Travelling by Rail!

[Anthony2019]

This is a thread for people to share their experiences of travelling by rail!
Perhaps you have been on a railway journey to a holiday destination, either in your own country or another. Perhaps you have had a day out on a heritage steam railway and have happy memories to share!
Or maybe you take the train regularly to commute to work?
Look forward to hearing about your journeys!

To get started. Here's a picture of a commuter train calling at one of my local stations.
Trains on the route were originally diesel operated until recent electrification of the line.
It was taken in the middle of winter, early in the morning with temperatures 4 degrees below freezing.

 

[Tone]

I used to regularly take the:

Train Schedules | Metrolink

Which travels to pretty much every Southern California county: L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and I'm not sure about Ventura counties.

Lately (over the last year) I've been riding the

Trolley


Which will get you all over San Diego county.

 

[Tone]

I never traveled to another state by train though.


I would if I could though.


I was in Teen Challenge with a really cool dude who pretty much lived his whole life jumping trains.

He used to share some crazy stories about it, and how there's a whole subculture around it.

And it's pretty dangerous as well.

 

[Tone]

I found maps!:

 

[Anthony2019]

I used to regularly take the:

Train Schedules | Metrolink

Which travels to pretty much every Southern California county: L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and I'm not sure about Ventura counties.

Lately (over the last year) I've been riding the

Trolley


Which will get you all over San Diego county.

Trolley - is that like a tramway?

 

[anna ~ grace]

I love trains… when I was a little kid, trains on the East Coast were a bigger deal. It was huge fun riding the Amtraks from town to city; no driving, just sit back, relax, look at people’s backyards, have fun.

 

[Anthony2019]

I love trains… when I was a little kid, trains on the East Coast were a bigger deal. It was huge fun riding the Amtraks from town to city; no driving, just sit back, relax, look at people’s backyards, have fun.

There's just something therapeutic about rail travel. No need to worry about traffic jams or finding parking spaces! You get plenty of room to stretch out and relax, a table or space to put your magazine, laptop or drinks. You can even get up and walk around!

 

[Tigger45]

Here we have a pretty good mass transit system including commuter rail and light rail. For years I took the light rail because it dropped me off in front of the building I worked at.

 

[Anthony2019]

A few years ago, for the very first time, I took the train from London to Paris.
Until the mid 1990s, no such rail service existed.
If you wanted to go to Paris, it would take you all day by road, including a sea crossing by ferry. I did the trip on a number of occasions.
Then in 1994, the channel tunnel opened. It was a masterpiece of engineering. They managed to create three tunnels (31 miles long) under the sea between Folkestone (UK) and Coquelles (France).
Today trains run from London to Paris direct, travelling at speeds of up to 186mph (300km/h) taking just over a couple of hours.
I booked to stay in Paris for a couple of nights. I arrived at London St Pancras, went through passport control, and within minutes was comfortably seated on the train.
The train left on time. It left St Pancras, made its way out of London through a series of long tunnels and soon we were hurtling at high speed through the Kent countryside. Then outside everything went dark as we entered the channel tunnel. It was quite weird thinking that we were travelling under the sea, but to distract myself, I went to the coffee bar and treated myself to a hot chocolate. By the time I returned to my seat, we had got through the other end and were speeding through the French countryside.
We soon arrived at Paris Gare du Nord, and within a few minutes of leaving the train, I found myself in a coffee bar asking (in French) directions to my hotel.

 

[durangodawood]

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. I was an employee that day as my band had been hired to play at the long lunch BBQ stop for this "Beer Train". Our huge amount of gear was in the baggage car.

View attachment 303954

 

[Tone]

Trolley - is that like a tramway?

Yeah, little electric rail riders that coast the streets at times!

 

[Anthony2019]

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. I was an employee that day as my band had been hired to play at the long lunch BBQ stop for this "Beer Train". Our huge amount of gear was in the baggage car.

View attachment 303952

Did you not feel a bit nervous looking over the edge?

 

[Lost4words]

Only railway i been on is a Hornby one!

 

[durangodawood]

Did you not feel a bit nervous looking over the edge?

Not really. I'd done this ride before. But I can see how its a little spooky. The curve of the track means youre hanging over basically open space if youre in the middle/outside of the car at some points in the journey.

 

[Tone]

Found this cool article:

(May be too graphic for some)

Rail riders: Inside the invisible culture of train hopping

 

[Anthony2019]

Did you not feel a bit nervous looking over the edge?

I just Googled it - it certainly looks like a very extensive route!

 

[durangodawood]

Here's 2 from Nagasaki. The city has a terrific little tramcar system that covers a lot of the city. I rode it a few times each day. In the 2nd pic careful Christians (not me) might notice a church. This side of Kyushu was one of the places Christianity made some inroads, unlike most of the rest of Japan.

 

[Anthony2019]

Sometime this year, I'm hoping to travel with a friend up to the Scottish mountains using the Caledonian Sleeper!
You arrive at the station in the evening, board the train, enjoy an evening meal in the restaurant car, and then retire to your own personal berth. In the morning, you are greeted with breakfast and you have arrived at your destination!