Who in the world are you?

[warrencbennett]

HI all ya'll!

Just found this website while looking for tips on traveling via Amtrak. I'm about to take my third trip on Amtrak (Second in three years) in about six weeks. I'm heading from Maricopa, Arizona to Buffalo, New York, so it'll be quite a trip.

So - Who am I? I"m a 39 year old writer that has been traveling around the country over the last three years. I went from Arizona to Missouri to Pennsylvania to New York and back to Arizona from 2012 to 2014. I've been in Arizona since June of 2014 and, as I mentioned about, about to head out again.

I'm working on my career as a writer and have taken up a very generous offer from a friend of mine. Basically I get to stay at her and her husband's house rent free for six months while I decide what to do in the next stage of my life. I'm not a huge fan of flying commercially, though I love flying in general, so I decided to hop on a train again. My last train trip was both a blessing and a curse, so I'm hoping that this one will be much better. (The train trip was fine. The person that I was trapped behind me was not. Picture a gal on a cellphone all day with three kids that she didn't watch. It got so bad the people in the dining car banned her from eating in there.)

Anyway, I look forward to checking out this forum and meeting all ya'll!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Welcome to AU, hope your journey goes well!

And following your muse on a train can't be beat! You'll get lots of good ideas for stories and maybe even a novel while riding on trains!

Let us know how your trip goes!

 

[warrencbennett]

Welcome to AU, hope your journey goes well!

And following your muse on a train can't be beat! You'll get lots of good ideas for stories and maybe even a novel while riding on trains!

Let us know how your trip goes!

Thanks! I'll be on the train for 3 days or so,with a stop over in Chicago I believe. Never been to Chicago, so it should be interesting...

 

[BAV]

I hail from the UK, been a train fan since a kid, but never really seem to have the time. I recently took early retirement and am doing a lot more!!

I have always envied train fans in the USA because it is much more "open" here in the UK almost every mile of track is well fenced and protected.

I have visited the US a few times and have ridden the NE corridor from NY to Boston and NY to Washington.

Last year whilst idly surfing the web for train cams I discovery a site that has HD cams in Chicago (overlooking the BNSF line and St Charles airline) and Chesterton IN, so I have started to watch the Capitol Limited 29 and Lake Shore 49 through Chesterton, and quite a few that pass the Chicago cam, including the City of New Orleans 58, and the California Zephyr 5 and 6 and the Southwest Chief 3 and 4.

Like any good train fan I have been recording the numbers of all the Amtrak loco's I see and last month finally completed the list for all working P42's. It seems that all P42's visit Chicago eventually!!

I also have screen shots of them all too!!

I found this site while looking for anyone having problems with the "Track a Train" map as being in the UK it is the quickest way to see what is going on where!

If I ask any silly questions it is because I still don't really understand the way rail works in the USA

Bernie.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Welcome to AU Bernie!

We have several members from the UK, one of whom is from Nottingham, and is currently in India riding Trains!

Hope you get to come across the pond soon and ride some of our Amtrak LD Trains!

 

[ABDeh88]

I can't remember if I've posted in here yet. Well, if I did my career has changed.

I'm now an assistant conductor for Amtrak out of Denver!

My name is Nick, 34 years old, married to Kari and have a son named Samuel.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I can't remember if I've posted in here yet. Well, if I did my career has changed.

I'm now an assistant conductor for Amtrak out of Denver!

My name is Nick, 34 years old, married to Kari and have a son named Samuel.

Congrats! Hope to see you in October when we have the Annual AU Gathering in Denver! Lots of us will be riding the Zephyr to/from Denver as well as local transportation!

 

[R Johnson]

I am a 63 year old who is closer to birthday 64 than birthday 63.

A lifelong blue collar worker, I have worked in manufacturing, electrical contracting, and (my favorite job of all time) a maintenance man/manager at a large nursing home. My final full-time job, a serviceman for (what I consider anyway) a shade tree natural gas supplier ended in August of 2015 when I quit in disgust after almost 12 years.

Since then, I have got by on Social Security, gone on V A health care, and spent many hours walking and out in the shop, woodturning. In other words, a borderline bum.

Vacations over the years usually revolved around backpacking or shooting flintlock rifles in numerous states. While I am planning only my second train trip at the moment, I hope to do a little more of it now that I'm not tied down by two weeks vacation a year. Although I love flying, I suspect that I will never again set foot on a commercial airplane. Front cockpit in a biplane maybe, but nothing any bigger.

 

[snljamie0518]

My name is Jamie. I am hearing impaired. Going to be 40 years old on May 18. I have been married to my husband for 15 years. We love to travel. I was born & raised in Denver, Colorado but lived in NYC for 12 years but now back in CO again. I love animals, hugs, meeting new people, going to the movies, going to concerts, meeting celebrities & trying out new things. My friends & family have said I have a genuine heart of gold. I always have a smile on my face. I am female.

 

[jis]

My name is Jamie. I am hearing impaired. Going to be 40 years old on May 18. I have been married to my husband for 15 years. We love to travel. I was born & raised in Denver, Colorado but lived in NYC for 12 years but now back in CO again. I love animals, hugs, meeting new people, going to the movies, going to concerts, meeting celebrities & trying out new things. My friends & family have said I have a genuine heart of gold. I always have a smile on my face. I am female.

Will you be joining the AU Gathering to be held in Denver in October? Just a short hop, skip and jump from Aurora!

 

[snljamie0518]

My name is Jamie. I am hearing impaired. Going to be 40 years old on May 18. I have been married to my husband for 15 years. We love to travel. I was born & raised in Denver, Colorado but lived in NYC for 12 years but now back in CO again. I love animals, hugs, meeting new people, going to the movies, going to concerts, meeting celebrities & trying out new things. My friends & family have said I have a genuine heart of gold. I always have a smile on my face. I am female.

Will you be joining the AU Gathering to be held in Denver in October? Just a short hop, skip and jump from Aurora!

What is the gathering about? I never heard of it.

 

[jis]

My name is Jamie. I am hearing impaired. Going to be 40 years old on May 18. I have been married to my husband for 15 years. We love to travel. I was born & raised in Denver, Colorado but lived in NYC for 12 years but now back in CO again. I love animals, hugs, meeting new people, going to the movies, going to concerts, meeting celebrities & trying out new things. My friends & family have said I have a genuine heart of gold. I always have a smile on my face. I am female.

Will you be joining the AU Gathering to be held in Denver in October? Just a short hop, skip and jump from Aurora!

What is the gathering about? I never heard of it.

Take a look at this. It has all the discussion about the upcoming Denver AU Gathering in October....

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/66485-gathering-x-2016/

 

[AmtrakBlue]

My name is Jamie. I am hearing impaired. Going to be 40 years old on May 18. I have been married to my husband for 15 years. We love to travel. I was born & raised in Denver, Colorado but lived in NYC for 12 years but now back in CO again. I love animals, hugs, meeting new people, going to the movies, going to concerts, meeting celebrities & trying out new things. My friends & family have said I have a genuine heart of gold. I always have a smile on my face. I am female.

Will you be joining the AU Gathering to be held in Denver in October? Just a short hop, skip and jump from Aurora!

What is the gathering about? I never heard of it.

Take a look at this. It has all the discussion about the upcoming Denver AU Gathering in October....

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/66485-gathering-x-2016/

And this show what fun we had at past gatherings - http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/forum/95-past-gatherings/

 

[2sk21]

Hi everyone - I'm a long time railfan and model railroader living in New Jersey. I haven't travelled a whole lot by Amtrak in the recent years. My last long-distance journey was back in 1991 on the Auto Train!

However, I will be making a transcontinental trip later this summer with my family so I have joined this group to get some advice. I'll be traveling from New York City to Seattle on the Cardinal and the Empire Builder in mid August. Looking forward to learning a lot more about Amtrak before this trip.

 

[CCC1007]

Hi everyone - I'm a long time railfan and model railroader living in New Jersey. I haven't travelled a whole lot by Amtrak in the recent years. My last long-distance journey was back in 1991 on the Auto Train!

However, I will be making a transcontinental trip later this summer with my family so I have joined this group to get some advice. I'll be traveling from New York City to Seattle on the Cardinal and the Empire Builder in mid August. Looking forward to learning a lot more about Amtrak before this trip.

If I can, we could meet on the platform at WFH, though I may be in Bozeman at that time.

 

[bmjhagen9426]

My name is Brandon, and I am a 22-year old college student living in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Born and raised in South Korea but moved to Oregon (Portland metro area) in 2011. I am also a railfan, and have started railfanning since 2010, starting with routes operated by Korea Railroad and the Seoul Metropolitan Subway network. First Amtrak train ride in 2013 (Oakland-Jack London Square to Klamath Falls), and had 20 subsequent Amtrak trips. I have also ridden the SP 4449 on its excursion run last November during the Thanksgiving weekend. Upcoming trips so far: Klamath Falls to Emeryville on CS 11(9/18) in September (I may or may not make a Klamath Falls-to-Portland trip a few days prior to this), Emeryville to Klamath Falls on CS 14(9/22), Klamath Falls to Chicago on CS 14(12/8) and EB 28(12/8) in December, and Chicago to Klamath Falls on SWC 3(1/4/2017) and CS 14(1/6/2017) in January of next year. However, I will be making a transcontinental trip in the near future on a date and route to be determined.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Welcome to AU! Portland and Oregon are great places but Travel is what makes the world go round!

Please share your trips with us, look forward to hearing about your adventures!

 

[Kami]

I'm 32 years old, part Irish, Scottish, and German. I'm a short, fat, freckled ginger (Lawful heart! Her hair is as red as carrots!), living in pdx, and my secret identity is being an office manager (So far nobody suspects a thing!). I've been here 2 years now; I'm a Massachusetts transplant. I lived in NJ when I was really tiny (in Summit), and then we lived in England (in Surrey), for most of my childhood, before moving back to the US.

I was raised by wolv... Um, I mean, lawyers. Same thing, right? ;P (Sorry Dad!)

I live with my awesome boyfriend, and my crazy cat, Tigger, literally across the street from the rail the Empire Builder uses. I actually love living near the train, I love hearing them go by.

I love to read, mostly sci fi and fantasy (Clarke/Carrol/Verne/Heinlein/Asimov/Pierce/Lewis are some of my favorites. I also love comics

I'm a huge geek, I love building/upgrading PCs, playing games (board games, video games, card games).

My dad, boyfriend, and boss call me, "The Walking Wiki," because I love encyclopedias, remember everything I read, and pick up random info on just about everything. I love learning! Browsing this forum, I think I'd really love to learn about some of the more technical aspects of trains. Stuff like what kinds of cars there are, how they work, different designations for things, types of track, all that!

I don't know when I started loving trains... But I can tell you this, when I was much younger my dad asked me what I wanted more than anything for a birthday gift, and the first thing that popped right into my head was, "I want to get on a train, and go ~all~ the way around the country, twice!"

When I was little, we took a train from boston to seattle. The sleeper was not like they make them now, or maybe it was via? It was a very gray room, furnished with nothing but two fold down bunks on one wall, and a radiator along the edge of the floor; no tables or chairs or other furniture that I can remember, but I was pretty young. I slept on the floor, but I move around a lot in my sleep, and my pillow caught fire from the radiator. It melted part of the pillow, and burned a chunk of my hair off (nowhere near my head). The attendant pulled me out of the room by my feet and doused the fire, then they gave me a new pillow, and moved me somewhere farther from the radiator. I slept through the whole thing.

Yay trains!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'm 32 years old, part Irish, Scottish, and German. I'm a short, fat, freckled ginger (Lawful heart! Her hair is as red as carrots!), ...

When I was little, we took a train from boston to seattle. The sleeper was not like they make them now, or maybe it was via? It was a very gray room, furnished with nothing but two fold down bunks on one wall, and a radiator along the edge of the floor; no tables or chairs or other furniture that I can remember, but I was pretty young. I slept on the floor, but I move around a lot in my sleep, and my pillow caught fire from the radiator. It melted part of the pillow, and burned a chunk of my hair off (nowhere near my head). The attendant pulled me out of the room by my feet and doused the fire, then they gave me a new pillow, and moved me somewhere farther from the radiator. I slept through the whole thing.

Well, that explains your red hair. :giggle:

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

norfolkwesternhenry comes from Norfolk and Western, the railroad that made the great Y, A, and J class steam locomotives, and my name, Henry.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Welcome to AU and hope you enjoy your trip and enjoy looking @ the National LD Menus that Betty gave you the links for!

Please share a trip report with us when you finish your trip!

 

[blackpup]

Hi, I just joined today. Accidentally found the forum when doing a google play search for the Amtrak App. I'm glad I did, so much useful information. I live in Wisconsin. My spouse and I rode the Empire Builder from Wisconsin Dells to Chicago and back again. We loved the coach seats, they were so comfortable. So much more comfortable and hassle free than driving. We caught the train bug. We saw youtube videos online about Empire Builder and always wanted to do the entire trip to Seattle, from Wisconsin Dells, because that is closest station to us. But as time and money would not allowed, we never went. I just booked a trip for a week to St Augustine, FL. I have no fear of flying, and I love the take offs and landings,(I actually used to fly single engine planes), but I hate the thought of being smooshed even if it is just for 3 hours. Plus I hate all that TSA crap. However we are going to have to go through that on our way back.

So I thought , hey what about train travel to Orlando then renting a car, and driving to St. Augustine. So, I just booked, Dells to Chicago, Chicago to DC, and DC to Orlando. All combined. with coach on EB, rommette on CL and coach on SS. At least if the EB is going to be arriving 4 hours late in Chicago, We can always drive to Chicago so we don't miss the CL connection. Chi is only about 3 t0 4 hours, depending on traffic. However, now I'm thinking of cancelling everything and taking Dells to Chic one day, staying overnight in Chi so then I won't miss the CL. Then maybe changing from SS to the other DC to Orlando train which doesn't leave until like 7:30 pm, that way if the CL is late, it will give us leeway. And if it isn't late, can explore DC.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Welcome to AU, Great trip!

Since you never know about the On Time performance of LD Trains when it comes to making connections your ideas to spend a Night in the Windy City is a good idea.

Also taking the Silver Meteor to Florida is a good idea since the Silver Star ( aka Silver Starvation!) has no Diner, just a Cafe Car. ( the Rooms will be cheaper but you have to live on High Priced Fast Food junk so since the Sleepers include Meals for 2 in the Room Charge it's worth it in most people's opinion!

Please write a trip report and let us know how your trip goes!

 

[glomor]

Hi all...

I've been a member here for a few years. I don't travel by train often but when I do I like to check in for information. It's a great resource.

I'm 69, married, mother, grandmother, and recently retired after working as a design engineer at a small manufacturing company for 27 years. Retirement was not my choice, but when you work for a family owned company you realize that at any time you can be replaced by a family member! That's what happened to me, suddenly and unexpectedly. So I am trying to keep busy and figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

I enjoy writing, taking pictures, music including opera, jazz and folk. I used to play flute and maybe I'll take it up again now that I have a little extra time on my hands!

I live in a beautiful rural area of northern Michigan not far from Lake Michigan. No rail service up here so have to drive a ways to catch the train. I prefer train travel to flying. I started out in coach taking the Empire Builder to Seattle to visit my daughter. On one of my trips I decided to splurge and get a roomette and I've been hooked ever since. Lately my train has been the Southwest Chief--my daughter moved to LA. I've also taken the Texas Eagle when my son lived in Texas, and I've found that Amtrak is a great way to get into The Big Apple!

I notice that some of you mentioned C-130s -- my husband was in the Coast Guard many years ago and flew in them as part of the International Ice Patrol in Newfoundland. We have great 8mm movies of Coasties hanging out of the back end dropping dye on icebergs. I think they have more sophisticated methods of tracking them these days! Anyway he just loves those C-130s! He's also a model railroader and rail fan. He and a couple of friends enjoy trips to Fostoria and Berea, OH, and Porter, IN, easily done in a weekend from northern Michigan. Not much freight traffic up here!

Thanks for keeping this forum active. I appreciate all the helpful information you all provide.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Glad you're back! Those of us who are retired have come to find out that working is Highly Overrated!

Visiting Beautiful Northern Michigan ( in the Summer, Love those Pure Michigan Ads!) has been been on my Bucket List for a long time, Hope to get up your way this Summer!