this is all true , to people 100 years ago they probably would love to fly and hated train travel, and we can get on a plane anytime we want but not a train so to think about it the way you NKP guy put it a vacation on a train once would be fine but every day would be hard. when you think about it that way makes sense.
I think airline meals (and the tin can experience) can be quite decent, if not good, provided you fly on certain airlines. I had a quite good meal on ANA (All Nippon Airlines, a Japanese carrier). But I think at the end of the day, the speed and convinience of flight outweighs train travel for most people.
Where I have found train travel to superior, and something I badly wish would exist here in the US (though I know it never will), is in high speed rail travel. My experience traveling on the Shinkansen put flying to shame. So much more comfortable with tons more room, much easier to navigate the station vs. an airport, no need to check luggage and pick it up later, and almost comparable travel times made it far superior to trying to hop on a short domestic flight.
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never thought of high speed train travel that sounds like the way to go.
It may yet, someday. It makes a lot of sense, especially for somewhat shorter distances than cross country.
Rich
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I’m afraid there just isn’t the collective will to get such an involved and expensive project accomplished. But I digress.
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amflyer1: You’re right about riding once in a while vs. while on vacation, etc. It doesn’t have to be long distance, either. In 1971-73, I used to ride frequently from New Haven to GCT. I noticed that all the passengers, largely businessmen, upon boarding sat down, opened their briefcases and didn’t look up until we entered the Park Avenue tunnel; I was the only one who looked out of the window the entire way. It’s still like that for me on Acela today, but now everyone is looking at their device or phone, instead.
A good quote from about 100 years ago said by Will Rogers, a man who made the trip between NYC and LA many times and knew what he was talking about:
“If your time is worth anything, travel by air. If not, you might just as well walk.”
Will Rogers was one of the best, smartest, funniest people this nation ever produced, and if you don’t know his movies and quotes, I recommend them to you.
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LOL I like that quote ,I have a brother lives in Chicago I often thought about taking a train from Pittsburgh maybe I will just to try it. that’s not to long of a hall.
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My longest train trip was round trip San Diego to Miles City in 1976. 60 hours up and 64 hours back - and took that option as I had a lot of free time that summer. The trip would have been shorter 6 years earlier as that would have involved SD to LA on the AT&SF, LA to SLC and SLC to Butte on the UP, and finally Butte to Miles City on the BN (ex NP). Amtrak had me go to Seattle on the way. I’m glad I took it as I saw a lot of things that I wouldn’t seen driving or flying, but would not want to do it on a regular basis.
Now that sounds like a nice trip, Beautiful scenery !!
One more note, the only Amtrak specific equipment that I rode in were the Amfleet cars on the San Diegan’s - which were becoming “classic” with my 2014 last ride in an Amfleet car. Almost all the other cars I rode in were built in the 40’s and 50’s, hence qualifies to being classic despite being newer at that time then an Amfleet car in 2014. The locomotives were SDP40F’s, so that put a bit of non-classic exposure.
It was fun spending time in the dome cars.
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For me - Classic is the period BEFORE I hired out in 1965.
Recall a family vacation - Took the Shenandoah from out home in Garrett, IN to Chicago, went to the IC Station on the Lakefront and took the Panama Limited to New Orleans. After several days in NOLA we took the LN/SAL Gulf Wind to Jacksonville. Rented a car in Jacksonville and drove to Daytona Beach for a week and came back to Jacksonville to take the Silver Meteor up to Washington DC where we we met by family and stayed in the Baltimore area for several days before catching the Capitol Limited back to Garrett.
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Methinks it is hard, if not impossible, to set a firm date for the classic/modern transition. I will posit that pre-1950 railroading was dramatically different than post 1970 railroading. One of my milestones for the beginning of the end of the classic era was abandonment of the V&T in 1950 - my memories of the V&T was seeing some of the old ROW around Carson City, the depot at the corner of Carson and Washington, walking over the hump on Mountain and Caroline street from the grade of the house track and what was left of the McKeen car on the south side of Al’s Plumbing shop.
Balt’s definition of classic is at least as good as most of the proposed definitions including mine.
Pre-Conrail split?
ICC era?
Steam era?
Lines that were built by hand?
Hear, hear!
25 years is the generally accepted age to be termed a “classic” for most things according to American society. So yes, a 25 year old Chevrolet Cavalier would qualify for “Classic Car” license plates but society might frown upon the designation.
Some things become classics the moment they’re created. AT&SF Warbonnet F3’s, Lima Shays, NKP Berkshires, NYC Hudsons, N&W Y6b’s and Budd extruded streamlined stainless steel cars are excellent examples of “instant classics” that come to my mind.
I the case of this publication it’s entirely up to Firecrown to decide what’s classic and what’s not. In my opinion it should be #1 new articles concerning subjects that haven’t been written about before or at least not published by Kalmbach in the last 10 years. #2 news concerning new chapters in the stories of railroad structures, rolling stock, employees or anything else railroad related 25 years old or older. And #3 any personal stories or anecdotes of railroad employees that happened 25 years ago or more, which are usually my favorite articles.
Just my two cents.
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Oh yeah!
Rich
I nominate the PCC car to your list.
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25 years is the generally accepted age to be termed a “classic” for most things according to American society. So yes, a 25 year old Chevrolet Cavalier would qualify for “Classic Car” license plates but society might frown upon the designation.
It grinds my gears to see a late 90’s Honda Civic daily beater running around on my states ‘Historic’ tags. One thing about the Historic tags, they are not SUPPOSED to be used on daily drivers. Historic tags are cheaper than regular tags and excuse the requirement for emissions testing. At the time my Triumph TR7 migrated to Historic it was having trouble with the testing because the gas cap would not seal to the tests satisfaction - exhaust pipe emissions were fine.
Amen to that.
Rich
“Extruded”???
Budd cars are ROLLED sheeting, Shotwelded to the stainless car structure. Toy-train IMITATIONS are extruded. 
In 'Tennessee, anything over 25 years out is called ‘antique’ – which really grinds my semantic gears – and you pay something like $12.50 to register it forever. (This in a state which has just taken its yearly ‘wheel tax’ to $80 for ordinary cars – $120 for commercial vehicles, which is anything registered with the name of a business on it. You can get cheaper ‘special interest vehicle’ insurance, too – which presumes, as does the State, that the thing will only be driven on weekends… and to and from a shop or other facility for maintenance. I drive Jaguar Sovereigns. I’m always findina a need to to for parts, or adjustments, or to find someone with a 12-ton press, or whatever. Next I’ll be needing one of those rotisserie engine stands…