I take the train all the time, Boston to NY. (This is a photo I took from the train window on a rainy morning... somewhere in Connecticut.)
Boston to
Lancaster is about my limit in terms of distance. In many ways, traveling by train a breeze compared to flying. No getting to the airport 1-2 hours before departure. No TSA. No angst over whether there will be room for my carry-on. No waiting for the FASTEN SEAT BELT sign to go off so I can pee.
Just drive to the station. Park. Board. And my car is waiting for me on the back end.
Having said that, I've had my share of lousy train experiences. The time a late train from NY was involved in what they euphemistically call a "trespasser strike"--some poor soul jumped in front of the train in the middle of nowhere. We were supposed to arrive at 11PM. Arrived at 3:30 AM. Another time an ice storm froze the train's doors shut. But usually the train gets you there without incident, more or less on time.
Are you a fan of trains or would you rather fly or drive? Anyone taken any memorable (good or bad) train trips?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So funny--I always feel as if I should put on my seat belt on a train, don't you? I adore trains, and would prefer them above all else if it doesn't take ridiculously long.
Once, when I was still afraid of flying, I trained from Boston to Chicago. That was a DUMBEST idea ever. It sounded very peaceful and relaxing, with
gorgeous scenery, but it was basically long and bumpy. And you are trapped. And it is difficult to sleep in those sleeper cars, cool as they seem, they are tiny and noisy and I always think someone is looking in the window when the train pulls into a station. (It's not like the Cary Grant car in North by Northwest. Not at all.)But! best of all is the quiet car. I am the president of the quiet car fan club. Jonathan would rather drive from Boston to New York, but I always love the train.
NO buses. I know, they aren't like they used to be. But I don't need to find out.
HALLIE: (I know, that's not the Cary Grant car in North by Northwest, but I couldn't resist.)
LUCY BURDETTE: I love trains too, except occasionally when they don't work.
To get to New York from CT, we take the Shoreline East train to New Haven, and the Metro North to Grand Central. Except...they are working on the Amtrak line in New England so there is only one track working. So if one little thing goes wrong, you sit and sit and sit. Or else lots of people are getting shuttled to the bus, so you sit there. Even worse. But when it's working, you skip the traffic and get the most marvelous scenery all along the coast.Oh and one other small issue. The bathrooms are well...unacceptable on the Metro North. So I try to go before I get on the train and then worry the rest of the way in. So silly.
RHYS BOWEN: I love trains in Europe. I love the way German and Swiss trains show arrival at 11:43 on the timetable and the train pulls in exactly at 11:43. And they are so smooth and fast. And I love the way they snake through the backstreets of a town so you find yourself peeking into rear windows and seeing life going on. I love falling asleep in one country and waking up in a different one.
In California there is only the Coastal Starlight that is supposed to be lovely but I have never tried, and local commute trains. I have taken the Acela between NY and DC many times. It's fast and efficient and much easier than flying but it does sway around a lot, as I found out the other day trying to walk with two cups of coffee.
HANK: Oh, I took that Coastal Starlight--from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara..no, mine was called the Pacific Shoreliner. It was amazing, gorgeous, fabulous, right along the shoreline of the Pacific! And double-decker!
HALLIE: The train I took in Florida from Fort Lauderdale Airport to Boca Raton was double-decker. Four dollars. Highly recommended.
JENN McKINLAY: Count me as a train lover! When I was at school in New Haven and my best friend was in Providence, we rode the train to visit each other all the time. We also hopped the train to Boston when we were in high school and then New York when we were in college. Fun, fun, fun!
We have the light rail here and it covers most of the Valley so when we go to a ballgame or the theater in downtown Phoenix, we catch the train at a stop in Tempe a few miles form our house and we're downtown in twenty minutes. The trains are clean and fast. No muss, no fuss, no parking issues!
INGRID THOFT: Looks like I’ll be the only one on the plane! When it comes to travel on the eastern seaboard, I completely understand the preference for trains; those short hop flights are plagued by delays. For me, though, planes
are the way to go. Admittedly, because I travel a lot on one particular airline (Alaska) I often get upgraded, which completely changes the travel experience. I think plane travel also appeals because it makes the world seem much smaller and more manageable. Living on the west coast, I like to imagine that my family isn’t really that far away on the east coast and traveling by plane allows me to foster this fantasy. And the places you can go in a short amount of time! Hawaii is only a short six hours from Seattle versus a month on a boat! You can’t beat that!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It really does depend on what part of the country you're living in, Ingrid. Up here in New England, the train is a natural - It's literally the only way I go to NYC. QUIET CAR 4 LYFE! That being said, I've taken a few LONG train trips and they do seem to go on forever in this country. I can't figure out if its because they do trains so much better in Europe, or because the US is simply so darn big. I would definitely opt to go with you via plane for any destination more than, say, and eight hour train ride away. Also, I'm so sad to hear the sleeping car doesn't feel like North By Northwest! I've always thought sleeping on a train sounded so romantic. Guess I'll have to save that for my dream Venice-Simplon Orient Express trip.DEBORAH CROMBIE: I love trains, especially in Britain and Europe, but they are few in my part of the country. There is a proposal for a high speed train from Dallas to Houston, so keeping fingers crossed for that. The drive takes four to five hours, depending on traffic, and although the flight is under an hour, by the time you add drives to airports and waiting times, flying can take even
longer and it us such a pain.I have made a couple of epic US train journeys, however. When my daughter was little we took Amtrak from Dallas to LA to San Francisco (the Coastal Starlight really is something everyone should do) and back. We made another trip from Dallas to Chicago to Toronto, but that one was not nearly as memorable.
The bad thing for me is that I can't read on a train--the rocking gives me motion-sickness, and can even give me vertigo after a while. So no reading also means no working. Boo. But lots of naps and scenery watching does have its appeal!
HALLIE: So what'll it be for you (assuming you have options): train, plane, or automobile? Has anyone taken the bus/Limoliner?
