SP 4449 runs tomorrow

I can't wait to see it and ride it. Flew out from Washington DC area today. I have dome car tickets. Tried to get over to the ORHF this afternoon to check it out but didn't have time. I did see it across the Willamette. 

My wife, son, and I are riding coach tomorrow, came in from Chicago this past Tuesday.  Spend the last three days in Ellensburg, WA, hiking the Iron Horse trail up around Easton, WA (by Snowqualmie Tunnel), a day in Levenworth, and today riding the Mount Rainier Scenic Railway.  Staying tonight and Sunday night at the Marriott Courtyard downtown.    

Looking forward to the trip.  

Regards,

Jerry

It's going to be a scorcher of a day by the time we get up into the Gorge.  Hope the A/C keeps working!  We were going to go dome ... opted for coach this time; might have ended up roast beef well done under glass, like one trip to Wishram with the two steamers :-)

gnnpnut posted:

My wife, son, and I are riding coach tomorrow, came in from Chicago this past Tuesday.  Spend the last three days in Ellensburg, WA, hiking the Iron Horse trail up around Easton, WA (by Snowqualmie Tunnel), a day in Levenworth, and today riding the Mount Rainier Scenic Railway.  Staying tonight and Sunday night at the Marriott Courtyard downtown.    

Looking forward to the trip.  

Regards,

Jerry

 

Heh...guess we're in the same hotel tonight! I'll be at the Pearl District Marriot, about 3 blocks from Union Station on Sunday night before jetting off for California Monday. 

So guys, what were the conditions like.  One weatherman in Seattle told us not to complain, we were lucky not to be in the Portland area.  Any reports from the dome car?

How much did it cost to get a ticket for this excursion? Coach? Doom? 1-day? 2-day?

Thanks

I was in the first dome car, Ocean View (Amtrak). It was a two day (Saturday and Sunday). We were very late but to NO fault of the 4449 crew. 

I paid, I believe, $1,600 for the train ticket. I THINK coach tickets (in Amtrak coaches) were in the $600 range but I may be off. Please correct me if I am. Remember, that also included the hotel in Bend. 

It was an incredible trip. Worth every cent and travel headache from my Maryland home. I will do another 4449 trip, hands down. I can't describe how incredible it is to be hanging out the vestibule doors at 79 MPH, at sunset, in the Cascades along the Columbia River. 

As for the A/C, it was warm in our car. The A/C was on and doing the best it can but it was a good 110* and we are essentially in a greenhouse. It never became intolerable. 

I hope the fella that got taken off in an ambulance was OK. He didn't look good at all. 

It was a very VERY interesting excursion.  Mark Kramer, the Manager, handled every foul ball tossed his way and never lost his cool.  We were in the only coach which had great A/C the entire trip once it got fixed during the initial delay as they removed the first victim, a poor traveler who had a health incident before we'd left the depot.

Once underway we cruised to Vantucky for more passengers, and then off up the Columbia River Gorge; beautiful bright day.  Once in the Dechutes River Canyon it got ... hot.  Some of the domes got a little warm,  A/C failed completely in the first coach and hardly worked in the second.  Coach "C"  had GREAT A/C. Many passengers from the other cars "dropped by to say hello" and lingered :-)

Some slow orders for the sections of newly laid ribbon rail.  Running quite late by then and finally made it to Bend after sundown.  Bused to the motel as the restaurants all closed at 10pm.  Taxi to the 24-hr Sherri's and back. 

Sunday had a great buffet at the motel.  Back on the train we departed late.  The rest of the trip was great, wonderful scenery ... hanging out in the baggage car open doors.  Great listening to the locomotive at 60 mph!  Got back to Portland late, but all in all a good trip.

Agree, great trip! I was in Car J, the CB&Q Silver Splendor dome. Our A/C worked quite well. The train returned to Portland too late for me to make my return flight to Seattle, so I spent another night and returned on Amtrak 500 in Business Class. My assigned seat was with GNNPNUT (Jerry) and his family, great to meet them!  

SJC posted:

I paid, I believe, $1,600 for the train ticket.

Whoa. $1,600? Might be a nice trip, but you can fly round trip to Europe for less than that!!  

I'm envious of your expeditions, but am getting a vicarious thrill from the aesthetic photos and vivid experiences.  Had I gone, I fear I would have been the second casualty to get carted away in the heat, thus further delaying the schedule. 

In lieu of your 1:1 scale excursion, I'm going to double head  a pair of Lionel Legacy GS-4 Southern Pacific Lines #4444 & #4449 with a full consist of the K-line SP Lines 21" heavy aluminum cars up a winding 65 ft 2.2% grade.  The train orders specify the excursion will occur when shady conditions prevail and temperatures range between 73º and 78ºF.  And it will be preserved on video.  Furthermore lobster rolls with cold beverages will be served.   

Now when is the next scheduled SP 4449 Portland excursion?

breezinup posted:

SJC posted:

I paid, I believe, $1,600 for the train ticket.

Whoa. $1,600? Might be a nice trip, but you can fly round trip to Europe for less than that!!  

Maybe so but I wanted to do this trip instead of going to Europe. It was worth every cent and I will do it again in a heartbeat. 

Hope everyone enjoyed them selves, in spite of the 100+ degree heat and some delays. It should be pointed out that the "$1600" ticket price was for First Class DOME seating only.  Our daughter and her husband rode in the rear CZ Silver Solarium" dome observation.

Again, in spite of the high heat, 4449 operated & fire beautifully, although it was VERY hot in the cab!

I really wanted to ride, but the ticket price wasn't something I could justify to my wife... or even to myself. I get it was a fundraiser, but it was beyond my budget.

Chasing was a no-go, too. The highway along the old SP&S wouldn't allow you to get ahead of a train like that. Highway 84 across the river could get you ahead of it, but you then to need to cross one of the few bridges to get a shot. I tired it in 2005 for the NRHS convention trip to Wishram and only got two setups for any shots.

Forget about trying to catch up on the way to Bend. I've driven that route once, several years ago, and I can't imagine getting ahead of anything but the slowest freight. Would be a great run to chase with a helicopter if you could afford it, and wanted photos.

I'm glad people seem to have enjoyed the trip!

Oddly, I haven't seen very much online from people who have ridden, though...

Woodshire Bill posted:

I'm envious of your expeditions, but am getting a vicarious thrill from the aesthetic photos and vivid experiences.  Had I gone, I fear I would have been the second casualty to get carted away in the heat, thus further delaying the schedule. 

In lieu of your 1:1 scale excursion, I'm going to double head  a pair of Lionel Legacy GS-4 Southern Pacific Lines #4444 & #4449 with a full consist of the K-line SP Lines 21" heavy aluminum cars up a winding 65 ft 2.2% grade.  The train orders specify the excursion will occur when shady conditions prevail and temperatures range between 73º and 78ºF.  And it will be preserved on video.  Furthermore lobster rolls with cold beverages will be served.   

Now when is the next scheduled SP 4449 Portland excursion?

Santa Train at Christmas from ORHF to Oaks Park and return on Dick Samuels railroad.

p51 posted:

I really wanted to ride, but the ticket price wasn't something I could justify to my wife... or even to myself. I get it was a fundraiser, but it was beyond my budget.

Chasing was a no-go, too. The highway along the old SP&S wouldn't allow you to get ahead of a train like that. Highway 84 across the river could get you ahead of it, but you then to need to cross one of the few bridges to get a shot. I tired it in 2005 for the NRHS convention trip to Wishram and only got two setups for any shots.

Forget about trying to catch up on the way to Bend. I've driven that route once, several years ago, and I can't imagine getting ahead of anything but the slowest freight. Would be a great run to chase with a helicopter if you could afford it, and wanted photos.

I'm glad people seem to have enjoyed the trip!

Oddly, I haven't seen very much online from people who have ridden, though...

The train chaser lineup in the canyon ...

breezinup posted:

SJC posted:

I paid, I believe, $1,600 for the train ticket.

Whoa. $1,600? Might be a nice trip, but you can fly round trip to Europe for less than that!!  

Fly to Poland and spend a week working on the steam railroad running real trains for just a little bit more ... :-)

Kerrigan posted:

breezinup posted:

SJC posted:

I paid, I believe, $1,600 for the train ticket.

Whoa. $1,600? Might be a nice trip, but you can fly round trip to Europe for less than that!!  

Fly to Poland and spend a week working on the steam railroad running real trains for just a little bit more ... :-)

I get the emails for that trip. I've seriously considered it. I've wanted to see and ride the 4449 my entire life and this was the chance 

Hot Water posted:

Hope everyone enjoyed them selves, in spite of the 100+ degree heat and some delays. It should be pointed out that the "$1600" ticket price was for First Class DOME seating only.  Our daughter and her husband rode in the rear CZ Silver Solarium" dome observation.

Again, in spite of the high heat, 4449 operated & fire beautifully, although it was VERY hot in the cab!

Met a family of three who had flown out here from the East Coast and had spend many MANY thousands of dollars; airfare, tickets, overnight hotel in Portland, etc.  And at first they were going to be left at the station because the A/C failed in their car.  After a very loud uprising of negative comments and tears from a couple of women, they relented and ran them anyway.

Smart decision; the Internet would still be burning with the negativity had that happened.

Excursion Manager made the right decision to save the day for about 120 passengers ....

We had a great trip, being in Coach "C" which had super-duper A/C ... and many passengers dropping by from hot domes and coaches.

Hot in the cab?  Remember Yuma in '84?  That was HOTTTTT in the cab!!!  Heat-sick puking hot.

Climbing the Deschutes River canyon 

Got back to the Chicago area this evening.

This was an absolutely OUTSTANDING excursion, and worth every penny of it. 

The coach class tickets were $595.00 each.  For a two day, almost 500 mile excursion, I thought it was a pretty darn good deal.  My wife and son also made the trip.   The crew were absolutely fabulous.  I was in car A which lost its air conditioning about halfway thru Saturday.  Minor inconvenience to experience the sights and sounds that we experienced.  The crew responded wonderfully to the situation, and made every attempt to make sure that people were re-seated. 

Hoping that they run over Stampede in the next year or two.  I will be going back for that.

Got to meet THE GN MAN Monday morning on our way up to Seattle for the return trip, and met a whole bunch of wonderful people.

I'll post some photos tomorrow.

Regards,

Jerry