Author Topic: The Amtrak Train Thread  (Read 5113 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Bart Ell

  • Shithead
  • Ellevated
  • *****
  • Posts: 24765
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #30 on: April 02, 2021, 07:12:09 PM »
Took a train from Windsor to Toronto on a class trip once and our whole class was stoked that when you flushed the bowl, a little trap door opened and you could see the train tracks. That's bound to have changed now on trains, hasn't it?   Haven't been on one for any real distance since then.

It has changed.
On the German trains the trap door opens to expose a mouth that gladly accepts your gift.
THEY LOVE THE SCAT THERE!


Walks_At_Night

  • Hall Of Famer, Morg!
  • Ellevated
  • *****
  • Posts: 16086
  • Morg!
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #31 on: April 02, 2021, 07:13:11 PM »
It had to be rare if that is what I remember about the train.
That and it was filled with fucking Germans.

I've heard tales of Vodka and Debauchery on overnight trains in Russia but you pulled uptight Horst and Klaus.  No fun.   

ShayP

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 8738
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #32 on: April 02, 2021, 07:17:36 PM »
It has changed.
On the German trains the trap door opens to expose a mouth that gladly accepts your gift.
THEY LOVE THE SCAT THERE!

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Okay, I'm done now.  I wish I wouldn't visualize things in detail.  I actually envisioned a person on one of those things mechanics use to get under the car and sliding under the hole to get your "gift."  I really need help.  ;D

Bart Ell

  • Shithead
  • Ellevated
  • *****
  • Posts: 24765
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #33 on: April 02, 2021, 07:22:36 PM »
I've heard tales of Vodka and Debauchery on overnight trains in Russia but you pulled uptight Horst and Klaus.  No fun.

It was great fun considering I was escorting a guy who was on his way to play to 40,000 Germans at an outdoor festival.
Management thought the solid wifi would allow him to do a bunch of Skype interviews on the 7 hour trip.
Management never considered that the train would fill up with his fans.
Kinda hard to hide the guy most of these freaks had tattooed on their bodies.

GravitySucks

  • Hall Of Famer!
  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 11813
  • Backup assistant deputy administrator in training
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #34 on: April 02, 2021, 07:47:10 PM »
Perhaps not a bad policy. Every time I've been there (at least west of the Sierra's) I've not been sad to leave.  Although in the Bay Area, I was in an elevator once, it stopped at a floor and George Clinton got on and gave me a "What up Dog".

The Vice President?  He was Vice President during the war of 1812. What was he doing in Canada?
Are we having fun yet?

anniem

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 15180
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #35 on: April 02, 2021, 08:54:13 PM »
I've never been on a train.  I've always wanted to go across the country in one.  It's one of those things I could've done but didn't.  :-\  It's been a while but the last time I looked into it Amtrak did away with the dining cars and all you get is snacks.  That was a few years ago.  Perhaps it was a temporary thing.  I have yet to check again.  If anybody here has traveled as such, I'd appreciate it if you told me what your experience was.  :)

Sure!
I took a train trip once. My friend and I decided to go to San Francisco (this was before one was allowed to poop anywhere one wants). We made our way to the train station and got on a lovely train. It was fun! The views were pretty once we got away from the actual city. What a fun thing, going there without the bother of a car.
Except the train does not go all the way there. When you get near SF you have to get off the train and take a bus. A bus? Wha? Ooookay. The bus seemed dirty and it was smelly. But it took us to the pier where we wanted to be. We wandered around and had a nice lunch. An elderly couple was sitting at the next table and we were chatting. The lady said she was waiting for the Blue Angels. I had not heard of them, and was wondering what sort of angels would be coming to the restaurant. Then we got a treat and saw the Blue Angels and we headed home me knowing more than before the trip. We took another stinky bus to the train station. And we waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited. We were finally informed that the train engine was broken, and a part was coming soon. Wait. Wait. Wait. Hours! We should have been home by 5pm, my friend was on call at 6pm. They finally brought another engine. It was nearly 6pm when we left. We were pretty tired and hungry by then, but there was nothing to buy. I got a bad headache. The snack area did have an opened two tablet pack of tylenol with only one tablet in it, and I was happy to have it. As we got near home, we had to stop while a drawbridge went up to let a boat through. Then, the drawbridge got stuck up. We waited. And waited. We were SO tired and miserable. Someone opened a door to get some fresh air. I thought perhaps we should jump off and call a cab. It was pitch black out there, and I really had no idea if we were over ground or water or what! My friend was unwilling to jump and I was unwilling to venture out in the dark alone, so we waited. We got back around midnight. The Amtrak people were sorry and said we could take a train ride anywhere we wanted for free. I didn't do that.
So some was fun and some was not.

PB

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 15524
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #36 on: April 02, 2021, 09:33:19 PM »
I traveled around China in 1986, back when everyone was still wearing blue Mao suits and riding bicycles - so not exactly modern China.  Several train trips mixed in with a few buses, planes, and day trips by taxi.

One was 2 1/2 days from Beijing to Urumqi, capital of Xingjiang Province Central Asia.  The tickets to choose from were hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper and soft sleeper.  We got soft sleeper, which was a set of bunk beds on either side of a private room.  The other couple in our ''room'' was some Chinese military officer and his wife - full uniform, all the ribbons and medals, etc - and they were not at all happy to be bunking with a foreigner.  They didn't say a word the whole time, probably thought we were spies or something, and nervous to even be near us. 

The rest of the train was mostly Uighurs going back home.  At some point I realized I wasn't at much of a disadvantage, hardly any of the other passengers read or spoke Chinese either.

The train more or less followed the northern route of the old Silk Road, and we could see parts of the Great Wall off in the distance.  After the first day most of the rest was through the Gobi desert.  Omg the train stopped seemingly constantly, at every little village.  Most of the stops weren't even villages, just train platforms in the true middle of nowhere.  The food on the train was crappy, and all the little stops were only for a few minutes each, so no getting off.  When the train stopped, the peddlers on the platform (there must have been villages or small towns somewhere around) would surge forward and sell bread, fruit, and whole cooked chickens through the train windows.

The train had a bathroom car.  An empty, unlit, windowless metal box, with no railings, stalls, anything, just a hole in the floor in the middle of it.  The bathroom car was locked about 15 minutes before we came to the next stop, and 15 minutes after the train left town.  I guess because everything from the hole in the floor just dropped to the tracks.   

TigerLily

  • Official Muse
  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 9627
  • Founder Art's Tarts and Legacy Bart's Bitchen Babe
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #37 on: April 02, 2021, 10:06:40 PM »
Nope. I've lifted my self imposed, albeit irrational, restriction and expanded my horizons.  Now only Utah, Nevada, and California are off limits.  Oh, also Alaska and Hawaii.  I don't think you can go to Hawaii on a train anyway.  ;)

They give you a snorkel and flippers when you take off and flip flops, sunscreen and a lei if you debark

Aloha Wau Ia ‘Oe
Angel in Training  Words of Wisdom: "Play along or go to Hell"

Up All Night

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 6197
  • N. Texas
    • Stroll Down Memory Lane
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #38 on: April 02, 2021, 10:45:38 PM »
I've never been on a train.  I've always wanted to go across the country in one.  It's one of those things I could've done but didn't.  :-\  It's been a while but the last time I looked into it Amtrak did away with the dining cars and all you get is snacks.  That was a few years ago.  Perhaps it was a temporary thing.  I have yet to check again.  If anybody here has traveled as such, I'd appreciate it if you told me what your experience was.  :)

I would recommend searching out (they are easy to find) Amtrak trip reports on YouTube that have taken place in parts of the country you are interested in traveling to/through. There's the cheapest fare, Coach fare, and then a private room, or various sizes. The room fare includes your meals. But since Covid, for now, there has been no dining in the dining car. You get your meal and take it to your seat, or have it brought to your room.

ShayP

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 8738
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #39 on: April 03, 2021, 07:37:12 AM »
Thanks! @anniem and @PB I appreciate you both sharing your experiences.  I can't say they gave me a positive attitude about train travel, but I do know that I'll never have to go to China, although I wouldn't mind it if able.  That was a fascinating description of the trip PB.  I could visualize all of it, especially the military officer.

anniem's trip seemingly turned into a nightmare.  At least the trip to San Francisco and the time at the pier was nice.  But the rest, ugh.  The description of the bus reminded me of when I took a Greyhound from Atlanta to Richmond.  It was terrible.


ShayP

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 8738
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #40 on: April 03, 2021, 07:41:25 AM »
I would recommend searching out (they are easy to find) Amtrak trip reports on YouTube that have taken place in parts of the country you are interested in traveling to/through. There's the cheapest fare, Coach fare, and then a private room, or various sizes. The room fare includes your meals. But since Covid, for now, there has been no dining in the dining car. You get your meal and take it to your seat, or have it brought to your room.

That's a good recommendation. @Up All Night  Thanks. I'll take a look at those videos.  Glad to see you can get a meal.  I'd like to plan a trip this summer.

ShayP

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 8738
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #41 on: April 03, 2021, 07:42:36 AM »
They give you a snorkel and flippers when you take off and flip flops, sunscreen and a lei if you debark

Aloha Wau Ia ‘Oe

You're funny.  ;D  :-*

GravitySucks

  • Hall Of Famer!
  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 11813
  • Backup assistant deputy administrator in training
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #42 on: April 03, 2021, 08:34:44 AM »
That's a good recommendation. @Up All Night  Thanks. I'll take a look at those videos.  Glad to see you can get a meal.  I'd like to plan a trip this summer.

Want me to drop you off at the station?
Are we having fun yet?

ShayP

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 8738
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #43 on: April 03, 2021, 08:59:09 AM »
Want me to drop you off at the station?

But of course...

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

anniem

  • Ellevated
  • ******
  • Posts: 15180
Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #44 on: April 03, 2021, 09:16:03 AM »
Thanks! @anniem and @PB I appreciate you both sharing your experiences.  I can't say they gave me a positive attitude about train travel, but I do know that I'll never have to go to China, although I wouldn't mind it if able.  That was a fascinating description of the trip PB.  I could visualize all of it, especially the military officer.

anniem's trip seemingly turned into a nightmare.  At least the trip to San Francisco and the time at the pier was nice.  But the rest, ugh.  The description of the bus reminded me of when I took a Greyhound from Atlanta to Richmond.  It was terrible.

If we had known about the bus, it would have been better. If you don't have any deadlines or a headache, the delays don't matter. It was fun to be in SF without the burden of a car. We could watch the nice scenery. I liked that part, and I suspect engine failures are rare. That kind of stuff happens to me though.  We did get some laughs over it all. :D
She and I went to SF another time, her niece works at dropbox and we got a great tour.