Best line I've heard on an Amtrak train

[chakk]

And I've set foot in all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia), but there are still times when I am not certain about the locations of certain cities to each other. For example, I know that Portland, OR is west of Minneapolis, but is Portland north or south of Minneapolis?

And how do they relate (north vs south) to Portland, Maine?

 

[Asher]

Of course I would, but I know multiple people who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between downtown Albuquerque and suburban Chicago. Both are flat and moderate density, and if you didn't see the mountains there would likely be no sand indicating a desert visible from the train in downtown Albuquerque. I think a lot of experienced travelers such as those on this forum dramatically underestimate the lack of geographical knowledge some people have. Attached are Google Maps street view photos of downtown Albuquerque and Berwyn, Illinois, an inner suburb of Chicago along the Southwest Chief route.

N
Nice try with the BS photos.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

You can see mountains from virtually any random spot in Albuquerque. The big old Spanish Revival train station, even to someone that is not architecturally inclined, screams "Southwest," which is not a word anyone sane is going to use about Chicago, unless they mean "which part of Lake Michigan is Chicago on." I can't conceive of a way to confuse the two, really.

Given the location of the train station, it is definitely possible someone could look out the window and not see mountains. Views are hindered by road overpasses and the city skyline. Obviously mountains would likely be visible when approaching the city, but most passengers don't spend much time looking out the window and may not have done so until arrival. In addition, there is the possibility that weather could limit the views of the mountains.

 

[Paull65]

I was on a late Lake Shore from ALB to SPG a few years ago. We arrived in Pittsfield just before the westbound LSL. After we pulled out of the station heading east I heard the conductor about 2 rows behind me say "You're not getting to Cleveland on this train". He gets on the radio and the train stopped I estimated about a mile out of the Pittsfield station. I have forgotten what they announced but the conductor went to the back of the car that I was in (the last car) and talked the dispatcher. Then he talked to the engineer to back the train into the Pittsfield station on the radio. Two people went past me with the conductor, got off, and we proceeded east onto a siding and waited for the westbound LSL to go by. Then we started up again. But I just loved that line from the conductor...
Since our train was late and ended up arriving at about the same time that the westbound was scheduled to arrive I guess they saw the train, assumed it was the westbound, and got on it. I assume that they also didn't pay attention to announcements at the station that would have told them to wait for the next train in the other direction.

 

[Barb Stout]

Of course I would, but I know multiple people who wouldn't be able to tell the difference between downtown Albuquerque and suburban Chicago. Both are flat and moderate density, and if you didn't see the mountains there would likely be no sand indicating a desert visible from the train in downtown Albuquerque. I think a lot of experienced travelers such as those on this forum dramatically underestimate the lack of geographical knowledge some people have. Attached are Google Maps street view photos of downtown Albuquerque and Berwyn, Illinois, an inner suburb of Chicago along the Southwest Chief route.

That picture in ABQ was taken on one of those "rare" overcast days. One easy way (although certainly no where near foolproof) to differentiate between Chicago and ABQ, besides the Southwest architecture of the rail station, is to look up at the sky. If it is sunny with no clouds, it probably is ABQ, not Chicago. When I moved from MN to the Southwest, one of my favorite lines that people got tired real fast of hearing me say was "A cloud, a cloud, my queendom for a cloud."

 

[ehbowen]

In 2012 my mother flew out to BWI to join me and #2 nephew and #3 niece (who were sharing an AGR bedroom AUS-CHI-WAS). I gave her an Amtrak ticket BWI-WAS, along with detailed written instructions for navigating the BWI rail station and finding the southbound platform. She still got mixed up and ended up on the northbound platform. Fortunately, she heard some passengers nearby asking if the train to Philadelphia would be along soon. She said, "But I'm going to Washington!" and soon realized she was on the wrong platform. So all ended well.

 

[west point]

In an airport whenever a person would ask where such and such was always played dumb and said let us see. "Oh there is a sign that says go that way to gate, ticket , bag claim, etc. Found by having questioner actually read sign and say it out loud they would "usually " not get lost. Of course some persons were rather thick headed.Cannot

 

[COTraveler]

I was on a late Lake Shore from ALB to SPG a few years ago. We arrived in Pittsfield just before the westbound LSL. After we pulled out of the station heading east I heard the conductor about 2 rows behind me say "You're not getting to Cleveland on this train". He gets on the radio and the train stopped I estimated about a mile out of the Pittsfield station. I have forgotten what they announced but the conductor went to the back of the car that I was in (the last car) and talked the dispatcher. Then he talked to the engineer to back the train into the Pittsfield station on the radio. Two people went past me with the conductor, got off, and we proceeded east onto a siding and waited for the westbound LSL to go by. Then we started up again. But I just loved that line from the conductor...
Since our train was late and ended up arriving at about the same time that the westbound was scheduled to arrive I guess they saw the train, assumed it was the westbound, and got on it. I assume that they also didn't pay attention to announcements at the station that would have told them to wait for the next train in the other direction.

No wonder why Amtrak's on-time performance is so poor. Can you imagine an airline turning around after takeoff to drop off someone who got on the wrong plane?

Unfortunately, I've also been on a (already-late) train that waited at a stop for 10 min while looking for someone in the dining car who was supposed to get off at that stop.

 

[jloewen]

Once taking the eastbound Missouri "River Runner", we stopped our in the rural, E of Jeff City, and the westbound train came by and also stopped, and a couple was assisted from our train to the westbound. Didn't delay us by more than 5 minutes. They had of course boarded the wrong-direction train in Jeff City.

 

[chakk]

Once taking the eastbound Missouri "River Runner", we stopped our in the rural, E of Jeff City, and the westbound train came by and also stopped, and a couple was assisted from our train to the westbound. Didn't delay us by more than 5 minutes. They had of course boarded the wrong-direction train in Jeff City.

I've seen this done for crews being transferred between trains, but never
for passengers.

 

[zephyr17]

I've also seen it done to transfer dining car stock