My favorite passenger experience was on the Phobe Snow between Newark, NJ and Elmira, NY. I rode it four times every year for four years (1966-1960) as I attended a boarding school in Watkins Glen,NY. The on-train staff treated us (high schoolers) as any other passenger and were very helpful whenever they were asked for help or information. So it goes to understanding why Erie, Lackawanna, and Erie-lackawanna is the reason for my MRR being East Coast-based and coal and mixed freight the dominant revenue sources.
John
What about the Hiawatha, Daylight, El Capitan, Super Chief, Empire Builder, California Zephyr all eastern and midwestern trains! Nice choices though just would like to see some western trains! Thank you!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Frisco firefly and PRR The Congressional
The firefly, very interesting!
Gotta go with the Flambeau 400. Just something about railroading through thick, forested swamps deep in the Wisconsin northwoods. It ran between Ashland, WI and Chicago. Towards the end (1971) it's normal consist was only one or two bilevel coaches pulled by an F7, making it the shortest "name train".
Modeling the C&NW in northcentral Wisconsin, late summer 1976
matt56 Gotta go with the Flambeau 400. Just something about railroading through thick, forested swamps deep in the Wisconsin northwoods. It ran between Ashland, WI and Chicago. Towards the end (1971) it's normal consist was only one or two bilevel coaches pulled by an F7, making it the shortest "name train".
After a post on the shortest "name train", I would vote for one of the longest passenger trains, with usually around 34 cars, but sometimes up to 44 cars - The Ghan. Since 2004 it runs between Adelaide and Darwin; before that date , it just went up to Alice Springs. However, the portion between Alice Springs and Darwin is the more interesting part. 35 years ago, I visited that part of the Australian Northern Territories (by hitchhiking!), and I fell in love with it. My favorite place was the Katherine Gorge. The Ghan stops in Katherine long enough so that you can do a tour.
Very nice! Just curious what would be the longest North American passenger train?
@ DrW: very interesting! Can you show us a photo of a 44 car long Ghan? I would love to see that silver snake!!! By the way I wonder why they never used dome cars in Australia despite having large open spaces and no tunnels. Is it maybe because the landscape is just not that spectacular, being mostly flat desert?
@ cascadenorthernrr: As far as I know the combined Sunset Limited-Golden State of 1964 regularily had 20 to 25 cars between Los Angeles and El Paso. I also think that the City of Everywhere in the late 60s and early 70s easily had more than 20 cars between Cheyenne and Green River. When it comes to single trains, I guess in the classic era the Empire Builder was the longest one. I saw some consist lists where it reached up to 21 cars and even featuring a 4th short dome car. Nowadays, VIA Rails Canadian can also have up to 25 cars in the peak of the summer season.
I see. I found this story about the VIA Rail Canadian in National Geographic: Journey Across Canada by Train. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/canada/train-trip-journey/
De Luxe @ DrW: very interesting! Can you show us a photo of a 44 car long Ghan? I would love to see that silver snake!!! By the way I wonder why they never used dome cars in Australia despite having large open spaces and no tunnels. Is it maybe because the landscape is just not that spectacular, being mostly flat desert?
You get several web sites just by googling The Ghan 44. The best photos and even a video I found on
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3610661/The-world-s-longest-train-LONGER-Australian-behemoth-stretches-length-12-football-pitches-650ft-extra-carriages-added.html
JW
I see, very interesting indeed!
I like the San Diegan (Amtrak's version) and Santa Fe's version.
I see, very interesting!
Although I have never rode a train in my 70 yrs I have lots of favorites. Anything being pulled by a gg1, the daylight, Powhatan Arrow, Anything pulled by a ABB set of SF red and silver F units, The Tennessean, Texas special and many others.
Dave
Very nice.