Failure to Launch... another run at it !

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caravanman

Engineer
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
Messages
4,800
Location
Nottingham, England.
Hi Folks,

Some of you may be aware of my ambitious plans to have a "Grand Tour" of America last year and my subsequent "failure to launch".

Well, I am having another run at it this year...

I am booked to arrive in New York on 27th August 2014, and leave again on 28th Oct 2014.

I am about to get down to some detailed plans, 100% nothing booked as yet! I anticipate a mixed mode of travels, train, bus, hire car, in order to see some out of the way places.

(I may attend the gathering, no idea yet.) So I hope to visit many parts... if any members would like to meet up for a coffee, a beer, or to show me around their town for a morning when I pass that way, or ride local transport, or visit a must see site, I would like to hear from you... please PM me.

Cheers,

Ed. :cool:
 
Aloha Ed

Hope you are successful, and we can meet-up again at the gathering. And if the Gathering doesn't work for us, we can meet up here, I hope.

Eric
 
Great news Eddie! If you're going to be coming through Austin or Texas on your journey ( some would ask why? LOL)let me know!

Hopefully you can make it to the Bay Area for the Gathering and we can lift another glass to the Queen and to Liberty! LOL
 
Best wishes for a great journey!

I would be glad to meet you, but I doubt you'll be passing through my little Georgia town! No Amtrak, no Hound, tiny airport, no local transport (well, not much), and I'm not sure about any can't-miss sights. LOL We do have an 1800's courthouse and some antebellum homes, and around here, that passes for old.

I've visited England twice, briefly, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. The sights and people were fabulous; we thought the Brits had "Southern" manners. :) I hope you are able to see the things you'd most like to see here and that your trip is a pleasant one.
 
Hope to see you at the Gathering again, but if not, let me know if you see fit to come back to St. Louis for a bit - I don't remember if you got in on the toasted ravioli last time, but even if you did, there's still room to go to Ted Drewes ( http://teddrewes.com/home/default.aspx ) for some frozen custard :)
 
Hope to see you at the Gathering again, but if not, let me know if you see fit to come back to St. Louis for a bit - I don't remember if you got in on the toasted ravioli last time, but even if you did, there's still room to go to Ted Drewes ( http://teddrewes.com/home/default.aspx ) for some frozen custard :)
I had some toasted ravioli at a place on Euclid in Saint Louis a few years ago and it was fantastic!
 
Hi Everyone,

Many thanks for the offers to meet up, and the good wishes. I am going to "rough out" a route and see who may be near or on the route, and then will message folk with dates etc, to see how things go.

I will be renting hire cars at some places, so I may well turn up somewhere miles from Amtrak. Glad you enjoyed your visits this side Crescent 1, and met some polite folks... like everywhere there are good and bad manners here. We used to be big on queuing and giving up seats for seniors, but I see that is not so much the case these days. (maybe I notice as I have just become a senior, that is now age 62 in UK!)

I would also like to set up an online travel diary / blog of the trip so watch this space!

Ed :cool:
 
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Nice one! Hope you are having a good time, is your visit for business or pleasure? It's about 130 miles to London, so unless you are heading north we will have to have that drink another time. How long are you here for?

Ed :cool:
 
Nice one! Hope you are having a good time, is your visit for business or pleasure? It's about 130 miles to London, so unless you are heading north we will have to have that drink another time. How long are you here for?

Ed :cool:
So far so good. All of my business is back in Texas so this is just a summer holiday for me. Even though I love to travel in general I try to avoid business travel if it requires more than a day trip. I've actually been here since Monday but I'm just about to wrap things up and head out tomorrow. Even so I know I'll never forget watching the world go by at 125MPH through an open window.
 
Sounds good, I tend to forget that you guys can visit this side of the pond!

I hope you have a good trip home, and I hope you will post a trip report, it is interesting for me to see how others view their UK / Europe experiences. It is differences from my home environment that makes travel so fascinating for me.

Cheers,

Ed. :cool:
 
Sounds good, I tend to forget that you guys can visit this side of the pond!
Yes, despite that circa-1776 unpleasantness, they do let Americans visit the U.K.

I'll actually be there the last couple weeks of September -- on London in my own, and then joining up with friends to drive around Scotland. Train-wise, I'll be doing an Edinburgh-London round trip, and then all of us are taking The Jacobite from Fort William to Mallaig. Yes, you can expect a trip report.
 
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Hi Trainman 74,

Good to know you are visiting this side! What I meant was that I know AU members as folk who ride american trains... so if you visit here, it is a bit like seeing a work colleage out of place in a social environment, a slight double take!

Hope you have a good trip, I will be in America at that time.

Ed. :cool:
 
Sounds good, I tend to forget that you guys can visit this side of the pond!
Sometimes they let us over when nobody is looking. ^_^

I hope you have a good trip home, and I hope you will post a trip report, it is interesting for me to see how others view their UK / Europe experiences. It is differences from my home environment that makes travel so fascinating for me. Cheers, Ed. :cool:
Unfortunately I really suck at writing (let alone finishing) trip reports. But I'll be happy to post my general thoughts in here if you don't mind.

The London Metro is really practical but the air conditioning along the tunnels and on board the trains seemed to struggle under the heat and humidity of so many passengers. If you have luggage it can be a real chore to haul everything up and down multiple sets of steps as you make your way to the platforms and across connections. When you reach your train you may find it much warmer than you'd expect. Once you've dropped your luggage at your hotel it's a breeze to get around. The Oyster card was really simple to use but I would prefer a pay as you go option. They also charge you a separate deposit on top of whatever you put on the card, which seems kind of silly.

The service to Cambridge was timely and practical but once you were there it was a major hassle to rent a car. I would have preferred to pickup the car at the train station (phone calls and signs initially indicated that this was possible) but in the end it required a real hike through town along streets with no signage. Not a very practical setup in that regard.

The service to Bath still used diesel power which seemed rather outdated for a modern passenger rail line. The cabs looked really bizarre. I'd say they're one of the ugliest rail cabs I've ever seen in my life. The tickets were $15 one way and over $150 the other way, which was a bit of a surprise. I didn't realize that regional trips of identical length varied so much in cost depending on when you traveled and when you bought your tickets. On the other hand watching the scenery fly by at 125MPH through an open window was a new and thrilling experience for me that is unlikely to ever be forgotten.

The service to Chepstow required different connections depending on time of day but it worked out fine in the end. It was great to arrive only a few minutes walking distance from the castle grounds. Hard to find fault with the current setup. It would have been nice to have more direct routing options with higher frequencies but in all honesty it worked out fine. I don't know how they keep the diesel exhaust from getting inside the train when traveling through tunnels but it never seemed to be a problem.

The service to Paris was much easier than I expected. Security was a breeze and being able to pre-clear customs and immigration before you departed was very nice. In fact just about everything related to the Eurostar service was a true delight. It's so unfortunate that it cannot be like this between the US and Canada. The only real problem we had were the taxi mafia at Gare du Nord. Once we were past their absurd blockade and in the official queue everything was fine again.
 
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Glad to have your mini trip report. It may be that the fares varied so much according to train times as much as direction...? I can go to London for £9, about $15, by booking in advance, or pay £100 about $150 by traveling in the peak, rush hour. Even "off peak" next day fares can be as little as £13. Seems bonkers!

Pleased you enjoyed the Eurostar experience, I still find it amazing that after so many years living on an island, one can get on a train in London and get off in Paris. Brilliant!

Maybe we can have that beer we missed out on in London when I arrive stateside instead, maybe Texas or San Francisco at the gathering... I am edging towards attending that for a day or so, even if just to say hello to everyone.

Cheers,

Ed. :cool:
 
Glad to have your mini trip report. It may be that the fares varied so much according to train times as much as direction...? I can go to London for £9, about $15, by booking in advance, or pay £100 about $150 by traveling in the peak, rush hour. Even "off peak" next day fares can be as little as £13. Seems bonkers!

Pleased you enjoyed the Eurostar experience, I still find it amazing that after so many years living on an island, one can get on a train in London and get off in Paris. Brilliant!
If First Great Western can charge the equivalent of $150 for peak travel then more power to them. I just didn't realize that it varied that much from one day/time/direction to the next. Next time I'll know better. My comments above may seem a little critical but the honest truth is that we all had a good experience with the metro, the regionals, and international services. The stations were lovely, the schedule was timely, and the service was friendly. All in all I really have nothing of consequence to complain about. There are more destinations I'd like to visit (and revisit) so hopefully I'll get another chance to ride more trains in the future.

Maybe we can have that beer we missed out on in London when I arrive stateside instead, maybe Texas or San Francisco at the gathering... I am edging towards attending that for a day or so, even if just to say hello to everyone. Cheers, Ed. :cool:
Amtrak has poor calling hours in San Antonio but if you're coming Westbound from the North or from the East we can probably make it work with some advance notice. Plenty of places to drink along the river walk. As for San Francisco I'm still undecided but if I go your first drink is on me. ^_^
 
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Welcome lolax. I hope you have an enjoyable trip. Several of us just traveled from Orlando to Salt Lake City via Fort Morgan, CO.
 
19 August. Tonight finds me in Southampton, tomorrow I board the Queen Mary 2 bound for New York. My first ever transatlantic crossing by ship, so very excited by the prospect of 7 days on the high seas. Back down to earth once I get to America, staying in youth hostels and budget digs!

A few days each in Washington, Chicago, Sacramento and Las Vegas booked so far, plus hope to make the gathering in San Francisco.

Will be off the radar for 7 days, so next time I post should be from Washington.

Cheers,

Ed :cool:
 
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