terrific views, watching the mad idiots on the very edges and seeing people at the bottom of the canyon. They have since built a horseshoe shaped glass walkway out from the edge. No No No!

We also travelled east along the South Rim to the Hopi Tower Picture 4) and stopped at a Pueblo village ruin for a picnic lunch. There was snow on the ground as we were over 7000 ft. We were also privileged to see a small group of elk.

H is for Hollywood

During our short stay in LA it seemed compulsory to do a trolley tour passing studios and into the Hollywood area.

We got closer to the famous sign than the view from the hotel window. We called at Hollywood Bowl and past various studio entrances. I recall the guide telling us about where certain people live but I wasn’t interested enough to remember. He did say that residents did not like to regular visits by tourists.

We did a tour of Universal later but this was restricted to shops and displays – nothing to do with actual filming.

I is for Izaak Walton

Amtrak’s Empire Builder service crosses the United States from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, travelling just south of the Canadian border.

In the State of Montana the train crosses the Rocky Mountains and passes through the Glacier National Park. We passed by as light was falling but the snow covered mountains were spectacular.

So where does Izaak Walton – writer of The Compleat Angler – come in? Well an Inn in the small town of Essex, halfway between West And East Glacier – is named after him! (1st picture)

J is for Jewellery

Not much by way of ‘J’s on our trip. Angela has an interest in jewellery – not the expensive diamond type stuff (fortunately) – but local stone from the area.

On our way from Flagstaff to Chicago on the South West Chief we passed through New Mexico and the main stop was Albuquerque. The station there was apparently relatively new the and the train stops there for a good while of re-fuelling, crew changes etc.

As we pulled in we noticed long line of tables packed with wares from Native Americans and Mrs MT could not resist the black Haematite necklace or the greenish one in turquoise. As you can see from the picture it was a beautiful clear and very warm day.

K is for Kennedy

As mentioned under B for Boston we visited the Kennedy Museum on our second visit to the city.

All ex-presidents since Hoover have left a library of their presidential papers for the use of the public. Obama’s library is likely to be mostly digital, but all the other 13 are in designated buildings.

We found thte artefacts from his successful election campaign in 1960 very interesting in particular, but the whole place was well worth the visit.

These pictures are internal – the one of the building is under ‘B’

L is for Los Angeles

I’ve already mentioned out Hollywood tour. On the other day we took a Metro ride south with the intention of getting to one of the Pacific beaches. We only had a limited time and a fatality on the line put an end to that idea.

We did visit Chinatown the station for which is built in a Chinese style. We bought some items in the big market there.

The main Los Angeles Station by way of contrast is very Spanish in its look. It was there we encountered the only unhelpful Amtrak employee but compensated with good beer in the station Bar.

M is for Metros

Like the UK Metro and other light transit systems are expanding in the US. We travelled on those in Los Angeles, Washington and Boston. The first two were very modern and efficient though it took us about 15 minutes to work out the ticket machines in Washington.

Seattle does have an aerial railway but that was out of action as a carriage had hit one of the buildings it passed en route.

San Francisco has all sorts including BART -Bay Area Rapid Transport -more under ‘S’.

Boston is referred to in ‘Charlie on the MTA’ a song from the Kingston Trio from 1959. Charlie didn’t have 5 cents to exit the subway so was destined to spend his life riding it.

The pictures are Washington, Chicago Metro from the road and LA.

N is for New York

Cheating a bit as New York was on our previous trip. But you cannot do an American alphabet without the big city.

It was our second visit but longer than the first, staying in an apartment type place near Central Park. We did all the tourist things – a tour round Manhattan by boat using the Hudson and east Rivers, Angela went up the Empire State Building – I just went into the Chrysler Building where I was told politely but firmly not to film inside.

Also a ‘London’ Bus tour around all areas including Harlem and a subway trip across the Brooklyn bridge then walk back.

And I found real ale breweries and bars – of course!

O is for Observatory

As mentioned under Flagstaff we visited the Lowell Observatory just outside the town. a fascinating place, famous for the telescope used by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 when he discovered Pluto.

The observatory was founded as long ago as 1894 by Percival Lowell of Boston and is still run by one of his descendants.

Pluto has had an up and down career as a planet. Originally thought to be the 9th planet in the solar system it was eventually down-graded to a dwarf planet and there are similar bodies in the same region.

The observatory was used by NASA in mapping the moon and was visited by many of the proposed Apollo astronauts. It is quite high up, the air is thin and it is in a dark sky region.

P is for Poughkeepsie

Again I am returning to our stay in New York. A trip to the big apple is not complete without a visit to Grand Central Station – surely the most magnificent station in the world. As well as a visit we also took a ride on a local service along the Hudson river travelling to the city of Poughkeepsie about 75 miles north.

There is nothing remarkable about the place which is typically American but the views from the train were excellent.

I didn’t get many pictures of Grand Central on this trip so below we have two of Poughkeepsie and one of the Hudson River.

Q is for Question

and the question I get asked – is there any decent beer in the US? The answer is yes.

Numerous small breweries and brew pubs can be found all over the States. The beer is a little fizzy compared to our real ale but generally is pretty good. You will also find imported UK beers such as Bass, Fullers ESB and Coniston Bluebird.

I’ll mention a few we visited:-

Washington – Capitol Brewing Company – beer brewed on the premises. DA Front room taps – see beer menu – a common idea over there.

Chicago – Clarks Ale House.

Seattle and other places – Rock Bottom – a small chain of Brew Pubs.

San Francisco – lots – and more nowadays. 21st amendment after the one that abolished prohibition ) Thirsty Bear.

Flagstaff – ABC (Arizona Brewing company, Beaver Street Brewery.

Boston – the Sevens. Sold Bass and Rick Wakeman had been there

R is for Railway Architecture

I have already referred to stations like Grand Central and Albuquerque, but it seems as if there has over the years there has been a civic pride in American cities to have an imposing station as a landmark.

Cities like  Washington and Seattle – see below – have particularly imposing buildings. I mentioned our trip to Poughkeepsie and although this is a small city (or large town in our terms) it too has a large booking hall -see photo 3.

You can also look back at Flagstaff for a smaller but still pleasant building.

S is for San Francisco – Part 1

We aimed to be in SF for our 35th Wedding Anniversary and it didn’t disappoint.

Lunch (including Clam Chowder) overlooking the bay and Alcatraz, It is a bit like Blackpool on a Sunday! Evening going round places like Chinatown – eating and also drinking real ale

Next day – Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, movie locations like Towering Inferno on a guided trolley tour (converted bus!) It was excellent though going over the Golden Gate at speed was a little unnerving! And for the first time (over 55 here) we were classed as seniors!.

Another suitcase had to be bought due to excess purchasing by ………

Also travelled on the F-line – streetcars from all over the world. Trolleys tomorrow!

T is for Trolleys (San Francisco 2!)

Although we have been on quite a few ‘trolley’ tours in US, they are just converted road vehicles. Nothing is quite like the real San Francisco Cable Car system.

From a maximum of 23 routes, there are now only 3 routes effectively left and we travelled them all – at least twice!. One set of 2 lines is operated using single ended cars and therefore need to be turned at each terminus (Picture 1). The other line has double ended cars.

The system operates by a grip being closed over a continuously running cable below street level. This is operated by an employee called a ‘grip’ and there is also a conductor..

One of the most interesting places – to me – in SF was the cable car museum. Sited over the powerhouse you can see the drums operating the cables, and there are other exhibits as well. (other 2 pictures)

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People till ride these by hanging on as seen in films etc and there are many accidents each year.

U is for United States of America!

There are 50 states – 48 in the main land area plus Washington D.C. We managed to travel through 23 + DC – nearly 1/2.

Most of our journey was in the north and west so we missed out on the Southern States.

The Amtrak Empire Builder runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland and travels through 8 states along the border with Canada.

Pictured are three stations on the route – St Pauls in Minnesota, Williston in north Dakota and Havre in Montana. Station stops were for refuelling, re stocking – and smoking!!

V is for View from the Train!

This is really a continuation of yesterday when I mentioned the number of States we had passed through. Yesterday’s photos were from the Empire Builder.

Today these are from the South West Chief – the Amtrak service form Los Angeles to Chicago. They only cover the journey from Flagstaff onwards as the first section was at night!

We have the spectacular scenery of Arizona, the giant Mississippi River and Fort Madison in Iowa. We would dearly love to return to see places like Monument Valley in AZ. We cross the Mississippi on a giant bridge which has a swing section. The river traffic takes priority over rail and we had to wait for the bridge to be closed. Fort Madison was the scene of many battles etc though I think the picture is of a replica.

W is for Washington.

Nearing the end of the alphabet but covering our first stop.

Washington seems a typical capital city with the usual Government Buildings, museums etc (and rough sleepers). A day and a half was probably not enough. for instance didn’t have time to visit the Smithsonian but went to the White house, the Capitol, Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. close to the latter are the Vietnam (see picture) and Korea Memorials – both interesting and very moving.

Lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe -very good – but miss seeing George Bush at the hotel. Lots of security outside but as residents we just walked in without query – and AMT was wearing a rucksack!

X is for Crosses and Crossings.

In an alphabet like this X is always difficult and leads to bending the rules!

I have chosen Arlington Cemetery for Crosses and Railways for Crossings.

I mentioned under W that we visited Arlington – mostly to see the Kennedy Memorial but we were quite late and were within 20 feet of it when a polite steward/guard said we had to leave as they were closing. No chance of us sneaking a quick look. The cemetery reminds me of the picture of the Commonwealth Cemeteries in Europe.

An enormous number of rail/road junctions in the US are light controlled crossing rather than bridges. some do’t even have lights or warnings. The trains do the warning by hooting from miles away. The first crossing is in Dolton Illinois – headquarters of Union Pacific and the second in Flagstaff. At the latter some 100 trains a day pass – but only 2 are passenger trains – the Up and Down South West Chiefs.

Y is for New York!

Well – we didn’t go anywhere beginning with Y and New York is so good they ‘named it twice’ !

So here are a few classic sightseers shots from our 2004 trip. not necessarily in order but there is the

Flat Iron Building,

Liberty (which we found underwhelming),

Owls in the Natural History Museum ( the whole tale had to have owls somewhere!)

River Bridges- one is Washington Bridge I think

Times Square at night

Carnegie Hall

One of the memorials at Ground Zero.

Z is for The End.

After 7475 train miles, 23 states, 7 cities and 3 weeks we left Boston at the end of the ‘holiday of a lifetime’!

And there is the plane that brought us home.

The trip was planned by me but the bookings were all done by Paignton based travel adviser Suzanne Wren. Almost faultless.

For all its problems, then and now, the US is a great place to visit. Very welcoming, very interesting, and we’d go again (if the Lottery comes up!).