I have taken trains in Europe and have gotten to where l wanted to get, such as from Stockholm up to Uppsala, and by tram out to the Viking burial mounds at Gamla (old) Uppsala. I have ridden trains in England, across Scandinavia, and down into Germany, and around Switzerland. You can get places by train in parts of Europe. Try to get to Dinosaur Nat. Mon. by train. I have also driven around France, around W. Germany, and into Austria and Switzerland. I only ran into any kind of a truck jam when the wall came down in Germany, where trucks were backed up for miles at a border post waiting to take goods into deprived East Germany. I have driven from the Midwest to Calif. three times and from MW to Rockies 20??..While once you could get to some remote places in the US by branch line and interurban, that track is long gone, and you can't get there from here, except by car or hiking. However, if trains are so great in Europe, and everybody is riding them, why weren't they on them instead of in that Monday morning commuter jam in Paris on the way to Orly?
800 miles is a good day's work. My personal best is just under 1100 in one day, (three times) but that's pretty exhausting. I can do Fort Wayne to Muskogee OK (760 miles) pretty much without breaking a sweat. Leave at 4AM, and I'm eating dinner in Muskogee by 6PM. I have done Central Kentucky to Myrtle Beach (560 miles) several times, Talladega AL to Fort Wayne (650 miles) and Fort Wayne to Little Rock (715 miles) a few times. By the way, I was under the impression that VIA was a shell of its former self and barely hanging on too.
I take Amtrak as my preferred method of travel whenever it works into my schedule both long distance and on the NEC when I come in for York. Call me crazy, but there is nothing like the experience of riding a train. When I chose to make a long distance trip, I try and figure out how to do it without renting a car or driving my own. Maybe not financially as viable always, but the thrill of the journey is worth more than the cost of the ticket.
Of course in 2014, I did manage to do York one week and a trade convention the next in Cleveland Ohio with a flight to BWI, a little help from friends to get to York and back to BWI, catch Amtrak to DC, take the Capitol Limited to Cleveland (coach was $64), public transit in Cleveland to get to the airport, and a flight home. It was a blast!
In 2015 I flew to BWI, took Amtrak to the suburbs of Philly to visit with family, traveled to York with my aunt and uncle, had a lovely drive with TCA's parliamentarian from York to Harrisburg on his way home, communed with GG1 4859, took Amtrak to NYC and the LIRR to visit my brother on Long Island. Flew home from Islip. Another grand adventure with lots of great railroad photography opportunities.
Do our passenger railroads suck? It depends on your metric. Mine isn't always a financial one. I learn a great deal more about this country when I can watch it pass by through a window without the distraction of driving. I meet really fascinating people from all walks of life in the lounge and dining cars. I have memories I will cherish for life. I don't know anyone who would say that about a modern era flight.
Diesel Bob I drove truck for almost 40 years and the traffic as changed a lot in those years. Your right 800 miles is a good days work, thats why on my time on don't want to do that. Via Rail Canadian is hanging on like Amtrak, and still keep their standards top notch. Best long distance transportation on this continent, you ride one time and you want to go again. I tried it once and now I ride every year in winter. Anybody that likes trains should go once in their life.
I make a yearly journey to Atlanta from NYC for a convention. In fact, this year's trip is tomorrow 
Save for a short ride to the nearest NYC subway station with an elevator (95 lbs of luggage), I make the trip entirely by public transport.
Fortunately for my situation, I have a local MARTA bus stop right outside Atlanta's Amtrak station that makes a 4-minute trip to the nearest subway station, and from there to the convention hotel, which thanks to skybridges connected to the mall where the subway entrance is, I virtually don't set foot outdoors till I'm headed back home. I've done this trip enough times that I went and got a MARTA farecard that literally gets used once a year--I add two more fares on the way back home for next year's trip.
---PCJ
Whatever floats your boat I guess. Personally, I actually look forward to long distance drives, and always enjoy myself thoroughly. Just in the last few years my wife and I have got to enjoy a scenic trip along the Ohio River from Ashland Kentucky to Cincinnati, down I-40 through the Smokey Mountains, running the Indian Nation Turnpike in Eastern Oklahoma in a powerful thunderstorm, trekking around southwestern Indiana in pursuit of Indiana Rail Road trains, exploring two lane cow paths in Indiana's Parke County (covered bridge country) and a trip down US 23 in Eastern Kentucky. I'm probably too much of a control freak to put my trip in the hands of something as unpredictable as Amtrak. (I've long advocated that Amtrak's motto should be "Amtrak: When it absolutely positively doesn't matter when you get there"). I have also found from taking various excursion trips that at least in the eastern US, often that beautiful scenery out there is blocked by trees along the ROW and you don't get to see near what you think you will. Often you will see the not so pretty back side of houses and buildings and where people dump all of their junk. I will never forget how disappointed I was at how little I could actually see of the wonderful Brown-Monroe-Greene County scenery , even hanging out a vestibule, on a Indianapolis-Tulip Trestle excursion years ago. Other than being up on the trestle itself, that area is much better seen from an automobile. As for whether the trains suck in the USA, they don't suck for me, because I don't really care. They may well suck for many of you, because you DO care, and as much as you might want them too, they will never live up to what you desire.
>>catch Amtrak to DC, take the Capitol Limited to Cleveland (coach was $64), public transit in Cleveland to get to the airport, and a flight home. It was a blast!
Well, for me arriving in Cleveland at 3AM after sitting up in a coach seat would be anything but!
I spent the time in the lounge car the whole time. The arrival time wasn't convenient, but it still worked well. The best scenery is in the daylight following the C&O canal and the wilds of western Maryland and West Virginia. I can understand that it's not for anyone. My favorite vacations usually involve the thrill of the journey. Yes, I'll admit I arrived late due to poor dispatching on the part of CSX and NS from Connellsville all the way to Cleveland. I factored that into my trip planning anyway.
This was one of my rewards; some fun images.
A nearly toasted toaster. Shot my last one last year. 
The Roundhouse at Martinsburg.
Lazily watching the countryside pass by.
Pittsburgh emergency power
Arrival.
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I'll agree with the folks that ride: Amtrak is a shadow of the former US passenger rail network (even the early Amtrak, which had many more routes). But I will ride what is left. Amtrak service and accomodations cannot match those of most European railroads (what a joy it is to ride over there!), but they go to interesting places, and riding the rails is a joy I never tire of. We did the LA to Seattle run, had lunch in the diner looking at the Pacific Ocean (the Sunset rides almost right on the water for a while north of LA), and did a side trip to see the Redwoods. Also took the Cascade to Vancouver in a modern Talgo train (actually pretty classy inside).
What sucks is that there are not more routes to travel.
Jim Waterman
A message to Trainroom Gary...
I just deleted the "Part 2" video which you recently posted here. There were so many facts in that were just plain wrong that I could not let it stand.
The people at Wendover Productions have an agenda and they are not going to let facts get in the way of their propaganda. Typical of today's drive-by media. Don't post it again.
Wendover is a UK company so they're going to have a different slant on things in the US. I find their production values a notch above some stateside videos.
Their production values are indeed very good. The video production was well done. However, the so-called "facts" presented in their video were terribly slanted and not factually correct.
>>Germany is roughly the size of Georgia (to a degree), and most Europeans can’t grasp something bigger than Europe and certainly not as one nation.
What about Russia? ...and China?
Kent Loudon posted:>>Germany is roughly the size of Georgia (to a degree), and most Europeans can’t grasp something bigger than Europe and certainly not as one nation.
What about Russia? ...and China?
What about those two socialist/communist countries???
Have traveled over much of Europe in the past 4 years, by all means transportation. Yes, the scenery is beautiful all over and most people met are very friendly. Above all visited, I prefer Budapest, and enjoyed the subway/mass transit there, as well as in Vienna. Barcelona has a very extensive rail/light rail system, enjoyed seeing the large passenger terminal there. In Budapest, the visit to their passenger terminal was very interesting with the many trains arrivals and departures. Yes, the rail systems in Europe I have experienced are nice. In America, taking Amtrak has benefitted me in the biggest way.... my wife and I met on the Texas Eagle twice in December of 2003. Once, when on the way to Texas from Illinois, then again (we both got on the same train, again) one week later on the way back North. She got on/disembarked in St. Louis; I got on/disembarked in Chicago. However, we met-fell in love on the Amtrak Texas Eagle and married in 2006.... trains are still romantic.
Jesse TCA 12-68275
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Hello all,
something awful happened to me last night. One of my very good friends sent me this text:
"Sorry, trains are dead. They don't make economical sense and and have too many flaws. If you wanna stick with something similar, check out hyper loop. They are basically trains but actually have future potential."
Completely out of the blue, he told me that what I was passionate about was a dying industry, but the worst part was, he attached the link to my least favorite video on YouTube, "why trains are so expensive". I replied telling him that after Spring Break I would have an educated debate with him explaining why that video is complete garbage and the rail industry is still profitable in some areas. But, I need some debate points, some more firepower to bring his argument down and shoot him down from his high horse. Any and all help is appreciated.
Maxrailroad posted:Hello all,
But, I need some debate points, some more firepower to bring his argument down and shoot him down from his high horse. Any and all help is appreciated.
Just remember the old comparison to wrestling a pig in the mud. It is EXTREMELY difficult, and you will get absolutely NOWHERE, until you finally realize the the pig is LOVING IT!!!!! Thus, debating such a subject with your friend is futile,,,,,just like wrestling the pig, i.e. your friend will be loving it, and you will just become frustrated.
Maxrailroad posted:Hello all,
something awful happened to me last night. One of my very good friends sent me this text:
"Sorry, trains are dead. They don't make economical sense and and have too many flaws. If you wanna stick with something similar, check out hyper loop. They are basically trains but actually have future potential."
Completely out of the blue, he told me that what I was passionate about was a dying industry, but the worst part was, he attached the link to my least favorite video on YouTube, "why trains are so expensive". I replied telling him that after Spring Break I would have an educated debate with him explaining why that video is complete garbage and the rail industry is still profitable in some areas. But, I need some debate points, some more firepower to bring his argument down and shoot him down from his high horse. Any and all help is appreciated.
Tell him "If the railroads were dying, then you wouldn't get stopped by long freight trains at railroad crossings."
Or tell him to watch a stack train go by. If all of those containers were on trucks, the roads would be jam-packed, which is why railroads make so much money.
Railfan Brody posted:Maxrailroad posted:Hello all,
something awful happened to me last night. One of my very good friends sent me this text:
"Sorry, trains are dead. They don't make economical sense and and have too many flaws. If you wanna stick with something similar, check out hyper loop. They are basically trains but actually have future potential."
Completely out of the blue, he told me that what I was passionate about was a dying industry, but the worst part was, he attached the link to my least favorite video on YouTube, "why trains are so expensive". I replied telling him that after Spring Break I would have an educated debate with him explaining why that video is complete garbage and the rail industry is still profitable in some areas. But, I need some debate points, some more firepower to bring his argument down and shoot him down from his high horse. Any and all help is appreciated.
Tell him "If the railroads were dying, then you wouldn't get stopped by long freight trains at railroad crossings."
Or tell him to watch a stack train go by. If all of those containers were on trucks, the roads would be jam-packed, which is why railroads make so much money.
Then the person just might respond by siting the HUGE numbers of containers/trailers that are in storage, as well as all those well cars and TOFC cars that are in storage, or maybe even the thousands and thousands of diesel units that are also in storage! Be careful what you are debating and with whom.
Some more information from Wendover Productions, How we will get our Lionel and MTH Trains from China.
Note: information does not equal facts, but there is still learning objectives. Look for the truth.
Published: April 25, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...ature=em-uploademail
Gary
