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I'm on a choo-choo train!

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/6390060124

March 15, 2017, 07:44 PM
Black92LX
I'm on a choo-choo train!
Scenic trains and day trips are fun.
As for overnight travel I was not a fan. Drove a Jeep to a buddy in Colorado took the train home from Denver to Cincy. No thanks, food was crazy expensive and crappy, not very comfortable.
Took trains all across Italy took night rides and used them to sleep instead of brothels or hotels. No thanks once again. The ferry boat across the Adriatic from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia was far better than the train and on the way over they had no sleeper cabins left so I slept on the life jacket tub on the deck On the way back the sleeper cabin was right next to the engine room and the beds were only 5' long a bit scrunched for someone that is 6'2"

Man I miss those traveling days!


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The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad.
If we got each other, and that's all we have.
I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand.
You should know I'll be there for you!
March 15, 2017, 07:51 PM
mikeyspizza
Great way to travel. Was your carry-on scanned or did you have to go through a magnometer?
March 15, 2017, 08:29 PM
Gustofer
Years ago, I used to take the train a lot. Made several trips from Chicago to here and from NY to here, as well as from here to Denver and LA and points in between.

At the time, it was much cheaper than flying and much less trailer trash than Greyhound (logged several thousand miles with them as well). As I recall, I could make a trip between here and Chicago for around $150 coach. Sleepers were about double that.

I really enjoyed it as a means of travel. Time-wise, it wasn't a whole lot faster than driving, but it was nice to just sit back and watch the countryside go by. Overnight trips required a sleeper though. If just a day long trip you could get by in coach and spending most of your time in the bar car, but anything longer the 12-18 hours, you need to get away from the unwashed masses.


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
March 15, 2017, 09:15 PM
Kevbo
No and no

Which surprised me, honestly. I locked my firearms in the trunk of my vehicle, which since the auto train has no checkable luggsge, is the only way you're "allowed" to do it

quote:
Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Great way to travel. Was your carry-on scanned or did you have to go through a magnometer?



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If the meek will inherit the earth, what will happen to us tigers?
March 15, 2017, 10:02 PM
46and2
I've taken Amtrak between Philly and Penn Station a bunch, and the fast (and slow) ones all over France and Japan. I like traveling by train.
March 15, 2017, 11:23 PM
Kevbo
FYI the American South is really freaking dark and kind of creepy when illuminated by a moon just past full shone through some live oak trees as your train sits on the tracks in central South Carolina.


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If the meek will inherit the earth, what will happen to us tigers?
March 15, 2017, 11:59 PM
charlie12
I drove my M113A1 on the train a few times in Germany.


_______________________________________________________
And no, junior not being able to hold still for 5 seconds is not a disability.



March 16, 2017, 12:47 AM
46and2
quote:
Originally posted by charlie12:
I drove my M113A1 on the train a few times in Germany.

I've driven M1s onto flatbeds a few times. It was fun.
March 16, 2017, 04:12 AM
tacfoley
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


Missing those times, eh?

Two choices await you in North America -

1. The 'Empire Builder' - Chicago to Seattle.

2. The 'Canadian' - Tronna to Vancouver.

Both have full service with Georges.

tac - 'Go by Train'
March 16, 2017, 04:17 AM
tacfoley
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?


It's traditional.

Like trains that puff out steam instead of fumes.

Did you know that the UK has more real live steam locomotives in service [excursion service, true, but still...] than any other country on earth?

More than eighty-five preservation railways?

Is BUILDING at least EIGHT new [but old-style steam locomotives] right now?

tac - Youtube channel - tac's trains
March 16, 2017, 04:45 AM
Sunset_Va
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
Years ago, I used to take the train a lot. Made several trips from Chicago to here and from NY to here, as well as from here to Denver and LA and points in between.

At the time, it was much cheaper than flying and much less trailer trash than Greyhound (logged several thousand miles with them as well). As I recall, I could make a trip between here and Chicago for around $150 coach. Sleepers were about double that.

I really enjoyed it as a means of travel. Time-wise, it wasn't a whole lot faster than driving, but it was nice to just sit back and watch the countryside go by. Overnight trips required a sleeper though. If just a day long trip you could get by in coach and spending most of your time in the bar car, but anything longer the 12-18 hours, you need to get away from the unwashed masses.


^^^^^^
Rode Amtrak from Va to Seattle (Empire Builder-Hi Line) then the 2 nd leg of trip from Seattle to LA, then through Flagstaff/visit Grand Canyon side tour, then Chicago-Washington -home.

There were folks rraveling cross country in coach. My travel experience was good, theirs not so much.

Toward the end, I had gotten worn out, as I had been traveling a month, the sleeper, dinimg cars, and observation cars made me claustrophobic.

My trip cost about $3,300 for small sleeper (minus tips) back in 2006. Got to see places I had always wanted to see.


美しい犬
March 16, 2017, 05:24 AM
Oz_Shadow
For the Michigan peeps especially

https://www.michigansteamtrain.com/npe

I really want to do that one of these years. They modeled the Polar Express after it.
March 16, 2017, 09:27 AM
Snake207
As a kid, I'd get to tag along on steam excursions from Birmingham to Chattanooga (my Mom was a car host) put on by the Heart of Dixie Railroad Historical Society. Saturday and Sunday runs, once or twice a year. Some of my fondest memories as a kid come from riding those trains. (And then picking cinders out of your hair for what seemed like forever LOL)

The two main engines I remember were the 611 and 1218.

Good times Big Grin




__________________________
www.opspectraining.com
"It pays to be a winner."
March 16, 2017, 09:30 AM
parabellum
quote:
Originally posted by tacfoley:
It's traditional.
Good Heavens. You actually think I was serious?? Thanks, tacfoley, for considering me ignorant of the history of my own country.

It was a joke. Joke. J-o-k-e. Look it up.


____________________________________________________

"I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023
March 16, 2017, 09:54 AM
sigcrazy7
quote:
Originally posted by Snake207:
As a kid, I'd get to tag along on steam excursions from Birmingham to Chattanooga (my Mom was a car host) put on by the Heart of Dixie Railroad Historical Society. Saturday and Sunday runs, once or twice a year. Some of my fondest memories as a kid come from riding those trains. (And then picking cinders out of your hair for what seemed like forever LOL)

The two main engines I remember were the 611 and 1218.

Good times Big Grin



Thanks for the pic!

Growing up in Roanoke, VA, I used to play on the 611 before it was restored. The transportation museum let our scout troop camp overnight among the trains, and we got great access to all of the equipment.

The 611 is perhaps the most advanced traditional steam locomotive ever built, with features like roller bearings, lightweight connecting rods, and streamlining. Truly a beautiful locomotive, built right there in the East End Roanoke shops where my Dad, Uncle, and Grandfather used to work. It would have been scrapped with the others if it hadn't have been laid on its side in 1956, coming out of the shops in '57 or '58, IIRC, practically brand new before the conversion to diesel in 1958.

Imagine going back and riding The Pocahontas pulled by a J, purring along at 70 mph. Nowadays they don't run the excursions nearly that fast because the track is not maintained to the level it was back in the day. The J's required perfect track to really get up to speed.



Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus
March 16, 2017, 10:03 AM
tacfoley
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
quote:
Originally posted by tacfoley:
It's traditional.
Good Heavens. You actually think I was serious?? Thanks, tacfoley, for considering me ignorant of the history of my own country.

It was a joke. Joke. J-o-k-e. Look it up.


Point taken, Sir, but it has to be said that probably ARE Americans who don't know it was a joke. My next door neighbour, a USAF CWO, is likely one of them. He's never ridden a train in the USA his life, and proud to admit to it.

tac
March 16, 2017, 10:11 AM
parabellum
Whatever, man
March 16, 2017, 10:16 AM
ontmark


They forgot the car!! Big Grin



Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it! - John Steinbeck
March 16, 2017, 10:31 AM
Snake207
quote:
Imagine going back and riding The Pocahontas pulled by a J, purring along at 70 mph.


One of the more legendary 611 trips was one where we sidetracked for quite awhile by another train coming back.

The President of the Railroad just happened to be on the train and wasn't too excited about getting home later. He passed word to the engine "open her up." Wink Everyone knew who who he was, so (quite delightfully I might add) they obliged.

A few passengers noticed we were leaving our chase cars behind and asked how fast we were going. Standard answer - and the speed limit of the line - "55mph" Wink Big Grin

We had to have be doing 70, easy. Now that was a fun trip.




__________________________
www.opspectraining.com
"It pays to be a winner."
March 16, 2017, 11:18 AM
tacfoley
quote:
Originally posted by Snake207:
quote:
Imagine going back and riding The Pocahontas pulled by a J, purring along at 70 mph.


One of the more legendary 611 trips was one where we sidetracked for quite awhile by another train coming back.

The President of the Railroad just happened to be on the train and wasn't too excited about getting home later. He passed word to the engine "open her up." Wink Everyone knew who who he was, so (quite delightfully I might add) they obliged.

A few passengers noticed we were leaving our chase cars behind and asked how fast we were going. Standard answer - and the speed limit of the line - "55mph" Wink Big Grin

We had to have be doing 70, easy. Now that was a fun trip.



That's the first publicity shots as she came out of the paintshop - ain't she just the most beautiful machine on earth?

Well, apart from SP&S #700, that is. Wink

tac
PCRA