The Engineer
and
The Conductor
WHERE TO GO NEXT? 🤷♂️
- An African Safari? 🦁
- A cruise on the Amazon? 🐒
- Scotland and the Hebrides? ⛰️
- Cruise the Mississippi from its headwaters to New Orleans or to Alaska? 🛳️
- Morroco? 🇲🇦
- Mona and I had frequently talked of taking Via Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. 👍
An online dialog with Fresh Tracks Canada, a quick study of the info they sent followed by a phone call and a deposit and it was on! Then, as I was looking at the options for getting to Toronto and from Vancouver, I realized Amtrak offered a viable and cost effective option for getting home, thus fulfilling another long time dream trip. A few minutes online with American Airlines and Amtrak and before there was time for second thoughts, a dream train ride was underway. 🚆
THEN CAME THE DETAILS. 👺
- Let’s see, since I am going to Canada I will need a passport. I have no idea where my passport is, but I have my passport card and that will work. Won’t it? No, it won’t work. American Airlines and Canada agree the passport card is sufficient for entry if I arrive by car, bus, or on foot but when arriving by air, the full passport is required. I fill out a report pf a lost passport, take it to the main Fort Worth post office downtown where I am quickly photographed they take a credit card for the passport fee and cash for the post office service and in less than the promised eight weeks, I have a shiny new U.S. Passport. Now where do I put this one so I can find it?
- Since I am going to be on a train for almost two weeks, what do I need in the way of clothing and essentials? The usual toiletries, CPAP, chargers for my multitude of essential electronics, tripod, pants, shirts, underwear, and since the facilities on the train are not “en suite” but at the end of the car, pajamas and robe (that probably means I would be well advised adding a flashlight to my electronics).
- So what carry ons am I permitted on the airline? on Via? on Amtrak? And what is it going to be like living out of my carry on luggage for nearly two weeks? Wait, what about that email I received about a closet in a suitcase? They even have an add-on closet in a backpack! Even better, they fit the dimensions for a carry-on. Problem solved! They arrive two days before the airlines announce a reduction in carry-on dimensions. 🤬 …and they still make the cut.😓
- I still have my Fjorden grip that turns my iPhone into a reasonable facsimile of a reflex camera, but to that I decide to add Magsafe adapter that enables me to quickly and easily snap it on my iPhone and with the addition of a Ulanzi Magsafe Tripod Adaptor I can change my iPhone camera from handheld to tripod mount in seconds, and the Fjorden grip controls are available in both modes.
- Then there is this website to get up a running. Not surprisingly, there have been a host of changes since I las built a website. Do I remember enough HTML? No, and even if I did, HTML 5 is a lot more than the HTML 3 and 4 I knew. But few write code any more, they use systems like WordPress. Another skillset to learn. A month an a half later, I have a working prototype. (Some day I will have to read the instructions first.)
NOTE: I have been asked what a “Train Order” is. The short answer is an authorization to proceed. If you want to know more, this Wikipedia article provides enough information to satisfy any railfan.
