The Value of a Nonstop?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Feb 21 2007, 05:28 PM) [snapback]394194[/snapback]</div>

I agree that DeGaulle is AWFUL--handsdown the worst airport I've ever been in.

And the next time you're on a flight, and you've been in the air about 15 minutes or so, you'll hear a "ding," then the flight attendant says (over the speaker): "The captain has turned off the seatbelt signs. You're free to move about the cabin. We ask that when seated, please fasten your seat belts in case of turbulence." They say it every time. That's the message I'm talking about.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Feb 21 2007, 05:23 PM) [snapback]394294[/snapback]</div>

Apparently you are not a railroad buff. But on the other hand, I've been on none of those trains. The smooth, comfortable ride, the lack of the sudden turns that you get on a bus or car, simply knowing that it's electric (in Europe, not the Empire Builder here in the U.S.) and just something about the very idea of the rails. And all those old songs about hobos, and the roamin' fever, and reading a letter from home while listening to the lonesome whistle...

Here and there you find an old steam engine on display, and it makes me wish I owned a working full-size replica, and a luxury rail car, and I could cruise around the country belching coal smoke and watching the telegraph poles racing past the window...

 

A friend of mine just learned about nonstops the hard.
They were going from MN to Florida. To save less than $200, they took a flight with a transfer in New Jersey. Their first flight was late, so they missed the connecting flight. Then the bad east coast weather shut downs nearly all flights and they had to spend a night in NJ. They finally got out of NJ by flying to Houston. But again, they missed the connecting flight to MIami and had to stay overnight there. They finally made it to Miami more than 2 days after they left.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 22 2007, 10:18 AM) [snapback]394462[/snapback]</div>

Are you sure you didn't make your millions from Railway Tycoon? I did. I have boxes and boxes of model trains, including TGVs, and I'm going to spend most of my retirement, like my childhood, playing with toys.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 22 2007, 06:18 AM) [snapback]394462[/snapback]</div>

You got me there. I am not a railroad buff. I travel by the most convenient method for the route.

I did travel 2nd class on all those trains; maybe that was the reason for my disappointment. The ride was fast and smooth, but the ambience was no better than that of a domestic U. S. airline flight. There was none of the grandeur of the Orient Express or the Royal Scotsman which I envisioned.

I think you will enjoy this website: The Man in Seat Sixty-One . . .

I normally travel by air, on account of having an airline pass. To answer the original question, as a non revenue stand by passenger, I always opt for the nonstop when available. It minimizes the chances of being bumped off by a revenue passenger during a stop en route.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Feb 22 2007, 10:15 AM) [snapback]394628[/snapback]</div>

I never heard of Railway Tycoon until reading your post and googling it. I had a very cheap toy train set when I was a kid. I've thought of getting a fancier one, now that I have some space, with a working steam engine to pull it, but I figure it would get boring very fast. The difference between watching a toy go around in circles, even pulled by a working model steam engine, and actually travelling around the country on a real train, is considerable.

I was in CA a few years back and had a chance to ride on a small, private steam train, about a half-hour circuit through tall forest, in an open car. That was fun.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 22 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]394873[/snapback]</div>

I agree, there's no substitute for the real thing. But there's much more to scale railway modelling than watching them go back and forth. And there may be more to Railway Tycoon than most people will have the interest or patience for. But hey, I'm an accountant. Were you expecting a personality with that?