What's your favorite train terrain?

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Crossing over freeways that are parking lots.
The schadenfreude is a bonus.
default_biggrin.png
 
Crossing over freeways that are parking lots.
The schadenfreude is a bonus.
default_biggrin.png
Got a big laugh at that. Definitely a bonus. And I'm now aware of a word that encompasses the feeling.

The morning run heading west from Riverside towards LA on the Southwest Chief lets us see morning rush hour, slow moving or stopped freeway traffic.

I've seen the same occasionally westbound between Ft. Morgan & Denver.
 
Call me strange if you will, but I feel right at home when I see this type of view....
Not strange at all!

I've always enjoyed the urban views and railroad infrastructure in the northeast.....and my favourite and we're going to have to go back a few years: climbing up and over Hells Gate Bridge and looking at the lights of Manhattan from the darkened Roomette on Amtrak's Night Owl.
 
Sad to say that one of my favorite terrain-watching route segments is gone: Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. It was a pleasure to view the many estuaries, marshes, and water crossings by bridge along the Gulf Coast. It was quite a pleasant surprise when I first rode it.
 
Sad to say that one of my favorite terrain-watching route segments is gone: Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. It was a pleasure to view the many estuaries, marshes, and water crossings by bridge along the Gulf Coast. It was quite a pleasant surprise when I first rode it.
I regret never having seen it. I'd have loved it. I left out of my favorites the marshes and swamps of East Texas and Louisiana I saw on the way to NOL, the exotic birds and the bayous... made me wish I could paint.
 
I like to see valleys, mountains (above or below treeline), going over passes, deserts, rivers, lakes.

One field of corn, alfalfa, soybeans, etc pretty much looks like all other fields of corn, alfalfa, soybeans, etc.

Urban areas tend to look the same too, save the difference between small, medium, and large towns.

The towns out west look, and are, more modern than towns towards the east.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I love them all. I like the Erie Canal in upstate New York, the bare-in-winter hardwood forest of my native New England, the snowy expanse of the northern Great Plains, and the mountains and rivers of the west. I like the cactus deserts and arroyos of the southwest (and the chance of seeing a javelina in the scrub), I like the golden sunsets off the coast of California, I like the sweet river valleys of the Appalachians, and I like the swamps of western Louisiana and east Texas. I also like the bridges over crowded freeways, the braided tracks of urban railyards, and the Rust Belt factories and warehouses. I'd love to see every mile of track that's available, but I'm resigned to the fact that it's not (yet) the top of my t-do list. Happy travels, all, whatever sights they may take you to!
 
Cities and towns for me, especially smaller, less well known or less wealthy places. Pittsfield, Mass., was interesting to me, so was Winnemucca, Nevada.
 
I like the viewing perspective the train gives you one cannot get from a car. Go through crossings viewing it from the train, not waiting in a car for the train to clear. Going past people's backyards as they wave to you, a perspective one cannot get elsewhere. Going past railyards, etc. Again a viewing perspective that can only be had on a train.

Also pacing a freeway, ie. I-55 in Illinois, sitting in the lounge car, sipping on a Coke, listening to your favorite tunes, watching cars, trucks and Mega Buses drift by. You just know the people in the vehicles are watching you glide by and wandering "what if".

And if I may add, one can enjoy all the variety views mentioned in the above posts, whether they are on time or not.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Enjoying being able to watch the view rather than having to look out for all the crazy drivers and not being able to enjoy the view!
 
It's hard to choose a favorite terrain. America is so vast and varied; I love traveling through the different regions to experience all of that variety. Here are several specific examples, though:

1) Trees covered with Spanish Moss in the swamps of Louisiana

2) Red rocks in New Mexico interspersed with lush trees and even snow.

3) On that note, xeriscaping and the touches of turquoise you see all over the southwest

4) Rolling through people's backyards and traveling "behind the scenes" of a city.

5) Traveling along a highway, especially if we're pacing the traffic. I always wonder where everyone is going. (I do this while driving, too.)

6) This is more of a feeling, but I really enjoy when we've been in the Middle of Nowhere for several hours and then approach a busy highway or even just see one off in the distance. As much as I love the scenery in remote areas, I feel a strange sense of relief seeing signs of civilization again. Like, ok, the entire world was not eaten by zombies. Good to know. On with the trip.

7) Mountains and/or the ocean, obviously.

8) The little colonial-looking villages in the East

9) Old graveyards, broken down ranches, crumbling homes, and ghost towns

10) Huge, decrepit industrial areas, particularly in northern Indiana on the way into Chicago. It's even better if they have the smokestacks blowing fire toward the sky. Depending on the weather and time of day, it can have sort of a dystopian feel.

Scenery I don't really care for:

1) Corn fields with the backdrop of suburban cookie cutter homes, i.e. most of Illinois and other Midwest states. I use this time to read a book.

2) Endless tree tunnels. They can be pretty, depending on the season, but if they're close to the tracks and block my view of anything else, it gets kind of boring. The TE and Crescent had a lot of this, and while I really enjoyed both trips, my camera didn't come out as often as usual. I was kind of bummed because I could see things through the trees, but the pictures were just a green blur.
default_tongue.png
 
I'm hoping I'll finally get to catch the TE detours when they're doing trackwork in Texas. I hope it's in the summer or early fall when I do.
 
I'm hoping I'll finally get to catch the TE detours when they're doing trackwork in Texas. I hope it's in the summer or early fall when I do.
We took a detour between I think Dallas and Temple or something like that when I was on it in February. Honestly, it wasn’t particularly amazing. I don’t get why people care so much about detours. Just because it’s not the normal route doesn’t mean it’s anything particularly cool or special. Just my opinion.
 
I'm hoping I'll finally get to catch the TE detours when they're doing trackwork in Texas. I hope it's in the summer or early fall when I do.
We took a detour between I think Dallas and Temple or something like that when I was on it in February. Honestly, it wasn’t particularly amazing. I don’t get why people care so much about detours. Just because it’s not the normal route doesn’t mean it’s anything particularly cool or special. Just my opinion.
The thing about detours is getting a chance to ride over a line not normally used by passenger trains, scenery has nothing to do with it. You can put some special mileage in your compilation of routes ridden.
 
I think people enjoy detours because you get to see different things, no matter how minor they are. I'd kind of enjoy a Wolverine detour because, even though southern Michigan is all pretty much the same, it would be neat to travel a different route.

In the case of the CZ detour, I think it would be fun because I could check Wyoming off my "states I've been to" list.

The crème de la crème for railfans is the Tehachapi Loop detour.
default_smile.png
 
I am not looking forward to the Point Defiance bypass on the Cascades and Coast Starlight routes. It will cut out a nice stretch of coastal running, including passing under the Tacoma Narrows Bridges.
 
I'm hoping I'll finally get to catch the TE detours when they're doing trackwork in Texas. I hope it's in the summer or early fall when I do.
I've been fortunate to catch the Old Mopac East Texas Route Detours by the Eagle twice.
Only thing missing was the Dome Car that was in the Mopac Eagle consist.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think people enjoy detours because you get to see different things, no matter how minor they are. I'd kind of enjoy a Wolverine detour because, even though southern Michigan is all pretty much the same, it would be neat to travel a different route.

In the case of the CZ detour, I think it would be fun because I could check Wyoming off my "states I've been to" list.

The crème de la crème for railfans is the Tehachapi Loop detour.
default_smile.png
I think the Feather River Canyon and Keddie Wye, would give the 'Loop' a run for the money...
default_wink.png
default_smile.png
 
There are some beautiful farmlands, rivers, and mountains between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, PA. Not to mention Horseshoe Curve and the Susquehanna river crossing.

Though it has been too many years since I have seen this personally, I always loved passing through small towns and big cities at night.
 
There are some beautiful farmlands, rivers, and mountains between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, PA. Not to mention Horseshoe Curve and the Susquehanna river crossing.

Though it has been too many years since I have seen this personally, I always loved passing through small towns and big cities at night.
Good choice....and welcome to AU!
default_smile.png
 
Back
Top