By Donna Woodka, woodka@arpa.net
Rail Fan Web Tracks "There was a time in this fair land When the wild majestic mountains Long before the white man and long When the green dark forest was too — Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Once the railroads were the main link that connected people across the land. Now we can get information about riding one of the first infrastructure links, railroads, through the latest infrastructure link—the World Wide Web. For rail fans and anyone interested in traveling by train, here are some of the best Web sites. I asked my friend RailHaRRy about his favorite rail fan Web sites, since he is the biggest rail fan I know. (You can tell from his interesting way of spelling his name.) You can find HaRRy’s site at http://pages.prodigy.net/railharry/traincoi.htm. The site includes Amtrak Hints & Tips HaRRy has compiled over five years from frequent travelers and Amtrak employees. There is an extensive set of Web links, including many links to other rail travel sites. Amtrak Amtrak’s site is easy to navigate and well laid out. The site has information about reservations, routes and special Amtrak fares. The site also has links to each area of the country Amtrak covers, with separate pages covering each major area. If you’ve never taken a train trip, this is the place to start. The site can be busy during peak times of the day, so try late evening hours if you have trouble getting access to the site. Amtrak West Coast: This site covers the west coast routes, with information on the San Diegan and Coast Starlight, and more. It is far less busy than the main Amtrak site, and the main Amtrak page will refer you to these pages anyway for west coast information. The site includes information on special promotions, including the companion fare discount being offered until March 15. If you’re traveling from San Diego by train before then, you can buy one full fare ticket and get one free! This offer is good on the San Diegan, San Joaquin, and Capital trains. Amtrak California This site is sponsored by Caltrans and provides information on California Amtrak publications, schedules, fare promotions and news about Amtrak. This site can be slow to access. The CalTrans Rail Program Quickrail Quickrail helps you quickly plan a route (in California only), get station information, scheduling information, and also hotel and transportation information for the area you are traveling to. Coast Starlight This site includes information about this daily train between Los Angeles and Seattle (with connections to San Diego). This is Amtrak’s best train, in HaRRy’s opinion, and a lovely scenic route. Coaster This site has all the information about the San Diego North County Coaster commuter train, a great alternative to rush hour traffic if you travel from North County coastal areas to downtown. San Diego Trolley The trolley has gotten rave reviews since the Super Bowl. It’s a great way to get from downtown to Mission Valley for shopping, as well. San Diego Transit Info This is a great site for S.D. transit information with maps, schedules, fares, and all sorts of transportation information. Los Angeles Area Metrolink connects San Diego County to Los Angeles from Oceanside. You can use this route to get to Disneyland and to business conferences in L.A. Other sites rail fans can enjoy are the San Diego Railroad Museum, which runs the Campo trains, at http://www.sdrm.org, and the San Diego Model Railroad Museum at http://www.globalinfo.com/noncomm/SDMRM/sdmrm.html. Enjoy the ride! "Oh the song of the future has been sung All the battles have been won O’er the mountain tops we stand All the world at our command!" — Gordon Lightfoot |