/oblig

I just want to throw this out there. I absolutley LOVE riding trains. If I didnt have reponsibilties I would so be a hoba and ride the freight rails all over the country.

And just for fun Link (new window)

Tests confirm it was too difficult for 8 year-olds to climb out of a train when it is on fire and lying on its side

Easier to climb out of a wrecked train than a wrecked airplane though, yes?

Pedophiles are not going to like this at all.

Well there goes the Polar Express, sorry Santa.

The first time I flew on a plane by myself, I was a month shy of 5 years old.

Pretty soon kids won't start kindergarten until they're 13 because it's not safe.

How can Zelda be saved now?

Hermione_Granger: The first time I flew on a plane by myself, I was a month shy of 5 years old.

Pretty soon kids won't start kindergarten until they're 13 because it's not safe.

Seems like it. I'm starting to really like the phrase "If you raise children that's what you're going to end up with."

Fire, no fire. . . An Amtrak trip is hell, either way.

They used to make unaccompanied children wear wristbands? I bet pedophile ridership will go way down now.

Guess I'll take the bus now..damn you Amtrak !!

CrispFlows: Ah, trains.

The one mode of transportation where it is twice as expensive of a plane ticket and takes six times longer than flight.

Only six? I'm paying roughly the same amount on Amtrak to go home for the holidays next month. but instead of six hours of flights, I'll be on a 54-hour odyssey.

/Hates flying
//Not getting a kick out of these replies.

Well, I'm taking the Poo Choo Train home for the holidays.

Ahh yes, I remember travelling the trains as a youth. Nighttime on the city of New Orleans, changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.

markfara: Fire, no fire. . . An Amtrak trip is hell, either way.

It's marginally better if you get your own room... it's at least your own private level of hell.

Ah, there we go again, setting up our kids to become emotional cripples by their adulthood.

Why, when I was 8 years old, I traveled cross country with my brother and another kid we met at a bus station, and hitchhiked while we made a little bit of money here and there gambling videogames. Then I went on to win the videogame championships.

Exception Collection: I remember riding the Amtrak between my home and my grandfather's city when I was 11 or 12. As I recall, I filled up on sweets and soda on the train.



Ah yes I remember that fondly. The Chocolate Frogs, the Every Flavor Beans,Fizzing Whizbees, Ice Mice...

You wouldn't turn away Harry Potter, would ya??

That must be funny for 10 year olds who have been riding the train regularly since the age of 8. "Sorry kid, until three years from now, you have to be accompanied by a guardian."

Good one subby

CrispFlows: Ah, trains.

The one mode of transportation where it is twice as expensive of a plane ticket and takes six times longer than flight.

Well, true if you live in what is basically a third world country when it comes to rail network investment. It works well in those countries where people don't get in their SUV to walk the dog or go to the mailbox.

Even in the US there are places where it works well. Taking the train between Portland and Seattle is much cheaper than flying and by the time you include all of the airport overhead, it's time competitive. But yes, trying to get from Seattle to Miami on a train would be like trying to fly into the sun.

/Amtrak is the ultimate GOP vision for the US: underfund and overmandate everything until it sucks.

Knara: Hermione_Granger: The first time I flew on a plane by myself, I was a month shy of 5 years old.

Pretty soon kids won't start kindergarten until they're 13 because it's not safe.

Seems like it. I'm starting to really like the phrase "If you raise children that's what you're going to end up with."

I'm stealing that. I'm going to repeat it often, and I won't give you any credit for it.

/Thanks!

probesport: Ahh yes, I remember travelling the trains as a youth. Nighttime on the city of New Orleans, changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.

Are you halfway home and will you be there by mornin'?

IkonOlator: probesport: Ahh yes, I remember travelling the trains as a youth. Nighttime on the city of New Orleans, changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.

Are you halfway home and will you be there by mornin'?

The real question is, did he meet up with a gambler?

C0rf:
Also rail travel KICKS ASS.*


I'll just leave this here. (*POP*)

markfara: Fire, no fire. . . An Amtrak trip is hell, either way.

Not at all for me, I rather enjoy it on occasion, though I guess if you have to a lot for work or something for days on end in coach it may suck balls.
I just take it on vacations instead of driving ... ocean view, zone out, play games, have a nice lunch with a table, etc.. Maybe it's shiatty/good depending on regional areas?

I'm sure a trip over multiple days without a room or something might blow.

/had a room once as a kid
//awesome!

Chill. Amtrak criss crosses New Jersey.

Think about it. And New Jersey has bears!

BitwiseShift: Chill. Amtrak criss crosses New Jersey.

Think about it. And New Jersey has bears!

But does not have The Bloodhound Gang.

Hermione_Granger: The first time I flew on a plane by myself, I was a month shy of 5 years old.

Pretty soon kids won't start kindergarten until they're 13 because it's not safe.

Good for you. You survived Parental Neglect! You get to move on to the next round, Asshole With No Concept of a Middle Ground!

Seriously. they did not "trust you" They were lazy. Biiiiiiig difference.

Balchinian: Tests confirm it was too difficult for 8 year-olds to climb out of a train when it is on fire and lying on its side

Easier to climb out of a wrecked train than a wrecked airplane though, yes?

Let me test that theory for you.

I rode an AMTRAK train for the first time a month ago from DC to Baltimore airport to catch a flight home. There really needs to be better understood etiquette rules for a novice. Being last in line of a large group boarding you can't imagine my complete and total bewilderment as the door began shutting on me, and then unlike an elevator door continued to shut on me to the point of making my head turn sideways and causing 8 friends to double over laughing and continue to bring up daily.

The My Little Pony Killer: CrispFlows: Ah, trains.

The one mode of transportation where it is twice as expensive of a plane ticket and takes six times longer than flight.

And absolutely none of the sexual harassment by high-school dropouts yet.

The My Little Pony Killer: And absolutely none of the sexual harassment by high-school dropouts.

For now. The TSA has been slowly expanding Operation Reach-Out-and-Touch-Someone to include other forms of mass transportation, namely bus and train services.

Back when I still lived in Michigan, I took the midnight train going anywhere. I met a lonely, small-town girl there. For a smile, we shared the night.

/don't stop believing

Scurvy Dog: /don't stop

FTFY

Is there an exception if I want my kid to leave on a midnight train to Georgia?

This probably has something to do with the 12-year-olds that were kicked off the train a couple years ago, and left at an unattended stop in the middle of the wilderness... (seriously. They were supposed to wait there for someone to pick them up, and when they didn't show after awhile, the kids got lost in the woods).

pedrop357: For now. The TSA has been slowly expanding Operation Reach-Out-and-Touch-Someone to include other forms of mass transportation, namely bus and train services.

Amtrak does not have a very good relationship with the TSA, interestingly enough.

Fano: IkonOlator: probesport: Ahh yes, I remember travelling the trains as a youth. Nighttime on the city of New Orleans, changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.

Are you halfway home and will you be there by mornin'?

The real question is, did he meet up with a gambler?


Wrong song. In this one, it's a penny a point and ain 't no one keeping score.

/Good morning America
//Arlo

What? Are we raising a a generation of farking morans? What they are basically saying is that a typical American 12 year old is too stupid to get on the train in NYC and get off in DC. Meanwhile in Japan there's an 8 year old getting on in Chiba, changing trains in Shinjuku, and getting off in Yokohama without any problem.

/lots of kids riding trains and buses by themselves in Europe too
//why do we get stuck as being the nation of window lickers?
///maybe call a mulligan and have a do over from about mid 1968

To be honest, I prefer to travel by train if I can do it on a single run. You have to get a room, but with a room, there's enough space to relax, you are refreshed during the trip, and it's not that expensive. Also helps if it's only 1 or 2 people.

On the other hand, if you have to take multiple trains, the price is rediculious, (more than flying).

And whatever you do, DON'T RIDE COACH! Kids running up and down the isles, people spread out like they're laying on their couch. We saw a seat that had a pile of dirty diapers just sitting on it.

Unfortunately, I live in the south and normally need to go to the mid west, so no good train routes for me. Still, can catch atlanta to New Orleans w/o trouble.

DigitalCoffee: why do we get stuck as being the nation of window lickers?

Prosperity on the part of the median citizen.

Seriously.

I'm quite convinced that as a culture's median standard of living becomes higher, they become more and more obsessed with minor and/or imaginary "problems".

We went from overblown witchhunts about real threats (McCarthy went about it wrong, but there *were* Communist spies in the US Government) to witch hunts about Satanism in Day Cares over the span of a decade. The only thing I can think of is that we reached some standard of living threshold whereby some critical mass of folks suddenly had Nothing Better to Do(tm).

gyorg: On the other hand, if you have to take multiple trains, the price is rediculious

I considered the room option for the two-day portion of the trip I mentioned above. For this one segment, the basic train fare is $230. The bedroom is an extra $670!!!