h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Travel is a depressing subject. I think that rail travel in any country apart from India is an oxywotsit. Don't pay pur fare I say, jump the train and ride it for freedom!!! - A slight over exaggeration but hey - ho.

Heh. You would like Caltrain very much! Conductors frequently don't get around to inviting you to buy a ticket before you arrive at your destination.

I can't advocate deliberate fare evasion on Caltrain, since they so obviously need the money. They are working on making free rides less a common phenomenon; I say, if it leads to nicer cars and better on-time performance, take my money--please.

Brian

Well you are avery honest person. I think all travel should be free - a human right perhaps? Paying for all the things we experience is very over rated. When given free it is so much more liberating. I suggest you put your thumb out and hitch a ride (keep your towel with you).
Josiepie

Well you are avery honest person. I think all travel should be free - a human right perhaps? Paying for all the things we experience is very over rated. When given free it is so much more liberating. I suggest you put your thumb out and hitch a ride (keep your towel with you).
Josiepie

Well you are avery honest person. I think all travel should be free - a human right perhaps? Paying for all the things we experience is very over rated. When given free it is so much more liberating. I suggest you put your thumb out and hitch a ride (keep your towel with you).
Josiepie

I think most people on the Isle of Wight, where I am, would agree with you that they'd rather pay and get a better service. The idea of re-building most of the lines that were demolished in the 1950s is very popular, but no-one can afford to build it, and businesses aren't interested as it is a too long-term investment.

I've noticed that people in the U.K. have special feelings about trains, and that there's something especially special about trains on the Isle of Wight. I suspect it's something not unlike Americans' feelings about cars, and Californians' especially.

I've heard about how the U.K. train system got reduced from its former glory. It wasn't until I began to type this note that I was able to conjure up a notion of what that must have felt like. If the U.S. Interstate Highway System were to fall into disrepair, I think that the States would feel a sense of diminution not unlike what the U.K. went through in the 1960's.

Brian

How much do you know about the Isle of Wight trains?
I wrote a little about them here:
http://www.h2g2.com/A304237
but I was wondering how much background knowledge you have of trains on the Island. Are you a very strong train enthusiast?

How much do you know about the Isle of Wight trains?
I wrote a little about them here:
http://www.h2g2.com/A304237
but I was wondering how much background knowledge you have of trains on the Island. Are you a very strong train enthusiast?

Everything I know about trains on the Isle of Wight is due to the fact that I read your article. Before I wrote my piece on Caltrain,
I did a search on h2g2 for the keyword "train" to make sure that I would not be duplicating existing work. Your Isle of Wight piece was returned in the resulting search, and I read it with pleasure.

I'd call myself a fair-to-middlin' train enthusiast. My interest in locomotives and rolling stock per se is limited, but I am very interested in systems of public transit in general. This is what happens to people who grow up in small towns in the U.S., where mass transit is often viewed as a form of creeping socialism.

My visit as a small child to New York City was a formative experience for me. Ever since, one of my favorite things to do upon visiting a new city is to ride its buses, subways, and streetcars. I did not buy a "Mind the Gap" T-shirt while in London a few years ago, but I was damned tempted.

I also got to drive on the M40 while there, which was exciting in a very different way.

Brian

I see - well, looks like we're both mildly interested in trains - I had great fun with my Hornby 00 models, and joined a model railway club when a nipper. I don't know - there's always been something about trains that something like a car lacks - I just perfer them. And yes, at school, I always said that I wanted to be a train driver when I grew up - it was the standard answer, but I meant it. Alas, it looks unlikely.

But motorways are a new experience for me too. There aren't any on the Isle of Wight, so going to the mainland and seeing how people move their is quite fun.

It's funny, though, as I've noticed that the older the train is, the more on time it will be when I've travelled by train on the mainland.