I looked at the trains I would be taking...Southwest Chief and Lake Shore Limited..by the way how are they? And well I was looking at pictures on different sites at the different scenery you would see and it kinda of worried me a little, when I saw how it looks like the train is on the edge of cliffs, like Raton Pass and then when it gets by water, like when the train crosses over the Mighty Mississippi River, over the bridge, is the bridge that scary or is it just me? It looks really close to the water and it holds the train?? Also when I was looking at Lake Shore Limited route, I saw how close it is to the water, once you get past Illinois.. how is that?

US Passenger car & light truck occupants -- 41740
US Air Carriers and commuters -- 1162
US Railroad transit (not counting tresspassers) -- 204
Pipelines -- 7

Unless you want to take a pipeline . . . stop obcessing and just get aboard!

The 2000 equivalent number is 226.

According to the statistics mentioned above, there were actually only 3 fatalities among intercity (in other words, Amtrak) passengers in 2001.

Keep in mind that the yearly accident figures would include the following:

A) geniuses who slammed into posts or other hard objects while leaning out of open vestibule doors on moving trains.

B) passengers who fatally attempted to cross the tracks at busy stations.

C) other assorted Einsteins.

The rest of the numbers quoted in the chart were from trespassing, employee accidents (including those on freight railroads), and subway and commuter rail fatalities (people falling off platforms during rush hour, etc.)

So go ahead and take your Amtrak trip. You'll be fine.

Moreover, today's American railcars are built to the highest crashworthiness standards in the transportation industry. They don't crumple up like a car in a rollover, nor do they disintigrate into a million pieces like a plane does on impact with the ground. On rare occasions when derailments occur Amtrak cars remain intact, and most people walk away unharmed.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

Dave

quote:

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Originally posted by Midnight Sky:
I hear things like what happened on that bridge in Alabama. ??

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Midnight Sky, that was a freak accident in Sept. '93, when barges broke loose and knocked a bridge out of alignment. Statistically unlikely to happen again.

Your train trip will be safer than whatever mode you use to get from your house to the station.

Amtrak288, at night is even scarier! And I'm female.

The Bayou Canot incident during 1993 that you note was actually caused by the barges under tow (actually push) hitting the CSX bridge. The Captain should have simply tied up (no different than Huck Finn) until the fog lifted.

To my knowledge, no negligence was attributed to CSX or Amtrak; it was, as you note, a 'freak" incident (probasly unintentional, therefore an accident).

Regarding your reference to Raton Pass, Ms. Sky, I hope you did not take the David Baldacci book "The Christmas Train" too seriously. In fact I hope you didn't read it, as one with lifetime rail mileage of at least 200K, I thought it was a waste of my time and $$$$.

Lastly, I hope we have been of help around here; we are definitely cheaper than 50 minutes with Dr. Melfi.

Midnight Sky, nothing in this post is meant to offend, however......

First, we shall all die. None of us will survive, physically.

Second, we all get through life as best as we can.

Third, it does absolutely no good attempting to worry about something we have no control over.

Fourth, we diminish our lives by needlessly worrying about 'what ifs'.

Fifth, you have a far greater chance of dieing while traveling TO the Amtrak station, then riding on Amtrak.

Sixth, by worrying about 'what ifs', you miss out on the pleasures you could be experiencing by ignoring the 'derailment worry'.

And last, when it is 'your time', it is your time. In the meantime, enjoy life and don't worry about the small stuff.....

Now I hear you guys when you say the train is safe, but I still just wanted to know about the bridges and passes, that's all.

Amtrak288, well I'm going on sites and looking at pictures, to help me get over my fear and in fact I'm getting my tickets tonight to make sure I have no choice but to get on the train.

Please, please, please tell me when you're riding the Lakeshore. I'll stop by and say hello.
The safest way to go. By a long shot. Not to mention being able to walk around, seeing the country as it really is, being kinder to the environment, dot dot dot.

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F40PH #757099-8
March 29, 1976-August 17, 2001
Best of the best, requisecat in pacis

P42DC #53063
Now only around 2.4 million miles to go

quote:

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Originally posted by Midnight Sky:
That's my fear..is the bridges and passes. I'm afarid of heights, but I'm more worried about how close the train is to the edge of the passes, but mainly can the two bridges I have to go over..one over the Mighty Mississippi River and across the Missouri River, can they hold the train?

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I read two separate issues here. 1) fear of heights, and 2) fear of a structural failure.

For the first, I think you're worried about getting dizzy when looking out of the train window and seeing a dropoff. I can relate to this, as I experience much the same feeling in tall buildings, stairwells, etc. but I have never experienced such feelings on a train, even when runnning along steep hillsides or on the Lake Shasta bridge, which is probably much higher than the bridges you'll cross.

As for the second concern, Amtrak288 offered a most interesting technical explanation. But if that's too complex, just remember, these bridges have been supporting trains every day decade after decade. They're not going anywhere on the day you travel.

Relax, and don't give much credence to your imagination. Someone once said "Every man takes the limits of his own vision to be the limits of the world."

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

On Raton, there are no cliffs or steep drop-offs, just steep hills with double track and space to spare. A derailed car would probably just stay in place where it derailed. Any of the rare passenger train accidents involving fatalities were probably at much higher speeds than the speed over Raton Pass. If you don't already know, the top of the pass is a tunnel. The scariest part of that is, it's dark.

As for bridges, you are probably safer on a railroad bridge than any other bridge. As mentioned already in this post they are overbuilt and designed for much much more weight than a passenger train. The Mississippi bridge is a swing bridge - not high over the water.

Does anyone have any pictures of any of these bridges and/or passes or of the route itself or know of any more places that I can look at them??

Also could you guys tell me about the Lake Shore limited route..like what you would see?

BTW, you will cross hundreds of bridges, some of them small, most of them creek/bayou sized. You will be crossing a bridge at least every 30 minutes, and probably closer to every 10 minutes, while the train is moving. This is normal. It is usual. Don't sweat it.......

DMW..don't read then.

Ck..that's the feeling that I got when you started with the medications.

If you are in my post to help, like Amtrak288 and many others..great, but if not, then please do not post in the post because I'm not here to be criticize for my fear just because you guys/girls don't have it!

Thank You

P. S. I'm not the same person as Amtrak288. He named it after the train, I named it after the engine.

Scenery? My friend and I have an ongoing competition when we take a train somewhere. He counts the number of self-storage places and I count junkyards. It's always a battle!

As far as scenery goes on the LSL, you will begin going through South Chicago and the South Bend area which is full of industry and steel mills which don't smell very good. Next you move into the gently rolling farmland of northern Indiana (sometimes quite flat for the east) and you stay that way through Ohio, which will be after dark. Around sunrise, you'll probably be between Erie, Pennsylvania and buf-lo where the rail lines run near the shore of Lake Erie for a long stretch. I try to watch toward the lake shore as much as I watch inland. Next you go through the beautiful sections of south buf-lo, stop at Depew, and move on through upstate New York. Buffalo to Rochester is almost entirely farmland (beautiful Byron-Bergen, NY) but it's a nice change. After Rochester you follow the Erie Canal (and cross it a half a dozen times) from milepost 359 all the way to Syracuse. They do not take similar routes here because the canal can turn a lot easier, so sometimes it's right out the window and other times it's miles away. After Syracuse you head to Utica (I never remember this part) and after Utica you begin to skirt the Mohawk River valley all the way to Albany. There you cross the Hudson River and move on to either New York or Boston.

If you want, I can scan and send you a copy of Amtrak's old route guide for the Lakeshore and Southwest Chief. These are sorely-missed budget-restricted items last seen sometime in the early '90s. They provide a basic history and geographical narrative of the route followed by the trains.

There, it's shorter this time. I like your user name.

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F40PH #757099-8
March 29, 1976-August 17, 2001
Best of the best, requisecat in pacis

P42DC #53063
Now only around 2.4 million miles to go