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My last train ride was on April 1st of this year. it was a short one from Bad Kreuznach, Germany to the airport in Frankfurt for my flight home.
The shortes train ride I've ever taken was only 3 minutes long, from one train station to another. My longest lasted 8 days on the Trans-Siberian Express.
What about you?

platform5 I would like to hear about your 8 day trip. I thought my trip from OR to TN that took 3 days was looooog.

I meant I thought it was loooong. Need more coffee. :o(

Okay, now I have some time. I'm going to tell about my trip from OR to Indianapolis, IN. The trip started out good, nice & early in the morning. I was to change trains in Chicago on the second day and then continue on to Indianapolis. I took my laptop & several electronic gadgets plus my cell phone, so I found a place with an electric plug-in, there are several in a car, usually near the ends as they use them to vacuum. I got a backpack for my laptop, so I could carry it on my back and fit the rest of my electronics in there, also so as not to leave them at my seat, much nicer than having to carry a tote, especially if you are bringing something from the snack bar back to your seat. (so far I have not had anything taken while leaving my stuff at my seat i.e. blanket, pillow coat etc.)

A pleasant first day, watching the scenery, conversations at lunch and in the observation car, playing with my gadgets and talking on the phone when I could, all the comforts of home, except for the bathrooms, so small and they are down stairs, so between trips to the ladies and the dining or snack bar, you get your exercise. There is a little lounge bathroom for the ladies with a couple of seats by a big mirror with a sink, so you can put makeup on. Plus you have room to change your cloths if you are going to be on there for days. But that door does not lock.

Had an okay night, I can sleep sitting up, and some of the positions with two seats but not many, even if I have two seats to myself, because of a hip replacement I can't get into some the contortions needed to get in some of the positions. I wish I could have gotten a picture of some of them, quite amusing.

Since we did not have access to weather reports we didn't know they were having huge rain storms ahead. Until we heard rumblings from other passengers that something was amiss, we were informed that part of a bridge washed out and the Amtrak would not be able to go over the bridge, so were going to be bussed to Chicago from Minnesota. So we had to schlep our luggage out to the bus and load up onto the bus. It was a very HOTday, HOT and I do not get along, I have a condition where I don't seat like a normal person, so I can get overheated. We stopped several times for potty breaks and to get out and walk around. When we got to the Chicago station the door where they let us out at, did not go directly into the station, it was a balcony over looking the main floor with several stairs to go down, there were elevators, but they were locked behind big glass doors, as the business by them were closed for the evening. But that was really the only glitch, not dropping us off at an easier place to get into the station. So be assured they will get you to your destination.

I was already very hot from lugging my luggage up all those stairs outside in the heat, and now had to lug them down more stairs. Once down on the floor it was not that cool in the large area at the end of the stairs. (I do have a picture of that area that I will put in the photos when I find it) I finally found some doors going to where the trains are, it was cool in there. I found out where I was supposed to go and headed there. If you are a senior they let you get on the train first & put you in an area closer to the trains out of the main area where everyone else waits. When I got there my face was beet red, as happens when I get overheated, so the lady gave me a bottle of water and moved her fan so it blew on me - much appreciated. So they were able to get us around the problem, but some of the people missed their connections, I had a long enough layover in Chicago so that it didn’t affect my connection.

Back on the train to Indianapolis, I had hours of travel still to go. We could see the damage the storm had done from the train windows. I just enjoyed the ride and got into Indianapolis at midnight. I was hungry so I tasted my first White Castle burger. I liked it, wish we had them where I live, but we don’t

The 8 days on the TransSiberian were the most exciting of my journeys. Not that the scenery was so varied but the fact that I was riding through Siberia to places I had only imagined. In Moscow I stood on the platform staring at the huge train I almost missed it. Actually it's the railway that is the TransSiberian. The train is the "Rossia" Train #2 going from Moscow to Vladivostok and coming back the train is #1 and I think it's called the "Vostok," but I'd have to check my writings to be sure. There was a samovar with hot water in the corridor of my car. I was traveling hard class as opposed to soft class. It's much cheaper and I wanted to be with Russians and other citizens for the trip. Most of the time there was hot water in the samovar but a couple of times it was cold by morning. I had food packets that I mixed with the water for snacks. Being a vegetarian I had a hard time having enough to eat in many places I traveled. I met so many interesting people on my travels. By the eighth day I was exhausted though. The scenery was mostly of small villages and miles and miles of what looked like birch trees and some evergreens. Sometimes the train would pass a lake and there would be people ice fishing. A few times I saw vehicles crossing the frozen lakes. There was snow and or ice everywhere including ice on the inside of the window beside my bunk. When walking through from one car to another it was freezing cold and without gloves my hand would stick to the door handle. I had gloves but usually forgot to put them on except at night to sleep in. I slept in my coat,gloves,socks, scarf and hat. I stretched my scarf across my face for warmth. I'm sure the coal stoves were kept burning all night in soft class. I hardly could find enough to eat in the dining car without meat. The waiters used the abbaccus for totaling the bills. I only learned a few words and phrases in Russian but I had a copy of the Cyrillic alphabet. It took me a long time to convert the letters to see what town we were stopping in. There were people with food on platforms to sell at some stops. I did find hot boiled potatoes a few times. Usually from old ladies woth baby buggies or carts full of the potatoes still in the pots. I found candy bars once or twice for sale. There is no other train ride like it. I like the name we call it. The TransSiberian Express.

Thanks for the info about your 8 day TransSiberian train trip platform5. Brrrrrrrr!

WOW! That was some trip! I like it cool, but that sounds downright chilling. :o) Never heard of the Cyrillic alphabet, so I would have been in big trouble on that trip. I'm not as brave as you, I could never travel alone in a foreign country.

There are places I would like to drive to my car, but in this day and age I hesitate to travel by car alone. Short trips okay,but thousands of miles I just don't do anymore by myself. So I take the train, which I love, I get to see much more scenery than if I was driving, and it's an adventure where you meet different kinds of people.

That reminds me, when you go to the dining car they seat you wherever there is a space available, you don't get to choose, and you do get to eat dinner with all kinds of people. Once I sat with a man and his two boys, he worked at the Jet Propulsion laboratory in CA. He mentioned microwaves in his conversation, so I asked him a question I have been wondering about for a long time. I have heard that when you microwave your food it changes the molecular structure of it in a bad way, so I asked him if that was true. He said "no." So I am hoping that is the case. So you just never know who you will be eating a meal with. :o)

Well I digress. Bye for now.

Rose, meeting people and being seated in the dining car on a train is always an experience of some sort. I agree about seeing more scenery by train. If you are the driver of a road trip you don't see much at all. If you don't want to travel in a foreign country alone you can meet up with me if your trip coincides with mine.

Any new trips guys?

I'm still waiting to hear more about our new member,
Varsha's trip.

Come on all you train lovers- write about your trips or your "rail fantasies."

Hi guys;

I am going from San Diego to San Francisco for the Fillmore Jazz Festival, on the 4th of July weekend. I will have my Sister, Brother and Sister-inlaw. They will be comming from Mississippi, so they will fly in.

I am planning to take the Coast Starlight from San Diego to Oakland Jack London Square, then take either the bus or BART to SF. Any good Ideas.