Stupid Guest Tricks

It's a shame Amtrak doesn't seem to be in a hurry to rebuild the tracks that were wiped out between New Orleans and Florida during Katrina. I bet that's a scenic area. That and finances are the only things keeping me from paying a visit. Thanks, Zazu, it's just that all my life I had a thing with hurting other people's feelings, unless they deserved it :twisted: . Yeah, I can feel guilty sometimes for stuff I've said or done--even if it really wasn't warranted.

felinefan wrote:It's a shame Amtrak doesn't seem to be in a hurry to rebuild the tracks that were wiped out between New Orleans and Florida during Katrina.

First, they aren't Amtrak's tracks, they belong to CSX. Amtrak essentially "rents" them.

Second, the tracks were repaired within two months of the storm. There has been no physical reason why the train couldn't have resumed service by late 2005.

Third, I will grant that Amtrak is nearly broke after eight years of a president who tried to kill it off in each year's budget. We'll see if the national bailout bill that passed yesterday will provide enough funding to get things rolling again.

:amtrak:

Zazu wrote:First, they aren't Amtrak's tracks, they belong to CSX. Amtrak essentially "rents" them.

Second, the tracks were repaired within two months of the storm. There has been no physical reason why the train couldn't have resumed service by late 2005.

Third, I will grant that Amtrak is nearly broke after eight years of a president who tried to kill it off in each year's budget. We'll see if the national bailout bill that passed yesterday will provide enough funding to get things rolling again.

:amtrak:

I hope so!!! DW and I have been wanting to take that trip!!!

I hope the president can get Amtrak fixed. I tried clear back in 1998 to find a way across America and it was ludicrous. Sometimes the routes left me transferring at midnight or arrriving at midnight. To get home from WDW it cost in 1998 almost $1200 for a roomer and I had to go from Orlando to Washington DC then to Chicago then Los Angeles. You cannot take a train to Bakersfield unless you to go San Francisco then south.

You cannot get there from here so choose these spots to travel to. The spot you now want to go to requires transferring at midnight. How about this spot that gets you into town at 2 am or this spot that requires busses.

It is a great trip on Amtrak but I got poor service and hurt on the train. Nice bruises in pretty shades.

mechurchlady wrote:You cannot take a train to Bakersfield unless you to go San Francisco then south.

Well, admittedly, any direct route to Bakersfield from LA via rail would be almost cost-prohibitive to build. Although why Amtrak can't lease right of way on the tracks out to Riverside, then north from there through Tehachapi is beyond me. (Heck, the Loop would probably be a lot of fun to ride a passenger train through.)

CBeilby wrote:Well, admittedly, any direct route to Bakersfield from LA via rail would be almost cost-prohibitive to build. Although why Amtrak can't lease right of way on the tracks out to Riverside, then north from there through Tehachapi is beyond me. (Heck, the Loop would probably be a lot of fun to ride a passenger train through.)

Oh that line over Tehachapi Loop is most enjoyable! Trouble is, it takes nearly twice as long as a bus to get to Bakersfield that way. Back in the day they were still operating passenger trains, the Santa Fe routinely operated buses between those points for that reason.

Add to this the very heavy freight traffic on this line and you get a rough ride with lots of extra delays. No, I can forgive that gap in the Amtrak network. But we need that southern link back, then restoration of the Pioneer and Desert Wind routes, then a new Chicago to Florida link. That last should be very popular, and if a decent station stop in Atlanta could be arranged, it could even cover for the missing link I started this bitch about in the first place.

Zazu wrote:That last should be very popular, and if a decent station stop in Atlanta could be arranged, it could even cover for the missing link I started this bitch about in the first place.

If Amtrak stopped in Atlanta, I would be very happy. It's just far enough to be a long drive, too close to be worth flying so it would be perfect for a train. Plus the Winter Park Amtrak station is 15 minutes on a bike from here.

Once when I was a kid probably around 10 me and Dad took a train trip and I think it was on the Tehachipi Loop. Do you remember Jungleland as I saw that from the train. I have pictures somewhere. Oh the fond memories of train trips.