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Does anyone ever get the feeling, when you go to see a train arrive and depart, or to take pics of a train, that you really want to be on that train.
For me, its everytime I see the Eagle in STL.
Well its a good feeling
[This message has been edited by UncleBuck44 (edited 12-25-2003).]
Posts: 547 | From: St. Louis, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 2002
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Yep, even if it means jumping on board and paying a "penalty" markup for not buying a ticket in the station
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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me too, especially living in Omaha Nebraska! But then, living in Omaha, you get the feeling to leave even if it's on a Greyhound bus!! Merry Christmas. May Amtrak thrive in 2004!
Posts: 171 | Registered: May 2002
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Me too. One time I was on a berm next to the tracks taking photos of the Coast Starlight. I was up high enough to be level with the upper level windows. The train was going slow enough that I could see people's faces and interior furnishings inside. One passenger in the lounge waved at me. I resolved then and there to plan another train trip.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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When I was stationed in Germany, and still a bachelor, I used to spend Saturday mornings at the end of the platforms in Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof.
Just watched the trains come and go, make up and break up
Again, while a bachelor, my favorite pastime for an extended pass or short leave was to go to either Aschaffenburg or Frankfurt HBF, buy a GermanRail pass, and take the next train out in any direction, with my rucksack and a DB timetable.
John
[This message has been edited by PullmanCo (edited 12-24-2003).]
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When I used to work the Acela Express last spring, I always wanted to stay on the train to Boston instead of getting off at NY.
Posts: 49 | From: Drexel Hill, PA 19026 USA | Registered: Nov 2003
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Perhaps the most poignant "wish I was on that" time for me came when I was in the Navy. My ship was in transit to the Adriatic Sea, where we were to spend many months patrolling the coast of the former Yugoslavia--an assignment none of us were looking forward to. As we approached the Strait of Messina, the narrow body of water between Italy and Sicily, we were told by the harbor to slow in advance of crossing traffic. I stood on the port bridge wing, preparing to “shoot lights” (report the bearings of navigational aides on shore) through a telescopic alidade. About a thousand yards from the bow, I could just make out a large ferry trolling its way west across the strait. As I looked through the alidade, I could see the letters FS imprinted on the ferry’s stack.
Inside that vessel, I knew, was the boat train to Palermo.
Posts: 60 | From: Brooklyn, NY | Registered: May 2003
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I had two experiences in this life alluded to by Mr. JFB.
First was a passenger railcar ferry accross the Orrsund between Copenhagen and Stockholm circa 1971 and the Night Ferry from London to Paris circa 1979. The vessel for the Night Ferry was the SNCF "St Nazaire".
Quite an experience to have your car loaded aboard a ferry; where Mr. JFB notes, is the only place in the world today one can have that experience.
But, alas, the European highway lobby surely has the Strait of Messina in mind for a bridge or tunnel.
[This message has been edited by Gilbert B Norman (edited 12-26-2003).]
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I'm afraid your fears are well-founded, Mr Norman. Though the economics of it have proven messy of late, it's only a matter of time before the Messina Bridge is built. Sensibly, rail is to be included in the span.
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Every night at home I can hear the 2 toots of the westbound Empire Builder as it departs St.Paul. If I walk quickly when I hear the whistle, I can watch it from a bridge over the tracks, moving very slowly as it transfers onto the BNSF mainline.
In the dark I can see everyone settling in for the night in coach and sleepers, and the few late-nighters left in the lounge. They will watch the sunrise on the vast endless plains of North Dakota from their breakfast table. They will watch the sunset over the looming granite peaks of Glacier Park. They may get out to breath the incredibly fresh air at Havre and Whitefish. They will pass by countless snapshots of other people's lives in faraway places. They will get to know some of the people who are sharing their adventure.
I have never seen a train I didn't wish I was on. I even walk through the old Union Depot every day at work just because I know it used to be a train station. When I am driving through towns, if I stop to see one thing it will be the train station. Do you think I could confess this madness to anyone? No, just you. You understand.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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