You know you ride trains too much when...

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Shawn

Service Attendant
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
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214
Location
Tacoma, WA
You rode from Portland, OR to Spokane, WA back in October 2008...took a picture of the coach (31042) and the seats 9 and 10....

And then today, take the train from Portland, OR to Pasco, WA, and you are in the SAME coach, SAME seat, SAME train, SAME crew!

SPOOKY! haha
 
Shawn said:
You rode from Portland, OR to Spokane, WA back in October 2008...took a picture of the coach (31042) and the seats 9 and 10....
And then today, take the train from Portland, OR to Pasco, WA, and you are in the SAME coach, SAME seat, SAME train, SAME crew!

SPOOKY! haha
Click to expand...

Nah, just a little coincidence (I used to see the same folks on many occasions sometimes after a year or two). That's aright as long as you don't start playing a "Ground Hog Day" situation (like in the movie) very soon with that trip! Then "spooky" might become an understatement.

OBS gone freight...
 
I have had the same server in the diner on the TE that I had on the east bound EB. I am hoping when I ride the EB back in March he's aboard. =)
 
I had a very friendly Parlour Car LSA back in 1998 (when I was 11) and we struck a rapport on an overnight run on the Coast Starlight. I next saw him in 2005 as the lounge car LSA downstairs on the Southwest Chief one evening out of L.A., and immediately recognized his name tag. After chatting him up briefly, he remembered me (and was so surprised, he gave me a free drink). ;)

I also had a funny incident with a diner LSA... I had him on my first Amtrak ride (also on the CS) in 1996, and he had these pictures of his dog (who looked like "Beethoven") that he would show all of the kids. Being 9 years old at the time, I guess I fell into the category of who he would show them to. Imagine his surprise when 9 years later, I had him in the diner again and said I remembered his dog! He was going around to half of the dining car patrons exclaiming "This guy remembers my dog from 9 years ago!" :p

(Both of these LSAs had fairly memorable names and personalities -- in the case of the first LSA, he had grayed a bit and I doubt I would have recognized him on looks alone!)
 
I very routinely ride the Vermonter with the same crew, but that's pretty understandable.

I was once on a flight where the flight attendant recognized me from a previous trip (and this was in my pre-airline employment days when I wasn't flying every other week or so).
 
Typically whenever I'm on either Silver train out of Florida, the dining crew knows exactly what I'm eating and drinking. The lounge attendant saves me a seat in the lounge if it's overly crowded, and most have begun to know me by name.... and only now have I stopped to think that maybe I spend a little too much time on there :lol:
 
when the crew shouts your name when you board like they did with norm on the tv show cheers
 
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You know you ride trains too much when you sit in your home by a window, look out and pretend the passing cars are parked cars that you're passing! :unsure:

You also know you need help... er, I mean you ride trains too much when you also install a call button to let your spouse know you need something and tip them when leaving the window! :lol:

Disclaimer: NO, I haven't done that! <_<

Seriously, in 1998 I had a sleeper attendant by the name of Michael on the Lake Shore Limited. Exactly 10 years later I boarded the LSL in Chicago and although I didn't recognize him immediately, the first thing Michael said to us was "I remember you're riding with me several years ago!" Quite a memory or else I just tipped too much! :p
 
Joel N. Weber II said:
GG-1 said:
Thinking about this topic I have decided that you can't ride trains too much :lol:
Click to expand...
Clearly if you end up relocating to the mainland you need to pick a city with a decent subway / light rail / commuter rail system.
Click to expand...
You chose the city/town that you move to not by your job, but by the availability of Amtrak and/or to be near tracks!

When the crew knows you be name, and you didn't take that train/segment before! (That happened to me last year when the SA on the SEA-SPK section of the EB recognized me. A few days earlier, I was on the SPK-PDX section - and he was not my SA!)
 
Could there be an overlooked flipside here?

For example:

You know you're not riding enough trains when you go to Union Station and are puzzled by the absence of steam engines.

You know you're not riding enough trains when you're surprised that your sleeper attendant is white.

You know you're not riding enough trains when you wonder what happened to the clickety-clack.
 
WhoozOn1st said:
Could there be an overlooked flipside here?
For example:

You know you're not riding enough trains when you go to Union Station and are puzzled by the absence of steam engines.

You know you're not riding enough trains when you're surprised that your sleeper attendant is white.

You know you're not riding enough trains when you wonder what happened to the clickety-clack.
Click to expand...
And how about you're not riding enough trains when you're surprised that the coach seats are comfortable instead of made out of wood. IIRC I vaguely remember back in the mid '50's when I rode on a New York Central passenger train from ALB to NYG and back sitting an a wooden seat.
 
sky12065 said:
You know you ride trains too much when you sit in your home by a window, look out and pretend the passing cars are parked cars that you're passing! :unsure:
Click to expand...
... or when you're on the highway driving past a siding with a long row of freight cars parked on it, and you momentarily think you're sitting still, stuck in the hole while that freight train is passing you. :lol:
 
Joel N. Weber II said:
GG-1 said:
Thinking about this topic I have decided that you can't ride trains too much :lol:
Click to expand...
Clearly if you end up relocating to the mainland you need to pick a city with a decent subway / light rail / commuter rail system.
Click to expand...
There used to be a great loophole solution for Eric and anyone else who felt they couldn't ride trains too much: move to Boston, board the T, and "forget" to bring an extra nickel for the exit fare :lol: I'm sure Charlie was secretly a foamer.

Of course, this works better if you have a devoted wife who hands you sandwiches every day as the train passes with you still stuck on it, especially if you're on a train with no food service cars!
 
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Shawn said:
You rode from Portland, OR to Spokane, WA back in October 2008...took a picture of the coach (31042) and the seats 9 and 10....
And then today, take the train from Portland, OR to Pasco, WA, and you are in the SAME coach, SAME seat, SAME train, SAME crew!

SPOOKY! haha
Click to expand...
I remember that happening to me a few times when I was a daily commuter on the Empire Service from RHI to NYP. I started to notice I was in the same seat on the same car based on what was broken and stained. :eek:
 
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