If you live in Pittsburgh, you might never think about taking a train. Yes, there still are Amtrak trains that serve Pittsburgh. Two departures and two arrivals daily:
Pennsylvanian to Philadelphia and New York
Capitol Limited to Chicago or Washington D.C.
Sounds pretty useful, right? Maybe not. The Pennsylvanian leaves once a day at 7:20am to get to Philadelphia by 3:25pm and NYC by 4:54pm. And that's if it's on time. The railroad from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg is not owned by Amtrak, so freight trains hundreds of cars long can slow down the route. And going to D.C.? Train leaves at 5:45am to get there at 1:30pm. Going the other way to Chicago means an 11:55pm departure to get there at 8:40am. According to Amtrak, last night's train departed at 1:03am. and arrived 25 minutes late, probably due to the same concerns over freight.
But even with its delays and longer travel times, there's something alluring about rail. Maybe its the history. Maybe it's the enormity. Maybe it's a link between old and new. Whatever it is, railfans make a hobby out of spotting, photographing, and collecting everything there is to know about trains.
Chris Guenzler takes it one step further. He has ridden every mile of Amtrak at least twice. Including historic trains and commuter rail, he has totaled over 1,000,000 miles. He rides one train by his home out and back nightly. He has kept track of every train he rides and keeps a box in his room of timetables and tickets from his travels. His website includes pictures and stories of every trip he's made. What cars were on the train, what he ate, what he listened to, everything.
The stories also tell of Chris's other obsession. A story from 1993 tells of Chris being thrown off of the train in New Orleans due to drunkenness. Experiences like that one led Chris to go sober in 1995 and use his train riding as a way to stay on the wagon.
It's really an amazing story for those who love alternative transportation, and his travelogues are concise but interesting journeys of America and beyond. His stories might even make you get up early to catch that 5:45am train to D.C.
Here's to the railfans! [raises a Coca-Cola in the air]
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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I do take Amtrak to New York and DC, but I can't say I'm wild about the departure times. Last time (a triangular trip from Pittsburgh to DC to NY and back) I had to catch the first or second 71A and then didn't feel like I had time to get a cup of coffee before boarding the train. And we know the coffee on the train isn't the greatest. (And where's the best place to get coffee near the train station these days? Why can't we have a great train station like Philadelphia's????)
ReplyDeleteThis is a neat blog and I'm hoping that someone here may be able to help me out a little bit. I'm looking to make two trips this month and I've never traveled by train. I have a 3 year old who is in love with trains so rather than flying we are taking the Amtrak from Pittsburgh to Baltimore ( and then Philadelphia later in the month ). Where can I go to find details on the stations and travel itself? I'm looking for long term parking, baggage information, carry-on information, etc. Any help is greatly appreciated! jlstarcheski@mac.com
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