# Take. The. Train.



## KmH (Dec 10, 2014)

No being herded by TSA like a farm animal (moo!), to be stuffed into a long round aluminum can like a sardine.

In the spring I'll be taking Amtrak's California Zephyr (CZ) from Osceola, IA (OSC) to Sacramento, CA (SAC). In SAC, after a 10 hr layover (if the trains are on time), I get on the Coast Starlight (CS) and continue to my destination - Eugene, OR (EUG). Many say the CZ is the best long distance train trip in the US.

I leave OSC on a Thursday evening and arrive in EUG around mid-day Sunday.
I'll be in Eugene for a week and reverse the train trip leaving EUG on the CS Monday afternoon, switching to the CZ Tuesday morning in SAC, and arriving back at OSC on Thursday morning.

Today the westbound CZ was 2 hours late getting to OSC.
That would shorten my layover in SAC by 2 hours, if the CS out of SAC is on time.
Today the CS was 37 minutes late departing SAC.


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## tirediron (Dec 10, 2014)

Train travel is THE way to go... when I used to spend a lot of time in San Diego, I always hopped an Amtrak north to visit friends in Los Angeles on weekends.  Cheap and soooo much more pleasant than air travel!


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## 480sparky (Dec 10, 2014)

KmH said:


> ........In the spring I'll be taking Amtrak's California Zephyr (CZ) from Osceola, IA....



Stop by on your way down and we'll have lunch.


Or breakfast.



Or supper.


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## waday (Dec 10, 2014)

That sounds like a trek! 

I love taking the train! Used to live in the Philly suburbs and take the train into the city all the time. 

My wife lived in Brooklyn all her life until we married. She took the train pretty much every day.

Unfortunately, we now live in an area with essentially non-existent public transportation.


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## limr (Dec 10, 2014)

Love trains. Love love them. I take the commuter train all the time, and I can even take commuter trains all the way to Philly. The end of the PATH (NJ transit) trainline meets the end of the Philly commuter train line.

I used to take Amtrak from NY to Pittsburgh, a route which features the very very cool Horseshoe Curve: Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The only bad train ride I ever had was an overnight from Istanbul to Ankara. It's a long story that I won't tell here, but let's just say the words "chicken," "chain-smoking Turks" and "One more time and you lose a testicle" are involved...


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## KmH (Dec 11, 2014)

Amtrak has the CZ timed so we cross the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada mountains during the day.

The CS leaves SAC at midnight and it will be an hour or so after dawn when we go by Mt. Shasta.
A few miles later the CS route veers away from I-5 and follows US 97 to Chemult, OR, then veers northwest and follows highway 58 through the Willamette National Forest to Eugene.

I rode the CZ from OSC to Grand Junction, CO a few years back. The climb out of Denver up into the Rockies is pretty nifty. The east side of the Rockies don't have much in the way of foothills, so it's a pretty steep climb.

You can follow train routes here, but you have to zoom in to see the tracks if you want to see the switchback curves on grades:
Railroads of North America - Google Maps Gallery

Some of the sights in the Rockies west of Denver:
Gross Reservoir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moffat Tunnel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Glenwood Canyon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## pgriz (Dec 11, 2014)

limr said:


> Love trains. Love love them. I take the commuter train all the time, and I can even take commuter trains all the way to Philly. The end of the PATH (NJ transit) trainline meets the end of the Philly commuter train line.
> 
> I used to take Amtrak from NY to Pittsburgh, a route which features the very very cool Horseshoe Curve: Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> The only bad train ride I ever had was an overnight from Istanbul to Ankara. It's a long story that I won't tell here, but let's just say the words "chicken," "chain-smoking Turks" and "One more time and you lose a testicle" are involved...



Ok.  That last one really needs a fuller description.  I can image the context for uttering it, but one's mind can conjure all kinds of scenarios in which that would be an appropriate response.  I'm assuming that the concept of "personal space" just doesn't exist on such a train.

As for trains, love them too.  Spend years of my life commuting into the city and smiling smugly going by the inbound parking lot that was euphemistically called a highway.


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## limr (Dec 11, 2014)

pgriz said:


> Ok.  That last one really needs a fuller description.  I can image the context for uttering it, but one's mind can conjure all kinds of scenarios in which that would be an appropriate response.  *I'm assuming that the concept of "personal space" just doesn't exist on such a train*.



You are correct!

January 1999: Two friends and I were going to Kapadokya for winter break. A Turkish friend helped us get train tickets. We didn't realize that the tickets were for the section with unassigned seats (this was an old-style train with compartments) and by the time we got to the train, all the seats were taken. Not only that, but most of the hallways were taken as well - people were lining the hallway sitting on their "luggage" (plastic bags) and some were  carrying *chickens*. We opted not to sit in the hallway since this was a 12+ hour trip. Instead, we snuck into a reserved compartment that was empty and stayed there until we got kicked out a few hours later.

We moved to the dining car, where we ended up chatting with some people. When the dining car closed, we were invited to sleep in the compartment. We got there and realized the 6-person compartment was packed with at least 10-11 *chain-smoking Turks *- one guy was even hanging out on the luggage rack. The three of us squeezed in and asked to open the window since they were all smoking. Now, these old Turkish trains were heated from the engine so they would get hot, but the Anatolian plain is quite chilly in January, so we were either really hot and coughing from the smoke, or we were freezing. 

People started falling asleep and we turned the lights off. My friend Jenny was sitting by the slightly cracked window and I was next to her with my other friend, Ken, on the other side. Jenny seemed kind of restless and eventually we decided to switch seats so she could be warmer and I could be cooler. Not long after, I realized why she seemed restless - the man sitting across from me kept trying to creep his foot up my leg. At first it seemed like he just brushed it as he shifted, but then it was pretty clear what he was trying to do. I kept pushing him a way or moving, but he his foot kept coming back. Finally, I sat up, stomped as hard as I could on his foot and yelled that *if he tried it one more time, he'd lose a testicle.*

He stopped. And actually apologized the next morning!

The train stopped over in Ankara at about 6am and we couldn't stand staying on the train for the rest of the ride, so we got off the train and took a taxi to the bus station to take a bus the rest of the way. The next bus was hours away, so we became very well acquainted with the Ankara Otogar.


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## pgriz (Dec 11, 2014)

Wow...  Hadn't had that kind of experience, but was told by female friends who traveled, that being forceful and loud was one of the survival tricks they learned.  Apparently, lack of resistance is seen as "yes".


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## limr (Dec 11, 2014)

pgriz said:


> Wow...  Hadn't had that kind of experience, but was told by female friends who traveled, that being forceful and loud was one of the survival tricks they learned.  Apparently, lack of resistance is seen as "yes".



Yup. Be outraged and make a fuss so that other people start noticing. Often, the embarrassment of being called out in front of others will stop the behavior rather than anything I actually say.


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## runnah (Dec 11, 2014)

I've been on subways and monorails but the only normal train I've been on had Thomas pulling it.


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## The_Traveler (Dec 11, 2014)

KMH, why not start traveling by train thread?

Your picture, your meme.


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## NancyMoranG (Dec 12, 2014)

Another train person here.
When our son was 9 I took him from Tampa, Fl to D.C., then over to Chicago. We slept in our chairs and had a TON of fun. We had such a good time we did again a couple of years later.
Have a great trip.
Nancy


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## KmH (Jan 2, 2015)

480sparky said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > ........In the spring I'll be taking Amtrak's California Zephyr (CZ) from Osceola, IA....
> ...


I changed my ticket and will board a bit earlier in Ottumwa.
It turns out Ottumwa is a little closer to me, has a staffed station, I can take the 'back roads', and surprisingly the fare doesn't change even though I get to ride on the train an additional 160 miles (round trip).

I have been to Osceola before, but have never been to Ottumwa.
As a bonus, when I get back to Ottumwa it should be close to lunch time and I should get a chance to eat at the famous Canteen Lunch In The Alley restaurant.


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## 480sparky (Jan 2, 2015)

KmH said:


> .....
> As a bonus, when I get back to Ottumwa it should be close to lunch time and I should get a chance to eat at the famous Canteen Lunch In The Alley restaurant.



That's one helluvan assumption. ..... that the train is _On time _.


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## NancyMoranG (Jan 3, 2015)

Ottumwa. Isn't that where Radar O'Reilly was from on MASH?
Enjoy your trip


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## KmH (Jan 3, 2015)

480sparky said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > .....
> ...


For many, part of the appeal of traveling by train is the casual pace, frequent stops, and uncertainty of the schedule.
Yesterday the #5 (westbound) train arrived in Ottumwa 16 minutes early, and today the #6 (eastbound) train arrived 5 minutes late.
A couple of days ago the #6 was 6 hours late arriving in Ottumwa.



NancyMoranG said:


> Ottumwa. Isn't that where Radar O'Reilly was from on MASH?
> Enjoy your trip


Yep. The fictional character in MASH - Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O’Reilly - was from Ottumwa.
In real life the actor Tom Arnold is from Ottumwa, which is why his wife's TV show featured a restaurant modeled after the Canteen Lunch in the Alley restaurant in Ottumwa.


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## 480sparky (Jan 3, 2015)

KmH said:


> In real life the actor Tom Arnold is from Ottumwa, which is why his wife's TV show featured a restaurant modeled after the Canteen Lunch in the Alley restaurant in Ottumwa.



I wonder what happened to the house they started and never finished.


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## KenC (Jan 3, 2015)

limr said:


> January 1999: Two friends and I were going to Kapadokya for winter break. A Turkish friend helped us get train tickets. We didn't realize that the tickets were for the section with unassigned seats (this was an old-style train with compartments) and by the time we got to the train, all the seats were taken. Not only that, but most of the hallways were taken as well - people were lining the hallway sitting on their "luggage" (plastic bags) and some were  carrying *chickens*. We opted not to sit in the hallway since this was a 12+ hour trip. Instead, we snuck into a reserved compartment that was empty and stayed there until we got kicked out a few hours later.
> 
> We moved to the dining car, where we ended up chatting with some people. When the dining car closed, we were invited to sleep in the compartment. We got there and realized the 6-person compartment was packed with at least 10-11 *chain-smoking Turks *- one guy was even hanging out on the luggage rack. The three of us squeezed in and asked to open the window since they were all smoking. Now, these old Turkish trains were heated from the engine so they would get hot, but the Anatolian plain is quite chilly in January, so we were either really hot and coughing from the smoke, or we were freezing.
> 
> ...



Sounds like a Marx brothers movie, but not in a good way


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## dennybeall (Jan 4, 2015)

Although I rode Amtrak from DC to Philly a hundred or more times and the very interesting Auto-Train from Alexandria, VA to Orlando a couple times, I really would love to get the chance to ride the Canadian train from the east to the west. Riding that train and then touring up through Alaska on the ship owned by the same company would be an absolutely amazing adventure. Very, very expensive though!!!


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## Nevermore1 (Jan 4, 2015)

dennybeall said:


> Although I rode Amtrak from DC to Philly a hundred or more times and the very interesting Auto-Train from Alexandria, VA to Orlando a couple times, I really would love to get the chance to ride the Canadian train from the east to the west. Riding that train and then touring up through Alaska on the ship owned by the same company would be an absolutely amazing adventure. Very, very expensive though!!!


I would love to do that trip as well.  

My husband and I would love to take the Auto Train one day but the trains (any Amtrak train) are so expensive.   I priced it out once and it would cost my family nearly five times the amount it would cost us in gas to drive somewhere and in a few cases it's still even more than flying.  I do want to take a nice train trip one day though.  There is so much more you get to see on the train that you don't when driving.


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## KmH (Jan 4, 2015)

Nevermore1 said:


> but the trains (any Amtrak train) are so expensive


Go in the off season for that train and book well in advance before the train starts to fill up.

January 23, return January 30 it's $1053 for 2 Adults in reserved coach seats and a car on the Auto Train.
Book now and June 18, return June 25 it's $954.

I'm a registered and certified tight wad. My Amtrak trip in the spring to Oregon and back by reserved coach seat (April 30, return May 11), my round trip fare cost me $355.30 with their 15% senior discount. The same dates it's $418 for an Adult fare round trip.
Amtrak allows us to, so I'll take my own food and non alcoholic beverages on the train and figure I'll spend about $80 for nice and healthy food round trip. So figure $435 total for the train including my meals.

Amtrak coach seats include a lot more leg room and more width than airplane seats do. The seats recline more and have a nice lower leg support that makes them easy for me to sleep in.
I'll bring a small pillow and a light blanket and will be comfy cozy.
I'll use No Rinse Bathing Wipes on the train to sub for showering.


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## KmH (Apr 27, 2015)

I get on the train this Thursday evening - about 7 PM.

I've learned a lot about long distance train rides on Amtrak, and US railroads in general since January.

Back in the 50's & 60's the feds built the interstate highway system and lots of airports. The new highways and the new airports caused a steep decline in passenger rail traffic because lots of people started using those new transportation modes. The railroads started losing a lot money carrying passengers.

The railroads petitioned the feds to discontinue carrying passengers. At first the fed said, "No. You have to provide passenger service."
But, it turned out that was not workable and the feds started a publicly funded passenger railroad service, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Originally called Railpax (pax is shorthand for passenger), fortunately the name didn't survive long and was changed to Amtrak.
Amtrak began operations May 1, 1971.

I'll be on the California Zephyr May 1, 2015 - Amtrak's 44th b'day.

Online I saw videos and stills made by Amtrak passengers out a window at the back of trains. It's known as the "railfan window."
That window will be at the back end of a CZ sleeper car. Coach passengers are not allowed access to the sleeper cars. To gain access to the 'railfan window' to make photos/video when a sleeper car  is at the end of the train _you have to have a sleeper berth ticket_. 

Wanting access to that window during that part of the trip going over the Rockies so I can make stills/video, I changed my ticket, again, and booked a Roomette sleeper berth from Denver to Reno and for my return, Reno to Denver. Meals and access to 1 shared shower in each sleeper car are included with the price of a sleeper berth (towel, wash cloth, soap are provided). (Up to 34 people share the shower.)
So I get breakfast, lunch and dinner Friday, breakfast on Saturday before we get to Reno, and I can shower, as many times as the shared shower is not in use, as I want to (gotta remember to pack flip/flops) between Denver and Reno. 
BTW. The showers on Amtrak trains don't drain into a holding tank like the toilets do. The showers drain right out the bottom of the train onto the railroad tracks. 

So I'll be making photos/video from the Sighteer Lounge car, my Roomette, and the 'railfan window' when we go over the Rockies, through the first part of Utah before nightfall, and in Nevada after sunrise but before we reach Reno.
From Reno to Eugene I'll only be able to shoot from the Sightseer Lounge car and out the windows of the Coach car.


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## Designer (Apr 27, 2015)

I've ridden trains before, but only for a couple of hours at a time.  This next time I will be on the California Zephyr for two days.  I've made a note of the travel wash cloths, thanks.


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## pepperberry farm (Apr 27, 2015)

we've done some vacation traveling by train - highly recommended and so much more relaxing than air travel...  I always suggest it as an alternative...


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## KmH (Apr 27, 2015)

Designer said:


> I've ridden trains before, but only for a couple of hours at a time.  This next time I will be on the California Zephyr for two days.  I've made a note of the travel wash cloths, thanks.


Their web site actually says - "Fresh towels & bed linens, soap (no shampoo - unless the SCA -Sleeper Car Attendant - provides some), and shower amenities. I'm not sure 'amenities' include wash cloths.
Train Attendant Sleep Car is their official job title. And on Superliner sleeper cars the SCA for each sleeper car sleeps in Roomette #1 of the car they take care of. Other On Board Staff (OBS) sleep in the Transition sleeper that is right behind the baggage car.

But.

In the the following video, at 4:16 we can see what look to be shower linens in a cubbyhole above the hanging clothes.
At 8:58 he opens the door to the shared shower. Unfortunately, he does not show all parts of the shower. I wanted to see behind the shower curtain to the left.

You might also want to note that each sleeper berth passenger only gets 2 free bottles of water per trip. Save the empties and refill them at the water dispenser near the bottom of the stairs, seen on the right at 9:30 in the video.


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## Designer (Apr 27, 2015)

I'm not signed up for a sleeper.  Just two nights, so I think I can tough it out.


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## rexbobcat (Apr 27, 2015)

But do you know how hard it is to jump into a train car as it's leaving the station? And don't even get me started on the possibilities of being mugged. Plus, if you get caught by the cops, you're pretty much screwed.

I just don't think it's worth it.


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## KmH (Apr 27, 2015)

Designer said:


> I'm not signed up for a sleeper.  Just two nights, so I think I can tough it out.


Yep. Two nights should be OK.
But no sleeper - no shower, no towels, no free bottles of water, and no access to the railfan window unless the last car on the train is a coach car.
You might want to note that during the winter months Amtrak re-orders the cars, putting the coach cars at the back of the train and the sleeper cars at the front of.

My 3 nights will be coach, sleeper, coach - each way.


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## KmH (Apr 27, 2015)

rexbobcat said:


> But do you know how hard it is to jump into a train car as it's leaving the station? And don't even get me started on the possibilities of being mugged. Plus, if you get caught by the cops, you're pretty much screwed.
> 
> I just don't think it's worth it.


Disconnect!
Jumping onto a train as it's leaving the station?
Possibilities of being mugged?
Get caught by the cops?


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## weepete (Apr 27, 2015)

I'm not a huge train person, usually I'd rather take the car and have the flexibility.

But this Saturday I'm taking the West Highland line from Glasgow to Malaig which is apparently one of the most scenic train journies in the UK if not the world. And yep, I'll be on the train going round the viaduct seen in the Harry Potter films.

Here's a wee blurb about it if you are interested
The West Highland Line Guide to Britain s most scenic train journey


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## table1349 (Apr 27, 2015)

I've always wanted to try one of these.  About Us America by Rail


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