Are you a LD Amtrak addict?

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* Bought a house right next to the train station just so you can watch your train go by everyday

* Personally know all of the train crew, including the engineers, know them all by name and they all know you by name

* You know where the supply closet is and if there's no TP and you restock the bathroom yourself

* You know all of the conductor's hole punch characters

* You understand RR terminalogy even though you've never worked a day on the train in your life

* You listen to "train inspired music* on your ipod

* You know how to flip a seat, escape the restroom and turn the door locks on and off

* You save all of your train tickets and each one has a story to go with it

* You carry a plug-in air freshner for those days when someone brings a burrito aboard
 
You go to the station at 1am to watch your train come and go.

You take little short trips between two stations and back again, just to get the triple points for only $9. I'm about to leave to ride the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Fort Worth and back today! If anything is late and I miss it, I just hop on the Trinity Rail Express!
 
saxman66 said:
You go to the station at 1am to watch your train come and go.
You take little short trips between two stations and back again, just to get the triple points for only $9. I'm about to leave to ride the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Fort Worth and back today! If anything is late and I miss it, I just hop on the Trinity Rail Express!
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Guilty on both counts! :D

When I lived near NDL, I many times went about 1 or 2 AM, since that's when the SWC comes through! :p And on May 10, I took advantage of the 2:1, and an riding to/from BOS in the AM and then to/from NHV in the PM - just to get the double points cheap! :p
 
All I gotta say is that I wish I had the time and money to be an Amtrak addict...

Though I DO call Julie all the time to figure out if the Auto Train is running on time so that I can watch it go past our crossing!

saxman66 said:
You go to the station at 1am to watch your train come and go.
You take little short trips between two stations and back again, just to get the triple points for only $9. I'm about to leave to ride the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Fort Worth and back today! If anything is late and I miss it, I just hop on the Trinity Rail Express!
Click to expand...
I've done EXACTLY both of those! I would get up at 1 AM to watch the Silver Service pass both directions in Kannapolis, NC (even though they don't stop there). Have done the Amtrak there and TRE back for a grand total of $10. Though, I didn't do it to get AGR points (wasn't a member at the time, and keep forgetting to submit the 'small' trips for my 100 pts!).
 
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Or you plan an entire Saturday with your friends around what time the trains go by in either direction, "just happening" to have your day's travels intercept all the trains going by that day. (and yet your friends still remain clueless about your addiction).

...Or when you're stopped at that RR crossing that you "just happened" to intercept at the right time and somebody says "Wow, I wander how long that train is", you can answer them exactly how many cars are on that consist and what types they are. Not always from looking, but from memory.

And by the way, what are some good "train inspired" songs?
 
Being a classical music person, I would suggest:

Pacific 231 an orchestral work by Arthur Honegger written in 1923.

Extremely powerful piece that allows you to hear that steam locomotive.
 
Thought of view more...

You love waiting for the train in a podunk town in the middle of the night in the middle of winter. You're the one standing outside getting all the freight action (or hoping for some)

When driving on a trip, you know which rail lines are Amtrak lines, and you look at your watch to see if its about time to see it pass through. Even if its a part of the country you've never or rarely visited. Then you call Julie from your cell phone to see what time she might come through.

Every other rail line you see from the road, you think there should be an Amtrak train running on it, even if it really doesn't go anywhere.

Someone you meet is surprised because you know where their really small town is, because Amtrak serves it. Something like Newton, KS or Winnemucca, NV.

You imagine being on the train, when riding a bus.

You don't want to go vacation in a town, unless Amtrak can get you there.
 
You know Needles from somewhere else than where Snoopy's brother Spike (from Peanuts fame) lives.

You go shopping, and hope to time it right to see a train go by on the track next to Wal-Mart.

You're upset that the train that you're on arrives on time, when it has been 2-3 hours late for the past ## of days!
 
jis said:
Rafi said:
-You look for opportunities to travel to stations in the middle of nowhere just to print tickets that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the route that serves said station. For example: printing an Emeryville-Grand Junction ticket in Portland, Maine.
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Hey! I resemble that! I once printed a New York - Orlando ticket in Seattle WA, and I took a train from Portland OR to Seattle WA to print the ticket, and of course to ride the Talgo too :)
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WHAAAT!

I thought I was hooked, now I'm afraid to take my 1st trip. How much to hitch hike Amtrak with a private car? <_<
 
When through the TV and all the other background noise, you can pick up the chime of the K5LA as the Amtrak train, in my case the Heartland Flyer, comes through town. Or when you are driving about close to "train time" and you detour to be by the station or nearest crossing when she passes through.
 
And by the way, what are some good "train inspired" songs?
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I have to mention R.E.M.'s "Driver 8". Yeah, it's not the most authentic song about railroading, but on every LD train I've been on, it's been part of the rotation. And it really reminds me of my (albeit) brief time in the South.
 
gmcguire said:
And by the way, what are some good "train inspired" songs?
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I have to mention R.E.M.'s "Driver 8". Yeah, it's not the most authentic song about railroading, but on every LD train I've been on, it's been part of the rotation. And it really reminds me of my (albeit) brief time in the South.
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I was also impressed that the music video to the song was pretty much just continuous footage of trains:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FL3b0B3xqV8
 
MrFSS said:
Being a classical music person, I would suggest:
Pacific 231 an orchestral work by Arthur Honegger written in 1923.

Extremely powerful piece that allows you to hear that steam locomotive.
Click to expand...
Thank God I am not old enough :) to remember 1923 :) don't remind me about recording :lol: but many underestimate the Classic Orchestra power to create pictures in the mind. :)
 
GG-1 said:
MrFSS said:
Being a classical music person, I would suggest:
Pacific 231 an orchestral work by Arthur Honegger written in 1923.

Extremely powerful piece that allows you to hear that steam locomotive.
Click to expand...
Thank God I am not old enough :) to remember 1923 :) don't remind me about recording :lol: but many underestimate the Classic Orchestra power to create pictures in the mind. :)
Click to expand...
Here is a nice YouTube of the piece. Turn the volume up and you'll hear the train.


Before the music starts there is a nice section on the composition and during the music some great steam video.
 
KDSRRGurl1 said:
* Bought a house right next to the train station just so you can watch your train go by everyday
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Heh... I live by the Morristown Line of New Jersey Transit. Not quite an LD line (yet) but lots of nice electric trains and even a few diesel ones! If (when) the Lackawanna Cutoff gets restored and service gets extended to Binghampton there will be a few LD trains this way too, possibly even Amtrak ones! Yeah dream on.....
 
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