Do you ever travel by train?

[Hepcat]

Well, pretty much everyday. but I drive them. Im an engineer so for the last 13 years Ive had the biggest train set in the world to play with. I work in bailey yard in North Platte Ne. One of the largest sorting yards in the world. Kinda loses its appeal after awhile though!

Neat! Union Pacific's Bailey yard is the largest railroad classification yard in the world. I just checked.

I take it therefore that you're not one of these railroad employees who is a model railroad enthusiast as well.

[Flower]

Hepcat!

Have you taken or do you plan to take the Port Stanley "Murder & Mystery" train? The Halloween Mystery train looks like great fun ...

http://www.pstr.on.ca/events.htm#mm

[frankenstein73]

Neat! Union Pacific's Bailey yard is the largest railroad classification yard in the world. I just checked.

I take it therefore that you're not one of these railroad employees who is a model railroad enthusiast as well.

You are absolutely correct! Its just a job to me. But it pays for my monster toy obsession. I just wish I didn't have to live in the cultural armpit of the united states. It is boring here!  I really want to go to a monster convention. They are all too far away. Im just going to have to plan a vacation around one.

[Hepcat]

Hepcat!

Have you taken or do you plan to take the Port Stanley "Murder & Mystery" train? The Halloween Mystery train looks like great fun ...

http://www.pstr.on.ca/events.htm#mm

Huh?! I'm the one they hire every year to terrorize the passengers!

[Hepcat]

Its just a job to me. But it pays for my monster toy obsession.

Interesting. The nephew Alex of a good buddy of mine in London was fascinated by trains when he was growing up which is not at all unusual in young boys. Most go on to other things in life though. Not Alex. After high school he went to a train engineer's school in Alberta, and then very shortly after graduation landed a job with Canadian Pacific Railways as a locomotive engineer running trains in Alberta. I was very impressed. That's big time and he was still in his early twenties!

Well guess what? That wasn't enough for Alex. I guess he wanted to be closer to home. Within a couple of years he landed a job with Canadian National Railways driving a train between Toronto and Sarnia, Ontario. He therefore now lives in Sarnia less than an hour's drive from where he grew up but has the job of his dreams!

[Hepcat]

Another noteworthy train trek I've taken is Ontario Northland Railway's Polar Bear Express which runs northward from Toronto up to Moosonee on the southern tip of James Bay:

[Haunted hearse]

I'm a huge fan of antiquated railroad equipment, and have taken the train they run to the Grand canyon.  They have a depot here in Wilson, and if I'm ever able to get to Orlando, that would be the way I'd be interested in traveling.

[Hepcat]

You mean Amtrak has a station in Wilson and you'd like to journey by train to Disney World in Orlando, Florida? Or is it the Orlando Magic or some other attraction in the area that draws you?

[Haunted hearse]

Actually, my daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, although Disney resort there is also a possibility.

[Sean]

Well, pretty much everyday. but I drive them. Im an engineer so for the last 13 years Ive had the biggest train set in the world to play with. I work in bailey yard in North Platte Ne. One of the largest sorting yards in the world. Kinda loses its appeal after awhile though!

That's awesome.  I catch a commuter train whenever I go into NYC.

[Hepcat]

Another noteworthy train trek I've taken is Ontario Northland Railway's Polar Bear Express which runs northward from Toronto up to Moosonee on the southern tip of James Bay:

So the Ontario government has just announced its intention to suspend Northlander train service between Toronto and Cochrane! I'm going to have to book a trip just for old time's sake before it happens.

[missdead13]

Ive been on the monorail at disneyland , and their reg. train that goes around the park, like a gazillion times in my life, considering I always hold an annual passport to that establishment of evil.
but,
as far as reg. train , Amtrak, YES. I have, and its lovely.
If it wasnt so time consuming, I would prefer it to flying.
I love how spacious it is ( i was in the first class car ), its practically like a lazy boy recliner.. sooo much diff. than a plane.
I love how you can watch all the scenery as youre passing by.
Its just amazing. I really love it.
Here is So.Cal, they have the Metrolink train. and that I dont love. Ive been on it once and I'll nvr do it again,
Id rather sit in traffic in my car, listening to music while stuck in gridlock... lol

[Hepcat]

The very best train I ever rode equipment wise was the VIA Turbo.  The Turbo operated between Montreal and Toronto in the 1968-82 period. I took it between Toronto and Montreal or vice-versa five or so times in 1981-82.

The Turbo is still the fastest production train ever produced in North America. The Turbo had achieved a top speed of 170.8 mph during trials in New Jersey and regularly hit 120 miles per hour in service between Montreal and Toronto. With stops at Dorval, Kingston, and Guildwood, the fastest scheduled Turbo only needed 3 hours and 59 minutes to travel the distance between downtown Montreal and downtown Toronto with an average speed including stops of 84 mph. It was also very durable with an availability rate of over 97% in the 1973-82 period.

Best of all was the interior. In those halcyon days I would always book first class, just because I could. Hey, I was young and proud(or conceited maybe?). Nonetheless, the cars were outfitted with huge leather seats into which one could sink back and just watch the world zoom past. Moreover, one could also sit on the top level in huge swivel leather chairs right behind the engineers so a fellow could watch the train hurtling down the track through the front window! It was an incredible delight.

[Scatter]

And painted beautifully in the colors of my Steelers/Tigercats!!

[Hepcat]

Not quite. The VIA Turbo was yellow with blue accents.