Do you get off at longer stops (a poll)?

[OlympianHiawatha]

I did one time flee the Diner for a few minutes during Lunch at El Paso to grab a couple Burritos from the Burrito Lady for later that afternoon. The Lead was doubled over laughing when I told him to keep my plate going and when I asked if anyone in the Diner Crew wanted Burritos he said one of the Servers was already on the platform getting that taken care of

 

[Triley]

It's different for me since I'm an LSA, but yes. Aside from pulling in to NYP late and still having to bolt upstairs for change...I go in to WAS all the time for food when I'm working a Virginia Regional. When I work 66, and we close the Cafe at ALX, I will place a food order online for the Unos in Union Station. since 66 has a 50 minute scheduled layover. Boy are people (passengers, crew, and deadheaders alike) jealous when the walk by and see me eatin' a nice steak!

 

[Seaboard92]

One time I got off at FBG on a three minute stop to pick up delivery. On a NE Regional.

 

[Thirdrail7]

A couple of years ago, the westbound Empire Builder delayed at Shelby for almost an hour. A number of people ventured over into that bar and casino that often has the "Welcome Amtrak" banner out front. Tempted as I was to join them, I chickened out. As far as I know, they all made it back in time.

ican understand being chicken when it comes to being delayed. You're never sure if it will clear up and the train will leave. El Paso is what I was thinking of when I asked my question. There is a significant amount of time spent in that station if the train happens to be on time.

Additionally, freight traffic tends to be light on or around certain holidays. I watched 92 sit in almost every station on Thanksgiving. It sat in Hamlet for 50".

 

[alan_s]

This topic brought back memories of the steam era in NSW when I was a youngster travelling to my grandparents with my family. Usually a 12 hour ride down the east coast from Grafton to Newcastle, followed by eight hours inland to Werris Creek, then a change to the two-car diesel motor-rail for the final four hours to Narrabri.

Every four hours on the long distance trains the station had a RRR - Rail Refreshment Room - with staffing to handle a trainload of pax within 30 minutes. There were onboard snack and alcohol bars, but not onboard restaurants. Any pax not asleep usually went to the RRR for a meal or used the bathrooms or both. The conductors made sure everyone was back on board on time; that included checking the bathrooms.

Thanks for the trip back to the past for me. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be...

 

[BCL]

This topic brought back memories of the steam era in NSW when I was a youngster travelling to my grandparents with my family. Usually a 12 hour ride down the east coast from Grafton to Newcastle, followed by eight hours inland to Werris Creek, then a change to the two-car diesel motor-rail for the final four hours to Narrabri.

My only experience was when they ran diesels. We rode "first class" Sydney-Melbourne overnight in the early 90s. This was perhaps late May, so it's winter, and our assigned car has no heat. I mean - we're doing our best to stay warm even though we checked in most of our luggage. So we check the other cars and move to another first class car (with plenty of empty seats) with heat. Until the conductor sees us and tells us that we're not allowed to be there and he marches us back to the car without heat. OK - I guess the best we could do would be not to argue lest he march us completely off the train. So we return to the car without heat and try to stay warm the best we can.

So in the middle of the night we're sleeping in our seats and apparently we took on a new conductor who relieved the previous one. He's waking up everyone in the car and telling us that we're welcome to use another first class car with heat. We then noted that the previous conductor told us we had to stay, even without heat.

I would say that save that one total &*#$(#$ the experience was pretty good. Don't know about the current service, but back then there was a proper dining car where we had a light breakfast before arriving. All I had was toast and coffee. There were a variety of spreads, but I wanted to try Vegemite. The dining car attendant did a bicep pump and said "It makes you strong!" Ah - that was a fun time.

I'm not even sure there was much of a chance to get off on that train. I do remember waking up in the middle of the night seeing a familiar Safeway (supermarket) sign as we were passing through some town.

 

[alan_s]

My only experience was when they ran diesels. We rode "first class" Sydney-Melbourne overnight in the early 90s. This was perhaps late May, so it's winter, and our assigned car has no heat.

That sounds like the Sydney/Melbourne Express, which combined and replaced the Spirit of Progress, Intercapital Daylight and Southern Aurora which had all slowly declined in passenger numbers through the '70s and '80s as flights increased and their prices dropped.

Yes, it can get a bit chilly passing through the Southern Tablelands at that time of year. What a terrible conductor you had; so much for first class! Some people should not have jobs dealing with the public.

As a RAAF apprentice I travelled on all of those earlier versions at various times in '64-'66 for home leave from the base in Laverton, near Melbourne to family in Grafton, northern NSW. There was usually an 8 hour connection in Sydney to the Brisbane Limited Express. The RRRs still operated in those days, with stops at Junee and Albury. The RAAF didn't offer first class, just a travel warrant for second. I also travelled roomette on the Southern Aurora in the '70s at my own expense. Later in my RAAF career I tended to go by Herc (C130) or Caribou (C7).

 

[Anderson]

Generally...

-On the Starlight, I'll hop off at PDX and SLO.

-On the Silvers I'll hop off at JAX and possibly a stop in the Carolinas (if I'm up).

-On the Cap...I'm usually too busy fighting with the municipal wifi in Cumberland to hop off (EB) or eating dinner/dozing (WB).

-On the LSL, I'll get off at ALB and be asleep for the other stops.

--I'll also hop off at ALB on the Adirondack.

-On the Zephyr, I'll usually hop off at Denver, Grand Junction, and Salt Lake.

-On the Chief, I usually hop off at Albuquerque and Kansas City (I'm usually battling the local wifi at La Junta).

...and yes, I did realize that I've taken enough trains enough times to have a "usual" on about half of the overnight trains.

 

[Evan's Trains]

Usually not unless I really want to fet a picture of the sonething in the consist.

 

[BCL]

My only experience was when they ran diesels. We rode "first class" Sydney-Melbourne overnight in the early 90s. This was perhaps late May, so it's winter, and our assigned car has no heat.

That sounds like the Sydney/Melbourne Express, which combined and replaced the Spirit of Progress, Intercapital Daylight and Southern Aurora which had all slowly declined in passenger numbers through the '70s and '80s as flights increased and their prices dropped.

Yes, it can get a bit chilly passing through the Southern Tablelands at that time of year. What a terrible conductor you had; so much for first class! Some people should not have jobs dealing with the public.

We didn't have sleeper accommodations, although the first class car was otherwise OK. What I recall was that we figured out that each set of two seats could rotate such that seats could face each other.

The conductor seemed really harsh. Everyone seemed so friendly and welcoming on our visit, but this one employee seemed to be bent on "enforcing the rules", even if that meant 20 passengers being cold in a car with malfunctioning heating.

 

[railiner]

I will usually get off at longer servicing stops, unless I see a large 'mob' of new passenger's waiting to board....I have had to 'fight' to get my coach seat back at one occasion, when the boarding passengers just moved my possessions off my seat and into the overhead rack.

And yes, I did leave my seatcheck in place, which they ignored....

 

[railiner]

I generally would get off if not asleep; however I was traveling on business (Amtrak) with two of my colleagues and we stopped in Memphis on the CONO. The toilets n the sleeper were not working so,we got off, notified the Conductor we were going into the compartment under the car to see if we could fix the problem. We were in phone contact with a maintenance person in NOL who,was talking us through the problem. One of us got back on the car to see of the toilets would flush properly and at that moment th train began to depart MEM! I jumped off, saw the Conductor at the end of the train and signaled him to stop. He did and once we stopped my colleague who was still in the compartment came charging down the platform ready to deck the Conductor. He is close to six feet tall, about 250 and build like a linebacker. We had to physically grab him to protect the Conductor who would have been destroyed. Needless to say, we had to keep,them separated for the remainder of the trip....and th toilets still didn't work!

That's what can happen if you try to be a 'Good Samaritan', and don't have proper blue flag protection that the working service crew have.....

 

[calwatch]

I've walked a mile or more through places like Denver or Albuquerque when we were early. Generally set an alarm for about halfway through the break, which means it's time to head back. I probably wouldn't wander around Glenwood Springs or Reno because the break is too short, but the service stops I will wander.

 

[benale]

I always get off at the stops over ten minutes and I'll walk the length of the train until the "all aboard" call. If the stop is longer I'll venture into the station and if time permits venture into town always conscious of the time. We were in Denver for an hour and a half years ago and I went to a nearby McDonalds. If I'm in coach I will always try to find food on the platform or close by.

 

[neroden]

I get off if, upon arrival, there are more than 10 minutes before *scheduled* departure time.

 

[ehbowen]

If I have 15 minutes or more before scheduled departure time, I will usually run in to the station and see if they have real Coca-Cola in their vending machine. But if the train is running behind schedule, even if the crew announces a "smoke stop", I might step off but I will go no farther than a few steps from the boarding door.

My "closest call" was in Temple, where from the schedule I thought we would have at least ten minutes so I grabbed my camera and went out to photograph the train (I like to take pictures of the engine and car numbers...faster than writing them down). I started at the tail end and, when I was almost up to the locomotive, heard the "All Aboard!" call. I guess the Conductor was using a different time standard than I was! Anyhow, I hastily beat feet back to the nearest boarding door and climbed aboard just in time. Good thing, too, because that trip I was traveling with #2 nephew and #3 niece and I would have had some 'splaining to do....

 

[HenryK]

When my new service dog arrives, I'm going to have to research the stops very carefully! Wouldn't want to get left behind mid-whiz. On the other hand, I understand the sleeper attendants are very careful about making sure people with disabilities get back on before the highball. At least I hope so.