You're probably right, SoCal, that it depends upon where you're riding them. When I lived near DC, the northeast corridor trains were mostly business people using them for commuting. The Portland-Vancouver trains have usually been mostly empty and therefore a nice, quiet ride. Excepting a brief ride to Comic-Con, we haven't used the Southern California trains.

Not sure, though, that ANYTHING could be a step below Greyhound. I would rather hitch-hike than get on one of those again.

OMG Fastjack. You are my soulmate.

@walesmaven wrote:

Finally, I have to wonder how or why anyone who so disrespects the mode of transit, the passengers and the crew could really prevent that from influencing his reporting.

They are called fiction writers.

It's interesting reading such different perspectives of train travel from Wales and Fastjack. The only Amtrak trip I took was from LA to San Diego and it was a fine experience, but whether that was an exception or the norm, I have no idea.

As for the funk Fastjack described, I'm kinda curious if it was the same or worse as what I've experienced on sleeper trains in Europe.

Fastjack is right on about the Japanese trains. Great experience, comfortable, and especially fun going SW out of Tokyo and passing Mount Fuji as you cruise in comfort.

I've only been on commuter trains in the UK, so I can't confirm or deny. i will tell you to imagine a coach car... this was a while ago so let me think... 5-7 seats wide since they had a center row, pretty packed, taking about five days to ferment as it crawled through New Orleans. Whatever conclusion you draw from that, I'll trust.

I keep talking about the freight rail infrastructure because at points like this, it's very relevant.

How can you apply or obtain a badge for airports?
also I ride trains everywhere!
would love some help to get in that area as i spend probably 2-3 months worth of time a year riding around on trains.

@Fastjack wrote:

taking about five days to ferment as it crawled through New Orleans

Lol, I shouldn't have asked. That little tidbit was enough to make me gag on my coffee and decide I'm not so interested in finishing my breakfast!

Atom: I wish there was a way to help, but it's a very limited program. Like I said previously, you have to live somewhere very specific and then wait for somebody to die or screw up pretty badly. Some areas are busier than others, too.

@saacman5033 wrote:

@Fastjack wrote:

taking about five days to ferment as it crawled through New Orleans

Lol, I shouldn't have asked. That little tidbit was enough to make me gag on my coffee and decide I'm not so interested in finishing my breakfast!

Well, my bad there. Sorry.

Damn very exclusive. Well I'll keep an eye out for them.

I loved traveling by train, usually overnight, while I was living in Europe. I can not compare it to train service in the US since the only American train I have been on (besides subways) is Santa's train trip to the North Pole when I was like 6 or 7 years old. I got to see reindeer though.

So, it is hard for you to believe that I report any probems? You obviously haven't read many of my posts. And, of course, you certainly have not seen my reports or the pictures that accompany them. As a "fan" as you put it, I know enough about how things are supposed to work and enough about potential problem areas in both services and "integrity" matters, to be a valuable observer and reporter. The more one wants train service to be better (as fans certainly do) the more likely one is to work to make certain that problems are detected and reported in the objective manner that is required to precipitate chages. Also, it sounds like you have not done an overnight shop yet, since that would entail a sleeping car. And, yes, I have ridden all of the west coast trains and the Texas ones.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2015 01:07PM by walesmaven.

I have ridden none of the trains. :/

Actually, all I did was point out that I would take somebody critical of an institution as a more reliable barometer of its performance than I would a fan. And yes, you're a fan. You were practically writing poetry about sleeping on trains. I'm not calling this out as anything I'd deride, it's fine. Only remember that YOU started attacking another person's reliability. You can also be surprised when people turn that around on you, but it's not the best thing to do.

Your logic as far as how being a fan makes you more reliable is entirely self-serving. I've already mentioned that multiple worldwide rail services absolutely do not want to hire rail fans for good reason. You can also ignore that in attempting to make your point, but it's a pretty glaring omission.

And yes, I've done overnights. They entail both coach and sleeping car fares, depending on what they want you to look at.

Among other things a shopper is usually asked if they have any prejudices against a client or any close friends or relatives who work for a client. I don't think I have ever seen a question disclosing whether you were a fan, though I do remember one that asked if I had strong feelings about a client. Being a fan is probably not 'strong feelings'. Certainly if I were asked if I had any prejudices against trains I would have to answer 'yes'. I understand there are some that are clean enough and pleasant enough and I have been on the commuter train from Baltimore to NYC many times as well as trains in Great Britain and Europe. But I spent student days riding US trains because it was the cheapest form of travel and neither the train nor its clientele were what my parents thought they were consigning me to when they saw me off at the station.

I haven't ridden on a train in a number of years, but when i used to do so there were places on two different routes I used where the track was so badly degraded that the train could not go above 30 mph, and the schedule was off by 2 hours or more. When I asked about why this was the case I was told that it had been that way since anyone could remember and that there was no repair work scheduled. I know that on the route from the East Coast to Montreal the tracks through rural New England were terrible. On the other hand, on the route from Philadelphia to Chicago, some of the worst tracks were in heavily-traveled industrial areas of Indiana (practically Chicago suburbs). I was puzzled by this seeming contradiction, but even more baffled as to why anyone would go on publishing schedules that were inevitably 2 or more hours wrong year after year. Nevertheless, I enjoyed trains, and miss living where train travel is not readily available. Especially now that I know I'm missing out on getting paid well for something I'd enjoy!

To compare Japan's "Bullet Trains" or France's TGV with Amtrak is even worse than comparing apples and oranges. The only right of way that Amtrak owns is the Northeast Corridor from Washington DC to Boston, and the 125mph that the Acela Express is pretty damn good given the many curves along the route. That right of way dates from the early 1900's and the Pennsylvania RR [NY-DC] and the New Haven RR [NY-Boston].

Both the TGV and "Bullet Trains" have dedicated rights of way that are virtually straight lines with little or no curves. That allows the extremely high speeds that those trains are famous for. To try to "straighten" the NEC route is impossible, both fiscally and logistically.

I vaguely remember the privately owned passenger train, and yes, they were quite something to ride. Amtrak is doing the best they can with their financial situation. Amtrak never knows what its operating budget will be from one year to the next, because it depends on the whims of Congress to determine the budget. As a result, their equipment is somewhat dated and maintenance is often deferred. There is a solution, but it won't be implemented...fix Amtrak's budget at a given amount/gallon of the federal fuel tax. It can be 1/2 cent or 1 cent, or whatever. At that point, the executives at Amtrak would then have a predictable budget and they could begin to operate as a business.

The other part of the equation is that Amtrak is a tenant on the freight railroads. Freight takes a terrible toll on the roadbed of any railroad. The Pennsylvania RR recognized this which is why their mainline was 4-tracks. Two of the tracks were for freight traffic in either direction and the other two were for passenger trains.

One thing that people don't realize is that railroads aren't subsidized by the government. Trucks, airplanes, and busses all have the advantage of highways and airports that were built by government agencies. The railroads had to buy their rights of way, build the line, maintain it, and pay property taxes on it. There is one caveat to this. Back in the mid to late 1800's, during the nation's westward expansion, railroads were given some rights of way to help encourage population growth, but that was a very small percentage of the industry's total.

For what it's worth, passenger trains have never made money. On average, each dollar of revenue cost $1.36 to generate. What helped keep the passenger trains going was the mail contracts from the post office. When the mail switched to airplanes, that's when the passenger trains started to disappear. And the service devolved into what we have today.

[www.covnews.com]

Can you just list some of the areas you need to live near to be eligible?

Even a shopper performing the shop might or might not know that information. Think about major rail hubs in the country for Amtrak and I'm sure you would know whether you live near one or not. I know I don't. Google Amtrak and I'm sure you will find maps or lists of their trains. End points of those trains--not stops along the way--would seem like likely places to start shops from.

I signed up and was accepted. I have yet to be offered an assignment, likely because I would have to board the train at either Hamlet, NC or Florence, SC. I suspect Flash hit it right with needing to be near one of the hubs.

ETA: The hubs actually make a great deal of sense. A shopper in the DC area could do any of the NEC [Northeast Corridor] trains, the East Coast trains, the Crescent to New Orleans, and DC to Chicago. A shopper in Chicago could do Chicago-NY, City of New Orleans, and most of the westward transcontinental traffic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2015 12:23PM by GMooneyhan MBSC.

So the original question about flights and MSCs is still waiting for answer.

I know that last year I was offered a flight shop but it was at the last minute (like the next day) and round trip to South Dakota. If I didn't have a full time job, I probably would have grabbed it just for the experience and getting a foot in the airline door. I turned it down, though and have never heard a single flight offer since then.

There is another MSC that has contacted me about offering 50% of my flight costs for me to secret shop flights with them, but that does not sound like a deal. If they want me to report, I don't think I should be footing the bill.

Having just returned from a trip, I would love to be able to report on the airline to someone since every single plane of theirs had maintenance issues, crossing the country I was delayed to the point of missing a hotel reservation, and I was forced to sleep on an airport floor. I let the airline know my frustration.

@challa wrote:

So the original question about flights and MSCs is still waiting for answer.

I know that last year I was offered a flight shop but it was at the last minute (like the next day) and round trip to South Dakota. If I didn't have a full time job, I probably would have grabbed it just for the experience and getting a foot in the airline door. I turned it down, though and have never heard a single flight offer since then.

There is another MSC that has contacted me about offering 50% of my flight costs for me to secret shop flights with them, but that does not sound like a deal. If they want me to report, I don't think I should be footing the bill.

So you are in an excellent position to share with the group what MSP contacted you about the round trip to SD as well as the one offering 50% off because evidently they don't offer Southwest or you would know already.