First 1,000,000 Mile Amtrak Rider

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
At least his boss now knows why Mr Guenzier phones in sick so often !!

Guess it might all be different if Chris had learnt to drive a vehicle..

Great that he has kept a record of all those miles, I am wondering about the fare cost? Is he an eccentric millionaire?

Ed B)
 
At an average speed of 50mph (and that is probably high), he has spent over two years of his life on board Amtrak trains. BTW, he claims to have passed 1,000,000 rails miles last year when he includes all rail, not just Amtrak.
 
caravanman said:
At least his boss now knows why Mr Guenzier phones in sick so often !!
Guess it might all be different if Chris had learnt to drive a vehicle..

Great that he has kept a record of all those miles, I am wondering about the fare cost? Is he an eccentric millionaire?

Ed B)
Click to expand...
Actually, I remember reading about him in an article in the (IIRC) Orange County Register (he lives in OC) linked from the (IIRC) socalrailfan.com forums.

He's a (IIRC) teacher by day, and he rides Amtrak between (IIRC) Fullerton and San Diego (not that expensive of a run...plus, he probably has a monthly pass) every night as part of a commitment to himself to keep himself sober. He's a (IIRC! sorry, but it's been awhile!) recovering alcoholic, and he figured that rather than spend money on booze every night, he might as well do something constructive with his money and time, so he rides the train. That, plus other Amtrak/rail adventures, adds up to the million miles he's hit. Still a bit eccentric, but hey..it's better than drinking, and it got him his more-than-15-minutes of fame!

And two years of his life on a train isn't that extreme...I know a FlyerTalker who's flown 3.5 million miles and, according to his FlightMemory, has spent .97 years in the air. Judging by the number of FTers who've earned lifetime elite status on various airlines (which generally requires around a million miles flown on that airline), I'd say he's not that unique.

As much as I like to travel and fly, I'd much rather spend a million miles on trains than on airplanes...

(And be careful--I think I've seen him post on some other boards, like socalrailfan.com, railroadforums.net, railroad.net, and maybe even trainorders.com--the die-hard railfan's site--so he may even lurk around here, too!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Setting rail travel records is nothing new for Chris Guenzler. Last April 27, 2007, Chris became the first regular rail passenger in modern times in North America to travel more than 1,000,000 miles over all types of rail lines including tourist trains, light rail, streetcars, and more.
Click to expand...
This seems to ignore E. M. Frimbo's feats...
 
I got to meet the guy (Chris) twice. The first time was probably back in 2001 on the platform at Emeryville, CA as I was waiting to take #6 back to Chicago. The second and most recent time was on January 1st of this year in the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station... while we were both waiting for the Empire Builder. He seemed like a real nice guy... and that's great he has so many miles.

Our picture: (click on the link)

http://rtabern.shutterfly.com/action/slide...d=1206629652603

Technically, Chris is hardly the first person to ever ride 1,000,000 miles on Amtrak. My friend Jimmy who was a sleeping car attendant on the Empire Builder for 30 years (before retiring 1-1-08) had logs of every single Amtrak trip he took/worked since the 1970's... and had well over 2,000,000 under his belt. Granted, it was working... but still.

RT
 
If he lives in California, why don't we invite him to the "gathering"? That would be a total trip to have pictures with him etc. Maybe get a lil' press for Amtrak as well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top