Lesley Francis wrote a very interesting column recently, on her travel by train across England to Scotland, in the north of the island. It reminded me of my own travels by train, much more limited.
My first train ride came my freshman year in college, when I attended the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, my mother’s hometown and my dad’s alma mater.
Charlottesville is about 65 miles west of Richmond, where most of my mom’s extended family lived, and is about 600 miles northwest of Savannah.
That first year of my college experience was a long drive from home.
And I-95 had not yet been built, so the drive up was mostly along US 17 to Richmond, as I recall, and then west an hour’s drive to Charlottesville. A good 10-12 hour drive, with numerous small towns along the way. Very slow, compared to today.
Going off to college in a distant state was a big deal, back then, and it was clearly understood that I was going to be there for the duration of the school year, coming home only for the week-long Thanksgiving holiday and the two-weeks’ Christmas vacation.
Flying home was not an option, back then, because of the expense.
Because the dorms closed over both breaks, my parents told me to take the Amtrak train from Richmond to Savannah, which was more affordable.
So I went to the tiny Amtrak station two blocks from my grandparents’ house, on the east side of campus, and bought tickets from Richmond to Savannah. Then I went to the Greyhound bus station several blocks further east, and got round-trip tickets from Charlottesville to Richmond.
I remember the Greyhound ride primarily because, about halfway to Richmond, we drove through a small community called “Short Pump.”
When I asked the driver why it was called that, he laughed and said, the road dipped a bit there, and those who lived there only needed to dig a “short pump” to get water from the underground aquifer.
I laughed too.
I had bought the “Express” ticket to Savannah, which meant the Amtrak train ride to Savannah only made a couple of stops along the way, and got to Savannah in abut 9 hours. On the way back, however, I opted for the “milk run,” which left later in the day and took about 12 hours to get to Richmond. I did that because I had a girlfriend I was excited to see, after a three-month absence, and wanted to delay my return to campus as long as I could.
It was a very long ride, as we stopped in every single small town along the way, so it seemed, delivering mail and waiting at every stop before getting going again.
Such was the price of love!
I did get to see portions of three states along the way, that I would never have seen otherwise however; and I took a book to read along the way, so I was OK. It was just such a loooong ride!
The other train rides I have experienced were much more enjoyable, and much shorter. Blue Ridge, GA, has a local train ride up to McCaysville, GA/Copper Hill, TN. The Blue Ridge Railway is a very popular 4-hour round-trip excursion to the twin cities on the GA/ TN state line, running parallel to a river, I forget the name.
It takes about an hour and a half to go from Blue Ridge to McCaysville, at a slow rate of speed, then passengers get to disembark and have about an hour and a half to explore the twin cities, get lunch, do some shopping, then head back to Blue Ridge.
A nice way to spend a morning or afternoon!
This is very similar to the “Great Smoky Mountains Railway” excursions, which has depots in three small towns just across the Georgia border in North Carolina. We have done all three rides. They basically parallel the same river, just three different end-points.
Passengers disembark at the opposite terminal, get an hour and a half to get lunch, wander around and shop, then head back to the original depot. A very nice scenic ride. We thoroughly enjoyed them.
Excursions are available in both the original steam engines, if I remember correctly, and the more modern diesel engines, with open windows or shut.
Themed rides are also available, depending on the time of year: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. We have not done one of those, but hear they are very popular.
It is amazing to think that trains were once the principal mode of long-distance travel over land, just as steamships were the main mode of travel between countries (or even states) separated by water. But, that was the “current technology.”
They functioned as “early interstates,” so to speak, in that they offered “high- speed travel,” because of having “dedicated lanes,” with few obstructions along the way, except for an occasional wayward cow, or horseback robbers looking for company payrolls onboard. (Think, “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.”) Stagecoach roads, by contrast, were simply dirt paths well-worn from use, rutted from rains and bumpy and slow. Neither fast nor pleasant – and no bathroom facilities on board, either! Very primitive transportation methods, but the best of what was available at the time.
A lot to be said for train rides! I would love to take one of those Amtrak trains across the West, to Alaska or across the Canadian Rockies! What an amazing trip that would be.
Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of (“the original”) Savannah High School and the University of Georgia. He and his wife, both long-time Rotarians, live in eastern Liberty County with their passel of rescue cats. He writes on a variety of topics, and may be reached at rafe_semmes@yahoo.com.