The RLLR crew has just returned from their epic "Sea to Shining Sea Tour!"
What started out as a simple plans for a road trip to visit Ron's sister in North Carolina ended up as a whirlwind railroad tour of the United States of America! All of it! We went to the Pacific Ocean, we went to the Atlantic Ocean, we saw the Mexican Border, we saw the Canadian border. Over 14 days: We spent 158 hours (6.5 days) on the train, we traveled 7,233 miles, and we traveled through 24 states and the District of Columbia! All for slightly less than the cost of fuel had we driven our car straight to Sophia, NC and back.
It was definitely an adventure to remember. Between Ron and Lori, we have about 3,500 photos to narrow down. We don't really know how to organize or limit our trip report, but it will no doubt be presented in small segments. We will limit this Part 1 to a series of simple video introductions to travel by train. We would like to introduce you to our home these last couple of weeks.
We highly recommend train travel to just about anyone. However, there are two caveat's to that recommendation:
(1) Many travelers would not well tolerate sleeping in the coach seats. As you can see from the videos below, these are no sardine-can-like airline or bus seats. We would liken them more to Lazy-Boy recliners as far as comfort and roominess, but they are not a substitute for a flat mattress by any means. Our family is pretty good at sleeping just about anywhere, so it was not an issue for us. It did take one night to learn exactly how to make oneself comfortable, but we were good to go after that. Many of you might not find such sleeping accommodations to be acceptable. There are sleeping cars on the train, but for us the sleeping cars would have prohibitively doubled the cost of our travel.
(2) Trains are not quick. Cruising speed throughout most of the country is 80 MPH. Cruising speed through the Northeast Corridor (Washington DC to Boston) is 110 MPH. But there are many, many stops (some a mere 3 minutes and 25 seconds long and others a couple of hours long). There are many, many sections of rail where cruising speed is not attainable (mountain passes, curvy areas, and rail segments in poor repair). In all, average travel speed is much lower than cruising speed and it takes a LONG time to get to where you are going. A leadfoot driver willing to drive all night could make much better time by car than by train. Again, for us, we had the time available, so it was no deterrent.
To the videos:
A summary introduction to the train...
A detailed introduction to train seats...
Safety rules on the train...
Dining on the train part 1 (cooking your own meals)...
Dining on the train part 2 (the Diner Car)...
Sleeping on the train...
More to come!
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