5 ms·

Here we are wishing that we had daytime trains half as good in the US. Yes it's fine if you live near the northeast corridor, but what about the rest of us out

by asow92 4y ago

Here we are wishing that we had daytime trains half as good in the US. Yes it's fine if you live near the northeast corridor, but what about the rest of us out here in "flyover country"?

ant6n 4y ago
You can take long distance trains, which incidentally have pretty nice sleeping accommodations, much nicer than most European sleeper trains.
- asow92 4y ago
  I've taken the Lake Shore Limited overnight from NYC to Chicago and loved it! Would love to try the California Zephyr next.
IIAOPSW 4y ago
Amtrak runs a whole 3 cross country services. Empire Builder (parallel Canada to Oregon), California Zephyr (Chicago to SF straightish line), Southeast Chief (LA through the Southern border states). These trains run through some of the most sparsely populated low demand regions to exist. Every state in the lower 48 except for Wyoming has at least one service passing through it. There's only so much Amtrak can do. At some point, if Americans want to see quality rail travel, they will need to make some life style changes with respect to the sorts of houses they buy, neighborhoods they choose, tradeoffs they make. We can't make trains to literally everywhere, so at some point people will have to choose living close enough together to justify a train.
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
  Look at railroad maps from ~1930, and you see railroads connecting to almost everywhere, even in much of so called flyover country, and difficult terrain. To get an impression, just have a look at the first map from there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_... What can be seen there extends to much of the rest of the CONUS. Therefore I conclude it has nothing to do with life style, tradeoffs regarding location, and so on. > We can't make trains to literally everywhere... You could, and you did. Then the Great Depression and WWII came, and after this you decided to throw it all away for the automobile. The same with streetcars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp... vs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_systems_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_systems_in_t...
- asow92 4y ago
  Let’s put it this way: I live in a small upstate NY city with roughly 100k people in its metropolitan area, but am still two hours driving distance from the closest Amtrak station. How much bigger should we get before we should expect a station in a state that’s better than most for rail service? We once had rail service here via the Erie Lackawanna Phoebe Snow, and those tracks were demolished decades ago.
  - IIAOPSW 4y ago
    Oh that one. IDK how far the plans extend, but I've heard the Lackawana cutoff is going to be revived. The ROW and bridges are still there. But you're right, there's a whole lot of things we had which were foolishly demolished, and New York state and city are no strangers to that fact. A solid half of transit proposals I see consist of reactivating some line that was already built 100 years ago and has laid dormant for 50.
    - asow92 4y ago
      It's terribly sad, and yes I'm excited about the ongoing work to connect Scranton. Lots of people commute daily via bus between Scranton and NYC and I feel for them. I've heard mixed quotes from people who've talked in person with Schumer on whether this will eventually connect Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, or the rest of the Southern Tier and eventually to Buffalo. Some say he said they're talking about it and others have said he said there's no chance.

by asow92 4y ago

Here we are wishing that we had daytime trains half as good in the US. Yes it's fine if you live near the northeast corridor, but what about the rest of us out here in "flyover country"?

ant6n 4y ago

You can take long distance trains, which incidentally have pretty nice sleeping accommodations, much nicer than most European sleeper trains.

asow92 4y ago
I've taken the Lake Shore Limited overnight from NYC to Chicago and loved it! Would love to try the California Zephyr next.

IIAOPSW 4y ago

Amtrak runs a whole 3 cross country services. Empire Builder (parallel Canada to Oregon), California Zephyr (Chicago to SF straightish line), Southeast Chief (LA through the Southern border states). These trains run through some of the most sparsely populated low demand regions to exist. Every state in the lower 48 except for Wyoming has at least one service passing through it. There's only so much Amtrak can do. At some point, if Americans want to see quality rail travel, they will need to make some life style changes with respect to the sorts of houses they buy, neighborhoods they choose, tradeoffs they make. We can't make trains to literally everywhere, so at some point people will have to choose living close enough together to justify a train.

LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
Look at railroad maps from ~1930, and you see railroads connecting to almost everywhere, even in much of so called flyover country, and difficult terrain. To get an impression, just have a look at the first map from there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_... What can be seen there extends to much of the rest of the CONUS. Therefore I conclude it has nothing to do with life style, tradeoffs regarding location, and so on. > We can't make trains to literally everywhere... You could, and you did. Then the Great Depression and WWII came, and after this you decided to throw it all away for the automobile. The same with streetcars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp... vs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_systems_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streetcar_systems_in_t...
asow92 4y ago
Let’s put it this way: I live in a small upstate NY city with roughly 100k people in its metropolitan area, but am still two hours driving distance from the closest Amtrak station. How much bigger should we get before we should expect a station in a state that’s better than most for rail service? We once had rail service here via the Erie Lackawanna Phoebe Snow, and those tracks were demolished decades ago.
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  Oh that one. IDK how far the plans extend, but I've heard the Lackawana cutoff is going to be revived. The ROW and bridges are still there. But you're right, there's a whole lot of things we had which were foolishly demolished, and New York state and city are no strangers to that fact. A solid half of transit proposals I see consist of reactivating some line that was already built 100 years ago and has laid dormant for 50.
  - asow92 4y ago
    It's terribly sad, and yes I'm excited about the ongoing work to connect Scranton. Lots of people commute daily via bus between Scranton and NYC and I feel for them. I've heard mixed quotes from people who've talked in person with Schumer on whether this will eventually connect Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, or the rest of the Southern Tier and eventually to Buffalo. Some say he said they're talking about it and others have said he said there's no chance.