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buglord
Jul 31, 2010

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Buglord


I'm a scrub who hasn't posted on SA while taking a train. I was on a bus for about 8 hours and this train will be another 3. Trains seem kinda cool but they're definitely not as smooth of a ride as they look. I almost fell walking back to my seat after buying a $6 angus burger which looks like it was reheated in a microwave (and the plastic wrap under it confirms this).

Ask me about the creepy dude behind me yelling into the window, or the grumpy but caring grandfather taking care of his granddaughters in front of me, or the oddly optimistic and energetic guy who sold me this crappy burger.

I'll upload pics as soon as I can, but the internet connection is spotty and its taking forever to get this here pic onto imager.

e: where are my manners? post your guys favorite train experiences or thoughts.

buglord fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Dec 19, 2014

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spatula massacre
Aug 2, 2012

I don't want to be your little research monkey boy, the creature that I am is only going to destroy.
write your name on the seat infront of u for proof otherwise how do we know this isn't all just a setup?

paranoid randroid
Mar 4, 2007
the first time i found the arcade car i thought i had turned a corner too quickly, come unstuck in time, and wound up somewhere in the 1980s soviet bloc

nomadologique
Mar 9, 2011

DUNK A DILL PICKLE REALDO
"boy, this is poo poo is expensive huh?"

"yup"

"yeah, sure is..."

GrrrlSweatshirt
Jun 2, 2012
a WHITE MAN moved my LUGGAGE

KennyLoggins
Dec 3, 2004
Welcome to the Danger Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU1_L5ww3og

let it mellow
Jun 1, 2000

Dinosaur Gum
I take airplanes instead of trains because I'm neither autistic nor poor

spud
Aug 27, 2003

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN
Wtf... When did America get trains? I thought you all drove pickups every where.

PTSDeedly Do
Nov 24, 2014

VOID-DOME LOSER 2020


Do you listen to NPR

I feel like the type of people to listen to NPR are the same type of people as ride trains

nomadologique
Mar 9, 2011

DUNK A DILL PICKLE REALDO

spud posted:

Wtf... When did America get trains? I thought you all drove pickups every where.

since it's downihill everywhere you gota go we just do potato rolls

END OF AN ERROR
May 16, 2003

IT'S LEGO, not Legos. Heh


I took a train from Detroit to Chicago, and back again. Never again. The trainride home took over twice as long as it should have. In two separate spots the one track is used for trains going in both directions, and fun fact passenger trains are considered least important, so when a train was coming in the other direction we wold have to back up for SEVERAL MILES AT 3MPH to switch tracks temporarily to let them pass.

gently caress Amtrak.

buglord
Jul 31, 2010

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Buglord

nomadologique posted:

"boy, this is poo poo is expensive huh?"

"yup"

"yeah, sure is..."

I had a real bad stomach ache the morning part of today, so this is my first real meal. I was curious why I didn't see any cooks in the Amtrak cafe car. I thought maybe there was a kitchen downstairs or something. Looking at the rest of their menu, all these items can just be thawed out in a microwave.

buglord
Jul 31, 2010

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Buglord

bensnotacat posted:

Do you listen to NPR

I feel like the type of people to listen to NPR are the same type of people as ride trains

Only in the rare occasion I somehow got separated from my iPhone.

buglord
Jul 31, 2010

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Buglord

Tiny Lowtax posted:

I took a train from Detroit to Chicago, and back again. Never again. The trainride home took over twice as long as it should have. In two separate spots the one track is used for trains going in both directions, and fun fact passenger trains are considered least important, so when a train was coming in the other direction we wold have to back up for SEVERAL MILES AT 3MPH to switch tracks temporarily to let them pass.

gently caress Amtrak.

This happened twice but both times lasted about 30 minutes. So far we're ahead of schedule and I just jinxed it by saying so. We just pulled into Stockton. Maybe that crazy guy will get off.

This is sort of a butthole town. But I've never seen such intricate hobo villages alongside the railroad.

e: crazy guy got off. Whew.

buglord fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Dec 19, 2014

Prokhor Zakharov
Dec 31, 2008

This is me as I make another great post


Good luck with your depression!
the last time I was on a train a weird boney guy with long stringy hair sat down next to me, he held up a little black case and said "this is a flute! can I talk to you about jesus?"

I haven't ridden amtrak since

KennyLoggins
Dec 3, 2004
Welcome to the Danger Zone

Prokhor Zakharov posted:

the last time I was on a train a weird boney guy with long stringy hair sat down next to me, he held up a little black case and said "this is a flute! can I talk to you about jesus?"

hosed up if true.

Applewhite
Aug 16, 2014

by vyelkin
Nap Ghost
I once IRL sat behind the VP of the Church of Scientology on a train. I didn't know it at the time tho.

nomadologique
Mar 9, 2011

DUNK A DILL PICKLE REALDO

Prokhor Zakharov posted:

the last time I was on a train a weird boney guy with long stringy hair sat down next to me, he held up a little black case and said "this is a flute! can I talk to you about jesus?"

I haven't ridden amtrak since

sorry i always try that flute thing, somebody in a workshop recommended "icebreakers" to me

whoflungpoop
Sep 9, 2004

With you and the constellations
i was on amtrak shortly after Katrina when they were relocating victims. They had those cash cards and were very generous and i drank beers with them at the snack bar and had a nice trip :beerpal:

Panamaniac
Jun 18, 2007

HEROES NEVER DIE
Hidden in the smoking car from Temple, Tx to Chicago.

poverty goat
Feb 15, 2004



once i was on a train next to a black gentlemen who swore we'd met before, who then confided in me his plan to buy a pound of weed and bring it back on the train

i hope he found success in his business venture

really thats the best thing about taking the train, other than being able to walk around and plug in a laptop. it's that you could walk right in with a pound of weed since there's no security, and then have a relaxing ride. maybe even find a quiet spot to smoke some

mucocele
Nov 3, 2012

Tiny Lowtax posted:

I took a train from Detroit to Chicago, and back again. Never again. The trainride home took over twice as long as it should have. In two separate spots the one track is used for trains going in both directions, and fun fact passenger trains are considered least important, so when a train was coming in the other direction we wold have to back up for SEVERAL MILES AT 3MPH to switch tracks temporarily to let them pass.

gently caress Amtrak.

Yep, the ol' Wolverine? loving horrible. Took six hours to get from Chicago to Ann Arbor.

DoomLazer
Jun 1, 2011
I get a sleeper car when I take the train, that way your don't have to hangout with the Mennonites and people afraid to fly.

Vegetable
Oct 22, 2010

Can you sex on the train?

poverty goat
Feb 15, 2004



how about that loving chinatown bus though

Hector Beerlioz
Jun 16, 2010

aw, hec
Last time I was on Amtrak a kid pulled the emergency brake. The train came to a rolling stop and engineers had to get out and check all the wheels according to procedure. An old man was very upset and demanded that they hold the kid somewhere as he was going to call the FBI when we rolled into DC.

Guildenstern Mother
Mar 31, 2010

Why walk when you can ride?
Once when I was on the train I made friends with the guy across the aisle. We split his flask and it turned out we lived in the same apt complex and were both euchre players. That's my train story thanks for reading.

I am not a book
Mar 9, 2013
Amtrak is pretty awesome for how much the rail companies gently caress them over at every opportunity because god forbid a load of natural gas doesn't arrive right on time.
What I'm saying is that Obama should Eminent Domain the rail lines and then execute every railroad executive and then spend the rest of his days as one of the dudes who drives trains.

Mc Do Well
Aug 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
Northeast Corridor :cool:

nomadologique
Mar 9, 2011

DUNK A DILL PICKLE REALDO

Ron Paul Hype Man posted:

Hidden in the smoking car from Temple, Tx to Chicago.

imagingint this full of men of intdeterminate age and ethnicity smoking water pipes and playing mysterious games of chance

Xaris
Jul 25, 2006

Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry
Amtrak actually really sucks

i mean i guess for american standards of suck, its actually ok

paranoid randroid
Mar 4, 2007

nomadologique posted:

imagingint this full of men of intdeterminate age and ethnicity smoking water pipes and playing mysterious games of chance

one dude in the back who is actually Satan

Hector Beerlioz
Jun 16, 2010

aw, hec
What's up with the bullet train idea? Didn't Japan flat out say they would build and pay for the line from DC to Baltimore if anyone ended up investing?

Wooten
Oct 4, 2004

Sometimes amtrak will run a deal where you can take the train to Boston for cheaper than parking in Boston. I've done it a few times. The last time a lady sitting across from me changed her lovely baby right there in the car and it smelled like baby poo poo for the next hour. Usually it smells kind of like fruit loops though. Anyone else ever noticed that amtrak trains smell like fruit loops?

Mc Do Well
Aug 2, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

Hector Beerlioz posted:

What's up with the bullet train idea? Didn't Japan flat out say they would build and pay for the line from DC to Baltimore if anyone ended up investing?

They have been making upgrades to the NEC and doing tests with running the trains faster, but completely new lines are basically off the table because of costs and political wrangling (eminent domain, NIMBYs, etc).

My Imaginary GF
Jul 17, 2005

by R. Guyovich
yo OP you doing it wrong

you shoulda upgraded to business class for a complimentary drink and food on longer haul service

Amtrak is loving awesome in IL. Fast, smooth, on-time, and full of middle-class and professional riders who present a new opportunity every ride.

Also recently released convicts riding back up to Chiraq

Vince MechMahon
Jan 1, 2008



Aatrek Train Chat: It's like a pantsless elementary school cross walk.

nomadologique
Mar 9, 2011

DUNK A DILL PICKLE REALDO

My Imaginary GF posted:

yo OP you doing it wrong

you shoulda upgraded to business class for a complimentary drink and food on longer haul service

Amtrak is loving awesome in IL. Fast, smooth, on-time, and full of middle-class and professional riders who present a new opportunity every ride.

Also recently released convicts riding back up to Chiraq

why isn't Con Rail a seuql to tCon Air??

Hector Beerlioz
Jun 16, 2010

aw, hec

McDowell posted:

They have been making upgrades to the NEC and doing tests with running the trains faster, but completely new lines are basically off the table because of costs and political wrangling (eminent domain, NIMBYs, etc).

That blows. Guess I'll just have to be content with the Acela Express.

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Yo, imma blob
Apr 29, 2007

have you any wool
my favorite part of riding the train is the harried conductors telling us to pack in 'cuz it's gonna be a full ride, and the hispanic families going with their entire family from bakersfield to LA and letting their kids run up and down the aisles screaming.

OK, that's happened like twice, for the most part they're pretty unobtrusive. definitely not fun being on a full train.

one time I took the Starlight Express and even though it took 5 hours longer than usual I got to sit in the glass-topped lounge car with the seats looking at the foggy Bay Area hills :)

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