T1B

We took the Amtrak from Sandy Eggo to SLO and back last weekend. I'm glad our engineer was not speeding. I thought trains were safe.

Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

The answer to your question is no. I believe there is a 50,000:1 chance you will be killed in a car crash when you are in one. The other modes of transportation are a lot safer, statistically. We are all OK with the odds, as travel is a necessary activity.

We did the SLO to Oceanside trek a couple of years ago on our way to Legoland. We did it on a Friday evening and probably actually saved time vs driving. The Santa Barbara to Santa Maria section is always the best part.

The train does take a little longer, and like you said, traffic can take just as long. Plus the headache of driving anywhere north of San Diego and south of Santa Barbara is less and less appealing. There was enough to do, mingle, nap, read, they even had a wine tasting on board, if you wanted it. No security to hassle you, and the coast is so scenic, so why not?

By the way, we went to Ventana Grill in Pismo Beach. Dang it was good and beautiful!

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

Not many Amish transportation deaths.

Ventana is always a great choice. Awesome view-Awesome food. Was my friend Heather your server?

Our server was Kiko! He was a charmer and very good!

Ha. That's funny. He covered her shift the other night when we went to party.

Moving Sale wrote:Ha. That's funny. He covered her shift the other night when we went to party.

If it was Friday night, she missed out on a very big tip from us! We loved it and my husband was a little too generous.

Yea we are pretty good around here at parting city slickers from their money.

By the way, we went to Ventana Grill in Pismo Beach. Dang it was good and beautiful!

First off, train travel is very safe. This was not a problem with the train. It was a problem with an inattentive moron driving the train. It is pretty likely that he fell asleep. There is all this talk about high dollar systems which will automatically shut down speeding trains. Amtrack is a fukking trainwreck, no pun intended. Privatize the damn thing. The northest corridor would be fine as there are actual people on the trains. Other routes that run empty would be discontinued by a train company spending its own money.

The engineer looks like he has his shit together.
I have no idea what could have gone wrong.

He fell asleep, just like the dude on the metro north train a few years ago that did the same thing.

Hard to believe there hasn't been a system in place for years that would avoid this. And it has nothing at all to do with not pissing away enough money for "infastructure".

This is textbook incompetence at a gubmint agency.

How hard would it be to have something in the cockpit that requires the train jockey to perform a simple task every 30 seconds or so? This would solve the asleep at the switch problem which is the cause of these incidents.

And one other thing. Can we stop calling them "engineers"?

They were called engineers, because back in the 19th century, they were engineers. A steam locomotive driver had a lot going on and was a very high skill position. Electric train "engineers" are just bus drivers that don't even have to steer. He has one duty. Speed control. The skill set required is the ability to stay awake.

poptart wrote:

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

Not many Amish transportation deaths.

Bullshit. They get hit by vehicles all the time in rural areas. You've got one vehicle going 4 mph and another coming up behind it doing 60. Would not want to be in the buggy.

Yeah, Amish buggy pilot is somewhere between teenage Puerto Rican ninja stuntah and 17 year old ditzy cheerleader texted/driver on the safety scale.

poptart wrote:

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

Not many Amish transportation deaths.

Last year in WNY we had a drunk driver take out a whole Amish family riding in their buggy.

Nah, they were in a van. WNY Amish are more lair back than their North Country and PA kinfolk.

smackaholic wrote:How hard would it be to have something in the cockpit that requires the train jockey to perform a simple task every 30 seconds or so? This would solve the asleep at the switch problem which is the cause of these incidents.

That doesn't work, either.

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

Lancaster, PA.
2013


There are approximately 11,000 horse-and-buggy families in Lancaster County, with an average of two teams on the road per family. Most teams do 4,000 miles a year. This translates to 90 million miles traveled on county roads per year.

The last 10 years, there's been an average of one buggy accident fatality per year.

http://m.lancasteronline.com/opinion/le ... l?mode=jqm

On my first trip the the USA in 2002 I caught the Amtrack from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, then from Pittsburgh to New York, It was a great way to travel cross country and watch the scenery go by

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

BTW-I like the Auto-Train which goes from Sanford FL to Lorton VA and back. You take you car with you and you get dinner and breakfast. It was best with a roomette which has a lower bunk that it 6'4", enough for me to stretch out while sleeping. Food is decent and you get wine with dinner. There's a club car for beer and snacks and a movie if you want. A bit pricey, but nearly a wash compared to flying and renting a car. My older son lives near Lorton now, so I may use it when I go north in October. Incidentally, my younger daughter in Buffalo is expecting 10/7. Our travel is tied to that event. Also, Mrs. O likes it when we have our car as she can bring more of her stuff than when flying.
BTW----you know who has right of way on the ConRail tracks when the auto-train pulls off on a siding and a long freight train whizzes by.

missjo wrote:On my first trip the the USA in 2002 I caught the Amtrack from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, then from Pittsburgh to New York, It was a great way to travel cross country and watch the scenery go by

Yes, if you have the time and are in the northeast, Amtrak is OK. I looked into Amtrak for a trip to Texas once, I would have been quicker to drive there. I took a plane instead.

wife and daughter took Amtrak from the ATL to Connecticut about 20 years ago. She says she will walk the next time she has to make that slog. Fukking horrible. There is a reason the train that goes through the sky is way more popular.

ohh, and rack messican peleton bowling pic. It will never not be funny.

missjo wrote:On my first trip the the USA in 2002 I caught the Amtrack from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, then from Pittsburgh to New York, It was a great way to travel cross country and watch the scenery go by

I did Brisbane to Melbourne when I was in Oz. Great trip, Great people, Great scenery.

Moving Sale wrote:I did Brisbane to Melbourne when I was in Oz. Great trip, Great people, Great scenery.

How the fuck a dingo didn't mistake you for prey I'll never know.

BSmack wrote:

Moving Sale wrote:I did Brisbane to Melbourne when I was in Oz. Great trip, Great people, Great scenery.

How the fuck a dingo didn't mistake you for prey I'll never know.

Sudden Sam wrote:Rode the Hummingbird from Mobile to Cincinnati when I was a kid. Coolest ever way to travel.

http://www.american-rails.com/humming-bird.html

Yeah, well that was before Orville and Wilbur showed the world a better way to get around. It was THE way to travel back then.

Not to throw a sabo in here, but the title in this thread kind of threw me a bit.

When a female poster says she 'took a train' for 4 days, well.....

OK! I have a dirty mind!

Never Mind.



Edit:

A sabo is a wooden shoe worn by Chinese in the 1800's, When companies brought in machines that would do the work instead of them, they would throw their wooden shoes into the gears of the machine to make them break, so that they would be put to work again. Thus the word "sabotage". Carry on"

BSmack for the win.

smackaholic wrote:wife and daughter took Amtrak from the ATL to Connecticut about 20 years ago. She says she will walk the next time she has to make that slog. Fukking horrible. There is a reason the train that goes through the sky is way more popular.

It depends on where you are traveling to. You can't easily take a flight from SAN to SLO. It's over $500 bucks for one thing. I would say being on a train any longer than 8 hours would be not so fun. But for what we took it for, it was worth it. These days flying is a complete hassle most of the time.

poptart wrote:

trev wrote:Is there any way to travel that is not deadly?

Not many Amish transportation deaths.

A lot more then you think

Sudden Sam wrote:

smackaholic wrote:

Sudden Sam wrote:Rode the Hummingbird from Mobile to Cincinnati when I was a kid. Coolest ever way to travel.

http://www.american-rails.com/humming-bird.html

Yeah, well that was before Orville and Wilbur showed the world a better way to get around. It was THE way to travel back then.

Jesus Christ! I ain't Wolfman-old!

We weren't like James West and Artemus cruising around.

Wonder how much ass, Jim pulled in his pimped out rail car?

poptart wrote:Not many Amish transportation deaths.

I don't know those stats.

But if you drive 50 miles NE from KC towards Jamesport, Gallatin, Trenton. etc. you will encounter many Amish buggies.

You give them a wide berth and tip your hat as you go by.

smackaholic wrote:He fell asleep, just like the dude on the metro north train a few years ago that did the same thing.

Hard to believe there hasn't been a system in place for years that would avoid this.

How hard would it be to have something in the cockpit that requires the train jockey to perform a simple task every 30 seconds or so? This would solve the asleep at the switch problem which is the cause of these incidents.

Uhh, holic there is such a thing. And it is required on all trains today. It is called the dead man or alerter. Every 30 seconds or so the driver has to push a button to reset the alerter or the train will automatically apply the brakes. If dude moves the throttle or adjusts the brake setting the alerter will also reset.

This Amtrak train had one, so I don't think dude was asleep.