Anyone rode Amtrak for fun?

[BP]

Take the bus, it's faster, and probably more comfortable.

Megabus has some pretty good coverage and it can be dirt cheap, as in $7 each way. It's cheaper for me to drive usually though so I haven't tried it, plus I end up taking dogs with me.

[dmh165638]

We rode it for the 4 hour trip from Seattle along the coast to Vancouver and it was spectacular. Made crossing the border so much easier than driving.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Megabus has some pretty good coverage and it can be dirt cheap, as in $7 each way. It's cheaper for me to drive usually though so I haven't tried it, plus I end up taking dogs with me.

I dated a chick that worked in the Greyhound corp office, they wouldnt let them ride the bus anywhere. Greyhound flew them wherever they needed to go, and rented them a car when they got there. I thought it was humorous, until I saw the people getting on and off the busses at the Downtown terminal.

[ELVIS]

i rode the dart train from frankford@I35 to downtown Dallas, to run the Turkey Trot. i dont think i will EVER set foot on a train of any sorts again. The fact it stopped at what seemed to be EVERY exit on the 35 corridor i quickly came to the realization that i saved no time at all. When Jr was younger i took him him to the Thomas the Train days in grapevine where we got to ride the train and look at all of the white trash slum backyards that back up to the track from GVine to Ft. Worth. I'll jsut drive. i would like to catch a ride on one of those 300mph trains though.

I have also considering selling all assets and joining the FTRA.


god bless.

[CJ]

i rode the dart train from frankford@I35 to downtown Dallas, to run the Turkey Trot. i dont think i will EVER set foot on a train of any sorts again. The fact it stopped at what seemed to be EVERY exit on the 35 corridor i quickly came to the realization that i saved no time at all. When Jr was younger i took him him to the Thomas the Train days in grapevine where we got to ride the train and look at all of the white trash slum backyards that back up to the track from GVine to Ft. Worth. I'll jsut drive. i would like to catch a ride on one of those 300mph trains though.

I have also considering selling all assets and joining the FTRA.


god bless.

Freight Train Rug Authority?

[talisman]

Freight Train Rug Authority?

lol!

[Country cracker]

Damn nigga, how many private planes do you own?


I've always wanted to do a cross country train ride. Thought about doing a jaunt down to Austin for the hell of it.

A bunch! If they're made out of paper. Class I and class II money is a big difference. Unfortunately I made class II money's.

[talisman]

A bunch! If their made out of paper. Class I and class II money is a big difference. Unfortunately I made class II money's.

That's right, I seem to remember our good old buddy Freight Train talking down to you about it once or twice. God that guy was trashy.

[CJ]

That's right, I seem to remember our good old buddy Freight Train talking down to you about it once or twice. God that guy was trashy.

Talking down from his pearly $150k tower in the sky.

[chuckacosta]

I remember, when I lived in Dallas, looking for options to come home to El Paso for a visit. The prices were waaaay more than a plane ticket. And the trip was gonna take something like 3 days. At that point I sais effff that. So, I'm not surprised by all the responses to people that have actually taken a long train ride.

[Chili]

I rode Amtrak 2-3 times round trip from SoCal to WA when I was a kid. It did take forever (24 hours for a trip that takes about 10-11 hours driving) but I enjoyed it. Of course, I was a kid and on my own, so not quite sure I would like it as an adult.

[Chuck_Finley]

Figured I'd weigh in since I've ridden Amtrak also.

One thing to keep in mind is if your trip is expected to last, I'd say, 4-6 hours, coach should be ok. Any longer and it'd probably be better to purchase a roomette or bedroom. We have 2 major trains in the city, the Heartland Flyer that goes from Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City every day, and the Texas Eagle whose route ultimately stops in Chicago and also goes down to San Antonio.

Sometimes there are delays...it sucks. I've taken the Eagle to St. Louis several times and I pay for a bedroom or roomette. I sometimes don't like flying but my problem is that if I drive, I've noticed as I've gotten older if it's 4+ hours of driving I just can't take it for very long. Make sure to bring your own entertainment for the ride, like a book or two or a laptop. I enjoy the trip to St. Louis because I'll be on the train for a few hours that afternoon/evening, eat dinner, then go to sleep. The trip is like 16 hours but it doesn't feel like it to me. I wake up, and we're there.

One reason I've noticed why people don't like the train is because they want to get there at a certain time. People flying a lot these days they are used to arriving at a certain time and sticking to a tight schedule. When I was young my family didn't have the money to fly so we drove everywhere and made stops at places along the way. Driving to these little places was part of our vacation, and I think that's the mindset people should try to have if you take the train: make it part of your vacation.

So for me, the good parts include:
-get my own room
-as much or as little interaction with other people as I want
-get to sleep in a bed
-get to shower
-dont have to drive or get crammed into a plane
-see some areas you don't typically get to from the road
-can usually make it through when other stuff can't (flights cancelled, roads iced, etc)

Parts that suck....
-usually higher price for tickets if you buy your own room
-takes longer to get where you're going
-delays along the way are possible
-food onboard usually sucks...it's edible but not the best
-you get tired of being cooped up after a while
-some major rail stations aren't always in the best parts of town
-usually no onsite car rentals when you get there; have to call a taxi

[GrayStangGT]

If you want an interesting ride take the train from Andrews AF base (the ghetto) into DC. I was the only white person on the thing until we got fairly close the national mall, good people watching though. I also rode the bus from the base to the train station, luckily an older gentleman at the bus stop was cool and gave me the ins and outs of public transportation in DC.

[SonicblueGT03]

I rode Amtrak from Los Angeles back to Fort Worth several years ago. Bought a coach seat and then upgraded to sleeper en route. It was much cheaper that way.

Trip was nice enough, but it took 42 hours to get here. They would stop, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and pick up some family standing next to the tracks. That happened 7 or 8 times through AZ and NM. We had a short layover in El Paso to pickup passengers and restock the bar and dining cars. That killed a couple of hours.

Next stop was San Antonio for a reconfigure of the train. In the old days, the train would pull onto a turnstile and turn around. In the modern era, you disembark and kill a couple of hours while the crew goes front to back, turning all the seats around to face the other direction.

After that, it was pretty uneventful the rest of the way home. The tracks passed within a half mile of my house in Burleson, but they would not stop and let me off. Seemed odd, since they picked up so many people along the way.

Over all, it was fun. I call it the 42 hour bus ride on rails, but there is a bar car, so it goes by pretty quickly.

[Chili]

I rode Amtrak from Los Angeles back to Fort Worth several years ago. Bought a coach seat and then upgraded to sleeper en route. It was much cheaper that way.

Trip was nice enough, but it took 42 hours to get here. They would stop, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and pick up some family standing next to the tracks. That happened 7 or 8 times through AZ and NM. We had a short layover in El Paso to pickup passengers and restock the bar and dining cars. That killed a couple of hours.

Next stop was San Antonio for a reconfigure of the train. In the old days, the train would pull onto a turnstile and turn around. In the modern era, you disembark and kill a couple of hours while the crew goes front to back, turning all the seats around to face the other direction.

After that, it was pretty uneventful the rest of the way home. The tracks passed within a half mile of my house in Burleson, but they would not stop and let me off. Seemed odd, since they picked up so many people along the way.

Over all, it was fun. I call it the 42 hour bus ride on rails, but there is a bar car, so it goes by pretty quickly.

The "station" I got on and off at in WA was like you describe, just a slab of cement next to the tracks. I believe there was actually a building there at some point, but it was long gone even in the 80's.

I was always the only one getting on / off.