But before I head to the station I checked out of the Hotel and walked next door to the IHOP and had breakfast because boarding the train after 9 I am pretty sure the dining car will be closed. After Breakfast I mad the short mile and a half drive to the Enterprise Rental Office on North Shore Drive.
Turning in the rental was quick and easy. I had planned on getting a Lyft ride to the Amtrak Station but, the young lady at Enterprise offered to drive me the mile and a half to the train station.
I arrived at the Tucson Train station about an hour before the my scheduled departure. So I took the opportunity to walk around downtown Tucson and have a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop.
The Texas Eagle was about 30-minutes late arriving at Tucson and there is no priority boarding for sleeping car passengers so I lined up with the coach passengers. I found my roomette and quickly settled in.
The trip back east will cover the same ground as I covered coming out so I am planning on just sitting back and enjoying the ride.
We arrived in El Paso in the late afternoon and it was dark by the time we got to Alpine. I went to bed right after we left Sanderson, Texas and managed to sleep straight through and woke up at our long station stop in San Antonio.
Here in San Antonio the Westbound Texas Eagle joins up with the Westbound Sunset Limited to become one train traveling all the way to Los Angeles. So on the way back eat the two trains are separated with the Sunset Limited continuing on to New Orleans and the Texas Eagle continues on to Chicago.
Shortly, before 8 a.m. about an hour late, we pulled out of San Antonio and headed north toward Austin and eventually to the Dallas - Fort Worth Area.
About 9:30 p.m. we arrived in Texarkana and about an hour later we were in Hope, Arkansas and shortly after leaving Hope I turned in and woke up as we arrived in St. Louis. St. Louis is a service stop and crew change.
Leaving St. Louis we passed by Busch Stadium and as we crossed the Mighty Mississippi and entered Illinois I got several good views of downtown St. Louis and the Gateway Arch. Shortly after leaving St. Louis I had breakfast.
The rest of the trip through Illinois was uneventful and we arrived at Chicago at 2:20 in the afternoon, which is about 90 minutes late.
I am taking a little break here in Chicago and will be spending the next two nights here in the Windy City before boarding the Capital Limit on Friday for the overnight trip to Washington, D. C.
It was a short half mile walk from Union Station down Adams Street to the Club Quarter Hotel which will be my home for the next two Nights. Tomorrow I plan on getting out and exploring a little of Downtown Chicago.
Here are a few photos from my eastbound trip on the Texas Eagle.
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| Crossing the Mississippi River in St. Louis |
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| The Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis from the Illinois side of the river |
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| The Post behind the border fence is the actual border between the United States & Mexico. |
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| The Border Fence is only a few feet from my roomette window |
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| Shortly before arriving in El Paso I see this large cross on the Hill |
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| Looking across the Rio Grande at Mexico near El Paso, Texas |
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| Crossing the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas |
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| A foggy Austin, Texas |
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| The westbound (left) and the eastbound (right) Texas Eagles meet in Fort Worth, Texas |
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