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Grex > Music3 > #145: Apple presents iTunes - online music store |  |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 81 responses total. |
gull
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response 39 of 81:
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May 8 13:33 UTC 2003 |
Last time I looked into taking Amtrak, it was cheaper to fly.
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slynne
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response 40 of 81:
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May 8 13:40 UTC 2003 |
Opps. My #38 was a reply to #36. I agree with Sapna that not everyone
wants to spend days and days getting to their destination.
I have found that Amtrak is cheaper and more convenient than flying
when one is going on a short trip. For example, Ann Arbor to Chicago.
But even New York to Washington DC seems easier and cheaper too at
least the last time I checked. Consider also that the train usually
puts someone right downtown without the hassles of the airport.
Still, I imagine that Amtrak probably has a smaller percentage of
business travellers than the airlines. Even so, they probably could
learn a thing or two from the airlines about ticket pricing. I think
they are starting to do that. When I first started taking Amtrak, they
pretty much had the same fares for everyone but now they have things
like the "rail sale" on the website.
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gull
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response 41 of 81:
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May 8 14:05 UTC 2003 |
The trip that was cheaper by plane was Grand Rapids, MI to Seattle, WA.
But supposedly the long transcontinental runs are the ones Amtrak has
trouble making a profit on, so it makes sense that they'd be more expensive.
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mynxcat
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response 42 of 81:
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May 8 15:45 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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slynne
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response 43 of 81:
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May 8 15:54 UTC 2003 |
Yeah. It takes three days and two nights to get to the west coast from
here via train. That is a little long for business travel. However, it
is perfect for folks who have a lot of time. FWIW, it is a great
experience. I have gone to California on the train twice. The views are
awesome. The people on the train are generally pretty neat. If you get
a sleeper car (very expensive) it is *really* nice but coach isnt too
bad.
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keesan
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response 44 of 81:
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May 8 18:14 UTC 2003 |
They drag around a special car in which you can sit and look straight out the
window (instead of sideways) and also some dining-type cars where they sell
expensive potato chips and soda that they just took onboard from the
supermarket at the previous stop. (On the transcontinental run).
Unlike European trains, you cannot lie down in the train cheaply, you have
to pay for a private compartment and the use of a shower. In Europe a
six-person compartment can make up into a six-bunk compartment where you can
all lie down for the night at reasonable cost. One reason not to travel long
distances on American trains.
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krj
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response 45 of 81:
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May 8 19:15 UTC 2003 |
Do people listen to songs from the Apple music store on their iPods on
these train trips?
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mcnally
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response 46 of 81:
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May 8 19:26 UTC 2003 |
Well, the Apple store didn't exist at the time, but I spent quite a bit
of the time listening to my iPod on my Seattle to Oakland Amtrak trip this
March.
I doubt I'll ever choose to take a long-distance Amtrak trip again.
Thanks to a special fare sale they were having, I managed to travel for
about $30 less than if I had booked my travel by air, but it took about
24 hours to reach my destination and while I enjoyed watching the scenery
on the first part of the trip, scenery wasn't much use to me after it got
dark.
The rail system does have some great right-of-ways towards the south end
of the Puget Sound, running right along the water in some places. Very
pretty, but you could get the same views on a much more enjoyable trip
by just taking the segment between Seattle and Portland.
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tod
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response 47 of 81:
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May 8 19:30 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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keesan
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response 48 of 81:
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May 8 19:37 UTC 2003 |
The views from the train were much more interesting than those from the road,
also when we are biking we tend to keep our eyes on the gravel surface.
If the trains were full they would be cheaper than the planes.
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mcnally
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response 49 of 81:
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May 8 19:41 UTC 2003 |
re #47: could you? actively-used rail right-of-ways are generally
off-limits for bicyclists and I don't recall seeing any parallel bike-
or multi-use-paths..
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anderyn
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response 50 of 81:
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May 8 21:08 UTC 2003 |
I have only ever been on one short train trip and I did listen to my cassette
player while on it. Nowadays, I'd take my mini-disc player. (I don't know if
I will ever have an i-Pod, though it sounds cool.)
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tod
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response 51 of 81:
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May 8 21:55 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 52 of 81:
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May 9 00:32 UTC 2003 |
There are some excellent reasons why you can't always get the same views
from a bicycle that are available from the train. The first is the
distance you ride above the ground on a train -- it makes a big difference.
The second, and more crucial, is that train tracks, especially in the west,
often run through some otherwise pretty inaccessible areas..
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tod
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response 53 of 81:
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May 9 00:33 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 54 of 81:
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May 9 00:35 UTC 2003 |
True. You can also turn!
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tod
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response 55 of 81:
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May 9 04:24 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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sj2
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response 56 of 81:
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May 9 13:00 UTC 2003 |
And long bicycle rides are tough on the boys!! :-))
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gull
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response 57 of 81:
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May 9 13:36 UTC 2003 |
I was told once that the Pennsylvania Turnpike used to be a railroad
right-of-way, and that's why there are so many tunnels. Any truth to
that? I'm a bit skeptical.
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jazz
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response 58 of 81:
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May 9 13:53 UTC 2003 |
I'd venture that it's because the state is in the Appalacians. Occam's
razor.
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krj
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response 59 of 81:
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May 9 17:48 UTC 2003 |
resp:57 is true. The original section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike,
from Irwin to Carlisle across the mountains (roughly from Harrisburg
to Pittsburgh) used the route of a planned Southern Pennsylvania railroad
which was engineered and partly constructed, but never brought to
service. The planned railroad was built to threaten the established
northern Pennsylvania rail route, as part of a war between robber barons
in the Gilded Age of the 1890's, if I remember correctly.
The robber barons reached a financial settlement between themselves
and the southern rail project was abandoned & left fallow until after
World War II, when someone realized it would make a fabulous highway
through difficult terrain.
Source: PA Turnpike literature, hopefully remembered correctly.
I bet there's an official Turnpike website.
Do people listen to their iPods while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike?
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jaklumen
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response 60 of 81:
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May 9 22:09 UTC 2003 |
<jaklumen smiles bemusedly as krj tries again and again to return
discussion to the original topic>
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ea
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response 61 of 81:
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May 9 22:32 UTC 2003 |
re #59 - my friends who own iPods carry them everywhere, so I would
assume that if they were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, they would listen
to their iPods ... (possibly through a cassette adapter plugged into
their car's cassette player, or one of those FM modulators for cars
without a cassette player)
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dbratman
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response 62 of 81:
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May 10 17:09 UTC 2003 |
what's an iPod and why is is sPelled in that pEculiar wAy?
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carson
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response 63 of 81:
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May 10 17:53 UTC 2003 |
(I bet it's spelled that way for the same reason that internet auction site
calls itself eBay.)
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