Train 5: Somewhere in Colorado

I wake up before 06:00. When I was on my last train, the crew and at least one other passenger said that this (my next) train would be much more comfortable. But in the same way that I found the atmosphere on board the California Zephyr underwhelming, I must also admit that I slept much more comfortably on the Lake Shore Limited. I don't know why, but this morning all my initially happy impressions of sleeping coach class have vanished, and I stumbled to the cafe car in search of caffeine while nursing a variety stiff and aching muscles. I will have to purloin more Amtrak pillows to cushion my various boney bits for my next night on the train.

Luckily the cafe car is soon open, and like a long line of other passengers, I get my caffeine fix. With a cereal bar (from a bulk box I got cheap from work) I'm soon ready for the day. We are still some way away from Denver, and to be honest the weather is not looking great. We run alongside a highway for a number of kilometres; the trucks are throwing up huge sprays of water, and the cars zipping past are running with their windshield wipers on.

However, we seem to be making up time, and through the murky weather we can soon just make out the outline of Denver's skyline through the mist and the rain. We pull through the freight yards, and then back into Denver's Union Station. I wish a few of my fellow passengers a safe trip, and leave the train into the fresh, damp air. Nothing like a grey day to make an Englishman feel at home :-)

*j*