Wife and I are headed to a medical conference in West Palm and Rather than fly down and rent a car we put one of ours on the auto train and we're off!


So far this is pretty damn cool



Did I mention I'm a train/Americana geek?

It's only really cool if you get to sleep overnight on the train.

Probably only in the olden days. Porters to make out your bunk. Dinner in the dining car. Those were the days.

RMD

Whooooooooooowhooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!

I was hoping he meant a steam train. I've always wanted to ride a proper steam train. I mean, I've ridden one, which was the cog railway up Mt. Washington in NH. But, while cool, doesn't quite get the whole mystique.

A sleeper car would be cool. The longest train ride I've been on was from Pittsburgh to Boston.

Trains are awesome.

Still like that. Porter will make the beds for my wife and I while we dine at 7 in the dining car

I've ridden amtraks all over the northeast corridor, this will be my first longer trip


I would love to take one from Chicago to San Francisco

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
Probably only in the olden days. Porters to make out your bunk. Dinner in the dining car. Those were the days.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
Porters to make out your bunk.

And all of them were named George. What are the odds?

The auto-train is a neat way to go. My wife and I used it some years ago and it was over night. Lorton to Orlando if I recall. Easy ride down, slow ride north, visiting family on the way. Was in coach, so had reclining seats for the night. Not bad, but a sleeper would have been more fun.

dangit, ours is named Ron. I will ask him what the hell he did with George!

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
Porters to make out your bunk.

And all of them were named George. What are the odds?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
Porters to make out your bunk.

And all of them were named George. What are the odds?

Cole would have been much more entertaining.



.

I hope the weather's good.

Neato!! Trains are cool.

I want to ride the Georgetown Loop Railroad here, maybe this summer.

https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
I was hoping he meant a steam train. I've always wanted to ride a proper steam train. I mean, I've ridden one, which was the cog railway up Mt. Washington in NH. But, while cool, doesn't quite get the whole mystique.

A sleeper car would be cool. The longest train ride I've been on was from Pittsburgh to Boston.

Trains are awesome.

I rode on one of Conway Scenic's excursions that had a steam locomotive. I got to ride on the outside rear platform of one of the cars. On the way up, you got the best view of the scenery, but on the way back when they ran the locomotive around to the back of the train, you were right up there with it.

First vacation the wife and I are going to take together after we sell the business and retire is a ten day rail trip through the Canadian Rockies.
5 years to go and counting.

Haven't ridden the auto train but have had a few steam experiences in my lifetime. Back during WWII, my grandmother lived in Norman , Oklahoma, just south of OKC and my mother and I would ride the train from north of Tulsa down to OKC and then take the last forty or so miles down to Norman by the "Interurban" railway which ended up just one block from my grandmothers house. In 1959 I rode a steam train from Tulsa to Columbia , South Carolina when I went to Fort Jackson for Army basic training. Since then, the last time was about ten years ago in central Ohio (I don't remember the town) and we took a day tour through Amish country. I grew up living across the street from the railroad tracks and watched the steam to diesel transition as well as the decline of the passenger as well as freight traffic.

Today it is rare to see a train.

I took the train out to Kansas City and back about 25 years ago, so I got to sleep two nights on the train.
I have to say I really enjoyed laying in the sleeper looking out the window at the lights going by.

Before the trip, I didn't think I would be able to sleep well on the nosiy, moving train - I was wrong; I slept great.

I rode on the Durango to Silverton steam train once. Pretty neat.

quote:

Originally posted by clubleaf206:
I rode on the Durango to Silverton steam train once. Pretty neat.

That is a awesome trip. Not sure how they got the rails on the side of those mountains, but I'd go back just for the train ride. There is also something special about doing a steam engine.

The Cumbres and Toltec is another good old narrow gauge steam locomotive train. Runs from Chama, New Mexico (one of the 48 contiguous states of the USA ) to Antonito Colorado. It's a more humble train but has spectacular scenery.