Growing up

[Wingnut]

Loved riding the rails.  Did you.

[mountaineer]

Yes, Amtrak between St. Louis and Chicago, and STL-Pittsburgh. Also innumerable times in Europe. I love train travel.
Took the TGV from Paris to Avignon, too. Super speedy.
As a kid, I regularly rode the streetcar (trolley) in Pittsburgh, too. What an adventure.

[Polly Ticks]

I rarely made it out of Podunk, Indiana, when I was growing up.  My first experience on a train was the Deutsche Bahn in my early 20's during a trip to visit a friend who had married a soldier.

[Bigun]

I've ridden many trains, mostly the steam engine variety, and will do so again if the opportunity presents itself.

[bigheadfred]

I haven't ridden in any trains in the U.S.

[Gefn]

@Wingnut
I don't think you meant a choo-choo train in a children's amusement park or county fair.


But I rode one of those and an Amtrak train in Junior High.

And a subway train.

[Smokin Joe]

Subway in Toronto, Amtrack in the US.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Amtrak to New York City and Albequerque, NM.  Our locomotive caught fire in Syracuse and we were pulled to Chicago by a Conrail loco.  The Toldeo, OH, Amtrak station looked like vacant parking lot that hadn't been repaved.

MBTA commuter rail, subway, and street car for commuting to work, school, and downtown.  The drawbridge at North Station got stuck in the up position (I hoped to get home early that afternoon; no such luck).  The locomotive of the train in front of us caught fire; our train had to push the other train.

Washington DC subway to go from hotel to National Air & Space Museum.  The last time my disabled wife and I went to DC, there was no station near our hotel that had working escalators or elevators.

NY/NJ Path between World Trade Center (before 9/11) to Exchange Place, Jersey City, NJ.  NY Subway from World Trade Center to Mulberry Street, Little Italy, NYC.

When the systems are maintained they can be slower, but efficient alternatives to driving and flying.  These days, it's a crap shoot if you're train will show up, you'll make it to your destination on time, or you'll make it to your destination at all.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Boston still runs PCC's on it's Ashmont-Mattapan branch of the Red Line in regular service.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvM_sWE2py0

I got to drive a trolley at the Seaside Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Yes, Amtrak between St. Louis and Chicago, and STL-Pittsburgh. Also innumerable times in Europe. I love train travel.
Took the TGV from Paris to Avignon, too. Super speedy.
As a kid, I regularly rode the streetcar (trolley) in Pittsburgh, too. What an adventure.

[jafo2010]

Are they still using the old cars in Pittsburgh?  They shut the Shannon Drake line which was the line I used to ride on with the old cars.

[Wingnut]

We would leave from the Ill Central passenger train station and travel to Chicago's Union Station.  Then take a bus to the Museums



Ride on this train.


Circa 1963

[libertybele]

In my early years, I used to ride the train with friends from Detroit to Toronto.  Lots of fun and the train ride was a small party itself.  Toronto used to be a great place to visit.

[berdie]

As a  young child, I was staying for a couple of weeks with my Grandma in southern Illinois. While there, my uncle died in Chicago. We took the train to the funeral. As much as I loved it, today I'm a little amazed that my granny could navigate that journey by herself since she had never been out of tiny town. Well, not really. She was a very tough lady. The biggest thing I remember was the smell. Today, I realize it was smoke. I also recall staying in a hotel that was really, really not nice. But it was several floors up. So to me, that was pretty cool as well.

[berdie]

We would leave from the Ill Central passenger train station and travel to Chicago's Union Station.  Then take a bus to the Museums



Ride on this train.


Circa 1963

I went to the Field Museum as a kid. It made an impression!

[Sighlass]

Yep... a steam powered one... but it was a novelty at the time.



In the old days, they would even pick up passengers along the way according to mom.

[roamer_1]

Rode thew Empire Builder (Northernmost rail, Chicago westward) many a time. It's the only mass transit available out here... Rode eastward to Chicago mostly, but I have taken it to Spokane for the car show a few times, and all the way out to Portland once.

Always wanted to ride over to Chicago and catch the City of New Orleans south... Would be a hella good trip in a sleeper car.

[roamer_1]

Now, how many of you have hopped a freight?

That's the real thing.

[Sighlass]

Now, how many of you have hopped a freight?

That's the real thing.

Only my dad, he just wanted to try it... He would point out places the train had to slow down and you could hop in.... I still think of it around Moccasin Bend, Chattanooga where there was plenty of "Hobo Holes" to hide in and jump a train.

He said he did it on a quirk as a teenager, and had to call the folks to come pick him up 40 miles away... Dad was brilliant, but strange.

[mountaineer]

Are they still using the old cars in Pittsburgh?  They shut the Shannon Drake line which was the line I used to ride on with the old cars.

They have new boxy white cars, and renamed it "the T."

[MeganC]

Loved riding the rails.  Did you.

My parents took me on an excursion train somewhere around LA when I was a child. I loved it! 

[Free Vulcan]

Amtrak and an old refurb diesel on rebuilt tracks.

And yeah I love the rails.

[berdie]

I really wish we could reinstitute the use of trains for commutes to work. We have the rails. It could cut down on traffic in metro areas. Plus it could be kinda fun.

[libertybele]

Now, how many of you have hopped a freight?

That's the real thing.

Oh good grief, well, I can't say that I have, but that indeed would be adventuresome!

[Gefn]

Silly but true.

Would like to travel on the Orient Express. It looks so swanky in the movies.
(But do not go aboard if Hercule Poirot is a passenger)

[mountaineer]

Would like to travel on the Orient Express. It looks so swanky in the movies.

Go for it!

In mid-2026, The Orient Express will invite travelers to relive the legend aboard 17 original Orient Express cars dating back to the 1920s and 1930s, adorned with exceptional décor – a set of cars formerly known as the ‘Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express.’

Reimagined by architect Maxime d’Angeac. An original design, inspired by the 1920s, created with the codes of contemporary luxury.

https://www.orient-express.com/trains/the-orient-express/

[catfish1957]

tWas 8 (and in 1965), and just about missed the era of old traditional train travel.  That was about the time most of that stopped.  And that was the reason for the trip to my grandparents, so I could witness and experience it. 

My folks were good about that.