poltr1 | The Lake Shore Limited.... (Reply)

Here's the first of two posts about train travel. This one covers a recent trip I took.

Ever since February, I've thought about taking the Amtrak train to Buffalo instead of driving up to see my mom. And in April, I finally did this.

The Lake Shore Limited train train left Chicago's Union Station at around 9pm on Friday. There's not much to see at night. I talked with a fellow passenger, Mahesh, for several minutes. The train ride was smooth, not bumpy. I got up and walked to the diner car to get some tea, and met a young man running Ubuntu Linux on his laptop. Many of us, myself included, tried to catch some Z's while the train made its way past South Bend, Toledo, Cleveland, and Erie. I was awake when the train arrived at Erie, and stayed up to see the local sights. We arrived in Buffalo around 8:30am on Saturday.

The way back was similar. I left Buffalo at around 12:30am on Thursday, tried to catch more Z's, and arrived in Chicago around 10:00am, if I remember correctly.

Why do I like train travel? I think there's less hassles than airplane travel, it's cheaper than airplane travel, and I don't believe it's as dependent on the weather. Also, traveling by train is a lot less frenetic and more leisurely.

Would I do this again? Absolutely. Although I'd find another way to get to Chicago besides driving to Indy and busing to Chicago. I got stung on the parking.

Shout-outs: Happy birthday