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dnsommer2013
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 95
58 year old male living in Nova Scotia. I'm a Civil Technologist and have worked for the same Engineering firm for 36 years.
I've been a railfan for as long as I can rememberâ¦â¦..and I guess growing up next to the tracks helped!
My first Amtrak trip was back in 1973 on the Washingtonian from Montreal to New York:
â¦â¦then I rode extensively throughout the '70s until life's other commitments took over. I remember getting USA Railpasses three years in a row and spending two weeks just riding trainsâ¦.. hop off one then right onto anotherâ¦..criss-crossing the county: Broadway, North Coast Hiawatha, CS, EB, CZ, Southwest (Limited....not Chief!) Sunset (including the Transcon Sleeper all the way from LA to Washington) and Amfleet, Turboliners and Superliners when they were brand new!
Since then I've covered nearly all of Amtrak's LD train routes with a trip every few years but I do get to the NEC a couple of times a year. I can be sitting on an Acela at South Station Boston in a little over 2 hours from Halifax and the Downeaster is a 9hr drive away.
And I ride VIA often: extensively in the corridor and several times a year I'm on the Ocean. I'm just back from a trip on the Canadian which I've done 5 times now.
Hobbies include photography and hiking/ATV riding old abandoned railway right-of-ways (and we do have a lot of those around here now!)
Gary
Do you have any more photos of the Montrealer/Washingtonian?
dnsommer2013
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 95
Years and years ago, way back in the last Millennium, my mother let me ride the Harlem local from White Plains one stop to the next station, Hartsdale, all by myself. The ride lasted all of five minutes, but what a thrill!
Mom chased after the train in her red VW Beetle on the Bronx River Parkway. The parkway ran parallel to the tracks. She managed to meet me almost as soon as I got off the train. And I guess from that point on I was hooked!
Because of my interest in trains I never amounted to much in life. You know how that goes. I'm a resounding failure, and now, more than ever, I suspect I'm somewhat difficult to look at, too. Once I'm dead for about ten years I suppose I won't smell too good, either.
Anyway. Multiple head traumas may have something to do with my whole train deal, too. One time my dad wanted a picture of me sitting atop one of those big lion statues outside the main branch of the New York City Public Library. He placed me on one of the lions and stepped back to snap a photo. Meanwhile, I started turning my head this way and that, craning my neck to take in all the city sights from that unique, new perspective, and shucks, I guess I just went and lost my balance Toppled right off! My little head must've plonked down one way or another on about six or ten of those hard marble steps! And that was just the first of these types of incidents.
I also got put into a coma for two weeks when I got hit by a car on the way home from school. I scored higher on the IQ test than I did before the accident!
Another time, some kids from across town cracked open my scalp when they pelted me with stones from the top of a hill above the playground. Blood gushed everywhere!
Years later, I was in the lounge car of the westbound Lake Shore Limited. It was early morning. The orange sun was rising over the Indiana farm fields. I was sitting there, when this scruffy-looking guy wearing a down vest, flannel shirt, greasy faded jeans, and a John Deere baseball cap put his can of beer on the table and asked me if I wanted to see some pictures. I said sure. He pulled some photos out of his vest pocket pictures of a naked woman in what looked to be trailer home. He chuckled and explained that this was his wife. She had a lot of tattoos. I excused myself and decided to go back to my tiny slumbercoach room. I decided I liked it better. It's true though. You meet all kinds of interesting folks on a train! Years later, a conductor on the train from Malmo to Oslo had a similar collection of photos. He was very proud of his, too.
There's more to tell about myself and this whole train thing in my life, but right now I gotta get back to work. Take it easy, everyone!
Mom chased after the train in her red VW Beetle on the Bronx River Parkway. The parkway ran parallel to the tracks. She managed to meet me almost as soon as I got off the train. And I guess from that point on I was hooked!
Because of my interest in trains I never amounted to much in life. You know how that goes. I'm a resounding failure, and now, more than ever, I suspect I'm somewhat difficult to look at, too. Once I'm dead for about ten years I suppose I won't smell too good, either.
Anyway. Multiple head traumas may have something to do with my whole train deal, too. One time my dad wanted a picture of me sitting atop one of those big lion statues outside the main branch of the New York City Public Library. He placed me on one of the lions and stepped back to snap a photo. Meanwhile, I started turning my head this way and that, craning my neck to take in all the city sights from that unique, new perspective, and shucks, I guess I just went and lost my balance Toppled right off! My little head must've plonked down one way or another on about six or ten of those hard marble steps! And that was just the first of these types of incidents.
I also got put into a coma for two weeks when I got hit by a car on the way home from school. I scored higher on the IQ test than I did before the accident!
Another time, some kids from across town cracked open my scalp when they pelted me with stones from the top of a hill above the playground. Blood gushed everywhere!
Years later, I was in the lounge car of the westbound Lake Shore Limited. It was early morning. The orange sun was rising over the Indiana farm fields. I was sitting there, when this scruffy-looking guy wearing a down vest, flannel shirt, greasy faded jeans, and a John Deere baseball cap put his can of beer on the table and asked me if I wanted to see some pictures. I said sure. He pulled some photos out of his vest pocket pictures of a naked woman in what looked to be trailer home. He chuckled and explained that this was his wife. She had a lot of tattoos. I excused myself and decided to go back to my tiny slumbercoach room. I decided I liked it better. It's true though. You meet all kinds of interesting folks on a train! Years later, a conductor on the train from Malmo to Oslo had a similar collection of photos. He was very proud of his, too.
There's more to tell about myself and this whole train thing in my life, but right now I gotta get back to work. Take it easy, everyone!
dnsommer2013
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 95
Thank you for your comment. I hope my first introduction was entertaining.
I am a degreed (BSEE) engineer, 62, married for ten years and my wife still likes me! We are from central NJ and live at the top of the Sourland Mountains. I have worked in private industry and have also owned a number of different businesses.
Being on this forum a few years, has been a rewarding experience and has resulted in meeting some really great people. We have enjoyed the pleasure of train travel for the last 12 years and have traveled on most of the Eastern trains and completed one cross county trip this year from PHL to SEA. Next year we will be traveling to Denver (our first CZ trip) . My wife Paula (17 years my junior) is a RN and also a train aficionado. She loves the roominess and comfort of train travel and likes to travel in a bedroom. She's 6' tall, I'm 5'11"- we need more space than most.
Politically I am hated equally by both the corporatists and the socialists. Regardless I am an avid Amtrak supporter as I believe that the service serves the public interest well.
Being on this forum a few years, has been a rewarding experience and has resulted in meeting some really great people. We have enjoyed the pleasure of train travel for the last 12 years and have traveled on most of the Eastern trains and completed one cross county trip this year from PHL to SEA. Next year we will be traveling to Denver (our first CZ trip) . My wife Paula (17 years my junior) is a RN and also a train aficionado. She loves the roominess and comfort of train travel and likes to travel in a bedroom. She's 6' tall, I'm 5'11"- we need more space than most.
Politically I am hated equally by both the corporatists and the socialists. Regardless I am an avid Amtrak supporter as I believe that the service serves the public interest well.
Good to have another engineer as a member! They have reputations for common sense and are also good technically when we get into discussions about particulars pertaining to things mechanical!
Also good to have a wife that likes and understands the love of Trains and Train travel too!
Also good to have a wife that likes and understands the love of Trains and Train travel too!
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Hi, I've been lurking for a couple of years and posted once as a guest. I commute weekly between New York and Baltimore but am also a train lover who has been riding whenever I can since I was 15. In NA, I've so far taken the Cascades, Empire, Pennsylvanian, LSL, and VIA Canada.
KmH
Engineer
My 'screen name' is my initials.
Age - 62.
Retired in 2005.
Not counting the train around Disneyland, I'd never taken a trip by train until a family reunion in 2010 presented an opportunity to do so (see signature).
Family again factors into an even longer (5176 mi) train trip this coming spring to visit my younger sister in Oregon.
I'll get to ride the CZ again, all the way to SAC, and get to add the CS to the trip.
My first ride on Amtrak I boarded at/returned to OSC.
This trip I will board at/return to OTM.
It turns out OTM is about 10 miles closer to home than OSC is. Surprisingly, the fare was the same from either station though OTM adds 160 miles to the round trip.
I've learned a lot from these forums and check in daily to see what is new.
Age - 62.
Retired in 2005.
Not counting the train around Disneyland, I'd never taken a trip by train until a family reunion in 2010 presented an opportunity to do so (see signature).
Family again factors into an even longer (5176 mi) train trip this coming spring to visit my younger sister in Oregon.
I'll get to ride the CZ again, all the way to SAC, and get to add the CS to the trip.
My first ride on Amtrak I boarded at/returned to OSC.
This trip I will board at/return to OTM.
It turns out OTM is about 10 miles closer to home than OSC is. Surprisingly, the fare was the same from either station though OTM adds 160 miles to the round trip.
I've learned a lot from these forums and check in daily to see what is new.
Last edited by a moderator:
crabby_appleton1950
OBS Chief
Hi ~ I'm a 68 year old single guy; divorced; retired teacher; living in New Mexico. I rode coach round trip between Albuquerque and Los Angeles a few years ago, and I'm now thinking of going again, this time by roomette, this May.
In past years, mostly the 70s and 80s, I've travelled round trip Boston toFlorida; San Diego to Pittsburgh; DC to Pittsburgh; and Pittsburgh to Boston.... all by coach.
I look forward to reading the many posts on this site; and I will be asking a couple questions too.
Thank you for being here.
In past years, mostly the 70s and 80s, I've travelled round trip Boston toFlorida; San Diego to Pittsburgh; DC to Pittsburgh; and Pittsburgh to Boston.... all by coach.
I look forward to reading the many posts on this site; and I will be asking a couple questions too.
Thank you for being here.
Welcome to AU! The SWC is a good train, its an overnite to LAX with Dinner and Breakfast in the Diner and an early morning arrival into LAX!
A Superliner Roomette has it all over a Coach seat even though Superliner Coach seats are Much Better than a Coach Airline seat!
A Superliner Roomette has it all over a Coach seat even though Superliner Coach seats are Much Better than a Coach Airline seat!
crabby_appleton1950
OBS Chief
Yes, did the coach to L.A a few years ago, but found sleeping sitting up difficult. Plus was asked to switch seats during the night when a woman and child boarded who wanted to sit together (and I was traveling alone).
Well I guess this is as good time as any to introduce myself. I'm Jeremy, 56, English, married with 2 kids at University. I've been interested in trains all my life, something I guess I inherited from my Dad. I've spent a fair bit of time in the USA, mainly New York, because I worked in financial services. Only taken a couple of trips though. Boston to New York and then the LSL from Grand Central to Chicago in around 1986. I retired last year and decided to do one of the things on my bucket list which is to cross the USA by rail. So hopefully, I will though the recent derailment in West Virginia is not really helping.
dburden
Train Attendant
I'm 54 and live in west-central NH after growing up in Nashua, NH then spending 13 years in the metro-Atlanta area. Married to a great woman for almost 30 years and we have 2 grown kids (26 yr old son and 23 yr old daughter). Both my wife and I teach special education at the local middle school after having other careers in a 'previous life'. My past includes software support for DEC/Compaq/HP. I also have been racing and playing with cars for as long as I can remember and both our kids have been bitten by the same bug. As for trains, there were tracks through my grandparents property in Keene, NH when we were growing up and I remember watching many trains go by from very close range. My mom said that when she was young she used to put pennies on the tracks when a train was coming to get them flattened!
As for Amtrak travel, my wife and I made a round trip to Montreal back in '86 from WRJ, VT. The trip took over 5 hours and even though we could have driven in under 3, but we both agreed it was the way to go.
We made numerous trips on the Crescent between Atlanta, Charlottesville and Boston to visit family while living in Georgia. Our big trip was a 3 week lap of the country back in 2000 when the kids were 9 and 11. We did Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Washington and back to Atlanta, with a few scheduled days off in LA and Chicago in case of delays and time in Boston and DC for sightseeing. I took the train for business trips between Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago a few times as well. When we moved back north we made two one way runs to Atlanta to pick up limousines and drive them back to NH. We also made a 3 day loop from Rutland, VT (with a planned detour to NYC and back to kill time waiting for the LSL) to Chicago, the Cardinal to DC and then back to Springfield, MA during a school vacation a few years back. We called that our 'trip to Chicago for pizza'. I think we've managed to embrace the philosophy that riding the train isn't to get to your destination, it is a destination.
Dave
As for Amtrak travel, my wife and I made a round trip to Montreal back in '86 from WRJ, VT. The trip took over 5 hours and even though we could have driven in under 3, but we both agreed it was the way to go.
We made numerous trips on the Crescent between Atlanta, Charlottesville and Boston to visit family while living in Georgia. Our big trip was a 3 week lap of the country back in 2000 when the kids were 9 and 11. We did Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Washington and back to Atlanta, with a few scheduled days off in LA and Chicago in case of delays and time in Boston and DC for sightseeing. I took the train for business trips between Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago a few times as well. When we moved back north we made two one way runs to Atlanta to pick up limousines and drive them back to NH. We also made a 3 day loop from Rutland, VT (with a planned detour to NYC and back to kill time waiting for the LSL) to Chicago, the Cardinal to DC and then back to Springfield, MA during a school vacation a few years back. We called that our 'trip to Chicago for pizza'. I think we've managed to embrace the philosophy that riding the train isn't to get to your destination, it is a destination.
Dave
Welcome to AU! Sounds like you've had some great train trips and when y'all retire you can hit the rails full time! LOL
TylerP42
Conductor
Well, time to introduce me... (kind of sad story, warning)
My name is Tyler and I'm 17. I've loved trains since I can remember since my grandfather had a huge N Scale train set in his basement and would build me HO sets (because I was younger and it's easier to work with bigger stuff for me). He loved transportation and when he was younger would go train, plane, and ship spotting. I loved to talk to my grandfather about trains and would help him with his models at the model train club in Blissfield, MI. He absolutely loved steam trains and loved Norfolk and Western (He had pictures and models of them EVERYWHERE, I seem to remember the black locomotive with the front being gray).
Sadly, when I was about 10 he started getting Alzheimer's. He slowly lost his memory but right before his memory started slipping he made me a huge blank HO track so I could build upon it. He passed away a few years ago. I want to carry on his legacy of trains and how much he loved them. My first train trips were short scenic/museum train trips that my grandfather would take me on. I believe my first Amtrak train was about 4 years ago from TOL-CHI and back on the LSL and Capitol Limited. My longest trip was CHI-SEA On the Empire Builder. I hope to become an Engineer for Amtrak (Need help getting there, but I'll do it, In honor of my Grandfather).
My name is Tyler and I'm 17. I've loved trains since I can remember since my grandfather had a huge N Scale train set in his basement and would build me HO sets (because I was younger and it's easier to work with bigger stuff for me). He loved transportation and when he was younger would go train, plane, and ship spotting. I loved to talk to my grandfather about trains and would help him with his models at the model train club in Blissfield, MI. He absolutely loved steam trains and loved Norfolk and Western (He had pictures and models of them EVERYWHERE, I seem to remember the black locomotive with the front being gray).
Sadly, when I was about 10 he started getting Alzheimer's. He slowly lost his memory but right before his memory started slipping he made me a huge blank HO track so I could build upon it. He passed away a few years ago. I want to carry on his legacy of trains and how much he loved them. My first train trips were short scenic/museum train trips that my grandfather would take me on. I believe my first Amtrak train was about 4 years ago from TOL-CHI and back on the LSL and Capitol Limited. My longest trip was CHI-SEA On the Empire Builder. I hope to become an Engineer for Amtrak (Need help getting there, but I'll do it, In honor of my Grandfather).
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Mystic River Dragon
Engineer
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2014
- Messages
- 4,449
Welcome, TylerP42!
You have chosen a lovely way to honor your grandfather and a good group to join here.
You have chosen a lovely way to honor your grandfather and a good group to join here.
Welcome to AU! Lots of us got our love for trains this way!
the_traveler
Engineer
Welcome aboard! :hi:
ABQFloridian
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2015
- Messages
- 59
Well, as you can see from my post count, I have been feeling this website out for a while, and since it looks like I am here to stay, I thought I would introduce myself.
As my screen name suggests, I am a Florida native (St. Petersburg to be exact) who has recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. My name is Kevin, and I am 25 years old. My first train rides were from TPA to MIA on the Silver Star, when I was in college, and I would accompany a friend to visit her family in Little Havana.
Recently, I have traveled on the SWC from KCY to ABQ, and round trip to Denver, using the bus connection at Raton.
All of these trips have been in coach. In one week, I will be flying to New York, and taking my first trip in sleeper on the Silver Star to visit my family in St. Pete.
I look forward to swapping stories and advice, as well as kvetching about whatever petty cuts Amtrak comes up with next.
Kevin
P.S. I noticed people were saying what their political affiliation is on this thread. The last thing I want to talk about here is politics, but for what it's worth, I would call myself a left-wing libertarian (yes that exists - we are equally skeptical of big business and big government, and look at liberty holistically, rather than seeing economic liberty as the be all/end all).
As my screen name suggests, I am a Florida native (St. Petersburg to be exact) who has recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. My name is Kevin, and I am 25 years old. My first train rides were from TPA to MIA on the Silver Star, when I was in college, and I would accompany a friend to visit her family in Little Havana.
Recently, I have traveled on the SWC from KCY to ABQ, and round trip to Denver, using the bus connection at Raton.
All of these trips have been in coach. In one week, I will be flying to New York, and taking my first trip in sleeper on the Silver Star to visit my family in St. Pete.
I look forward to swapping stories and advice, as well as kvetching about whatever petty cuts Amtrak comes up with next.
Kevin
P.S. I noticed people were saying what their political affiliation is on this thread. The last thing I want to talk about here is politics, but for what it's worth, I would call myself a left-wing libertarian (yes that exists - we are equally skeptical of big business and big government, and look at liberty holistically, rather than seeing economic liberty as the be all/end all).
Welcome to AU, we look forward to your input and opinions!
As one who rarely expresses strong opinions about anything, ahem, I think you might be surprised @ how many share your political philosophy, as well as disagree, but since we all share a love for trains, you're in the right place!
As one who rarely expresses strong opinions about anything, ahem, I think you might be surprised @ how many share your political philosophy, as well as disagree, but since we all share a love for trains, you're in the right place!
Welcome Kevin. I am a native Floridian also and currently live in Orlando.
Welcome Kevin to AU. Will enjoy hearing of your Amtrak adventures and hope you will contribute to our site.
