Traveling by train

[skirtingtheissue]

Well, I had a great 3.5-day coast to coast trip, except that just before I got off at Worcester, MA the train (Lake Shore Limited) hit and killed a man riding a dirt bike on track, who was heading toward the locomotive. We were detained about three hours while various agencies investigated the matter. So once again it was the LATE Shore Limited.

On the skirting front, I wore a skirt the entire time and heard only one small comment: an Amtrak lounge attendant said "Nice kilt!".

[skirtingtheissue]

Pulling this thread up again to mention skirted travels since last post… Albany NY to Toronto and back; Albany to Milwaukee WI; St. Paul MN to Albany; Martinez CA to Portola CA and back; and Springfield MA to Meridian MS and back. Soon to do Los Angeles CA to Springfield...

[dillon]

A truck driver with a bad record managed to derail an Amtrak train in NC this week. Luckily no loss of life but many injuries. Why are people so STUPID when it comes to rail crossings? There was even a State Trooper on the scene where the truck had been stuck for ten minutes, but no one managed to call Amtrak to avert the collision. The Trooper had been escorting the truck, which was a special over-length low-belly trailer.

[crfriend]

Why are people so STUPID when it comes to rail crossings? There was even a State Trooper on the scene where the truck had been stuck for ten minutes, but no one managed to call Amtrak to avert the collision.

The problem is that nowadays nobody is taught to "expect a train at any time" (as the signposts used to state). The trooper may have called the freight railroad (upon whose tracks Amtrak runs), or maybe not, and possibly the person who picked up the 'phone at the freight road wasn't aware of the Amtrak train and neglected to call NRPC (Amtrak's formal name, "National Railroad Passenger Corporation").

This'll get teased out in the coming days, and likely the trucker will get cited for getting stuck on the crossing (moves of the nature that require special vehicles are well laid-out in advance, and with full knowledge of things like road profiles -- or darned well should be -- so vehicles don't get stuck).

Thank goodness nobody got killed.

Worse are the incidents where some clown in a car tries to "beat the train" and -- inevitably -- loses. The railroads had a saying for that one, too: "If it's a tie, you die." The folks I feel sorry for in that situation are the train crew.

[skirted_in_SF]

Pulling this thread up again to mention skirted travels since last post… Albany NY to Toronto and back; Albany to Milwaukee WI; St. Paul MN to Albany; Martinez CA to Portola CA and back; and Springfield MA to Meridian MS and back. Soon to do Los Angeles CA to Springfield...

A couple of itineraries suggest you are changing trains in the great old Chicago Union station. Were you able to make connections or did you get to tour Chicago skirted on your layover?

[skirtingtheissue]

Cross-country trips almost always involve 4 to 7 hours between trains in Chicago. Since I don't get much exercise on the train, I usually walk about 30-40 blocks and eat at the Billy Goat Tavern. There are lots of places of interest (museums such as the Museum of Broadcasting, Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, etc.) as well. The water taxi is a fun way to get around. With the exception of baseball games, of course I'm skirted and have had the occasional compliment; I've only seen one other fellow in a skirt (a Utilikilt).

Only once did I miss a connection; Amtrak put me in a nice Michigan Avenue hotel and gave me cab fare. I rode the Chicago South Shore & South Bend to South Bend, Indiana and back the next morning.

The original portion of the "great old Chicago Union Station" is underutilized, mostly empty, but there are plans (hopes?) to rehabilitate the station, move ticketing and other functions back into the old great hall, and increase waiting room space and traffic flow.

I won't make it to SF this trip but might in the Fall. Will be in Santa Barbara tomorrow night!

[skirted_in_SF]

I've trained into, out of, or both of Chicago twice. Both times before I took up wearing skirts. From there I've taken several of the commuter lines - once to Northbrook to stay one night in a hotel since there were no rooms in town (Frank Lloyd Wright weekend), one the electric line to the Museum of Science & Industry and once to the northern suburbs to visit a cousin who lives in Gurnee. I've also taken the Hiawatha round trip to Milwaukee to visit, what else, a show of railroad art at Marquette University.

Someday I want to return and a trip on the South Shore is on my list of things to do. Also a return to SF on the Southwest Chief. It's the roundabout way home, but I haven't taken it yet. I've done the Empire Builder once in each direction, the California Zephyr eastbound once and the Coast Starlight many times.