The Train From Hell

[Starman]

https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/10/...-from-michigan-to-chicago.html?outputType=amp

I actually rode this train route (or one very close to it) a few dozen times 25-30 years ago.
Most trips were pretty humdrum, but one winter night we were stranded for about two hours somewhere outside Battle Creek. Not long enough to really start freezing our asses off, but people were putting their coats on.

 

[goalmouth]

Surprised not surprised that this didn't get wider coverage.

Basically, PASSENGERS CALL POLICE TO GET THEM OFF A TRAIN AFTER AMTRAK ABANDONED THEM.

 

[wicked]

The airlines have done far worse. Get back to me when they’re meaningfully punished, and I don’t mean a $1 million fine.

 

[matt_garth]

I’ve loved trains my whole life. Always had romantic notions of a long-distance trip.

One ride on the Silver Meteor from N.J. to Jacksonville cured me of that — and we actually arrived a few minutes early.

 

[Noholesin1]

I’ve taken the Auto Train from Florida to just outside D.C. and it makes only one stop. This Amtrak service that stops every 20 minutes is just a nightmare.

 

[Webster]

This isn’t a first person account from the stripper in the fire truck?

 

[SixToe]

We took the train from London to Paris a few years ago. It was wonderful. Passengers were nice and not dressed like slobs. The cars were comfortable. The scenery, of course, was lovely, and it was crazy to think about going under the Channel. We also went from London to Oxford for a day, also a wonderful and very cool trip.

And, here in the states, we have Amtrak and a nightmarish project in California.

 

[Starman]

 

[micropolitan guy]

We took the train from London to Paris a few years ago. It was wonderful. Passengers were nice and not dressed like slobs. The cars were comfortable. The scenery, of course, was lovely, and it was crazy to think about going under the Channel. We also went from London to Oxford for a day, also a wonderful and very cool trip.

And, here in the states, we have Amtrak and a nightmarish project in California.

Europe invests in train travel. The US doesn't, and in fact has numerous congressmen and senators railing (ha ha) against almost any form of government support of rail travel ("You're subsidizing Amtrak!") or infrastructure improvement, like spending to improve tracks, train stations, etc.

Train travel is probably the only mode of transportation that was better in the 1900-1950 era than today.

 

[wicked]

Europe invests in train travel. The US doesn't, and in fact has numerous congressmen and senators railing (ha ha) against almost any form of government support of rail travel ("You're subsidizing Amtrak!") or infrastructure improvement, like spending to improve tracks, train stations, etc.

Train travel is probably the only mode of transportation that was better in the 1900-1950 era than today.

Train travel’s effectiveness at this point is dependent on how much your state wants to invest. The Northeast Corridor is used to much by so many regional rail systems that 1.) it’s a miracle that it’s survived this long because of the wear and tear and 2.) there is no way to make the repairs/upgrades that they need to make unless they shut stuff down for an extended period of time.

 

[UPChip]

We took the train from London to Paris a few years ago. It was wonderful. Passengers were nice and not dressed like slobs. The cars were comfortable. The scenery, of course, was lovely, and it was crazy to think about going under the Channel. We also went from London to Oxford for a day, also a wonderful and very cool trip.

And, here in the states, we have Amtrak and a nightmarish project in California.

I relied on trains for inter-city travel on my trip to England. It was a decidedly mixed bag.

For the first leg, I had to stand in the aisle for the first hour and a half of a badly overcrowded six-hour trip from London Paddington to Penzance because I lost a sprint to a platform that wasn't declared until about three minutes before departure and spent too long finding a place for my luggage.

For the second leg, I ended up in a car whose air conditioning had failed on a scorching afternoon trip from Penzance to Cardiff. (Everyone got complimentary bottles of water.)

For the third leg, I had delays at both of my connections between Cardiff and Birmingham and the train came to a complete stop at least three times.

The last leg, from Birmingham to London, was badly overcrowded (on a Sunday morning) due to a rail strike the day before. I had a sunburned and apparently also staph-infected left leg but managed to grab a seat in the last row next to a very well dressed businessman. I managed to not drool on him.

 

[wicked]

I rode the regional rail in Northern Ireland when we were there a couple months back (Derry-Coleraine, if you care, most beautiful train ride I've been on, right along the sea). The use of DMUs/EMUs (shorter, self-propelled trains without huge engines) allows for more frequent service on lines that otherwise would maybe get two or three trips a day. Trains were clean and modern, and although they were a few minutes late it was an easy ride.

We move a lot more freight by rail because of the size of the U.S., and the FRA has been loathe to lower DMU/EMU crash-worthiness standards in areas where freight also operates. I think they finally did a few years back to make DMUs/EMUs more feasible. goalmouth knows everything about everything, so I'm sure he'll correct me on what I got wrong. Point being, passenger service could be a lot more feasible and give travelers some more options.

 

[ChrisLong]

Forty-some years ago, trains in Europe were terrific. After a ferry across the channel from London to Holland, we used trains to make a loop from Amsterdam through Germany, Switzerland and France before another ferry back to London. Twenty-some years ago, trains in Europe were really good, too. Paris to Bordeaux in France. We used an old channel-crossing "flight' from Calais to Dover. That was discontinued when the tunnel was finished.

So nice my wife wanted us to do the U.S.-Canada border trip. I think it's four days from Washington State to New York, something like that. But after our trip to Alaska 4 years ago, fortunately, she doesn't want to see another train ever. Made it by bus from Fairbanks to Denali. But getting from Denali to Whittier, where we were to board a cruise ship, was a nine-hour run. Beautiful scenery, yes, but how many trees and mountains do you want to see.

 

[Songbird]

The Empire from Rensselaer to Penn Station, along the Hudson River, is 150 minutes of smooth riding and pure relaxation.

 

[SixToe]

I figured the Paris-London train wasn't the normal experience for all trains in England or Europe.

The U.S. never will have passenger train service above what we have now with Amtrak. IMO there's too much private land, putting a rail line along the interstate systems sounds good but wouldn't happen, and the blowback from multiple people-groups-agencies would scuttle it. Animal rights groups would lose their **** about some mysterious lizard or migrating butterfly. Politicians would do their best to grift-graft-steal what they could. The unions would love it until they didn't. Never will happen.

The Empire from Rensselaer to Penn Station, along the Hudson River, is 150 minutes of smooth riding and pure relaxation.

I'm thinking of going to New York next year and taking the train up from NYC to West Point for a game. Never have been there and would like to see the history and stadium before they begin the expansion.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I'm thinking of going to New York next year and taking the train up from NYC to West Point for a game. Never have been there and would like to see the history and stadium before they begin the expansion.

Wow, that's going to block the view of the reservoir from the west grandstand.

https://www.westpoint.edu/USMA-2035/physical-infrastructure/michie-stadium-preservation

 

[MileHigh]

How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails

 

[SixToe]

Wow, that's going to block the view of the reservoir from the west grandstand.

https://www.westpoint.edu/USMA-2035/physical-infrastructure/michie-stadium-preservation

A friend who attended decades ago mentioned the expansion to me Saturday morning. I searched for it and saw the plans. It's not gross but it definitely blocks the view. I want to go see it before all the changes. I suspect the train ride up and back is lovely, too.

 

[wicked]

Not a must-do, but I would like to do The Rocky Mountaineer before I kick it.

 

[dixiehack]

I relied on trains for inter-city travel on my trip to England. It was a decidedly mixed bag.

For the first leg, I had to stand in the aisle for the first hour and a half of a badly overcrowded six-hour trip from London Paddington to Penzance because I lost a sprint to a platform that wasn't declared until about three minutes before departure and spent too long finding a place for my luggage.

For the second leg, I ended up in a car whose air conditioning had failed on a scorching afternoon trip from Penzance to Cardiff. (Everyone got complimentary bottles of water.)

For the third leg, I had delays at both of my connections between Cardiff and Birmingham and the train came to a complete stop at least three times.

The last leg, from Birmingham to London, was badly overcrowded (on a Sunday morning) due to a rail strike the day before. I had a sunburned and apparently also staph-infected left leg but managed to grab a seat in the last row next to a very well dressed businessman. I managed to not drool on him.

That bag seems very un-mixed.