46 replies to this topic

[BillMagee]

The “dizziness” your wife experienced is commonly called “sea legs”. It happens when you are placed in an environment where the floor is moving back and forth and up and down for an extended period (ocean cruises, a long train ride, even a long-haul plane ride). Your brain accustoms itself to the movements of the vehicle and then, when you are back on firm ground, your brain expects movement and you feel for all the world like the floor of your hotel room is moving just like the train. It can be unsettling but it clears in a day or less.

[KevinKorell]

Dave, Let me add to what Bill said by stating a few things. First, I am sorry you had a poor trip on the KENTUCKY CARDINAL. So did every other passenger it carried. When you rode it, the train was nearing extinction, and it now no longer exists. It was never well advertised, and it existed mainly for the carriage of UPS shipments to and from Louisville. When the express business went away, the need for the train became moot. AMTRAK routinely took sleepers, coaches, anything it could, away from this train and used the precious equipment elsewhere where it could derive more revenue. There were days when it would arrive in Louisville, with just one engine and one Superliner coach, or even one engine and a sleeper when they couldn't find a coach to use in Chicago. Then it was assigned single-level equipment when Superliners became more scarce, and service deteriorated even further. It's a shame, because with higher speeds and a possible extension to Nashville, this train could have done much better. On the positive side, I am glad you enjoyed your CITY OF NEW ORLEANS trip. I rode this train in one direction last spring, and it was a quick and entertaining trip. One reason your wife might have been feeling dizzy after that trip was that this train runs on some very poor track in Mississippi (which in fact was the site of a fatal derailment last week). If the swaying of the Superliners is a problem, I would suggest asking for seating on the lower level rather than upstairs. Also, consider taking pills for motion sickness, (the same ones taken before a flight or on a cruise) such as Dramamine, which may help your wife feel better afterwards. Usually this is not a problem on the rails; I am sure that if you take another route in the future, your wife won't have this experience after she travels.

[frank]

Hey Bill Magee, You wrote: "The “dizziness” your wife experienced is commonly called “sea legs”. It happens when you are placed in an environment where the floor is moving back and forth and up and down for an extended period (ocean cruises, a long train ride, even a long-haul plane ride)." Oh wow Bill! You may be right! I always considered that dizziness as a by-product of moving up happy hour to just after breakfast, in order to "cope" with the bleakness of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Eastern Montana on one of my favorite excursions, the Empire Builder. Maybe the weak knees syndrome I experience near Cut Bank is actually due to the floor moving back and forth, and not the large quantities of Tequilla and lemon and salt ingested over the 800 miles previous. Thanks for the tip! Frank Ps. Although I moan about this trip every chance I get, I also take the trip every chance I get. I'm heading back out next weekend for yet another EB r/t adventure. Gotta' love it. And I do.

[BillMagee]

Ps.  Although I moan about this trip every chance I get, I also take the trip every chance I get.  I'm heading back out next weekend for yet another EB r/t adventure.  Gotta' love it.  And I do.

Hey Frank!

Enjoy your trip on the Empire Builder!

I am not nearly as prolific a train rider as most of the regulars here, but of the handful of Amtrak long distance trains I have ridden, the EB is my clear favorite (ridden once in 1998). I even enjoyed the ride across North Dakota and Montana, a distinctly minority viewpoint. After all, how many chances do you have to stand on the train platform in Stanley, North Dakota?

The route is probably the most remote of all Amtrak trains with, for the most part, no parallel interstate for miles: just old US 2 and a series of small farm and ranch towns. It is pure, unadulterated upper Midwest. Get copies of the Delorme topographic map atlases for North Dakota and Montana and you can follow the tracks, curve for curve and siding for siding, and know the name of every town, road, creek, lake, etc. The atlases even show abandoned branch lines and you can look for and see the remnants of the old trackbeds as you ride by. Suddenly, that seeming sameness of the landscape comes alive with interest.

And tell your wife not to worry about those sea legs. Unlike motion sickness, sea legs will only make you slightly wobbly, not sick. It is the sure sign that you’ve taken a nice long ride somewhere, and that is a good thing. Back when my kids were kids, they thought it was “cool”! “Hey Dad, the floor just moved again!” Kids can find amusement in virtually anything.

One last tip: Do not get off in Margaritaville looking for you lost shaker of salt!

Bill

[kspeed]

I appreciate all of the comments to my post. On the KY Cardinal there was only one car for passengers the days that we rode. The one northbound was old, in fair condition, and comfortable. (Unfortunately we only got to ride it to Indy; it was a bus after that.) The one southbound was old, in poor condition, and was uncomfortable. The conductor told us it is a “commuter car”. I was so tired at that point that I didn’t ask him what that is. It was not the type of commuter car that I am familiar with such as on the St. Louis Metrolink. (I am thankful it wasn’t.) He also said that the crew had nicknamed that train “The Cannonball”, I assume because of its lightening speed of about 30 MPH. I read in an article in the Evansville Courier about the demise of the KY Cardinal and it said there was quite a bit of consternation about this action in KY as they had spent a lot of money upgrading the facilities in Louisville for this train. It apparently only ran for a few years. The best part of the trip was after it got light in the early morning of our return trip so that we could view the scenery. The second best part was seeing that our car was still at Jeffersonville, IN, when we got there. I have a few questions about train travel that I cannot find answers to and wondered if there is someplace that I can post these. Thanks! Dave

[KevinKorell]

Dave,

It was not the type of commuter car that I am familiar with such as on the St. Louis Metrolink.

Those aren't commuter cars on Metrolink, they are light rail cars.

I have a few questions about train travel that I cannot find answers to and wondered if there is someplace that I can post these.

Please feel free to post your questions on our forums. I am sure that somebody will either have an answer for you, or point you in the right direction. Our forums are segregated pretty well by mode and by type of train (intercity, rail transit, commuter rail, international, modeling, history, etc.), so please post your questions in the appropriate location so that somebody of expertise will find it quickly and respond.

[RailHaRRy]

Dave,

I have a few questions about train travel that I cannot find answers to and wondered if there is someplace that I can post these.

Besides posted your questions in a Forum here, if you haven't seen our Amtrak Travel Tips you may wish to peruse them.