We were called before the train had been reversed onto the platform, I think mainly as the red cap attendants needed several journeys to get passengers who needed assistance to the train. It arrived 30 minutes before departure, and I quickly settled into my roomette, upstairs in carriage 0430, one of two sleepers on the train. You might think of long-distance trains as enormous, but this one consists of just two sleepers, two coach cars, a baggage car, a dining car, and a sightseeing lounge car. On some routes, extra carriages get taken on and off, but this is the core of every Amtrak long-distance train set.

Once I had a dinner reservation made I unpacked my small bag and set the room up how I’m used to doing, in a way that I know where things are in the dark and the more confined space once the bed is made up from the two seats. I actually hang my bags up, leaving more floor space and I also have a way of stacking devices between the table and the window. This is another one of the slightly older sleepers, so it has an ‘open’ closet cupboard making it feel slightly more spacious inside the roomette. Elsewhere you only really notice its age in the toilets, which are a bit worn out.

The observation car, or ‘sightseeing lounge’ has two different configurations downstairs, but is pretty much the same up top. One version LA to ABQ has a bar-style service counter, the other from ABQ to CHI is a self-service one, with a cashier area.

The food and drink offering is the same. The attendants down here have to ‘sell’ their wares to the coach customers, whereas food is included in the dining car to those in the sleeper coaches. This means a bit too much activity on the intercom with discounted deals and frequent opening and closing announcements.

Coach customers are welcome to come into the dining car, and can pay the prices on the menu.

Overnight California gives way to Arizona, and the cowboy country I wake up to is strangely familiar from all those western movies. But nothing prepares me for the big sky and little fluffy clouds. I surprise myself and get up for an early breakfast, even though we have changed a time zone overnight, back to mountain time. Time zones on Amtrak trains can be tricky if you have a dining car reservation around the time of the change – clarification is needed. Before long we are in New Mexico. It’s cold at night here, and snow lies in shaded areas.

In the late morning, I get off the train in Albuquerque for a planned side trip and get back on the same carriage 3 days later. My off the rails experience were to do with research for my next book, which I’m really getting immersed in at the moment. You will have to wait to see what I got up to!

Back on board in time for lunch, the train gets refueled before setting off east. I meet a man in a white biohazard suit on the lower deck, and he’s clearly trying to fix a plumbing problem in the limited time we have left at the stop. He runs out of time and leaves us with just one of the thee toilets in working order. The shower is fine though, and there are more toilets than needed for the number of people in the adjacent sleeper.

I munch on a Ceasar salad for lunch and discuss all things Amtrak with my fellow passengers. I love the afternoons on a long-distance Amtrak route, I often take a nap after lunch and then spend the rest of the afternoon watching the sun get lower which can make for some good photographs. We reach Colorado in the early evening and its time to freshen up for dinner. I book a community seat at a table for 7.30 pm, about the time we reach La Junta for a crew change. But there is something else going on here. The Engineer says there will be an ‘equipment change’ and the power will go out. What he doesn’t tell us is how long this will take, so I sit alone at a table in the dining car sipping a couple of glasses of wine in the darkness for two hours, when new locos are finally added back on. My steak is a late-night feast, and well worth the wait.

Over breakfast, the really nice lady who serves in the dining car introduces me to the man who fixed the train last night. Its something to do with pumps and flooding, but I avoid technical questions. I eat my usual three-egg omelet with cheddar cheese and mushrooms and enjoy the views of the Kansas prairie.

On the platform at Kansas City I chat with one of the Amish travelers who points out that we have acquired a couple more locos, now four in total as well as some other carriages, the mighty Chief must be quite a sight, but I can’t get far enough to photograph it and the attendant warns me to stay close as we are shortening stops to make up time.

I have lunch with a couple of high school girls on a class trip to Washington. I good chance to ask questions about the latest mobile phones – mine is eight years old. I also get to try out the new Amtrak BBQ pork wings, which are great. More on this in an Amtrak menu post.

We catch up nearly an hour crossing Missouri and into Ilinois. The rail towns are pretty and they all seem to have museums with steam engines trackside. Tempting, but no time to do anything more than a cursory photograph. Eventually, we pull into Chicago Union Station at 4.20 pm. The Chief has covered 2265 miles in around 44 hours. All in all a great run, even though the toilets didn’t work and a two-hour wait for my steak on the run from Albuquerque. It’s all about the staff on a train like this, and the crew on the Chief have been totally first class.

Checking my bag in takes a couple of minutes, and I’m quickly seated in the refurbished Metropolitan Lounge until the train is called about 40 minutes before departure.

A short walk to platform 18, where I’m greeted by a Superliner, a train made up of the Amtrak double-deck carriages. Mine tonight is 5900, where I’m greeted by Lala, who shows me upstairs to my roomette, number 5.

Departure is on time, and the train reverses out before changing direction and skirting round the outskirts of the windy city to head south. The good news is that this train has a double-deck dining car (now called a sleeper passenger lounge) and an observation car with panoramic views and a café/bar car beneath. The bad news is it’s the airline-style catering again.

At first glance, the Superliner roomettes look very similar to Viewliners, but on closer examination, the berths are slightly wider, as there is no en-suite commode. The controls are also different, and there is no wi-fi.

A Superliner has rooms on both decks – roomettes, bedrooms, and also even a family room downstairs, where there are also 4 bathrooms and a shower. I’m in a roomette up top tonight. People walk between carriages on the upper deck only, so it’s busier up here, but easier to get to the dining car next door. I think its quieter below, and there is also noticeably less sway and roll lower down.

Dinner is a disappointing Cajun rice bowl and a glass of Heineken after they send a search party to locate a bottle opener. But service is with more of a relaxed smile now compared to my last journey, where the dining atmosphere was like attending a lesson in primary school.

Lala makes my bed up whilst I’m having my click & ping meal, so when I return I have to unmake it, as its film club in here tonight – a double bill of ‘Live & Let Die’ and ‘Southern Comfort’. I’m going to discuss aspects of both in my next book. I also open a bottle of Oregan Pinot Noir which I brought with me. It’s okay to bring your own booze onto the train if you are in a sleeper, but not a public space. Wine is $8 for a miniature airline bottle in the bar, which seems on the pricey side when you add a tip, that’s $40 a bottle!

The sun rose in Memphis and I ate my breakfast sandwich (quite tasty) looking out over the Missouri plains. I have to place my lunch order before I can have my breakfast, and it’s hard to judge my stomach this early. I opt for the Asian noodle bowl and hope I have second-guessed what I might want in a few hour’s time. I also have to book a table time. Not because the dining car will be full, but so that they can manage all that cooking time in a single microwave oven. I’m rather pleased it’s my last train with this food system on board, as next week I shall be west of the Mississippi and on the proper dining setup.

The landscape and the weather have changed overnight and as we reach Louisiana it’s getting swampy. I even pass a station which has a pet alligator in a cage on the platform! This was my first experience of refueling an Amtrak train – they don’t swap the loco over like in Russia, but instead an oil tanker parks up opposite on the road and they pipe the fuel on. This takes about 20 minutes.

The final manoeuvre into New Orleans is a reverse shunt into the station. For some reason, this requires a test emergency stop, and everyone has to sit down preparing for something like out the film ‘Unstoppable’, which is actually so mild we didn’t notice it. So we are on the bumper 20 minutes early. Over a 20 hour journey, I imagine the on-time arrival is largely down to the potential delay of freight trains, so its very much luck of the draw.

A couple of days to explore the local cuisine before heading over to Texas next week!

As it’s my second night on an Amtrak sleeper I know the drill. Bob turns out to be the conductor of my carriage, no 532, and he greets me at the door. It will be the last I see of him. On board I’m in roomette number 3 on the top deck. But so is someone else, and it turns out the whole carriage is double booked. A new schedule means the carriage numbers have changed and the booking system has collapsed. There is an American tour group on board, and their tour leader, a lady called Patti, is keen to get me and a few others turfed out of what she believes is her carriage. The ticket inspector is a middle aged Polish lady who doesn’t know what to do other than throw her arms in the air and say that there is a big problem. After an hour or so she calls a conference in the observation car and a plan is put into effect. I’m exchanged like a refugee from one carriage to another, and welcomed in my new car, no 531, by a lady called Jenelle. She is the only one of the crew who seems calm and helpful, the rest just seem to hide and leave it to someone else to sort it out. 531 has been refurbished and is slightly nicer than 532. It is also the carriage next to the restaurant, so I’m closer to the bar – this move is a win/win.

Jenelle comes to see me with her manifest and a worried look. I fear I’m on the move again, so I set a firm tone that I have moved once and I’m not going to play a further game of musical roomettes (chairs). There is clearly still a problem. Tired of hearing people talk about whre I should be moved to next, I decide to leave 531 all together and head for the observation car. This one is a bit different, the bar is downstairs. Here a man called Martin serves drinks, snacks and offers his brand of madcap humour. He wears a badge with a “needle” gauge indicating how mad he is feeling – it is already in the orange zone and its only five o’clock. From time to time he passes through the car doing a dance whilst blowing his train whistle. Its rather zany for Amtrak – more like Butlin’s on soft drugs. I sip a can of Bud and eat pretzels whilst chatting to other passengers – I’m reaching a view that American trains are some of the most social that I have ever been on. In fact try stopping them talking! I’m in that rail zen place – drinking my beer and staring out at the vast corn fields and the setting sun.

At 17.40 we cross the Mississippi river and the train stops briefly at Burlington. I bump into a couple of friends who are sleeping at the other end of the train. An American gentleman explains that there is a “transition car” down there – it’s a new word for me and I have to get a translation – this is the car where the crew sleep. The train really is full and they are having to use every available berth tonight.

The conductor points out interesting places and features. As we pass though Ottumwa, Iowa, we are reminded that this was the factitious home of Radar O’Reilly from the hit TV series of the 1970’s “MASH”. Who knows, one day that could be a vital pub quiz fact.

My dinner reservation is for 19.45, a very late time for the average American. I opt for the chicken with baked potato and what turns out to be a rather good Californian chardonnay. Service is both friendly and relaxed. Dan, our attendant, answers questions about life on the rails as well as American television programmes between courses.

Back in 531 Jenelle makes up my bed and all I have to do is to put my watch back an hour to “mountain time” before retiring. The night is quite bumpy, and I’m woken at 01.27 by a collosal sway which throws the contents of my washbag all over the roomette. Other than that I sleep soundly in the comfy lower berth.

Dawn breaks over a dull grey plain at about 06.30 the next morning. Although it looks flat we have been climbing all night and are now close to a mile high. I can verify tis as my water bottle creaks every now and then with the reduced air pressure.

I have given up on getting any breakfast this morning as nearly everyone is getting off at Denver and there is no way the restaurant will cope with all its customers between its opening at 6.00am and our scheduled arrival at 7.15am. But about 30 minutes before we arrive Jenelle spots what I have done and offers to go and fetch me breakfast and serve it in my roomette. I steer clear of the grits and have an omelette with bacon and potatoes (every American breakfast seems to have potatoes).

We are about 25 minutes late into Denver, and the final approach is a dead slow reverse into the station through a busy freight yard. Out on the platform I thank the crew, say goodbye to Patti, and find a jumper in my bag. Its much colder than Chicago, maybe 15 C. For the next few days I will be travelling by tour bus to connect up some tourist train journeys, but today is just R&R in Denver to recover and get used to the thinner air. The news back at the hotel isn’t good though, the Rockies National Park have closed one of the main access roads today due to snow – my plans may well be changing over the next few hours..

As I have time to spare I take a walk down to the front of the train where two locomotives are already attached to haul us west. The train is made up of two sleepers, a dining car (with bar area), an observation car and then two more regular seated carriages.

My carriage is number 2900, and on returning to it I find that the conductor has locked the door thinking everyone was on board. No need to panic, I have lots of time in hand. I wave through the window at him whilst trying to look calm. Once he has finished a speech on the PA he opens the door to let me in, helps me with my bag and introduces himself as Cliff. He seems very friendly. After showing me to my roomette on the lower deck (no 13) he checks that I have a table reservation for dinner and explains how things work. He also books in a time later on to make my bed up for the night.

Washington D.C. (departs) 16.05

Pittsburgh (departs) 23.59

Cleveland (departs) 02.59

Toledo (departs) 05.22

Chicago (arrives) 08.45

764 miles, 1230 km

My first thought is that I wish I was on the upper deck, but once we get going I realise the degree of sway up top is significantly magnified, and it feels like we have put to sea in a moderate swell up there. Instinctively – like being on a Boeing 747 – I aspire to be up top looking down, but I think the lower deck here has other advantages. Passengers walk between cars on the upper deck, so down here is quieter and less disturbed as there is a dead end at each end of the carriage – just the doors onto the platform half way along and the stairs up to the top deck. There are also two toilets and a shower nearby (but not too nearby) – there is only one shared by more roomettes on top. I shall update on this view as I will probably be on the upper deck for a later journey.

My roomette reminds me of the Australian (Indian Pacific) single room layout, as I will be sleeping in the direction of travel – in my opinion this is the most effective solution for good rail based slumber. It’s compact, but well laid out. It also has a second berth up top, but I will be using it just for single occupancy. I decide to unpack as best as I can in a space 6 feet by 3 feet, and wonder what to wear to dinner. I can’t help but think of one of my favourite train films, “Silver Streak”. All the cues of the film are around me, even though this particular type of carriage wasn’t built until a nearly decade after it was released. I have that film on my iPad, and will try to watch it later on. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

With no immediate tasks to attend to, I explore the train in the manner of a small excited boy at the start of a new term at boarding school. Climbing up to the top deck I walk straight through to the restaurant (easy to use the press button air powered doors), meet the chefs, then through a bar area and on to the observation car. The train feels quite empty and I think the passenger density is low for the amount of space we have. Can you imagine an observation carriage (or even a proper bar) on the train from London to Edinburgh?!

I enjoy a couple of Yuengling beers in the observation car before dinner. As we pass through Virginia the scenery at first appears to be the stuff of picture postcards. White washed wooden boarded houses with neat lawns and stars and stripes flapping in the gentle breeze. Eagles flying over lush forests and river valleys. But behind the trees I can spot hidden trailer parks, rusty cars and higgledy shacks.

We pick up speed after a short stop and I notice that other than the swaying motion, the ride is quite smooth. No rough points or clattering bogies most of the time. Hopefully that bodes well for some sleep later. On the subject of sleep, I purchased some combined painkilling and sleeping tablets from a local drugstore yesterday as I have been having a bit of foot pain, I took one last night and fell asleep almost instantly – I didn’t even manage to get out of my chair and into bed they worked so fast. A couple of glasses of merlot might have accelerated their effect!

I’m liking the mix of people on the train, and wonder who I will be sat with at dinner. It really does look like a slice across American life here. The college student on one side of me has a star intriguingly tattooed at the top of her right breast. The elderly couple on the other side of me are Amish and wear gowns and aprons. The man has a big white beard and is very friendly. Other than testing my knowledge of Chaucer he asks me questions like “What are your hopes for the trip?”. It’s a good question, and I have no immediate answer.

Dinner turns out to be a pleasant surprise – ranch salad, a carefully cooked steak and half a bottle of Cabernet. The price of the food is included in the cost of the roomette. The table policy is called “community seating” – you get to sit with people you don’t know, which is great fun or a disaster, depending on how you feel about that. I found it great, and we all agreed how people don’t even make eye contact on planes these days, but on trains like this you get to enjoy dinner together.

I retire early and when I get back to my room I see that Cliff has been busy, it’s now two beds with no space to do anything other than sleep. The bed is very comfortable and I fall asleep after watching the first five minutes of “Silver Streak”.  The driver toots his horn throughout the night, but I find it a soporiphic noise, more reminiscent of a Wild West film than a disturbance. I sleep so well that I rise well rested at 6am to have breakfast and watch the sun rise.

Breakfast is a bit weird, but I’m determined to try new things. I opt for Creole scrambled eggs with grits. I can’t really describe what this tastes like. It’s my first experience of grits, and combined with the spicy sauce, I might just as well have been eating spaghetti bolognaise for breakfast. Whenever I hear the very word “grits” I always think of a rather unexpectedly good film, “My Cousin Vinny”. Grits become a key part of the plot, and I won’t reveal why, but the film well illustrates the reverence with which some Americans treat their breakfast dish of choice. Having tried them with an open mind, I have to tell you that I’m not a fan at all. It will be French toast for me next time.

It’s beginning to get light outside. Good morning Indiana! The timetable says we are due to stop at a place called South Bend at 07.51, and here the clocks go back an hour as we cross the state line and enter Illinois. Things are going too well though – Amtrak trains take second priority after freight, and we get delayed by around an hour before we can get going again. At 09.45 we arrive into Chicago Union station – and it looks very familiar. It doesn’t take me long to work out why. The steps on one side of the lobby where I exit the station were featured in “The Untouchables” (1987). Sean Connery at his very best!

I only have a day or so in Chicago before getting back on the rails. It seems like a very civilised city and I wish I had longer here. I shall report back from the Californian Zephyr  in a couple of days – next destination – Denver, Colorado.