Average Folks...

[VentureForth]

Honestly, I talk about riding the train a lot more than I get to actually ride it. But there are LOTS of long distance passengers that choose the train over other methods of long distance rides.

Why?

What is it that lures those folks who actually spend more time riding the train than talking about it?

 

[Galls]

Honestly, I talk about riding the train a lot more than I get to actually ride it. But there are LOTS of long distance passengers that choose the train over other methods of long distance rides.
Why?

What is it that lures those folks who actually spend more time riding the train than talking about it?

The government helps pay for some of your vacation through very scenic country side?

It is leisure over time.

 

[Guest]

...the ability to get somewhere without all of the stress of interstate driving...including the threat of flat tires along desolate stretches of interstate or bathrooms that approximate outhouses...arriving pretty relaxed and being able to get onto the train with less than a 10 mile drive versus a 25 mile drive to the airport where the security lines stretch too far...and being around people who seem more relaxed or natural than the self-absorbed suits and ties with a phone glued to their ear that run around the airport.

 

[MrFSS]

There are many people who simply don't want to fly for many different reasons.

There are folks who don't drive for various reasons or have anyone available to drive them somewhere.

 

[the_traveler]

Meeting and talking to your fellow passengers, instead of being stuck in your seat in a sardine tube or just "give them the finger" while in your car on the Interstate. The ability to get up and get something to eat and/or just walk around, and not just when you find a rest area or restaurant and everyone else agrees to stop.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Its so much more laid back and stress free. I like it cuz its such a wide swath of people that you meet, talk and hang out with. I can nap, eat, visit, walk around and just kick back. Flying is such a hassle and if there is bad weather (and somewhere not even near where you are flying out of) it can impact things so much. I also like it cuz its different. I have never marched to the beat of others drums unless I like the beat. This beat is a tad different, its comfortable to me and its even kinda "retro" if you look at it that way.

Al

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

...the ability to get somewhere without all of the stress of interstate driving...including the threat of flat tires along desolate stretches of interstate or bathrooms that approximate outhouses...arriving pretty relaxed and being able to get onto the train with less than a 10 mile drive versus a 25 mile drive to the airport where the security lines stretch too far...and being around people who seem more relaxed or natural than the self-absorbed suits and ties with a phone glued to their ear that run around the airport.

I'm not really convinced that the bathrooms in coach on a Regional train going between Boston and Virginia, near the end of a trip, are better than what I've found along Interstate highways.

 

[gswager]

After riding Amtrak home, I get fewer post-vacation syndrome. Ok, ok. It's very relaxing and the timing on my route is ideal. It's between ABQ and LAX on Southwest Chief. It's an overnight trip and it arrives into LAX at 8 am. Also I get to meet the strangers without giving me a funny looking face.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Perhaps a better question than "Why the train" is Why NOT the train?

Leaving aside the fact that many people here at these forums just plain like trains - riding them, talking about them, studying them, etc. - I submit that an accident of history has put us railfans on the leading edge - the avant garde - of our transportation future.

As permanently rising fuel prices start forcing people to kiss their cars goodbye, trains are the logical, and far more fuel-efficient, alternative.

Trucking companies, long-time railroad business competitors, are already finding it more cost effective to put their rigs on trains over long distances. UPS alone has done this for years and is a major railroad customer.

The impact will eventually trickle down to the individual customer, who, faced with mounting personal motor vehicle costs which can no longer be justified or sustained, will finally do the math and see trains.

In my view we are fortunate to be here on the ground floor of a new rail era.

And of course trains are way more fun!

 

[VentureForth]

Well, I understand and appreciate the "love the land cruise" type answers - but it seems like there is a narrow margin between those that detest rail travel and those who are fanatical.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

My perspective is simple, if perhaps seemingly contradictory: Life is too damned short to rush.

I have a finite number of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds and tenths of a second in which I am going to live. I intend to enjoy every moment of my life that I can. I enjoy going places I have never been, and seeing places I've never seen. I enjoy vacations, a lot. I like to travel, to wander, to go places. I enjoy mountain vistas, scenery, comfort, and good food. I enjoy watching people, in all their glory, intelligence, laughter, pointless rage and, especially, stupidity. I enjoy conversing with people I have never seen before and will never see again. I enjoy all those things.

I HATE being stressed out. I HATE waiting in long lines. I HATE people who fail to treat me as a human being. I'm a big man, and I hate Hate HATE HATE HATE HATE!!!!!!! being cramped into tiny little seats narrower than my posterior. I HATE being served plastic food on plastic plastic plates by plastic people with plastic smiles. I HATE waiting around in boring, insipid plastic buildings with boring, insipid plastic decor, on boring, insipid (and painful) plastic seats. I HATE IT! ALL OF IT!

Now, I am not saying every OBS and Crew on Amtrak's trains are nice. They aren't. Some are very nice, some are jerks. I like the variety. And regardless of which, they are very personal. They are surly and jerkish towards me as one human to another.

In any case, I have two choices. I can sit through a day of my life going from my house to, say, Chicago, waiting in either old and ornate stations, or old and dilapidated (but almost always with some sort of character) stations, to sit on a relaxed, social, and enjoyable conveyance complete with decent food, beautiful vistas, comfortable accommodations, and very personal service.

Or I can spend roughly half that time going to the airport, waiting on lines, having my flight be delayed, as reported by bored, indifferent plastic robots (I can't believe they are real people- they sure don't act like it), sitting on uncomfortable seats in a Post-Dreary Standard Airport Era decorated building. Then I will be shoe horned into a tiny seat I don't fit in, get peanuts thrown at me, horrible drinks spilled on me, get spat on by the gum chewing idiot next to me who pretends not to notice.

Then I get to have my ears popped several times, get to sit in this seat for a good 2-3 hours next to said idiot, before finally getting massive head pains as the plane lands. Then I get stampeded off the plane to a "baggage carousel" where the same robots will tell me they are sorry (like hell) that they misplaced my baggage. Before it finally turns up, two hours later. And now with this experience over, I can be charged enough money for a taxi ride into the city that the driver can make a mortgage payment.

So I have the choice of enjoying myself for 20+ hours, in a no stress environment. Or be stressed out almost to the breaking point for about 10 hours, all told. Life's short. Which do you pick?

 

[frj1983]

Since this country is huge,

and has so many different geographical, ecological, and social areas...I enjoy the opportunity to observe things close up! Cities, rivers, lakes, mountains, deserts, forests, swamps, the laid back rural areas/towns or the crazy speed of the large cities...all of this is yours for the viewing and really can't be experienced from 3000 feet up.

Plus everything that everyone else has said above!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mark]

Flying nowadays sucks, period.

Driving nowadays sucks, second period.

 

[rtabern]

I agree with Whoooz ---- WHY NOT THE TRAIN?

I recently took a trip earlier this month from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to visit my best friend from high school who lives out there on the west coast. Since I only had a week of time off work (I work full-time and only get 3-4 weeks vacation a year total), I couldn't take the train BOTH ways really... so I took the train MKE-CHI-LAX and then flew back LAX-LAS-MKE.

Let me tell you... Even though the train took 4 days/3 nights --- and the plane only took 4 hours... I WOULD MUCH ALWAYS RATHER TAKE THE TRAIN!!

It's not that I'm afraid to fly (obviously since I took the plane home)... it's I love the time on the train. You meet so many interesting people... have so many interesting expeirences... and it's a million times more memorable than a stupid plane.

Case and point... I have so many memories and stories to share about the train trip I took 3 weeks ago. I met these 2 nice train-buffs from Montana and we had a blast the 3 or 4 days we were on the train. I would totally equate it to a "land cruise". During the "longer" service stops, we got off the train and even walked around and explored some of the towns along the way. The train has a 6-hour stop-over in San Antonio and we got off and walked the 4 blocks to the Alamo and River Walk. We got into El Paso early and so we sat there for a little over an hour... enough time to walk the 5 blocks to the US/Mexican border fence. It was just cool, because I'd probably never go to just San Antonio or El Paso themselves for a vacation, but I actually got to see some of the country and cities I'd probably not see if I was driving or flying.

Plus, like others have said, it's the relaxation factor. I have a pretty high-stressed job, so it's nice for 3 or 4 days to just sit there and enjoy the scenery and company of other passengers. The hardest decision you have to make is really what time you're going to eat dinner --- and that's REALLY nice.

Flying? Nothing really memorable about it. The only thing I even remember from the flight is being able to see Glen Canyon through some hazy clouds. *yawn*

Doesn't compare to seeing Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona on the way out to California.

I am very addicted to train travel --- I always have to have my next long-distance trip booked --- so I have something exciting to look forward to!!

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

There are a lot of reasons for taking the train over a car or a plane

Here's an example of the price, travel time and amenities of a trip between New Orleans and New York for the first week in May:

By car 1306 mi and 20hrs and 8 mins each way, the fuel cost round trip for a car that gets 25 mpg (which is what most small to medium sized cars get) at the US average fuel price for this past week of $3.26 you come out to $340. Now nobody in their right mind is going to drive 20 hrs non stop so you must include a hotel stay at the average cost of around $45 for an economy single in a small town you would need to add $90 and the time lost, lets say 10hrs, (check in sleep 9 hrs shower and leave) your up to $430 and 30hrs.

By Delta Airlines (the cheapest I could find) 2hrs and 44 min - 3hrs and 33 min depending on direction of travel at $200 round trip. Also more time and money will have to be spent on trip continuation to/from the airports to the city.

By Amtrak Crescent 1377mi 29hrs and 52 mins to 30hrs and 18 mins depending on direction of travel at a cost of $282 round trip.

Traveling by car is obviously the most costly and longest way to travel, next is train and finally plane at the fastest and cheapest.

But amenities, stress, delays etc. need to be accounted for.

By car you have the ultimate choice in being able to stop anywhere along the route for any reason at the cost of travel time. However you are most likely to experience delays by car, I seriously doubt you could make the 20 hrs and 8 mins travel time without speeding, it is highly likely you will lose 3 or more hours from road construction, traffic congestion or an accident blocking/slowing traffic. It is also pretty stressful to drive 20hrs in two days. Weather can also increase travel time.

By plane the only plus is the extremely fast travel time, unless you call a bag of stale peanuts and a flat coke food. Air travel is the most stressful way, transportation to/from the airport, baggage checking, security checks, cramped seating, in ability to walk around, no food service, flight cancellations, etc. Air travel is also heavily influenced by the weather.

By train you get the best amenities, the medium price , the medium travel time, and the least stress. On a train you get full food service, lounge/snack car service, large coach seats (which are more like firstclass seats on a plane), the ability to rest/relax/sleep while someone else does the driving,

The ability to walk around as much as you want, the ability to use any electronic device (AC outlets are included at every seat on most cars on the Crescent), etc. Also trains are the least likely to be affected by weather, it takes something along the lines of a flood, hurricane, blizzard, tornado that completely blocks the route or damages the track to be canceled/overly delayed. That said Amtrak trains do experience equipment failures, car-train collisions, and freight traffic delays that can cause problems, however; the Crescent is one of the best Long-Distance trains as for as timetable adherence, rarely more than 30 min late. its even common for it to arrive in to New York early, according to amtrakdelays.com it arrived a shocking 83 minutes early on March 23rd.

So in my order of preference for this particular trip:

1. Amtrak

2. Delta

3. Car

However if time is a pressing concern flying would be the only option.

 

[the_traveler]

this country is huge,

... and the view is MUCH better at 3 or 10 feet than it is at 35,000 feet!

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

this country is huge,

... and the view is MUCH better at 3 or 10 feet than it is at 35,000 feet!

Yeah, I was focusing more on the cost, time, convenience part though. The Crescent's scenery is really nice from North Carolina to Washington, I'm sure the scenery is nice between Georgia and North Carolina, but its always night on these sections. The rest of the route has good scenery scattered about with the best part on the southern end being the bridge across Lake Ponchartrain. Its an odd feeling to be on a train and the ground drop away and not being able to see anything but water for miles, especially when you can't see the bridge you're on.

Oh and I forgot to include the fact that Amtrak doesn't lose luggage like an airline, it will always be on the same train as you and if you're really wary of losing luggage you can essentially carry on as much as you can keep up with as long as it dosen't take up seat space.

And wouldn't that be 6 and 12 foot? The windows on Amfleets are a good bit over my head (5'10") standing on the platform. As many times as I have been on, around and through trains I am always amazed at just how massive they are, especially when I look at how tiny and flimsy the rails look in comparison. Its absolutely amazing to me that the French got the TGV up to 357mph especially with it being a double-decker. If only France would take pity on us and help Amtrak reach its full potential.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

...all of this is yours for the viewing and really can't be experienced from 3000 feet up

Hey, if anybody finds an airline that flies cross-country at 3 thousand feet, let me know. I wanna be in place to get a picture of the plane crashing into the Sierras or Rockies. :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

this country is huge,

... and the view is MUCH better at 3 or 10 feet than it is at 35,000 feet!

And wouldn't that be 6 and 12 foot?

Yeah, you're right! Either way, it's a little lower than 35,000 feet. (Of course, not as low as that plane flying at 3,000 feet before it reaches Denver! :lol: Maybe it takes I-70 the rest of the way - at least until it gets to I-15! :lol: )

 

[RailFanLNK]

At this particular time, I have been asked by a friend to figure out a good train trip for his 10 year old daughter and himself. The SECOND I had an itenirary from LNK-GSC (Lincoln NE-Glenwood Springs CO) I was bombarded with "it costs too much, I can drive it quicker, what will I do in GSC when I don't have a car, I don't want to board a train at midnight". I politely answered in the most relaxed tone of voice I could muster: 1. The cost is also your hotel room and meals for 14 hours, that was followed by an "huh?" 2. GSC has a city bus service that is free to all, you can catch it anywhere in town, plus the town is only 6,000 people, do you really need a car? A: "Really?!?" 3. You forget about the wear and tear on the car, what happens if you have car trouble and then have to shell out $500 for repairs or better yet, have a flat and have to screw around getting a new tire since you can't drive 500 miles on a donut tire. A: Dude, do you really think your gonna have car trouble?!? 4. You board the train and go right to bed! Look out the window for a tad bit and then sleep for the next 7 hours, can you sleep in your car while its driving? A: "hadn't thought of that." At this point, I have finally came to the conclusion that this person wants to board the Grand Luxe in LNK at 12 noon, have the Presidents Suite, 3 personal assistants, with his car hitched on the train like the Auto Train, with a McDonalds onboard for his kid and arrive in GSC about 1 hour after departing LNK. I put alot of time putting in lots of different iteniraries, but the mindset of some people is so negative toward train travel. I will let him come to the conclusion of driving his 10 year old daughter to Worlds of Fun (Worlds of Screaming Kids) in KC, packed in traffic, sweating like a pig in 100 degree humid heat, elbow to elbow with 100,000 other tourists for a "week of getting away" with his daughter. I have tried, I will not quit with others, but with this guy I just plain gave up!

 

[WhoozOn1st]

My perspective is simple

I've been called a simpleton, but I don't go around advertising it. HAHAHA!!

 

[the_traveler]

At this particular time, I have been asked by a friend to figure out a good train trip for his 10 year old daughter and himself. The SECOND I had an itenirary from LNK-GSC (Lincoln NE-Glenwood Springs CO) I was bombarded ...

You left out #5!

5) Between DEN and GSC, both your daughter and you can sit back and enjoy IMHO the best scenery on Amtrak, while still moving! B) Can you both do that while still driving? :huh:

 

[Guest]

I believe we've left out the "marital survival" reason. There's no arguing about which turn to take, no deadends, no "I told you we should have gone the other way", "damn, you're going too fast"....

 

[WhoozOn1st]

I believe we've left out the "marital survival" reason. There's no arguing about which turn to take, no deadends, no "I told you we should have gone the other way", "damn, you're going too fast"....

Don't forget another factor. Man, woman, hopefully in love and lust with each other. Small space, not much to do on the overnight train except be with each other... Need I say more?

I think this aspect is way overlooked.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I've been called a simpleton, but I don't go around advertising it. HAHAHA!!

I can imagine.

5) Between DEN and GSC, both your daughter and you can sit back and enjoy IMHO the best scenery on Amtrak, while still moving! B) Can you both do that while still

I've seen far too many people try.

Don't forget another factor. Man, woman, hopefully in love and lust with each other. Small space, not much to do on the overnight train except be with each other... Need I say more?
I think this aspect is way overlooked.

Try that in a roomette. I dare you.