Train Travel

There was an interesting article in the paper this morning about time-share
luxury train travel:

Stan...

Joan, A coincindence! I read the Detroit Free Press everyday and happened to
fishermen(women) on the group was the "todays stories" article about the
"Killer Carp' Check out Joan's hyper link above and look at the fishing
pictures, very interesting :)

What struck me was the talk about the "romance of the train travel of the
1950s and 1960s". I don't remember this at all though I guess I was never a
train traveler, we always traveled by car. My few exposures to train travel

david...

joan,
you missed a wonderful experience. during the 50's, especially, train
travel was the essence of comfort and good service. some of the most
romantic visual images in my memory are of being at the train station,
seeing the steam rise and watching the incoming and outgoing trains.
Travel was a delight, sitting in comfortable, clean, seats and being able
to face each other during trips... I recall my parents and my brother and
me being able to sit in facing lounge chairs and to enjoy meals in the
adjoining dining car. My parents weren't at all rich, but riding by train
was a treat. no airline trip could possibly compete. and there was also a
sense of being present in the world.. I could step outside the car onto
the 'porch' between cars and see and feel the wind and hear the clacking
of the wheels on the rails... wonderful memories... :) i also remember
how large and active were train stations, with people continually coming
and going and all dressed to the 9's... yes, a great time to live.

Sue...

Our local PBS station had Great Trains of America. What a great program,
with trains today traveling around each State.
I want to take the one that travels in Maine. They have a lobster dinner.
Also, The Great Smokey Mountain Railroad offers some wonderful trips.
sue

david...

we've been disappointed by some tourist-centered train trips. there seems
to be an assumption that any old train will be a delight. i recall one we
took in hyannis, mass. was supposed to be a tour through a major farming
section of grapes (or something like that...). anyway, there was a
continuous tree growth on both sides of track and we really could see
nothing the entire trip. and the train cars weren't clean... real downer...
:(

Phyllis Copp...

Is the one from Maine the one that leaves from Rockland and goes to
Brunswick? That has some beautiful coastal scenery along the way, There
aren't to many train trips here in Maine.
Phyllis

were when I was a child and my outstanding memory of that was the crossings
between cars where the platforms from each met and vibrated and the whole
area was loud and shaky and scary. Not a positive memory.

JD Cooper...

Most of my traveling experiences growing up was in cars and airplanes. I

mmj1...

I have always wanted to take a trip on the American Orient Express. From
what I have seen on the Travel Channel and on their web site I am sure it
would be a positive memory.

had a few train trips along the way. I very well remember them and in
particular my last rip in 1960 from Little Rock to Dallas. At that time
passenger trains were obsolete and no more luxurious than a Greyhound
bus. The trip was not at all romantic. My Mom has stated upon occasion
how nice it was to take a train trip when she was a kid in the late
twenties, early thirties.

Joy...

I've only made a few short train trips in this country, but I've traveled
around Europe and England on trains, and have taken a few train trips in
Australia. I enjoyed most of those trips. The only one I didn't enjoy was
one in Europe where my son and daughter and I shared a compartment with
three strangers. There were six bunks in the compartment, three on each
side. My daughter had the top bunk. Her blanket slipped off in the night.
Before she could retrieve it, the occupant of the lower bunk on the other
side grabbed it. She froze the rest of the night.

When I took the Ghan train from Alice Springs to Adelaide, I had a tiny
compartment of my own. It was quite comfortable before the bunk was made
up. I had two facing seats with a table between. There was also a tiny
washbowl and a very small closet. When the bunk was pulled down, the seats
weren't available, and there wasn't enough space otherwise to turn around.
I had to change in the loo at the opposite end of the car. Also, the dining
car wasn't what I had read about. On one side of the car at one end, there
was what amounted to a snack stand, where you could buy food and beverages.
The rest of the car had tables where you could sit to eat. Or, you could do
as I did, and take the food to your compartment to eat. I still enjoyed the
trip.