love trains (mountains, friendly people, garden, electric)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I love trains. Can anyone tell me about small, quaint towns that have trains? When we retire in a few years that is one of our top priorities--find a small town with trains. Thanks in advance for your input.
Small town that a train runs through, or served by a commuter rail service? My small town has a couple trains a day run through it, and around Christmas they run the "Christmas Train" and make stops along the way in the small towns with a special train and caboose carrying Santa. Since they own the tracks they change schedules around and stop right in the middle of the track in most of the places because most of the sidings are long gone.
There is an area in northeast Florida that is a major bottleneck for trains going through the southeast. Trains go by there every hour. If you can deal with coal cinders, you might also consider the areas around the bigger tourist railroad like Strausburg (sp?).
There is an old steam engine train that goes between Georgetown and Silver Plume in Colorado. There is also one that goes between Durango and Silverton.
P.S. It probably doesn't run in the winter though.
Last edited by Sandhillian; 08-21-2009 at 06:31 PM..
Reason: P.S.
I'm listening to the train go by right now (about a 1/2 mile down the road) in Danville PA. On the Susquehanna, small town, big hospital, some lovely Victorians and friendly people!
Bydand, We're looking for a train that runs through it. I also should have stated that we like mountains, cold weather, and snow. I suppose that really narrows areas down quite a bit, doesn't it? Thanks for your replies so far.
No mountains in Minnesota, but the rail line from ND border to Becker Minnesota is very busy ( many long coal trains along with normal freight trains and Amtrak )
Since the rail tracks roughly follow HWY 10, nearly every town between Becker and ND would be on it.
Becker is where the big coal fired electric plant is located.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Stevenson, WA, Trains every 20 minutes on the WA side of the Columbia Gorge ~ 1 hr east of Portland,OR. (Passenger + freight + occasional excursion of the 4449 Columbia Gorge Garden Railroading - Trains and Gscale RRs). Beautiful spot (See Skamania Lodge). Best Brew pub in WA (Walking Man) is less than 100ft from the tracks. Wind surfer's paradise. 3 miles to Pacific Crest Trail crossing (Bridge of the Gods Cascade Locks, OR). No state income tax in WA (no sales tax on food ingredients) , No Sales tax in OR (shop across the river). Retirees love Stevenson. I will love it if they keep the indoor swimming pool open. (<$2.00 for seniors) Skamania County, Southwest Washington State in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Visit on a Friday and enjoy smoked salmon Chower at the Big River Grill. If you get tired of trains, you can watch the barges. Bonneville Dam (10 Min west) has some impressive Locks. Bonneville Lock and Dam - Portland District - US Army Corps of Engineers (http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/home.asp - broken link) Great place to volunteer (Gardens and hatchery are impressive too). As is this place Welcome to the Museum! | Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center | Stevenson, WA. (even has some trains on display).
If you need to get out of town FAST (Or come visit) Use Portland Airport, it is very EZ and good connections. Cheap flights via SWA at the moment. I'm looking at $89 one way to the east coast (MHT) for fall colors (tho ours were great last yr, especially in Wishram, but good to in The Dalles, OR and Stevenson). I frequently take $39 Flights to Sacramento to find winter sun, and to enjoy their train museum, or a trip to Napa Valley, San Francisco, Monterrey, Bodega Bay, or Yosemite & Sequoia NP.
I also should have stated that we like mountains, cold weather, and snow. I suppose that really narrows areas down quite a bit, doesn't it?
The sights I gave you have mtns and snow, but for another choice look to Glenwood Springs area of Colorado. I like camping in Glenwood Canyon near the trains. (near Wolcott) There are some great 'local' ski areas that get the weather and benefit of terrain of Aspen / Snowmass / Vail, but are not so 'trendy'. Colorado has a pretty fair tax structure for seniors. Tho I prefer WY, which also has LOTS of trains, but many are a bit boring... miles of coal cars. Check out both Laramie and Cheyenne for 'rail-history'. You can live on Sherman Pass if you want mtns!! Check out Veedauwoo, it's special ) Vedauwoo Recreation - Wyoming Articles & Tips - Wyoming Travel and Tourism
Or consider a town like Tie Siding, WY (if that is railroad-y enough for you!). I brought them the Denver Post for 7 yrs, (back in the 'very snowy' Dark Ages). It was one of my last stops on an 863 mile newspaper route (not by bicycle, thank goodness !)
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 08-23-2009 at 12:40 AM..
Bydand, We're looking for a train that runs through it. I also should have stated that we like mountains, cold weather, and snow. I suppose that really narrows areas down quite a bit, doesn't it? Thanks for your replies so far.
I love riding trains. I lived next to tracks and freight trains literally every hour too long to want to live right next to them. But go to the amtrak site and check the route of the Southwest Chief. It goes across the midsection of the country, through northern Arizona, New Mexico (stops at Ratan, which at least looks like an awesome place, the southern corner of Colorado and into Kansas and reaches Chicago. I WISH I could get to it from here where I live since I don't much like the southern route they use.
But it goes through a lot of small towns and runs daily. You could even hop on board and take trips. If you hunt around a bit you can get the full schedule on the site.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
