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The Backside of Life

By Barbara Trebacz



Being an avid rider on the Amtrak train, gives me much heartfelt joy. Amtrak passengers get to see small town America at its best. Spending the hours riding the rails, visiting with folks from all walks of life I would never encounter elsewhere, listening to the clickity-clack of the train wheels as they glide down the track, is one of my favorite reasons to travel the rails.

Watching the towns and cities go by, just seeing the names on the water towers, glancing down Main Street, peering into neighboring backyards, and folks stopping to wave as the Amtrak train rambles by, makes a smile come to my face.

You can’t be in any hurry on the train; it will get there when it gets there. They do try very hard to be on time. The Lincoln Service Amtrak leaves Chicago, going to St. Louis. It changes into the Ann Rutledge that runs from St. Louis to Kansas City, daily westbound. The Lincoln Service and the Ann Rutledge are one of the same; changing names when reaching St. Louis. This Amtrak train is a single level train with just coach class cars and the café car which also has the business class seats.

The coach class seats are soft and comfortable with lots of stretch out leg room or put your unshod feet in the seat. The west bound train is called the Kansas City Mule that runs daily from St. Louis to Kansas City. The east bound Amtrak is called the St. Louis Mule train that runs daily from Kansas City to St. Louis. Only the Ann Rutledge-Lincoln Service goes from Chicago to Kansas City in one trip daily without you getting off to change trains. You can bring your own snacks or buy food in the café car on all the trains. They have brats, burgers, cold sandwiches, chips, cookies, cinnamon rolls, soda, beers, and wines, etc.

My favorite Amtrak train is the California Zephyr that travels from Chicago, Illinois to Emeryville (San Francisco), California. I take the Lincoln Service Amtrak train from St. Louis to Chicago then catch the Zephyr at the Chicago Union Station. I usually take bottled water, crackers, cheese, cookies, beef jerky, and some sort of fruit when I travel. That lasts me until I get to Chicago after a full day of travel before I board the Zephyr for the night travel to my next destination. At the Chicago station, if time permits, there are numerous restaurants to choose from to buy food to take on board. Hold on to your hats folks, this is one huge three level train station. Get help if you are lost or you may miss your train. It’s a long walk to get from the station in Chicago to the train so wear comfy shoes.

The California Zephyr is a double Decker train with sleeper cars that have beds and their own bathroom which are more expensive than coach class, the real china fancy white table clothed dining car, and the observation car that is all windows for a panoramic view with the café downstairs for smaller meals and is much cheaper than the dining car. They show movies in the observation car most nights, early for children, later for adults. The coach seats are huge whether you travel alone or with a companion, with a foot rest for each seat that pops up so you can have your legs level with you body when you sleep. They even give you a little puffy pillow with case or bring your own to use for the night. So lay your seat all the way back, grab your blanket (you did bring one didn’t you? and slipper socks to wear on your feet?) and bundle up for the night. Some of the train cars can be a little nippy air wise.

When I travel from my car to another one, I always write my car number on my hand so if I get lost I can find my way back to my seat, silly, but it works for me. Sometimes there may be 20 cars on the Zephyr the day you travel so be prepared to know which car your seat is in. You can also bring your own food on this train. Be prepared food wise because some of the cafes close at 11 p.m. Be sure if you snack and stay up all night, you have some food and drink. Can’t you just hear that special horn whistle sound Amtrak engines make when they come to a crossing. It lets you know that we may be coming to another small town in U.S.A., so look out the window and enjoy the view.

Just sit back and relax, read a good book, do your business paperwork, play a game on your laptop computer or watch a movie on your DVD player or just look out the huge curtained windows. Almost all children love trains. The conductor talks to them, they can watch out the windows, watch a movie or run up and down the isles. You don’t have to worry about the other passengers being mad their kids are running with yours. Bedtime is quiet time on the train so rest easy.

Travel cross country and meet true Americans; to really see our beautiful United States, take the Amtrak train. Getting to your destination is more than half the fun. All Aboard!



Lesson by Train

By Shelly McCaskill

My hope with the train stories, is for everyone who has an interesting story, jump in and write it down. My first memorable train experience just so happens to be sort of scary, but don't let that set a tone for the rest of the contributions. We want all styles and types. If it is of interest to you, we'll find it interesting too, so please give it a try. Here is my personal train experience...



Forty-two years old now and still, a chill runs up my spine when I think of my close call from over 25 years ago.

Growing up in the small town of Hermann, Missouri, back in the early 80's, we kids were always searching for things to do. Cruising was the choice for the night and eight of us decided to squeeze into a friends big old Bronco. At the time, there was not the beautiful riverfront park all paved and lighted as there is now. Back then, there was a little gravel circle drive that ran past the bait shop, paralleled the track, then came back up over the tracks right behind the Sav-A-Lot. Now here is where kids will be kids. Calvin, the driver, noticed the dusk to dawn light behind the Sav-A-Lot was on, and he said if you pointed your headlights just right as you came up over the tracks, the headlights will turn off the dusk to dawn light. Wow, now that has to be some fun! So that's what we did.

Being in the middle of the front seat and sitting on the console, I had a birds eye view looking out of the broad windshield. I remember the truck climbing up the hill and we stopped on the tracks. Calvin flashed his bright lights, but we had missed the target. He put the truck into reverse to back up and try it again, and though my concentration had been focused ahead on the light, another glimmer of light caught my eye, not ahead of me, but to my right. As I turned to look that direction I saw a bright light shining directly at us. At that moment, as I was becoming aware of the the situation, which had now switched into slow motion frames. My mind said...A train...but my mouth could say nothing. There wasn't time.

One second...two...that was all we had, but it was enough. As the nose of the Bronco passed the critical point, the train blasted past, horn blowing. The blast of rushing air shook that big old Bronco like a leaf. A shake harder than our Mothers ever could have poured on us to teach us this lesson. No further education required, our lesson was learned. Very quietly, we returned to the rest of our lives.

To this day, I don't think Calvin ever saw the train till it was in his windshield, but I'm kind of glad things worked out the way they did. Had he seen the train, he might have frozen. Had that happened we would all have died. Perhaps it was God who kept the Sav-A-Lot light burning that night. What do you think?