[jebartle]

We would love to hear from anyone that has made this trip by train...

[Villages PL]

My parents traveled from CT to CA by train in 1969. If I remember correctly, they said there was an upper deck with lots of glass for viewing the countryside.

[John_W]

I've ridden the Autotrain 3 times since 2011, that's from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Va. That's just south of DC, it's was enjoyable except the last time, our train hit two people on the tracks just an hour from arriving at Sanford. Our train sat for six hours until we could get back underway.

The most memorable train ride was in May 1969, a trip that changed my life. I was studying restaurant management at St. Petersburg Jr. College. An older cousin of mine had opened the first sub shop on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland in the early 60's "Billy's Famous Subs". He said, come on up this summer and get some experience working at my place.

When school let out in May, I took the train from St. Pete to Baltimore. I went to the lounge car a couple of hours into the ride and when I went back to my seat, a young woman and her baby were in my seat. I went back to the lounge car and spent the whole 25 hour trip there, not sleeping. Several GI's were onboard all in uniform and swapping stories and it really seemed like a neat adventure being in the military.

When summer ended and my 4 months of making subs were over, I found I really didn't like the restaurant business. I was happy a couple of years earlier when my draft lottery number of 265 was announced, meaning I wouldn't be drafted. When I got home, I quit college and enlisted in the Army.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

The best one for us was from Fairbanks AK to Anchorage. It was three days and two nights stopping at Denali National Park and MT McKinley. The seating was up high with glass all around and below was the dining car. Nights were spent at loge type hotels. After that we cruised the inside passage down to Vancouver.

[marianne237]

Chicago to Colorado to go on a ski trip with my ski club...1965. Rode the upper lounge cars most of the way in order to see the scenery.

[Edjkoz]

Union Pacific 1963 Philadelphia to Los Angeles via Chicago, amazing

[JerryP]

Originally Posted by Ecuadog

As a kid, it was a treat to ride the open air subway cars (bars across the open windows) on the Myrtle Avenue elevated line through Brooklyn in the summer.

Wow, would have loved riding that train, my daily high school ride was from Crescent Street to 168 Street.

[railroadman]

Blue Ridge Mountains - Asheville, NC - Pulling a freight train, when the leaves change in October.

[Bayougal]

Amtrak Cascades from Seattle to Vancouver ......beautiful ride with snow lightly falling provided wonderful scenery.

[The20Percent]

My favorite was the glass dome train from Lucerne Switzerland to Grindelwald, switching trains and traveling again by train up the side of a mountain for an extremely scenic stay in the car-less village of Wengen in the swiss alps (Jungfrau region). After a few days in Wengen and Murren we continued by train to Montreux on Lake Geneva and then on to Paris from there.

A close second is the glass dome train from Anchorage Alaska to Denali and on to Fairbanks.

A close third is the narrow gauge railroad in Skagway Alaska that goes up into the mountains of the famous gold rush and all the way into the Yukon Territory of Canada.

I also enjoyed the Eurostar from London to Paris via the chunnel and actually the Reno to Chicago route of the Amtrak was scenic, with the colorado journey being the most scenic.

[mgjim]

Originally Posted by tomwed

How long did that take? Was this recently?

It was less than a day each way...maybe 18 hours or so. It was in the late '80's.

[keithgerri]

My two best trips were riding the Amtrak Empire Builder from Shelby ,Mt to Spokane with our son who is a conductor for Amtrak. Beautiful ride through Glacier. Second was the train from Seoul , Korea to Teagu while I was stationed in Korea to pick up the family.

[patfla06]

The train ride from Florence to Venice in Sept. 2011.
Seeing Venice for the first time was amazing.
Rome to Florence was a great trip too.

[kellyjam]

[QUOTE=mscanalizo;928304]Hi, This has nothing to do with a train ride. However, I noticed that you lived in The Bronx as well as Hampton Bays. So did I. Grew up in The Bronx and left in 1964. I lived in Hampton Bays between 1974 and 1998. My children went to school there and I miss it to this day. Have a good day.

I was born in The Bronx and lived on Castle Hill Ave and then later in Throggs Neck untill 1975. Whenever anyone asked where I lived I would say "I live in ''''''''''' but I come from The Bronx". We still live half the year in Hampton Bays where we have been since 1997 and it is currently 79 and sunny. I have all the windows open. We have both a Bronx Club and a Long Island Club in TV. The Bronx club meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Canal St Rec Center at 6:30 and the Long Island Club, which has over 400 members, meets at The Eisenhower Center on the first Tuesday of the month. Why don't you come by, we would love to have you.

[mtdjed]

We have taken the Autotrain many times and I would not classify it as enjoyable. My term of endearment would be tolerable. Our latest trip was June of this year from Sanford Florida to Lorton Virginia. We take it as a convenience on our way to Boston MA. The drive to Sanford is just over an hour. You have to be at the station not much later than 2PM. The train leaves at 4PM and arrives at Lorton around 9AM the next day. You then have to wait an hour or so to get your car and then brave the traffic of DC.

We normally reserve Lower Level Coach. There is less sway and no walkby passengers and only about 12 seats. We tried mini roomettes and found them more expensive by around $200. For coach, price can vary significantly. Going north in late june 2014 , price was less than $400 for 2 plus car. Coming back in early Aug was about $800. We chose to drive. Plan far ahead for best price and check alternate dates.

Dinner and breakfast are provided but the quality is getting worse. I ordered fish and it was like cardboard and my wife had pasta which looked and tasted like a frozen meal. Wine used to be provided at dinner gratis but now is at a price.

Also the train has a lot of slow time when it must wait for track access which I think is CSX. In my opinion, a convenience at $400 and above that I prefer to drive.