Crossing the Country in Style … Part Two

I had one night to spend in Chicago before catching Saturday’s Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. The private rail car in which our group traveled from Washington to Chicago was to be parked in the Chicago rail yard for another two days, so I stayed aboard for that Friday night.

The Sears Tower dominates the Chicago skyline on a clear, crisp Saturday morning. The building was completed in 1973 and is the tallest in the United States, measuring 1,730 feet to the top of the television antennas on its roof.

The Royal Street, the vintage buffet/lounge/observation car that was my home-away-from-home in Chicago, was parked next to an Amtrak consist being prepared for a trip. Amtrak workers moved through the train all morning, cleaning windows, inside and out, and restocking supplies.

This photo, taken from the Roosevelt Road overpass, shows just a small part of the vast Chicago rail yard. You can just see the Royal Street behind the Amtrak consist at the left.

After taking this photo, I walked some 10-12 blocks to Chicago’s Union Station, where I boarded the Southwest Chief for my two-night trip to Los Angeles. I’ll post a few of those photos tomorrow.