Actually I am only a train dork, though I hope to be promoted to Nerd eventually. Frankly I think I lack the mental capacity to memorize all the acronyms and routes and model numbers, though.
I've always been interested in trains. I first took one (alone, age 10) from Union Station in Seattle to Centralia, WA to meet my grandparents, though I remember nothing about it except waiting on the platform. My wife and I have taken Amtrak Cascades fairly often to both Vancouver BC and Portland OR, and starting about five years ago we really ramped up usage, taking the Surfliner, Coast Starlight (incredible in the deep snow in the Oregon Cascades, California Zephyr, Texas Eagle, and quite a few European trains, including the oldest scheduled train service in the world between Liverpool and Manchester and the Ffestiniog heritage railway in Wales, and loads of trams and metros and subways. Enjoyed every blessed one of them except the Texas Eagle from Chicago to Austin (busted seat, squeaky door) and the dreaded Pacer from Blackpool to Scarborough in the UK (standing up) (the National Railway Museum in York more than made up for that one).
Coming up, we're going to really bust it out, flying (sorry) to DC and then Amtraking on the Northeast Corridor, Lake Shore Limited, Hiawatha, and Empire Builder back to Portland, then Cascades again back home. Can't wait until October!
We very much enjoy watching the YouTube videos of Thibault of Simply Railways, Thom and Lindsay and the mysterious Bear of Trains are Awesome, Dylan's Travel Reports, and the irrepressible Geoff Marshall (primarily London based but who just the other day visited the Least Used Station in Utah, Green River). All I've really learned is what a P42 is and what "consist" means, so I should be a fully accredited Train Nerd is just 327 years.
Besides train rides, my wife and I collect records (LPs, 45s, 78s and even CDs)
I've always been interested in trains. I first took one (alone, age 10) from Union Station in Seattle to Centralia, WA to meet my grandparents, though I remember nothing about it except waiting on the platform. My wife and I have taken Amtrak Cascades fairly often to both Vancouver BC and Portland OR, and starting about five years ago we really ramped up usage, taking the Surfliner, Coast Starlight (incredible in the deep snow in the Oregon Cascades, California Zephyr, Texas Eagle, and quite a few European trains, including the oldest scheduled train service in the world between Liverpool and Manchester and the Ffestiniog heritage railway in Wales, and loads of trams and metros and subways. Enjoyed every blessed one of them except the Texas Eagle from Chicago to Austin (busted seat, squeaky door) and the dreaded Pacer from Blackpool to Scarborough in the UK (standing up) (the National Railway Museum in York more than made up for that one).
Coming up, we're going to really bust it out, flying (sorry) to DC and then Amtraking on the Northeast Corridor, Lake Shore Limited, Hiawatha, and Empire Builder back to Portland, then Cascades again back home. Can't wait until October!
We very much enjoy watching the YouTube videos of Thibault of Simply Railways, Thom and Lindsay and the mysterious Bear of Trains are Awesome, Dylan's Travel Reports, and the irrepressible Geoff Marshall (primarily London based but who just the other day visited the Least Used Station in Utah, Green River). All I've really learned is what a P42 is and what "consist" means, so I should be a fully accredited Train Nerd is just 327 years.
Besides train rides, my wife and I collect records (LPs, 45s, 78s and even CDs)
