Route Guide Idea

[reefgeek]

This may be a dumb idea but I have to let it fly.

In these days, when many people are printing out their own route guides from the PDFs on the Amtrak website, wouldn't it be a good idea to have that information organized in BOTH directions, that is, have the option of printing the SWC route guide in an eastbound direction rather than just westbound? There's no new information involved, just reorganization, and it would save me from the unnatural act of reading it backwards. Or even they COULD be different, if they had enough different stuff to put in there.

In fact, if there was someone clever with web programming, one could put in one's itinerary and have the website generate a custom routeguide covering the entire trip. Like a AAA TripTik. Modular, object-oriented and modern and such. The Disney people are quite clever at generating custom maps and itineraries for their parks on the websites. Of course, they have a lot more moolah to throw around than Amtrak does.

I know it's sacrilege to say it, but I don't even like reading the timetable from the bottom to the top! :lol:

 

[boxcar479]

I totally agree, It seems I am always traveling in reverse of the route guide. It's hard for a feeble minded person such as myself to start at the back and read forward.

 

[Tumbleweed]

I'll vote for that.....

 

[hello]

Ditto ... ditto ... ditto!!

 

[ChrisJ]

Good idea, but not exactly new. I have a bi-directional Southwest Chief route guide, dated 1998. Pretty nice - 25 pages each direction (just flip it over for the opposite direction), with a map in the center. Got it when I rode it in '99, don't know when they dropped it. Next time I rode was '07, and they didn't have it then.

 

[gatelouse]

This would be a perfect addition to the Amtrak iPhone app along with a systemwide route map that will let you browse the route guide by sliding your finger along the route. I have to imagine they're working on this sort of thing for future versions. Having all the route guides and the atlas in the app is a terrific marketing tool. Linking the route guide to the phone's real-time GPS makes it cool beyond words.

 

[reefgeek]

Good idea, but not exactly new. I have a bi-directional Southwest Chief route guide, dated 1998. Pretty nice - 25 pages each direction (just flip it over for the opposite direction), with a map in the center. Got it when I rode it in '99, don't know when they dropped it. Next time I rode was '07, and they didn't have it then.

Can I borrow it?

Just kidding.