Amtrak Addiction

[RailFanLNK]

When you dial 1-800-USA-RAIL so you can hear "Julie's" voice!

When you have had a crappy week and your fiance says, "why don't you go for a train ride?!?"

When you would secretly pilfer the Amtrak America magazines from the local station so you could give them to people that you tell about Amtrak.

While having a crappy day/week/year/career at work you fantasize about your next trip.

On a serious note, my fiance's family thinks I'm nuts...I'm usually pretty much packed for a trip 3 weeks out. And I mean everything. I have my meds (for OCD) :lol: and all toilitree's packed as well. I very rarely leave anything at home by accident because I consistently go over list after list after list.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I think of one person having to "go into a hole" when two people have to pass in a narrow corrider.
Frequently I shop for groceries at the Kroger across from the Atlanta train station on Saturday or Sunday when the southbound Crescent is due.

I used to shop at Cub Foods, no longer there, in the Lindberg area. I would often see the Crescent there. Suffice it to say I am always looking out for trains. I never ride the bus by the Amtrak station without seeing what is going on even if no passenger train is due for hours.

Growing up in Chattanooga I could tell a million tales of how I would finagle things for daddy to drive by the station when a train was in, etc.

About junior high age I had a schedule posted in our kitchen showing the departure times and arrivals times of my daddy from work, my mother from work, my sister from school and me from school.

I had a schedule on myself to walk home from junior high school. The trip took 35 minutes. For the last "stop" before our house I had padding in the schedule to cushion for delays. Sometimes I would use up my time by walking very slowly that last stretch, sometimes I stood on the sidewalk like a complete birdbrain going nowhere, "waiting for time"

I should have been commited, if not just shot. How my beloved parents put up with me, I will never know.

Great story Bill! Could be a Readers Digest human interest story!(Do they even publish these anymore?)How about "I Was a Teenage TrainAholic" for a title!

As for the rest of you junkies, no excuses, so called "normal people" will never understand! Glad I'm not addicted, only check the on time map about 15 times a day for all the trains listed! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Ryan]

.....You tell your husband about all your new friends (aka Alan B, GML, rrdude, Suncatcher, Ryan, Blue Jean Girl, etc)

You know that you're an addict when you're called out in a list like that one!

 

[sunchaser]

.....You tell your husband about all your new friends (aka Alan B, GML, rrdude, Suncatcher, Ryan, Blue Jean Girl, etc)

You know that you're an addict when you're called out in a list like that one!

I think we're all in it pretty deep! After looking at all the lists, I know I'm certainly halfway there.....

 

[NE933]

I am NE933 and i am an Amtrak addict because: --i'd rather often go to rail websites instead of porn

--i've drawn up a dispatcher's track chart of what it would look like if train tracks ran down my street. in fact there are: me. A werewold switches between a man and a wolf;; i switch between a human and a railroad.

--i''ve mastered the sounds of F40, Genesis.,AEM7, and E60 engines, complete with braking, the ,athan chime horn, and air reserve 'psssst' sounds

--my dream date is to hold hands at trackside

--Amtrak is not a corporation. it is an entity that has ties to the supernatural/God/ability to use numbers on its trains to reveal things that will happen

--it''s name that wields beauty and transformational powers that correct social ills thru carriage of people on large vehicles.

meds r working, good night, more later.

 

[NorthCoastHiawatha]

"You can draw most if not all of Amtrak's routes from memory"

Yep and most of the discontinued ones as well, oh and VIA Rail, and Metra, Sounder,Caltrain, Coaster, MetroLink and Go Transit. Oh and I forgot Mexico when it had passenger service.

"You know the stations more by code than by name"

Or in my case worse, you actually start referring to the cities by the code.

You spend hours working out schedules and routes of routes that will never come to pass no matter how hard you wish.

Sadly yes, I worked out entire trip from a 1967 Official Guide SEA-CHI-NYP-CHI-LAX-PDX-SEA

You have piles of old Amtrak timetables lying around your room

Dear god yes, and then some.

You consider a vacation without a ride on Amtrak a waste of money

Damn straight

I will also add,

You don't take the direct route on cross country trip.

For my summer trip any sane person would just go WAS-CHI-SEA, but no Im going WAS-NYP-CHI-PDX-TUK

Perhaps Im in need of help.

 

[GG-1]

Ya think? Nobody else I know carries a pen with a bunch of duct tape wrapped around it!

What you don't have more than one roll and more than one color. :huh: :unsure: :unsure: :lol:

Aloha

 

[caravanman]

When I travel 3963 miles to get to the Chicago Union station BEFORE I get on to Amtrak, I think I must be hooked. I admire you people who pack and make lists well in advance.. I only booked my train and plane yesterday, and I am off to America in 5 days time. I do tend to travel light, with just a carry on flight case.. still find room for my travel kettle and PG Tips tea bags though! I expect I will pack the day before..

Looking forward to many thousands of Amtrak miles over the next 5 weeks,

Ed

 

[Steve4031]

I think of one person having to "go into a hole" when two people have to pass in a narrow corrider.

Damn!!!! I do this one too. LOL I'm not alone.

I coach football, and one year we had running back who just RAN OVER people. He was #2, so of course in my mind when he broke along run I was thinking there goes the Sunset Limited again. With this guy, Amtrak became a verb. Like h, "Amtraked that guy," Even a few players picked that up. They loved it when we were winning big and the guy would run over somebody, and smack started to get talked, I would yell, "Blow the whistle, they better get off the tracks because Amtrak is coming!!" I was totally pumped up. LOL.

Our quarterback was a complete athlete that year, and I thought he should have a 4 digit number like the Acela, as in 2152. When he broke a long run I would remark,"there goes the afternoon Acela through Trenton" drawing blank looks from others on the sideline.

 

[tp49]

I just recieved a piece of luggage that I ordered for my May Trip. I, as I type this, have all my bags on the living room floor with a list of what goes in each bag!! Would you consider this behavior addictive/obsessive or WHAT!!!! RF

:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like us last year before the 'big trip' from SLC to OLW & back!!! Sounds pretty normal to me...

I usually start pulling luggage & lists at least a month prior, if not sooner. Not excited, are you?

I need to start doing this. I'm usually throwing things together an hour or two before I have to leave the house.

 

[Everydaymatters]

...when you have a hard time turning the pages of the national schedule because your hands are shaking

...when you call for your reservation and you break out in a cold sweat

...when you build your new house just a couple of miles from the nation's largest railroad museum!!! (no, I'm not kidding)

 

[rrdude]

I just recieved a piece of luggage that I ordered for my May Trip. I, as I type this, have all my bags on the living room floor with a list of what goes in each bag!! Would you consider this behavior addictive/obsessive or WHAT!!!! RF

:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like us last year before the 'big trip' from SLC to OLW & back!!! Sounds pretty normal to me...

I usually start pulling luggage & lists at least a month prior, if not sooner. Not excited, are you?

Wow, you all are pros. I usually don't pack until the night before, IF THAT. I bet at least half the time, it's the morning of the trip........

 

[rrdude]

Ya think? Nobody else I know carries a pen with a bunch of duct tape wrapped around it!

What you don't have more than one roll and more than one color. :huh: :unsure: :unsure: :lol:

Aloha

Damn, I do NOW, after reading this forum....

 

[sunchaser]

I just recieved a piece of luggage that I ordered for my May Trip. I, as I type this, have all my bags on the living room floor with a list of what goes in each bag!! Would you consider this behavior addictive/obsessive or WHAT!!!! RF

:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like us last year before the 'big trip' from SLC to OLW & back!!! Sounds pretty normal to me...

I usually start pulling luggage & lists at least a month prior, if not sooner. Not excited, are you?

Wow, you all are pros. I usually don't pack until the night before, IF THAT. I bet at least half the time, it's the morning of the trip........

Naw, if I don't have 'the list', I will definitely forget something. Last time it was hubby's slippers, cause we left sooo early in the am, I forgot to grab them the night before. He likes to wear them a lot.

I do have almost all the toiletries prepacked for us both & last time I tried to do better on hauling less, but next time I will do much better. I have some new backpacks for onboard that should be the right size for the stuff I bring, so that means hopefully I can pare down to one big bag for our short run of two days!

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Ya think? Nobody else I know carries a pen with a bunch of duct tape wrapped around it!

What you don't have more than one roll and more than one color. :huh: :unsure: :unsure: :lol:

Aloha

Damn, I do NOW, after reading this forum....

:lol: same and I've actually bought it to the dining car to sign my dining car slips :lol:

You know your addicted to Amtrak when you get excited at the crew change stops, because now you can chat it up with a new set of conductors.

You know your addicted to Amtrak when you know the corporate policy better then train crew.

You know your addicted to Amtrak when you never leave home without a national timetable.

You know your addicted to Amtrak when you spend a few days away from this forum and worry you missed some big announcement.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

you know your addicted when people come over to your house and you put out the yellow stool and say all aboard to your left please(or right depending on your house layout)

you know your addicted when it time for dinner and you announce over the house intercom "those with the 6:30PM reservation time you may now come to the kitchen.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I have a huge stack of old timetables. Sadly, though, I have ruined many of them because I would mark them up. As a child I would take my ink pen and change the schedules and "order"new equipment.

On a more useful and practical note, I have devised a way of packing.

I live in a large apartment building and we have grocery carts to use for bringing things in from the parking lot. About a week before a big trip I bring a grocery cart into my apartment. From that moment on, any time I even think of a vacation item I immediatley put it in the cart. This can range from tickets to underwear.I leave nothing to chance. If it is going with me, I put it in the the cart when I think of it.

Then the day of or day before my trip I begin the packing, enough time to see if somethng is or is not going to fit.

This keeps me from messing up my entire small apartment and going off and leaving half of it at home.

When I get back, I open my front door and immediatley drop everything into the cart again. I must sort through my mail,check on messages and things. Meantime I park my vacation returns in the cart and break it down just as I get to it. If there is anything in there which needs immediate attention I will know that but there seldom is.

This grocery cart plan keeps the trip items completely compartmentalized all on its own, not interfering with the "operation" of my apartment.

Actually the grocery cart is somewhat in the way, but I think the way it keeps things separate overrides that.

Until I started bringing in a grocery cart my apartment was a mess both before and after a major trip with stuff scattered around everywhere.

For the many people who do not have access to grocery carts , perhaps you can "dedicate" a particular closet or something..

 

[sunchaser]

Oh no! I am in trouble!

You know you're addicted when you search for any & all updates on new train routes or new purchases of cars/refurbs.

You know you're addicted when you can tell which cars are refurbished and when.

You know you're addicted when you check each station you stop at for route guides & timetables because 'you might need them'.

You know you're addicted when you can quote the roomette/bedrooms measurements & describe them in detail, even if you haven't been in all of them yet.

You know you're addicted when you can hardly wait until the new schedules & menus are updated, just to look at them.

You know you're addicted when you debate the best ways to solve an issue for Amtrak!

You know you're addicted when you cajole yourself for not riding the train sooner-and missing out on the routes that are gone!

 

[Ryan]

Bill, that's a fantastic idea. The mess of packing (and forgetting things) and unpacking is a huge pain in the neck.

 

[wcswingdance]

Sounds like that works great! I have traveled frequently over the last 20 years and have always used a plastic tote. I put the plastic tote out and, like Bill, start tossing things in as I am getting ready for the trip. Then when it is time to pack, I can sort through things, make my final choices for what is coming and pack away. It has worked great for me for many years. Now I use a leather like storage bench I picked up at Target. I open the lid and fill it up before the trip.

My first long distance train trip is coming up in May and I am filling it up now. I get excited for the trip every time I lift the lid and add more items. Some times I lift the lid just to dream about my trip.

 

[sunchaser]

Sounds like that works great! I have traveled frequently over the last 20 years and have always used a plastic tote. I put the plastic tote out and, like Bill, start tossing things in as I am getting ready for the trip. Then when it is time to pack, I can sort through things, make my final choices for what is coming and pack away. It has worked great for me for many years. Now I use a leather like storage bench I picked up at Target. I open the lid and fill it up before the trip.
My first long distance train trip is coming up in May and I am filling it up now. I get excited for the trip every time I lift the lid and add more items. Some times I lift the lid just to dream about my trip.

I usually just bring out a roll on bag into the dining room, closed up, so I can have one available to start packing. Last time I started early & used a tote. A laundry basket would work, too.

I have two master lists, one for LD & one for short runs.

Each list also includes a list of carryon items, which are the last things to be packed into a separate smaller bag.

I adjust them as needed, print them off & check things off when packed. I usually put a copy in the bag too, especially if we go on an LD trip, to make sure I don't forget anything when we head home.

 

[Cristobal]

Okay now...

Some of you people are really starting to scare me. :unsure:

 

[GG-1]

I just recieved a piece of luggage that I ordered for my May Trip. I, as I type this, have all my bags on the living room floor with a list of what goes in each bag!! Would you consider this behavior addictive/obsessive or WHAT!!!! RF

:lol: :lol: :lol: Sounds like us last year before the 'big trip' from SLC to OLW & back!!! Sounds pretty normal to me...

I usually start pulling luggage & lists at least a month prior, if not sooner. Not excited, are you?

Wow, you all are pros. I usually don't pack until the night before, IF THAT. I bet at least half the time, it's the morning of the trip........

Naw, if I don't have 'the list', I will definitely forget something. Last time it was hubby's slippers, cause we left sooo early in the am, I forgot to grab them the night before. He likes to wear them a lot.

I do have almost all the toiletries prepacked for us both & last time I tried to do better on hauling less, but next time I will do much better. I have some new backpacks for onboard that should be the right size for the stuff I bring, so that means hopefully I can pare down to one big bag for our short run of two days!

List! I don't need no stinking list, I can forget anything, anytime! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Aloha

 

[the_traveler]

You don't take the direct route on cross country trip.For my summer trip any sane person would just go WAS-CHI-SEA, but no Im going WAS-NYP-CHI-PDX-TUK

Perhaps Im in need of help.

So short? :huh:

My average cross country trip goes something like

KIN-NYP-BHM-WAS-CHI-LAX-PDX (breath) PDX-SAC-MTZ-CHI-CVS-BHM-WAS-KIN

​

and if I didn't want a short trip :lol: - I do

KIN-NYP-BHM-WAS-CHI-SPK-PDX (breath) PDX-OKJ-MTZ-SAC-OKJ-SBA-LAX-SAS-CHI (breath) CHI-WAS-BHM-ATL-NYP-KIN

​

I KNOW that I need help - I have traveleritis! I saw a doctor this morning about it. She prescribed a trip to NYP next week - saying 1 1/2 months off a train is too much to handle!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Bob Dylan]

All you depraved foamers need to settle down and get help, you're scaring the newbies!!!

Me, I just have a mild form of "trainitis", just a hobby that I enjoy (all things good in moderation !)somewhat, occasionally.

My next trip is a day turnaround on the Texas Eagle from AUS-TAY-AUS, the low bucket Senior fare is $ 11 return,

the bedrooms are $94 EACH WAY! (and I see nothing wrong with this!)Tickets, I dont need no stinkin' tickets! :lol: :lol: :lol: