Rafi
Conductor
It's a long story, but I've got a few days of vacation to kill before I lose them at the end of the year, and I also coincidentally have a Southwest Flight Attendant neighbor who's spotted me free standby tickets to anywhere southwest goes (Baltimore is a big southwest hub). My wife can't take off work to come along, so I've promised to keep my trips to days-only (meaning I've got to get home for the night), so I'm trying to brainstorm some good day-only railfan trips I can take on routes I've yet to travel, taking advantage of the southwest tickets when I need them. So far I've planned the following:
-Miami-Tampa-Orlando
-Detroit-Chicago
-LIRR
-NJ Transit (haven't decided which line)
-SEPTA (haven't decided which line)
-METRA (haven't decided which line)
-MBTA (assuming I can figure out a decent, fast, economical way of getting from/to the Providence Airport to the Providence Rail station)
I'd like to travel as much as possible (unless someone can recommend some roses really worth stopping to smell, so to speak), but also see some good scenery and get some good pictures (I realize the michigan plan probably doesn't afford that too much, but this is probably a rare opportunity for me to do a michigan route, given the lack of a good east coast connection to those services). I'd also like to backtrack as little as possible, which means either taking circular routes (NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton and Morristown lines, as an example of circular), or flying into one city and out of another (into Detroit and out of Chicago, for example).
Because I'm tethered to the east coast, it looks like I can't get much past the Mississippi on any flights I take out in order to avoid having to fly in the night before somewhere to catch a morning train (unfortunately Kansas City and St. Louis are ruled out because Southwest doesn't get there early enough or come back late enough for me to ride a Mule—something that continues to elude me).
So I was hoping some folks would have some suggestions for how I might spend a day railfanning. Again, I can be up very early, and back very late, but I need to be home for the night, technically speaking, so no overnights on trains this time 'round.
I'm all ears!
Thanks folks,
Rafi
P.S. Anyone who's familiar with Amtrak in Miami: I'm flying into Fort Lauderdale and taking tri-rail down to Miami. I've got the time to head down to Miami Airport to at least say I "went to the end of the line" and then backtrack to Amtrak's Miami station, but I can't tell if Tri-Rail actually stops at Amtrak's Miami Station; does it? If not, how would I get to the Amtrak Miami station from a Tri-Rail train?
-Miami-Tampa-Orlando
-Detroit-Chicago
-LIRR
-NJ Transit (haven't decided which line)
-SEPTA (haven't decided which line)
-METRA (haven't decided which line)
-MBTA (assuming I can figure out a decent, fast, economical way of getting from/to the Providence Airport to the Providence Rail station)
I'd like to travel as much as possible (unless someone can recommend some roses really worth stopping to smell, so to speak), but also see some good scenery and get some good pictures (I realize the michigan plan probably doesn't afford that too much, but this is probably a rare opportunity for me to do a michigan route, given the lack of a good east coast connection to those services). I'd also like to backtrack as little as possible, which means either taking circular routes (NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton and Morristown lines, as an example of circular), or flying into one city and out of another (into Detroit and out of Chicago, for example).
Because I'm tethered to the east coast, it looks like I can't get much past the Mississippi on any flights I take out in order to avoid having to fly in the night before somewhere to catch a morning train (unfortunately Kansas City and St. Louis are ruled out because Southwest doesn't get there early enough or come back late enough for me to ride a Mule—something that continues to elude me).
So I was hoping some folks would have some suggestions for how I might spend a day railfanning. Again, I can be up very early, and back very late, but I need to be home for the night, technically speaking, so no overnights on trains this time 'round.
I'm all ears!
Thanks folks,
Rafi
P.S. Anyone who's familiar with Amtrak in Miami: I'm flying into Fort Lauderdale and taking tri-rail down to Miami. I've got the time to head down to Miami Airport to at least say I "went to the end of the line" and then backtrack to Amtrak's Miami station, but I can't tell if Tri-Rail actually stops at Amtrak's Miami Station; does it? If not, how would I get to the Amtrak Miami station from a Tri-Rail train?
Last edited by a moderator:
