Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 468 posts

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#241

Post by sushisushisushi »

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

>It was shit and I will never take an Amtrak again.

All Amtrak lines are operated a little differently, AFAIK. As far as the West Coast is concerned, I find both the Pacific Surfliner and the Coastal Starlight to be pleasant and enjoyable (although not very affordable). The Northeast Regional on the East Coast is pretty affordable, runs often, and makes traveling between cities in the Northeast megalopolis without a car pretty trivial, which is nice.

All that's to say that I wouldn't judge Amtrak by its least-used routes.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#242

Post by spectrum1234 »

Lukeas14 wrote: post #223
chrisseaton wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once saw a large party of school children going on a trip on the Caltrain. Turned out they weren't going anywhere... it was just going on the train that was the activity. A commuter train running alongside a highway through urban sprawl. They were whooping when it pulled into the station.

While it's fun for the kids it's also important for them to get used to and respect trains. I've found that kids who grow up in places where trains aren't as popular don't develop a healthy fear of them. When my son saw train tracks for the first time at 2 yrs old his first reaction was to run towards them. So trips like these can teach kids how to properly act at a train station.

When I first read fear I thought you meant of the terrible infrastructure of trains in the US :)

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#243

Post by strictnein »

chillydawg wrote: post #25
nerdbaggy wrote: post #4

There are many great reasons to take a train across the U.S. When I was on sabbatical I took life at a slower pace. And riding the train was just an amazing beautiful slow experience. Sometimes we just go through life to fast, and a nice slow train does the body well

We should all remember that souls only travel at the speed of a camel, too.

Interesting. In William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" the main character feels that it takes a while for her soul to catch back up to her after she takes long plane rides. Wonder if this where he got that idea from.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#244

Post by artofgo »

hjdehdfhjkj wrote: post #73
chrisseaton wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While waiting, there was a guy with a guitar in the observation car, and we had a nice sing-along. That bit sounds like hell to me but I'm glad you had fun! In the UK we have special carriages where you're not allowed to make a noise so you can avoid that kind of thing.

Thats because there is a cultural difference between how americans and europeans see trains. For americans its something quaint and wild whereas for europeans its just a basic form of transportation.

I wouldn't say that difference holds for all americans. The trains in northeast corridor, which serve ~50 million people (~15% of us population) also have no-talking cars. But to your point, train service is treated as a basic form of transportation there.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#245

Post by AirborneUnicorn »

gk1 wrote: post #12

For anyone interested in more train-travel stories I've written (partially) about my trip across Russia, starting with: https://www.gregkogan.com/journal/russia-trans-siberian-rail... Still have half the trip left to write about, which I'll do bit by bit.

Thank you for sharing, this was wonderful to read!

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#246

Post by munk-a »

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

My wife and I were (up here in Canada) looking for a nice mellow train ride with scenery, out of Vancouver you can catch a train to Jasper and on northward to Prince George but... the cost of both of us to ride and have a cabin for two is 5k, so alternative to taking a 4 day train ride is flying out to london three separate times for the weekend. Alternatively we could book a fancy hotel room in down-town for two weeks and have a ritzy stay-cation.

I don't know why continental american train service is so stupidly over priced and inconvenient, but I really hope at some point they realize they are currently uncompetitive and could actually make more money offering a better service for a more reasonable fee.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#247

Post by selimthegrim »

isostatic wrote: post #228
bluGill wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This story is about the US though. The distance across the Us is over 2000 miles. Very few cities in the US are as close as 500 miles.

High speed rail is 200mph, New York to Chicago is 4 hours at that speed, 2h30 by plane. Toronto should be under 3 hours. These city groups would also work with French style TGVs Miami to Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta Seatle/Portland/Vancouver SF/LA/San Diego/Vegas/Pheonix With sleeper trains you can connect New York to Miami in 12 hours, LA to Seattle, Chicago to New Orleans. You need the trains to run at about 110m…

Who will pay that ticket price to go to and from New Orleans? What’s the economic base? The line is shut down right now because the flood relief spillway is open near New Orleans and water might possibly swamp the trestle. While they are building a replacement, I don’t think it’s any less vulnerable. Imagine advertising a 110 mph service and then having to shut it down for that. CNR gives zero fucks.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#248

Post by vertex-four »

jplayer01 wrote: post #148
saalweachter wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd indeed say it costs more than most people are willing to pay. That said, a sleeper car on Amtrak gets you: a flat surface to lie down on, your own toilet (note the toilet is just there in the roomette, next to the bunk, prison style), access to a shower (your own shower in the rooms, one per car for the roomettes), access to the first class lounges, and includes meals in the dining car. Rooms have a slightly wide…

> Or, if you're on this site, it's a great excuse to sit in a small room with a view and not talk to anyone for several days, just read, write and program. This sounds like fun. I wonder if there are any European routes that are as long/uninterrupted that I could try that on.

Not really within the EU - we have reasonably fast rail that prioritises passenger travel over freight - but e.g. Moscow to Beijing takes 6 or 7 nights, and you could get to Moscow itself by sleeper train if you're up for it.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#249

Post by anth_anm »

I took the train for the first time a few months back. Was a couple hundred miles (less even).

I really like it for about the first 3/4.

Then we took forever to get the last little bit done. I looked into it and apparently out west Amtrak has an atrocious record for on time service.

It's a shame because it's a great way to travel if you can take the time. It's comfortable, I had power and wifi. The food isn't great but oh well. I'd rather take the train than my car, driving is dreary. I'd rather take it than the bus, which is just god awful.

I really wish we would put in the time to make our trains better. Passenger tracks and high speed trains would be awesome. Instead we waste time and effort on Elon's tunnels.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#250

Post by anth_anm »

cubano wrote: post #151
chrisseaton wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While waiting, there was a guy with a guitar in the observation car, and we had a nice sing-along. That bit sounds like hell to me but I'm glad you had fun! In the UK we have special carriages where you're not allowed to make a noise so you can avoid that kind of thing.

Even if the guy was really good? I personally think a well-executed acoustic guitar singalong can add a lot of real joy to any group experience. I've played in rock bands since I was 15 (I'm north of 50 now), and I've been on stage in front of a thousand people and I've played to killer mosh pits and all that, but my best memories of all those years were the after-parties where it was just me and my bassist with acou…

> Even if the guy was really good?

Yes, even if the guy is really good. You can stand not being the center of attention for a few hours.

Post reply on HN