I took the Amtrack up to Chicago today and drove back the 95 e300 diesel I bought from Matt a fellow member here. The tran was about 20 minutes late but otherwise the service was exemplary.

Sat down in the terminal with my backpack. Next to me was a lady with four bags.
Her: "where you going?"
Chicago.
What for?
Picking up an old Mercedes.
You a collector?
Uhhhh....more of an accumulator.
she laughs.
Then I launch into a breif explanation of how many old cars I have but left out the two studebakers for simplicity/
Then she tells me all about her nephew who collects (gasp) Sears allstate motorcycles...he has them all except for two models.
We go on for a good while about that, then I ask her where she's going. She launches into an excited description of how her husband is flying down in a couple of days to NOL and they are taking the delta queen paddle boat up to memphis, taking 5 days to visit all the sights along the way...vicksburg etc.
She tells me how the old Delta Queen had been taken out of service by the government and so they had to build a new one, then she starts ranting about how terrible it is that the government is telling us too much to do and that if all this safety hogwash was so effective how come Social Security is in trouble? We used to ride bikes without helmets and no seat belts in cars, etc.

I say that the automobile safety standards work really well and that even though we drive many times more miles today less people are killed than in the sixties (I may have stretched that a bit, not sure).

She argues more.

So I say "your solution to the social security shortfall is to kill off more young people?"

Then I must have made her feel as if she was losing so she said "I was kidding". don't you have any sense of humor?

So I stopped talking to her.

Turns out all the problems of the world would be all better if people just would simply grow a sense of humor!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Maybe: Turns out all problems of the World seem to be better if People just would simply grow a sense of Humor.

Baseball is not Americas favorite past time; compared to complaining about things.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Nice to have a local Amtrak station.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I flew to LA a few months ago for a business trip. After passing through the ordeal that is LAX and waiting at the terminal for the return flight, one of my co-workers suggested we should take the train next time. A little searching revealed we have an Amtrak station in Reno (that nobody knows about), and there's an Amtrak station adjacent to LAX (that nobody seems to know about). I haven't looked any further into it, but I will the next time I need to go to LA.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Here's a clip of LA's Amtrak station (though from 1985) at the beginning of a mesmerizing chase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDK8OtjE7O4

rest of it

To Live and Die in L.A.(1985) - The Car Chase part 2 - YouTube

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Been at that Reno station a number of times. The ride from Denver to SFO is just about the nicest train ride you can get in this country. Last time I took it, about 10 yrs ago it was $160 round trip. Well worth it. If it's on time you can eat dinner in the dining car while crossing the high desert of Utah. Last time it was in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. Fantastic.

I've also take the LA train that Elchivito refers to. The problem is that if you leave from Denver, Amtrak puts you on a bus to Raton NM where you pick up the train.

The last time I was on Amtrak I met a retired guy from near SFO. He'd bought a pass for less than $200 which covered both Amtrak and Canada Rail. Took Amtrak to Vancouver, Canada Rail all the way across Canada to the Maritimes I think. Then back down to Boston and was on the final leg from Boston to SFO. He'd get off the train every day, find a hotel, stay a few days and then jump back on for the next leg. He had a gps hooked up to his computer and it had tracked his travel. It's a very relaxing way to travel.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Couldn't you go Denver-SF-LA?

As far as Philly to Hartford, I'm actually on a train now, sorta bored and looked it up. Cheapest fare Monday is 62, highest is 90. Early booking lowers it to 44.

yes, the ticket was half the cost of fuel to drive my most fuel efficient car up there. Interesting view too....different from driving.

At one point I passed a whole row of the huge windmills which were at least a mile away and they lined up so straight and it was so level it looked at one point like one mill with about 20 blades turning.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If only the Northeast line were as cheap w/o pre-booking. I'm paying $50 from NY to Philly tomorrow -- driving would be closer to $25 but my car is stored out of town, the bus or local train would be $15. Local train takes twice as long, and riding on long-distance buses generally makes me want to vomit. Arriving motion sick ain't my idea of a fun ride.

Looking on the bright side, moving at 120+ mph on the ground is kind of fun.

I love Amtrack, when I visit my sister in San Diego and don't need a car I take the train. Most relaxing way of traveling and the train is little bit cheaper even if I travel 1st class.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

The rails were in pretty good condition and got better as we approached the Chicago area. I was walking along the platform which must be a quarter mile long in Lafayette and was disturbed to see that only about 20% of the spikes actually touched the rails, the others had backed out as much as 4".

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Yeah, that seems pretty sketchy and dangerous. Have the railroad inspectors been furloughed of late?

Around here they seem to be moving to cement ties where the rails are clipped rather than spiked down.

I think the last Delta Queen failed a Coast Guard seaworthy test and was not given a cert to operated in US waters. This is because it was worn out, and even though it still had a great deal of charm the operators must have made the decision to replace and not repair.

I find it amazing that anyone would want to go back to the unregulated days of sea travel. Most folks don't understand that hulls thin as they travel thorough water, and even thought it usually takes fifty years for this to take place the day will come when they are unsafe to operate.

Hulls can be maintained, but it is normally cheaper to just purchase a new vessel.

And... You may be wondering why I know this stuff. I was once in charge of a few oil tankers that operate in US waters and was always catching grief from the maritime operations folks for one thing or another. I just pointed out that I was the one signing off on the vessel's capability, and if they wished to assume that job I would be glad to turn it over to them.

But running a fleet of tankers is easy if you have a well trained staff that is doing all of the work.

I have always thought you really needed a sense of humour to live in this world.

I would like to see the railroads grow stronger again. Locally we are still downsizing passenger service. The methology seems to raise fares so it becomes the most expensive commercial transportation to use.

Late last year the passenger train does not stop locally unless their booking system shows someone has purchased a ticket in advance anymore. Or some people are getting off. Plus service frequency is in decline.

The track infustructure etc seems well maintained because of the volume of freight handled. Railways up here in Canada have been really profitable the last few years. Government runs the passenger train service at a loss of course..

Bill gates purchased quite a chunk of Canadian pacific railways. I suspect Warren Buffet put him up to it. Was a wise move anyways.

Hi,

Did you mention the spike situation to anyone?