In 1966 my mother, brother and I went from Chicago to Los Angeles and back on the Union Pacific's City of Los Angeles. A national airline strike was in the offing so we prudently made train reservations and I have never regretted it. We saw the West not from 30,000 feet but from track level and it was fascinating. The tableau constantly changed outside the dome car and our Pullman window from the corn fields of Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, to the dry plains of Wyoming and Utah, to the desert of Nevada, and finally to Southern California. It was a great ride on a great train.
This morning my wife and I were riding home from church and saw a Union Pacific business train parked in the station. Whipping my motorcycle around, we headed back to the station for a closer look. Lo and behold, it turned out to be an Operation Lifesaver special and 4 tickets were still available. Amazing! I parked my bike, my wife got the tickets, and off we went for a short ride in the dome car City of Portland - a carbon copy of the dome diner I rode so many years ago. Climbing on board, navigating the narrow corridors, and even smelling the smells, triggered a serious dose of nostalgia. It wasn't quite as long a ride as 1966 but a delight nevertheless. Thank you Union Pacific and Operation Lifesaver for a ride I never thought I would take again.
No comments:
Post a Comment