Last trip on a passenger train?

[Roadtrp]

When was the last trip you made on a passenger train and where did you go?

Mine was about 20 years ago... our family took the Amtrak Northstar from St. Paul to Duluth and back. Sadly, that train was discontinued long ago.

I am currently trying to talk my wife into taking the train on our next trip to Orlando. We would take the Empire Builder to Chicago, then the Capitol Limited to Washington DC, finishing with the Silver Star to Orlando. The fare with reserved coach to Chicago and Standard Bedroom for the other legs of the trip is $1,234.00. Airfare would be about $500. So far, my wife doesn't like the numbers a whole lot...

Wish me luck! [:)]

[Jetrock]

Mine was last month, the "California Corridor" train from Sacramento to San Francisco. I rode the local Light Rail line to and from the train, and rode many trolleys while in San Francisco. Round-trip fare for two on Amtrak was $56, the San Francisco trolley was $1.25 for a 4-hour transfer, and Light Rail was fifty cents one-way.

I am planning on a trip to Chicago from Sacramento--round-trip fare for coach will be less than $300. I noted you're getting a standard bedroom rather than coach. Keep in mind that this is the equivalent to traveling First Class on an airline (meals included, more privacy and convenience) and so comparing it directly to basic airfare isn't exactly fair...

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock

I noted you're getting a standard bedroom rather than coach. Keep in mind that this is the equivalent to traveling First Class on an airline (meals included, more privacy and convenience) and so comparing it directly to basic airfare isn't exactly fair...

Jetrock,

You of course are correct, and that is the reasoning I'm using with my wife. If you value 4 nights of lodging at $100 per night, and 4 days of meals at $75 per day, the price difference of $700 is easily accounted for. (We'll forget for the moment that the lodging is a 40 square foot room with a shared bathroom down the hall.)

Personally, I think $700 is a price well worth paying just for the experience of a long-distance train trip. But of course I'm a train freak and my wife isn't. [:p]

[Anonymous]

I love travelling on the train, Sadly, I have not had occasion to do so recently. My last few trips were on VIA between Ottawa and Toronto. Travelling first class (VIA 1) is great, with the meal and so on. Even though it is a 4+ hour trip, flying between Ottawa and Toronto only saves about 10 minutes, due to preboarding, plus travel times to and from Pearson airport, which is about 1/2 hour outside of downtown Toronto.

The only overnight trip I have done was again VIA from Ottawa to Sackville, NB svereal years ago. Nothing beats eggs benedict in the dining car after a nights sleep in a private room... At least, that's what I have been told. We opted for the "sleep in your seat" option. The eggs were good though... [;)]

Andrew

[Eriediamond]

1960, From Buffalo,NY to Charleston,SC. Enroute to first duty aboard a minesweeper after bootcamp leave in the Navy. Had to travel a couple of years ago from Charlotte,NC to Elkhart,IN. Bus was cheapest, but 23 hours to get there, air was about 2 1/2 hrs and train was same as bus 23 hrs but twice(almost) as air so, no train ride. Often wonder if it's that expensive to actually run the trains or because government operated. Naahhh, couldn't be.[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D] Or maybe someone running Amtrak is building a model railroad???? HHHMMMMMMM

[CP5415]

My last trip on a passenger train was behind 2816 last year on CP's coaches, not the GO Train.
My last & only VIA trip was in 98 from Brockville to Oshawa after delivering a car to Morrisburg for the dealership I worked for at the time.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

Mines was Amtrak's Coast Starlight with an Aunt from Simi Valley to Seattle It was a cool trip SO EVEY ONE DO IT IF YOU EVER GET A CHANCE also roadtrp Good Luck with you wife wanting to fly instead of taking the Train

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Eriediamond

Often wonder if it's that expensive to actually run the trains or because government operated.

I'm sure that high fares have been a major cause of reduced demand for train travel, and that really is a shame. Amtrak has been forced to compete with the deck stacked against them. Roads, airports and air traffic control are all paid for by the government. Passenger trains have to pay their own way except for a very small per-passenger subsidy. If Amtrak received the same support that other modes of transportation receive, the fares would be much more competitive.

[Anonymous]

Other than 14 years commuting on the CNW-METRA, it was the old
Pennsylvania Broadway Limited-Chgo to NY

[brothaslide]

You won't believe this but we took a Passenger train out of Madrid Spain about a week and half before the bombings. Our train was a few tracks over from where the commuter trains were parked. We took what was called a Hotel Tren (Train with sleeper cars).

It all was very sobering for me after we heard what happened with the terrorist bombings.

Sean

[Anonymous]

Septa a month and a half ago from Lansdale PA to Philladelphia.

I usualy take Amtrak 2 or 3 time a year. NJT and Septa 2 or 3 times and Tourist RR 1-8 times (we help out on a local Tourist RR).

[Anonymous]

I rode Amtrak from Detroit Lakes, MN to Chicago last Nov. Two years before this, I went from Detroit Lakes, MN to Seattle. My opinion? You don't need anything more than coach! The seats are large, comfortable and lay back like your La-Z-Boy in front of the TV. There is a foot rest and I had no trouble sleeping what-so-ever. This way it is optional to go to the dinner, or the lounge car for lighter dinning. I love the train. However, Amtrak seems to have problems making connections. Also, if you get to a station and are in a hurry to make a connection, talk to the "Red Caps" they appear to be the only folks that know what the "H" is going on! My trip to Chicago was a connection stop, I was supposed to go on to Washing DC and then to Norfolk, VA. Amtrk personnel screwed me up and I missed the need to continue on! Amtrak put me up for the night and gave me a bedroom for the trip back home. Even with the screw up, I still like traveling by train better than flying. It's just more restful. You get to your destination ready to go!

[Anonymous]

Amtrak from Newport News, VA to New York City. The trip took 9 hours, with a 2 hour layover at Union Station in Washington. The trip back also took 9 hours, but since it was at night, I slept through most of the trip.

I thought the trip was well worth the ride. I had a great time on the train, no screwups, no delays. Everyone I met either at the ticket window or on the train was extremely courteous.

[Anonymous]

Was last Dec Cleveland to L.A. on the Capital limited and the southwest chief. cost only 350 in coach. Have over 25,000 miles on amtrak and via.

[Anonymous]

I've been on the Coast Starlight, Sunset Ltd. and the Heartland Flyer of Amtrak and did One UP Excursion train a few years back. All have been very good. Once on board the vacation begins and there is nothing but relaxing. Get sleepers for sure they are worth the money. Amtrak rarely runs on time but who cares. You're not cramped or uncomfortable in most cases and the Sightseer lounge is just a hop away.

RMax

[lupo]

last trip on a train was from Goes to Utrecht, for a visit to "Het Nederlandse Spoorweg Museum" last summer just before it closed down for major renovations for allmost 2 years.

[Anonymous]

I took the Tri-Rail about 3 years ago. And in Disneyland (last friday) I rode behind the little 2-4-4, although I would hardly call that a passenger train.

[AntonioFP45]

Rode the Silver Star from Tampa to New York a few years back when F40p.hs and E60CPs were still in command. Enjoyable trip.

My only turn off, when I asked a lounge car attendent for water, and then he stated "Don't make it a habit". I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious, so I "let it go" .

Rode the Tri-Rail from Miami, Florida to West Palm Beach. Enjoyed the ride. F40 cabs on the locomotives came from Burlington Northern F45s. The Double Decker car seats could use some more padding.

[Anonymous]

About 10 minutes ago. I take the LongIsland RR to and from work every day

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

My opinion? You don't need anything more than coach!

I would agree, except I don't want to subject the other passengers to my snoring. [:I]

[Anonymous]

The only time I have rode a train was last summer up in Duluth, Minnesota on a tourist train. My coach was an ex- Empire Builder car. It was a very short trip, only from one end of Duluth to the other, so I still don't really know how it is to take a city to city trip. I was born well into the Amtrak era, so obviously I don't have much experience in this field.[sigh]

[randybc2003]

About a year ago had a business trip. Took the option to use AMTRACK's Empire Builder: Portland Section; coach. Smooth. Quiet. LOTS OF ROOM. Cheaper than a bus!! Short run w/ turn-around. Competitive w/ airline schedules. Station was closer in to town. I LOVED IT!! Only 1 problem: to appreciate it, you must be a (yaahn) night owl.

And this was the month MR came out w/ the model on the Cover!! ( I had already made the decision to go when I got the mag.)

Randy

[randybc2003]

More thought: Don't Ask her. Sweep her off her feet. Seduce her w/ dreams. Buy her a book or rent a movie of romance (I said ROMANCE - not action) on the train. Leave the car at home. Treat her like a Hollywood star. Take her shoping and buy yourself and her a new suit of traveling cloths. Take a taxi (or even a limo) to the station. Bon Voyage celebration w/ flowers, champain, etc. check over Classic Trains for menus & ideas.

Randy

[fiatfan]

My last two passenger train trips very very special for me. A friend was an engineer trainee on the Boone and Sceneic VAlley Railway in Boone, IA. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to ride in the engine (NW-2) for the 25 mile round trip. That was in the fall of 2001.

Then in May or June of 2002, the UP brought an Operation Lifesaver train to Fort Dodge. Since my company ws a major customer, we were given tickets to ride the train. They had a drawing on the train for a ride in the cab and a gentleman won. He said to give the ticket to a child. The UP said, "Sorry, no minors allowed in the cab for liablity reasons." He then offered it to any one in the car. I gave it about 3 seconds before popping out of my seat. Rode in a GP38-2 on the way out and some one else rode in the cab on the way back.. A friend sitting next to my wife said after I left, "He never even said goodbye!" My wife just laughed.

[PistolPete]

Boston to Baltimore and back for a soccer clinic. I was not back in to trains at that point but it was still a great way to travel.

[Fergmiester]

The last train trip I did was between Halifax and Port Hawkesbury Cape Breton. That was back in 87' It was on a Via RDC. That service was shut down in the early 90's. What a shame as the trip to Sydney from Hfx was a really scenic trip.

[Anonymous]

Just got back from a great trip aboard the Southwest Chief. The wife and I boarded at Galesburg IL, got off at Flagstaff AZ and rented a car to go onto Phoenix. Using Amtrak's Railsale, we paid just $260 roundtrip coach fare for both of us. Once we got on board, we asked about upgrading to sleeper. Westbound, we paid just 100 to upgrade to standard sleeper. Eastbound, we paid $86 to upgrade (apparently upgrade prices are based on distance traveled in the sleeper). As of the time of our trip, dining car meals were still free to sleeper passengers (I hear rumors this may end soon), so that was a real savings. The dining car meals were great, especially being free. We also learned, for best results, you need to sleep on your back given the rock and roll of the train! The sleeper even had a shower with hot water. Scenery over Raton, etc was really great.

Two Track Main

[Anonymous]

Summer before last I rode the Passenger trains(both of them) at the Texas State Railroad. I was there scrounging parts for the "819". Got a line on the part we were looking for AND a cab ride in the light pacific #500. I rode from Rusk to Palestine (round trip) with the Pacific and from Palestine to Rusk (round trip behind a Consolidation. I have also been slated for a cab ride in late May/ Early June when the Challenger comes through here on her way to houston. I chased her for two weekends in Jan and Feb this year.

[Jetrock]

Fortunately for me, my wife hates to fly and likes trains so she doesn't object to train trips. However, for multi-day trips she definitely prefers a sleeper--me, I'm a rough & ready type who doesn't mind sleeping in a coach chair, but my wife likes a bit more privacy and comfort, and, well, I don't mind it either I guess...

[Anonymous]

Most recent 'passenger ' train ride was on tourist line out of Chattanooga with my son five years ago. Time before that was on IRT subway line in Queens in 1994. Most uncomfortable ride was in cab on Edaville 2 foot narrow gauge in 1980: my fiance and I had to sit on the cab's window sills, for there wasn't room for four of us in the cab. Most beautiful scenery was on Amtrak from Oakland to Reno in the snow just after the rotaries cleared Donner Summit in 1978 with my earlier fiance. Best meal was on New York Central from Utica, NY to NYC in 1962-best lamb chops I ever tasted! Dumbest thing I ever did on a train was in UK in 1986, when I left my camera on the train seat when the London train I was on arrived at my stop in Swindon. I got off the train, the doors shut and I realized I didn't have my camera, ran up to the cab unit and frantically pleaded with the crusty ol' Brit engineer to stop the train-eventually a conductor, or whatever they call them in the UK, intervened and convinced the engineer to accomodate me. All this took place with a large crowd enjoying the whole escapade. On that same trip, while riding the London 'underground', I saw some of the weirdest wierd-oos ever in public-downright scary when you're in a train underground in a foreign country and most of the passengers looked and acted like the cast from "A Clockwork Orange" that aged very badly, and that you had only a vague idea where you are and not a clue as to how to get where you're going. Rode the San Deigan (Amtrak) many times in the '80s from San Juan Capistrano to San Diego-nice ride thru beautiful country but best part was twisty bits near La Jolla. Unfortunately it always ran behind schedule, so spent a fair amount of time in bar in restored San Juan station-there was/is? a great restaurant in The Depot right in the station with jazz every Sunday with brunch. Most annoying train ride was when I was a liitle kid living in Queens and my Mother insisted that I wear short pants every time we went into Manhattan on the IRT, and they had those awful plastic wicker- like seats that left little dents in the back of your legs all day. Passenger train trip I almost took but it didn't make sense to, so I didn't, was from LA to Raleigh in 1994, when my just restored Corvair blew up its transmission a few days before my 9 yr old and I were to drive it to our new home in NC to join my wife (the 2nd fiance mentioned earlier) who was already there. Airfare was $300 less than Amtrak. Plane would take 5 hrs. Amtrak would take over 5 days with a layover at night in either Jacksonville or Pittsburg (I think), and that was sitting up in coach all the way to NC! My son didn't want to fly because he wanted to see the USA out a window so we shipped the broken car, took the bus for it only took 2 1/2 days, even though Greyhound was on strike, they transferred us to a local from Dallas to Atlanta because of floods in Tenn. and we spent the night in the very hostile Atlanta bus station with food poisioning from an earlier bus stop meal. Three days later they found our luggage. At least the fair at less than $150 total for the two of us offset the shipping cost . My very last bus ride ever. The other train I wanted to take but didn't was the Durango & Silverton out of Durango when my son and I were on our way home from our vacation after visiting many n.g. train spots throughout Colo.and we got to Durango just as the train left for Silverton. Most fun ride was on the Roaring Camp and Big Trees out of Felton, CA in the redwoods near Santa Cruz with my daughter in 1975 in a gondola pulled by a Shay up steep grades while eating barbeque. Scariest moment for a relative was when my late grandfather got his foot caught between the platform and a subway car on the curved platform on a NYC subway at the South Ferry station in Manhattan around 1950. (He wasn't badly hurt.) An almost as scary, but definitely fun train ride was the cab ride in an ex-Sacramento Northern juice motor that had "very high voltage" signs in the cab about 12" from where I was riding. That was at the Orange Empire Museum in Perris, CA. in approx 1990. Shortest ride on a passenger train was on a special pulled by the just restored Santa Fe Northern in the Bakersfield, Ca yard about 12 years ago. We wrangled our way into a cab ride back and forth about 300 feet or so in the yard. I'll never forget it though because it was freshly shopped, looked like a million bucks, probably cost a lot more than that to restore, and that it gave my young son an appreciation for steam locomotives, not unlike the effect my Dad had on me when I was a kid and we took the"tubes" from Manhattan to Jersey, or the PRR in NJ, the Long Island, the New Haven in CN, visited the Sunnyside Yard in Queens, or watched the RR car ferries in NYC and Jersey--all in the fifties. Time to go-I've had way too much coffee tonite!