Miles Traveled on Amtrak

[Spokker]

I must be seriously ill.

Did you bang your head on walls a lot as a kid?

I've driven 75 miles-one way-just to videotape trains at a crossing.

So much for the superior fuel efficiency of rail transport. All the gains made by trains were unfortunately nullified by 'spergin out nerds chasing them.
The great thing about people embracing their nerdom when you tease them is that they reveal more and more stuff for you to laugh at. Please post your diary of all your railfan activities. It would prove most entertaining. And perhaps you will find out the things about me that can be ridiculed. Such is the circle of life.

 

[the_traveler]

now now, lets get back to playing trains..

Are you sure you didn't mean playing with trains? :unsure:

You mean playing on trains! And of course counting the miles that we are "playing"!

Maybe I should disallow the miles I spent "getting somewhere". Should I count the miles I spent getting to my vacation spot? :huh: Should I include the miles to visit my family? :huh: Should I exclude the miles on my business trip? :huh: (Hey, I just remembered I should have driven or flown! No, that would be no good - because I would be using the public infrastructure! )

If I do all those exclusions, let me revise my Amtrak miles to 37 miles!

 

[sky12065]

now now, lets get back to playing trains..

Are you sure you didn't mean playing with trains? :unsure:

You mean playing on trains! And of course counting the miles that we are "playing"!

Maybe I should disallow the miles I spent "getting somewhere". Should I count the miles I spent getting to my vacation spot? :huh: Should I include the miles to visit my family? :huh: Should I exclude the miles on my business trip? :huh: (Hey, I just remembered I should have driven or flown! No, that would be no good - because I would be using the public infrastructure! )

If I do all those exclusions, let me revise my Amtrak miles to 37 miles!

I stand corrected... "You mean playing ON trains and/or WITH trains?" Also, sharing of ALL train miles traveled in the US or Canada are welcome! Please - no miles from trains in amusement parks... except for Spokker's of course! :lol:

 

[battalion51]

I'm up to 63,841 now. Obviously none of us have ANYTHING on the folks that do this for a living. The one personal disappointment I still have with myself is I have yet to cover any western route. The CONO is the furthest west I've made it. One day I'll get there. One day.

 

[p&sr]

It's my opinion that people who count miles are creepy and mentally ill. I think there is something wrong with them.

What does that say about you for deliberately seeking them out just for the sake of provoking them? Mentally ill or not, that really IS creepy, and is the true meaning of TROLL.

PS --- Lots and lots of Amtrak miles, but why should I tell you? Besides, it will probably double in the near future.

 

[chuljin]

I'm not attacking anyone personally or harassing anyone.

You are now:

Did you bang your head on walls a lot as a kid?

With that, you will probably have lost even anyone who had been giving you their tacit support, because you were simply 'expressing your opinion', an argument you can no longer support.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Seriously, can I count the Amtrak bus miles? I mean like from Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas and from Seattle to Vancouver. I haven't counted them, but may I?

I want so badly to be a creepy nerd and if I can count those miles, it would elevate my status.

 

[sky12065]

Seriously, can I count the Amtrak bus miles? I mean like from Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas and from Seattle to Vancouver. I haven't counted them, but may I?
I want so badly to be a creepy nerd and if I can count those miles, it would elevate my status.

Sorry but bus miles would be against rule #.......... aah, give me a second.......... err, I'm thinking, I'm thinking......... hold on....... HEY! I just remembered........ THERE AIN'T NO RULES! Bus miles are cheating but since there's no rules - GO FOR IT! After all, this topic was only started for us nerds to get our kicks and irritate the dickens out of watch dogs!

 

[RailFanLNK]

Well....I think Amtrak has it all wrong now with thier "Select Status" program, should be called "Super Nerd" status and "Super, Super Nerd Select Status". According to Spokker's comments we should all be carrying the "Amtrak Nerd Rewards" card am I correct? :lol: If you count miles....you have to count points too! :lol:

Train Nerdaholics Anonymous Program:

1. Admitted we were powerless over counting rail miles and that it made others lives unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us back to unnerdiness..........................

 

[the_traveler]

According to Spokker's comments we should all be carrying the "Amtrak Nerd Rewards" card am I correct? :lol:

I want my ANR card! NOW!

Just one question - is it pink or yellow? :huh: I wouldn't want to be nerdy or anything!

 

[chuljin]

According to Spokker's comments we should all be carrying the "Amtrak Nerd Rewards" card am I correct? :lol:

I want my ANR card! NOW!

Just one question - is it pink or yellow? :huh: I wouldn't want to be nerdy or anything!

I just know someone is busy photoshopping their card now, for our amusement.

sky12065: I was separated from this data over the weekend, but the exact figures are 221 segments and 5054 miles, as of this morning's commute in (I usually ride Metrolink [which doesn't count] to work, but it doesn't run on holidays, so I rode an Amtrak which would usually be too late).

Of this, though, 3 segments and 288 miles were on Amtrak Thruway (bus), which don't qualify under 'your' rules. 'Sup to you.

 

[MrFSS]

I just know someone is busy photoshopping their card now, for our amusement.

Here's a blank anyone can right click on to save and Photoshop away.

Let the games begin!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Seriously, can I count the Amtrak bus miles? I mean like from Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas and from Seattle to Vancouver. I haven't counted them, but may I?

Do you get AGR rail points for bus trips? I'm pretty sure I did for a bustituted 448. And actually, in calculating how many miles I've ridden Amtrak just now, I almost forgot to separate out that bustitution.

I do think separting out train miles vs bus miles and then listing a total isn't a bad idea.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

It's my opinion that people who count miles are creepy and mentally ill.

So do you think I'm creepy and mentally ill when I ask Google Maps for the mileage from one city to another?

I think there should be more people who discuss transportation policy and how Amtrak can provide a public good instead of people who argue about the numbers assigned to rail cars and memorize timetables and other weird, creepy stuff.

See, I figure that those mileage counts are useful for figuring out which city pairs could have fast enough high speed rail service to eliminate airplane trips by non-railfans between them, to make the transportation policy discussion more concrete.

In discussing the merits of the high speed rail line in California, I have heard the opposition accuse supporters more than a few times of simply wanting an expensive toy train to play with. That's the image I am trying to fight.

But consider that large numbers of miles ridden really is the thing that justifies Amtrak's existance at all. Amtrak converts dollars into passenger miles.

Maybe there's an argument that counting trips might make more sense for some purposes than miles, though.

 

[chuljin]

I just know someone is busy photoshopping their card now, for our amusement.

Here's a blank anyone can right click on to save and Photoshop away.

...

Let the games begin!

Since fun poked at oneself is often the healthiest kind, here's a first stab:

'Base' (neither Select nor Select Plus)

Select

Select Plus

:lol:

And with nothing fancier than MS Paint. There were already an 'e', an 'r', and a 'd' in the original...the fun challenge was assembling an 'n' from pieces of the 'r', 'a', and 'd'.

 

[MrFSS]

I just know someone is busy photoshopping their card now, for our amusement.

Here's a blank anyone can right click on to save and Photoshop away.

...

Let the games begin!

Since fun poked at oneself is often the healthiest kind, here's a first stab:

'Base' (neither Select nor Select Plus)

Select

Select Plus

:lol:

And with nothing fancier than MS Paint. There were already an 'e', an 'r', and a 'd' in the original...the fun challenge was assembling an 'n' from pieces of the 'r', 'a', and 'd'.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Love it!!!

 

[the_traveler]

'Base' (neither Select nor Select Plus)
Select

Select Plus

:lol:

Not nerdy enough! I think I'll go count some miles!

What better to do on a day off? (You wouldn't expect me to go outside in the sun - would you? Maybe I'll bring my laptop out there so I can count! :lol: )

 

[chuljin]

I just know someone is busy photoshopping their card now, for our amusement.

Here's a blank anyone can right click on to save and Photoshop away.

...

Let the games begin!

Since fun poked at oneself is often the healthiest kind, here's a first stab:

'Base' (neither Select nor Select Plus)

Select

Select Plus

:lol:

And with nothing fancier than MS Paint. There were already an 'e', an 'r', and a 'd' in the original...the fun challenge was assembling an 'n' from pieces of the 'r', 'a', and 'd'.

By the way:

Amtrak, Guest Rewards, and possibly Select and Select Plus are trademarks or registered trademarks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Their use by me is without permission, but, unless I am mistaken, allowed as parody.

 

[chuljin]

'Base' (neither Select nor Select Plus)
Select

Select Plus

:lol:

Not nerdy enough! I think I'll go count some miles!

What better to do on a day off? (You wouldn't expect me to go outside in the sun - would you? Maybe I'll bring my laptop out there so I can count! :lol: )

'Day...off'? What's that? But my choice to forego the day off (as a contractor, I'd not have been paid for it) gives me an opportunity to add 2 segments and 12 miles! (half being my usual 785 home, the other being an unusual ride in on Amtrak, Metrolink thoughtfully not running today )

 

[RailFanLNK]

That was great!!!! Guess I will go back to my beer can pull tab collection now and find some white tape for my horned rim glasses from the mid-70's. :lol:

Al

Nerdville Nebraska

NRD is our 3 letter abbreviation for our station in Nerdville.

 

[Neil_M]

As long as it hurts no one why is Mr Grumpy Pants getting so worked up over people recording miles travelled? It is fairly pointless, as is fishing , watching a selection of overpaid idiots chase after your ball of choice or wandering around a field dressed in silly clothing hitting a small ball into a hole in the grass. If it passes your time and you get some enjoyment from it, then what's the problem?

Its dead easy to adopt a daft user name and come on a forum and wind people up, be interesting to see if Spokkkker would do it in real life..... h34r:

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

As long as it hurts no one why is Mr Grumpy Pants getting so worked up over people recording miles travelled? It is fairly pointless, as is fishing , watching a selection of overpaid idiots chase after your ball of choice or wandering around a field dressed in silly clothing hitting a small ball into a hole in the grass.

For all that I don't care for watching highly paid people chase a ball across a field, I think it is inaccurate to call everyone who does that an idiot.

 

[Spokker]

I think it is inaccurate to call everyone who does that an idiot.

Quite the contrary.
If one could parlay their Amtrak mileage into a million dollar contract I would congratulate their ingenuity.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Sorry but bus miles would be against rule #.......... aah, give me a second.......... err, I'm thinking, I'm thinking......... hold on....... HEY! I just remembered........ THERE AIN'T NO RULES! Bus miles are cheating but since there's no rules - GO FOR IT! After all, this topic was only started for us nerds to get our kicks and irritate the dickens out of watch dogs!

No, I won't cheat. It goes against every ounce of nerdism in me. I'll just keep my actual Amtrak train miles and continue to be a creepy nerd of the lowest degree.

 

[sky12065]

Sorry but bus miles would be against rule #.......... aah, give me a second.......... err, I'm thinking, I'm thinking......... hold on....... HEY! I just remembered........ THERE AIN'T NO RULES! Bus miles are cheating but since there's no rules - GO FOR IT! After all, this topic was only started for us nerds to get our kicks and irritate the dickens out of watch dogs!

No, I won't cheat. It goes against every ounce of nerdism in me. I'll just keep my actual Amtrak train miles and continue to be a creepy nerd of the lowest degree.

Question: When you join the ATM (Amtrak Train Miles) Club, are you given a membership status of "Highest Degree" and have to earn your way down to "Lowest Degree"? My apologies to Automated Teller Machine junkies for borrowing your activities ackronym! Keep counting those bills!