Last week, I traveled down to see my sister in the San Francisco Bay Area. I took the train down and back. I think I might like this way of travel! I'm 12 feet off the ground and traveling between 45 to 75 miles per hour. I can see a whole lot of our wonderful country side. But, you also see lots of industrial junk and scrap metal yards.
I also see folks sitting on there back decks watching and sometimes waving at the train. Dogs barking as the train rolled by and lots of wild animals. I watched a Bald Eagle swoop down and fish.
I can walk up and down the length of the train, sleep, read, listen to my music or have conversations about our country and its people with fellow travelers.
Can't see or do this at 30 thousand feet going 450 mph. Bring back the train Mr. President!

My boys want to take the train up to Spokane next summer...but it is a bit pricey. For a family it is very expensive, but for one person, it is better than driving.

I don't think I have been on a regularly scheduled train since 1975 (Wellington to Auckland).

Vaughn

I love taking the train from Portland to Seattle. Roam around or sit in the dining car or sometimes there is an observation deck.
Dennis

It cost me $142 round trip. I took the train some 4 years ago with my two kids the fee then was $275 for round trip. It pays to have AAA membership and soon I'll be able to ad AARP discount for myself.
I did bring my own meals. I mean $4 for a microwave hot dog or $6.50 for a hamburger.

For our whole family the return fare on the train would be around $800 (and we would still have to drive 150 miles one way to get to the train station). Gasoline for the round trip would be less than $250 and we would have transportation readily available there. Still, it would be fun.

When I still lived in California someone came down to see my via Amtrak and it took twice as long as it should have because of the train stopping many times for other trains. Of course this probably isn't the norm, I'd hope, but still makes me iffy on using it for anything long distance.

Good morning;

Trains. An interesting topic. Our last trip by train was from Edmonds north of Seattle up to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a ham radio gathering in Surrey. This was about 2003. We combined the local Sky Train in Vancouver with the Amtrak Talgo for a complete "by rail" trip. It actually was fun. Debby does seem to enjoy the train much more than either driving or flying. I admit that there was about a 1 & 1/2 block walk from the Amtrak Station to the Sky Train and about a three block walk to the Hilton Metrotown hotel in Surrey, but that was much easier than many of the hikes and climbs I have made. Probably the real advantage of taking the train into Canada is the almost painless or even un-noticed border crossing in comparison with the lines and the inquiries from both the border guards and the customs and immigration people when going by car. I still recall one return crossing to the United States back in the very early 1980's.

The tours on a Colorado narrow guage also still beckon. Perhaps the tour run through the Copper Canyon in Mexico? There are still conversations when we talk about taking a trip from Seattle to Chicago through the long tunnel at Steven's Pass and over the Continental Divide at Mariah Pass and seeing the land, the mountains, the animals, the backyards, the industrial complexes, and a lot of other Americana.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Hi folks, new here...took the train to San Jose and back to Spokane...I found it pretty rough going coach, but came back first class, and what a difference, loved it! If I had the money and time, that's how I would travel.

Good morning, Rocky;

Welcome to the USPNWRWAORIDSJ Group. In addition to having one of the strangest locations for a Regional photography group on APUG, we also have the longest acronym.

You are right. Travel by train today can be "interesting," but it does offer a perspective not matched by any other mode of travel. In addition to taking a camera, also having a squeegee and some paper towels can help in keeping your window clean for those photographs of some underappreciated scenery.

We will be going up to Vancouver, BC by train again this year, along with the spur trek on the Sky Train out to Burnaby. Several years back while we were waiting for the US or Canadian Immigration or Customs people (don't know which because we never saw them) at the Peace Arch on the way back from Burnaby, there was a partial eclipse of the sun off to the west. We had a great time showing the other people in our car how to make a small pin hole in a piece of paper or thin card stock and project the image of the sun onto another piece of white paper for watching the eclipse.

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington