favorite passenger train.

[kenneo]

UP's City of Portland while they still had the dome lounge on the rear. It just didn't look right when they moved it up behind the diner.

[jchnhtfd]

Of the lot still running? It would have to be the Canadian, with the Southwest Chief a good close second (it was a lot better before budget crunches did in the menu!). Of the glory days? You guys all have some wonderful picks, but...

There was only one Twentieth Century Limited behind either a streamlined Hudson or one of the great Niagaras. Either on board, or on the ground... (although I have to admit that the Super Chief was a pretty good train, too!)

[Anonymous]

The Super Chief!!

[Anonymous]

AMT!

Thge montreal commuters!

They kick BOO-TAY!

[Anonymous]

Capital Ltd- quiet and dignified

[Anonymous]

Like nw2608, I vote for the North Coast Limited. My Jan '71 trip on the NCL to Seattle is still a highlight after all these years and a good number of other train rides. I still vividly recall the huge Idaho baked potato and frango mints in the diner, my vodka and tonic in the Lewis and Clark Travelers Rest lounge car, discussions with fellow passengers about the coming of 'Railpax' in April, the awesome view from the vista dome, and the coziness of my slumbercoach room as a winter storm raged outside.

John W. Baie, author, xlibris.com/TwoTrackMain.html

[Anonymous]

Amtrak's Surfliner north and south of Los Angeles has some wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean and beaches.

[chemung]

The Lackawana "Phoebe Snow ",the last time August 1956.

[RAILFANUSA]

The original ---------CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR------------- Ofcourse!!!

[Anonymous]

I never got to ride these, but:

(1.) Panama Limited
(2.) Southern Belle
(3.) Gulf Wind
(4.) Texas Special
(5.) Sunset Limited

(The only passenger trains I got to ride were: James Whitcomb Riley, El Capitan, City of Los Angeles, San Diegan).

[CG9602]

even though I was born too late to have ridden on them, my pre-Amtrak favorites would have to be the 400, the Southern Belle, and the Empire Builder. The Amtrak favs that I would have right now would be the Builder, the Capitol Ltd., and the SW Chief.

[wallywalkabout]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Soo2610

Ken...It's possible I have my trains wrong and it was the San Francisco Chief. She hired on in 1966 right out of nursing school. Job description required that she be an RN and also required that she serve as tour guide on the train pointing out all the scenic highlights. Still have her dark blue woolen uniform in the closet, which unfortunately, she no longer fits into. Says it wasn't the most comfortable at station stops in the desert! Anyway, she only made about four runs and quit. Didn't like idea of porters having keys to her sleeping quarters.

I traveled on the Super Chief in Sept 1955--THEY DID HAVE A RN WHO ALSO ACTED AS A TOUR GUIDE!!.

[henry6]

virtually anything pre Amtrak...even a dirty mixed on a rural road had more character than an all the same finished stainless of today.

[brilondon]

I have two favourites. The Canadian for the domes and the beautiful mountain views. The southwest Chief because that is where I met a fellow rail fan who was also very beautiful. She was from Toronto as was I and we enjoyed the trip tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Denver Zephyr, both 1936 and 1956 versions.
20th Century Limited

[Anonymous]

THE BROADWAY LIMITED THE SOUTHERN CRESCENT AND THE SOUTH WIND

[Anonymous]

generally: ICE 3

in north america: Acela Expres
in Canada: any VIA rail train led by the GE P42DC

[Anonymous]

Mine would have to be the SP Coast Daylight pulled by matching GS-4.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Soo2610

The old Super Chief. My wife worked on it as a registered nurse.

Please contact me concerning Courier-Nurses. jada, [e-mail]

[Brydle]

Via Canadian, CNR Super Continental, Via Skeena (The Rupert Rocket), Amtrak Coast Starlight, BC Rail Prospector

[espeefoamer]

1.San Joaquin Daylight.This was my first train ride.[:D]
2.Southern Crescent.I rode this when it was still a Southern Ry. train.[8D]
3.My favorite train that I never rode, nor saw, was the Olympian Hiawatha.I think the electric divisions over the Rockies & Cascades were awesome.[:)]

[passengerfan]

Having traveled on a great number of the pre-Amtrak name trains and probably having at least sixteen coast-to-coast trips via train in Canada and the US My choices of trains I personally have ridden would be as follows not necessarily in this order.
1. GN EMPIRE BUILDER
2. AT&SF SUPER CHIEF
3.NP NORTH COAST LIMITED
4.CP CANADIAN
5.CN SUPER CONTINENTAL
6.WP-D&RGW-CB&Q CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR
7.UP CITY OF PORTLAND
8.AT&SF SAN FRANCISCO CHIEF
9. CP ATLANTIC LIMITED
10. CN OCEAN
11. PRR BROADWAY LTD.
12. NYC TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED
13. CB&Q DENVER ZEPHYR
14. SP CASCADIAN
15. SP SUNSET LTD.
16. SP-CRI&P GOLDEN STATE
17. CB&Q KANSAS CITY ZEPHYR
18. CB&Q AMERICAN ROYAL ZEPHYR
19. NYC NEW ENGLAND STATES
20. IC PANAMA LIMITED
21. GN WESTERN STAR
22. CN PANORAMA
23. GN WINNIPEG LIMITED
24. ACL FLORIDA SPECIAL
25. SAL SILVER METEOR
26. AT&SF SAN FRANCISCO CHIEF
27. AT&SF CHIEF
28. SOU CRESCENT
29. CMSTP&P OLYMPIAN HIAWATHA
30. CMSTP&P-UP-SP CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
31. AT&SF EL CAPITAN
32. GN INTERNATIONAL
33. UP 457/458
34. UP BUTTE SPECIAL
35. CN NEWFIE BULLET
36. SP SHASTA DAYLIGHT
37. AT&SF SAN DIEGAN
38. CN RAPIDO
39. CN TURBO
40. NYNH&H MERCHANTS LIMITED
41. PG&E CARIBOU DAYLINER
Trains I wish I had ridden prior to Amtrak.
1.IC CITY OF MIAMI
2. NYC WOLVERINE
3. MP TEXAS EAGLES
4. SL-SF - KATY TEXAS SPECIAL
5. C&S -FW&D TEXAS ZEPHYR
6. AT&SF TEXAS CHIEF
7. NP MAINSTREETER
8. CB&Q TWIN ZEPHYR
9. IC CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
10. C&NW 400
11. CMSTP&P MORNING HIAWATHA
12. B&O CAPITOL LIMITED
13. B&O NATIONAL LIMITED
14. C&O ANY TRAIN

Trains I only rode once and would not make the same mistake twice.
1. CGW MILL CITY
2. CRI&P TWIN STAR ROCKET
3. CRI&P ROCKY MOUNTAIN ROCKET
4. UP-CMSTP&P CITY OF DENVER
5. SP ARGONAUT

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Brydle

Via Canadian, CNR Super Continental, Via Skeena (The Rupert Rocket), Amtrak Coast Starlight, BC Rail Prospector

I rode on the Cariboo Prospector back when I was really little, my great aunt took me from North Vancouver to Prince George and back, those were good times, wish I could remember it more vividly! [:(]

All time favorite ride was the Royal Hudson 2860 from North Vancouver to Squamish and back, that was one heck of a great ride, took it a few times every summer when I was little.

Hopefully the West Coast Railway association will be able to get the 2860 back up and running again!

[Anonymous]

The CN Rail United Aircraft Turbotrain.........strange looking but very fast......a man I spoke with before told me that one time the Turbotrain just stopped dead, so the engineer and conductor got out and repeatedly tried to restart and tinker with the turbine engines this went on for about 5 hours.....then after all this hassle they finally realized it had run out of fuel.

[Anonymous]

Also the VIA LRC...........my first train ride as a child.........they ran them full out as fast as possible........it was amazing to see the cities and towns speed by the windows.Unfortunately they retired them but when I was coming back from Toronto last year I seen all of the LRC locomotives stored in the VIA maintenance yard...........hopefully the can be used again or donated to museums.

[daveklepper]

1. California Zephyr and then the Rio Grande Zephyr. 2. Panama Limited in its best days. "The King's Dinner" 3. Super Chief 4. Electroliner and all North Shore Line Chicago - Milwaukee expresses 5. The little experimental Budd Multi for the BMT, interiors designed by the same architect who did the Super Chief for the Sante Fe, the only realy great interior of a subway train, 6. The Silver Meteor with coach passengers allowed into the round end observation and a mid-train lounge with glass in the roof to give single-level train passengers some of the feeling of a dome car. 7. My other favorite interurban, the Lehigh Valley Transit "Liberty Bell Limited" (which did rate a great TRAINS article) but I wish I had ridden the cars on the Cincinnati and Lake Erie, their "Red Devils", 8. Of course the Silverton and the San Juan, 9. The original Metroliners when one could ride behind the engineer with the door to the front platform open and check the speed on the digital speedometer, the Gulf Wind, Seabord-L&N, a pocket-sized streamliner with the amenities of a big one, and again coach passengers allowed to ride the round-end observation; 10. The Senator in its all-Budd days with the view from Hell Gate Bridge as an added bonus, 11. The Crescent, then the Southern Crescent for great down-home Southern cooking, 12. Any Atlantic Coast Line streamliner for the same reason, when it had an ACL diner, 13. The Newfy Bullet, with its narrow gauge section sleepers and great dining car, 14. the Swiss Ratian Railway "internation narrow gauge mixed-train interurban (runs through streets in several towns) from San Moritz to Tirano, Italy, again with the opportunity to ride the front platform (the engineer made a photo stop for me when ahead of schedule!), 15. The Waterloo Ceder Falls and Northern, Waterloo - Ceder Rapids, with an open observation back platform, brass rail, leather seats, and all, on a single-car interurban schedule, 16. The GM&O St. Louis Chicago trains for great dining car food, the 17. the overnight D&RGW Salt Lake City - Denver train, blocking on the name for the present, again a great dining car and great crew, 18. The UP City of Los Angeles when it had a dome diner, 19. The Mt. Washington Cog Railway and the TRAINS article says it all.

[Anonymous]

The Amtrak version of the Broadway Limited in the early 70's. 20+ cars being pulled by 1 GG1, as it slides it's way out of New York's Penn Station, through the west end interlocking and disappearing into the tunnel under the office buildings and the Hudson River. I was truely impressed!

[Anonymous]

Being one who has traveled by train in those last days of the real service I haven heard anyone mention The Central of Georgia's Nancy Hanks II. Running between Savannah and Atlanta with the endearment name of "The Nancy"

[TH&B]

1; The NYC Wolverine via the CASO . <in the end the Niagra Rainbow>

2; The CN Rapidos, Totonto - Montreal.

[Anonymous]

There were so many wonderful trains from the august 20th Century Limited to the Laker they were all interesting in their own way. My favorite was the Capitol Limited on the B&O. The equipment was always an example of a railroad that had to try harder; blue and gray and stainless steel with domes and Slumbercoaches, twin unit diners with superb food, and a warm feelng of home whenever you road it. The service was impecable from waiters, who were no less than courtly, to Pullman porters who set the very standard for quality service. Whenever I road this train it was an excursion into the land of pleasent living.