Author Topic: The Amtrak Train Thread  (Read 5114 times)

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Walks_At_Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #45 on: April 03, 2021, 09:18:40 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.

How about a cruise in 2022? Pricey to be sure but it hits the big three: Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.

https://greatlakescruising.com/cruise/great-lakes-grand-discovery-2020/

This is a better one one - Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  Even stops in Houghton!
https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/cruise-destinations/great-lakes-canada/undiscovered-great-lakes/index.html

PolkaDot

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #46 on: April 06, 2021, 12:44:42 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.  :)

The train is great @ShayP ! In the States they often don't run on time, at least in the west. But it's a beautiful and comfortable way to see the country. You get to see the eagles along the river and great rock formations in CO, UT, NV area. It's great in the winter and in the summer both. I'd totally recommend it- but it is slow and costs as much as flying.
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PolkaDot

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #47 on: April 06, 2021, 12:48:25 PM »
We once had a "track issue" on the train from Edinburgh back into London. We were stuck for four hours, in a rain storm, in the middle of a bridge. Luckily, there was a couple of very nice Scottish boys who happened to bring their own whiskey and didn't mind sharing. It turned out to be a very fun trip.  ;)
There was a little girl,
            Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
            When she was good,
            She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

KSM

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #48 on: April 06, 2021, 02:07:11 PM »
I'm no stranger to the train but after awhile I just want to get there already as the novelty quickly fades.   Wow look at that mountain! Yeah.. looks just like the other mountains.. blah blah blaaahh etc etc and so-on..

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #49 on: April 30, 2021, 07:04:14 AM »
I'm no stranger to the train but after awhile I just want to get there already as the novelty quickly fades.   Wow look at that mountain! Yeah.. looks just like the other mountains.. blah blah blaaahh etc etc and so-on..

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #50 on: May 05, 2021, 12:12:56 AM »
The Santa Fe Chiefs.... Take a look back at what train travel was like in it's Golden Age...

https://line.17qq.com/articles/ssrsesuwcx.html

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #51 on: May 05, 2021, 11:44:57 PM »
The Texas Chief.... Service from Chicago to Galveston, Tx. in the 1950's and 1960s.

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Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #52 on: May 05, 2021, 11:45:51 PM »
The Texas Chief Timetable

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Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #53 on: May 11, 2021, 10:58:08 PM »

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #54 on: November 17, 2022, 07:45:21 PM »
Taking a train in the U.S. is often more expensive than flying and more expensive than intercity train systems in other developed countries, which often have even faster trains and better service. But Amtrak, the federally funded company that runs many of America's passenger trains, has never made money. In fact, the company has a $42 billion repair backlog and in 2021 wasn't even able to cover half of its expenses from ticket revenue. That business comes mostly from the populous Northeast Corridor, where tickets are quite pricey. Ridership is slowly recovering from an all-time low due to the pandemic, and now Amtrak wants to expand service in a major 15-year plan, with $66 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.


Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #55 on: December 11, 2022, 06:05:39 PM »

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #56 on: February 01, 2023, 09:42:08 PM »
The Wall Street Journal has this about Amtrak vs. the Freight railroads:


Up All Night

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The Washington Amtrak Cascades Train Disaster of 2017
« Reply #57 on: April 07, 2023, 02:29:20 PM »

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #58 on: April 17, 2023, 10:25:01 PM »


CNBC Marathon explores the freight and passenger railroads in America.

The United States lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to passenger trains but when it comes to the freight railroad the U.S. is dominating. The U.S. freight rail network operates over 140,000 miles of privately-owned track in every state except Hawaii, according to the Association of American Railroads. It moves one-third of all U.S. exports and roughly 40% of long distance freight volume. Correction (February 3, 2022): Craig Fuller incorrectly states Amtrak is for-profit but Amtrak is not a for-profit corporation.

Taking a train in the U.S. is often more expensive than flying and more expensive than intercity train systems in other developed countries, which often have even faster trains and better service. But Amtrak, the federally funded company that runs many of America’s passenger trains, has never made money. In fact, the company has a $42 billion repair backlog and in 2021 wasn’t even able to cover half of its expenses from ticket revenue. That business comes mostly from the populous Northeast Corridor, where tickets are quite pricey. Ridership is slowly recovering from an all-time low due to the pandemic, and now Amtrak wants to expand service in a major 15-year plan, with $66 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The U.S. has no high-speed trains, besides a few small sections of Amtrak’s Acela line in the Northeast Corridor. China has more than 19,000 miles of high-speed rail, the vast majority of which was built in the past decade. Japan’s bullet trains date back to the 1960s. France began service of the high-speed TGV train in 1981 and the rest of Europe quickly followed.

Watch the video to see why the U.S. continues to fail with high-speed trains, and the companies that are trying to fix that.

Up All Night

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Re: The Amtrak Train Thread
« Reply #59 on: August 14, 2023, 05:18:08 PM »
Texas Central partners with Amtrak to study viability of high-speed rail in Texas – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-central-partners-with-amtrak-applies-for-federal-grants-to-study-high-speed-rail-viability/3313530/