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Old 06-24-2008, 09:27 AM
 
17 posts, read 51,425 times
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Don't plan on arriving anywhere on time. Last time I took the train from Dallas to San Antonio it took 18 hours! The train experience itself was fun for us but after the first 8 hours we started getting antsy. Definitely get a sleeper!
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Old 06-24-2008, 11:39 AM
 
5,642 posts, read 15,713,148 times
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I wish trains were more efficient in terms of time spent getting places--I think they would be much more popular than they are today. Wish we could get that light rail/bullet train that stops at each major city in Texas and elsewhere.

Btw, was on an "old fashioned" rail car up in the Alaska/Yukon areas last week. It was a cool experience, but the weather was pushing 25 degrees or so. The train had the old-style stove heaters in them, still.
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Old 06-24-2008, 11:48 AM
 
Location: Golden, CO
266 posts, read 706,623 times
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i work for the union pacific rail road, we dont to passenger service. i really dont see many passenger trains either. every blue moon amtrack will run by, but its rare. honestly i wouldnt go by trian too darn slow!
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Old 06-24-2008, 02:05 PM
 
Location: Diyallusss, TX
1,805 posts, read 4,776,315 times
Reputation: 560
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasNick View Post
I wish trains were more efficient in terms of time spent getting places--I think they would be much more popular than they are today. Wish we could get that light rail/bullet train that stops at each major city in Texas and elsewhere.

Btw, was on an "old fashioned" rail car up in the Alaska/Yukon areas last week. It was a cool experience, but the weather was pushing 25 degrees or so. The train had the old-style stove heaters in them, still.
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WHAT a GORgeous PHOTO!!!!!!!!!!!! First place winner...... wow
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Old 06-24-2008, 02:06 PM
 
Location: Diyallusss, TX
1,805 posts, read 4,776,315 times
Reputation: 560
Quote:
Originally Posted by bloobug View Post
Don't plan on arriving anywhere on time. Last time I took the train from Dallas to San Antonio it took 18 hours! The train experience itself was fun for us but after the first 8 hours we started getting antsy. Definitely get a sleeper!

Dallas to San Antonio????? 18 hours????
Did you mean Dallas to San Diego maybe???

wowwwwww
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Old 06-24-2008, 02:13 PM
 
4,307 posts, read 9,557,307 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PopsGuysRule View Post
Dallas to San Antonio????? 18 hours????
Did you mean Dallas to San Diego maybe???

wowwwwww
My experience with Amtrak elsewhere, that sounds pretty accurate, unfortunately.

I love trains. In Europe I've really relied on trains. Even in France where there are strikes every other week, you can still usually get from point A to point B in a reasonable time frame. On the east coast (basically between New England-NYC-DC) train service is generally pretty reasonable and efficient. I loved riding MetroNorth to NYC for a show or shopping when I lived in CT.

So it is possible. It's just that the long distances and until now, cheap gas, have made rail travel less economical. I think Amtrak has to give way to freight trains, which is why there are always so many delays. The train really shouldn't be slower than car travel.

One of my bad experiences on Amtrak was travelling from South Bend, IN to Syracuse, NY (I had a car, but it was winter and didn't want to risk snow storms). It was Christmas time so the train was packed. Delayed at every stop, arrived 12 hours late...but the most fun was using the bathroom. I went to flush the toilet and it went UP instead of down, spraying all over the room....pretty disgusting. Fortunately it was a big enough area that I could get out of the way. Not a fun trip. I drove the next time i had to go.
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Old 06-24-2008, 03:13 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
2,397 posts, read 6,457,187 times
Reputation: 646
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1StarRanch View Post
Figured it's gonna cost me 700.00 and still we need to rent a van when we get there which will be another 300.00, plus about 100.00 for gas. I'm thinking Southwest may be our best bet this year.

Just not cost effective to take the train
Speaking of SWA, I just purchased a round trip, non-stop from SD to SA for $279 for the Labor Day weekend. This was the least expensive I found. Definitely much less than driving, that's for sure!
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Old 06-24-2008, 04:01 PM
 
Location: SoCal-So Proud!
4,263 posts, read 10,825,866 times
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It had to be...I don't think that there is any another airline that flies that route non-stop. A few of the other airlines are cheaper...but you'll need to stop at a hub. $279 is still pretty good though.
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Old 06-24-2008, 06:33 PM
 
Location: in my mind
2,743 posts, read 14,296,788 times
Reputation: 1627
Quote:
Originally Posted by PopsGuysRule View Post
Dallas to San Antonio????? 18 hours????
Did you mean Dallas to San Diego maybe???

wowwwwww
Our little field trip from SA to Austin via Amtrak was THREE and a HALF HOURS! There was some problem or issue where we sat forever. A train full of kids, many of them under 6, stuck sitting. What JOY that was. I'm glad I was simply along accompanying my kid vs. being an official "chaperone" having to deal with all the others.
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Old 06-24-2008, 09:58 PM
 
1,051 posts, read 2,542,271 times
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I just looked into taking a train up north for our family and it would have been way more expensive than if we drive it. Plus the nearst station to where we are going is about 3 hours away so we would have to rent a car anyway.

The family cars (Amtrak) looked really cool on the website, I would like to take one just for the experience.
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