My buddy called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I wanted ride the train to KC and see the KC Royals play ball. My wife was busy taking care of our grandson in STL so I said sure.
We caught the train at Kirkwood. Free parking. Good coffee house across the street. The KWD station staff is all volunteer. They are very helpful. The station is on the historic building register.
Great west bound trip. Pleasant cafe car attendant and conductors. In fact the cafe attendant told us that she preferred the Missouri River Runner customers to the patrons on other routes especially on the more industrialized northern routes. Perhaps she was working for tips. Don't know. Doesn't matter. Be nice to the customers. It pays.
We saw the Royals lose to the Chisox. It was the longest 9 inning game in the Royals history. We left after the 6th inning. My old worn out back was killing me. If anyone is wondering why a couple of Cardinal fans are interested in the KC Royals it is because we would like to see another I-70 World Series. KC beat St. Louis in the last one and we want a rematch.
I booked a room through Hotwire. It was downtown close enough to everything either by foot, Max Bus (a special express bus for tourists that goes to the main points of interest), and the expressway if you drive. We stayed at a Comfort Inn. I usually splurge at the Sheraton or Westin right across the street from Union Station. But we went on the cheap. The comfort Inn was nice. $60 per night before taxes. Staff was polite and helpful. We needed directions from the hotel to Royals Stadium. They gave us printed directions.
KC Union Station has a yellow Hertz phone if you are car renting. I did so because I didn't know how we would get to the ball park from the hotel. There is no convenient bus service to the stadium. The car was $60. I got a Fiat 500. I haven't driven a car like that in many years. Reminded me of the 60's little foreign cars. Fun.
When we left the stadium there were dozens of taxi cabs lined up waiting for customers. This was a learning experience. We didn't use a taxi service because we were concerned about getting back to the hotel. In some cities the cab service disappears late at night. St. Louis is bad about that. Next time I will take a cab to a Royals game. It is no more expensive than renting a car. No stressful driving on the KC expressways. And, as I said earlier, a car is not necessary in downtown KC. It is a great town with great restaurants, jazz, watering holes, etc.
The east bound trip was pleasant with the exception of a 50 minute delay between KC and Independence. Two UP freights had mechanical problems and we had to wait until they were out of the way. The double tracks over the Osage River, the flyover just east of KC, and the longer sidings on the single track portions of the route all contribute to a better than 90% OTP. The train appears well patronized. The ridership is growing. Hermann, Mo. (famous for wine) has opened a new station. The cafe attendant told us that there was talk of adding a third train between STL and KC. Don't know how likely that is but it would make for a more convenient schedule. Now if the Heartland Flyer would connect to KC our passenger rail system options would improve considerably. I keep hoping.
Good train trip. On time with the exception of the UP delay. Good crew. And along with a few bourbons on ice I treated myself to a hotdog. I only eat about one a year. But the hotdogs that Amtrak serves are very good. (Can't comlain about the bourbon and ice either) Go Cardinals!
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Wow Mr.Iron Mountain; that WAS a trip on the cheap. Staying at a Comfort Inn (possibly doubled up to boot) when you are accustomed to Westins, had to have been a bummer. Renting a Fiat? Absent regularly driving around in some wind up toy like that, no wonder the drive was stressful on the 70.
While it hardly my place to pass judgment on how one spends their money, it just seems that to travel around like when we both were in college, just detracts from the experience. All I know that for myself if it is no dough, it is simply no go.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Glad you had a good trip, IM. Unfortunately for us LD riders, your ride on the MRR confirms what we see on most of the corridors, whether it be in CA, in Maine or closer to home on the Piedmont service. The state supported trains offer better on time performance even with multiple frequencies and better on board service on a consistent basis.
It also makes me wonder if Amtrak should consider a western connection via St. Louis-MRR-KC-SWC from the east given all the problems in the Chicago area where 4 and 5 hour late Capitol Ltd and LSL have become the norm. The missing link is Cincinnati to St. Louis.
It is ironic that the much maligned Cardinal has been performing much better into Chicago lately than either of the other two eastern LD trains as it avoids much of the NS Indiana meltdown.
Posted by Iron Mountain (Member # 12411) on :
GBN, Let me break down the KC Experience in more detail. Train tickets $102 round trip for two. Hotel $60+$18tax. Yes my buddy and I doubled up. Car rental $60. There was an additional charge which I don't remember. Royals tickets $60 two seats. They were good seats. Total $300 for two. Breakfast was included at the hotel. The beds were comfortable and it was quiet and clean.
We walked from the hotel to the River Market and lunched on some great KC barbeque and Boulevard pale ale. After returning the car we walked across the tracks and worked our way through an rehabilitated (work in progress)section that was formally warehouses and such. Now it is becoming loft communities, pottery shops, art galleries, restaurants, and upscale bars. We had lunch at Gruenauers, a German establishment that is one of my favorites. I enjoyed a pleasant Pinot Noir with my schnitzel. Then we knocked around KC Union Station until the train departed.
When my family and or friends and I go go Chicago or Kansas City we walk many miles. When it's sack time we are ready for lights out. Don't need frills, just comfort, clean, and quiet.
I travel by four modes of transportation: Drive, train, bus, walk. You notice that the great silver bird is absent in my experience. I haven't flown in over thirty years and see no reason to start. I like comfort also and air travel doesn't do it for me. As to cost, my old Grandpa, who was a man of the Ozarks, liked to say, "If you want it and can afford it it's a good deal." I agree with you. It was an inexpensive trip but fun. And I was not sad about returning the Fiat.
Forgot to mention that KC is putting in a street car system. It will run for many blocks right through the heart of the city. Lots of construction going on.
Posted by Iron Mountain (Member # 12411) on :
Palmland, I found your perspective on state run trains vs. LD trains interesting. I had never thought about it before. I wonder if an answer to the LD issue of losing money could be addressed by going to a regional system run by a consortium of states representing various geographic/population areas? In order to preserve the LD service the consortiums could have through cars that would traverse the regions. I believe that's what the railroads used to do to go coast to coast etc. Just a thought.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Mr Norman,
DO NOT TALK ABOUT my 160MPH, leather seats, sun roofed, five on the floor, 32MPG (total), Sirius/XM satellite radio, USB equipped for my iPhone Abarth sports car that way, please :-) ;-)
Iron Mountain - thanks for the tip on Gruenauers. My wife's mother was from western KS. They are really into German food out there. It'll be on our agenda for our next KC visit- who needs BBQ (especially since we do it better in NC/SC).
Interline (I guess we could call it interstate!) service between state supported trains would be a good idea. But since politics are involved, I'm sure a great cry would go up of 'why should my state help support a train that operates into your state'. Guess that's why we're stuck with Amtrak.
Mr. Pullman - I am surprised that someone who apparently appreciates Pullmans would lust after a fiat. How about a nice MG TD for 20k. Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Palmland:
www.affarekc.com. Nouvelle Contintenal, Owner/Chef Martin Heuser, Owner/sommelier Katrin Heuser.
19th and Main, two blocks from Grunauer. Even better food, IMNSHO. Their jaegerschnitzel is a killer, and the wine cellar is epic, and it's 90% German!
And you should try their small plates!!!
Oh ... and 20K is the bid, not even the reserve...
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
PullmanCo, it surprised me that the car that most impressed me this year at the Minneapolis Auto Show was a larger 4 door Fiat 500. Your photos of the Abarth also impress. There are still a few of us geezers that like driving for fun and a big computer controlled car just doesn't do it. Those little 60's european cars weren't simply transportation, they were adventure (especially with repairs). Then the Asians moved in with fun cars that never broke. I still won't buy a car without a manual clutch. Levers and pedals are part of the experience. If they still made wall mounted phones with a crank, I would want one. While I'm at it, a carriage return lever for my keyboard would be nice.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Please accept my apologies to those who thought my negative comments regarding Mr. Iron Mountain's KC trip were needlessly so.
Choice Hotels is simply a chain at which I have never had a stay that could be characterized at best other than "it was there". It seems their Comfort brand is segmented towards the elderly traveler for whom value is of paramount importance - need for such notwithstanding. The last one of such at which I stayed was Salem, IL; it was that, Super 8, or "Mom and Pops".
As for auto rentals, it appears the only rental I will have this year was an Enterprise Hyundai Sonata insurance rental, when a little old lady did a $3500 'tap tap' on Red Lex last February (the matter is still not settled; my insurer State Farm is taking hers to arbitration). However, when on trips I always rent full sized (Camry, Malibu, Fusion), simply because in Hertzese, that translates to intermediate size, or what I regularly drive.
Finally, regarding Mr. Twin Star's immediate, since he and I are roundly the same age, I of course learned to drive with a "three on the tree". I had two VW "four on the floors" in this life; last time I was behind the wheel and a stick was on St. Maarten during 1983. However of interest, I had a ride in a stick VW Diesel Golf while in Salzburg (not sure if VW sells them over here). My chauffeur was a 74 year old gal I met at a concert; she is like Jerry; learned on a stick so why give it up - especially when Premium gas costs US$8.18 a gallon over there.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
I was so glad to return to a clutch. I'm delighted my combined mileage is 31.5 as of this morning. I can unlock the computer settings on the handling so I'm riding on pure steering wheel feel.
I know what you're saying about engines. I remember my brother's first car, a '59 MGA (he got it in 65). He was able to do anything he wanted to it, other than pull the engine (we didn't have the hoist tools for that). When I took auto shop in HS, if I had gone into the 2d year class, I could have learned to pull an engine, dismantle it, and mill the cylinders and pistons. What a backshop we had!
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
I would presume that our baseball fans will enjoy this non-rail related article considering the possibility that there could be an I-70 Series this year.
Of course, around here it should be called the River Runner Series:
They are separated by 250 miles: the Royals of Kansas City on the western edge of Missouri, the Cardinals of St. Louis all the way in the east. The Royals, in their blue trim, are back in the postseason for the first time in 29 years — the last time, they beat the Cardinals in the World Series — and for much of that time have been lost souls. The Cardinals, meanwhile, in their distinctive red, have become the Yankees of the Midwest, with 11 World Series titles to their name and so many postseason appearances in recent years that fans elsewhere may be starting to grow a little resentful.
So in baseball terms, the distance between these two clubs is a lot larger than what the map shows. Still, the assignment was to drive from one end of the state to the other, to start off amid the euphoria in Kansas City, where the Royals have already surged into the American League Championship Series, and to end up in the been-there-before atmosphere of St. Louis, where the expectations were that the Cardinals would once again find a way to advance deep into the postseason.
Blue state, red state. The question was what kinds of baseball sentiments I would encounter along the way
Safe assumption that some of the X-State business arising from such could find its way on to the Runners.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Nice story, GBN. Although I'm an ardent National League, Braves fan, I'm for KC if they make it to the World Series simply because the Braves' management has close ties with KC (and may be the source of their next GM to replace the recently fired one).
Besides, both the other teams I had an interest in, Pirates and Nationals, are out of it. Cardinals have been there too often.
Now if this was 1964 instead of 2014, I am sure they would be traveling on the Wabash (City of KC and St. Louis) or Missouri Pacific (Eagle).
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
National League fan here, too. but I'm rooting for an all "Show Me State" World Series which will have me rooting for the Royals!
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Not too sure about the Eastern end for such.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
:-)
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Oh well, Cardinal Nation; "sorry bout that ".
Looks like it's an "Overland Limited" series.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Believe I'll take the SF Chief.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
City of St Louis/City of San Francisco was cooler.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Oh well, guess San Francisco will get trashed (didn't I hear something on the news saying it already has) sparing KC taxpayers that cost (personally not too worried one way or the other).
Might have been nice to have the other guys win as I understand the Giants are starting to become a latter day Yankees.
Time for baseball to follow suit with other major league sports and initiate salary caps?
Posted by Iron Mountain (Member # 12411) on :
GBN, I cannot understand the destructive behavior that some cities experience in response to the success of their pro teams. I think that some years back Montreal had a severe episode when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. Of course Detroit is another bad example. So your musing about saving the tax payer some money probably has some merit.
Congratulations to the Giants. Yes they are becoming a MLB power. KC and STL will be looking forward to the rivalry.
I wonder had the Royals and Cardinals engaged in a world series contest, would Amtrak have had the capability, business acumen, and resources to have showcased passenger rail by shuttling fans back and forth between the two cities? Seems to me it would have been a great opportunity. Maybe next year.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
