TRAINS! do you travel on them?

We travel by train as often as possible...never as much as we would like though.
It is the slow relaxing pace of rail travel that makes it a joy...except maybe when switching trains with minutes to spare and having to run through the LA terminal with backpacks and all.

Can we share train travel experiences?
Amtrak in the US but there are more advanced and better maintained trains in other countries.

We have taken short Little Rock to Chicago trips more frequently but also two 6 week trips to the west coast and back with stops along the way to stay at hostels and with friends.
Santa Cruz has a sweet hostel within a few blocks from the beach...Tucson we stayed at an Airbnb, Seattle, San Fransisco and Monterey in hostels.  Hostels are not just for youngsters, they even have couples rooms we could reserve...all with shared kitchens of some sort available.

We never eat out when traveling, even at the dining car on the train. First thing we did in any town was to find the farmer's market and grocery store and ate really well...local produce in California amazed.

I'll come back with some links later ...just wanted to start this while I was thinking about it.

And meeting people, all nationalities and ages and languages was wonderful, fellow travelers and most everyone we ran into.  I  used to hitchhike a lot and walking is still a favorite mode of travel...we don't fly and buses got too cramped but trains could be the future...lovely pace, we can walk around...seats aren't bad for a nights sleep🙃

https://www.amtrak.com/train-routes

A dream of mine for many years is to take an Amtak somewhere.

The kind of trip where you have a cabin and spend several nights on the train.

too bad I would have to travel a long ways to get there so I guess I can scratch that off my list....

As a kid I went with my Dad on a train to visit the grandparents.

Another train trip was to the Kansas City Zoo with my classmates.

Anne, Amtrak has dropped routes since begun in 1971.
I wish there was better funding for all sorts of public transportation but especially for trains.

https://transitmap.net/project-amtrak-timeline-map/

Amtrak’s the best mode from my parents’ town in Minnesota to Chicago. We use it pretty regularly, particularly if just 1-2 people are traveling. Now that they have two trains a day, it’s even better. 6 hour trip, basically the duration as the drive, but more relaxing.

Of course sometimes we want to bring the dog, or can’t leave town until evening, so then have to drive.

When the kids were little enough, we didn’t need to pay separate fare for them, and it was great to book a “roomette” for privacy and meals included.

The only train I've ever rode was at the zoo. To be fair, it was a real, actual, steam engine, so it was pretty cool. I think it'd be fun though to take a cross country trip by train.

started taking the train last year. I took it to Manitoba to visit my family. VIA rail. They have sales on every once and a while where you can get up to 40% off the ticket fare. I managed to get there and back for 700 dollars(350$ each way) Comes with a bed, shower, 3 meals a day, and all the spare time for whatever meets your fancy. For me its a 3 days trip basically. I loved it. Booked my train trip 8 months in advance. So I thinks its fantastic.

Watching the landscape in the dome car, or really anywhere on the train is good. I also get to meet interesting people traveling on the train. The food was fairly good, diverse. Even had rack of lamb. First time having carrot cake and cream cheese cake in one piece. For me it was a holiday! Talk it up a lot to my friends. I hope it keeps going into the future.

I am going to read https://goodreads.com/book/show/1848.Wild_Swans_Three_Daughters_of_China

on the train.

I haven't taken a train in years. To be fair, I don't do a lot of traveling via any transportation method. Best part, you don't get motion sickness. You are able to move around and stretch. You never feel as tired in my opinion. A 12 hour car drive - super stressful. A 12 hour train ride - not stressful at all. I wish trains were more popular and more routes were available.

If the route from the Twin Cities to Duluth ever gets built, my train use will increase dramatically. When I lived in New Jersey, I took the train into NYC once a year or so. I haven't taken a long train ride since 1985 when I rode from St. Louis to Chicago and then to Harrisburg, PA to attend a summer camp.

I took the train from Portland to Pittsburgh once, very scenic till we got to Denver, then it was all just flat...Also changed train from a "long haul" to a commuter at Chicago which was not as comfortable/fun from there to Pittsburgh.  More like the Greyhound (which I have also done cross country trips on, but hope never to again!).  I rode the Amtrak a few times in my 20s when I was backpacking around the US (20 years ago) and enjoyed it;  I would have ridden it more if I could have afforded it.

Here in Britain I much prefer the train to driving where possible.  There's a station in the next village over to me, a bike or bus ride (or an hour walk) away which travels to two major cities and another large town, trains running once an hour.  When we want to go to either of the cities, we definitely take the train.  I don't have to fight traffic, I don't have to find (and pay for) parking.  The large town is worth visiting too, but cheaper to ride on the bus and the bus station is in the town center, where the train station oddly isn't.  Plus I have a little girl for whom a bus ride is still exciting.  And at heart, I still find them both a bit exciting too :)

I don't travel very much at all now, but as my other half is a train-spotter it's no coincidence that the view from the front door tends to look like this... ;)

I love the rail map! I wonder why all the railways go to Chigaco.....All routes to London here :P


ontheworldmaps

G Freden wrote:Here in Britain I much prefer the train to driving where possible.  

If it is just me then I like the train too. I always feel that the buses could go anywhere, whereas the trains are less likely to go off route and me to miss my stop. I have happy memories of my childhood too, and being met at the station in London by my Grandad en route to a visit there. No use for me for short journeys anymore though, as there are no public railways on Skye. I have taken the sleeper train to visit my family, but unless you get a cabin, they used to make the seated passengers change carriages at about 3 in the morning, which was not the best experience!
These days many of the long distance trains in the UK have wifi and charging plugs so you can plug electronic devices in, and work or play online.

Nancy Reading wrote:I love the rail map! I wonder why all the railways go to Chigaco.....All routes to London here :P

I love hearing everyone's stories!
We are looking at train schedules now to see if we can afford a few days just riding the train somewhere and back for our 50th wedding anniversary in May.  Buying a ticket early keeps the price way down and we get a senior discount also so other than a bag of food we could do it pretty reasonable.  The train is the only time I drink instant coffee.

We took the train when the kids were young as others have mentioned and when they were older, sent each of them separate years on their own to be met by grandma and grandpa at the other end.  I'm pretty sure they were each 12 for their respective trips.
Our oldest got a  train ticket from us for high school graduation...a six week planned by him adventure.

Chicago is the hub but Amtrak provides buses for shortcuts where you don't always have to go to Chicago first.

My only train trip was a short one. It was planned well in advance, so we had plenty of time to get excited over it. I was about 12 years old.

ON A STEAM ENGINE!



It looks like it is still in operation! Take a peak at the options here. Nearly 50 years of inflation makes the ticket price scary.

Travel over trestles, through towering redwood groves and up a winding narrow-gauge grade to the summit of Bear Mountain as conductors narrate the history of Roaring Camp, the railroad and the forest. In the 1880s, narrow-gauge steam locomotives were used to haul giant redwood logs out of the mountains. Roaring Camp’s steam engines date from 1890 and are among the oldest and most authentically preserved narrow-gauge steam engines providing regularly scheduled passenger service in America.

I sort of took one, back in '87, but pregnant, with 24/7 morning sickness & traveling alone from Chicago to NIH, in Bethesda, MD, with a very active toddler, and no budget or sleeping berth, for a medical needs destination... Well. It was a 'trip', alright.

John has always dreamed of a train trip. His dream sounds much better - St Louis to Chicago to Vegas, to Kansas city. I think 6 days, total? If we can figure out livestock care (again), I'd like to go next year. We wanted to go this coming early October, to see the fall colors - then we got a 'save the date' in the mail, for his nephew's wedding, the same week we had set aside. ~le sigh~