I love trains

[Zomby Woof]

Does anyone else here love trains?

Oh, do I love trains.

What more can I say? I love trains.

[Kool Kitty]

1. Me, too! Me, too!

Love them. We actually have planned vacations around busy train areas, rail museums, etc. I have always loved trains.

[Zomby Woof]

2. ever taken the Grand Canyon Railway?

http://www.thetrain.com

[Kool Kitty]

5. No. *sigh*

I'll bet it's wonderful. Mostly we do East Coast things. Have you ever been to Horseshoe Curve?

On edit: I just went to that site. Now I want to ride that train. What beautiful diesels!

[Zomby Woof]

16. never been

I will make a note of that! :-)

[bruce21040]

39. Wonderful to look at

and filled with romantic images of times long gone.

But alas, they are public transportation, And I have never been a big fan of using it when I don't have to.

Not that I'm against riding with others but, I do like to stop and see things on the way to where I am going, and public transportation just can not allow that luxury

[Teddy_Salad]

3. I love trains too

I'm a bit of a 'railfan'.

Next year, if all goes to plan, I hope to get a job on a railroad, hopefully leading to becoming an engineer.

I'll probably soon hate trains if I do.

[koopie57]

8. my husband is a locomotive engineer

he use to take friends up on the engines, but I'm not sure how strict the rules are now. Once he took a boy scout troop up on the engines. It is a hard life, but once it gets in your blood there is no other life. Are you near Minnesota?

[Teddy_Salad]

10. No

I'm in New York.....just north of NYC.

Yeah, I know life on the rails is tough.
My father, brother and three uncles were all locomotive engineers back in Australia but for some reason, I never followed their path back then.
But I know all about the 2am phone calls to be called for work.....the long hours and being away from home all the time.

I am hoping to get on with CSX in northern New Jersey or upsate NY.
The tough thing about it all is that one must lay out thousands of bucks for a five week training course and then once you start on the railroad you are put on the 'extra board', with the possibility of being laid off over the Winter.
I'm sure your husband knows all about this.

But I'm looking 'long term' and the job I have now is completely 'dead end' so I'm willing to take the punt and give it a go.

So hopefully I'll pursue this next year, all being well.

[koopie57]

17. ahhh yes...like last night

he thought he would be getting called around 6 a.m., but the phone rang just as he was going to bed around 11:30. And then the junk trains on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure about now, but about 15 years ago when our kids were little, the extra board was guaranteed for a certain amount of miles. He marked up on the extra board, worked twice a month maybe, and got to spend the first five years of our kids life at home. And, you will never run short of stories to tell!

[Zomby Woof]

14. my great-grandfather was an engineer too

My Mom now has the steam whistle he got for retirement many many years ago.

Not anywhere near MN. :-)

[FDRrocks]

4. Wait until you see planes!

They pull themselves :) j/k

[Zomby Woof]

13. I don't like flying anymore

I used to as a kid... can't take the cattle cars in the air anymore.

[Wapsie B]

6. I do too

Just love watching them and being around them.

[Desertrose]

7. I think anyone who has connections to trains should get to wear

an engineer's hat!!!

Like even people who are in the offices...I mean...get that hat on and you are coooool, man!

Wooo-wooooooooo!
Grand Canyon railway...rocks baby!

even better than the Strasburg railroad- ask Kade if she remembers that one!

YAY!! :bounce:

:thumbsup: :loveya: :hug:
DMom

[Zomby Woof]

11. hehehe

Good idea. ;-)

My great-grandfather was an engineer... hmmmm... family tradition?

Funnest train ride was in Mexico when I was there in the summer of '90... from Mexico City to Morelia overnight in a private sleeper compartment. They even served us a meal in a little styrofoam tray. The morning scenery of the butterfly net fishermen on Lake Patzcuaro was beautiful.

I will ask Kade. As always, she is smarter by heading to bed sooner, lol.

:hug: :loveya:
Z-son

[jbm]

9. Me! I love trains...

A few years ago I bought a couple of those 'see america on Amtrak' passes,and my then 12 year old son and I had two weeks where we could ride the train to whatever destinations we chose(with a few exceptions and conditions). It was the best money I've ever spent. The tickets were 500.00 each,but we spent a day or two in St Louis, Chicago,D.C.,Virginia Beach(they have a shuttle from the the nearest depot to the beach) and then spent just a few hours in several other locations. One of the trains had one of those two level 'scenic' cars where the sides were clear and you could watch the scenery.

We did get delayed once,which kind of sucked,and it was enough of a delay that they ran low on food. Amtrak called ahead to a KFC and bought everyone on the train lunch! As much as it sucked being delayed,it had to suck even worse to have been working at KFC that day.

Anyway,I love trains too!

[SarahB]

12. I love trains because I need to

My youngest son (almost 3) is simply obsessed with them.

[Zomby Woof]

15. I had an electric toy train set when I was 5

Them and race cars... what more does a boy need? :-)

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Me Too!!

I live near and pass by regularly one of the great and most famous railroad right-of-way marvels in the country; "The Tehachapi Loop" (http://www.tehachapi.com/loop/) where a long enough train will pass over itself as it circles a hill. To my knowledge, there are only a few such constructions in all the world. One other is, if i am not mistaken, in Western Canada where the construction engineers were left with no other alternative but to cut a circular tunnel inside a mountain. It's portals are so close that the tail end of a train passing through can easily be seen by the locomotives before they cross.

I am the kind of guy that gets out of the car when stopped at a crossing!

I once had the pleasure of seeing a large steam locomotive climbing the grade toward Evanston Wyoming coming from Salt Lake City. This had to have been in the early 90's and the trip was fairly well publicized as there were many folks stopped along I 80 with cameras out to record this giant 2-4-4-2 climb a rather substantial hill.

Someone remind me of the famous photographer of Steam Locomotives whose shots were almost always in black and white and are so incredibly spectacular.

[Zomby Woof]

19. great info!

I didn't know about that loop.

And I know the western WY area, so I would have loved to have seen that.

[Zomby Woof]

20. kick

[DancingBear]

21. Just got back from Steamtown!

Wonderful place - complete with working roundhouse and all. Several engines under restoration, and you can walk through the railyards.

Oh yes, and let us not forget the Union Pacific 4-8-8-2 "Big Boy" sitting right out front.

We're hoping to go back in the fall so we can take a (steam!) excursion train through the Poconos.

Question: When I was a young kid, my dad would take me to the RR tracks (near the dump, BTW) so I could watch the trains. Anyone else do something similar?

[Tyler Durden]

23. Dad did that with me, too.

I was all of 4 when we moved to another part of Detroit, but I still remember sitting in that '53 Chevy on Dad's lap watching that fast freight roar through Redford Township headed South at 6:30pm.

[DancingBear]

25. Our "car of choice" was a '54 Plymouth Savoy.

Navy blue body w/a light blue top.

No factory heat installed - added later as a "do it yourself" option.

Didn't work often.

[Teddy_Salad]

35. York Rail Museum

If you ever go to Britain, make sure to go to York in northern England and see the rail museum there.
It is absolutely amazing!

I was there last September and that place blew my mind.

They have the Blue Mallard and this old locomotive is unbelievable.
And a Chinese steam locomotive that is massive.

What a place. If you're a rail enthusiast, this museum is a "must see".
I didn't want to leave.

[Tyler Durden]

22. Private Cabin on "The Coast Starlight"

Seattle to LA, overnight through the mountains. I recommend the late Spring as there is still snow in the high passes.

Even the food was good. Two days on the train with your own private room with lavatory and shower. Just great.

[Zomby Woof]

24. I took the Coast Starlight from Portland to Seattle

Being a matter of hours, just had regular seats, but OH, the LEG ROOM! I hate planes for not allowing circulation or ROOM for big people like me - and I can't afford First Class on planes. On that train, I could stretch out, and because it was night, read. Nice trip.

[Tyler Durden]

28. Nothing like breakfast served in your private cabin.

Not exactly the Orient Express, but OH YOU KID.

[politicat]

26. Love them. California Zephyr, Denver to Chicago and Denver to SF.

Given the choice, that's what I take. It's the same time for me to fly, drive or take train (considering some issues like travel time and wait time at airport) I can do Denver to Chicago overnight and it's more comfortable than the plane...

I'm a small thing - 5'4 -but those seats aren't comfortable for me when I'm between two 6'4, 250 pounders.

I can't take trains when headed for the east coast- the time is too long. Wish we had high speed trains.

Good food, nice and comfortable, easy to read, work on the laptop, listen to music and radio.

Pcat

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Me, too!

And anyone who loves trains should definitely go to Japan, which is train and transit heaven, as far as I'm concerned. You can go almost anywhere in the country on a train, and if there doesn't happen to be a train all the way to where you're going, there's always a bus, and if even that doesn't work, there's always a taxi or two at the last bus stop.

Ah, mobility!

[cosmicdot]

29. hope the 21st century sees the re-'train'ing of America

using smart energy, of course

"All aboard!"

the US could use a train between Phoenix and San Diego; Washington, DC and Virginia Beach ... to mention a couple ...




The maglev train project ready to roll again at Old Dominion University.

[NightTrain]

30. I never quite shook my boyhood love of trains.

Dunno what it is about trains, but I do love 'em! Freight trains especially.

[Canuckistanian]

31. Zappa and Trains

Call Any Vegetable

This is a song about vegetables
They keep you regular,
They're real good for you.

Call any vegetable
(Call any vegetable)
Call it by name
(Call any vegetable)
Call one today
(Call any vegetable)
When you get off the train
(Call any vegetable)
Call any vegetable And the chances are good
That the vegetable will respond to you

Also, Steve Reich's Different Trains is dedicated to Zappa

[geniph]

32. Um...

which kind do you mean? The kind that came immediately to MY mind has nothing to do with railroads.

[Zomby Woof]

34. I am talking choo choo locomotives!

Unlike you, I have a clean mind. :P

[RetroLounge]

33. Oh Yeah...

RL

[Tom_Foolery]

36. When I was three...

in 1963, my family moved to Los Angeles. We took the train from Evansville, Indiana to L.A. Now whenever I get a whiff of diesel fumes, all my memories (the few I have) of that trip come back.

[koopie57]

37. I told my husband about this discussion

and he got real excited. If anyone wants to talk to him, mail me. He will love to answer any questions or tell you stories that will make you laugh till your cry. Some will make you just cry though, but we need not go there.

[RetroLounge]

38. kick

eom

[everythingsxen]

40. I LOVE TRAINS!

Well, sort of...

I enhoy scheduling trains and making sure everything runs on a smooth timetable, so the trains are going non-stop. Nothing quite as cool as watching many trains all running with such harmony that they nearly miss each other.

[AlienGirl]

41. Someone's getting a model railroad set for Xmas!

You can even have a little engineer hat and everything!

[Zomby Woof]

42. I want one too!

:D

[everythingsxen]

43. Hehehe

:D

[trof]

44. My spinster great-aunt Lucia worked for Southern Railway

in Birmingham in the 40s and 50s. Among other things, she was in charge of the pass department, so she knew all the crews.

One of the perks you get when your aunt works for the railroad:

Aunt Lucia would get passes for Aunt Mattie (her sister) and me. I would have been around 6 or 7. Early on a Saturday morning we'd get on the eastbound Southerner. Have breakfast in the diner. Get off at Rising Fawn, Georgia, and catch the westbound back to Birmingham. Lunch in the diner.

Aunt Lucia knew every employee onboard. The cooks took me in the kitchen and gave me ice cream. The conductor would walk me up through the mail and baggage cars, all the places no one else got to see. He'd take me into the locomotive and I'd sit in the engineer's lap and "drive" the train, blow the whistle.

I had a miserable childhood.
;-)

[WillParkinson]

45. Paul loves trains!

Choo-choo.