What was your most adventurous train trip?

[Everydaymatters]

My first Amtrak trip was in 1978 from central Illinois to L.A.

We connected with the SWC at KC. On the way there, the train broke down in the mountains and we had to wait a couple of hours with no power (ie no air conditioning).

On the return trip, a passenger who was threatening other passengers was removed by the police and our train hit two cars in two separate accidents. We were late getting into KC, so missed our connecting train.

We took a train from KC to St. Louis and spent the night there. The next morning we took another train back to our starting location. We were a day late getting back!

All of that happened on my first Amtrak trip and in spite of it, or maybe because of it, I'm still riding the rails.

I'm telling you all of this just to get this discussion started. I'm hoping that some of you have some really funny stories that can keep us laughing, or some stories that can keep us on the edge of our seats as we read them.

 

[RailFanLNK]

My story isn't so much adventerous as it is just plain downright "cool". It was a week before we were to board the CZ in LNK, we were excited for our first trip, nervous, edgy etc so I nudged my girlfriend at 11pm and said, "lets go down to the train station and look at the train." We checked the status and it was "running early". We were about 25ft on city property and in awe on how big it was. Suddenly a voice called out, "are you boarding tonight?" We replied, "no.....we are boarding next Friday!" The Amtrak employee than glanced at his watch and said, "do you know your a week early!" That had both of us laughing. The employee walked up, introduced himself and we started to fire off excited, dumb, nervous questions about train travel since we had never did it before. He asked, "would you like to see the inside of the train?" We about died and said, "YES!!!" I then asked, "can you get in trouble for doing this?" He bowed his head down, pointed at his hat and said, "I'm the conductor, I'm in charge of this big baby!" He quietly (since it was midnight) and graciously showed us the sleeping car. He answered every question and then remarked, "keep your expectations of Amtrak modest, don't expect to be on time and if you do these things, I beleive we will supercede your expectations by far and you will have a great trip and you will be riding with us quite soon after your first trip!" He couldn't have been more "right on the mark!" We were back onboard only 2 1/2 months later for our second trip. We will be back onboard 3 months after that trip (Labor Day) and I will be back onboard again only a month after that trip! (October going to Winter Park WIP) It was that conductors 10 minutes that got me really going about train travel. Would a pilot let us on to the flight line, let us kick the tires, ask questions, board the plane, look at the interior and then let us go back to the airport lounge? I doubt it! And if we were standing there "looking at the plane on the flight line, we would probably been shot!!!! :angry: I know things have to be the way they are at airports cuz of 911, but gosh this was so dang nice and it just felt like "yesteryear" to me!

 

[denmarks]

I was returning to California from Washington, DC via Chicago. My train to Chicago was so late that I missed my connection. They flew me to Omaha from Chicago. When I arrived at the station there was no one there. After a few hours it finally opened and I learned that the train from Chicago would not arrive because it couldn't cross the Mississippi due to flooding. They put us up in a hotel for the night and in the morning we caught the train that turned around in Omaha since it couldn't get to Chicago. That train was running so late that they put us on a bus in Reno to complete the trip.

 

[The Metropolitan]

Interesting thing is, I KNOW what my most adventurous train trip was, but I don't REMEMBER any of it!

No, I was not drunk. This was told to me by my mother.

The year was probably 1973 or thereabouts, I would have been something about 2 years of age, and probably aboard my first Amtrak ride. We were on a family vacation from Baltimore to Montreal and returning, during a time of heavy rains. The trip up was uneventful, but on the return, there was a washout, in which we were dropped off to await a bus in the pouring rain. From there, we were taken to White River Junction to await a train for the return ride South. We waited there for about 2 and a half hours, at about 230 in the morning, during which time we were unable to drink the water due to contamination. Only coffee and donuts were available, brought in from a neighboring town.

Finally - our train arrived from the South, and after some difficulty turning the locomotive, we were finally on our way.

btw, RailRookie, I really like your story. Always nice to see an employee go above and beyond to keep someone interested in the field!

 

[frj1983]

In 1988, having a ton of saved up vacation time and being told to take it all: I took two different long trips in the Spring and the Fall.

Spring:

Traveled Milwaukee to Chicago on the Hiawatha...

Took the CNO to New Orleans and spent 3 days there...

Took the SSL to Los Angeles and spent 3 days there...

Took CS to Seattle and spent 2 days there...

and then took the EB home to Milwaukee.

Except for the Hiawatha, I did the traveling in what Amtrak now calls a "Bedroom."

Fall:

Traveled Milwaukee to Seattle on the EB...

Took a bus the next day to Vancouver and stayed 2 days...

Took Via's Canadian across Canada to Montreal and stayed 5 days...

Took the Adirondack from Montreal to Albany NY...

Took the LSL to Chicago...

and then the Hiawatha home to Milwaukee.

Except for the Hiawatha, I did the traveling in what Amtrak now calls a

"Roomette" and in what Via still calls a "Roomette."

I stll whistfully look at the photo album I created from those two trips.

While I'd love to do something like that again, I doubt if I'll ever have the chance or the money.

But I have great memories of good company, good food, and good sights to last a lifetime!

 

[MrFSS]

In the late 1980's I had business in Cumberland, MD. Our meeting the first day ended early and I decided to ride the scenic railroad from Cumberland to Frostburg and back. The train left mid-afternoon and arrived in Frostburg in time for a meal and then the return back to Cumberland.

The engine was an old switcher type and it pulled three old coaches. Except for me the entire train was filled with senior citizens (of which I am one, now) and all they wanted to do was sit in their seats and talk.

I was back and forth, in the vestibules, hanging out the door windows taking pictures the entire trip.

After we boarded to come back from Frostburg, the conductor found me in one of the coaches and said, "follow me."

I didn't have a clue what he was up to or where we were going.

Turns out he saw I was a railfan and he made arrangements with the engineer to let me sit in the right seat in the engine for the trip back.

I even got to blow the horn a few times!!

What a great train ride that was!!

 

[RailFanLNK]

Hey Metro.......that lil' gig that the conductor did for us was H-U-G-E in my opinion! We left the Amtrak station that night "giddy". We weren't looking forward to our trip the following week, we were wetting our pants! For my girlfriend and I it works like this: We drive to the station (5 minutes) and park our car, they say you need "30" minutes and well....you don't....you need about 5 minutes to get checked in or whatever they call it. Then....when we return we get off the train, takes about 5 seconds (we never check baggage) we walk to the car (15 seconds), then drive 5 minutes to our house and we are back in bed (from either sleeping in coach, roomette or bedroom) and we then hear the whistle blow from the train as we go back to sleep!!!

 

[mama to a toddler train fan]

My most adventurous train trip was on a TGV from Paris, France to Amsterdam. I had sort of forgotten about that train ride until I read a post earlier where someone made mention of TGVs.

This was in 1998 and my husband and I were dating and took a trip to Europe with a group of my friends who were art students. I was a smoker back then and when the offer of seats in non or smoking was made, I bought the seats in the smoking car. It was awful. We never even got to our seats because the stench was just too sickening so we just sat in some seats by the doorways. It was the best the view because we could see through windows on both sides of the train. Also very private too until we arrived at the final destination @@ everyone wanted to be first to get off the train! Holland is very lovely countryside.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Hmmmm...... My NB Coast Starlight Trip in 2003 Great Food, Interasting People, Good Service and We were ONTIME into Seattle :blink:

 

[boratwanksta]

probably my most adventurous and rememberable Amtrak trip would be in '98, when i rode the California Zephyr with my church youth group to Colorado for a work camp trip in Pueblo, CO. it was such fun riding a Superliner train then, that i've kept wanting to eventually do another LD train trip on one. i'm still hopeful that i'll somehow be able to carefully plan a 3-day trip on either the CNO or the TE down to Memphis or to Little Rock(allowing me to sleep overnight on the train, and explore a city somewhere for a whole day, without having to spend a buttload of money sleeping at some motel for a ridiculous rate). too bad out of the cities i've googled to see which ones have hostels(in an attempt to plan a possible trip), i've only found that St. Louis has a hostel, and neither of those two other cities do.

the trip i did earlier this year on the Wolverine(#350 + #355) to Ann Arbor was still extremely enjoyable though, and would at least place as an honorable mention. i greatly enjoyed how friendly the LSA(sorry, i'm not sure the proper term for Amtrak employees who are the attendant for the business car/cafe car) was, as he was probably the most friendly Amtrak employee i've ever met in all the times i've ridden Amtrak trains.

 

[creddick]

Not always a wonderful trip but certainly memorable. Around 1965-66, I rode from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to Sudbury, ONT. on a RDC. Later that night, I caught the Canadian (still CP at that time) and rode to Toronto in a lower berth. Unfortunately, the next day is what makes it most memorable. I rode an unnamed CN train from Toronto to Detroit (yes through the tunnel and into the Michigan Central station). It was a Sunday morning. Outside of London, a car full of a family on the way to church slammed into the back wheels of the car I was riding in. I was sitting about 3 seats in front of the back wheels and saw the whole thing. Three were killed. I was interviewed by CN detectives at my home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, shortly after arriving back home. I was one of the very few people on the train who saw what happened. Let me tell you folks, a car will NEVER win against a train. 40 years later it still seems like it happened yesterday. Obviously my most memorable train trip.

 

[mama to a toddler train fan]

a car full of a family on the way to church slammed into the back wheels of the car I was riding in. I was sitting about 3 seats in front of the back wheels and saw the whole thing. Three were killed.
40 years later it still seems like it happened yesterday. Obviously my most memorable train trip.

That would be hard to forget.

 

[caravanman]

Well, lots of my Amtrak trips have been memorable, but several non Amtrak trains win for me, because of their locations.

A trip down to Cape Cormorrin, (Kanyakamari) at the absolute southern tip of India. We stayed in the "railway retiring rooms" for two or three nights, a sort of low budget railway owned hostel attached to the station.

A train across the Rajesthan desert from Jaisalmere. (India)

A long distance train from Madras to Delhi, and then across to Calcutta.

The International express from Bankok to Singapore...

All the above were taken in 1983....Oh yes, the Rangoon to Mandalay train in Burma was cool too!

More recently I enjoyed a train ride from Sydney out to the Blue Mountains, sadly their "Ghan" train was fully booked!

Ed B)

 

[Sam Damon]

Probably my most memorable trip was the one I made on the Fort Jackson Furlough Special. It's run at Christmas-time for soldiers undergoing Basic Training and AIT there in Columbia, SC.

Train left on time; I believe we had 84-seat Amfleet Is for the trip to WAS. 400 or so GI's discover the lounge attendants had... BEER. Just as the whole train was feeling quite mellow... BANG. Train hits dump truck at grade crossing somewhere in northern NC. We are delayed about three hours while cops clean up the ax scene, Amtrak and RR folks inspect the locos, etc. About a hundred GIs and me watch our connections go up in smoke. I think we end up at WAS two or so hours late.

There we discover... surprise!... Amtrak has held the Capital Limited for us headed that way. I remember having a pleasant dinner on the diner. Not much to see in the dark, though. Got to McKeesport at 0230, expecting to have to sleep at the station -- but lo, and behold -- there was a hotel across from the station. Unbelievable! I took my first hot bath, as opposed to semi-cold showers, that I had taken in months.

Called my folks about 1000 in the morning, after sleeping in a comfortable bed with no drill sergeant bellowing at oh-dark-thirty.

Can't seem to top that one. So far, that is.

 

[Palmland]

Most memorable? - my first train trip by myself as an 11 year old. Had a roomette in the through New York to Memphis sleeper which I boarded in Paoli, PA. Was I grown up. The next day I had to move to the through coach in Bowling Green, KY that went to Memphis. About an hour after leaving Bowling Green, the conducter announced we would be delayed at Guthrie, KY because the Florida streamliner, Dixieland, had been broadsided at the cross track there by a freight train. When we got to Guthrie, the scene was pretty scary for a youngster, but my grandmother with the help of the local ticket agent had driven up to Guthrie and got me off the train. Six of the crew in the diner were killed and the cause was brake failure on the freight. What a way to start summer vacation. The year was 1957.