10 Train Travel Features That History Left Behind

[@AmericanRewind]

What other features of train travel do you remember? 🚆🤔

[@jacobdenis9192]

None😂

[@wildnis5219]

Route books.

[@archviewcondominium8512]

I love riding behind steam, the rocking and clicking clack of the cars going over the rails, the dining of real food on China plates, and glass glasses, railroad time tables and being able to get up and walk around. The train trip was as much a part of the experience as being there. Yes, I am a railfan. 1st trip age 1. Now 86. Love train excursions . Destination doesn't matter.

[@archviewcondominium8512]

Love the haunting sound of the steam whistle. Just saw UP Big Boy 4014 recently. What a thrill.

[@CraigFThompson]

How about a FORWARD VIEW on electrified commuter lines?! For some damned reason, that view is slowly being eliminated....

[@brianwelch-qq3ti]

You know, I actually drove a steam engine today, so the timing is perfect

[@ForsakenWar]

Don't hear that every day😅👍

[@archviewcondominium8512]

​@@ForsakenWarLucky you . Would love to do that

[@ForsakenWar]

@@archviewcondominium8512 Same here!

[@brianwelch-qq3ti]

@archviewcondominium8512 well, there are two places in America that will let you

[@bigcstrainsthings6149]

So what type of engine You drove?

[@Pamela-pm9hn]

the way the roads are today....I would prefer old day trains any day....especially with sleeper cars and dining

[@andrewholden1501]

I agree. One of the best trips I took was my move from Florida to Massachusetts. I booked a sleeper compartment on the auto train. I arrived in Virginia well-rested and ready to finish the journey in my car.

[@darleytransportandtravel6353]

Same in England. I was travelling in beautiful wood panel coaches up until the late 1980s. Modern trains are more like aeroplanes today. Horrible!

[@saulschlapik6818]

Amtrak still has "porters" on its sleeping cars. They're just called "service attendants" now.

[@CraigFThompson]

Whatever they're called, just don't call ANY of them "George"!!

[@DiamondKingStudios]

The one time I was on an Amtrak train (three months ago), I had a lot of luggage to carry, so an attendant helped me lift them onto the train from the low platform. I don’t know how most Amtrak service attendants are for long-distance trains like the one I was on (19 from DC to Atlanta), but he was rather courteous, which my sister and I quite appreciated.

[@reynaldoflores4522]

​@@DiamondKingStudios I had the same experience at the airport. A kind employee helped me with my luggage. But when I thanked him profusely for his help, he gave me an annoyed look. Then it just dawned on me that I was supposed to pay him !

[@DiamondKingStudios]

@@reynaldoflores4522 I don’t remember the Amtrak attendant asking for tips. I hope they pay him well.

[@RCAvhstape]

@@DiamondKingStudios I have always tipped the Amtrak porters. I figure they could use it. They are always courteous and work long hours, cleaning bathrooms in the middle of the night and such.

[@kirkboivin4357]

Long distance travel by train outclassed air travel any day. Domestic air travel resembles taking a bus.

[@gop4usa12]

It comes down to prioritizing economy over luxury. If you have to take a flight and were given the choice between today's airfare along with today's service versus the cost and luxury of the golden age, I'm quite certain you'd choose the economy. Adjusted for inflation, air travel 75 years ago would cost you about $10,000 for a transcontinental flight. And trains aren't an option anymore because we don't have enough time to sit through the journey.

[@gigglesmurf2004]

Domestic air travel resembles the movement of animals to the slaughter.

[@gop4usa12]

​@@gigglesmurf2004 I'm not sure how you've formed that opinion. But then again, I never fly on a budget airline. I do know that if you're an animal being taken to the slaughter, you're not sitting in a leather seat that reclines, have 100 movies to choose from on an IFE screen, and have someone offer you drinks.

[@grayrabbit2211]

​@@gop4usa12I fly Delta domestically, and even sitting in F on Delta isn't anywhere the pleasant experience of traveling in Amtrak's Bedroom or Roomette service. My company mostly flies private since the muzzle mandates on the airlines were enacted and hasn't really gone back. Sometimes jet, other times turboprop,and others piston. Bouncing around in a Cessna 182 may not be plush, but the freedom of not dealing with the traditional airport experience is luxury.

[@kentfrederick8929]

But, the air bus is so much faster. The Super Chief traveled between Chicago and Los Angeles in 39.5 hours. American and United fly ORD-LAX in 4.5 hours.

[@davidduro974]

So much More Style Back then... the 30s 40s 50s Had a Beautiful magical Style in everything with so much Love for the details

[@77Catguy]

Each railroad company had their own matching chinaware and meals were actually prepared on board, not microwaved.

[@CraigFThompson]

If only government at all levels would quit oversubsidizing automotive and air travel!!

[@csxns]

Add Trucking to that.

[@CraigFThompson]

@@csxns “Trucking” is automotive….

[@csxns]

@@CraigFThompson but with more wheels.

[@Sacto1654]

Well, the quality of fine dining meals in dining cars pre-1960. The quality of food was often *VERY* high, and in fact the Fred Harvey Company, which operated on the Santa Fe Railway, set a standard for fine dining that was way above the average restaurant even well into the 20th Century.

[@CraigFThompson]

Even in these greatly diminished Amtrak days, the onboard meals are STILL much better than what any airline would serve in coach.

[@kentfrederick8929]

What is sad is that Royal Caribbean put a dining car on a cruise ship. But, the meal is more about the experience (I think there is a train robbery) than trying to recreate menus from crack varnish trains. The menu looks nothing a Fred Harvey menu or a menu from the New York Central, the Pennsylvania, or a creole menu of the Illinois Central out of New Orleans.

[@Whoremembersusa]

Even to this day, I still enjoy traveling by train. Although it might be slower compared to other modes of transportation, I love the experience. It feels so peaceful.

[@teaeyedoubleguhur]

My daughter and I took the Silver Star from Columbia SC down to Orlando several years ago.. Flying would have been quicker, but we could check two bags free of charge and could take aboard more than that. We boarded shortly after midnight and were well rested for a busy day at WDW by late morning.

[@robertklose2140]

Now, decades later, both the trains and the mail are slower.

[@DiamondKingStudios]

Freight trains are larger and operate on less trackage (double tracked mainlines have given way to single tracks with passing loops), and since the operator of passenger trains is in most places separate from the owner of the trackage and the freight operator, disputes over priority can arise. Amtrak officially has priority, but freight trains are longer than many passing loops, which can make that unenforceable in practice.

[@PRR-xx2hp]

The statement at 2:41 that "many" porters were African-American is wrong. ALL porters were African-American. It was a black man's job and that was that. The Pullman Conductor, a job different from the train Conductor, was white. There were no exceptions. If a Pullman car was decently full, the porter would do well from the tips. A black woman welcomed a marriage proposal from a porter as she knew he would be a good provider. In the dining car, the waiters were black without exception, and the Steward was white, without exception. On the Southern Railroad, waiters would be assigned to dining cars on the basis of skin tone, so each dining car had a matched set of waiters. When the passengers, all of whom were white, came at the start of each meal, the waiters, all with the same skin tone, would be standing at their tables, with the shortest in front and the tallest in back. Black men had jobs and wives and provided for their children. Today, the Government provides for the children and the black men are in jail. Thank you, Lyndon Johnson, for the Great Society.

[@TheLionAndTheLamb777]

Strasburg Railroad, East Broad Top Railroad, and the Everett Railroad are the railroads in Pennsylvania that still maintain and run steam power. The Nickel Plate Road can sometimes be seen in Pennsylvania but they are based in Cleveland, Ohio.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

East Broad Top, keeping alive coaches that once graced the shores of Boston!

[@Jared-91]

Also the Reading & Northern witb their restored Reading T1

[@Dmate89]

I'd add punctuality, or being on time also a thing, as being vanished

[@kathleenhudson8429]

Of course the reason for Amtrak delays is usually because freight trains are given precedence.

[@kskssxoxskskss2189]

Let's get those dedicated lines back!

[@rail-ryder7135]

They still punch tickets on Metra. I recently rode on one and bought a ticket from a machine.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

same for MBTA, it’s getting less used but it’s still common

[@georgeeller4339]

I recall meals were being prepared on the train, not like air line food is today.road the Wabash and GM&O alot in the 50`s

[@CraigFThompson]

Even today, Amtrak food is stratospherically above anything served in coach on any airline.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

still is: dining cars only stopped during the pandemic but have come back

[@watching010]

Very good video!

[@davinp]

The Pullman company had manufactured the Gallery cars in the 1950s-1970s which are bilevel cars with an upper balcony. Chicago Metra has many of those old Gallery cars

[@Greatdome99]

Nope. Pullman-Standard built those cars. Different company.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@Greatdome99yes/no, legally it wasn’t but in reality it was as it was a former division of Pullman before the monopoly solit

[@SantaFe19484]

Cabooses are another bye gone feature, but they used mostly on freight trains.

[@youtuuba]

A lot of these "left behind" features are still in regular use today, just not as widespread as they used to be. One example, punched tickets are still commonly used on urban commuter train lines, and another is that "porters" are still employed in AMTRAK long distance trains, except they don't call them "porters" anymore, and a third is that the train cars with the raised "bubble" observation windows are still in daily use on some trains in Canada, and maybe other places.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks.

[@JHarryF]

Early in the video the Strasburg RR is mentioned. The accompanying photo, however, is the Wilmington & Western at Greenbank Station, Delaware. Engine #98, a 4-4-0 built in 1907 by Alco in Schenectady, NY. The Wilmington & Western was founded in 1872 and still operates as a tourist line. They also have an 0-6-0 switch engine - built in 1905.

[@Greatdome99]

Women not allowed in lounges except when accompanied by a gentlemen! Early car builders used wood because there wasn't anything else to use! 6:15: Those are Dome Cars, not observation cars. Dome cars feature an elevated space fitted with windows all around. Observation cars (operated only at the end of the train) had an open air platform (think politicians on whistle stop tours) or rounded ends for passengers to enjoy the scenery. There were no dedicated smoking cars, only sections of cars dedicated to smoking. You could smoke in lounges but not in coach, except in bathrooms. Telegraphs lasted into the 1950s, not the early 1900s.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

observation cars were also enclosed as the platforms went out of style in the 1940s in favor of the curved end cars seen in the 20th Century Limited advertising shown

[@gregsells8549]

The best known signal tower in Texas is Tower 55 in Fort Worth, underneath the freeway mixmaster near downtown. The state's last manned tower was Tower 3 in Flatonia, between San Antonio and Houston. The tower was moved a few blocks for display.

[@bpeterfeso]

So the art deco years began because railroads saw a decline in riders. The art deco trains like the Dreyfuss Hudsons, streamlined K4s, the T1s, and the Hiawatha's were actually regular steam locomotives given streamlining lines (albeit except the T1). However these steam locomotives were already capable of doing 100mph without the streamlined art deco. The Great Northern S-2 class Northern type steam locomotives were never streamlined and still went comfortably at 100mph. Also the art deco made maintenance of the locomotives sometimes a real hassle. The early streamlined diesels compounded this maintenance issue and by the mid 60s they were replaced by standard cab freight locomotives with passenger gearing. Just my 2 cents

[@bostonrailfan2427]

they started in the 30s before the decline, it was really them trying to battle against each other but ended up costing everyone in the end

[@davinp]

There is a signal tower along the railroad tracks in Washington DC

[@badabing7235]

It is Virginia Avenue tower, which I would go there many times as a boy to chat with the block operators and watch trains go past. I knew the yard crews and would occasionally get on switcher locomotives and actually operate some of them thanks to friendly train crews. It was a great time to be a part of that.... 😊

[@samanthavancleve821]

Strasburg PA mentioned 🙌🏼💪🏼💪🏼

[@suddenlysolo2170]

Canada's cross-country train 'The Canadian' still operates stainless steel 'Budd cars' from 1954 and includes the 'observation cars' featured around the 6 minute mark of this video. It has been in continuous operation since 1955. I'll be on it in less than a month!

[@paulw.woodring7304]

Thankfully, one thing that is gone are segregated "Jim Crow" cars for African-American passengers that ran through the 1950s, mostly in the South.

[@RCAvhstape]

Amtrak still has porters in sleeping cars today, they just call them "car attendants" for some dumb reason. But they do the same job, and generally are all good people.

[@jimwinship7159]

There are still some trains with observation decks.

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

I remember riding a train when I was about 6... They were like folding cots with thin mattresses and blankets, all plastic. My dad had entertain me the whole time. It's not like we were really treated anything luxurious once we got to grandparents house anyway. She had a room that was her sitting room with plastic all over her furniture and me and my parents had to sleep down in the basement. In a half finished room while my mom and grandma argue the whole time I eventually had to go stay with my aunt and her kids and sleep in a bunk bed. Eventually we came home and my mom had a mental breakdown Some of the experiences were fun we went to Chuck e cheese, I got to see some of the landscape and my grandfather wasn't too bad he was fun. I would definitely prefer to travel in the luxury train

[@NancyAlmighty]

the caboose

[@bostonrailfan2427]

steam is extremely expensive to operate compared with diesel, the maintenance costs as well as the fact that they can only point one direction requiring turntables and need fuel and water prepositioned along the routes vs. a truck that can be hired from anywhere made them obsolete Porters are still in use, they were renamed as sleeping car attendants but the job is still being carried out punching tickets are still done on multiple commuter routes where the fare is paid in cash…it’s becoming rarer but the punch is still used by conductors and assistant conductors and telegraph is still in use but not by railroads: they’re still used by fire departments to connect fire alarm boxes, inside of them is an automated telegraph that activates when the hook is pulled

[@robertwalker7457]

Signs saying not to use the loo while the train was in the station.

[@PeterNGloor]

Also, when our sleeper went on the ferry between Denmark and Germany (before the bridges), the attendant locked the toilets so nobody would dump right on the wooden deck planks of the boat. I slept thru the loading, except when the wheels below clunked heavily over the gap in the rails between the dock and the boat, and than later on, when the boat was rocking in the choppy seas.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

At 0:47, the 425 shown had to be an old picture. The Blue Mountain & Reading has been known as the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern (Reading & Northern for short) since 1991. As of October 2024, 425 is undergoing her 1472 inspection.

[@mynorthshore]

Cancelled tickets were taken up by the conductor, placed in an envelope addressed to manager of revenue accounting, and turned in to the company. Tickets issued by of road railroads had to be turned in so the company could invoice the issuing railroad.

[@Choochookid7470]

New York central is my fav railroad

[@della1923]

You know I live in the uk and the uk still does most of the things in the video you have a look wen you can

[@michaelmohrmann]

I noticed you didn't mention the use of railroad pocket watches. Pity, really.

[@Deepthought-42]

As a Brit the main feature left behind has been reliable frequent services and reasonable fares. However, for me train travel for long distances is again becoming preferable to the misery of airport security checks and queues especially around Europe. Something I miss most is being able to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger. Nowadays we are engrossed in our mobile phones and of the conversations are one sided to someone on the other end of the phone.

[@BobDiaz123]

At the Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City, none of the volunteers who work on running the train use any radios to communicate. That's because portable radios didn't exist in the 1800s and early 1900s. Thus, we communicate by whistle sounds, hand signals, and lantern signals.

[@chrisst8922]

Getting there on time, seats, freedom from endless announcements, paying the same price as the person sitting next to you....

[@veciomatovecchiomatto6953]

Nice video, even if I'm only halfway through, I'd like to say a curiosity: you talk about stamped tickets as something old, from the 50s. I don't know about you, but here in Italy (I live near Venice) it was still used up to 10-15 years ago. Somewhere I have kept some tickets from the late 90s from the first time I went to Lucca Comics and Games, one of the biggest comic fairs in the world that is held here in Italy, with their "nice" controller hole, and only in the last decade have we modernized. Too bad they are laser prints, so they don't last long before turning back into blank sheets, and therefore they can't be preserved...

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it’s still used in the US on commuter trains, especially ones that aren’t up to date electronically regarding fare collection

[@brentsutherland6385]

A giant block of ice provided drinking water in a conical cup.

[@sauvignonblanc0]

Still punching paper tickets here in Belgium 🙂

[@TamimIkbalBD]

I visit your channel from upwork, video is good, but SEO problem

[@robertreynolds1044]

I'm only here for the Borat clickbait. My name is Bicycle Bob and I approved this message.

[@saparotrob7888]

I know a guy with that name. He's an LIRR engineer. I'm a retired operator, LIRR.

[@robertreynolds1044]

@saparotrob7888 I'm a retired Teamster from the convention industry in Vegas.

[@Republic_of_trains]

So, what you’re saying is that steam trains are forgotten

[@Elliottblancher]

Observation cars are still a Thing, Have you forgotten about Canada?

[@PeterNGloor]

that is dome - observation cars and straight dome cars - the Budd stainless steel Skyline and Park series cars on the Canadian. But they are looking for a replacement train, and one day the romance will be gone.

[@flashrocket9158]

1:18 thats the Wilmington & Western. 8:08 Im glad thats gone. And with fewer and Fewer people smoking, its best to keep in the past. A feature that I wish made a comeback would be Cross Country Electrification. The Pacific Northwest railroads such as The Milwaukee Road and Great Northern were major players in cross country electric power, and they became all the more relevant during the 70's oil crisis.

[@carols.8103]

they still punch tickets on NJ Transit and the LIRR

[@odysseusrex5908]

1:39 is that a fireplace at the end of that car?

[@XDFRailRoadCooler]

Now the conductors or in U.K. known as guards or train managers just the App. Unlike Dr. Richard Beeching.

[@kpdvw]

no invasive and annoying metal detectors, limits on carry on luggage.... No TSA harassment... and Yes carrying your Gun was allowed...!

[@Curt_Sampson]

Wow, that's a _lot_ of reverb on your voice.

[@user-mh9kv6bo4w]

Dinning cars with China and glassware and silverware

[@stephenater9687]

Also fired with wood.

[@clarkmcduell9616]

Kinda of gross, but toilets used to flush onto the tracks! At least on the UP.

[@eattherich9215]

Passengers were advised not to use them if the train was standing in a station.

[@Doug-lw5gf]

I recall that from one trip long ago.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it was on all lines until the 1970s and only ended in the 90s when the last former railroad cars were forcibly retired

[@PeterNGloor]

everywhere, until airplane-style vaccuum toilets became the norm. I still recall sitting (in Europe) on the hopper which had the waste chute straight down - no syphon. In cold winter days, at speed, icy air was blowing up from the track, even some snowflakes. You would not linger too long, I can tell you.

[@erictaylor5462]

Why would they only represent car porters who were sleeping? I'd think they would be more useful awake.

[@wooderdsaunders4640]

We're the streamlines steam or diesel?

[@Jared-91]

Mostly Steam. The streamlining was usually just a giant covering or panels that could be removed for locomotive maintenance. By the 40s, most railroads removed the streamlining because the maintenance workers hated them. It made things more time-consuming. However, there were a fair number of streamlined diesels such as the F3 and E7. Those were easier to maintain.

[@wooderdsaunders4640]

@@Jared-91 thank you

[@PeterNGloor]

Both

[@henryostman5740]

Dining cars that provided real food, well prepared and good tasting, Amtrak's current use of airline food sourced from some nameless budget airline borders on poison. The reason the sleeping car porters were smiling was that it was one of the few jobs that paid black men wages equivalent to what white men would make along with good job security. Good for them! they deserved it. Good service and good food for the passengers, a win win deal.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

spoken like someone who never actually ate in a dining car or ate in one that Amtrak doesn’t actually give a full dining car to

[@robertheinrich2994]

but have some features ever been a thing in europe? you are solely focussing on one country, giving your channel name, that's okay. but the video title suggests that it was done that way everywhere.

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

4:04 I hate to ρι55 on your chips as the delightfully direct cry goes, but I think that Agamemnon the playwright would have something to say about this. Rolling out the red carpet dates from way way back in ancient Greece! 4:12 As for punching tickets, despite the best efforts of the corporate joy-removing departments of today's world with their dash to paperless phone battery dependent e-tickets, a.k.a. Accounts, here in England I still had the pleasure of having my old fashioned* card ticket punched by one of these just last week. * My little rural railway station doesn't have modern digital readers on the gate line. And no gate line either for that matter. 5:04 As for "Mail cars" or "RPOs" your timing is perfect. Whilst "travelling Post Offices" went the way of the Dodo some years ago, the last Royal Mail trains were retired here in the UK only last week. And finally, again here in Blighty, we still have Signal Boxes as they're called here with the computer-like magical mechanical interlocking Signal and Points (Switches) system, controlling modern trains going at 125mph! In fact, the last semaphore signal at the very end of the line from London to the south west tip of England near Land's End was only decomissioned this year.

[@michaelmcgee8543]

From 1992 up[ to 1996 I took a train ride on Amtrak until the stinking fascist in the government cut it off in Montgomery ala.

[@PeterNGloor]

namely?

[@johnnymaynard5763]

Y'all know with the subscribe now message makes me really feel like sueing you people now

[@hhectorlector]

Me? wtf did I do??