W
WinterBorn
Guest
For a change.
airlines at it again
- Thread starter Don Quixote
- Start date
For a change.
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
depends on where the train is going.... but I agree... highly recommend the train from Anchorage up to Denali...
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WinterBorn
Guest
Very true. I used to occasionally take the train from Birmingham to New Orleans. I wish I could remember the name of the train run, but its been a few decades.
I would love to take the train from Anchorage to Denali. I also want to ride some trains out west thru the mtns.
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
It was insanely beautiful.... NOTHING... and I do mean NOTHING around. No cities, only a couple of stops at tiny tiny tiny towns. Otherwise it is all wilderness all the time.
The train from Anchorage to Seward is also incredibly scenic. I am not a fisherman, but that is an added bonus for anyone that is.... great fishing up there from what I am told.
FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
Trains are, unfortunately, impractical for most of the US. In places they are, well, it's too localized for the feds to get involved and too expensive for the states to bother.
DamnYankee
Loyal to the end
I've never had a good train experience.
I went from Syracuse to NYC and they stopped it at a rail yard half way, turned all the lights off and heat (it was night, during the winter), then the crew came storming through the passenger compartment on their way to the front, then 15 minutes later back again, because they didn't want to go outside in the cold. After 20 minutes delay they got us going again. I guess they took a coffee break.
I tried to arrange a one year freight deal from Syracuse to Ohio hauling demolition debris. They seemed interested and we had decent terminal points available, but they wanted us to make track improvements on the Syracuse end and weren't willing to budge on the tonnage fee to allow us to make it up. We ended up hauling by truck.
From Greensboro to Raleigh for a school trip the train started 45 minutes late, then stopped twice on the way to let freight trains go by (they have priority on that line). We were almost two hours late when we arrived and missed our appointment for a State legislative tour. Same shit on the way back and we had 40 kids with us and parents waiting at the school parking lot for almost two hours.
We did a construction project near South Carolina that required changes in a rail crossing and they required us to hire their flagman when we crossed the tracks. We needed him for two hours for one day and called him the morning before and he said 'I need a three day notice and a one-day minimum'. So we had to redo the project schedule, used him the next Friday then told him around 2pm that we were done so go home, which he did. We came back on Tuesday after a holiday weekend and the flagman was still there. We asked him why and he said 'he needs to have written notice of termination'. So we wrote him a note and he was there for that day plus the next three because 'he needs three day notice'. So for two hours of work it cost us 8 days and three of those were holiday overtime. And all this occurred after months of contract negotiations were they revealed none of their silly union rules.
I went from Syracuse to NYC and they stopped it at a rail yard half way, turned all the lights off and heat (it was night, during the winter), then the crew came storming through the passenger compartment on their way to the front, then 15 minutes later back again, because they didn't want to go outside in the cold. After 20 minutes delay they got us going again. I guess they took a coffee break.
I tried to arrange a one year freight deal from Syracuse to Ohio hauling demolition debris. They seemed interested and we had decent terminal points available, but they wanted us to make track improvements on the Syracuse end and weren't willing to budge on the tonnage fee to allow us to make it up. We ended up hauling by truck.
From Greensboro to Raleigh for a school trip the train started 45 minutes late, then stopped twice on the way to let freight trains go by (they have priority on that line). We were almost two hours late when we arrived and missed our appointment for a State legislative tour. Same shit on the way back and we had 40 kids with us and parents waiting at the school parking lot for almost two hours.
We did a construction project near South Carolina that required changes in a rail crossing and they required us to hire their flagman when we crossed the tracks. We needed him for two hours for one day and called him the morning before and he said 'I need a three day notice and a one-day minimum'. So we had to redo the project schedule, used him the next Friday then told him around 2pm that we were done so go home, which he did. We came back on Tuesday after a holiday weekend and the flagman was still there. We asked him why and he said 'he needs to have written notice of termination'. So we wrote him a note and he was there for that day plus the next three because 'he needs three day notice'. So for two hours of work it cost us 8 days and three of those were holiday overtime. And all this occurred after months of contract negotiations were they revealed none of their silly union rules.
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
Yet this takes their 'fees' to a whole new level of stupidity. Unless someone is day tripping, they are going to have a bag to either carry on or check. So why the fuck don't they just add $25 to everyone's ticket price and be done? why advertise a $250 fare and then say.... 'oh by the way... we will add $25 each way for each carry on and each checked bag'... why not just charge the $300 and stop looking like total douche bags?