Though I catch the metro or bus multiple times a week, I’ve only taken an Amtrak once in Los Angeles–Los Angeles to San Diego. I was really excited, because I had never been on a real train before. Though I guess technically I still haven’t because I was quickly informed…umm…this is a commuter train and not an actual passenger train. Fine, way to steal my thunder there friend, but I forgave you. In the end, he was right because all I really remember from the excitement of that trip was the conductor on the loud speaker yelling at us that we may be oversold and if anyone is sitting in the area where the seats face each other then we better be traveling together to the same destination or else. I’m not sure what the consequence really would have been had someone realized that most of the passengers sitting in those areas were not traveling together. It was a bit anticlimactic really. Oh, and if you are an Angels’ fan or Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles or whatever they are calling the team these days, the Amtrak drops you right in front of the stadium. Just an FYI there.
Anyway, I still love trains. If you love trains too, then on May 7 you can celebrate that love at National Train Day. National Train Day is an annual event that started in 2008 to celebrate the inception of the transcontinental railroad (according to my very reliable sources at wikipedia and the amazing and always helpful internet).
Also–and I realize that my nerdy qualities might be taking over in this post–I am very excited to see the East Meets West Exhibit. Photographs from the 19th century depicting the Chinese contribution to building the railroad?! Yes, please.
Flat-Footed 
Yeah. Trains are awesome. National Train day…I wonder if theres something up in the Bay area for that. Amtrak is cool, for all its faults, getting on it in Bellingham Washington for the ride to Seattle, I was amazed at the luxury of the whole thing. Riding along the pacific coast at the waters edge with gorgeous views out the window? Priceless.
I wonder what the difference is between Commuter and Passenger trains? Did you have assigned seating on yours? My trip did, apparently. I found out about a half hour into the trip I was sitting in someone’s seat…
No assigned seats on the commuter. There was only a business and economy class tickets. Then once you got on the train and went to your respective corners, you could sit anywhere. The strange part was that there was definitely a seat assignment on my ticket, but we just ignored it. I did pretend like I knew what was going on, but I had no clue and kept waiting for someone to tell me to go to my assigned seat.
Someday I will make it on a passenger train somewhere. Dream big.
When I graduated from college I took an Amtrak from Union Station LA to Pittsburgh. The most amazing way to travel across this glorious nation. We should do it some time!! Maybe not May 7th, but someday!!!
Trains are amazing– created so much of the way we live in the modern world.
And commuter trains are not as luxurious– sleep and dining cars and such— made for long travel with cool stops along the way to see places and things and parts of the US you never knew existed!!
See, I need to experience this amazing invention called the passenger train.
And Amktrak is attempting to go green.
So they aren’t? I thought train travel was by definition green. But then again, using a 100 ton train car to move 50 people might average out to about the same energy as automobile travel? Hrmph. Maybe we should put solar panels on it?