Galesburg Road Trip - Two Days Watching Trains in Galesburg

Here Comes the Train

Galesburg Road Trip - Two Days Watching Trains in Galesburg -  I'm writing this blog update back in Champaign after two great days train watching in Galesburg, IL.  I was up early Tuesday(4/28) morning to drive to Galesburg from Champaign.  Arrived about 10:30 AM and enjoyed meeting the eastbound California Zephyr and Southwest Chief nearing the end of their journey to Chicago.  Later I met the westbound trains - the California Zephyr bound for Emeryville/San Francisco and the Southwest Chief bound for Los Angeles. Took lots of photos so narrowing the selection down for this blog was difficult.  Probably the highlight of the day Tuesday was meeting Maury G the President of the Galesburg Railroad Museum located at the Amtrak station.  Lots of great conversation.  He gave me a personal tour of the old steam engine and other cars including an old Pullman car and a Railway Postal Express car.  He also told me about lots of people from the Galesburg area doing what he called a "breakfast run" on the regional Amtrak Carl Sanburg trains.  Yep, I liked the idea and did do that breakfast run this morning Wednesday(4/29).  What is the breakfast run?  Well, you take the 7:38 AM train to the next stop toward Chicago which is Kewanee, IL.  You arrive at 8:07 AM and walk next door to the station to a restaurant named the Station Inn to eat breakfast and then walk back to the station and catch the 9:44 AM west bound train back to Galesburg arriving 10:14 AM.  Thanks to Maury for alerting me to this opportunity.  It was a great way to earn "double" Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

Traveling I-74 to and from Galesburg was quite easy and traffic was much lighter than traveling I-40 through Tennessee or I-20 through Louisiana.  What a pleasure to be traveling in dry sunny days this whole week.  

Today's excitement -- I've learned not to panic when I encounter "bumps" while traveling so today's "bump" thankfully ended up being more an embarrassment instead of a problem.  Most of you know that I have an i-Phone which I use more while traveling than at home.  Today I was using the Passbook app to store and show my e-ticket to the conductor on the train and all went well traveling from Galesburg to Kewanee.  But when I got off the train and went to eat breakfast I pulled out my phone to check for email and the i-Phone was "dead".  In no way could I nor the very helpful waitress get it to come back to life.  Honestly, this has never happened to me.  Fortunately, the conductor had my name on his passenger manifest so no problem getting back to Galesburg and my car.  Chatted briefly with Maury G and he directed me to the Verizon store in Galesburg.  Oh the embarrassment when I entered Verizon and the very polite representative simply held both the "on off button" and "home button" down at the same time doing what she called are hard reboot.  Problem solved.  I am admitting that I totally forgot about doing a "hard reboot" since I don't remember having to do one before on my two year old phone.  Verizon rep said the phone shuts down like mine did this morning if I have not turned it off and rebooted in a while.  At least I now know what to do if it happens again.

One more day train experiencing.  Tomorrow Thursday(4/30) I will be riding the Illini/Saluki trains to Chicago and back from Champaign.  I begin my journey back home to Nashville Friday stopping again in Metropolis, IL.  I plan to do another blog update Friday evening.

Here are some of the photos I took these past two days.  They are only a small sampling of the photos I will be posting to my photo gallery website after I return home to Nashville.

Maury G of the Galesburg Railroad Museum

Eastbound California Zephyr arriving in Galesburg

Same California Zephyr departing

Eastbound Southwest Chief in Galesburg

Westbound Zephyr arriving Galesburg from Chicago

Sleeper passengers enjoying a fresh air break
I done this several time on past train trips

Lot of utility construction work going on at the Galesburg station

Westbound Southwest Chief

Westbound Southwest Chief

Abraham Lincoln Statue at the Galesburg Amtrak Station

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Wednesday Morning "Breakfast Run" to Kewanee, IL

Illinois has some very scenic Interstate Rest Areas

Illinois has some very scenic Interstate Rest Areas

Back in Champaign
That's the train I will be traveling to and from Chicago tomorrow

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. Also, click on the "blog title" at the top to view this blog on the web.

All my photos are available to view on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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Galesburg Road Trip - First Impressions of Champaign, IL

Amtrak's Illini Arrives Champaign, IL, April 27

Galesburg Road Trip - First Impressions of Champaign, IL - Arrived mid afternoon today Monday in Champaign, IL, for my first night in the Hyatt Place Hotel overlooking the city and the multi-modal Amtrak station.  So, yes, I am impressed and excited for the adventures this week promises. 

I left from home in Franklin Sunday afternoon and drove to Paducah, KY, for late afternoon lunch at Fazoli's.  Of course, I had spaghetti with meat sauce and a salad.  I stayed overnight in Metropolis, IL, and continued my drive into Champaign today.  The trip was almost 400 miles from Nashville.  Both I-24 and I-57 were very pleasant drives with relatively light traffic and only minor construction projects--mostly bridge repair work.

When I checked into the Hyatt Place, the receptionist assigned me to a room on the eighth floor with a great view of the rail road activity.  Since I will be back here Wednesday and Thursday nights, I am hoping for a similar room.  The manager recommended a great deli with a bakery for my late afternoon early dinner and I was very pleased with my beef au jus sandwich with coffee and free chocolate chip cookie.  After my lunch/dinner I walked to the multi modal Amtrak station.  All the city buses and Greyhound also use this station.  Continued to walk around and explore the city and then watched and photographed the southbound Amtrak Illini and northbound Amtrak Saluki trains during the six o'clock hour.  These are the trains I will be riding to and from Chicago Thursday from here in Champaign.  

Tomorrow, I drive about two hours northwest to Galesburg for the real rail fanning.  I'll stay overnight in Galesburg and then return back to Champaign Wednesday. I'll post another update blog Wednesday evening.

Here are a sampling of the photos I took yesterday and today.  Enjoy.

A road trip requires a car so here is my transportation this week.

Train bridge over Ohio River near sunset Sunday night

Train bridge over Ohio River Monday morning

Welcome to Illinois

My very first train sighting in Champaign, IL, Monday

Champaign, IL, Multi Modal Amtrak, Greyhound, and City bus station

A pleasant spot to watch trains "across the tracks" in Champaign

Very walkable city center in Champaign- that's my hotel in the distance in the center

Statue honoring "paper boys" in front of the local newspaper building

Hyatt Place Hotel, Champaign, IL

View of a CN freight train from my room at the Hyatt Place

Amtrak's Illini train arriving from Chicago

Amtrak's Saluki departing to Chicago 

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. Also, click on the "blog title" at the top to view this blog on the web.

All my photos are available to view on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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Road Trip to Galesburg, IL - Packed and ready to travel

Traveling light with only one bag

Road Trip to Galesburg, IL - Packed and ready to travel - Saturday afternoon, April 25, and I am packed and ready to begin my road trip tomorrow afternoon.  My GPS is programmed and ready to go.  Notice that I'm only taking one bag.  

Tomorrow, Sunday morning, I'll be teaching the 4th-6th grade boys 8:30AM Sunday School class and worshiping in the 9:45AM traditional worship service at Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville.  I'll come home after church to change clothes, add any last many items to my bag, and then drive during the afternoon to Paducah, KY, to overnight and then drive on Monday to Champaign, IL, where I'll be staying in the Hyatt Place Hotel near the Amtrak station Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.  Tuesday, I be staying in Galesburg, IL, overnight.

My plan is to do a blog post Monday evening to update you on my first two days of travel.  I'm happy you are on this journey with me.

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. Also, click on the "blog title" at the top to view this blog on the web.

All my photos are available to view on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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Road trip to Galesburg, Illinois, to watch Amtrak trains April 27 to May 2, 2015

Amtrak California Zephyr at Galesburg, IL

Road trip to Galesburg, Illinois, to watch Amtrak trains April 27 to May 2, 2015 - In less than two weeks, I will be driving from Nashville to Champaign, IL, for one overnight stay.  The next day Tuesday I will drive on to Galesburg for a day watching Amtrak passenger trains and overnight in Galesburg.  Two long distance passenger trains Amtrak's California Zephyr and Southwest Chief pass through Galesburg both to and from Chicago with a "fresh air" break for passengers.  The photo above is from my stop in Galesburg in October 2013 on the California Zephyr.  

Wednesday afternoon I will return to Champaign for two night stay.  Two regional Amtrak trains between Chicago and Carbondale, IL, pass through Champaign.  I will be riding the train on Thursday to and from Chicago for a fun outing.  Below is a photo I took from the train while passing through Champaign this past September 2014.  Also Amtrak's City of New Orleans passes through Champaign but does so early morning and late evening.

View of Champaign, IL, from Amtrak's Illini 

Another view of Champaign, IL, from Amtrak's Illini

I do enjoy photographing passenger trains as a "rail fan" so I'm looking forward to visiting two cities I have only passed through on the train. Lots of fun for me to anticipate and experience the arrival and departure of the trains and photographing those trains and surrounding activity. Also Galesburg does have a railroad museum I will check out.

If you would like to check out some of my older photo galleries, check out these galleries which featured the three photos above.

California Zephyr October 2013 - Day 1 Departing Chicago

and

Amtrak Saluki and Illini One Day Trip September 2014

Note to email subscribers:  Thanks for signing up.  There are 45 of you now and I appreciate you keeping up with me as I travel.  I will not be emailing a link to this particular blog post to anyone nor posting a link to it on Facebook.  So I will appreciate you recommending my blog to others and suggesting they sign up to receive these blog posts in their email.  

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. You can also click on the highlighted photo gallery titles to open up the full gallery on a new webpage. Also, click on the "blog title" at the top to view this blog on the web.

All my photos are available to view on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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Hawaii March 2015 - 12 Photo Galleries Added to Reagan's Photo Galleries Website

Diamond Head Volcano and Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii March 2015

Hawaii March 2015 - 12 Photo Galleries Added to Reagan's Photo Galleries - I returned home to Nashville, Tennessee, March 26, to first, very cool weather and now, Spring weather with similar temperatures to those I experienced in Honolulu.  I love 70 to 80 degree days.  During these days I have returned to a somewhat normal routine which included two checkup type doctor visits, one memorial(funeral) service at FBC Nashville, and participation in Palm Sunday worship and Sunday School at Forest Hills Baptist Church.  

I have also optimized and cleaned up my photos from my Hawaii trip and now have updated Reagan's Photo Galleries with 12 new photo galleries in Folder Hawaii March 2015.  I have organized the 12 photo galleries to reflect my daily activities in the same sequence as I experienced them.  So you will see photos such as sunsets, beach activities, etc, in each of the galleries.  Also, I combined both Sundays into one gallery as I attended Sunday School and worship at University Avenue Baptist Church near the University of Hawaii Manoa campus both Sundays.  Lots of photos so I recommend you view them on a desktop or laptop computer as you can view the larger thumbnails of each gallery all on one page and then select the photos you want to view in a larger size.  Yes, you can also view the photos as a slide show if you prefer.

To view my photo galleries on line just click the highlighted links above or here.

Reagan's Photo Galleries

This links to the home page for all my photo galleries.

Hawaii March 2015 Photo Galleries

This links to the 12 photo galleries in the Hawaii March 2015 folder.

Staying home in Nashville for the next three weeks.  My next travel adventure is a road trip to Champagne and Galesburg in Illinois Monday, April 27, to Saturday, May 2, to do some rail fanning.  Both Amtrak's California Zephyr and Southwest Chief pass through Galesburg every day so that is four trains I will see departing and returning to Chicago each day.  One day while in Champagne I'll ride Amtrak's Illini train to and from Chicago.  Look for my next blog posts as I take that trip.

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. Also, click on the "blog title" at the top to view this blog on the web.

All my photos are available to view on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS --  CLICK HERE to sign up your email

to receive each new blog post to Reagan's Travel  and Photo Galleries Update Blog.