Comments on: The Quick 10: 10 Famous Trains

By: grover

grover — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:04:00 +0000

How about the Empire State Express?

It was the first manmade vehicle to break 100mph, back in 1895. Even Henry Ford commemorated it, with a line of racing cars a few years later.

It was timed by the famous American watchmaker Webb C. Ball, and was the first transport that made it possible to get from NYC to Chicago in one day. Crazy to think how much has changed in a century!

By: MonkeyHawk

MonkeyHawk — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0000

When I was a kid my Dad was the local official Santa Fe Doctor. It meant he had a free pass anywhere on the line and could get discounts for family members.

We traveled the San Francisco Chief from Kansas City to San Fran, with reduced-priced Pullman compartments. I have never slept as well as in a Pullman bed rockin’ and rollin’ through the southwest.

I enjoyed my first meal of duck in the dining car, with it’s starched linen tablecloths and heavy, heavy silverware.

In the observation car I enjoyed my first Coca-Cola in a can.

A great way to travel.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:59:00 +0000

I can always tell it’s one of your posts if Disney is mentioned. :)

I’ve had quite a few train rides – some in the US, some in Italy, and a few here in New Zealand as well. The conductor on the NZ South Island trains is hilarious and always makes the trip better with his colourful commentary!!

By: Tricia

Tricia — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:18:00 +0000

“head to Disney’s California Adventure, where a fake Zephyr houses a bakery and ice cream counter near the front of the park”

The BEST ice cream ever! The waffle cones are incredible.

By: peter

peter — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Glad to see Jacksonville got a shout out here… we are definetly left high and dry here quite often…. Betsy Carter also wrote a book titled Orange Blossom Special worth Checking out.

Even though its not a train, something worth checking out for train enthusiasts, and something you might lookup on your next road trip Stacy is the Folkston Funnel in Folkston, Ga. Lots of trains go through there daily, someone told once one every 15 to 20 minutes, with a pavillion set up so you can listen to the conducters radios… worth checking out.

By: Brandy

Brandy — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:34:00 +0000

I love taking the trains in Europe…you go through all of these beautiful cities. I used to take the train near my house (I lived in Bitburg, & the train station was in Erdorf) to the airport in Frankfurt if I had to fly from there. It took an hour longer (3 hours vs. 2 hours on the autobahn) but the ride was so much more interesting and pleasant since you’re going through the cities instead of around the cities on the autobahn. Just thinking about the wonderful train ride gives me another reason to miss Germany!

By: JMB

JMB — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 19:21:00 +0000

In 1977 I was on an overnight train from Frankfurt, Germany (West Germany at the time) to West Berlin. The train had to go through East Germany to get there. In the beginning of the ride through W. Germany, there were some lovely castles lit up on hillsides and beautiful scenery. It got dark before we got to E.Germany, but at the first checkpoint, the stark station was lit up by bright lights while soldiers with scary-looking guns checked the train – checked our papers and guarded the train so no one could get on or off. As we pulled away from the station, I could see soldiers with guns lurking – I mean patrolling – in the woods outside the station. Each E. German town we passed through was brightly lit with streetlights, but looked deserted (the town was asleep, after all) with very few cars and very dull-looking. I eventually fell asleep and woke up in beautiful W.Berlin, but I will never forget the dramatic differences between W and E Germany that I saw on that trip. Or between W. Berlin and E. Berlin, for that matter. It was a little like being in technicolor on the W side and black and white on the E side.

By: Reginald Gordon

Reginald Gordon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:44:00 +0000

The 20th Centurt Limited. Left NYC at dinner time arrived in Chicago for breakfast via the Hudson River/Great Lakes. Great food. Great bridge games.

By: frog

frog — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:53:00 +0000

1. The Orient express isn’t dead – the “official” one is traveling from Strasbourg to Vienna – with modern cars it’s just a regular sleeper train with none of the luxury of the old days. If you want to recreate the old days you’ve got to take the “Venedig Simplon Orient Express” – it uses some of the original cars and several other old ones who all have been modernized (AC etc.) and travels between London/Paris and Venice or Istanbul.

2. one of the most impressive railroads is missing: the Trans-Siberian Railway – as far as I know it’s the longest railroad route in existence if you go from moscow th north-korea it’s about 6380 mi/10267 km long. A couple of my friends, when returning from an exchange Program in Seoul, went from South Korea to China by ferry and then used only trains (amongst them the Trans-Siberian) to travel back to Austria – afterwards this trip was the only thing they were talking about for months…

By: SamR

SamR — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:22:00 +0000

My high school mascot was the Zephyr. It got old pretty fast, having to explain to everyone that we were a train.