A brief few hours stop over in Chicago wasn't enough time to explore the city, so we relaxed in the Metropolitan Lounge before boarding the Lake Shore Limited for the final leg of our journey to New York. This 959 mile stretch would take one night and one day. We boarded the train shortly before 8:00 in the evening and, after settling ourselves in our sleeper accommodation, we made our way to the dining car where complimentary cheese and wine had been laid on. We were quite tired by that time, so we didn't stay long before turning in for the last night of our rail adventure.
Thursday 11th April
We both slept better in the night, perhaps that was because we were exhausted. We had been advancing our watches by an hour each day as we crossed the time zones across the US. My watch showed 8:00am but heaven alone knows what time my body thought it was. I couldn't even leave Ian to sleep because breakfast was served between 6:30am to 9:00am. Our tiny cabin had a loo and handbasin so we were both able to perform modest ablutions before breakfast. Our shower would come later.
Unfortunately, we were travelling in the wrong direction. The lake shores, as the train name suggests, were passed in the night so we didn't even get a view of them. Had we been travelling from New York to Chicago, we would have been treated to the sights of Lake Michigan and Lake Eire. In addition, the Lake Shore Limited didn't have an observation coach as the California Zephyr had, so all in all, it was a little disappointing.
During the night, we had crossed from Illinois to Indiana, to Ohio and into Pennsylvania. While we had breakfast we crossed the Pennsylvania/New York state line and the first town of note was Buffalo on the eastern shore of Lake Erie at the head of the Niagara River. Buffalo (the name thought to be derived from beau flueve or beautiful river) was once the home of the largest steel-making producer in US.
There had been a lot of rain in the night and the rain still hung around making it a very dull, grey day In addition, the windows (which didn't open) were wet and dirty - not good for taking photos.
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| Waterlogged farmlands |
The view from the window was like a wet February day in England. Spring seemed to have forgotten to spring and the rivers were swollen to bursting with brown, muddy, swiftly running water. The waterlogged farm lands were a sign of the heavy rain.
This side of Chicago appeared more affluent than the stretch between Sacramento and Denver, but then a fellow passenger did mention that this was the Industrial East of the US. So what it lost in scenery, it made up for in agriculture and industry. The Lake Shore Limited sped on through the hamlets as it rattled on towards Rochester.
Rochester is ranked as one of America'a top cities for quality of life. By 1838 it was the largest flour-producing city in the US and, having doubled its population in only 10 years, it became known as America's first "boomtown".The surrounding farm buildings appeared to be better kept and and the houses although mostly with a timber clap-board exterior, appeared more substantial.
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| Hudson River |
After Albany in the State of New York, the train was split, with one section going on to Boston while we went on to New York City. From Albany, the track runs South, following the Hudson River valley, all the way into New York. Our cabin was on the wrong side of the train with views of the railway cutting but the dining car staff allowed us (and others) to sit in the dining car where we could take in the views on our approach to New York.
Our train journey ended in New York's Pennsylvania Station in the heart of Manhattan. This unremarkable modern station, with its concourse underground could have been any city in the world with an underground network. The original station building was demolished many years ago, but its Victorian twin, the post office building, can still be seen opposite Penn Station.
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| Lobby of the Wolcott Hotel |
Our hotel (the 32nd hotel on this holiday) was only a few blocks from Pennsylvania Station, so after retrieving our baggage, we walked along 31st Street towards Broadway and easily found it.
The Wolcott Hotel is the sister hotel to the well-known Waldorf Astoria, one of the grandest hotels in the 1890's. The fading grandeur of the Wolcott is still recognisable today.
I find it a little confusing at times but to give you an idea as to where we were; The Walcott Hotel, only two blocks from the Empire State Building, is in the Manhattan Garment District within New York City on the island of Manhattan in New York State. Well New Yorkers will know what I am talking about.
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