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A comment on End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditional dining car. Parent comment

Re:End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditiona... by rectang on Saturday September 21, 2019 @11:49PM (#21039554)
There's still the Amtrak observation car, which is fantastic for striking up conversations.

One time I got seated on the Coast Starlight observation between two model train enthusiasts.

One had sold his business manufacturing extremely authentic model train cars and had gone to work for Dell, but when I met him had just left Dell to go work for the person he sold his train business to.

The other was a day laborer who saved up money to take train rides as vacations. I still remember what he said as he was disembarking: "People ask me why don't you ever get married, and I tell them, 'I am married! I'm married to the trains.'"

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Re:End of an American tradition: Amtrak kills the traditiona... by kccqzy on Sunday September 22, 2019 @01:41AM (#21039865)
No that's a different experience. In the observation car you mostly sit facing the panoramic windows, observing the views. In the dining car four passengers sit together facing each other. That makes it much easier to get started talking to strangers just because the way you sit.
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