AMS to Hannover on the specially chartered ICE for the World Expo, sitting up front behind the driver in a first class compartment with a view right out the front window.

We were behind a special dimming partition that went opaque any time we crossed a RR crossing, in case we hit something I guess they didn't want us seeing it...

I've only been on two train rides, the Amtrak Sunset Limited from Palm Springs to LA Union Station and from Santa Barbara to Irvine on the Pacific Surfliner.....


The Pacific Surfliner wins hands down...especially from Ventura to SB...the view is fantastic

Several very nice ones.

Oslo-Bergen (Mountains - scenery)
Stavanger -Oslo (scenery)
Oslo-Trondheim via Dovre (Mountains - scenery)
Trondheim- Bodö (Mountains - scenery)
Kiruna-Narvik (Mountains - scenery)

Innspruck- Garmish Partenkirchen (Mountains - scenery)
Graz-Innspruck (Mountains - scenery) via Italy
Salzburg-Copenhagen (scenery and ferry ride)

Seattle - Chicago (Mountains - scenery)

Plus many more I can't remember at the moment.

Time for a bump to my own thread:

Kandy to Colombo, 01.2008- I sat next to an affable Swiss woman. This worked out well b/c my early morning flight was delayed by six hours and I had no place to stay...

To be fair, I'm not a fan of trains, but there's one (and only one) country that makes me appreciate train travel- Japan. Whether it's the diversity of the stock themselves, the ekiben, the unique train station tunes, or well, the scenery, I'm thoroughly entertained. Tokyo's Sōbu line as it passes Ichigaya station delights me every time.

I love these (in fact, some Tokyo ones are now my ringtones, to the a/bemusement of any tourists from that region in the vicinity...)

Damn, talk about your blast from the past thread! Let's see what I can add:

- April, 2007 - Amtrak Northeast Regional, New London to Boston Back Bay: I was dating a girl who lived in Boston and she'd gone down to see her family for some event while I was hanging around Boston. I took the train down to New London and then surprised her on her train home by saying "is this seat taken?" at her row. When she turned around and saw it was me it was so exciting and romantic for both of us. Ahh, young love.

- October, 2009 - Amtrak Coast Starlight, Los Angeles to Portland: My first long distance train trip with my Father. We spent the whole ride in the Pacific Parlor Car watching first the CA Coast and then the next day the Cascades roll by all the way up to Portland. We've done half a dozen trips since but this was the one that started it all and arguably the best scenery we've seen.

- October, 2011 - Amtrak Silver Star, Washington D.C. to Cary: I sat next to a woman that I chatted up and ended up dating for a few months. It was like something out of a movie, us casually glancing at each other, me finding an excuse to talk to her, us talking more and more and finally me offering her a ride home once we got to Cary. There really is no such thing as strangers on a train :D

- June, 2013 - Amtrak California Zephyr, Emeryville to Chicago: We had to wait a while for this one as it's Amtrak's most expensive run but the wait was worth it. Leaving the Bay Area, then going through the Sierra Nevadas, then Colorado and then down into Denver was absolutely breathtaking. Plus, but then we'd learned to bring our own alcohol and also that playing Gin on the train is a great way to pass the time. Best time we've had on the train.

We took the Zugspitze cogwheel train last week. Beautiful scenery, both on the way to the top, and at the top of the mountain. The 25% incline (according to Wikipedia) was fun.

July 1968, Chicago to Oakland on the Zephyr, with Pullmans, a proper dining car, and Vista-Domes. Two or three years before Amtrak took over. I was a small boy and my parents wanted me to experience a great old-school train trip before they died out. It was an incredible adventure.

I've taken lots of rail trips, but the complete Golden Pass trip in Switzerland is probably my favorite: Luzern (via Meiringen)-Interlaken Ost- Spiez-Zweissimen-Montreux; this last leg is even more spectacular if you ride in the special car, where the "motorman's" cab is above the first section of seats and you have complete front view of the scenery--I think only two trains (in each direction) have this feature.

Did you go to Oakland because San Francisco doesn't have a train station?

Do you have a link in which one can download the ringtones? Hmm, maybe this has been already asked on the Japan forum...

Why would you assume their final destination was San Francisco?

But to answer your question, San Francisco does have a train station. It is only served by trains coming up the peninsula, though.

I just used some mp3s, and converted them in iTunes (as I have an iPhone). I'm sure I did discuss it in the Japan forum at the time, but the most recent link I've seen is here:

http://ori.oc.to/line/index.htm

Yes. In those days the Zephyr rolled to an ignominious finish in a lowly Oakland rail yard, and passengers got off and hiked over unpaved ground to where buses took them across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. I don't know what the infrastructure arrangements are today, 45 years later. San Francisco does have a train station but not for the major east-west or north-south through trains.

The same reason I'd assume those flying to EWR aren't spending the night in Newark...