What do you guys like better train riding or train watching? And please don’t write watching trains while riding trains. I’m talking about train rides in general.
I think I like watching them better. but there are different factors that may make riding them more fun, (such as the cockpit but train rides in general I am talking about)
If you are meaning car jumping and hitching a ride, I would suggest agesnt it… many a engineer carry firearms… just an FYI.
But if and Amtrak or Strasburg ride you are talking about those are always fun as well.
You see things from a different perpective all the time, If you ride trains to work everyday, you might enjoy watching them more, or if you constantly railfan, riding might be your fancy…
I’m talking about commuters, I wouldn’t risk my life by car jumping.
I’ve only been on NJ Transit trains so those are fun but I really like watching. I’ve never ridden an Amtrak train so I can’t really tell if those are alot more fun than riding. I usually have alot of fun when I ride the first car after the tender at Disney World because it’s closer to the engine.
If you get a chance, Take the Acela… while its still going.
Email me, I can “hook you up” with something.
I prefer riding trains[:)]. My lifetime milage right now is 268750[8D]
I spend at least 3 hours of my life each workday on a train - and enjoy it very much. Wouldn’t trade it for a commute by car - the time I have is my own to nap, look out the window, read a toy train magazine, converse loudly into my cell phone, perform some unspecified personal hygiene…whoops, sorry, the latter two are done by my fellow commuters. I also enjoy riding the trains at the Illinois Railway Museum.
When I was a little kid about 4 and 5 years old, I lived in the town of
Bound Brook , NJ.
And every Saturday my Dad would take me to the train station 4 blocks away.
We used to go in to Quick Check, he’d buy me a soda and a Cruch bar and we would sit there and watch the commuters . (Amtrack I think.)
We moved now and the train station in New Egypt has been gone since the 70’s.
I miss those days.
Pardon me, but I don’t know much about modern locomotives.
i guess i prefer watching. the trains i usually end up riding are patco and septa in philly. not much to see. and i enjoy watching freightcars and reading the info on the side and trying to determine the road name that is covered by grafitti and rust.
If you were in bound brook, you seen NJT
I love to ride them best. I have family in Charleston, WV so I will ride Amtraks “Cardinal” when convenient, but it only runs three times a week. So, it’s rare that the times work out well. When I’m in a city with urban rail I’ll go out of my way to ride it. My last trip was to Montreal. My hotel had a Subway station connected to it. (Bonaventure) It sure was easy to get around!
Tough call, but I’m going to say watching. Don’t get me wrong, riding is fun, but you don’t really see the train when you’re on it.
Same train, different day, note the difference. These were taken last summer.
It’s kind of a double edged sword. Watching the train is great until it’s by you. Then you’ve got to haul *** somewhere
Ooops my arm accidentally hit the mouse and it was over the ‘submit’ button. So you have to hightail it to the next location to get in position to watch the train again. If you’re riding the train, all you have to do is stick your head out the window on the curves but you don’t always get the best view of the engine and you may get a cinder lodged in your eye (so wear goggles). Also if you’re on the train you might be lucky enough to get to ride in the cab.My favorite though is watching and taking pictures of the people who watch and take pictures of trains. Now there’s an interesting bunch of enthusiasts.
Finding trains to ride is about to get a lot harder now that UU has declared Amtrak a WMD. Ride them while you can.
Definitly watching trains. Nothing like sitting in the train room,me and my dog, watching the trains go round and round. Any time of the week.
laz57