Rob Creighton
Train Attendant
Hi there. I'm Rob and I've always loved trains. Long time reader, first time poster to the AU forums here. These days the forums are mostly how I get my Amtrak fix. When I was a kid we always took the train. When I was real little we lived in Philly, and my Grandma lived in New Haven, so we always rode the train there for frequent visits. My dad's family lived in Chicago--so usually at Christmas we'd ride the Broadway from Philly to Chicago. In the late 70's we moved to Chicago and the frequent trips between Philly and New Haven stopped.
We still took the Broadway from Chicago to NY and then on to New Haven for Christmas. We did this for a few years, and in the summer did shorter car trips to Nebraska or Missouri or Wisconsin. As I got older, my folks stopped going to Connecticut for Christmas and we'd go in the summer and they'd usually choose to drive. As I got a little older though, I had the opportunity to take the train out East again a couple of times (This time the Lake Shore Limited). Also, made a few trips via Amtrak to Milwaukee, MaComb IL and Champaign IL. I also had an opportunity to ride the inaugural Capitol Limited between Chicago and Cleveland when they re-launched it with Superliner equipment.
These days I'm a radio station program director in Lafayette Indiana, and I unfortunately haven't had a lot of time to spend riding trains. I hope before moving on from here I get to ride the Cardinal in to Chicago from Lafayette (breakfast in the diner!), but I don't know if it's in the cards. Everytime I've needed/wanted to go into Chicago it's shorter notice with rather pricey bucket prices, or it's the train from Indy with no food service, or my business is in the suburbs where honestly it's cheaper, quicker, and more convenient to drive. Heck, if I'm driving and parking in downtown Chicago, a $40 to $60 buck ticket is worth it because it will cost me 30 bucks to park downtown. I unfortunately have just had a lot more socializing/business in the burbs or at times inconvenient to ride Amtrak.
Anyway I enjoy reading the forums, and hope to occasionally chime in.
We still took the Broadway from Chicago to NY and then on to New Haven for Christmas. We did this for a few years, and in the summer did shorter car trips to Nebraska or Missouri or Wisconsin. As I got older, my folks stopped going to Connecticut for Christmas and we'd go in the summer and they'd usually choose to drive. As I got a little older though, I had the opportunity to take the train out East again a couple of times (This time the Lake Shore Limited). Also, made a few trips via Amtrak to Milwaukee, MaComb IL and Champaign IL. I also had an opportunity to ride the inaugural Capitol Limited between Chicago and Cleveland when they re-launched it with Superliner equipment.
These days I'm a radio station program director in Lafayette Indiana, and I unfortunately haven't had a lot of time to spend riding trains. I hope before moving on from here I get to ride the Cardinal in to Chicago from Lafayette (breakfast in the diner!), but I don't know if it's in the cards. Everytime I've needed/wanted to go into Chicago it's shorter notice with rather pricey bucket prices, or it's the train from Indy with no food service, or my business is in the suburbs where honestly it's cheaper, quicker, and more convenient to drive. Heck, if I'm driving and parking in downtown Chicago, a $40 to $60 buck ticket is worth it because it will cost me 30 bucks to park downtown. I unfortunately have just had a lot more socializing/business in the burbs or at times inconvenient to ride Amtrak.
Anyway I enjoy reading the forums, and hope to occasionally chime in.
