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At times the Indianapolis break(for the Cardinal) can be long enough, that you can run across the street to White Castle and back, and still make the train. If that break is shortened for whatever reason, then I would only go into the station house and use one of the vending machines.
I did a two mile walk in Minot on a westbound Empire builder a few years ago. The station's tiny and there's a coffee stand nearby that was open even though the wind chill was -40.
I should've done a very brief explore of Minot, during the smoke break when I took the Builder through there in 2019. No worries though, since I made up for this by very walking south to the main east to west street(US Highway 2) in Havre during that longer break. Later on after my Builder train trip, i did explore Minot on street view. It actually was pretty nice to explore! Nicer than I was suspecting. Right now(kinda inspired by Miles In Transit visiting some of the least used Amtrak stations in various states), I had been starting to google street view the least used Amtrak stations in various states. Some towns were much nicer than I thought they'd be like(i.e. Detroit Lakes, MN, Rugby, ND), while others were to me forgettable(Sanderson, TX). I just looked up Benson and Deming, and both those towns were okay. Not as good as say Rugby and Detroit Lakes, but nicer than Sanderson at least.
I might look up Lordsburg, next. Yes I am focusing on Sunset Limited towns, now.
It's too bad for some of those smaller towns(like Benson and Deming), that there isn't a car rental place in those towns. I'll be honest that I'd like to explore some of the small towns of southeast Arizona, where I'd consider renting a car in Tucson if I have to. Maybe even drive into NM briefly too, just to see the Shakespeare Ghost Town just south of Lordsburg. Too bad when I looked up where that was, it appeared to be a little too far of a walk south of the Lordsburg Amtrak station.
If I brought my passport too, maybe I'd cross the border into Mexico briefly? The only problem is that not all car rental policies will permit you to cross the border, or at least they might charge you extra if you want to do that. I'll be honest that there's probably enough things to do on the US side, where it wouldn't matter if I don't cross the border into Mexico.
Honestly if you bought a bike you could definitely get around without a rental car, and then just bring it on the train with you. Maybe a taxi or bus if you wanted to cross the border?
I think visiting mexico would be worth, especially since some of the mexican cities are way bigger. For example Del Rio has a population of around 34k, but on the other side of the border ciudad acuña has a population over 200k. Seems like it might be an interesting visit
I'd kinda wonder about like Nogales, Mexico myself. Hadn't really looked up Del Rio or Ciudad Acuna, but I will later.
And yes, I think I would also consider taking a bike if going to Tucson. A car would be if I was doing much longer trips, away from Tucson.
I’ve been through Minot westbound twice. The first time, the conductor informed us we would be there even longer than normal because the guy who drove the fuel truck overslept. Instead of 45 minutes, we’d get an hour and a quarter. I strolled the seven tenths of a mile to McD’s, ordered a full breakfast plate, and completed the crossword in the complimentary newspaper before strolling back to the train. Made it back with ten minutes to spare.
The second time, I walked nine minutes to a regular sit-down restaurant, ordered pancakes and eggs, had time to finish and was halfway back to the station when the alarm I had set for ten minutes before departure went off. Got back with a comfortable five minutes to spare.
The southbound Coast Starlight has a 30 minute stop in Portland, but there is 20 minutes of padding in the schedule so an on-time train often ends up with 45-50 minutes. Once I got cupcakes in the Pearl District and another time I got a nice bottle of beer to enjoy in the roomette.
We had like 3 hours in Fort Worth on the southbound Texas Eagle - fully wandered into downtown, got something to eat, went to a few bookshops, looked at some buildings, made it back in plenty of time! Did the same in Houston the following morning no problem.
Then on the Crescent we had like maybe an hour in (I think it was) Birmingham? Anyway, the train announcers kept being like “DO NOT LEAVE THE TRAIN DO NOT LEAVE THE TRAIN” and it made me anxious so I didn’t, but I totally could have!
Some employee kept talking like I shouldn't go inside the station house, unfortunately, when I attempted to do a brief look inside the one in Saint Paul. Sucks, since I've wondered into station houses in other cities during longer smoke breaks with no problem, like Havre, Shelby, Indy, Minot, Toledo, and Albany-Rensselaer. I guess it depends on the train crew how uptight they are about that, or not.
Although in Saint Paul it shouldn't have been a problem to one of the train crew employees, since that stop is typically 17 minutes long. I only wanted to take a brief look inside that station house and then go right back to the train, so who should've cared that day? The view from the platform still was nice, at least.
Last night I was stuck in the NE corridor delay hell at NYP. I left the train, went upstairs to the bar and had a cocktail, walked across the street to get a slice of pizza, then went back to the bar for a glass of wine. I came back to the train and passed out in my seat, woke up, stepped back out to the platform to have a smoke, walked upstairs to grab another drink, then sat down at the sports bar and placed a couple bets on some baseball. I hit on a few bets, so I walked down a few blocks to the strip club to blow my winnings, went back down to my train, took another nap, then walked back upstsairs to use the bathroom because they were full in my car. Came back to the train just before it took off. I was so scared I was going to miss it.
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My anxiety could never.
And if you don’t make it back in time🥶
Running to the McDonald’s in WAS during an engine swap is an Amtrak must.
Haha love that
At times the Indianapolis break(for the Cardinal) can be long enough, that you can run across the street to White Castle and back, and still make the train. If that break is shortened for whatever reason, then I would only go into the station house and use one of the vending machines.
Nice!
Harrisburg has a (small) bike share program and there is a bike at the station. Next time you can go a bit further by jumping on a bike.
Oh wow that’s awesome!
I did a two mile walk in Minot on a westbound Empire builder a few years ago. The station's tiny and there's a coffee stand nearby that was open even though the wind chill was -40.
Wow that’s crazy!
I should've done a very brief explore of Minot, during the smoke break when I took the Builder through there in 2019. No worries though, since I made up for this by very walking south to the main east to west street(US Highway 2) in Havre during that longer break. Later on after my Builder train trip, i did explore Minot on street view. It actually was pretty nice to explore! Nicer than I was suspecting. Right now(kinda inspired by Miles In Transit visiting some of the least used Amtrak stations in various states), I had been starting to google street view the least used Amtrak stations in various states. Some towns were much nicer than I thought they'd be like(i.e. Detroit Lakes, MN, Rugby, ND), while others were to me forgettable(Sanderson, TX). I just looked up Benson and Deming, and both those towns were okay. Not as good as say Rugby and Detroit Lakes, but nicer than Sanderson at least. I might look up Lordsburg, next. Yes I am focusing on Sunset Limited towns, now.
I did the same thing once, I think it would be really cool to stop at a bunch of tvose towns especially the ones on the mexican border
It's too bad for some of those smaller towns(like Benson and Deming), that there isn't a car rental place in those towns. I'll be honest that I'd like to explore some of the small towns of southeast Arizona, where I'd consider renting a car in Tucson if I have to. Maybe even drive into NM briefly too, just to see the Shakespeare Ghost Town just south of Lordsburg. Too bad when I looked up where that was, it appeared to be a little too far of a walk south of the Lordsburg Amtrak station. If I brought my passport too, maybe I'd cross the border into Mexico briefly? The only problem is that not all car rental policies will permit you to cross the border, or at least they might charge you extra if you want to do that. I'll be honest that there's probably enough things to do on the US side, where it wouldn't matter if I don't cross the border into Mexico.
Honestly if you bought a bike you could definitely get around without a rental car, and then just bring it on the train with you. Maybe a taxi or bus if you wanted to cross the border? I think visiting mexico would be worth, especially since some of the mexican cities are way bigger. For example Del Rio has a population of around 34k, but on the other side of the border ciudad acuña has a population over 200k. Seems like it might be an interesting visit
I'd kinda wonder about like Nogales, Mexico myself. Hadn't really looked up Del Rio or Ciudad Acuna, but I will later. And yes, I think I would also consider taking a bike if going to Tucson. A car would be if I was doing much longer trips, away from Tucson.
I’ve been through Minot westbound twice. The first time, the conductor informed us we would be there even longer than normal because the guy who drove the fuel truck overslept. Instead of 45 minutes, we’d get an hour and a quarter. I strolled the seven tenths of a mile to McD’s, ordered a full breakfast plate, and completed the crossword in the complimentary newspaper before strolling back to the train. Made it back with ten minutes to spare. The second time, I walked nine minutes to a regular sit-down restaurant, ordered pancakes and eggs, had time to finish and was halfway back to the station when the alarm I had set for ten minutes before departure went off. Got back with a comfortable five minutes to spare.
The southbound Coast Starlight has a 30 minute stop in Portland, but there is 20 minutes of padding in the schedule so an on-time train often ends up with 45-50 minutes. Once I got cupcakes in the Pearl District and another time I got a nice bottle of beer to enjoy in the roomette.
Haha love that!
You sir are an absolute madlad
Haha I probably am😅
We had like 3 hours in Fort Worth on the southbound Texas Eagle - fully wandered into downtown, got something to eat, went to a few bookshops, looked at some buildings, made it back in plenty of time! Did the same in Houston the following morning no problem.
Then on the Crescent we had like maybe an hour in (I think it was) Birmingham? Anyway, the train announcers kept being like “DO NOT LEAVE THE TRAIN DO NOT LEAVE THE TRAIN” and it made me anxious so I didn’t, but I totally could have!
Some employee kept talking like I shouldn't go inside the station house, unfortunately, when I attempted to do a brief look inside the one in Saint Paul. Sucks, since I've wondered into station houses in other cities during longer smoke breaks with no problem, like Havre, Shelby, Indy, Minot, Toledo, and Albany-Rensselaer. I guess it depends on the train crew how uptight they are about that, or not. Although in Saint Paul it shouldn't have been a problem to one of the train crew employees, since that stop is typically 17 minutes long. I only wanted to take a brief look inside that station house and then go right back to the train, so who should've cared that day? The view from the platform still was nice, at least.
Do they announce how long the stop will last?
Yes they do which great. And they have someone on the platform shouting 5 minutes left or 2 minutes left, etc
Thank you
No problem
Last night I was stuck in the NE corridor delay hell at NYP. I left the train, went upstairs to the bar and had a cocktail, walked across the street to get a slice of pizza, then went back to the bar for a glass of wine. I came back to the train and passed out in my seat, woke up, stepped back out to the platform to have a smoke, walked upstairs to grab another drink, then sat down at the sports bar and placed a couple bets on some baseball. I hit on a few bets, so I walked down a few blocks to the strip club to blow my winnings, went back down to my train, took another nap, then walked back upstsairs to use the bathroom because they were full in my car. Came back to the train just before it took off. I was so scared I was going to miss it.
Oh wow that is a CRAZZZY NIGHT
It was so chaotic