I traveled from Crestline, OH to New York City. A friend had driven to Rye, NY to be with her mother in her mother’s last days. She was too upset to drive home alone, so she got me a train ticket to come to NY and drive home with her/help drive. I don’t know how she did it, but I ended up in the “handicapped” car as AmTrak then called it. I had my own little room! The window was about 4’ high and easily 5’ wide. My seat could be converted to a bed that was perfect window height.
I plopped down with my Walkman (before Ipod, kids) and listened to tunes as I watched the countryside go past the window. It was fall and I went through some of the most beautiful areas on my trek. This trip will always stand out in my mind.
My other “memorable” train trip was from Kobe, Japan to Fukuoka on the Shinkansen (bullet train). I had just moved to Japan and I was going to visit a family friend. I spoke little Japanese at the time and my father had written scribbles on a piece of paper and I was to get off the train when the scribbles on the sign matched what was on the paper.
It was a great trip. The lady came around with a rolling cart and announced lunch (o-bento) and stood there and rattled off all the different kinds of lunches she had. I only recognized one of the choices (taco), so I picked that. So picture a 15 year old girl, riding a train in a foreign country by herself opening a small wooden box to find out that “taco” in Japanese means octopus. I opened the box and, there on plastic grass, was an entire octopus. I cannot tell you how it was prepared as I did not eat it. I put the lid back on and placed it into the seat back in front of me. I did manage to get off the train at the correct station, but was a bit hungry by the time I arrived.