I thought it would be interesting to see how many different trains each of us have ridden in our lifetimes. Here’s my list:
City of Miami IC/CofG/ACL/FEC
City of New Orleans IC
Seminole IC
Louisiane IC
Creole IC</
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p828iPQ4tkE
A another lifetime long ago. The engine resides in the PRR museum now, probably never to be steamed again.
Hi Mark
My list is even longer:
International GN
Seattle Portland Pool trains GN/NP/UP
Empire Builder GN
Western Star GN
North Coast Limited NP
Mainstreeter NP
Cascadian GN
Cascade SP
City of San Francisco UP/SP
City of Portland UP
Sunset SP
Lark SP
Coast Daylight SP
Canadian CP
Super Continental CN
Panorama CN
Ocean CN
Scotian CN
Chaleur CN
Newfie Bullet CN
Rapidos CN
Turbos CN
Tempos &n
Intercity
Wash to Boston - many segments, many times, many trains including UA Turbotrain and Metroliners. (PRR, PC and Amtrak) (incl. cab ride in E60 and FL9)
(the rest are all Amtrak except as noted)
(sleeper trips in bold)
Empire Service - GCT and NYP to Alb-Renss. and Buffalo (both dir, many times)
NH to Springfield. (one round trip)
Lake Shore Ltd - Alb-Renss to Boston (one way)
Lake Shore Ltd. - GCT and NYP to Erie, Toledo and Chicago (several trips, usually westbound) slumbercoaches and roomettes
Broadway Ltd - Phila to Chicago (several trips, both dir.) roomettes
National Ltd. Indy to Columbus and Columbus and Altoona to Phila - roomettes
Pennsylvanian - Pittsburgh and Altoona to Phila (several trips, both dir)
Keystone Svc - Phila to Harrisburg (many trips, both dir)
Shenendoah - Chillicothe OH to Wash DC (one trip) Amfleet slumbercoach!
Maple Leaf - NYP to Aldershot ON (a few trips, both dir.)
Via Something - Aldershot to London ON (same as above - one time LRC)
Adirondak - Watervleit NY to Plattsburg NY (one way)
Floridian - Chicago to Birmingham (one way) bedroom
Crescent - Phila to Greensboro, Phila to Atlanta (several, both dir) roomette
Empire Builder - Seattle to Chicago (one way) slumbercoach
Silver Something - Phila to Tampa (one round trip) roomette
Wolverine - Toledo to Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor to Chicago (one way)
SW Ltd. - Chicago to KC (one way)
Cal Zephyr - Denver to Emeryville (one way) delux bedroom
Pacific Surfliner - LA to SD (one way).
Amtrak - Altantic City to Phila
Commuter Rail -
Harlem Line - Thornwood to GCT (NYC, PC, CR, MN)
Hudson Line - Poughkeepsie t
Crusader - Reading
Wall Street - Reading
King Coal - Reading
Adirondak - Delaware & Hudson
Numerous Clockers - PRR, PC and Amtrak
Metroliner - PC
Turbotrain - PC
Canadian - Canadian Pacific
Polar Bear Express - Ontario Northland
International - Amtrak
The Pennsylvanian - Amtrak
Numerous Commuter Trains to get to work - Reading, PRR, PC, CNJ, EL, NJT, SEPTA (depending on where I lived and worked at the time)
Several PRSL trains to get from Philadelphia to Atlantic City.
Bullet - Philadelphia and Western
Fan trip on the Western Maryland from Baltimore to Elkins and back
New River Gorge train on the ex C&O
East Broad Top, Strasburg, Wanamaker Kempton & Southern, New Hope & Ivyland, Gettysburg Scenic, North Shore RR, Reading and Northern, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern, Stewartstown, Shamokin Valley, Arcade and Attica, and a few others I don’t remember the names for.
First trip was in 1972 and the mileage compiled from Amtrk & rr freight timetables comes to 112,665 miles. Here are the trips followed by # of trips for each named train I was ticketed for: SW Chief 89, Ann Rutledge 26, San Diegans 10, Cap Limited 6, Sunset 4, Lone Star 4, Southwest Limited 4, TX Eagle 4,City NO 3, Three Rivers 3, Cardinal 2, Montrealer 2 and 1 trip on the following: Zephyr, Lake Shore, Coast Starlight, Silver Star, Empire Builder, Minuteman, Pioneer, Desert Wind, TX Chief. Total of 166 Amtrak trips over the last 36 yrs. Next month a roundtrip over the Heartland Flyer will be added to the list.
Some pretty impressive lists so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if the five of us combined have logged well over half a million miles if we count both the intercity and commuting trips.
Let me add another wrinkle to the question; which of your trips were in a sleeper? Mine were:
Southland Tampa - Gary, IN - Open Sec. Upper Berth
Broadway Ltd. Pittsburg - NYC - Rmt.
Penn-Texas Newark - Indy (RT) - Rmt.
Phoebe Snow Summit, NJ - Chi (RT) - Dbl. BR
Southern Belle Shreveport - Baton Rouge - Rmt
Peach Queen/Carolina Spcl. Newark - Winston Salem (RT) - Rmt.
Ashland Ltd. Appleton, WI - Chi - Dbl. BR
Texas Eagle (TP/MP) Marshall, TX - StL (RT) - Dbl. BR
Abraham Lincoln/Will Rogers Chi - Newburg, MO - Open Sec. Lower Berth
Ak-Sar-Ben Zephyr Chi - Omaha (RT) - Rmt.
American Royal Zephyr Chi - KC (RT) - Rmt.
Ohio State Ltd. NYC - Columbus (RT) - Rmt.
29th Century Ltd. NYC - Chi (RT) - Slumbercoach (poor man’s sleeper)
Mark
Had to get busy and dig out some more information for the list.
Empire Builder DBR/DBR/DBR/DBR/DBR/DBR/DBR/RMT/DUPRMT All Seattle - St. Paul Round Trip in each case
Western Star DBR/RMT Seattle - St Paul round trip in DBR Spokane - Seattle RMT
North Coast Ltd RMT Round trip Chicago - Seattle RMT
Mainstreeter Slumbercoach Chicago - Seattle round trip
Olympian Hiawatha RMT Milwaukee - Seattle Round Trip
Cascade RMT Seattle - Oakland Round trip
City of San Francisco RMT Omaha - Oakland One way
City of Portland RMT Portland - Omaha one way
Sunset Ltd DBR/DBR Los Angeles - New Orleans Round trip twice
Lark Rmt Oakland - Los Angeles Los Angeles - San Francisco
Canadian DR/DBR/DBR/DBR Vancouver - Montreal RT Vancouver - Toronto 3 RT
Super Continental DBR/DBR/DBR/ DBR/ DBR 5 RT Toronto - Vancouver
Panorama DBR Montreal - Winnipeg DBR Winnipeg - Vancouver
Ocean DBR/DBR/ DBR/ DBR/DBR/DBR Montreal - Halifax 6-RT
Scotian DBR Montreal - Cape Breton one way
Chaleur DBR Montreal - RT
Newfie Bullet LB Port Aux Basque - St. Johns one way
Cavalier DBR/DBR/DBR/ Toronto - Montreal numerous times
Twentieth Century Ltd. RMT Chicago - New York one way
Wolverine RMT New York - Chicago one way
Broadway Ltd. DBR Chicago - New York RT
Super Chief RMT Los Angeles - Kansas City round trip numerous times
California Zephyr RMT Salt Lake City - Chicago one way
Owl LB Los Angeles - Oakland one way
Florida Special DBR New York - Miami one way
Denver Zephyr DBR Chicago - Denver three times round trip
Montrealer RMT Washington - Montreal one way
American Royal Zephyr RMT Chicago - St. Joseph Round trip
Golden State RMT Kansas City - Los Angeles one way
Crescent Ltd RMT Philadelphia - New Orleans one way
Royal Palm Rmt Chicago - Miami via Cincinnati one way
Butte Spec
Answering the sleeper question, just going by memory without looking at travel logs, these were all one way starting: SW Limited in 1985 (renamed SW Chief 10/85), Empire Builder 1992, Zephyr 1998, TX Eagle 2006, Cardinal 2007, Sunset and City NO 2008. No finer way to travel on a overnight trip.
Southern Pacific.
San Joaquin Dailight,
Coast Daylight.
Santa Fe.
San Diegan.
UP
City of Los Angeles.
D&RGW.
Rio Grande Zephyr,
Durango,Silverton narrow guage.
Southern.
Southern Crescent.
BC Rail.
Caraboo Dayliner.
VIA.
LRC train,Toronto-Montreal.
Ferrocarril Pacifico.
El Costeno.
Sonora-Baja California.
El Mexicali.
Amtrak.
Starlight,
Sunset,Texas Eagle,
City of New Orleans,
Silver Star,Silver Meteor,
Metroliner Service(ICE train)
Rohr Turboliner,
Lake Shore limited,Both NY and Boston sections,
Adorandak.
Montrealer,
Broadway,
Lake Cities,
River Cities, Ann Rutledge,
Empire Builder,
Desert Wind,Pioneer,
San Diegan,
San Joaquin,
Spirit of California.
Mine is a bit shorter…
Baltimore & Ohio-
The Capitol Limited
The National Limited
The Royal Blue Limited
The Shenandoah
The Cincinnatian
CB&Q - Commuter runs
IC - The Panama Limited
L&N/SAL - The Gulf Wind
SAL - The Silver Metor & The Silver Star
ACL/FEC - The East Coast Champion
PRR - The Congressional & several unnamed trains
AMTK - Unnamed (or name forgotten) Baltimore/New York Runs
Also got to ride The El Capitan equipment when it was making its press tour of the East Coast.
When I was a freshman at Rutgers University in 1958, I rode the Pennsylvania RR from New Brunswick to Newark. The trains were headed by the legendary GG1. It was a great thrill to ride behind such a famous locomotive because the model of this engine was one of my favorite Lionel engines. I was being transported by the real GG1!! Now when I run my GG1 on my layout, it brings back memories of the weekend commute of 50 years ago.
Heartland Flyer
Texas Eagle
Metra
DART
Trinity Rail Express
CTA “L”
Ann Rutledge
Lincoln Service
TOURIST LINES
Midland Railway Baldwin, Kansas
Oklahoma Railway Museum OKC, OK
Arkansas & Missouri RR Van Bueren, Arkansas
ES&NA Eureka Springs, Arkansas
FAMOUS TRAINS I’VE SEEN
UP 844 Chickasha, Oklahoma
Barnum & Bailey Circus Train OKC, OK
BNSF Bussiness Car Train OKC, OK
ART Train Norman, OK
ART Train OKC, OK
USPS Train OKC, OK
Frisco 1522 Somewhere In Missouri
San Joaquin - Amtrak, Bakersfield to Sacramento
California Zephyr - Amtrak, Sacramento to Denver (coach)
Tourist:
Virginia and Truckee - Virginia City to Gold Hill
I must be a rookie. [:)]
A small but fun list…some of my rides can be found eslewere in these forums.
I have ridden…and in fact conduct escorted tours on…all the commuter lines in and out of New York City, and to Philadelphia and Atlantic City…mainly those available in the last 20 years. Plus an Amtrak ride from NYP to Stamford, Ct on the Vermonter and a round trip from NYP to Poughkeepsie, NY on unnamed trains Under New Haven and Penn Central did Springfield, MA to Philadelphia on the remnants of the Montrealer and the Executive returning via the Patriot and the Ethan Allen (changed at Bridgeport, Ct). A few months earlier had done the last northbound B&M from Springfield to Greenfield and return, again a remnant of the Montrealer. Had a great fun trip Plainfield, NJ to Baltimore, MD and return on the B&O Royal Blue back in the late fifties followed by a Dover, NJ to Scranton and return on DL&W’s Phoebe Snow westbound and milk train #44 eastbound. There were several Phoebe Snow Dover to Owego, NY trips during the college years, plus an EL #25 to Owego from Dover and #8 Atlantic Express from Owego to Hoboken return. (Back to Denville on deadhead move with friendly EL employees that time.) Even had a ride on the Freedom Train of '76 from Corning to BIngahmton, NY as well as several fan trips and tourist operations. I have also been told that in 1943, at about 3 months old, my mother and I were removed from a Capitol Airlines plane in Chicago in favor of military personel thus continued our NY to Sacremento trip via the Sante Fe to meet my father; a miltary move from Marysville (Grass Valley), CA, to Brownwood (Camp Bowie), TX for my father in January of 1944 meant we followed by train and by March as he went to German Mom and me went by train back to NYC. But that was all before I was a year old, so I don’t remember and so it doesn’t count, does it.
You all realize, of course, that this question is a disguised attempt to determine how ancient the people are who participate in this forum. Based on the answers to date, some of you must be genuine fossils. Not wanting to admit that I am myself a fossil, I will refrain from providing my list, except to say that I rode the North Shore Line many times in its last 3 years.
Wow!!! Some of the pre-Amtrak lists are fantastic!!
Balt ACD wrote “Also got to ride The El Capitan equipment when it was making its press tour of the East Coast.” I know these cars are not as tall as Superliners – were they able to travel on the Northeast Corridor? I have ridden the Pacific Parlour several times, and there was once a former El Capitan transition car on Amtrak’s Inter American between Superliners and a standard sleeper.
I’ll start with my list of tourist railways:
Lahaina Kaanapali and Pacific
Oahu Railway
Portland Riverfront Streetcar
Durango And Silverton
Grand Canyon
Strasbourg
Mount Washington Cog Railway
Wolfeboro, NH
Steam train across Scottish highlands (actually a main line route, but it was a tourist train and we rode in the observation car)
Man, am I a novice!
All my trips have been on Amtrak, the first when I graduated high school in 1978 (not counting a short hop from Ocala to Waldo (the next stop north) just to ride the train.
Here, to the best of my recollection, are the trips:
“Floridian” - Ocala to Chicago
Amtrak Turboliner - Milwaukee to Chicago
“California Zephyr” - Chicago to Reno (back when the train had to back up from Denver to Cheyenne!)
“Silver Meteor” - Ocala to Washington, D.C.
All of the above were part of my graduation trip. My aunt gave me two 14-day RailPasses as a graduation present. My brother and I went to Reno via Chicago, with a stopover in Milwaukee to see our sister. My brother had to return to work before the passes expired, so my mom and I used up the passes with a trip to D.C. A kindly Amtrak employee let me onto the platform at Union Station in D.C., where I got to see (and photograph) the Black Jack GG-1 4935 (in Pennsy livery) and the Southern Crescent behind four Green E-8s.
“Floridian” - Ocala to Sebring. Took the last southbound run to Sebring, then hopped aboard to last northbound run back home.
“Silver Meteor” - Ocala to New York City. I rode coach on the trip north, but splurged on an upgrade to a roomette for the return trip.
“Silver Star” - Ocala to New York City. On my second trip to the Big Apple, mom and I rode Slumbercoach. On the return trip, we ate in Amtrak’s prototype Viewliner dining car.
“Silver Meteor” - Miami to New York City. Went to see “Rent,” and splurged on a Viewliner sleeper compartment.
“Silver Star” - Miami to Ocala. A Christmas trip home when I lived in the Keys.
“Sunset Limited” - Lake City to New Orleans. While working as a copy editor/substitute reporter for a Lake City newspaper in 2003, I suggested we do an article on the “Sunset.” To my surprise, my editor not only agreed to do the story, she sent me and our photographer on a day trip to New Orleans with orders t
Yes, I am a fossil: 384 different trains; 871 trains altogether on 137 trips before 1 May 1971 and 27 trips since 1 May 1971. Do you really want to see my list?
Johnny
Fossils? Maybe. But not stoned! And we do remember when it was enjoying the pleasures rather than the pressures of riding trains!