Amtrak ridership up, funding for more rail built by states.

[Dark Hellion]

But where are you going to have sex with your self-esteem challenged suburbanite girlfriend? How can you show off that you have a penis without some flashy car/SUV that gets shitty MPG, sits in the traffic all day to get to whatever moronic trendy restaurant you want to go to? It's not like there is a great deal of artistic, intellectual or entertaining things to do in downtown Chicago that cost less than $25 and are easily accessible on foot.

[Broomstick]

It's not like there is a great deal of artistic, intellectual or entertaining things to do in downtown Chicago that cost less than $25 and are easily accessible on foot.

The hell there isn't - clearly you've never spent any time in downtown Chicago. Or really any part of Chicago.

[Dark Hellion]

Broomstick, I suggest you visit one of the places and purchase a new sarcasm meter stat. I love museum campus, or the art museum, and visit quite often with my girlfriend.

[Broomstick]

Maybe you should make it OBVIOUS that you are being sarcastic because there is really nothing in your post to indicate you were anything other than serious, dumbshit.

[Faqa]

How can you show off that you have a penis without some flashy car/SUV that gets shitty MPG, sits in the traffic all day to get to whatever moronic trendy restaurant you want to go to?

I don't know about you, Broomstick, but that's a pretty obvious indicator of sarcasm in my book, at least on this site.

You can go from Chicago to Seattle for as little as $125, and usually around $156 coach depending on the time of year. Hell, two people going in sleeper compartments can do the trip one-way for as little as $225.00 in the off-season per person, which means a round-trip per person of $450.00, which would include six meals and free champagne and wine in each direction (twelve meals, wine and cheese-tasting sessions, and two bottles of champagne per person) and access to a shower, with your own private compartment to share.

OK, I second DEATH here for a change. WTF? Obviously, a train traveling US-style distances needs to provide a decent level of comfort for passengers(out here, the longest train ride you can actually do is maybe a few hours, so chairs are all you need), but you're telling me that a passenger on Amtrak MUST purchase that level of luxury?

Access to a shower and a private compartment I would consider neccesary, but the rest...

[The Duchess of Zeon]

How can you show off that you have a penis without some flashy car/SUV that gets shitty MPG, sits in the traffic all day to get to whatever moronic trendy restaurant you want to go to?

I don't know about you, Broomstick, but that's a pretty obvious indicator of sarcasm in my book, at least on this site.

You can go from Chicago to Seattle for as little as $125, and usually around $156 coach depending on the time of year. Hell, two people going in sleeper compartments can do the trip one-way for as little as $225.00 in the off-season per person, which means a round-trip per person of $450.00, which would include six meals and free champagne and wine in each direction (twelve meals, wine and cheese-tasting sessions, and two bottles of champagne per person) and access to a shower, with your own private compartment to share.

OK, I second DEATH here for a change. WTF? Obviously, a train traveling US-style distances needs to provide a decent level of comfort for passengers(out here, the longest train ride you can actually do is maybe a few hours, so chairs are all you need), but you're telling me that a passenger on Amtrak MUST purchase that level of luxury?

Access to a shower and a private compartment I would consider neccesary, but the rest...

That is one of two options. The other is sitting in a coach seat the entire way, though Amtrak coach seats are larger than those in first class on an airplane, and with substantially more legroom.

Unfortunately, there's no midgrade level of service with bunks and showers but not the full ritz treatment, basically.

[Broomstick]

How can you show off that you have a penis without some flashy car/SUV that gets shitty MPG, sits in the traffic all day to get to whatever moronic trendy restaurant you want to go to?

I don't know about you, Broomstick, but that's a pretty obvious indicator of sarcasm in my book, at least on this site.

Thing is, I know people who really do think that way. It wouldn't fucking kill people to throw in a [/sarcasm] just to be sure they're communicating what they intend. I'm fucking tired of lazy-ass posters who can't be bothered to make the effort to clarify their message then get pissed off when someone reads what they wrote instead of what they intended.

OK, I second DEATH here for a change. WTF? Obviously, a train traveling US-style distances needs to provide a decent level of comfort for passengers(out here, the longest train ride you can actually do is maybe a few hours, so chairs are all you need), but you're telling me that a passenger on Amtrak MUST purchase that level of luxury?

Access to a shower and a private compartment I would consider necessary, but the rest...

There used to be middle levels of accommodation, but right now those are your two choices. That's it.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Note that there's been proposals to offer a midrange sleeping accommodation, but there'd be no point without adding more sleeping cars, because the current ones are usually sold out well in advance even with the price. It is substantially less than flying first class, after all.

[Adrian Laguna]

It wouldn't fucking kill people to throw in a [/sarcasm] just to be sure they're communicating what they intend. I'm fucking tired of lazy-ass posters who can't be bothered to make the effort to clarify their message then get pissed off when someone reads what they wrote instead of what they intended.

Would be nice if we had a widely recognized snark mark. The closest thing is the rolleyes smilie, but it's quite terrible for the purpose, as it could easily mean that the writer is rolling eyes at the reader, not at what they wrote.

Note that there's been proposals to offer a midrange sleeping accommodation, but there'd be no point without adding more sleeping cars, because the current ones are usually sold out well in advance even with the price. It is substantially less than flying first class, after all.

Why don't they add more sleeping cars if the current ones sell out so consistently?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

It wouldn't fucking kill people to throw in a [/sarcasm] just to be sure they're communicating what they intend. I'm fucking tired of lazy-ass posters who can't be bothered to make the effort to clarify their message then get pissed off when someone reads what they wrote instead of what they intended.

Would be nice if we had a widely recognized snark mark. The closest thing is the rolleyes smilie, but it's quite terrible for the purpose, as it could easily mean that the writer is rolling eyes at the reader, not at what they wrote.

Note that there's been proposals to offer a midrange sleeping accommodation, but there'd be no point without adding more sleeping cars, because the current ones are usually sold out well in advance even with the price. It is substantially less than flying first class, after all.

Why don't they add more sleeping cars if the current ones sell out so consistently?

Because the company spends all its capital investment funds on the NEC instead of putting them into new cars. Amtrak long-distance trains could add a car for 13 cents a mile (haulage and electric fee--more for personnel and maintenance, obviously) on all their long distance trains. Currently, the average long distance train operates with only six or seven cars, of which only four are revenue cars (coaches and sleepers), plus a dormitory car for the crew which has extra sleeping compartments in it which could be sold out, but rarely are, since the crew mostly never approaches large enough to need them all. However, the HEP (Head End Power) systems in the engines are capable of handling a string of twenty passenger cars (plus additional mail and express package cars, and possibly auto racks) before you run into problems--if you put a couple slaved engines at the back of the train you could run a train of 40 cars (which would fit on most mainline sidings in America today, even though passenger cars are much longer, since they're designed for 200 car trains) potentially, plus baggage cars. This would result in considerably more capacity.

That's actually the dirty secret of Amtrak not making money. They say it's not making money, but they're running those engines hauling one-third to one-sixth of the number of cars they can actually haul, and the price of adding extra cars is trivial. And the trains ARE frequently sold out, at 60 - 70% capacity in the coaches, which on a long-distance train basically is sold out because you'll have someone getting off at one stop, and someone reserving those seats for the rest of the route at the next stop, so between those two stops the seats are empty--just a fact of doing business. But there are no more cars to add, because Amtrak has spent all its capital investment money on the NEC and is running with a woefully deficient, aging, and entirely to small fleet of long-distance cars.

[Dark Hellion]

I would have thought the fact that I mentioned the number of places you could get to in Chicago for under $5 in my previous post would be a good indication.

[Crayz9000]

I'll just add in that one time, I was returning from a Tijuana service call via train, and it so happened to be on the same day as a big Padres-Dodgers game in San Diego. The train happened to be absolutely PACKED; if they could have added three more cars, those probably would have sold out as well with all the returning baseball fans.

However, on most days the Pacific Surfliner service is maybe running at about 50% capacity. Then again. with the price of gas rising, I'd expect ridership to start picking up...

[Broomstick]

I would have thought the fact that I mentioned the number of places you could get to in Chicago for under $5 in my previous post would be a good indication.

Stop trying to squirm out from under the fact that you posted something that, read by itself, gave absolutely no indication of sarcasm, then you got pissy because someone took it at face value. Next time, make sure folks know you're being sarcastic. It's just a few extra keystrokes, and those of us without the "Permanent n00b" title manage to whack them out on a regular basis, why shouldn't you?

[Darth Fanboy]

However, on most days the Pacific Surfliner service is maybe running at about 50% capacity. Then again. with the price of gas rising, I'd expect ridership to start picking up...

Where do you usually travel between?

Well with the Coaster and Metrolink pick up a lot of the commuter traffic, and Monday through Friday the Surfliner doesn't have the same level of business. I took it from Irvine to Santa Barbara back in February though and it was packed all the way up on that Friday. If gas goes up further it's going to be much cheaper for 1-2 people to take the train to San Diego from LA/Orange County and vice versa, especially if paying for parking ends up becoming a consideration.

Funny you should mention the baseball game traffic, I've used the Surfliner to go to Padres games many times, and sometimes i'll take it the 13 miles or so to Anaheim when I need to avoid some traffic. Hell I even used the Surfliner entirely one time to go from Irvine to San Diego, then back north to Anaheim catching two baseball games in the same day. (12:30 in San Diego, and 7:00 in Anaheim)

[JointStrikeFighter]

I would have thought the fact that I mentioned the number of places you could get to in Chicago for under $5 in my previous post would be a good indication.

Stop trying to squirm out from under the fact that you posted something that, read by itself, gave absolutely no indication of sarcasm, then you got pissy because someone took it at face value. Next time, make sure folks know you're being sarcastic. It's just a few extra keystrokes, and those of us without the "Permanent n00b" title manage to whack them out on a regular basis, why shouldn't you?

The sarcasm was pretty damn obvious Broomstick.

[Broomstick]

See, that's the problem - it will be "obvious" to some, but not others. Like I said, I'm tired of lazy fuckers who can't make their meaning clear to everyone then get pissy at their own deficient communication skills.

It wouldn't kill him to have added an unambiguous indication of sarcasm - but no, it is ever so much more important to argue it after the fact.

[JointStrikeFighter]

See, that's the problem - it will be "obvious" to some, but not others. Like I said, I'm tired of lazy fuckers who can't make their meaning clear to everyone then get pissy at their own deficient communication skills.

It wouldn't kill him to have added an unambiguous indication of sarcasm - but no, it is ever so much more important to argue it after the fact.

The same argument could be made about lazy fuckers who are too lazy to read it again and whine about it on the board later.

[Broomstick]

You know, I did go back and re-read the post. There is NOTHING that would tip someone off that it was a fucking joke. Nothing.

The asshat is a lazy poster, end of story. If your reader has to play guessing games as to your true meaning you fail.

[Soontir C'boath]

You know, I did go back and re-read the post. There is NOTHING that would tip someone off that it was a fucking joke. Nothing.

The asshat is a lazy poster, end of story. If your reader has to play guessing games as to your true meaning you fail.

FFS, most of us has come back here and said the sarcasm was pretty apparent and now myself included. Stop trying to justifying yourself and shut up already.

[Broomstick]

It's amazing how much bandwidth can be spent justifying something that could have been avoided with a simple [/sarcasm] at the end of a post. Like I said, lazy posters who get pissy everyone isn't a mind reader.

[Ghost Rider]

Please, let's just end it all.

Broom has stated her case. Hellion got pissy because Broom didn't use her vast wiccan powers to see what lies within a skull of air. People are using the excuse "Well, on this site!!!" because it escapes people that not everyone views the world through SD.net goggles(buy a pair at the store for only 29.99 Euros!).

It has fucking derailed the goddamn thread long enough. Thank you for your time.

[Alferd Packer]

I was actually thinking of creating a second federally owned corporation called Acela Corp. to operate the NEC and handle other high-speed corridors that may be developed elsewhere, with Amtrak handling long-distance trains and lower-speed corridors, and both of them having integrated ticketing.

This would probably be the best way to go about it(if done at all), as you could develop travel corridors exclusively for high-speed rail travel, starting from the BosWash megalopolis and expanding outward. Off the top of my dome, the first project they could tackle is rebuilding the Lackawanna Cutoff and offering high speed rail out to Scranton and on to Buffalo(hell, go for broke and take it all the way to Toronto!). All of a sudden, an eight hour drive only takes five hours or less via train, and the(arguably) two most important cities in their respective countries have another high speed link.

You repeat the process for Montreal and New York (which has actually been in various stages of discussion for several years, now), upgrade the Philadelphia-Harrisburg line to accommodate high-speed rail, and you have the beginnings of a sensible high-speed rail network, serving the most populous cities of the US and Canada.

[darthbob88]

I apologize for the interruption, but I must give my experience with Amtrak, which has always been pleasant. This weekend, I traveled from Tacoma down to Vancouver, WA, to spend time with my family. For a round trip of approximately 400 miles, I paid a grand total of $54.30, including bus fares to and from the train stations. Aside from being comparatively green, traveling by train was much more comfortable than traveling by car, and I could get much more work done on the way.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I was actually thinking of creating a second federally owned corporation called Acela Corp. to operate the NEC and handle other high-speed corridors that may be developed elsewhere, with Amtrak handling long-distance trains and lower-speed corridors, and both of them having integrated ticketing.

This would probably be the best way to go about it(if done at all), as you could develop travel corridors exclusively for high-speed rail travel, starting from the BosWash megalopolis and expanding outward. Off the top of my dome, the first project they could tackle is rebuilding the Lackawanna Cutoff and offering high speed rail out to Scranton and on to Buffalo(hell, go for broke and take it all the way to Toronto!). All of a sudden, an eight hour drive only takes five hours or less via train, and the(arguably) two most important cities in their respective countries have another high speed link.

You repeat the process for Montreal and New York (which has actually been in various stages of discussion for several years, now), upgrade the Philadelphia-Harrisburg line to accommodate high-speed rail, and you have the beginnings of a sensible high-speed rail network, serving the most populous cities of the US and Canada.

Philadelphia-Harrisburg is already under wire and cleared for 110mph operations, possibly 120mph. They completed the upgrades back in 2006 IIRC.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I apologize for the interruption, but I must give my experience with Amtrak, which has always been pleasant. This weekend, I traveled from Tacoma down to Vancouver, WA, to spend time with my family. For a round trip of approximately 400 miles, I paid a grand total of $54.30, including bus fares to and from the train stations. Aside from being comparatively green, traveling by train was much more comfortable than traveling by car, and I could get much more work done on the way.

Yeah, it's getting to the point where that is the cheaper option. I used to drive down to see my specialist in Portland but things are getting to where the $6.70 round-trip for the ferry + the round-trip for the Amtrak might well be cheaper. And that's using a 4-cyl 2003 Corolla as the baseline that gets nearly 39 mpg on long highway driving like that, and I can refuel at several Costcos along the way for substantially less than most other people.