SCA-by-train-msg - 7/8/11
Comments on traveling to SCA events by train.
NOTE: See also the files: SCA-transport-msg, travel-foods-msg, border-stories-msg, vanity-plates-msg, decadence-msg, sprd-out-grps-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:19:41 -0600
From: "Kathleen A Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Bananas
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Dragon <dragon at crimson-dragon.com> wrote:
<<< There are other trains as well.
I for one would love to travel by train if I had the
time for it. >>>
the train trip to thirty year celebration is the highlight
of the event to me. albuquerque west to california, and
up the coast to oregon. beautiful.
but you are right. you need to have the time to do/enjoy
the trip on the train.
cailte
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:08:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Bananas
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
It is the best way to go to Pennsic, if you had the time. Unlike the airline industry, trains allow a passenger to have 150 lbs of luggage
in three "packages" of 50 lbs each. And they allow a passenger to have another 150 lbs of luggage for $30. From LA to Pittsburgh, it would only take about 60 hours each way and cost about $350 round trip. I had planned on sending Hroar to Pennsic last year by train, before he had his quadruple by-pass surgery.
Huette
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:44:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Bananas
To: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>, SCA Cooks
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Yes. It was coach. You get to sleep in your chair, but at least you get to walk around the train. It also has a restaurant car and snack bars.
Those are somewhat pricey, but the food was good, according to Hroar. He came to visit me several times by train before we got married.
Who knows? If the gas prices continue to soar, perhaps Amtrak will take advantage of people needing to travel less expensively and start adding more trains to their schedule. The trains to and from LA and Chicago only run once a day also.
Huette
--- On Thu, 6/19/08, Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com> wrote:
I take it this fare is coach? I know that I priced a trip to
Atlanta...I have to go down next week and was looking for a way to
avoid flying. The trip would take 13 hours...and, to be able to have
a place to sleep bumped the cost up to more than you're quoting for a
trip across country!! And...there was only one train available,
leaving around 6 pm and arriving around 7am. I guess that's what I
get for trying to do things a little greener. I do wish they would
work on upgrading Amtrak...I have taken the train in Europe, the
Eurostar from London to Paris...less expensive and MUCH faster...2
hours for the trip!
Kiri
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:25:34 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
I take it this fare is coach? I know that I priced a trip to
Atlanta...I have to go down next week and was looking for a way to
avoid flying. The trip would take 13 hours...and, to be able to have
a place to sleep bumped the cost up to more than you're quoting for a
trip across country!! And...there was only one train available,
leaving around 6 pm and arriving around 7am. I guess that's what I
get for trying to do things a little greener. I do wish they would
work on upgrading Amtrak...I have taken the train in Europe, the
Eurostar from London to Paris...less expensive and MUCH faster...2
hours for the trip!
Kiri > > > > > > >
AH! The Southern Crescent . . . Northeast to New Orlenas via Atlanta. Those
times you quoted are not 'fixed', either. The Amtrak has to share rails
with frieghts that often do not cooperate with the time frames for passenger
rail. My wife and loved the Amtrak trip to New Orleans for our honeymoon
years back. The time issue is what keeps us from traveling the rails
again. We don't mind the time, just don't have it to spare. Trains are
soothing, nostalgic, and historically relevant to my home town (the last
passenger trains stopped passenger service here in the 60's, IIRC).
I contend that if the time schedules could be firmed up and travel times
reduced, then the trains would take on a chunk of the energy-expensive
travel market. It is just too relatively convenient, and takes FAR less
time to drive myself or fly.
Remember for pricing that a sleeper compartment will include all meals . . .
which really can pay for itself on a 14-hour trip with two people who would
be eating in dining car anyway.
niccolo difrancesco
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:08:13 -0700
From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
niccolo wrote:
<<< Those times you quoted are not 'fixed', either. The Amtrak has to share
rails with freights that often do not cooperate with the time frames for
passenger rail....
I contend that if the time schedules could be firmed up and travel times
reduced, then the trains would take on a chunk of the energy-expensive
travel market. It is just too relatively convenient, and takes FAR less
time to drive myself or fly. >>>
Keeping passenger trains running has been a money loser since people
switched to flying a few decades ago - flying was still expensive
through most of the 60s. I gather it became affordable in 70s. But it
would be quite something to eliminate trains altogether, which is why
some are still limping along.
Freight trains, on the other hand, are big money makers. So the loser
defers to the winner... that is, passenger trains often have to pull
over onto a siding to let freight trains pass. It was the opposite
when i was a kid half a century ago.
But with the price of the cheapest gasoline close to and over $5 here
in the SF Bay area, airlines raising their fares and decreasing their
services and reducing the number of flights, etc., passenger trains
may get a bump in ridership.
It took me 2-1/2 days to drive by myself from SF to Pennsic. IIRC,
that was close to 3,000 miles. The train takes as long (well, longer,
since one has to get from Pittsburgh to Pennsic), but one can do
handwork, computer stuff, read, etc.
The drawback is sitting up all the way (i can't afford a bedroom). I
can travel fairly rough - motorcycled around Europe for a month /
weird modes of transport around Indonesia / busses in Morocco - and
sleeping in the cheap places the locals use. But i can't sleep
sitting in a "chair", even if it reclines - i sleep on my stomach. I
remember some groggy 21-hour plane trips to Indonesia. I can nap a
little, but not really sleep.
I'll definitely consider the train to Pennsic next year. But how does
one get from the Pittsburgh train station to Pennsic with 100 lbs of
baggage? A taxi would cost a bit much...
Question: When i went from (essentially) Berkeley to San Diego in
1994 (a more than 12 hour trip), there was only greasy major corp.
fast food on the train, but i gather that longer trips have dining
cars. What sort of food to they have? I didn't see a menu on the
AmTrak website last night, but i may have missed it.
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:17:14 -0700
From: "Lady Celia" <CeliadesArchier at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I flew to Pennsic back in the early 90s and we had friends from our Barony,
the household with which we were camping, who came and picked us up at the
airport and got us and our luggage to the campsite to unload. They had
driven up, and already pitched camp, so they had space by that time.
And as for the food... my best advice would be to a) call the station and b)
also take a small cooler on board with you for healthier snacks.
Celia
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:42:38 -0400
From: "Woodrow Hill" <asim at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Amtrak Travel (was RE: OOP Bananas)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 13:08, Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net> wrote:
<<< Question: When i went from (essentially) Berkeley to San Diego in 1994 (a
more than 12 hour trip), there was only greasy major corp. fast food on the
train, but i gather that longer trips have dining cars. What sort of food to
they have? I didn't see a menu on the AmTrak website last night, but i may
have missed it.
--
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
>>>
Believe it or not, it's actually pretty decent. I took a train 3
years ago from NC to Philly, and the Washington-to-PA segment, as I
recall, had a dining car. I had French Toast, and it wasn't bad --
basic restaurant fair, if you will.
----asim
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:29:20 -0500
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Trains
To: <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Took the train from New Orleans to Estrella over 10 years back with some
folks out of Merrydaze. Slept in the chair, was lots of fun going out less
so coming back. Large lady from some splinter sect sitting beside me tried
to save my soul the whole way back. Spent a lot of time in the bar car.
Should have complained to the conductor and got my seat changed.
Daniel
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:45:19 -0800
From: "Ursel Stegerin" <urselstegerin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Regards Amtrak
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Nope, Amtrak goes directly up to Vancouver on the Amtrak Cascades. It
passes through the border and you go through customs when you board.
Deb
On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 12:55 AM, Ian Kusz <sprucebranch at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< A technical question about trains; how does it go if you're going US ->
Canada? Do you have to stop at an Amtrak stop, hitch a ride over the
border, then get to a Canadian Rail station? >>>
--
Ursel Stegerin
Barony of Madrone
An Tir
-----
mka Deborah Schumacher
Seattle, Wa
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:18:37 -0400
From: "Audrey Bergeron-Morin" <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Regards Amtrak
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> And, from there, you can take a Canadian train? Same station, or what?
The previous message stated that you go through customs as you board.
That would mean that you go through Canadian customs in the U.S.
before you take your train.
When you take the plane from Canada to the U.S., you go through U.S.
customs before they let you board the plane (in Canada -- they have a
customs office in every major airport, I've been through it in
Vancouver and Montreal, for example). I've never seen a Canadian
customs office in an U.S. airport though, we usually go through
Canadian customs when we get to the Canadian airport (Montreal, in our
case). I would have expected the trains to be the same.
So, assuming the trains are the same as the planes, you get on your
train, the train crosses the border (you don't notice), it stops at
the Canadian station to which you were bound, you get off, go through
Canadian customs, then if you have another train to take you take it,
or if this is your final station you get out of the train station.
Since you're already in Canada there are no customs to go through for
the second train.
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:45:39 -0600
From: "S CLEMENGER" <sclemenger at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Take the Train
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
In the UK, I actually had to haul my luggage on/off with me. I don't recall
there being any sort of special baggage car or anything.
I'd expect that things might be considerably different here, of course....
--Maire
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stefan li Rous" <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
<<< Anyone know how much "carry-on" you can bring on to the train? I
assume you can't get to your regular baggage. On the airlines they
have been limiting more and more how much you can carry on, and now
they apparently are going to being charging extra for each piece of
checked baggage. >>>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:56:10 -0400
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Take the Train
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>, SCA-Cooks
maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>
--On Sunday, August 10, 2008 11:40 PM -0500 Stefan li Rous
<StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
<<< Anyone know how much "carry-on" you can bring on to the train? I assume
you can't get to your regular baggage. On the airlines they have been
limiting more and more how much you can carry on, and now they apparently
are going to being charging extra for each piece of checked baggage. >>>
According to Amtrak
(<http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_Image_Copy_Page&;c=am2Copy&cid=1080080553878&ssid=43>)
Carry-on is two bags up to 50 lbs each.
Baggage is three bags up to 50 lbs each.
For carryon, they say:
Two-Piece Limit: Each passenger may bring aboard no more than two pieces of
carry-on baggage. Not included in this limit are personal items such as
briefcases, purses, laptops, and infant paraphernalia such as strollers,
diaper bags and car seats.
and that your carry on must be visibly tagged with your name and address.
toodles, margaret
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:25:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Take the Train
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
<<< From experience, what you found is correct. However, unless they have changed their policies since Hroar moved to California, they also allow three extra pieces of baggage/boxes not weighing more than 50 lb each for the cost of $10 per piece. So for the price of your train ticket, plus $30, you are allowed to check in 300 lbs of baggage and carry on another 100 lbs. Nothing even closely comparable to what the airlines allow. >>>
Last year, before Hroar had his quadruple by-pass surgery, we had planned on sending him to Pennsic by train with his garb as carry on and 300 lbs of pottery to sell at Pennsic. Yes, he would have had to change trains in Chicago, and he would have had to retrieve his baggage from one train and then check it on to the next one, but AMTRAK has baggage carts and Red Caps, so that could have been handled okay.
Huette
From: Maria Buchanan <scarlettmb at sbcglobal.net>
Date: August 11, 2008 10:47:02 AM CDT
To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Take the Train
Stefan,
I checked the baggage policies online for Amtrak.
Carry-on is 2 bags up to 50 lbs. ea and 28" x 22" x 14"
Checked baggage is 3 bags up to 50 lbs ea and 36" x 36" x 36"
That's what I remembered from the last time I took the
train which was about 15 years ago - Damn that's a
while didn't realize it was that long.
Maria
Coastal Regional Chronicler.
Date: Wed, 4 May 2011 10:20:27 +1200
From: "Svartr Ormsson" <svartr.ormsson at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] Planes, Trains and automobiles
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
<lochac at lochac.sca.org>
From: "David Robb" <ender at paradise.gen.nz>
<<< If you are going to travel by train, limit the number of bags you're
trying to wheel/carry/drag. More than 2 per person is a pain to load and unload from the trains, and the carriages aren't really set up for people with large bags. >>>
Agreed.
I heard the odd mumble on the train about 'people only paying for one seat
and not baggage', so where practical I offered my seat.
If traveling by myself the most I would have liked to have carried on the
train would have been a suitcase and my armour bag (currently a duffle bag)
carried over my shoulder - though I think I'll invest in suitcase for my
armour next time.
I had my round shield strapped to my back (which was awesome for freeing up
my hands) though an additional carry on bag would have been frustrating
unless it was a frontpack to allow for the shield.
Anecdotally; at nigh on Midnight on our return to NZ [from Rowany Festival in Australia], and a little anxious about the amount of mud still on our gear, I was pleasantly surprised by the customs officer when they stated with a smile "sorry for taking so long to clean your shoes - they were really muddy!". :D
Certainly a stark contrast to entering Brisbane earlier in the year with the
same shoes and having a scowling look of disapproval when they pulled out a
stone from my driveway mumbling something about seeds.
Svartr
Date: Wed, 4 May 2011 10:46:53 +1000
From: Braddon Giles <braddongiles at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] A question about trains...
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
<lochac at lochac.sca.org>
On 4 May 2011 10:15, Anwyn Davies <anwyn at internode.on.net> wrote:
<<< My question is, what sort of train is it that goes from Sydney Central to
Gosford? >>>
As Gilchrist notes, just a 'domestic' train, with luggage limitations.
However, the trains are really good at moving people, lots of people.
And a hire truck is really good at moving lots of luggage. A common
experience from up here is for a very small number of people to
arrange a truck or station wagon fleet, get plenty of time off before
and after the event, have the other attendees drop off their gear,
pack, drive *safely* to and from, deploy and enjoy.
That means that a small group of capable drivers can transport a large
group of, say, Collegians, or at least their stuff while the kids
train it. The more who go the more money saved. The more people who go
the easier the work is to deploy and enjoy. What gives the masses the
confidence to go is a fully planned and budgetted itinerary.
The train from Adelaide to Melbourne is a cool idea. I did that back
in the mid 80's with Mistress Aislinn and some American visitors
(names withheld to protect the innocent) to go to a Stormhold Fighter
Practice, and I still recall having my butt handed to me by Sir Brusi,
10-1. And I was really happy with that 1.
This can work. Good luck.
Giles.
<the end>