posted
1) What Amtrak station is closest to Santa's Workshop in the Village of North Pole? WESTPORT, N.Y.
2) What two Amtrak train's numbers combined spell out the date Christmas falls on each year? Name the trains. METROLINER 122 CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR 5 (12/25)
3) Name a place along an Amtrak route that shares a name with one of Santa's reindeer. DONNER PASS
EXTRA CREDIT: Name a railroad location whose name is the sort of thing reindeers might do if they were in a panic. STAMPEDE PASS
What railroad originally owned the tracks at this location? NORTHERN PACIFIC RR
4) How many Santas of any type does Amtrak serve and/or pass through? You must list them. NINE DESTINATIONS, PLUS AMTRAK TRAINS ALSO PASS THROUGH A "SANTA" TUNNEL. HERE IS THE LIST: SANTA ANA, SANTA BARBARA, SANTA CLARA, SANTA CLARITA-NEWHALL, SANTA CRUZ, SANTA FE, SANTA MARIA, SANTA PAULA, SANTA ROSA, AND THE SANTA SUSANA TUNNEL BETWEEN CHATSWORTH, CA. AND SIMI VALLEY, CA.
5) How close to the Town of Nazareth could the three wise men ride on Amtrak? NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.
6) What is the last daily Amtrak train to arrive at the station closest to Christmas Island? SURFLINER 796
7) What Amtrak stations name's include the season to be jolly? WINTER PARK, CO; WINTER PARK, FL; AND WINTER HAVEN, FL
HAPPY HOLIDAZE!
David
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 12-28-2003).]
Amtrak288 Member # 1967
posted
1. Whitefish, Montana
2. 2 - Sunset Limited 5 - California Zephyr
3. Donner Pass? No extra credit
4. Santa Ana, CA Santa Barbara, CA Santa Clara, CA Santa Clarita-Newhall, CA Santa Cruz, CA Santa Fe, NM (Close to it anyway) Santa Maria, CA Santa Paula, CA Santa Rosa, CA
5. Good Luck on that one...
6. Ditto...
7. Winter Park-Fraser, CO Winter Park, FL
dnsommer Member # 2825
posted
Difficult questions, no doubt! But you got #7 completely right, and much of numbers #2, #3 and #4 too.
1) Go further east. And it's a real place with its own zip code.
2) Month and day answers this one. Four digits. You're on the right track. In fact, #5, the California Zephyr, is part of the answer. You may also use trains which no longer run to do it, but not necessarily.
3) Donner Pass is correct. Donner also is one of Santa's reindeers. The extra credit question also regards a mountain pass.
4) A hint on this one is the word, "through."
5) This place also has a zip code.
6) Once you figure out where the island is, all you'll need is a timetable to answer this one.
7) Winter Park and Winter Haven are correct!
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 12-24-2003).]
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 12-24-2003).]
piedpiper13 Member # 2473
posted
#5 - how about 70miles Philly to Nazareth PA? #6 - is tough - if you count midnite as the start of the next day answer would be #784 to San Diego - but if not midnite than it would be #796 extra credit has me stumped!
------------------ "My other car and my plane is AMTRAK!" - Bob
CoastStarlight99 Member # 2734
posted
AMTRAK doesnt go to Santa Cruz!, Amtrak288
I was there over the summer all they had was freight trains going through every couple of hours.
dnsommer Member # 2825
posted
Piedpiper, as far as #5 and Nazareth goes, you're on the right track. But the wise men could get even closer to Nazareth by Amtrak than Philly! But then again, as an after thought, I realized they probably would be more interested in going to Bethlehem itself, which is nearby.
Surfliner 796 is the correct answer to #6.
Santa Cruz is in the timetable, albeit with bus service only, but the question says "How many Santas of any type." The trains don't have to stop for a Santa to count. You got almost everything. Think of the word "through."
Unless things have changed, in addition to freight trains, there's also a tourist train from the boardwalk in Santa Cruz up to Roaring Camp in Felton I believe.
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 12-24-2003).]
Kairho Member # 1567
posted
1. Which North Pole. I know of at least 3... You are probably looking for the one in New York.
5. Trenton is closer to Nazareth than is Philadelphia. One of the adjacent stations may be a bit closer, though.
6. Same. which Christmas Island? I know of 2. Christmas Island south of Hawaii is probably closest to Santa Barbara and Christmas Isl. Australia probably Seattle (both on a rough great circle route). Looking up the last daily train is left to the reader.
7. Don't forget Winter Haven, Florida.
More extra credit:
A. Which Amtrak station(s) are closest to Christmas?
B. How many Amtrak trains are rolling (scheduled) at 12:01 AM on Christmas?
C. Which car (speaking loosely) is most fun to open on Christmas morning?
D. Which Amtrak station will first see Christmas?
E. Which Amtrak station(s) are closest to God?
F. How many Amtrak stations featured a Santa Claus the past few weeks?
[This message has been edited by Kairho (edited 12-24-2003).]
zephyr Member # 1651
posted
Kairo's Extra Credit E (which station is closest to God?): Ans. The Chico (CA) Amtrak station is about 14 miles from Paradise.
[This message has been edited by zephyr (edited 12-24-2003).]
dnsommer Member # 2825
posted
Kairho,
Great job on #2! You cracked the code! And you one-upped me too! I overlooked a European date format. You're absolutely right!
1) Do all three Villages of North Pole have a Santa's Workshop too? I they do, then there is more than one answer to my question. Your hunch is correct, however. Are there others?
6) I was thinking of Christmas Island south of Hawaii, the one that preceeds Easter Island. Captain Cook's Christmas Island, to be specific. Do you think Santa Barbara would be closest?
7) Winter Haven is correct, and I did forget it!
Now your questions:
A) Winter Park appears to be the closest station to Christmas, FL. If not, it's Orlando.
B) No answer (yet)
C) a box car
D) Portland, ME
E) I think you mean which station is at the highest elevation. Good question. Need to do a little research on this one too!
F) How could we know? I'm interested to see how you answer this one!
PS - Did you know the first regularly scheduled passenger train in America began operating on a Christmas Day? Anybody know when and where?
It's after midnite here. No sign of the man in red.
Dave
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 12-25-2003).]
TwinStarRocket Member # 2142
posted
E) Since they announced on the CZ once that the Moffat Tunnel "was the highest you could legally get on an Amtrak train", and the base elevation at Winter Park Ski Area (trackside) is 9,000 ft, I am going to guess the highest station is just down the hill at Fraser-Winter Park, CO.
posted 
#6 - is tough - if you count midnite as the start of the next day answer would be #784 to San Diego - but if not midnite than it would be #796 
extra credit has me stumped!