Train Travel/Rail Buffs

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Train Travel/Rail Buffs

For travel in many parts of the world, choo-choos rock! Here we talk about train travel trips, great rail routes, antique trains, trainspotting... All aboard!

Members: 68
Latest Activity: Nov 14, 2021

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Spectacular train rides without leaving home

Started by Tripatini Dec 2, 2020.

Riding Canada's Rocky Mountaineer Railroad

Started by Tripatini Jul 28, 2020.

3 convenient new tech features on India's railways

Started by Tripatini Oct 11, 2019.

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Comment by Jools Stone on August 15, 2010 at 3:19pm
Hi everyone, I'm a newbie travel blogger in the running to blog for new flight comparison site Flightster. My take on it is quite different, I propose to talk frankly about the manifold miseries of flying and suggest ways of improving the experience. You can read my post at

http://ning.it/8XMrln

Please vote for me if you like it and feel free to spread the word! Thanks, Jools aka He Thought of Trains
Comment by Sarah Irving on June 28, 2010 at 11:49am
This time next year, my husband and I will be returning from Australia back to the UK, travelling overland - possibly at least partly by train. I've just started blogging the planning and the journey itself here: http://overlanding.wordpress.com/. Any comments, suggestions, advice and other people's experiences on this kind of journey will be gratefully received.
Comment by Maureen Blevins on March 10, 2010 at 11:40am
This goes back to Max Peslings comment on the train from hell - how unfortunate! I have made that trip 5 or 6 times now and have never had that bad an experience. It is unfortunate that Amtrak has to struggle as it does, and there is definate room for improvement on this route. But I still love taking the train!
Comment by David Paul Appell on March 9, 2010 at 9:00pm
Really thrilled to hear recently that Amtrak here in the U.S. has done something right by introducing WiFi (free, for the time being) on a number of Acela routes. Hopefully that will help improve rail's competitiveness at least on short- and medium-haul routes. If they keep it free, that would be awesome, but even its existence as an option is a huge plus especially for business travelers.
Comment by Sarah Irving on February 22, 2010 at 1:34pm
No set of resources for train travel could possibly be complete without the genius of Mark Smith's http://www.seat61.com - the widest-ranging genuine user-driven site for global rail travel I've ever seen.
Comment by Max Pesling on January 8, 2010 at 1:53pm
Check this out, just in today:

Train from hell’ arrives almost a day late
Passengers complain of 19-hour delay, shortage of food and water
msnbc.com news services

"Pulling into Chicago almost a full day behind schedule, one Amtrak passenger recounted 'the train from hell,' and others are vowing they will never use the rail service again.

Amtrak's California Zephyr arrived 19 hours late full of 'tired, hungry and stinky' passengers, according to a story posted on WMAQ's Web site.

The train was plagued by severe weather and other mishaps, the Chicago NBC affiliate reported."

What I want to know is why in all the many times I've traveled on trains in Europe, this has never, ever happened. Trains are always clean and run on time. I occasionally travel back and forth between New York City and the mid-Hudson Valley, and finally I gave up on Amtrak -- it's usually late, the toilets are routinely awful, and so forth. And the last time I tried it during the Christmas holidays, you don't wanna know...

I realize part of the answer is that passenger rail travel in the U.S. is a half-starved wretch that the auto industry and other interests have spent generations trying to drag into the bathtub so they can strangle it. It really is a shame, because train travel is one of the greenest transportation options going, and if done right can also be convenient, affordable, and even enjoyable (remember enjoyable train travel? Oh, sorry).
Comment by David Paul Appell on September 14, 2009 at 7:37pm
Just enjoyed a lovely ride on the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway in Devon, England last week. Beautiful scenery, and many of the locals seemed just as charmed by the old choo-choo as the tourists -- several of the people we passed along the route took pictures and pointed us out to their kids.

Comment by José Balido on September 13, 2009 at 1:51pm
Here's a nice albeit brief peek at the Orient Express:

Comment by David Paul Appell on June 17, 2009 at 4:12pm
Just in: world's top 10 train rides, according to a vote by members of Society of American Travel Writers:

1. The Rocky Mountaineer (www.rockymountaineer.com) two-day journeys through the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Vancouver to Banff or Jasper.

2. Glacier Express (www.glacierexpress.ch), the famous Swiss mountain railway from St. Moritz to Zermatt, a 7 1/2 hour journey.

3. Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (www.durangotrain.com), coal-fired/steam-powered, winding through rugged canyons in Colorado's remote Colorado’s San Juan National Forest.

4. Bernina Express (www.rhb.ch) from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy, makes the highest rail crossing of the Alps, passing from icy glaciers to palm-shaded piazzas in several hours.

5. Peru Rail, Cuzco to Machu Picchu (www.perurail.com), a spectacular journey through the high Andes.

6. Coastal Classic Train on the Alaska Railroad (www.akrr.com), winding through the mountains and glaciers of the wilderness between Anchorage and Seward.

7. The Royal Scotsman (www.royalscotsman.com) rolls through the ever-changing landscapes of sweeping glens, towering peaks and mirror-calm lochs.

8. The Whistler Mountaineer (www.whistlermountaineer.com) in Canada is a three-hour ride along the magnificent coast of British Columbia, from Vancouver to Whistler.

9. Mexico’s El Chepe (www.chepe.com.mx) ventures into the imposing landscapes of the Sierra Tarahumara and into Mexico’s enormous Copper Canyon.

10. The Flam Railway (www.norwaynutshell.com), an hourlong run from the mountain station of Myrdal down to Flam, beside a fjord,
 

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