posted
Reading Silver Star's post reminds me that there are quite a few current Amtrak routes or portions of roots I've never been on. Here are mine; how about you?
Heartland Flyer: never been on it
Missouri trains between KC and St Louis: never been on them
North Carolina trains: never been west of Raleigh to wherever the local trains meet the Crescent route
MI trains: never been on the Blue Water east of East Lansing; never been on the Pere Marquette or the Wolverine east/north or wherever these trains leave the Blue Water route
Illinois trains: never been on IL routes other than those taken by CA Zephyr, SW Chief, Empire Builder/Hiawatha, Lakeshore Ltd, Capital Ltd, Blue Water, City of New Orleans, and Texas Eagle (though I did once take local IL trains to Springfield IL on the last of these routes)
Sunset Ltd/Texas Eagle: never been on the portion between New Orleans (formerly FL!) and San Antonio
Crescent: never been on the portion between Atlanta and New Orleans
Cardinal/Hoosier State: Never been west of Indianapolis
CA trains: never been on the Capital Corridor nor on the Coast Starlight south/west of Sacramento (though I think I was on part of these routes when I took the CA Zephyr all the way to Emeryville, when I took the San Joaquin from Emeryville to Hanford, and/or when I took Pacific Surfliners from SLO south, eventually to San Diego); never been on the San Joaquin south of Hanford
ACELA/NEC/Virginia trains: never been east of Main Street Richmond Sta
Empire Service/Maple Leaf: never been north of wherever these trains turn off the Lakeshore Ltd route (hope to remedy that soon)
Ethan Allen: never been east of wherever this train turns off the Adirondack route toward Vermont
Vermonter: never been north of Springfield MA (hope to remedy soon) and was only on Vermonter itself as far as Hartford CT (I took a shuttle train between Hartford & Springfield)
In addition, there are some routes I've done only in one direction. For instance, I've only taken the Downeaster south; I've only taken the Sunset Ltd east (from LA or from Tucson to San Antonio); I've only taken the Coast Starlight south between Seattle and Portland; I've only take the Empire Builder east between Portland and Spokane; I've only taken the Blue Water west (from E Lansing to Chicago); I've only taken the Vermonter north (between NYC and Hartford); I've only taken the Boston spur of the Lakeshore Ltd west (from Boston South to Albany NY) . . .
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I have been on most of the existing AMTRAK routes, although maybe on previously-existing trains which are not running any more. The only existing route segments I have not been on are:
Galesburg-Quincy Sacramento-Stockton Portland(ME)-Boston Chicago-Grand Rapids Richmond-Newport News West Palm Beach-Miami
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
There are quite a few day trains I've never been on so I won't bother listing those. Instead, I've not been on: - Coast Starlight between LA and Emeryville - Empire Builder between Spokane and Portland, OR - Silver Star - Silver Meteor between Orlando and Miami - Lake Shore Limited between Albany and Boston
Wasn't there a third Silver Service train in the mid 1990s?
To be fair, my nearest Amtrak station is 3000 miles away.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Three routes over which Amtrak service is offered today I've never traveled are 1) Portland-Spokane, 2) Galesburg-Quincy, and 3) Oakland-San Jose.
Much of my travels were of course pre-Amtrak.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Great thread idea Sojourner - and I had been glancing at the Amtrak map just yesterday trying to determine where my missing links in the current Amtrak system are -
Here Goes - from left to right on the map
1) The San Joaquins - Martinez or Sacramento to Bakersfield.
2) The Illinois Zephyr/Mark Twain - between Galesburg and Quincy.
3) The Pere Marquette - Porter, IN to Grand Rapids.
4) Wolverine Service - between Detroit and Pontiac.
5) Ethan Allen - between Rutland and where it joins the Adirondack route.
6) The Downeasters - I have never set foot in Boston North Station, let alone ride a train to Maine. For that matter, Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii remain the only states I have never entered.
I'll add that I had the opportunity to ride a number of Amtrak trains which no longer exist and current trains on previous routings. In many cases the tracks I rode no longer exist. There is one train missing from my list that I never rode and lament it as the 'one that got away'.... that one would be the Desert Wind.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I have only been on the Chief, Zephyr, Surfliner and Empire Builder (CHI-Portland) of the current routes. I was on the Desert Wind and National Limited (Missouri only) before they went away.
GBN, I strongly urge you to try Portland-Spokane in the summer. To me it rivals the best of the Zephyr. Unless of course you feel if you have seen one gigantic river gorge through a major mountain range, you've seen them all (not to mention the year-around snow-covered peaks).
A round trip PDX-Glacier with a Red Bus stroll through the park would be nice.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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In my next life, I want to drive a red jammer bus at Glacier National Park.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Mr. Twin Star, I have however ridden the City of Portland, so I have some "feel" for the scenery to be viewed. "If you've seen one....' is definitely stowed when addressing a ride along the Columbia (shouldn't that really be the name of our continent?).
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
When composing my message about preparing to ride my final missing segments, I never imagined that Quincy-Galesburg would be missing from so many others' personal route maps. It makes sense as, like the Pere Marquette, it requires an overnight at the end of the line plus it messes things up when traveling on Guest Rewards points or a through fare unless you aren't going beyond Chicago. I managed to ride the PM back when Amtrak sold the USA Rail Pass and it turned into a fiasco as I was to connect off the PM to a train bound for Detroit back when there weren't later ones in the day. We held outside the Hammond-Whiting station and watched it slide by to the disgust of our conductor. It's interesting how various routes have changed through the years...for example the Coast Starlight used to diverge at Davis, missing Sacramento. The Capitols actually use a different line from the Starlight between Oakland and San Jose. The Builder used to run on a different line from Minneapolis to Fargo as well as on the NP line via Pasco and Yakima.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I have been on every Amtrak LD route since I began riding twenty years ago. The one that got away for me was the Pioneer. I was planning a trip in 1998,but it was already gone. I did ride on the Sunset all the way to Fort Lauderdale(when they went that far) and I did ride on the Desert Wind right before their demise. Having that train station at the Plaza hotel in Las Vegas was great.
I am still missing a few of the midwestern routes in Illinois and Michigan and I have never ridden the Vermonter. I ve always wanted to ride up to Port Kent,take the ferry into Burlington and ride back to New York through Vermont..maybe this Summer.
Posts: 176 | From: Bloomsburg Pa | Registered: Jul 2000
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Thanks, Mr. Notelvis for jogging my memory -- I too have also never ridden these routes:
Rutland-Fort Edward (Ethan Allen Express) Detroit-Pontiac
And, for those who are curious, the Pere Marquette leaves the route of the other Michigan trains at Porter, Indiana.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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I'm glad I got to ride the following Amtrak trains before they were dumped: Mountaineer Floridian Pioneer Desert Wind Gulf Breeze Sunset Limted east of NOL Texas Eagle Houston section
Fortunately I also got to ride the following segments that Amtrak long ago left: Jacksonville-Ocala-Lakeland (and before that the direct line to Auburndale which was abandoned) Tampa-St. Petersburg Richmond-Charlottesville Memphis-Jackson via Grenada Seattle-Yakima-Pasco Ogden-Denver via Laramie Minneapolis-Fargo southern route Montreal-St. Albans Pittsburgh-Hammond-Whiting via Ft. Wayne Pittsburgh-Hammond via Youngstown
There are other smaller routes such as the Sunset line via Phoenix or muliple Cardinal routes across Indiana too numerous to detail now.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I second the recommendation that those of you who haven't done the Empire Builder between Spokane and Portland try to do so soon. And be sure to do it in the light!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I managed some of these...... I've added an asterisk to those that I can also claim -
quote:Originally posted by SilverStar092: I'm glad I got to ride the following Amtrak trains before they were dumped: Mountaineer *Floridian *Pioneer Desert Wind Gulf Breeze *Sunset Limted east of NOL Texas Eagle Houston section
Fortunately I also got to ride the following segments that Amtrak long ago left: *Jacksonville-Ocala-Lakeland (and before that the direct line to Auburndale which was abandoned) Tampa-St. Petersburg Richmond-Charlottesville *Memphis-Jackson via Grenada Seattle-Yakima-Pasco *Ogden-Denver via Laramie Minneapolis-Fargo southern route *Montreal-St. Albans *Pittsburgh-Hammond-Whiting via Ft. Wayne *Pittsburgh-Hammond via Youngstown
Here are two others I got which you may have gotten but neglected to mention -
Raleigh-Petersburg, VA via the direct SAL RR Washington-Cincinnati via the B&O (Cumberland,MD - Parkersburg, WV)
There are other smaller routes such as the Sunset line via Phoenix or muliple Cardinal routes across Indiana too numerous to detail now.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I'm with ya Elvis...rode Raleigh-Petersburg many times on the Silver Star and loved that line. Regrettably I never got to ride to Parkersburg or farther west. I also wish I could have riden the old National Limited to St. Louis.
Posts: 561 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I have ridden on the following AMTRAK trains before they were dumped:
North Coast Hiawatha National Ltd Shenandoah Metroliners Desert Wind Pioneer Sunset East Montrealer old Empire Builder route via Yakima and Ellensburg old Cardinal route via Muncie and Marion Texas Chief old CZ route through Wyoming
and there may be others......
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Though I don't remember it, dates indicate that I traveled on the Memphis-Jackson segment through Grenada. Nowadays the City of New Orleans travels via Yazoo City - which I've also been on.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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At the risk of saying "If you've seen one kudzu vine, you've seen them all." I've found very little to distinguish one City of New Orleans routing through Mississippi from the other. The current CONO route bypasses Canton and the site of the infamous wreck that killed Casey Jones but that's about it.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Add to my list of trains which I have been on which AMTRAK has dumped or changed:
Broadway Ltd old CONO route through Grenada
Notelevis, I disagree with you on the difference between the two Mississippi routes of the CONO -- on the current route, you pass through what is traditionally known as the "Mississippi Delta" (although geologically is really isn't a delta at all, but a large wide flood plain!) -- you pass through a lot more cotton fields and small decrepit old farming towns.
("It was the 3rd of June, another sleepy dusty Delta day.....")
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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You're correct........ I just wanted to insure that Mr. GBN, our resident video DJ, would have an opportunity to ring in again!!!!
Personally, I find the ride through the Carolinas.....what you can see by daylight anyway.... significantly different (and more interesting) on the old SAL through Hamlet and Southern Pines as opposed to the old ACL through Fayetteville and Florence.
However.... I prefer the ride MOVING as opposed to stop and go all afternoon as too often happens (due to the downsizing of capacity in the early CSX era) between Rocky Mount and Petersburg, VA!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Thinking about the Floridian, there were a number of route variations for that train too.
It was on the Monon through Lafayette, Bloomington, and Bedford when I rode it. Later I got a couple of roundtrips on the former Pennsy between Louisville and Indianapolis on the short-lived Kentucky Cardinal.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Again, thanks for the video clip, Gil!! The CONO actually crosses the Tallahatchie River at least 2 or 3 times on its route through the Delta.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Well, the only *current* Amtrak route I lack is Sacramento to Stockton. I'll have to try for it (plus the Altamont Commuter Express) next I'm in NoCal on business.
The list of routes I rode pre-Amtrak, or that Amtrak has since dropped, would be wearisomely long, so I'll mention former Amtrak trains I never did ride (and am sorry about). THey include;
1) Mountaineer Russell, KY to Norfolk 2) Floridian (on any of its various Indiana re-routes) 3) Texas Eagle 4) North Coast Hiawatha
The 1979 discontinuances taught me a lesson -- when Amtrak starts running it, go grab a ride. I nailed both the Pioneer and Desert Wind in that fashion. I did also manage to ride overnight from Cumberland, MD to Cincinnati on the railroad that's now mostly a bikepath. And of course I rode the Broadway multiple times, and also the Silver Star from Petersburg to Raleigh.
I count mileage, not what kind of train I rode, so I have subsequently ridden the entire N&W Norfolk to Cincinnati (although not all at one time), plus a great deal of "freight only" trackage (Tennessee Pass, anyone?) and trackage covered by regular passenger service prior to Amtrak.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Wife and I have not been on the Heartland Flyer or Missouri River Runner: any Michigan trains; the Sunset between New Orleans and San Antonio; Silver Trains to Florida; The Vermonter; Downeaster; Lake Shore Ltd from Albany to Boston; Adirondack; Cardinal east of Indianapolis; NEC trains north of New York City; Empire Service; any local Illinois trains (although have been on SW Chief, Texas Eagle and CZ that follow most of those routes).
Most of our trips have been in the West and want to start riding the eastern routes that would fulfill most of the above mentioned missed trains.
Posts: 87 | From: Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Railroad Bill: Wife and I have not been on the Heartland Flyer or Missouri River Runner: any Michigan trains; the Sunset between New Orleans and San Antonio; Silver Trains to Florida; The Vermonter; Downeaster; Lake Shore Ltd from Albany to Boston; Adirondack; Cardinal east of Indianapolis; NEC trains north of New York City; Empire Service; any local Illinois trains (although have been on SW Chief, Texas Eagle and CZ that follow most of those routes).
Most of our trips have been in the West and want to start riding the eastern routes that would fulfill most of the above mentioned missed trains.
I had the same issue but in reverse. At the time my wife and I were married, I had ridden some of many routes but my mileage seemed to curtail itself west of San Antonio, west of Albuquerque, etc.
My wife asked me why I had not ridden the western portion of most routes and I responded that it was a matter of having the time to get out there as doing such involved so many nights on the train each way.
She laughed and asked "Well why don't you fly to Albuquerque and take the train to Los Angeles from there?"
Took my wife, a good woman, to open my eyes to a possibility I had never before considered. Except for a few isolated segments which would mostly require an overnight layover off the train, I managed to close all the gaps on my map within the first two or three years after that conversation.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Like Geoff M, I am 3,000 miles from my nearest Amtrak station (what would that be? Something on the Downeaster line?)
The only line I've ridden east of Chicago is the Capitol from WAS (and the last 100 miles of that was by bus as a train derailed and the blocked the line ahead of us). I did the SL from Orlando - LAX just three months before the hurricane.
West of CHI I've done the EB from CHI - Portland and the CS/Surfliner from there to LAX; the SWC for its entire route and the CZ between Osceola and Reno.
Ironically, the route that put the idea of exploring the US by train was the Desert Wind, featured in Michael Palin's excellent travel documentary "Around the World in 80 Days". Sadly, when I came to plan my first trip a few years later, it was gone.
Routes I'd like to take - Texas Eagle and (when it returns in whatever format!) Las Vegas.
ps: I heard that some private consortium is planning a Vegas service - anybody know any more about it?
Posts: 395 | From: england | Registered: Sep 2002
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