26 States in 25 days.....

[Tumbleweed]

I don't think my old body could take this..... Click here

 

[hello]

Mine either ... but what a great review!!

 

Thank you for posting the article.

 

[bretton88]

I'm trying to do something similar in August. Only me and my two buddies are going to cram it into 14 days!! Oma-chi-was-chi (cardinal)-sea-pdx-slc-Oma. I'm so glad I'm still young and can do it!

 

[Tumbleweed]

I'm trying to do something similar in August. Only me and my two buddies are going to cram it into 14 days!! Oma-chi-was-chi (cardinal)-sea-pdx-slc-Oma. I'm so glad I'm still young and can do it!

Don't forget the trip report.....Oh, and pics....don't forget the pics...... :giggle:

 

[the_traveler]

26 states in 25 days?

That's nothing to me!

 

[Tumbleweed]

26 states in 25 days?

That's nothing to me!

In coach?????????????? :blink:

 

[Shanghai]

Sounds like fun. I'm not certain that I would like to do

the trip in coach. One of the nice features of train travel

is you actually see parts of the states that you don't see

on an airplane.

 

[Andyflag4]

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting read. Is for the young me thinks!

 

[bretton88]

I'm trying to do something similar in August. Only me and my two buddies are going to cram it into 14 days!! Oma-chi-was-chi (cardinal)-sea-pdx-slc-Oma. I'm so glad I'm still young and can do it!

Don't forget the trip report.....Oh, and pics....don't forget the pics...... :giggle:

I won't forget a trip report this time (I forgot one the last major trip I took (October 2009). I always forget my camera, so pics may be forgotten again. 14 days in coach, 8 train segments. It's going to be intense.

 

[TransitGeek]

My summer is going to include 30 states and 4 provinces in 30 days. I win!

Sadly, I don't think I'm going to get into the Chicago Tribune for it. *newspaper jealousy*

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

That night we picked up our next train, the Crescent. Somewhere out of Atlanta, we heard and felt a series of vicious thuds directly under us. "What was that?" Wicks said, his eyes wide, Behind us, a train attendant sat at a table. "Deer," she said, without glancing up from her solitaire game. "That's the sound it makes when we run one over."

Loved that part.....

 

[ButFli]

I've done 14 States plus DC in 9 days. Kept going to make 19 off 27. Admitedly, very little of that was in coach.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Thanks to the OP for the link and thanks to Keith Chapman for the story.

Here are some of my thoughts when reading it...

I fell asleep that first night on the train with my winter hat pulled down tight and only my face exposed, watching my own breath and experiencing a physical numbness to accompany my mental state.

Wow, that does not sound like modern and reliable transportation here in 2011. I hope most readers made it past that part to see the redeeming qualities. It would also be good if someone important at Amtrak saw at least this much of the story.

We rolled into the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park, arriving at Essex, Mont., right on time the following evening. Essex, a "town" of maybe 30 people during high season, is a tourist attraction for train buffs and honeymooners but not much else. We used the stop to hike at Glacier, do laundry and hang out at a tavern, then grabbed a hotel room for the night before boarding the train for Seattle the next day.

This is the way to do coach. Sit a bit and then sleep a bit in a real bed. Break it up as much as possible to keep from getting coach fever. Who here has stayed in Essex and what did you think of the place?

Alcohol is sold on Amtrak, and some of our fellow rowdy passengers bought so much booze that the train ran out of alcohol before midnight.

I've noticed this as well. It seems liquor could be a huge cash cow for Amtrak if only they'd stock enough to make it all the way back to the commissary.

We held a similar mind-set toward dining. The food we bought from Amtrak — mostly rather soggy sandwiches — was pricey and subpar. Fortunately, we weren't that hungry because we never burned many calories lounging in our seats all day.

It's nice to see someone call it like it is for a change!

Unfortunately, the track between New Orleans and Atlanta was being repaired, so we had to rent a car and spend a day driving to Atlanta. That night we picked up our next train, the Crescent.

I'm not quite sure what this is referring to. Are they talking about avoiding a "bustitution" or something else?

We had seen an Amtrak magazine aboard the trains whose cover featured Biden, an Amtrak enthusiast.

I think it's great we have a strong supporter of Amtrak in the Whitehouse. Biden may be the the main reason Obama has tried to improve funding for passenger rail. But boy can that guy make a fool out of himself. Sometimes I think the media chooses to sink some politicians for no good reason (Howard Dean comes to mind) but Biden sinks himself with his own reactionary nonsense.

As we stood at the platform, having run out of things to say, Wicks broke the silence: "I guess the maps don't lie. It is all out there."

Best line in the whole report, with a bit of an inadvertently Matrix feel to it. :lol:

 

[Ryan]

Unfortunately, the track between New Orleans and Atlanta was being repaired, so we had to rent a car and spend a day driving to Atlanta. That night we picked up our next train, the Crescent.

I'm not quite sure what this is referring to. Are they talking about avoiding a "bustitution" or something else?

There was regularly scheduled trackwork that cancelled the Crescent between ATL and NOL for a few days a week. No bustitution, just no service offered on those days. There was a thread on it around here somewhere.

 

[PaulM]

We rolled into the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park, arriving at Essex, Mont., right on time the following evening. Essex, a "town" of maybe 30 people during high season, is a tourist attraction for train buffs and honeymooners but not much else.

You would think a trip like this would require a keen sense of adventure. But to my mind it doesn't come through in the article. This quote sounds down right provincial.