R Johnson
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
- Messages
- 25
[SIZE=14pt]Gee, it has been almost six years since my last post on this forum.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]I enjoyed my first and second train trips, Connersville, IN to Staunton, VA and back, but limited vacation time and trips that would be impossible on Amtrak have kept me from taking any more train rides.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]That will, hopefully, change in the not too distant future. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Unhappiness with my employer finally came to a head near the end of last July. I took two weeks of vacation and never went back to work. Somewhere during the two weeks before I quit, it occurred to me that the monthly Social Security check would more than cover a month’s long hike on the Appalachian Trail. And so….[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Sometime before the 15th of May I hope to be boarding Train 50 again. This time I will be going one stop further than last time, getting off at Charlottesville, VA. If all goes well, three or four months later I will experience train travel (and a little bus travel as well) in the northeast corridor as I make my way from Maine back to Charlottesville, and, ultimately, home.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Last time I was on here asking about being able to carry a long hiking staff on the train. This time, the staff will have been replaced by two collapsible trekking poles that will be lashed to the back of my pack. My pack is small compared to some I have carried in the past (I will be really unhappy if the weight hits 25 pounds loaded with four or five days of food) but will still be too large to put in overhead racks. I know that there is a spot near the door of each car for larger baggage and that the pack can go there. The only thing that worries me is how secure it will be. By the time the pack is trail ready it will represent almost a thousand bucks in high-tech lightweight gear. If something happened to it, months of planning and training would be down the drain. And at my age, the possibility of doing it another year would be highly unlikely. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]So, the question is, what is the likelihood of my pack walking off the train with any legs but mine? From the last trip, it seems like there were more boarding than departing, but some stops have more passengers getting off than others. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]For what it’s worth, I look forward to getting to the trail and getting back almost as much as the hike itself. And the hike is the number one item on my bucket list.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]I enjoyed my first and second train trips, Connersville, IN to Staunton, VA and back, but limited vacation time and trips that would be impossible on Amtrak have kept me from taking any more train rides.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]That will, hopefully, change in the not too distant future. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Unhappiness with my employer finally came to a head near the end of last July. I took two weeks of vacation and never went back to work. Somewhere during the two weeks before I quit, it occurred to me that the monthly Social Security check would more than cover a month’s long hike on the Appalachian Trail. And so….[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Sometime before the 15th of May I hope to be boarding Train 50 again. This time I will be going one stop further than last time, getting off at Charlottesville, VA. If all goes well, three or four months later I will experience train travel (and a little bus travel as well) in the northeast corridor as I make my way from Maine back to Charlottesville, and, ultimately, home.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]Last time I was on here asking about being able to carry a long hiking staff on the train. This time, the staff will have been replaced by two collapsible trekking poles that will be lashed to the back of my pack. My pack is small compared to some I have carried in the past (I will be really unhappy if the weight hits 25 pounds loaded with four or five days of food) but will still be too large to put in overhead racks. I know that there is a spot near the door of each car for larger baggage and that the pack can go there. The only thing that worries me is how secure it will be. By the time the pack is trail ready it will represent almost a thousand bucks in high-tech lightweight gear. If something happened to it, months of planning and training would be down the drain. And at my age, the possibility of doing it another year would be highly unlikely. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]So, the question is, what is the likelihood of my pack walking off the train with any legs but mine? From the last trip, it seems like there were more boarding than departing, but some stops have more passengers getting off than others. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt]For what it’s worth, I look forward to getting to the trail and getting back almost as much as the hike itself. And the hike is the number one item on my bucket list.[/SIZE]