I was wondering what has been youre favourite train trip. As a boy growing up in New Zealand I had the opportunity to ride with my unlce who was a train driver a couple of times and that was smashing. Leaving home I would have to say my favourite trips so far have been on the Eurostar from Paris to London and back and my first trip on the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago.
I have a book on great train journeys around the world and hopefully I will be able to ride on several of them before iether they or me pass away.
So what are your favourite trips and what trip would you like to take in the future.
The Trans Siberian Railway is definitely a dream of mine.[:)]
South Island Express between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1969 when I visited NZ. Steam ( Ja 4-8-2’s ) all the way. The train left Dunedin for Invercargill double headed and I got a great backlit shot from the overbridge.
Unfortunately, I left 7 rolls of Kodachrome on the plane when I returned to the US. Never got the film back.
I enjoyed the trip on the Amtrak Sunset Limited from San Antonio to Los Angeles. I like having the knowledge that I was able to take a train that terminated and originated in LAUPT. I preferred the ride in the ex Santa Fe hi level cars to the ride on the Superliners.This was in the mid 80’s when we took a trip to Disneyland. I have also taken the Sunset to Alpine a few times on the way to and from Big Bend National Park. That Pecos River high bridge is always a highlight!!
My family and I took the Amtrak trip from Seattle to Anahiem about four years ago to go to Disney land. Since then my youngest son has been infatuated with trains ever since and has inspired me to get back into the hobby and build us a layout.
My fav trip on a train was the Algoma Central Canyon Train.
The MRS & myself took this short journry in 1999.
The car we rode on was an ex-CZ Dome Car Silver Palace.
It was on the end of the train on the way up & right behind 2 F9a’s with a B unit sandwiched inbetween them on the way back
I got some great shots from the Dome & out the back door.
We’re talking very little access unless it’s by train or by plane where this train goes.
The scenery was amazing. I still have a bunch of shots somewhere in the house.
The trip is worth while if you want some great shots of the Canadian Shield.
I don’t think the F units are still pulling the train though.
When I was eight I had a cab ride in a Penn Central MU along the Northeast corridor from Elizabeth to Penn Station, NYC. We were standing on the platform when the train pulled up and it turned out that the engineer was a friend of my Dad. When he spotted us on the platform he told us to go in the front. Then he invited me and my brother into the cab.
I’ve always liked traveling on the Palmetto from Penn Station Newark to Richmond or points south. The trip is long enough that you get a great train ride but not so long that you can’t wait to get off the train. You get both the high speeds of the cooridor along with some of the great scenery south of the Potomac. Usually the train is ontime at both ends.
Wow - Tough question! I guess my favorite is still my “Colorado Excursion” in 1995. In one week I rode on the Grand Canyon Railway, Durango & Silverton, Georgetown Loop and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway. It was my first big railfan trip and first time I’ve been to those places. A few years later I had a cab ride in a Shay at Railtown 1897 in Jamestown, CA. That stands out too, even though it was a relatively short run.
In 2002 my sweetheart and I did a Northeast trip. We started at Niagra Falls (no train there but still awesome!) and then headed down to Steamtown, Cass Scenic Railway, East Broad Top, Western Maryland Scenic Railway and the B&O Museum in Baltimore before heading into Ohio to visit friends & relatives there. That was great too. I am especially grateful I got to see the B&O Museum before the roof collapsed in 2003.
As far as I’m concerned, every train ride is a favorite. However, standing out above the others might be these:
1980 - A two-week circle trip on Amtrak, New York to St. Louis via Atlanta, New Orleans, Tuscon, Flagstaff and Chicago. My first time west of the Mississippi and first experience with sleepers.
1982 - Paris to Lyon round trip on the TGV. 625 miles in 6 hours (which included a 1 hour layover in Lyon before returning to Paris)
1983 - 10 days on British Rail. Armed with BritRail passes, my wife and I covered 1500 miles…London-Edinborough-Inverness-Kyle of Lochalsh-Mallaig-Glasgow-Bristol-Bath-Salisbury-London.
2004 - Rocky Mountaineer cruise train eastbound. Vancouver to Kamloops via CN & CP in the Fraser and Thompson River canyons, Kamloops to Banff on CP via Kicking Horse Pass, Rogers Pass, Field & the Spiral Tunnels. Truly heroic, epic railroading.
One incident from that trip stands out in my memory. When the locomotive backed down to the train at Christchurch, I started laughing. This caused the engineer and fireman to growl that while the locomotive was relatively small, it was nothing to laugh at. I managed to stop laughing long enough to explain that I wasn’t laughing at the size of the locomotive (Ja’s are tiny in comparison to South African 4-8-2’s, let alone standard gauge locos), but because I was so delighted that the train would be steam hauled.
A Ja may be a relatively small locomotive, but it really barked when accelerating and climbing grades. We changed engines at Oamaru (IIRC). The fact that Ja’s were equipped with chime whistles was a definite plus even if the whistle signals differ from US practice. I was lucky enough to be in the first coach behind the tender and thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Loco has 54" drivers and is only 11.5 feet high (IIRC). It’s small, but gutsy.
andre I believe that is one of the engines my uncle used to drive. I have never been in it while running though. He was one of the last engineers that was certified to drive steam engines so he would often run the steam excursion trains.
I must admit I haven’t had many in my lifetime – a few between Pottsville, Reading and Philly back in the 50’s on the RDG RR, but I was too young to really appreciate them.
More recently, on a trip to Anstruther, Scotland we took a train from Edinburgh to London. This was a really cool 5-hour ride in a clean, comfortable coach. Actually the most memorable thing was pulling into King’s Cross station at 5PM on a Friday and then taking a London taxi across town to our hotel. You haven’t lived till you’ve taken a cab in London during rush hour.
My favorite was the night train from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The sleeper cars (with roommette compartments) were vintage 1950 and beautifully restored. With our first class ticket we received complimentary champange, caviar, and lots of extra goodies. In the parlor they served vodka, snacks and offered a piano bar with a sultry songstress with a smoky voice singing post war ballads. It was a step back into time. My wife and I pretended we were spies on a dangerous mission…
I guess my favorite would be the Erie Mining Co. fantrip in the fall of 2002 I took with my girlfriend. We had only been dating about 4-5 months and it was our first trip together.
It was pretty nice weather, went from EMCO taconite plant all the way to (and up on) the ore dock on Lake Superior about 60 miles away and back. Trip used restored Milwaukee passenger cars, we had a seat in a parlor car facing a large window so we had a great view. Good box lunch, they even caught a hobo onboard sneaking a lunch for himself. Motive power was an Erie Mining F-9 and Soo FP-7 sandwiching I think a DMIR SD-18 chopnose.
I would have to say my train trip between Chicago Union Station to Penn Station onboard the Broadway Limited I was 9 yrs old and the service was great in the dining car and the vendors would come aboard and sell snacks and smokes and newspapers,the sites along the way are still fairly vivid in my mind,I really miss train travel,while in the Navy I rode between Miami and Hartford,CT several times.
Growing up in Missouri when I was in Jr. high, my friends and I would ride the short ride on the Frisco passenger train in Newburg to my home town of Rolla–a trip of about 8 miles!! Cost about 30 cents as I recall. In addition, sadly, we rode the final leg of that passenger train through Rolla-- it was circa 1966 or 1967 as I recall.
Those memories and my Dad’s big O27 train set are why I’m planning to get back into the hobby (HO this time)
By the way, if anyone has any info on SLSF(Frisco) passenger locos/cars prototype-based on that era (HO)–I’d be interested in looking at pictures/buying stock, etc.
My train rides could be counted on one hand. I did get the chance to ride the Heber Creeper in Heber Utah with my wife and young son. I guess they had a Thomas the Tank Train deal going on the day we went. Then when it came time for us to board, my son Jared fell asleep and missed the whole ride.
But my favorite train ride so far is just taking the California Surfiner down from LA to my hometown of San Diego. I just love the way that those tracks are the only thing between the surf and the cliffs. What a beautiful view. Growing up surfing in the San Diego waters, I remember one surfer told me that everytime a train goes by a big set of waves will come too. You see, trains play an important roll in surfing in San Diego too.
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