jean
jean

Day 11 of the Micro.blog February Photoblogging Challenge prompt is “plain.”

When I take train trips, I like to capture a bit of the experience. This is from the Empire Builder, Chicago to Portland, Oct. 2016, going through Kremlin, Montana. #mbfeb 📹🚂

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crossingthethreshold
crossingthethreshold

@macgenie Ooohhh I'd love to take a long train ride like that. How long did it take to travel between the two cities?

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dejus
dejus

@crossingthethreshold @macgenie Whenever Jean mentions train rides, I get a strong urge to do so too. I haven’t been on a long train trip since I was very small. Random thought: are there any trains in Hawaii? I imagine there must be, at least on Oahu for freight, though I can’t say I noticed any.

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jean
jean

@crossingthethreshold About 48 hours, and the train was on time. I've done it in both directions, and going East is better for the timing of the views.

I book one of the small "roomettes," because the train ride is my vacation. It is expensive compared to flying, but you can't compare it to flying, so never mind.

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jean
jean

@dejus @crossingthethreshold Sadly, like everything else, the current administration is ruining the pleasure of train travel. They've discontinued the dining car on overnight trains in the East. Sharing a meal 3x/day with strangers is a major reason I enjoy the long train rides.

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jean
jean

@dejus @crossingthethreshold (So I suggest you do the Empire Builder or one of the other Western routes before they take away the dining cars there too.)

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In reply to
JohnBrady
JohnBrady

@macgenie We took the SF-to-Chicago train a few years ago and loved it, though it was very far from on time. When we do it again, though, we'll definitely splurge on a private berth rather than general seating. Some sleep along the way is nice.

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garciabuxton
garciabuxton

@JMaxB @macgenie @dejus @crossingthethreshold Train travel is the best. We've done a few Amtrak overnight trips from Chicago to the East Coast, booking a two-bunk sleeper for the three of us (2 adults, 1 child). We'd take Amtrak to Southern California, where my family lives, but it's two days, and we don't have as much PTO to accommodate that. And I don't think we've ever had a train run on time, but part of the joy of rail travel is going with the flow; if you don't expect it or need it to run on time, it's fine.

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crossingthethreshold
crossingthethreshold

@macgenie I love train travel. When my wife and I lived in Portland we used to like taking the train from Portland to Seattle. I once did an overnight to the heading south to the Bay Area. We never did get to go on one of the really long distance routes though. That I would like to do - for all the reasons that you mention.

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jean
jean

@JMaxB It’s so cozy. And meals are included, which is the highlight of the day. I’ve met so many interesting people over meals in the dining car.

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crossingthethreshold
crossingthethreshold

@dejus @macgenie I don't think that there are any trains in Hawaii beyond some short section of tracks kept for fun rides. For example, on the West side of Maui there is (was?) the the Sugar Cane Train. Over Christmas is use to be converted into the train to Santa Land, but that had its last run last Christmas.

Around Maui one sees signs (literal, old tracks in the dirt, or an old station) where trains use to run to carry out the sugar train.

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crossingthethreshold
crossingthethreshold

@garciabuxton @JMaxB @macgenie @dejus I agree. I love it and miss the access to good trains as I had back in Europe. There is something lovely about being able to sit back for a few hours, let someone else do the driving, watch life go by, and meet other people - and at the same time being able to get up and stretch your legs.

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