TommyK Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Me and the Missus took a trip to Temple Texas and back over the week-end. Took Amtrak's Texas Eagle from Chicargo. At Normal, Illinois a cowboy hatted gentleman boarded with, among other things a guit tar. I happend to be in his way in the narrow hall to his berth. I backed up to get out of his way, but, obviously I'd backed the wrong way, so I just went to the end of the hall. I told him to come on, I wouldn't dare try to pass him as I'd probably turn his guit tar into a banjer. On the way home, me and the missus was listenin' to a Bluegrass CD I'd bought this summer. I had little speakers we could both listen to in our berth, but it wasn't loud enough to be heard down the hall when the train was running. At Dallas, as luck would have it, 'cowboy' boarded again and was in the berth right across from us. He'd gotten on at Dallas and was headin' back to Normal, IL. He heard the music I was playing and smiled and said a few words. He said he liked and played Bluegrass. At a 'stretch your legs / smoke 'em if you got 'em' stop I was stretchin my legs as was the cowboy. We visited a bit and boarded the train as the engineer blew his horn we re-boarded and continued to talk about music and guit tars.(I'd had on my "You can't have too many guit tars' T-shirt) and continued to visit in the vestibule. I asked if he'd been giggin' in Dallas he said yes. I asked if he'd recorded anything. "Only about 35 albums" !!!!. He introduced himself as Michael Martin Murphey as in "I'll be Ridin' Wildfire" and "Geronimo's Cadillac." I really enjoyed the visit. Wish I could have spoken to him longer, but it was gettin' late and we both had a long week-end to recover from. Oh yeah as his name would indicate, he was carryin' a Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted September 24, 2008 Author Share Posted September 24, 2008 Oh, and Murph seems to have figured out how to travel with a guit tar. Don't fly! His guit tar had it's own bed to ride in all the way. He loaded it first, then fetched his bags from the station platform. The guit tar was the last thing off the train. It may take a bit longer, but once you've ridden the rails, you'll never go back to flying again. About the same cost to fly, you get your own room with a door that closes, excellent meals and plenty of free time to do whatever... and... you get to see where you're going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 i have ridden the trains in Europe, but never here at home! from what i hear, it's ok... but i would be disappointed in comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolongermike@gibson Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 The thing I miss most about leaving N. CA and coming back to Nashville is that awesome ride on the Coast Starlight train from Mt Shasta down to Los Angeles. That's the way to travel. Hot meals, a bed, I loved it. It was a challenge to stand up in the shower and hold on with one hand, but it worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 That is cool and I love trains. A few weeks back I was in my favorite Mom & Pop music shop and Kerry Livgren, formely with Kansas walked in. A really nice guy and one heck of a player (although I gotta admit I am not a Kansas fan). We chatted a bit and he told some great stories about being on the road and the bands they shared the bill with. I also got to hear Kerry put a Gibson L5s through its paces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWilson Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Trains are great. I used to ride them from my home here in Oregon up to Seattle for Christmas and then back. The club car was full of Christmas/New Years cheer! I saw Michael M. Murphy in 1976 when he opened for Willy Nelson, main floor 8th row. Good stuff. Mike@Gibson-try to be less personal, what with talking about holding on with one hand in the shower and all. There could be kids reading this! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Between the airlines and the truckin, the trains are on a 3rd rail Too bad--lotta songs in trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 that was cool. great story. thanks! wildfire was one of my faves when i was a kid. here he is playing it on letterman. might i suggest running this thread in the lounge using the same title, "brushes with greatness"? i'd love to hear everyone elses as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Q_89EL-js Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Compared to the rest of the world, rail travel in the US is archaic. With the cheapness of auto and air travel, and the demand to get there NOW. Passenger rail fell on hard times beginning in the 40's. By the 70's passenger travel was kept afloat only because the US government required the rail companies to provide service. Amtrak was a government bail-out for the rail companies. They got to donate used equipment.. some past their usefulness and walk away from passenger traffic. Trouble is Amtrak owns very little trackage. It is all leased from the rail companies. Amtrak takes a back seat to freight. The umpteen times we were literally 'side lined' is testimony to that. If the cost of fuel is going to continue to take the chunk of our take home pay it is today, Amtrak needs dedicated tracks and bullet trains. While I enjoyed the experience and will continue to do so in the future, I bought tickets and planned my itinerrary based on the assumption the arrival time was at best a guestimate. With bullet trains, travel time could nearly be cut in half. Think of it: half the time, half the meals... although the food was supurb, it added greatly to the expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLiveSoundGuy Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Hey TommyK, I thought we had done this before. Turns out I was right. You might find this a fun read: http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1726 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 I'm not sure this counts as my 15 minutes of fame. I was just talkin' with a great guit tar man on the lower deck of a passenger car, in the vestibule.... betwixed the fire extinguisher and toilets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLiveSoundGuy Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 I'm not sure this counts as my 15 minutes of fame. I was just talkin' with a great guit tar man on the lower deck of a passenger car' date=' in the vestibule.... betwixed the fire extinguisher and toilets.[/quote'] Okay, okay! You still have 11 minutes, 30 seconds to go. ...and we're all betwixed a fire extinguisher and a toilet somewhere. Sometimes that's life. (of course, sometimes it's just dinner.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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