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China has more than 550 cities with high speed rail lines spanning over 40,000km. each with first class, toilets, and meal services. Or...you can buy an entir
by nimbius 1y ago
China has more than 550 cities with high speed rail lines spanning over 40,000km. each with first class, toilets, and meal services.
Or...you can buy an entire rail car, hitch it to the haggard burro that is Amtrak and chug along at pony express speeds across the United States of nothingness until freight rail causes you to have to stop for 3 hours at a time as you do not have right of way.
Enjoy Batesland Nebraska at 20mph slower than the interstates posted speed limit.
who at Amtrak thought this was worth even mentioning?
- thinkingtoilet 1y agoIf I was extremely wealthy I would ride around in my private rail car over flying 100% of the time.
- bitmasher9 1y agoFor me the whole point of flying is fast travel. Private even more so, because it operates on your schedule. A Amtrak train is slower than driving.
- thinkingtoilet 1y agoIt depends. I take the Amtrack from Albany to Chicago once a year or so because I hate flying. It's maybe an hour or two slower than driving and that's with a lot of time built in to the schedule for delays. The last time I took it We left Albany 45 minutes late and still made it on time to Chicago. Yes, delays happen, just like in traffic or at the air port, but I find the focus on delays when Amtrak comes up extremely over-stated. Perhaps it's just the routes I'm on.
- guappa 1y agoWow you take the train once a year, certainly there's nobody more qualified than you to speak about them!
- Gud 1y agoIf you have all the money in the world, why would you need to go fast? Just enjoy the ride in comfort and style.
- antonkochubey 1y agoPrivate rail car is nowhere near as comfortable as actually getting home quickly, especially you have the kind of home that people with all the money in the world do.
- Gud 1y agoAnd for some, the journey is the destination.
- bluGill 1y agoMany people with money travel so much home is a hotel. They 'have a large manson that the staff says is nice' isn't quite the truth but it isn't far off. though they also don't have time to take a slow train.
- defrost 1y agoPerhaps more of a European mega-rich habit, not especially applicable to the US, is the practice of just taking the mansion, helicopters, and cars with you on a super yacht. * https://theitalianseagroup.com/ https://theitalianseagroup.com/ * https://benettiyachts.com/ https://benettiyachts.com/ * https://www.sanlorenzoyacht.com/ https://www.sanlorenzoyacht.com/
- guappa 1y agoI'd forbid those things in territorial waters. They bring no money to local communities and are glad to do things like ignore nature reserves or go with motor boats where people are swimming, which is of course illegal but they don't care.
- ghaff 1y agoEven if you travel a lot and just have one home, spending a lot of time on luxury travel can still get old.
- bobthepanda 1y agoIt depends on the route and the distance. For example, Portland to Seattle isn't that far but I-5 can easily back up and become an hours-long ordeal, and SEA and PDX aren't particularly close to a lot of places.
- bombcar 1y agoTraffic jams have become so much easier to handle with lane following and down-to-zero adaptive cruise control. A backlog of hundreds of hours of podcasts doesn’t hurt. Still would prefer the train.
- bobthepanda 1y agoWhile this is true, there is also something to be said about predictability. A train that is an hour slower than the best driving time but consistently so is easier to plan around than a car that is an hour faster or an hour slower than the train with no clear rhyme or reason.
- bitmasher9 1y agoAgreed that SEA to PDX is uniquely useful on the west coast. Similar trips are also practical in the north east for the same reasons (relatively short distance for a flight, high car traffic and great station locations)
- Fade_Dance 1y agoAt those prices, this would have to compete against options like a private chauffeur in a Rolls-Royce though, or a private luxury tour bus. Both of which would come in considerably cheaper.
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoI would rather fly commercial than be driven in any private vehicle long distance. I would, however, embrace the luxury of a slower trip by private railcar. Beyond the novelty, I could presumably stretch out and sleep and maybe enjoy a great meal.
- Fade_Dance 1y agoI think the historical element has a strong appeal. Say, a restored luxury railcar with period appropriate antiques. That would be an experience that is hard to get elsewhere. Even old style hotels and such somehow feel less authentic and "alive" than riding in a luxury railcar from the 1800s.
- bombcar 1y agohttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2NNujJKJL4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2NNujJKJL4 Pinnacle! I’d even have some begrudging respect for Trump if he made them bust this thing out of storage heh.
- Fade_Dance 1y ago"The reason why the car is only 258,000 lbs..." /cue bald eagle
- bobmcnamara 1y agoMust be one of the poors. My railcar will have wings!
- taneq 1y agoDo you really have a privately owned rail car in order to go fast? It sounds to me more like a self-driving campervan, you can sit back and watch the world roll by.
- nmeofthestate 1y agoSounds like the kind of thing a billionaire would do in a Neal Stephenson book.
- nmeofthestate 1y ago(actually I think it is something a billionaire does in a NS book)
- taneq 1y agoIt's definitely something a zillionaire does in a Peter F. Hamilton book, except instead of a rail car it's a zepplin. I mean, if I were a zillionaire I guess I'd live in a zepplin too.
- bombcar 1y agoI think everyone pretty much has to admit that “robber baron with zeppelin” is the peak billionaire style.
- 4ggr0 1y agoThey travel by train in Termination Shock, a book by NS :)
- m463 1y agoI think the railcar equivalent will eventually become reality (if it isn't already) Lots of people tool around in giant class-a motorhomes. They are 40 or 45 feet long. They are basically small apartments with double-door fridges, dishwasher, washer/dryer, starlink, etc if they add the self-driving stuff, it will make them extra popular. I think mobileye might have something.
- nemomarx 1y agoneeding to be anywhere at a particular urgent time is very nouveau riche. making people wait on you is more elegant, right? /s
- rbanffy 1y agoIt’s always been like that.
- HPsquared 1y agoA private airship would definitely be cooler.
- bombcar 1y agoYou’ll know I have my first billion when you see Hindenburg II with bigger and better hydrogen gasbags. What’s the point of billions if you don’t have an airship?!?
- withinboredom 1y agoEspecially ones that go boom!
- stockresearcher 1y agoThe old Goodyear blimps were ridiculously loud. You needed to wear ear protection 100% of the time. The new ones are whisper quiet. FYI, whenever they go someplace they almost always have time in the schedule dedicated to giving free rides. You just gotta be in the right place at the right time ;)
- bombcar 1y agoBlimps are children’s toys. Zeppelins are the real rigid deal.
- stockresearcher 1y agoYep, and that's what Goodyear uses now. The last blimp left the fleet less than 10 years ago.
- c22 1y agoAmtrak does have right-of-way by federal law for over 50 years now. However, the freight operators don't care and the federal government refuses to enforce it. People with private train cars probably have a louder voice than most rail passengers so if this gets more popular perhaps that could change.
- bluGill 1y agoThe freight operators say they obey law. I've talk to their drivers (on my last trip one was taking amtrak) who tell about hours waiting for a late amtrak. i don't know who is right but I don't trust anyone to tell the full truth.
- stonogo 1y agoThey do obey the law: they're required to pull onto a siding to allow Amtrak to stay on time. So the operators ensure the train is too long for any of the sidings, which fits them into an escape clause. Any cargo train stuck waiting for Amtrak simply isn't fully stacked yet. Closing that loophole is what the government is dragging its feet about.
- FridayoLeary 1y agoFrom wikipedia > United States – BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad (UP) regularly operate intermodal container trains exceeding 5,000 metres (16,500 ft) in length on main lines in the western United States. On the UP, these trains can stretch to over 6,100 metres (20,000 ft) with 5 locomotives and 280 well cars. Those are incredible figures. It would almost be a shame to ban such amazing monuments to engineering. Not to mention that it's probably the most efficent and enviromentally friendly way to do things.
- Wowfunhappy 1y agoIMO the freight companies should be able to pay to build longer sidings if they need them, but they should have to pay for it.
- Lammy 1y ago> across the United States of nothingness Check out this map if you want to be really sad: https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=10akDabya8L6nWIJi-4Zor-QawkoJmmMK&ehbc=2E312F https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=10akDabya8L6nWIJi-4Z...
- railthrowaway2 1y agoSeattle metro area: Some of the right-of-ways have been converted into rail trails, so the map probably isn't THAT bad. But yeah the current state of US rail is depressing compared to what could have been (or yet could be!)
- bobthepanda 1y agoTheoretically rail trails can become rail lines once again but I am only really aware of one example where this kind of happened (the DC Purple Line)
- bombcar 1y agoPart of this is the rail trails only happen where there’s basically not even a ghost of a need for the tracks. But trails alongside very inactive tracks is also becoming more common.
- 0_____0 1y agoI am traveling by Amtrak in a few days. You should not consider Amtrak unless desperate. Even then, generally a bus would be better. Amtrak does not exist. It legally has to exist but it is worse than useless, because it pretends that it might actually be something you'd want to use.
- bluGill 1y agoHaving take a bus and amtrack I'll take amtrak. My bus was just as late, and there was less opportunity to walk around. Amtrak has sleeper cars which are probably better than the coach seats I was in (the bedrooms areea good price for 4 people but had 5 and so couldn't make the numbers work)
- ghaff 1y agoI've taken a "luxury" bus from the Boston area to NY once. I'll stick to Amtrak although, given where I live, it's not very efficient. Boston area to DC really takes too long though I've done it. I hate driving into NYC though I've done it with someone else (or because I was headed somewhere else afterwards). As you say, with multiple people, the numbers don't really pencil out--especially given it takes longer for me.
- 0_____0 1y agoI do BOS-NYC occasionally. Have driven, taken the train, and have taken a bus. The train was fine, but the bus was also fine, was far cheaper and the bus terminal is just as central in Manhattan.
- themafia 1y ago> across the United States of nothingness This is churlish to the point of complete foolishness. Amtrak has a scenic view car for a reason. There is almost no stretch of the track outside of cities that fails to be a completely beautiful and picturesque portrait of our amazing country. If you haven't tried it then you might not know. I feel bad that you haven't had this experience personally. > causes you to have to stop for 3 hours at a time as you do not have right of way. It's about 15 minutes and may happen once or twice a day. The longest delay I experienced was because the locomotive had a mechanical issue. That took one hour. > who at Amtrak thought this was worth even mentioning? What kind of person without the relevant experience would even endeavor to offer this comment?
- booleandilemma 1y agoI took a train from nyc to chicago recently and felt like I was passing through the higher numbered districts of the hunger games. The parent is not wrong.
- potato3732842 1y ago>I took a train from nyc to chicago recently and felt like I was passing through the higher numbered districts of the hunger games. Oh man, oh man, the irony. Formerly industrial areas of the US are poor and dilapidated because the people of places specifically including but not strictly limited to NYC and Chicago (with the help of some voters elsewhere) made big bucks sending all that productivity to poorer nations. The wealth is not there specifically because decisions were made to benefit wall street at those people's expense. Hunger games was a more apt metaphor for the comparison than I think you thought it was.
- booleandilemma 1y agoYes I'm aware of the history.
- petesergeant 1y ago> There is almost no stretch of the track outside of cities that fails to be a completely beautiful and picturesque portrait of our amazing country America has some absolutely incredible scenery, but the idea that it's almost _all_ "beautiful and picturesque" is ridiculous.
- rsingel 1y agoAmtrak almost always has right of way but loses it practically, with freight trains that ignore or are too long for the sidings
- schainks 1y agoHaving ridden every class of ticket in China's rail system, there is a special place in my heart for all of those experiences. I am sure a private railcar hitched to the Haggard Amtrak Burro is a special experience, too, particularly when your party is the only party for the staff to wait on.
- SilverElfin 1y agoI agree with your point on delays caused by freight rail and Amtrak speeds in general. But I think the bit about Nebraska is too negative. People love road trips in their cars and train trips for the same reason - it’s fun looking out your window and seeing things. If you open yourself to it, there is so much to appreciate about the parts of countries that are less visited.