[Eli]

I know this has been discussed before but I want to talk about the resurgence of trains in the US.

I just got back from an 800 mile car trip and could not help thinking how much better it would be if I could have taken a train. Even if took longer to allow for stops I would have enjoyed the trip more. We could have gotten a sleeping car and riding a train of that distance would have been fun for my son.

Trains would be so much cheaper from an upkeep stand point than our over taxed highways.

What are everyones thoughts on trains in the US?

[I_Like_Plants]

Trains are great!

[T4chibanaUkyo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'T')rains are great!

[I_Like_Plants]

Ah, they have "baby bullets" here, but really the regular ones go fast enough, faster than you can go by car, so who needs faster?

We were going to go on the bullet train in Japan but one person in our group was afraid of a train that goes that fast, so we took a plane, what a bummer!

[holmes]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'I') know this has been discussed before but I want to talk about the resurgence of trains in the US.

I just got back from an 800 mile car trip and could not help thinking how much better it would be if I could have taken a train. Even if took longer to allow for stops I would have enjoyed the trip more. We could have gotten a sleeping car and riding a train of that distance would have been fun for my son.

Trains would be so much cheaper from an upkeep stand point than our over taxed highways.

What are everyones thoughts on trains in the US?

[Eli]

Well that is what I am talking about I think a train system that would take you from Minneapolis, Des Moines, Chicago, KC, St.Louis all the way down to Houston would be great.

My prediction is after some of the airlines go tits up air travel will no longer be that great of a deal to the average American. Trains could be come a viable mode of transport again.

Also what a great public works project an industry would be created over night, a new bullet rail system criss crossing the US would mean more cash for the fat cats so it could happen.

[I_Like_Plants]

Gosh I love the Napa Valley, I'd love a train that enables me to take my bike and a bag and go up there for a weekend, stay for the weekend and bike around, stay at a local hotel and explore the place. As things stand now the best way to go is rent a car and take a folding bike or a cheep bmx'er job from the local goodwill.

[Eli]

Yeah think of how great a trip that would be, throw your bike on the train then head straight for the bar car to start sampling the best Napa has to offer.

Get too loaded and take a nap. Do that in a car and you end up dead or in jail.

[emersonbiggins]

I couldn't agree more. Bar cars make train trips worth every dime. The almost surreal experience that I had on a train near Zaragosa, Spain with wind farms off in the distance and an 'El Toro Bravo' silhouette on the horizon every 30 miles or so was indescribably breathtaking. I'm still beside myself. And that was three years ago!

[ozkrenske]

"We were going to go on the bullet train in Japan but one person in our group was afraid of a train that goes that fast, so we took a plane, what a bummer!"

That is simply hilarious. Did no one think to mention that Planes go even faster than trains and can even Fall down. The plane doesn't even have rails holding it in place and if the pilot faints or has an attack or something you can just cruise into a mountain. I would of seriously started laughing at them.

The person involved needs a smacking with a clue stick.

[adi]

Trains are great but still require electricity to operate. The only feasible option at the moment seems to be nuclear for mass electricity production and I'm sure most would agree that nuclear has as many problems as benefits.

[Novus]

I would like to see the wood burning steam trains make a comeback. They are not very fast but there are sustainable.

[ubercynicmeister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'I') would like to see the wood burning steam trains make a comeback. They are not very fast but there are sustainable.

[PhilBiker]

I always assumed that Europe's rail infrastructure was far superior to that of the USA since their passenger rail system is. In a recent intervew Mattew Simmons was asked about the rail infrastructure in Europe and whether that made them more adaptable to an oil crisis. His response was that Europe's problem is that their freight rail infrastructure was very weak, almost nonexistant, and that they truck everything everywhere. In the USA we have a strong freight rail infrastructure (probably thanks in large part to our dependance on coal for electricity generation). Heck, this can easily be seen when driving around most major harbors like Baltimore, or big rail terminals like Harrisburg, PA.

[Eli]

Yup rail for freight is going to go way up.

Freight rail can be electrified as well much more easily than our diesel truck system ever can.

Trains also encourage clustering of resources. Which will encourage conservation of fuel. The closer the warehouse is to the rail hub the better and the closer the store to the warehouse the better and the closer the customer to the store the better.

Rail encourages all these things.

[sklump]

Trains? The USA?

Freakin' Marlboro Man never took a train. Manifest Destiny Man doesn't ride the rails already laid down by some forward-thinking ancestor. Manifest Destiny Man makes his OWN goddam rails, straight through your exhausted mama's heart if'n she gits in th'way, then tears them down behind him.

The train gestalt just doesn't jibe with the Non-Negotiable Way of Life.

[Novus]

Why we ever gave up trains for cars and trucks in the first place is beyond me. What were those people thinking two generations back that said lets move to the suburbs where I need to drive a car just to get milk?

[Eli]

Trolling comments aside.

Trains went away because they could go away. Cheap fuel allowed everyone to live where ever the hell they wanted to. And cheap economic growth spurred by fuel made it happen.

If we would have built trains and depended on them instead of autos it would have restricted economic growth. No mega car industry no expansive growth out into farm land, a major sector of our economy would not exist.

Expensive fuel and trains will make a come back.

Just think of it in these terms if every one in America drove half as much car as they do now and you took half there payment a month and put it to building trains how many trains do you think America could build?

[medicvet]

I have taken four train trips in the past ten years, and LOVED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. While on one of them there we had to turnaround due to a cargo trail derailing ahead of us, that too was a positive experience..amtrack put everyone that didn't want to fly to their destination up in hotels until there could be a later trip made ready, and I opted out for that. Got to stay two nights at the most beautiful luxury hotel room imaginable, something I doubt I would ever have the opportunity to do otherwise. Got the fluffy robe and everything. :D

And the train experience is a fantastic one! You get to meet people, see the countryside, the food has always been decent, and off course their is the 'bar car'..heh. I still write once in a while with some friends I met on my trips. I wish that we had more of a passenger rail system than we do now.

[Wildwell]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PhilBiker', 'I') always assumed that Europe's rail infrastructure was far superior to that of the USA since their passenger rail system is. In a recent intervew Mattew Simmons was asked about the rail infrastructure in Europe and whether that made them more adaptable to an oil crisis. His response was that Europe's problem is that their freight rail infrastructure was very weak, almost nonexistant, and that they truck everything everywhere. In the USA we have a strong freight rail infrastructure (probably thanks in large part to our dependance on coal for electricity generation). Heck, this can easily be seen when driving around most major harbors like Baltimore, or big rail terminals like Harrisburg, PA.