Posted on 03/03/2013 2:46:18 AM PST by iowamark
Vickie, Alice, Lisa, Debbie, Barbara, Chris, Clair and Cootz boarded the Los Angeles-bound Sunset Limited in Schriever, La., and immediately took residence in the glass-sheathed Sightseer Lounge car. The eight women squeezed into two booths on either side of the aisle and began to scream with laughter.
With a quiet, pneumatic exhalation, the Sunset Limited left the station; it was 90 minutes into its journey, with 45 hours and 5 minutes to go... It climbed steadily for two miles before passing over the dizzyingly narrow span of the Huey P. Long Bridge. From up there, 145 feet above the Mississippi River, the river’s full double turn, like a lowercase m written in a lazy cursive, was visible; you could see why they called New Orleans the Crescent City...
Long-distance-train passengers tend to belong to one of four categories. The first, perhaps most obvious category is occupied by people who refuse to fly, whether because of religious beliefs, fear or health reasons, but there are fewer of these than you might expect. The second category belongs to train buffs, known less commonly as rail fans, GERFs (glassy-eyed rail fans), or foamers, a term coined by railroad employees to refer to people who became so excited by trains that they seem to foam at the mouth like rabies victims.
In the United States, there are more than 100,000 train watchers, according to one estimate, a number that includes a 70-year-old retiree from Germantown, Md., named Steve King, whose first job, in 1959, was to serve as an operator for B & O Railroad. Though King identifies himself as a “transportation geek"
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
On September 11, I took the Path train into lower Manhattan from Jersey.
That was the last time I have been on a train.
How about London to HongKong? Although there were stops along the way, the TransSiberian part of the trip was all train, night and day. I’d do it in a minute again!
When was your trip and how long did it take? It always nice to have an idea of when events happened because things change so much. (They don’t do it like they used to.)
P.S. I’m envious! What a trip! I can’t imagine the scenery.
I thought about taking the train from Houston to Raleigh, looked at the schedule, the massive layover in Charleston and the price and drove.
The train in this country is a novelty except in the East and Chicago area. If it can’t be run right and profitably and affordably it needs to be shut down.
To experience train travel Dad, my Son and I made the loop from Houston to LA, Seattle, Chicago and back to Houston. That was in the early 90s. We had a good time save for the tension in LA from the Rodney King mess and in Chicago where the station polarized to a near riot over a smoking Black and some cancer survivor who didn’t want the Black to smoke in an area that said no smoking. Adding to the tension was that Amtrak was late and lied many times about when the train would board.
Amazingly, or maybe not, travel was much better in the 30’s than it is now. People from the little Eastern Oklahoma town of Marble City on the Katy commuted to Kansas City for jobs. They would board the train on Sunday evening and arrive before work on Monday. On Friday they would board the train after work and be home for the weekend by Saturday morning having slept all night on the train. It was affordable. The commuters were school teachers.
Try that today. Won’t work.
“Two days, NO to LA? I can drive faster than that. Probably cheaper, too.”
Driving distance, 1900 miles
Driving time, 27 hrs (based on average speeds, within speed limit)
Fuel cost, $274 (based on 27 mpg highway, $3.90/gal gas cost)
And that is a $550 rt fuel cost, if you don’t drive around LA.
Agree.
What he really meant was people take the train because they DON’T have a RELIGIOUS BELIEF IN THE TSA.
So, by the thinking(?) of the NYT reporter, that makes them loons.
Anyone have have knowledge of Trans-Canadian train?
I have heard it makes stops, when you ask, for hunters and campers.
Thanks. I went to your link. Per person cost of $1000/day is pretty steep. But for those who can afford it, sounds great.
I am glad we have our travel trailer. Heading out for a 2-week trip pretty soon, AAMOF.
It was 1990,(Late August, September, to the middle of October) and it took 6 weeks because of the tourist stops.
The Berlin Wall had just come down and the remnants were still there, as was Checkpoint Charlie. Mongolia had just shaken off Russia and was an independent country. There was a stark contrast between drab Russia and the color of Mongolia! The Russians all wore dark, plain colors and walked without pep — or so it seemed. I didn’t think anything of it, until we went into Mongolia and the people were spirited and were brightly dressed. Marked difference! And a difference in the farmlands of Russia and China. Busy workers all over the Northern Chinese farms, but deserted in Russia.
I’d love to do the trip again just to see the differences, now.
One thing about train travel is that you get a bird’s eye view of what you see in the countryside as compared to the modern cities. There is the intrigue of foreign geography, of course, but you also see the people just living their lives. Impressions I will never forget.
Scenery? I’ll never forget those White Birch forests in Russia — or the living Gobi Desert. I always thought of deserts as being deserted. Well the Gobe changed my mind. So much wild life!!! Little tiny villages — I mean TINY, and lone horse men off in the distance. A life I can’t even imagine!
I've never tried it on a train (all my trips were short hops) but I have it on good authority that there is nothing like sex on a train. Something about the "rhythm of the rails" providing all the motion...
Of course, you might not remember those details.
Regards,
GtG
Yikes..in 2001?
How did you get home?
Thanks so much for sharing some of the details of your journey. I am so envious!
Ferry to Jersey. Hitched a ride to Short Hills Hilton. Wife picked me up from there.
Wow. That must have been quite a day.
That looks “mahvelous!”
If I hit Lotto I will do it, and invite you for sure!
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