Planes Trains and Automobiles

[RealAvalon]

The state/provincial govt's of Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia have announced a study to develop the Cascades service between Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver into a 200-mph high-speed service. Portland to Seattle down town to down town in an hour, Seattle to Vancouver in 75 minutes. Unfortunately, the existing Burlington Northern-Union Pacific track bed can't be improved to that standard, so a new route will be needed, and land acquisition cost will be in the billions. The cost of widening I-5 to handle the car and truck loads will also be in the billions, and the air shuttles are feeding into already overburdened airports, so no matter what, money will need to be spent. Rail is by far the least ecologically destructive transport, but government needs the taxpayers to learn to give up their cars

Estimates are in the $30 billion range I think. Anyone travelled from either Washington DC or Atlanta down to Florida? Looks circuitous with lengthy stop over/train changes.

Edited August 5, 2019 by RealAvalon

[DR FREUD]

I went from Boston to Orlando and only train change was in NYC when boarding Amtrak. This trip was bucket list and enjoyed but would not do it again. The Amtrak cars were in very bad shape and the ticket was expensive. 32 hour trip with no stop over but a few delays on the tracks.

[SirBillybob]

AVE service BCN-Madrid 6x the speed of Amtrak Adirondawdle Montreal-NYC ... 6!!! A mountain of difference.

[RealAvalon]

AVE service BCN-Madrid 6x the speed of Amtrak Adirondawdle Montreal-NYC ... 6!!! A mountain of difference.

It's a very pretty route, and not a very far distance, so I didn't mind the dawdle. Only thing it lacked was I didn't happen to accidentally bump into @VictorPowers for a Gremlin update

Edited July 21, 2019 by RealAvalon

[SirBillybob]

Due to Escort expenditures I can but afford vintage 1-buck AMC factory postcards. If win lottery, would spring for the classy sleek Ambassador sedan, a Gremlin with shmooshed ass banged out.

[RealAvalon]

Gotta be so obvious? Lol! As a country we focused our efforts an a highway network and not rail. It’s evident and unfortunately there will only be minor improvements in our system.

Less about transportation and more about the journey, this is a train trip I've got planned for end of 2019, or mid-2020. It's in Northern Mexico, and I've just heard stunning things about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Canyon

Not the best cinematography but you kind of get the idea:

Any escorts been taken on a train trip before? It's probably a spectacular trip for a motor bike.

Edited August 5, 2019 by RealAvalon

[mike carey]

Less about transportation and more about the journey, this is a train trip I've got planned for end of 2019, or mid-2020. It's in Northern Mexico, and I've just heard stunning things about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Canyon

Not the best cinematography but you kind of get the idea:

Any escorts been taken on a train trip before?

@VictorPowers if you're on the train, you can give me a Gremlin update. Although, it's probably a spectacular trip for your motor bike.

It's a great trip. When I did it, it was an early departure from Chihuahua and a late arrival in the evening at Los Mochis. Copper Canyon itself is spectacular, but so is the descent to the Pacific coast from altitude.

[+ JEC]

I have had good luck with Boston to New York (about 4 hours) unless you use the Acela which is more expensive. The Boston to DC was too long

 

Agree Boston to NYC is very doable on the train. 4 hours regular, 3 hours Acela.

NYC to DC is same, 3 and 4 hours. So, each hop is doable if you are visiting all 3 cities.

Another Boston-NYC option is the LimoLiner which is a "first class" bus (big leather seats, Wifi, steward/ess service, etc) also about 4 hours - most business travelers, none of the "dollar bus" crowd here

 

For my Boston friends, NYC connections are doable as a day trip - leave 6AM arrive 1020 have "lunch" catch the 2pm and home for dinner. Requires your provider to host, or you can get a short-term room on dayuse.com. If you are good at time management you can also squeeze in an actual lunch.....

[+ oldNbusted]

I always wanted to take a train trip around the perimeter of the country, but it seems unlikely.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Big News! Amtrak launching nonstop service DC to NYC on Acela. This is long overdue.

 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Amtrak-Launch-Nonstop-Service-Between-New-York-City-Washington-DC-513192421.html

[mike carey]

Big News! Amtrak launching nonstop service DC to NYC on Acela. This is long overdue.

 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Amtrak-Launch-Nonstop-Service-Between-New-York-City-Washington-DC-513192421.html

Does it make that much difference? I travelled between NYC and DC several times when I was last there and couldn't justify business class on the regular service, much less using the Acela. When you factor in travel to airports and security etc, Amtrak is most likely quicker. That said, I'm sure there will be a demand for it.

[RealAvalon]

Big News! Amtrak launching nonstop service DC to NYC on Acela. This is long overdue.

 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Amtrak-Launch-Nonstop-Service-Between-New-York-City-Washington-DC-513192421.html

I hope the trains are cleaner. That was one really dirty ride, last time I took it.

Edited September 17, 2019 by RealAvalon

[BasketBaller]

I'm fond of train travel, always have been. Everyone's right about Amttak's Northeast corridor being a good option for DC-NYC-Boston travel. But I splurged a bit this past year when I had the time and took The Capitol Limited from DC to Chicago and got a compartment in the sleeping car. Quite nice, beautiful scenery most of the way, and pretty good food in the dining car (meals are included with sleeping car tickets). You are seated with strangers, but between the meals and the lounge car I had some fun conversations A good trip.

 

BUT as others have said, thanks to freight trains having priority, we had to stop and wait a lot, and we were three hours late getting in. My son at DePaul was going to meet me at the station and I kept texting him our later and later ETA, So I wouldn't rely on thos long-distance trains if schedule is an issue.

[mike carey]

I'm a bit like you @BasketBaller, I like to catch a train if I have the option. That trip to Chicago sounds great, but the delays not so much. In big (in area) western countries like the US, Canada and Australia, there's a threshold when you probably need to start thinking of train travel as more like a cruise than a scheduled passenger service. When meals are included in the fare rather than being available to buy would seem to be an indicator of that (even though in the case of the Capitol Limited that's only for the sleeper fare). A long distance trip in North America is still on my list of things to do. I've done them here and in Russia.

[BasketBaller]

In big (in area) western countries like the US, Canada and Australia, there's a threshold when you probably need to start thinking of train travel as more like a cruise than a scheduled passenger service.

 

Quite right, the journey itself becomes the whole point.