Trains / Public Transport

[simonalexander2005]

OK,

One of my 'hobbies', I guess you could call it, is route planning / travelling, which involves alot of travel by public transport.

It works very well when coupled with another friend of mine, who is interested in the engineering of trains/etc, so he goes on the trains he likes and I take us crazy routes that no-one would ever think to do...

Anyone else here interested in this kind of thing?

[Nude_not_rude]

Trains are purely a source of transport to me. Sounds like you guys are having fun though.

[brandon]

I had never really thought of route planning as a hobby, but now that you mention it, I do spend a lot of time doing that for myself and others, but more for air travel. I used to spend a lot of time scouting out bargains on bestfares.com.

Passenger trains run thrice-weekly here in the 4th largest city in the USA, so there's not a lot of choice in the schedule. You can go west to Los Angeles or east to New Orleans. I've never actually ridden that train, but I have seen it go by, so I know it's not just a myth.

I have taken Amtrak trains along the Pacific coast and in New York state. I've also taken trains in Canada, Europe and Japan.

[brandon]

Simon, you might be interested to know that slime mould seems to do an excellent job of optimizing complex rail networks, designing efficient and resilient networks that are similar to human/computer solutions:

In an experiment matching the growth of Physarum polycephalum (slime mould) against an existing man-made network, the slime mould performed remarkably well. Researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan and Oxford University in England were able to demonstrate that slime mould can navigate its way to a number of food sources, using the most efficient route and minimal growth. Dr. Mark Fricker, in the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford, and colleagues plotted this growth against the Tokyo rail network. The researchers believe that slime mould mimicry can be useful by inspiring greater efficiency in real life technology, including computer systems or communications networks.

listen to the interview (about 10 minutes long)

[simonalexander2005]

Simon, you might be interested to know that slime mould seems to do an excellent job of optimizing complex rail networks, designing efficient and resilient networks that are similar to human/computer solutions:

In an experiment matching the growth of Physarum polycephalum (slime mould) against an existing man-made network, the slime mould performed remarkably well. Researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan and Oxford University in England were able to demonstrate that slime mould can navigate its way to a number of food sources, using the most efficient route and minimal growth. Dr. Mark Fricker, in the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford, and colleagues plotted this growth against the Tokyo rail network. The researchers believe that slime mould mimicry can be useful by inspiring greater efficiency in real life technology, including computer systems or communications networks.

listen to the interview (about 10 minutes long)

looks interesting! i'll have a listen tomorrow when I get a spare ten minutes :)

EDIT: just had a listen - fascinating stuff - thanks for the link :)

[brumnude]

i'm not a fan myself but i did run accross a website somewhere that had a map of the midland rail stations from the present day going way back. showed whole train lines had been abandoned in the beaching cuts of i think the 70s. complete with pics even though i don't have an interest as such i still spent a fair amount of time browsing. i'll see if i can find the website

[Wolfboy]

I like travelling by train, my girlfriend lives on the other side of the country so i use the train alot (and if the trains would be on time more often here in Belgium i would like travelling even more )
One of my favorite trains is the "Trans Europe Express".

Would be nice if i can travel with it one day and when i'm on it listening to the Trans Europe Express song by Kraftwerk

[brandon]

I love that song!

[Wolfboy]

I love that song!

When i listen to that song i always close my eyes and imagine that i'm riding across the country with the Trans Europe Express

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRCGSGh3ZiM#normal

[tolkienfan86]

I've always thought trains were interesting. I suppose living near tracks and seeing trains go by while growing up had somehting to do with that. :)

My train-related hobby is watching them go by. I haven't ridden rail enough for that to be a serious hobby, although I'd like to ride as many high-speed trains as I can. I've ridden trains with one locomotive set up so that it's pushing, but facing the rear. I think it looks really weird, but that's just me. I think in that case the locomotive should be at the front so it's leading and pulling.

For those who live in the US, BNSF has a program for rail fans. Basically it's just a way of identification so if you're taking pictures they know you're legit. They have simple rules (like standing back 15 feet from all tracks, not taking pics of military trains - not that I've seen one, etc...) and best of all it's free. When you sign up you can print out a little card that shows you're a member. I thought it was a neat program so I signed up.

Anyone know of any good free train simulators?

[nakedboy]

OK,

One of my 'hobbies', I guess you could call it, is route planning / travelling, which involves alot of travel by public transport.
.....
I take us crazy routes that no-one would ever think to do...

Me too.. 

[joeyn]

I love trains and subways. Sadly, where I live, there is only one train that goes anywhere, but it is very expensive to travel. Flying is just as cheap, or even cheaper.

Joey

[mikeisnude]

I love trains and subways. Sadly, where I live, there is only one train that goes anywhere, but it is very expensive to travel. Flying is just as cheap, or even cheaper.

Joey

Anyone here want to start a railfan thread?

Feel free to start one as I'm sure there are others that are into trains!

[ToneBender]

I'd love to do the Trans-Siberian sometime as well as VIA's Edmonton to Vancouver or Jasper to Prince Rupert trips or a Rocky Mountaineer trip.