Amtrak:
Hiawatha (includes my first ever passenger train ride in 1971 from Sturtevant to Chicago & back, going to Chicago the train was pulled by a former PC F7)
Broadway Limited - Crestline, OH - Chicago & back
Empire Builder - St. Paul - Milwaukee & back, St. Paul - Minot & back
Metra:
Chicago - Elgin & back (only once)
Virginia Rwy:
Manassas - DC & back (only once)
Hey Mark,
I’ve ridden the following:
Panama Limited- IC
Flambeau 400-C&NW
The General- Pennsy
The Admiral- Pennsy
The Edison- Pennsy
The City of Los Angeles- UP
I’ve ridden the following
Panama Limited-IC
City of Los Angeles-UP
The General-Pennsy
The Admiral-Pennsy
The Edison-Pennsy
The Flambeau 400-C&NW
My dad was a Pullman Agent out of Chicago…I’ve been on almost too many Chicago based trains to mention, but “rode” the above…
I read every body’s list rather quickly and didn’t see Auto-Train.
I rode the Eugene Garfield Auto-Train in it’s first year from Sanford to Lorton without an automobile. I knew several of the employees who left SCL in Jacksonville when Auto-Train started. They pulled some strings to get me on the train. Took a cab to Washington, D.C. and rode the Metroliner for the first time. In 1996 or 1997, Madge and I took Amtrak’s Auto-Train from Sanford to Lorton when we took my recently deceased father’s car to Michigan for my sister.
In addition to most Amtrak train routes, several Swiss trains, and also the true and original Santa Fe Super Chief, I recall fondly riding the ARCADE & ATTICA RAILROAD in western NY as a child. Has anyone else been on that short (now tourist) line?
In pre Amtrak days:
20th Century Limited, Wolverine, Chicagoan, Ohio State Limited. Cleveland Limited, The Southwestern, Corn Belt Rocket, Rocky Mountain Rocket, Twin Star Rocket, Des Moines Rocket. Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Congressional, George Washington, California Zephyr, Denver Zephyr, CoastDaylight , Zephyr/Rocket. El Capitan, NorthCoast Limited, Empire Builder, Morning Zephyr and the worst train ever Santa Fe’s Grand Canyon. All the rest were fantastic. Does not include Long Island, NYC, Erie Lackawana and NewHaven commuters.
Amtrak: California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Silver Star, Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited, lake Shore Limited, Amtrak California
Though I’m older than Johnny I can’t begin to approach the number of trains he’s ridden. But I think I can come in 2nd to him and it’ll be fun to try to remember them all. I made round trips on a number of these and rode some up to at least 10 times.
Golden State Ltd. - Chi-ElPaso
San Diegan - SD-LA
Eagle - Marshall & Texarkana-St.L
Will Rogers - StL-Newburg
Frisco #6 - Newburg-StL
Alton Ltd - Chi-StL
Ak-Sar-Ben Zephyr - Chi-Omaha
American Royal Zephyr - Chi-KC
Valley 400 - Chi-Appleton
CNW #244/212 - Appleton-Chi
Southern Belle - Shreveport-Baton Rouge
Dixie Flagler - Chi-Danville
Shawnee - Danville-Chi
City of Miami -Chi-Jax
City of New Orleans, Seminole, Louisiane, Creole, Southern Express - Chi-Champaign
Daylight - Chi-StL
Bluebird - Chi-StL
Wabash #2&3 - Lafayette-Danville
Georgian - Atl-Chi
Phoebe Snow - Summit-Chi
20th Century Ltd - Chi-NY
James Whitcomb Riley, Sycamore, Carolina Spcl - Chi-Lafayette
NYC #410/438 - Lafayette- Cincy
Ohio State Ltd - NY-Columbus
Penn-Texas - NY-Indy
Congressional - NY-Balt
Manhattan Ltd. Chi-Pittsbg
Broadway Ltd - Pittsbg-NY
Long Island #? - NY-Oyster Bay
South Wind - Chi-Jax
Colonial - NY-Bost
Gilt Edge - Bost-NY
West Coast Champion - Jax-Bradenton
ACL #89 - Jax-Tampa
Southland - Tampa-Gary
New Royal Palm - Cincy-Jax
Peach Queen - NY-Greensboro
Carolina Spcl - Winston Salem-G’boro
Asheville Spcl - Winston Salem-G’boro
Un-named Interurban trains:
CSS&SB - Chi-Tremont
CNS&M - Chi-Milw
ITC - Danville-Decatur
Additionally I commuted daily for several years each on trains of the following roads:
IC - H
Being a little younger than most of the other posters on here, my list is somewhat smaller:
Pre-Amtrak:
Empire Builder/North Coast LTD/Morning Zephyr - CBQ - Prairie Du Chien, WI to East Dubuque, IL (1968 and 1970)
Amtrak:
Blackhawk (Round Trip Dubuque, IA - Chicago) 1978
Empire Builder (Twin Cities - Glasgow, MT) 1978
Empire Builder (Round Trip La Crosse, WI - Glasgow, MT) 1981
California Zephyr (Round Trip Ottumwa, IA - Denver) 1994
California Zephyr (Denver - Omaha) 1995
California Zephyr (Round Trip Omaha - Denver) 2002
Trains I’ve Seen (And WISH I Had Been Able To Ride)
UP-MILW “Cities” trains at Marion, IA
IC Hawkeye at Manchester, IA
I don’t know if I have a complete list of non class 1 trips.
First trip I remember is from Ashland Ky to Chicago and then Super Chief to LA in 1960. Dad can’t recall what RR it was from Ashland to Chicago and I was to young to care…I just was thrilled to be on a train! Maybe some more knowledgeable here can help.
A number of trips from LA to Davis Ca during the 1960’s on the SP IIRC.
Another trip LA to Davis in 1973 on the still new Amtrak.
A number of trips on the SRR Crescent just to ride it. Often rode from Charlotte to Salisbury for $3 round trip even into the Amtrak era. A great ride behind apple green E-8’s!
Amtrak cardinal from WSS to Charlottesville and then Crescent to Charlotte a few times.
Amtrak Cardinal from WSS to Huntington WV 4 times while the kids were in school at Marshall U.
Last trip was WSS to LA and back in April may of this year. Lots of words and pictures at website below.
‘Tourist’ railroads from coast to coast. I now live near Cass WV and ride a lot.
I was also an engineer at the Carowinds theme park 1974-75 running a 1880 2-6-2 and a Crown 1970 era 4-4-0 3 ft train…round in circles for an unknown number of miles!
I have lead such a sheltered life.
EL Phoebe Snow
Amtrak Crescent
NCRR/Amtrak Carolinian
NCRR/Amtrak Piedmont
Special Autumn Train excursions from the NC Transportation museum. All day trip with Amtrak power and beautifully restored private cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDqkA7dS7Q4&feature=related
Commuter trains from Chicago to North Chicago
and several cities’ subway and light rail trains.
Next week I am taking the grandchildren from Charlotte to DC on the Amtrak Crescent again.
Incidentally, DaveVan, it still only costs $10 to go from Charlotte to Salisbury on the Piedmont.
I’ll keep it short, I’m 76 years old and have never “directly” worked for any Railroad.
As a child of 4 or 5 my mother would take the train to Boston from Providence to do her shopping. The shuttle train was The New Haven Railroad’s “Comet”. A light weight aluminum train that ran at 95 mph, I remember that train in detail.
At the start of my working days I would take the morning local to Boston and try to time it to get the New Haven’s “Merchants Limited” back to Providence, 5PM departure.
My Amtrak era started in 1985 when my work took me to New York and Washington. The train of choice, “Metroliner Service”. Yes, one “Metroliner” made it all the way to New Haven ariving in the evening. It left the next morning for Washington before 6AM, into DC before noon.
I have ridden many New Haven trains and lots of MBTA Boston or MNR New York Commuter Rail. You meet people and that opens doors. This has led to escorted cab rides on “Corridor Trains” including the “Acela”. Even the cab rides required Safety Training first. I have had two lessons on Road Diesels and one on a Steam Locomotive.
We have lots of Passenger Trains in the Northeast!
Less than 2 weeks ago I rode behind the Tornado at 75 mph from Euston station in London to Kidderminster, the home of the Severn Valley Railway. I’ve also done the Great Central, the Keighly and Worth Valley and last March, the Mid-Hants. The Brits, bless 'em, they do steam right! They ought to since they invented the whole thing and all of them had real ale on board and that is the way to travel!
DaveVan, the only way you could have left Ashland by train was on the C&O. You probably rode the Big 4 on to Chicago, and if you had a through sleeper, that was the way you went. The other possibility between Cincinnati and Chicago was the PRR (unless you took an indirect routing, with a change or two)…