How many miles on Amtrak for you in 2012?

[Texan Eagle]

As the year comes to a close, trivia question for all of you- how many Amtrak-miles did you travel in calendar year 2012? Add up all the journeys undertaken on Amtrak (including multiple journeys on same train, if any) and let's see the totals.

For me it has only been a measly 1,310 miles over the entire year. Just one trip on Texas Eagle from Tucson to Dallas, one jaunt on Acela Express from Boston to Providence and one ride on Capitol Corridor from San Jose to Oakland.

 

[Steve4031]

18,994. I participate in a mileage tracking discussion on a different railfan board.

 

[Ryan]

Not counting a handful of WAS-BWI runs that I usually don't keep track of, looks like 1,583 miles. One round trip to ATL, and two trips to PHL for National Train Day and the Gathering.

Here's hoping that next year works out a little better for me. Already have a trip to ATL on the books for March, and Amy wants to go to Florida again, so hopefully we'll get out there and roll.

 

[J-1 3235]

14,619 miles, and just over 15,000 AGR TQPs. It was a good year

 

[NorthCoastHiawatha]

So far 6,980.

 

[Railroad Bill]

We almost made it to 10,000 miles this year. A trip to Florida, another to New Orleans via WAS and CHI, and a great trip to SLC to see Yellowstone were the highlights. Total miles on Amtrak including Gathering rides was 9,653.

 

[jebr]

2,769 Amtrak miles. A few trips SCD to MSP and back, a trip up the Hiawatha, and a trip OMA to SLC and ELK to OMA. (The mileage may be a bit off due to the detour Denver - SLC on my trip out to SLC.)

2,994 including the Greyhound Thruway bus connection.

Only 1,114 TQP, though!

EDIT: Forgot a trip to MKE (one way, took Greyhound the other way after finding out Amtrak would be a bus anyways.)

 

[amtrakwolverine]

4,050 amtrak miles.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Just to make this more interesting- do you keep a count on how many total rail miles you have traveled in a year including commuter rail? No subways, trolleys, light rail, monorail and such assorted stuff, only conventional trains hauled by a locomotive, can be Amtrak, can be any commuter agency. (LIRR is sketchy since it is neither trolley, light rail, monorail or subway, but doesn't run on locomotives, but let's be lenient and include them too).

In my case, in addition to the 1310 Amtrak miles, I have logged approximately 1,680 miles on Caltrain commuter rail.

 

[tomfuller]

Between May 16 and June 2 my wife and I traveled on the Empire Builder from SPK on CHI and on the LSL CHI to CLE.

The return trip involved a night in Cut Bank Montana. The total rail miles was 4440 for each of us.

 

[SubwayNut]

This Spring to Summer was the second half of my gap year after college to travel:

Including an Acela Express trip I'm taking to Boston next week on Wednesday (my upgrade coupon to first class better go through, that will get me S+ nearly exactly for next year with 10,005 TQP points for the year, nearly all my earnings are from the 100 point minimums on 66 rail segments and 5 Amtrak California Bus segments, did just one Sleeper on the Texas Eagle and will do one Acela Express trip. I should add 1,100 TQP point will be from TQP bonus promotions, including 400 from 2 hotel stays)

I've ridden 12,369 miles on Amtrak trains with Amtrak tickets, plus 247 miles on Amtrak dedicated buses (4 in California and from Seattle to Everett when Amtrak Cascades was delayed due to a Mudslide). I also road another 2,775 miles on VIA tickets on the Canadian all the way across Canada plus the 84 miles on the Maple Leaf (VIA operated, Amfleet-II equipment) from Toronto to Niagara Falls (with a VIA ticket to make my trip across Canada tax free and earn preference points).

I will have ridden 67 different distinct Amtrak trains, (I counted the split Adirondack, changing from the VIA to regular Amtrak equipment in Albany twice), plus 5 different Amtrak buses on the following routes (including riding the complete trackage of, although not necessarily on the exact train): Acela Express (1 ride/segment), Adirondack (5), Amtrak Cascades (2), Capital Limited (1), California Zephyr (1, SLC-EMY), Carl Sandburg (1, KEE-CHI), City of New Orleans (1, MEM-NOL), Coast Starlight (3), Empire Service (3), Ethan Allen Express (FED-NYP), Hartford-Springfield Shuttle (3), Heartland Flyer (2), Keystone (6, NYP-DOW), Lincoln Service (2), Maple Leaf (3), Northeast Regional (7, WAS-BOS/SPG), Pacific Surfliner (5, SLO-IRV, LNL including Metrolink), Pere Marquette (1), Saluki (1, CHM-CHI), San Joaquin (except Lodi to the Junction with the Oakland branch, 9 visited every station stop except Martinez & Oakland), Southwest Chief (1, KCY-LAJ), Sunset Limited (1, NOL-HOU), Texas Eagle (2, SAN-STL), Vermonter (3)

My total might go up another 254 miles, might have another Vermonter trip in store from NYP to Widsor, VT over New Years!

It was quite a year, I almost should have made a list of Amtrak Trains I didn't ride!

 

[Fred H]

7,996 miles so far this year.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I have logges 3,361 miles on Amtrak this year. Not bad, I think.

 

[SubwayNut]

Just to make this more interesting- do you keep a count on how many total rail miles you have traveled in a year including commuter rail? No subways, trolleys, light rail, monorail and such assorted stuff, only conventional trains hauled by a locomotive, can be Amtrak, can be any commuter agency. (LIRR is sketchy since it is neither trolley, light rail, monorail or subway, but doesn't run on locomotives, but let's be lenient and include them too).

Your conventional trains hauled by a locomotive idea doesn't work, there is a clear distinction in my opinion between railroads (trains generally hauled by a locomotive in your definition) and heavy/light rail. Railroads are part of a unified national network overseen by the FRA, Rail based transit systems are under FTA control, distinct and unconnected with the national railroad network . There are a few overlaps throughout the country. LIRR is definitely a commuter rail, it shares trackage with Amtrak through the East River tunnels and even has an entire fleet of diesel hauled double-decker locomotive trains for service on its non-electrified diesel branches. Metro-North is similar using EMUs or SEPTA regional rail is similar but is entirely electrified (sharing trackage with Amtrak) and using nearly entirely EMU trains but a few electric locomotives with Comet Cars. If you use that definition it would mean that a New Jersey Transit trip on their electrified lines would be total luck of the draw for counting to your milage because trains can be either Arrow-III EMUs or Comet Cars in push/pull mode with an electric ALP-46 locomotive.

The trains that get complicated are the new DMU light rail/commuter rail lines that run on lines shared with freight traffic: WES in Portland uses FRA-crash compliant DMUs, the DCTA A-Line (in Denton County north of Dalles) used restored FRA complaint Budd RDC rail cars when I rode it in June but now uses Standler DMU rail cars that have been modified (with various little upgrades for better crash protection) to allow mixed-use running with freight trains under an FRA waiver program/experiment. Northern San Diego County's SPRINTER, Austin's Metrolink, and South Jerseys RiverLINE use older DMUs on a separate time slot arrangement to allow freight traffic durring overnight hours when passengers trains aren't running to statisfy the fact their DMUs aren't FRA compliant.

If you really want to get into the details with FRA compliancy around New York City PATH and the Staten Island Railroad both resemble transit systems but because of connections with national railroads have unique and different FRA waivers for their operations (PATH train operators for example are full blown locomotive engineers because of the section from JSQ to NWK). The freight connection from the SIR to New Jersey is presently abandoned.

It's too complicated for me to try and add up my milage on other railroads, all Regional Rail, I rode Metro-North, LIRR, NJ Transit (including RiverLine), SEPTA, GO Transit, Metra, Music City Star, Trinity Railway Express, CalTrain, FrontRunner and Metrolink so far this year (add MBTA Commuter Rail most likely after my trip to Boston), do i count the DCTA A-Train, and didn't mean to hijack this topic but think its an interesting point to bring up as you consider adding up your milage for the year if you include other railroads.

 

[AlanB]

(LIRR is sketchy since it is neither trolley, light rail, monorail or subway, but doesn't run on locomotives, but let's be lenient and include them too).

The LIRR, as well as Metro North, are both classed as Commuter Railroads. They meet the FRA crash standards necessary to mix with freight and to qualify as commuter RR's. And while the bulk of the fleet is indeed MU's, they do still have some locomotive hauled trains. SEPTA also has commuter rail, as well as subways & streetcars/light rail.

 

[AlanB]

I don't track commuter stuff, but it would add considerably to my totals if I did. For Amtrak I racked up 15,366 to date and may still squeeze in a bit more. Also did a couple hundred miles on VIA, riding between Montreal & Ottawa and then Ottawa to Toronto.

 

[Texan Eagle]

It's too complicated for me to try and add up my milage on other railroads, all Regional Rail, I rode Metro-North, LIRR, NJ Transit (including RiverLine), SEPTA, GO Transit, Metra, Music City Star, Trinity Railway Express, CalTrain, FrontRunner and Metrolink so far this year (add MBTA Commuter Rail most likely after my trip to Boston), do i count the DCTA A-Train, and didn't mean to hijack this topic but think its an interesting point to bring up as you consider adding up your milage for the year if you include other railroads.

SubwayNut, that was very interesting (so what if off-topic for this thread) information. Ok, my bad, I should not have said locomotive hauled trains, what I meant was, yes, commuter railroads, so I guess the closest we can go to divide trains into commuter rail and other transit on tracks is probably FRA compliant or not FRA compliant? Chuck it, just tell your total on all kinds of rail if you keep a count

 

[the_traveler]

Not enough! Only about 10-12K! I have to do better in 2013!

 

[Steel City Don]

0....I know I'm pitiful....lol.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Not enough! Only about 10-12K! I have to do better in 2013!

How many of these were on the Penthouse Suite and how many on "conventional" Amtrak rolling stock with the riffraff?

 

[jebr]

Counting commuter rail, I'd have to throw in a partial trip on the Metra North Line and the not-uncommon rides on Northstar.

 

[Shanghai]

I had Amtrak TQP of 11,838 this year and have 104,142 total Amtrak miles since 2001.

 

[JayPea]

My total for this year is 6,366 miles. Included in that total is a round trip from Spokane to East Glacier and back, and my Ft. Lauderdale - Spokane trip by way of the Silver Meteor, Lake Shore Limited, California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, and Empire Builder. Time now to start planning my 2013 trips!

My total lifetime Amtrak mileage can be shown in my signature. I'm a latecomer to Amtrak; all but little over 1500 miles of my total have come within the last decade. One of the AU members several years ago shared a template for a spreadsheet he uses to keep track of his mileage; I copied it and now use it. I can't remember which member it was, though. As for commuter rail this year: 0. No commuter rail within 275 miles of me.

 

[Notelvis]

I've logged just under 5,000 miles this year. (so far. Hoping to get one last Charlotte-Raleigh trip before 2012 ends)

The major Amtrak stretches were Atlanta-Washington-Chicago in March and Albuquerque-Chicago in July.

In addition there are about 8-10 roundtrips between Charlotte and Raleigh on the NCDOT Piedmonts, a couple or three special excursion trains such as a dome ride Roanoke-Luray, VA with the Roanoke NRHS chapter, some daytrips in the St. Louis area, and some narrow gauge tourist mileage..... most notably at the Cumbres & Toltec out of Chama, NM.

With only a few exceptions now I've ridden every mile available on today's Amtrak network (need Maine, Norfolk, and the San Joaquins still) and am trying to focus more on rare mileage opportunities these days. It's a little bit more about the quality of the miles rather than the quantity.

 

[dabrilloman]

About 2600 miles last year...St. Paul to Chicago, then round trip on the CONO. Then back to St. Paul. My first LD train ride and I totally enjoyed my self!

Will be doing CZ for sure in March. Haven't decided if I will do a round trip or loop it with the Coastal Starlight and the EB. Still working on the details for that trip.