As someone too young to have ridden on passenger trains (I'm 49), I wonder about the reality of riding them. I think most people are like me. When I think of riding on a long distance passenger train, three basic images come to mind. The first would be that of the luxury trains, like the 20th Century Limited. The second would be riding in the old time parlor cars on Gunsmoke, waiting for the train robbers to hold it up. The third would be something similar to The Orient Express, with individual compartments, exotic passengers, and usually a dead body or two. What was long distance train travel really like? Was it more or less like riding a Greyhound bus?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I suppose it depends on when. I'm assuming you mean pre-Amtrak. I rode a number of the long distance trains starting in 1956 as a child. The best experiences were on the Sante Fe (El Capitan) and the Burlington, especially the CZ, although the Afternoon Zephyr was nice. The best analogy I can think of is something like an ocean cruise. Very comfortable, good service, nice fellow passengers and great dining cars. Shorter rides, such as on various trains on the IC in college days ran the gamut from cattle car (student specials) to luxury (City of Miami). All in all, it was a great time.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I had the joy of riding the following trains in the late 40's thru the eaely 60's. City of San Francisco, City of L.A., The Daylight [both steam and diesel] on a number of occasions, the CZ, The Southern Belle, The Super Chief, 20th Century Limited, The Lark and many locals on the SP. Those were the days when travel was elegant, gracious, and great fun! The only negitive I can give you is you had to dress up to take the streamliners and as a kid and teen it was a drag! I still take the train, we get a bedroom and love it but believe me it's just not the same.............
I recall a book "To Hell in a Day Coach" or something like that which detailed the horror stories of the worst coach trains during the immediate post-WWII era. But for me, as a youngster, I vastly preferred even such trains, with cinders coming in through open windows that provided the needed cooling with no air conidtioning, trucks that transmitted every rail joint to one's posterior, lukewarm water in the water cooler being the only "refreshment," johns without running water, just a dry hopper with a view to the roadbed below, and remember to bring your own bumwad, to riding the comfortable air-conditioned Greyhound, but I was in a minority. But I did enjoy many such train rides, often mostly standing on the back platform, while the rest of the family went by private car or bus. I was, is, and always will be a railfan.
But there was also luxury riding at coach prices aboard the Southerner, Empire State Express, Trailblazer, Red Arrow, most New Haven trains in general and some PRR corridor trains, the Florida streamliners, where the ride was smooth as fast, the food in the diner terrific, the seats comfortable and easy to recline and provide for sleeping, windows clean with intersting and beautiful scenery, and the crew happy to have chance to serve an appreciative young railfan.
And when a Pullman could be afforded, well just heaven on earth.
I rode the Lackawanna Phoebe Snow. (I bet you never would have guessed that.)
I always traveled in a sleeper, so I cannot comment on coach, but riding the train is nothing like riding a bus. On the bus you cannot get up and go to the lounge car or the dining car.
I still ride trains today when the train goes to my intended destination. I wish trains served more cities.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
I've ridden trains all my life, mostly Amtrak but I do recall the Long Island when it was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania. My greatest ride was five years ago, taking a sleeper from Paris to Florence in a first class compartment all to myself. Two sittings in the dining car, all home cooked food (unlike the Silver Meteor which I've taken many times) with wine, coffee, espresso and then a couple of beers to take back to the compartment. No, not like a bus at all. I slept like a baby and was sorry to arrive. From Dresden to Prague on a train originating in Berlin and heading to Budapest the dining car was the equal of a fine Hungarian restaurant with white tablecloths and a four page menu! The best goulash I've ever eaten. Better than riding the grey dog! I've ridden the Eurostar, the TGV and the ICE, all are excellent. Great train rides are still a daily occurance, just not on this continent unless you count the "Canadian" which I have yet to ride.
I concur and applaud the testimonies of previous forum members on this new thread. As I have posted before, Amtrak sleeping cars are ABSOLUTELY the way to travel these days, but only if you have the time and the money. A bedroom, for example, is not cheap, though there are five (5) different rates for the same accommodation, depending on when Amtrak marketing releases rooms at each rate. There are, of course, ways to get a reduced rate, such as hoping to get an on-board upgrade, which can be unreliable.
Coach seating is better than that in bus (and certainly airplane) accommodations, for the reasons stated earlier here, but additionally because the seats themselves are quite roomy. But, one never knows who your seatmate(s) will be, an especially sensitive matter overnight. Privacy in coach seating and its associated rest room cleanliness and convenience is also problematic. If your trip can be done within a day, then absolutely go "business class" rather than straight coach, if available. On the other hand, coach seating is definitely cheap, even cross-country, and one can often (luckily) be around quite pleasant fellow coach passengers.
Sleeping car bedroom passengers enjoy a myriad of amenities: large seating and decently large lower bed (and upper fold-down bunk with ladder), private toilet and shower facility, sink and lots of towels, hanging storage locker, suitcase storage spaces, car attendant personal service (including meals on special request), free newspapers, free meals (including on separate dining cars or a part of the main dining car), some measure of baggage and personal possession security, all kinds of lights and plug outlets within the bedroom, can see out the opposite side of the train when your curtain is pulled open, ability to roam at will throughout the train, et al.
On the other hand, sleeping car roomettes are not a good choice, in my mind, because you cannot see out of the other side of the train, but especially because they are very cramped, especially with the lower bed made up. I have seen passengers have to partially dress in the aisle. Of course, there is no private toilet or shower (which are elsewhere within the car and for "common" use by all therein), but the roomette passengers have the same free meal service as bedroom passengers. Roomettes are more expensive than coach, but I would recommend going just a tad more for a full bedroom.
Amtrak does the "best it can," within present day economies, routing, and passenger volume. (We can influence the latter by traveling more ourselves; airplane travel is inhuman.) But, traveling in the pre-Amtrak days was certainly far more "luxurious," mainly in meal service; other amenities, of course such as some electronics capabilities, simply did not exist in the "old days," but are now de rigueur.
The Santa Fe Super Chief was truly a delight.
I agree with the comment that riding long distance trains was nothing like riding a Greyhound bus. I have done both. The trains win hands down in every possible category. For gosh sakes, just consider the quality of the ride itself. Next, think of the size of the seats and the space between rows. Then consider the restroom conditions and qualities. You might want to think which has the more interesting scenery outside those windows that you'll be looking at for hours.
Lastly, consider food. My favorite restaurant on earth is a moving dining car with good food and interesting table mates. Have you ever used a restaurant by the side of the Interstate with 20 other bus passengers with 20 minutes to eat? Not quite the same thing as a dining car.
So, whether years ago, or today, riding coach on a train was and is always lots better than riding a bus.
I have ridden Amtrak's Coast Starlight and the Southwest Chief, Even if you can't get the deluxe sleeper get the roomette. Why? Because the meals are free, tasty and can be served in your room (in effect paying for the room),,there are several bathrooms downstairs and a shower. Sure its a Little smaller but you have privacy and outlets for whatever! You don't have to put up with unruly passengers kids or adults! You are free to enjoy the scenery and most of the time there will be a vacant sleeper on the other side if you want to jump over and look out, because they don't seem to mind.
Interesting you mention the Orient Express. On July 11, PBS broadcast a drama based on Agatha Cristie's Murder on the Orient Express as part of the Masterpiece Theatre series and a show about the Orient Express.
I'm only three years older than you and have been on many passenger trains most of which were Amtrak, but I've been on some non-Amtrak trains as well.
My experiences Amtrak experiences have varied quite a bit and include the following: Being stuck in Fort Wayne, Indiana when the Broadway Limited froze up in a freezing December Day (Amtrak put up all the passengers in a hotel and then made up a substitute train and I arrived in Altoona, PA 24 hours late!) Suffering through a ruddy dining car experiences in the California Zephyr and enjoying a delicious pasta dinner in the diner as the westbound Broadway Limited west of Harrisburg in 1995. Flirting with young women on the City of New Orleans and being irritated with passengers insisting on using cell phones well after midnight on the Capitol Limited. Marveling at the Columbia River Gorge from the Empire Builder and being bored silly by the non-descript landscape traversed by the Hoosier State. Deighting at the five dome cars on the North Coast Hiawatha and being underwhlemed by the Horizon coaches with their tiny windows.
Let's not forget stations. Los Angeles Union Terminal, a marvel of art deco and Spanish mission architecture has a wonderful courtyard which is a dignified place to wait for trains. Then there's the Cleveland, St. Paul and Albany Rensellear stations which are disappointing meal and glass boxes in comparison with the stations which formerly served those cities.
I rode the Southern Crescent in 1978, a year before Amtrak took it over. It was on time, the food was good and there was some interesting scenery.
My favorite non-Amtrak long-distance trains were those operated by VIA. I mostly roade east out of Montreal to Quebec City, Moncton, Halifax and Gaspe. Those were all classy streamliners.
With respect to Greyhound, I rode twice across the country during my college years. Trains are nicer, but sometimes I did not always have the money. However, Greyhound was a much better company than it is now.
I disagree with the previous comment that a train is always better than the bus. In some cases, the bus is faster (Pittsburgh - Harrisburg or Pittsburgh - Washington, DC) and more reliable. When I lived in Albany, there were times I wanted to ride the Lake Shore Limited to Boston, but it was so late I opted for a Peter Pan Trailways bus - I remember the service always being good. The best bus service I used was the Badger Bus between Milwaukee & Madison, WI. Those trips were ALWAYS on time, fast and comfortable.
I remember one time I took a continental Trailways, bus from Phoenix to New york when I was around 12, they were better then Greyhound!! this was around maybe 1958 ,,,but when your a kid who cares about inconvenience...I still would have rather taken a train,,,trains were my life. I sure rode the long island express and the subways a lot in NY...to make up for it!!
Good review, "citidude." Re: terminals - LA Union Station is, as you say, just beautiful, perhaps surpassed only by the Chicago Union Station. King Street Station in Seattle is pretty sad right now, but is under restoration, with good promise. Memphis station is pretty sad and dreary also, with no apparent intent to upgrade and in a "sketchy" part of town, but there is a police precinct station right there in the building.
As many of us know, sleeping car passengers are entitled to use the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station; these also exist in a few other big stations. The Metropolitan truly is a (hidden away) calm amid the cacophany of the terminal itself, with complimentary beverages and pastries, newspapers, comfortable lounge chairs, arrival and departure status boards, and baggage check service.
Cell phone use is another example of the oft-found discourtesies that can be found in coach seating.
Yes, Amtrak takes care of you (as best it can) when there is a missed connection due to delay in arrival. We were parked somewhere in New Mexico for many hours last December on the Southwest Chief, but once in Chicago there were a whole bevy of agents providing hotel vouchers and taxi cab monies.
I rode a variety of long-distance trains in the 1950's and 60's when my parents & I traveled all over the US on Dad's Frisco pass. The experience varied-B&O actually had stewardess-nurses on board when we went to Wash, DC. We always traveled coach and you never got much sleep with people moving up & down the aisle during the night to smoke in the lounges. UP City of St. Louis was the best, we got on that one because Dad had to pay half-fare on all UP trains, so we got an upgrade from the usual. They had a drawer that pulled out from under the coach seat and hooked over the footrail making a mini-bed and you could stretch out better and rest. The South had older accommodations, I can remember fans in the coach cars even though we had a/c, but they were relics from pre-a/c days. One coach we rode in was half-baggage and half-coach, that was the portion from Lake Alfred to Punta Gorda, FL on ACL. We were visiting Dad's cousin and had to change often on this trip, mostly in the middle of the night. But it was free, so what the heck.
I did take a Pullman bedroom with 2 friends in 1965 to Calif and back. It was the standard upper/lower bunks with bathroom but that way we could all be together and not have one of us sitting alone with a stranger. We spent time in the dome cars and SP had an automat type of food service in addition to the regular diner. On our return from LA, we were on the all Pullman City of LA and that had a dome diner, which was super. We didn't have it all the way back to St.L, our cars were cut off at some point and we were put on the City of St. Louis for the rest of the journey.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience passenger riding "back in the day" on many fallen flags like B&O, IC, Pennsy, NYC, C of G, ACL, Grand Trunk into Canada and of course, the Frisco. I've taken 2 long-distance trips on Amtrak-the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight to San Francisco and Southwest Chief to Grand Canyon and their service is great. Now you do have complimentary meals in first class which you did not get in the old days. My parents and I always ate in the diner and the City of St. Louis did have a snack car with a counter and sandwiches when we rode. I do miss the toilet flushing right onto the tracks, that was fun to watch the rails zipping past the toilet hole, but I know that would not be at all correct today. But those toilets never backed up either, like the chemical ones today. And I also like the no-smoking policy on Amtrak, when you'd go through the smoker car or pass the men's lounge that only had a curtain, the smell of smoke was nasty. But Dad smoked then too, so I didn't notice it like I would today.
It was not at all like a bus. We did take Greyhound from LA to San Fran, because it was cheaper than UP half-fare and also from St. L to connect with Grand Trunk for Canada because of the time and station changes. My Dad especially did not like the 30 minutes meal time on a bus, he was a slow eater and in the diner, that was not a problem. There was more room between the seats on a train and you could get up and walk around when you got restless like on a 2-day trip to CA. You could sit in the lounge or dome car and get away from the coach for a while.
Murphy SidingWhat was long distance train travel really like? Was it more or less like riding a Greyhound bus?
Generally, NO. Other posters have written of great comfort, even in coach, by day and by night.
There were a few long-distance trains in the early fifties that did not have diners or lounge cars, yet they were more comfortable than buses. My first long day trip by rail was from Birmingham to New Orleans on Southern #43, in 1951. Riding on a pass, my brother and I rode in one of the older coaches, which had straight-back seats (I do not know if another coach on the train had reclining seats). We had cold water and restrooms available, and we stopped for lunch in Meridian (there was a nice lunchroom in the station). Somehow, this leg of our trip hooked me on train travel. We had already ridden the Piedmont Limited (reclining seats)from Charlotte to Atlanta and the overnight mail train (again, with walkover seats, which were not as comfortable for sleeping as the reclining seats were) on to Birmingham. From New Orleans, we took the Pelican (diner north of Birmingham) overnight to Chattanooga (reclining seats), the Royal Palm (quite a train, with all reclining seats in the coaches, diner and lounge) to Atlanta, and then #136 (walkover seats for pass riders) back to Charlotte. On the last train, my brother had a good night's sleep by taking the seat at the end of the car (it stretched all the way across the men's room, and he lay at full length on it).
Two years later, I was told to ride in the car for pass riders on #36, and had a good night's sleep from Atlanta to Charlotte.
If there were a train, I rode it in preference to a bus because of the greater comfort and convenience. Bus seats were narrower and did not have as much leg room. In general, when stepping into the aisle, you had to step down. When restrooms were found on buses, they usually had a strong smell--which wafted to the seats by the door. It is possible to get a view ahead from a bus seat, but there are greater advantages to riding coach on a train.
Greyhond vs. Trailways fifty-five years ago: the cover on the heater along the wall on the Greyhounds that I rode sloped away from the wall so were not usable for resting feet thereon. The cover on the heater on the Trailways that I rode was level, and made an excellnt footrest.
Johnny
I'm a little late joining this thread, but I have had some experiences a little different from the others. I remember experiences closer to your second scenario, Murphy Siding.
Growing up in Honduras in the '40's through 1951, we used to take the train from Tela to San Pedro Sula several times a year. We had to change trains at Barracoa. The coaches were open platform type, and low-slack couplers were apparently not used. We usually rode the last or second-last car, and when the train started (steam locomotives) you would hear the couplers from the front taking up the slack, and you'd brace yourself. It was not whiplash strength, but the jolt was pretty strong. The coaches on the first train were steel, but the ones from Barracoa to San Pedro Sula were wood. We kids liked the steel ones better because the window sills on the wood ones were considerably wider, making it harder to reach out and try to grab the tall weeds along the right-of-way. There was no diner, but at some stops a couple of men would board and walk through the train with a tub of iced soft-drinks and exit at the next town. Also, at most stops vendors would walk alongside the train selling everything from meals of tamales to fresh produce, which you could buy through the open windows. We usually came home with at least a freshly picked pineapple.
I have had no experience with Amtrak, but in 1962 I rode on the Missouri Pacific from Army basic training in Ft Chaffee, Ark. to home in New Orleans. What a great meal in the diner! One thing that struck me as strange was that the waiter handed us the pad, and we wrote down the order. With the train in motion, I still don't know how the kitchen was able to read the jerky scribbling.
When I was sent to Alaska in 1962, I had to report to Ft Lewis, near Tacoma, and though it would have been cheaper and faster to fly, after enjoying the last trip, I decided to take the IC to Chicago and Northern Pacific to Tacoma. The IC was forgettable--it was as if they didn't care about the passenger business, but the NP treated us well, and the scenery was magnificent. All of my trips were coach only, and while you don't really get a good night's sleep, the seats are so much roomier (especially leg room) than in buses and planes that it's not too bad. Of course, on the NP, I spent just about all the time in the dome.
I haven't taken a train since, but I keep saying "one of these days..."
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Paul of Covington One thing that struck me as strange was that the waiter handed us the pad, and we wrote down the order. With the train in motion, I still don't know how the kitchen was able to read the jerky scribbling.
Before the advent of Amtrak, this was the standard on all roads--except the Northern Pacific. I do not know the reason; perhaps the waiters were not trusted to write the orders (there was the joke which had a passenger unable to read the breakfast menu because, as he told the waiter, he had forgotten to put his glasses on; the waiter's response to the effect that he also could not read). In April of 1971, I had my first meals in an NP diner, and I at first was taken aback until I remembered that NP diner personnel wrote the passengers orders.
Now, it is very easy for diner personnel to take orders--they simply mark on the form which food is wanted.
I remember having to fill out my dining car orders on the Santa Fe Super Chief back ca. 1970. It was my vague understanding at the time, upon query then, that this was because of union rules. Whereas employees who might give out menus, take orders, and otherwise advise patrons on meals were in one union and those that simply deliver meals were in another union. Thus, having passengers write out orders meant that the railroads need not have aboard employees represented by the first union. In other words, different dining car tasks apparently required different unions, which led to passengers doing the ordering task.
Others of you may have more or different information on my vague recollection that this was a union issue.
My first experience in an Amtrak diner was in November, 1971. I'm certain that I had to write my order down for my dinner. So this practice lasted at least a while on Amtrak (I have "dog's memory" of doing that a few times afterwords, as well).
That first Amtrak dinner, btw, was from GCT to Cleveland. We had hotel silver on the table, including creamers, coffee pots, vase, silverware, etc. The silver made the most luxurious rattling sound as we rode up the Hudson that evening. I've never forgotten it, and my "curse" is that I remember it each time I have had dinner in The Lake Shore Limited's diner since.
I was under the impression that the reason customers wrote out the order themselves was simply to eliminate customer complaints about "that's not what I ordered" etc. To say this had something to do with unions seems to me a stretch.
You are probably quite correct, "NKP guy," regarding this issue having nothing to do with unions. It was just what I vaguely remembered.
Yes, how great it was to have such a dining car table experience: heavy (sort of) silver flatware, etc., flowers in vase, starched tablecloth and napkins, "liveried" server, moisture-frosted glassware with tinkling ice. Those were the days, and now precious memories. I am glad that my wife, son, and I could ride the Super Chief before it got gobbled up and changed. Sounds like you had similar and very delightful experiences about the same time.
travelingengineerYes, how great it was to have such a dining car table experience: heavy (sort of) silver flatware, etc., flowers in vase, starched tablecloth and napkins, "liveried" server, moisture-frosted glassware with tinkling ice. Those were the days, and now precious memories. I am glad that my wife, son, and I could ride the Super Chief before it got gobbled up and changed. Sounds like you had similar and very delightful experiences about the same time.
My wife, who was hooked on trains when she was about nine years old, remembers finger bowls especially. My only experience with finger bowls was in an N&W diner on the Pelican about 1968; the bowl itself was a paper bowl that was placed in a metal frame-- but it was a finger bowl.
I honestly do not remember many particulars of my trips on Amtrak in the years that much of the old railroad operations were still followed, nor just when patrons of the diners began writing their wishes. I do recall the difference between the two stewards we encountered on the Super Chief in June of '73. The steward who served us westbound was of the old school; he knew what to do, what not to do, and what could be done, and he made our eating experiences truly pleasant, even taking a picture of us eating--without our asking him; I believe that if I had asked him about our (two adults and three children) eating in the Turquoise Room, he would have led us there if it had been available. Eastbound, the steward had an idea about what to do and what not to do, and lacked the graciousness of the first steward. I think that my trip in 1980 was the last one on which I found several of the long-time onboard service employees still working.
On our trip this spring, almost without exception the onboard service employees--even the overworked attendant in the Cardinal's diner--were wonderful; I had practically no contact with the train crew.
I decided to wake up this thread with an account of much earlier passenger-travel experience.
This is an account of the first passenger train on the Mohawk & Hudson pulled by the DeWitt Clinton in 1831. It is from the book "Wonders & Curiosities of the Railway" by William Kennedy, copyrighted 1884. The author quotes Judge J. L. Gillis, a passenger on this train.
Says Judge Gillis: "The train was composed of coach-bodies, mostly from Thorp and Sprague's stage-coaches, placed upon trucks. The trucks were coupled together with chains, or chain links, leaving from twoto three feet slack, and when the locomotive started, it took up the slack by jerks, with sufficient force to jerk the passengers, who sat on the seats across the top of the coaches, out from under their hats; and in stopping they came together with such force as to send them flying from their seats. "They used dry pitch-pine for fuel, and there being no smoke or spark catcher to the chimney, or smoke-stack, a volume of black smoke, strongly impregnated with sparks, coals and cinders, came pouring back the whole length of the train. Each of the outside passengers who had an umbrella raised it as a protection from the smoke and fire. They were found to be but a momentary protection, for I think in the first mile the last one went overboard, all having their covers burnt off from the frames, when a general melee took place among the deck-passengers, each whipping his neighbor to put out the fire. They presented a very motley appearance on arriving at the first station." At this point a successful experiment was tried for the purpose of remedying the terrible bumps and jerks that were endangering the beaver hats of the dignitaries, and creating such a panic among the second-story passengers. The three links in each coupling, having been stretched to their extreme tension, a rail from the next fence was extended horizontally between each pair of cars, and fastenedto its place by means of the packing-yarn used for the cylinders. This proved satisfactory, and after a run to Schenectady, where refreshments were partaken of, the train returned to Albany.
The train was much better than the bus. Buses made meal stops which sometimes the best thing on the menu were burgers and fries. In the 1950's many buses still traveled on two lane highways. I think that riding a bus from Cincinnati to Atlanta before I-75 on hilly US 27 was a trip many might like to forget; but better than driving it; especially behind a semi. The Southern and L&N made much more sense.
When I was a child my family rode from Minneapolis to Allentown Pennsylvania. The Burlington Zephyr to Chicago then the Pennsylvania to Harrisburg. Once we rode the the Trailblaser and another time on the Admiral which we had a roomette sleeper. The Zephyr between the Twin Cities and Chicago was one of America's great train rides. Burlington breakfasts were wonderful and sitting in the Vista Domes watching the Mississippi,thrilling either winter or summer. Food on both Pennsy trains excellent.On the Admiral the thrill of seeing Horseshoe Curve, something you did not see on the Trailblaser since it was still dark. From Harrisburg to Allentown, however, a bus run by the Reading Railroad. The trip on US 422 was slow but the stop in Reading to change drivers was train heaven. Two freights, both behind steam, and a camelback too.
I recall riding the California Zephyr and El Capitan in 1962 and writing my order on a check. Same system on the IC in 1965. Same thing on the Afternoon Zephyr in 1968. While some railroads probably had the waiter take the order, this card system was pretty common and likely had nothing to do with unions.
I'm the same age as Murphy Siding and I was lucky enough as an elementary school kid to have been able to take a couple of trips on the combined North Coast Limited/Empire Builder/Morning Zephyr in 1968 (still CBQ then) and then again shortly after the BN merger in the summer of '70 between Prairie Du Chien, WI and East Dubuque, IL. Even as a youngster I thought both trips were pretty decent. I still have pangs of regret of not being able to ride the "Cities" trains on the MILW and the IC's Hawkeye out of Manchester, IA. I did ride CN's Super Continental a couple of times between Sioux Lookout, ON and Ghost River Camp which was pretty cool.
I rode the DL&W's Phoebe Snow, the EL's Phoebe Snow, Twilight, Lake Cities. B&O's Royal Blue, PC/New Haven Montrealer, Nathan Hale, Patriot, and Amtrak's Vermonter and unnamed trains. All coach mind you. Also Shortline bus and charters. I'm a railfan and many of these rides were for railfan purposes with a few "need for transportation" along the way. These were from my early teens through today. Of course I enjoyed them all. ( I also have been told that at 2-8 months old I traveled Chicago to Sacramento, then Scaramento to Brownwood, Texas, and Brownwood to NY, but that was out of my realm of rememberence.) Of the rides I remember, each was different. Phoebe Snow provided a railfan ride from New Jersey to Scranton with a return on milk train 44...it was great. I was, what, 16? Likewise the ride on the Royal Blue from Plainfield to Baltimore and return a few years later. In my college days, Phoebe took me from Dover, NJ to Owego, NY following college breaks. The Twilight took me to a summer weekend visit to Ithaca, NY (off train at Owego) on a Friday nightwith a return trip the following Sunday on the Atlantic Express; I made it a railfan adventure. Most prominent "need" rides were Christmas, 1969 as a major snow storm moved into the Atlantic states. My wife suggested the train from Binghamton to NJ the day after Christmas instead of driving. So we had a very adventurous, safe, and completed round trip east on EL 8 that morning and returning on a standing room only EL 5 that Sunday night. Did have to dig my car out and drive the remaing 15 miles home though. Went from Springfield, MA to Philadelphia on the remnant of the Montrealer in 1968 for a job interview; remember changing to the Exeutive at Penn Sta.. Returned on The Patriot changing at Bridgeport for the Nathan Hale and hearing the trains crews discussing the breaking news of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s shooting. Have done a few Amtrak treks out of NYP to Stamford, CT and Poughkeepsie, NY as part of my Ride With Me Henry railfan excursions. On the bus, grabbed a late evening ShortLine out of the Port Authority terminal to Binghamton after riding one of Ross Rowland's 759 trips to the city; had to, the EL stopped running passenger trains the year before!. And have done seveal charter bus trips. So, which is better. Come on, we're all railfans here. So of course the train trips were the best. But I can see where if you commute by train a lot, or if you need to be or demand to be someplace, traveling can be inconvenient and inexpensive. An railfan friend of mine once, because of financial reasons, rode Greyhound from the East coast to San Antonion; he said never again! Did you know people are more likely to get motion sickness riding a bus than air sickness on a plane? I've heard all kinds of experiences here and elsewhere, about public travel accomodations. Train, bus, plane? In American it doesn't matter, The returning comments is that they do it right in Europe and Asia and we just eek out a trip. Our ancestors moved from the Colonies west in covered and uncovered wagons if the did'nt walk. So we should just be glad we've moved a little beyond that!
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