Ever ridden on a train?

bigmackloud

Active Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey,

so i've never ridden on a train, however in June my best friend is getting married in NJ and so my girlfriend and i were thinking about taking the train up there, just to do something different. cost is cheaper than flying, but it's an 8hr trip by train, 6.5hrs by car, but no traffic. so i guess basically my question is, is riding on a train any fun?? just want to make sure it's not like riding on a greyhound bus, lol.

later,
bigmac
 
bigmackloud said:
Hey,
so i've never ridden on a train, however in June my best friend is getting married in NJ and so my girlfriend and i were thinking about taking the train up there, just to do something different. cost is cheaper than flying, but it's an 8hr trip by train, 6.5hrs by car, but no traffic. so i guess basically my question is, is riding on a train any fun?? just want to make sure it's not like riding on a greyhound bus, lol.
later,
bigmac
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You could get a sleeping car cost a little more and it makes the bumps a little more fun.
J
 
Trip is longer but not like a greyhound at all. can move around, go to club car, get food, drinks, snacks. Nicer bathrooms. I enjoied the train ride I took to Atlanta.
 
bigmackloud said:
Hey,
so i've never ridden on a train, however in June my best friend is getting married in NJ and so my girlfriend and i were thinking about taking the train up there, just to do something different. cost is cheaper than flying, but it's an 8hr trip by train, 6.5hrs by car, but no traffic. so i guess basically my question is, is riding on a train any fun?? just want to make sure it's not like riding on a greyhound bus, lol.
later,
bigmac
Click to expand...
When I first came down here... from NJ... looking for a place to stay I took Amtrack back from Durham up to NJ to load up a truck for the move. It was the single most uncomfortable seat I've ever had the misfortune to have to sit in for ten hours or so, and that includes tank seats!

To be fair, I may have just gotten a lousy car, but for my money a Greyhound bus has to be better if only because their seats will recline!. The ones on that train didn't, and no matter how I tried to shift around it was literally a pain in the ass... and back, and legs, and neck... the whole way there.

Thank God I got to drive a Budget truck back!

(Did I mention that I used to ride Deutsche Bundesbahn all the time when I was in Germany and never once had a seat like the one on that Amtrack car?)
 
I dunno anybody that's ever had an uneventful Amtrak ride from Raleigh to DC. If you're hard up for cash and don't have to be there at any specific time, go for it. But the train will probably be late. Very, very late.

I'd drive or fly.
 
I knew this girl once.. She didn't look it, but apparently she was reallly strong - some people who knew her better said she pulled a train before...


:lol:
 
I've ridden Amtrak before, and also Greyhound, and I'd take Amtrak any day. You can get up, walk around, go to the snack car, etc, and all the seats I've seen recline, although this may be a recent improvement in the last year or two. I'm from Salisbury, and I can take the train home cheaper than driving from Raleigh (~$20 round trip)
Definitely plan on being late, but get there on time just in case, because sometimes it's within 5 minutes of the scheduled time (rarely, though)

Oh, and if anyone is just a rail fan in general, check out the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer. I'm on train crew there every 5 weeks, and can probably get you a ride in the engine...
http://www.nctrans.org
 
Amtrak from Philly to NYC

took forever

Seat was nice....floated on the track...impressive.

Loved the ability to get up and move around.

There was 1 or 2 times we got up to like 60, but for the most part we did 35-40 all the way there (road crossings, had to slow down :shaking: )
 
i rode from here (concord) to durham. i enjoyed it for the most part because i was getting where i was going without having to worry about driving, which meant i could read or whatever. can you drink on a train? i don't know the real answer but this one guy with his 18pack of busch sure thought you could (and did!) haha. anyways, i would reccomend it. do you have a laptop or portable dvd player or anything? cause there are outlets on the train. that was cool.
 
Id take the train over a bus anyday. No experience with either of them (at least with Grayhound, but ive taken bus trips in big busses like they use, NOT fun!)

Avoid driving it! With the costs of gas its probably cheaper to buy an airplane and get flying lessons and fly there yourself (or buy a train, build tracks for the said train) then it is to drive :lol:
 
Rich said:
I knew this girl once.. She didn't look it, but apparently she was reallly strong - some people who knew her better said she pulled a train before...
:lol:
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But did she ...................?
 
from personal experience, trains whoop a greyhound ass. my greyhound experience was like being the white boy version of rosa parks. everyone scowling at me and stuff. I love the train. I used to ride it every summer from charlotte to wilson when I was younger. the food sucks and is overpriced, but you can bring yer own snacks. yeah, it takes a while, but you can catch up on some reading, talk to the other wierdo train riders, or whatever.
 
I run a train for a living and yes they are always late,I can't talk bad about beening in the passenger but what I've heard it's pretty ruff in the coach cars.
 
jeep9mm said:
rode from Berlin to Dresden and then to Prague this summer...we cruised at about 140 mph ha
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Then you, too, know the difference between Amtrak and Deutsche Bundesbahn. ;)

I dunno, maybe I did just get a bad car or something, but MAN I wouldn't want to sit that long in a seat that bad ever again. :shaking:

I've heard it's pretty ruff in the coach cars.
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And now you've heard it again.
 
from here to NJ wouldnt be too bad. ive been from here to SF, CA on a train. in coach. it was a trip of a life time, saw some awesome sights, but i dont think ill ever do it again.

Duane
 
With what's going on with Amtrak right now, I think your question was answered.

Just drive.
 
choochoo said:
I run a train for a living and yes they are always late,I can't talk bad about beening in the passenger but what I've heard it's pretty ruff in the coach cars.
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What RR are you with?

And also, yes, you can drink on the train, they sell bar-priced beer in the club car, or at least they used to...couple years ago another fellow and I managed to drink their whole stash of the cheap stuff...
:)
 
I'm with Norfolk Southern, I run between Linwood NC and Lychburg VA, and Linwood and Raleigh.
 
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