CHOO-CHOOOO! ALL ABOARD THE AUTISM EXPRESS. TRAIN THREAD.
Started by RustedFox
Classic Oregon Coast summer weather – pants and raincoats.
It's awesome to leave 95 degree temps with 99% humidity and a 100% chance of Latina women screaming into cellphones wherever you go (SW FL).
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If you want trains with breathtaking views, you've got to hit up the swiss Alps. You don't even need to take some scenic train in the area, any old transit train will do, since it's all going through the mountains. Went last summer to interlaken, absolutely breathtaking. Wife and I wanted to go there for our honeymoon over a decade ago, but we were broke residents and couldn't afford it then. I'm glad we finally got that one off the bucket list!
Next month I am heading to Colorado.
There I will ride 5 trains in 5 days.
33 Garrow Gauge mining camp trains and 2 Standard Gauge.
3 pulled by steam engines and 2 pulled by old diesel locomotives.
Train Nerd Heaven!!!!!!
There I will ride 5 trains in 5 days.
33 Garrow Gauge mining camp trains and 2 Standard Gauge.
3 pulled by steam engines and 2 pulled by old diesel locomotives.
Train Nerd Heaven!!!!!!
Coast Starlight Amtrak route from Southern California up to Oregon has some beautiful coastal views too, for another trip maybe.
How do you know, bro?
What comes out of the smokestack?
And, where does it go?
And, don't wear a white T-shirt!
Oh boy, I've been waiting for this!!!
This is my current Lionel train collection. I've got stuff from the Pre-WWII era, up until now. Unopened special sets in original packaging are on top of the shelving. The small totes are a collection I bought from one of my attendings during residency, it was his grandfathers. The finished basement in this new house is mine to fill with a layout.
My "serious modeling" is done in N-Scale with an emphasis on the Kansas City Southern around Baton Rouge, set in the late 80's-early 90's
For many years, I've volunteered at railroad museums in Arkansas, Louisiana, and now in Kentucky. I've gotten to work on restoring steam locomotives at all of them.
Made friends with one of the local paramedics who has the same trains and HAM radio 'tism and we go railfanning if we get the same days off. I do some amateur rail photography.
Both when I was an exchange student and when the Army sent me to Europe, made sure to ride as many trains as possible, including the French TGV.
I took November of '23 off after my late wife died and took the AutoTrain home from Florida. It was a bucket list for me, but gonna have to do it again when I can really enjoy it.
'99-'00 timeframe, I worked for Genesee and Wyoming RailLink as a switchman, but was cross-trained as an engineer, and maintenance of way. We were an industrial short line between a quarry and a plant in Little Rock. The pic got destroyed in a move, but my engineer and I had our picture taken by a rail photographer out of Nevada.
And Ironically, I'm watching the movie "Unstoppable" while typing this
This is my current Lionel train collection. I've got stuff from the Pre-WWII era, up until now. Unopened special sets in original packaging are on top of the shelving. The small totes are a collection I bought from one of my attendings during residency, it was his grandfathers. The finished basement in this new house is mine to fill with a layout.
My "serious modeling" is done in N-Scale with an emphasis on the Kansas City Southern around Baton Rouge, set in the late 80's-early 90's
For many years, I've volunteered at railroad museums in Arkansas, Louisiana, and now in Kentucky. I've gotten to work on restoring steam locomotives at all of them.
Made friends with one of the local paramedics who has the same trains and HAM radio 'tism and we go railfanning if we get the same days off. I do some amateur rail photography.
Both when I was an exchange student and when the Army sent me to Europe, made sure to ride as many trains as possible, including the French TGV.
I took November of '23 off after my late wife died and took the AutoTrain home from Florida. It was a bucket list for me, but gonna have to do it again when I can really enjoy it.
'99-'00 timeframe, I worked for Genesee and Wyoming RailLink as a switchman, but was cross-trained as an engineer, and maintenance of way. We were an industrial short line between a quarry and a plant in Little Rock. The pic got destroyed in a move, but my engineer and I had our picture taken by a rail photographer out of Nevada.
And Ironically, I'm watching the movie "Unstoppable" while typing this
Apparently, this is pretty amazing:
trainmountain.org
Home - Train Mountain
Explore Train Mountain, the world's longest model railroad, nestled in the scenic mountains of Southern Oregon. Discover a unique railroading experience with miles of tracks, events, and fun for the whole family.
trainmountain.org
And, what is surprising about that movie is how much it sticks to the original story!
Bro, your resume is fuggin' MANLY.
Riverboat badass. Trainmaster. Military. Medic. Physician.
T U R B O A U T I S M. 👍
Not until you have all the train schedules memorized
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The Man in Seat 61 is my hero.
I would always rather take the train than fly.
I will forever refer to the gorgeous station in Antwerpen as "Our Lady of the Immaculate Connection."
I have taken the Jacobite steam train (not exactly to Hogwarts, but pretended to,) the Glacier Express, the Caledonian Sleeper, The Grand Canyon Rail, the Flåmsbana, and the Jungfraujoch. I keep the apps for most of the European rail systems on my phone for "the next time" because there will always be a next time. I realized I left off the Eurostar, but of course, yes. The Orient Express is on the list, but I don't know if it's *really* the same as Agatha Christie portrays it, so haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet. Haven't had a chance to try the new OBB Nightjet service yet either.
And (ok, nerd alert) my ringtone is the "Appel en gare" song of SNCF which plays whenever a train arrives at a French station. Which I have never, EVER heard anyone else use. At least in the states. But it's confusing as hell if I'm in France.
This is the Flåmsbana, which is a mountain train from Myrdal to the village of Flåm in Norway
I would always rather take the train than fly.
I will forever refer to the gorgeous station in Antwerpen as "Our Lady of the Immaculate Connection."
I have taken the Jacobite steam train (not exactly to Hogwarts, but pretended to,) the Glacier Express, the Caledonian Sleeper, The Grand Canyon Rail, the Flåmsbana, and the Jungfraujoch. I keep the apps for most of the European rail systems on my phone for "the next time" because there will always be a next time. I realized I left off the Eurostar, but of course, yes. The Orient Express is on the list, but I don't know if it's *really* the same as Agatha Christie portrays it, so haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet. Haven't had a chance to try the new OBB Nightjet service yet either.
And (ok, nerd alert) my ringtone is the "Appel en gare" song of SNCF which plays whenever a train arrives at a French station. Which I have never, EVER heard anyone else use. At least in the states. But it's confusing as hell if I'm in France.
This is the Flåmsbana, which is a mountain train from Myrdal to the village of Flåm in Norway
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Ah yes the Jacobite train! I didn’t get to ride it, but got to see it ride over the scenic bridge in the Scottish highlands, a few weeks ago. Still had a steam engine!
if you get NHK channel, many railway feature stories are available https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/japanrailway/
Back during my turbodepression days, I would watch youtube videos of a camera fixed on a train just going about for hours.
The best videos were the Norwegian ones.
The best videos were the Norwegian ones.
If my flavor of autism is not trains but it is that I check online forums like this as if it was an addiction.... does that make this thread not for me or perfectly designed for me?
As the OP, I will allow it.
I loved watching the Oslo to Bergen one when it hit Nexflix several years ago. It was our Christmas background thing the whole month.
We went to take that train for our honeymoon and the Flam railway was closed. 😭
Also, re: background – I've seen an equally uh engaging documentary of The Ghan on streaming somewhere (Prime?). Pretty cool history, as are many train lines.
"Railroad Alaska" Real Time Ride (TV Episode 2015) - Plot - IMDb
"Railroad Alaska" Real Time Ride (TV Episode 2015) - Plot summary, synopsis, and more...
m.imdb.com
This stayed on the TV the entire day they did it
Watch The Ghan online – Prime Video
Australia's first 'Slow TV' program, The Ghan is an innovative documentary that follows the railway linking Adelaide to Darwin, revealing the multicultural story of Aboriginal surveyors, English navvies, 'Afghan' cameleers and Chinese coolies who collaborated to construct the nation's most...
www.primevideo.com
Really? Just for the calming effect?
Yeah.
I would see the little mountain homes way out in the wilderness and imagine myself there, left alone to be at peace. The more remote the home, the better.
I don't know if you're still in Oregon, but this is in Southern Oregon, FYI.
36 Miles of ride-on-able miniature trains
36 Miles of ride-on-able miniature trains
Planning to ride the Douro Valley in Portugal in Feb... probably one way by train, the other by boat. Anyone done it? Video at the bottom.
Douro Valley by train - Portugal's most scenic railway
A guide to riding the Douro Valley railway from Porto to Picinho, Portugal's most scenic train.
www.seat61.com
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We got back last night. Bullet Points to follow...
- Day 1 = Georgetown Loop Railroad -- (Narrow Gauge/Steam Engine) Well run mining camp tourist attraction 45 minutes from Denver (Rated it #5)
- Day 2= Royal Gorge RR-- Standard Gauge/Diesel) 20 mile up and back route though the gorge cut by the Arkansas River with 1000 foot cliffs on either side. We rode in an air conditioned dining car and had a good meal served during the trip. (Rate it #3)
- Day 3= The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad -- (Narrow Gauge/Steam Engine) They had an engine breakdown so we only got to ride half the 61 mile route. Up and Back Still and good trip through some beautiful high country. (Rate it #2)
- Day 4= Durango Silverton RR = (Narrow Gauge/Steam) 50 mile ride up stunning mountain country. We got off in Silverton and got on a bus for the return but could ave returned on the train. (Rate it #1)
- Day 5= Leadville Railroad = Narrow Gauge/Diesel) 15 Mile up and back. Scenic views of mountains (Rate it #4 due to location in Leadville)
Oh yeah I've taken the leadville train. Killer views. Was actually snowing while we were on the train a bit, in May.
We are doing this next summer as part of the norway in a nutshell itinerary- debating if we want to spend 1-2 overnights in Flam
Flåm is super cute. We spent the night and it was definitely worth it. I set our "nutshell" up ourselves, and stayed at Flamsbrygga - it was nice. The Viking brewery is quite good. You can buy the beer at Coop, where it's cheaper and take it with you. (Nothing is cheap in Norway, but I like grocery stores and Coop is reasonably priced.) Aegir is lovely. Go for drinks, stay for dinner. The building itself is striking. The cruise through the Næeoyfjørd is lovely. We had to get off at Undredal because of ice but I did get to see the tiny stave church there as we drove by. (You can spot it from the cruise if you have a zoom lens and you're an architecture/history geek too.) You could kill 2 nights in Flåm pretty easily if you wanted to hike to the waterfall or see the main part of town. We went in February, so much was closed. Summer it's crazy busy and you'll need to book early. PM me if you want more details.
Do the fjørdsauna - was definitely a refreshing experience in Feb. We didn't get to see the train museum as it was closed.
Do the fjørdsauna - was definitely a refreshing experience in Feb. We didn't get to see the train museum as it was closed.
Just got back from Pigeon Forge and did a day at Dollywood. I made a command decision, rode the train first thing! I went pretty much full Sheldon Cooper, felt like I was a kid again. I'd post the video, but it won't let me.
Also, got my basement finished and everything on display
Also, got my basement finished and everything on display
Big Boy stopped in town today on the nationwide trip. These people that work on the heritage fleet have, arguably, the best job in America!
And, I know they always tow a diesel or two behind it. I thought that the reason was in case there was a breakdown. A guy in line said that the diesels provide motive power. Wrong! A worker on the crew said that 4014 pulls everything without a sweat, but, the diesels are needed for braking! They're in neutral all the time, and the Big Boy brakes are original and just not that efficient.
my autism is watch.
one day my autism will have its own thread here, but right now I'm limiting it to just the lounge.
one day my autism will have its own thread here, but right now I'm limiting it to just the lounge.
An update to my previous Portugal Douro Valley train goals - due to what was the equivalent of a Cat 3 hurricane just days before I went, I did not get to take the train, as all rail services were shut down through the entirety of the middle of Portugal for a couple of weeks. So my trains became buses (sigh) but we did hire a guide to go drink wine through the Douro Valley... and said guide was happy to stop at the adorable station in Piñao for photos, even though I couldn't go inside, and there were absolutely no trains. The scenery along the river was stunning. Guess that means I have to go back.
Oh, and, the Big Boy has 3 tenders: the original black one, and two in UP livery. The worker told me that the black one holds 7000 gallons of fuel oil, and the rest of it, and the two yellow, hold 70000 gallons of water!
Just got back from a cruise to Alaska. One of the stops was in Skagway, where we got to board the White Pass Railway, that takes you to an amazing route in the mountains through alaska, into BC and Yukon. If you're visiting Skagway, 100% recommend taking this train.
I Agree!
Read this book ---- Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush by Pierre Berton ---- before you go. It will give you an ever greater appreciation of the place and it's history.
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