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Tagged With "Train"

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Re: Trains in Cuba

Paul Heymont ·
Great question...and possibly not an easy clear answer. Cuba's trains have generally been in poor shape in recent years as older equipment has run down and spares not available. However, according to Mark Smith (The Man in Seat 61), that's changing with the arrival of a fleet of new Chinese-built locomotives. On his site ( Seat61.com ) he has an extensive update of recent changes in schedules, routes and locations (that's important because Havana's main station is closed for a 3-year...
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Re: Trains in Cuba

Wilbur's Travels ·
Thanks for the info. I too love Mark's site. I will try my damnedest to do a train journey if I can so I can send you details. Wilbur.
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Re: France Train Service, SNCF, Expands Low Cost Trains and Buses

Travel Rob ·
It's great news for budget travelers. I took the Ouigo train from to Marseille in 2013 and loved it.
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

FlashFlyer ·
What an amazing trip! A real reminder of when few traveled and it was not a packaged experience. I wish I had the guts to do a trip like this. Thank you for sharing it! Do you think with Burma more open these days things will change much, or will people like me show up in the cities and still not go where you went?
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

DrFumblefinger ·
A fascinating journey and, I think, very well suited to the younger crowd. Thanks for sharing this story with us. I felt like I was on that ride with you!
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

PortMoresby ·
Thanks FlashFlyer. The thing about adventures like this is you have no idea what an adventure it'll be until it happens and you can't get out of it even if you want to. So, no guts required. Yes, Burma will certainly change, has already. Currently not enough infrastructure for those wanting to visit but if you've traveled in Asia you know the entrepreneurial spirit is alive & well and it won't be long, I suspect, before it will come to resemble other parts of the region. So, good news as...
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

GarryRF ·
I hope that wasn't your last venture into third world high speed travel. Reminds me of Austria on the Zillertal Bahn Valley Railway. The Train went so slow that passengers would lean out and pick wild flowers from the trackside. Each carriage had warning notices - in English - not to do this. But ....
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

PortMoresby ·
If I live it won't be my last. Just prior to that one, same trip, I'd gone from Guilin to Nanning, then after lunch got on another, overnight to Hanoi. Later overnight again, Hanoi to Hoi An. Now that I think about it I realize they got progressively worse as I went along, culminating in The Worst. I hadn't thought about it until just this minute, hindsight is a wonderful thing that way. A great disappointment to me several years ago was the apparently permanent cancellation of the Hanoi to...
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

Theodore Behr ·
That's a real cool story, PortMoresby! I like my wheels to rubber, not steel, but what a great trip!
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

John Howard ·
My brother says that he would love to travel to countries like this. He says it would be really cool to travel on a train like this. I think I'm more of a Europe guy, but it would be a really cool experience to go on a train like that.
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

GarryRF ·
It isn't cool to travel on a train where you get thrown around in the carriage because the tracks are warped with age John ! Many journeys take 24 hours of hanging on like a Roller Coaster ! That's just in Asia. You'll be fine in Europe.
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

Jill's Scene ·
Fascinating read! If I do take this train trip, and it's currently included in the plan, for our hoped for trip to Mynamar later this year, I can't say I wasn't warned. Coming from a country that shakes, rattles, and rolls pretty much every day there were two things about the earthquake that worried me. First, it was big enough to produce screams!! Second, it seems that no-one bothered to check the tracks before the train left the station. And so as I was reading I expected a derailment -...
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

PortMoresby ·
Jill, one thing I didn't think to say when I wrote this report is, consider buying 2nd class seats. I could see into the next car, as it swayed in the opposite direction from ours, and it was fitted with wooden benches, presumably bolted down and consequently a less harrowing ride. It may be more crowded but also more interesting.
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Re: The Worst Train in the World

Jill's Scene ·
That's a very handy tip, thanks.
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Re: "Doggie-Door" makes lockers easier to use

DrFumblefinger ·
It is a good and useful idea. Kudos to the Doggy Travel locker door.
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Re: "Doggie-Door" makes lockers easier to use

Travel Rob ·
Great idea!
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Re: National Railway Museum, York, England.

Travel Luver ·
Some absolutely amazing trains! Luv it!
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Re: Sept. 27, 2017: Balloon Man Running, Denver

DrFumblefinger ·
That's a fun piece, Sam! I do love finding an interesting piece of street art.
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Re: All Aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

DrFumblefinger ·
Great trip through some remarkable scenery! Likely as much fun as it seems to be!
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Re: All Aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Paul Heymont ·
One of my biggest regrets of my Colorado road trip of a few years ago was deciding we didn't have time for the Durango and Silverton...and you just reminded me why I regret it! Great story!
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Re: Historic Georgetown Post Office, Colorado

PortMoresby ·
My 3rd great grandfather appeared in records in Georgetown in 1867. I wonder if this was a building he saw?
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Re: Historic Georgetown Post Office, Colorado

DrFumblefinger ·
A lot of the buildings in Georgetown would have been seen by your great (x3) grandfather, but I'm not sure about this particular building.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 17, 2014: Cobble Stone Square in Aix-en-Provence

Paul Heymont ·
Aix is a favorite with us, even though we've spent only limited time there...but long enough to have posted a Picture of the Day featuring the local market , not far from the scene of your picture...it's really a great walking town.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 17, 2014: Cobble Stone Square in Aix-en-Provence

DrFumblefinger ·
An evocative image, Islandman, and no -- I can't think of any place this could be but France. Thanks for sharing the photo and the story behind it!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 17, 2014: Cobble Stone Square in Aix-en-Provence

Travel Rob ·
You sure captured France!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, June 17, 2014: Cobble Stone Square in Aix-en-Provence

HistoryDigger ·
Draws me in...and back to my days in Provence, too many years ago. Thanks for the reminder of France's southern beauty.
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Re: Gallery: The Worst Train in the World Redux

Paul Heymont ·
This is the true Orient Express.. Thanks for the great pictures, and the chance to "be" somewhere truly special.
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Re: Gallery: The Worst Train in the World Redux

Travel Luver ·
Fascinating images of an amazing trip!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 23, 2015: First Class, Nanning Train Station

DrFumblefinger ·
I suspect "stabling" refers to the train being at the station -- like horse returning home. But I love the sense of mystery and imaging you did to, PM! Nothing quite as much fun as a terrible translation!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 23, 2015: First Class, Nanning Train Station

Paul Heymont ·
With a waiting room like that, I've not sure I'd care to leave and get on the train...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 23, 2015: First Class, Nanning Train Station

DrFumblefinger ·
I'd definitely get on that train. My curiosity about what badly translated signs are out there would get the best of me.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 23, 2015: First Class, Nanning Train Station

PortMoresby ·
I wouldn't dream of occupying while stabling in the train rest room, but in the waiting room? I thought that's what they were for. A wise man, or FaMale, should know better than to leave a nice comfortable clean place and get on a train in some parts of the world. It was a lesson it took me several trains to learn on that trip.
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Re: SNCF: Oooops, we made the trains too big!

DrFumblefinger ·
I'm astounded at the level of incompetence! Does SNCF order trains without providing manufacturing specifics, like how tall and wide a train should be? Really?
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Re: SNCF: Oooops, we made the trains too big!

Paul Heymont ·
I suspect, although without evidence, that since the trains are very close to the previous size, that someone looked, saw a fairly familiar measurement and said, say “2.6 meters…that’s not so different from 2.5…OK!” Puts me in mind of the rocket that missed Mars because one team was measuring in metric units and the other in English… http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/
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Re: Nov. 8, 2018: Milano Centrale railway station

Paul Heymont ·
Actually, in passenger traffic, it's listed here as #8 in passenger traffic. Perhaps it's #1 in mainline traffic? Certainly #1 Gare du Nord and Gare de Chatelet, both in Paris, have heavy concentrations of commuter and regional passengers.
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Re: Luray, Virginia's Varied Attractions

GarryRF ·
Stark reminder of mans' inhumanity.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 19, 2015: Aswan Station, Egypt

DrFumblefinger ·
It looks like you're with a group of backpackers? Sounds like you had a good time, IslandMan.
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Re: Tough Trains

DrFumblefinger ·
You might find yourself the only pale-skinned person in one of the trains to remote towns in Sri Lanka or India. Trains between Colombo and Kandy will be well-touristed. But trains running into the hills much less so so far as Sri Lanka goes. While you would blend in with the locals, I would imagine the same is true of the UK. Train travel between smaller towns, especially in the north, would have few tourists.
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Re: Tough Trains

DrFumblefinger ·
In contrast to "Tough Trains", Fodors just put out a slide-show of some of the greatest train rides in the world. How many have you been on? Here's that link .
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Re: Tough Trains

PortMoresby ·
I've only been on one of those they list, but as we so often do, I disagree with some of their choices. For instance in India, some of the best rides are the mountain trains to Hill Stations, like the famous toy trains to Shimla and to Darjeeling, both of which I've ridden, the Shimla route twice. I'd also include Delhi to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, rather than to Mumbai. Ah well, in any case, so many trains, so little time.
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Re: Jan. 31, 2016: Spuyten Duyvil Train Station

Paul Heymont ·
Not only a classic railroad picture, but one of those moments when you realize that although there are many 'commonplaces,' there's really no such thing as 'ordinary!'
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Re: Jan. 31, 2016: Spuyten Duyvil Train Station

Jonathan L ·
As you can see, I also spent the day experimenting with "monotone." I think that added a little extra to the photos.
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Re: The Ghan - an Australian rail journey of style and comfort

TravelandNature ·
IslandMan - A superb experience ! Thank you for sharing !
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Re: The Ghan - an Australian rail journey of style and comfort

PortMoresby ·
This looks like a fantastic trip and any reason to go by train is good one to me. Wondering if the place names (Adelaide, Alice, Katherine) recall days of too few settler women for the number of men?
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Re: The Ghan - an Australian rail journey of style and comfort

Travel Rob ·
Thanks for taking us on that journey! A wonderful piece!
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Re: The Ghan - an Australian rail journey of style and comfort

Paul Heymont ·
M. Poirot regrets that he had necessity of leaving the journey before the end. An important affair required the attention of his gray matter...
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Re: San Diego Model Railroad Museum: Where Gumbo Was #39

Andre Pur ·
So nice, i love trains And i love to travel by train too, i don't know why but traveling by train makes me more relaxed!
Blog Post

Road Trip, Day 1: City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and The Skunk

PortMoresby ·
  Gateway to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas     March 9, 2015   In the late ‘80s, I lived in L.A. for a couple of years.  My S.O. knew lots of cool L.A. stuff.  One of those was something he’d read that...
Blog Post

Can Channel Ferries survive new rules?

Paul Heymont ·
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the continuing popularity of the Channel ferries between Britain and the continent ( HERE ) Now a new issue has made the outlook less clear. The British Competition and Markets Authority has ordered Eurotunnel to either...
Topic

Tough Trains

PortMoresby ·
  It's Sunday afternoon, I actually accomplished something midday, then turned on the telly for a break, just in time for Globe Trekker on PBS.  Sometimes I'm interested, occasionally not, but I hit the jackpot today.  Tough Trains! A...
 
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