[EAST] PAX East Train Alliance 2012

SirCandle

What line you will be on: Metal Gear Line
Name: Danny + Taylor
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Boarding Stop: Waterloo (AT 1:15AM BABY AKA PARTY TIME)
Ticket Purchased: Not yet

Malgaras

Looks like this got added to the wrong line (Sonic instead of Metal Gear)

SirCandle wrote:

What line you will be on: Metal Gear Line
Name: Danny + Taylor
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Boarding Stop: Waterloo (AT 1:15AM BABY AKA PARTY TIME)
Ticket Purchased: Not yet

Moe Fwacky

fixed

feitocomfruta

What line you will be on: Sonic Line
Name: Tim
Location: Stroudsburg/Tannersville, PA
Boarding Stop: EITHER Philly or Newark
Ticket Purchased: Not yet

The train was so kickass last year, I want to do it again, but this time, I'll try to get into the train car WITH everyone, as opposed to the one 6 cars away.

Brimstar

flatline wrote:

Playing Munchkin and Pandemic in the galley car last year was all kinds of win (Sonic Line). We need to make sure we get at least one or two tables in there as early on as possible. It would be nice if we could just take over the whole car; just remember there are lots of non-PAX people on the train as well, and obey Wheaton's Law.

I'm getting on all the way back in Lynchburg and planning on grabbing a table for games on Sonic Line. Was thinking about bringing the one shots with pregenerated characters that Evil Hat has put together and running a little Dresden Files RPG. Any interest?

Haven't run it much so I'm a little shaky as a game master, but I've had a blast every time I've played so far. All I'll be looking for is players. I'll have the rest. I think they've got three of them at this point designed to run 3-4 hours.

Coldbrew

So, considering the fact that round-trip plane tickets are going to be around 100-200 bucks cheaper then taking a train there and flying back, I'm officially backing out of this. Hopefully next year I'll be able to do it again, but considering I'm flying to DC for MAGFest in January I'm not sure I'd be able to save the extra money for the train.

If Amtrak didn't raise the price of the small room over $100 from a couple years ago this probably wouldn't be an issue... Curse them!

zerzhul

Coldbrew wrote:

So, considering the fact that round-trip plane tickets are going to be around 100-200 bucks cheaper then taking a train there and flying back, I'm officially backing out of this. Hopefully next year I'll be able to do it again, but considering I'm flying to DC for MAGFest in January I'm not sure I'd be able to save the extra money for the train.

If Amtrak didn't raise the price of the small room over $100 from a couple years ago this probably wouldn't be an issue... Curse them!

The Mega Man Line does take some serious desire and $$ to make happen. I don't think anyone will look down upon you

Moe Fwacky

That is why it's called the Mega Man Line.

zerzhul

it makes perfect sense

Coldbrew

Indeed. Went once with one other person, now I still have the time and desire to do it again, but since the price for a room nearly doubled, it's not going to happen this time.

Xiryc

What line you will be on: Metal Gear Line
Name: Tony Bucchioni
Location: Middleburg Hts, OH
Boarding Stop: Cleveland, OH
Ticket Purchased: Not yet

PraxisLoki

What line you will be on: Sonic Line
Name: Fil
Location: Washington, DC
Boarding Stop: Union Station, DC
Ticket Purchased: Yes

See you all in five months.

flatline

The Sonic Line now has Wifi!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/01/amtrakconnect-free-wifi-added-to-12-east-coast-routes-snack-car/

Moe Fwacky

Total win! I fully expect you guys to stream video, update the forums and be on IRC the whole ride now.

zerzhul

Moe Fwacky wrote:

Total win! I fully expect you guys to stream video, update the forums and be on IRC the whole ride now.

If they do this for Metal Gear as well, they can do some sort of meta-game between the trains.

antherem

Moe Fwacky wrote:

Total win! I fully expect you guys to stream video, update the forums and be on IRC the whole ride now.

Amtrak wrote:

Due to limited bandwidth onboard the trains, our Wi-Fi does not support high-bandwidth actions such as streaming music, streaming video or downloading large files.

Moe Fwacky

I guess IRC it is then.

Malgaras

That's what 4g hotspots are for anyways. I'm sure with the PAX crowd at least, there will be plenty of bandwidth to go around.

TopherRocks

So happy to see this thread again. Last year was a great introduction to PAX and the ride up from Penn Station on the Sonic line was an incredible start to the weekend.

I'm not sure if I'll be joining the train again this year, mostly due to potentially having a party of 8+ who are almost entirely in favor of driving instead. I'll be pushing to get us all to join you guys as hard as I can!

jabrazelle

The wife and I will be joining the Sonic Line again this year!

What line you will be on: Sonic
Name: Jay Brazelle, Eliza Brazelle
Location: Richmond VA
Boarding Stop: DC Union Station
Ticket Purchased: YES!

jabrazelle

NE Regional looks to be on sale at the moment, $70 one way from DC to BOS.

flatline

Man, I feel like I should join the group and venture down from Howard Co to DC to pick up the Sonic Line.... but BWI is 10 minutes from my house, and my buddy and I are flying back so we can get to work on Monday.... *sigh*

devslashnull

What line you will be on: Sonic
Name: Gabriel Preston
Location: Philadelphia
Boarding Stop: Philadelphia
Ticket Purchased: Yes

Malgaras

flatline wrote:

Man, I feel like I should join the group and venture down from Howard Co to DC to pick up the Sonic Line.... but BWI is 10 minutes from my house, and my buddy and I are flying back so we can get to work on Monday.... *sigh*

Why not just hop on the Sonic line at the BWI station?

BWI Thurgood Marsh Air, MD - April 5, 12:30 EDT

That doesn't stop you from flying back.

cynthetic

So... No one is on the Pac Man line but my husband and I, but when I just got on to book the trains, I found that the 22 Texas Eagle is entirely sold out. We're taking a 322 Texas Eagle that leaves at exactly the same time, instead. So I guess that changes our line to Metal Gear, and our boarding location to Chicago, since the Pac Man line is not available.

I've only booked our Metal Gear tickets as of now, though, just in case I've missed something obvious.

flatline

gespo89 wrote:

flatline wrote:

Man, I feel like I should join the group and venture down from Howard Co to DC to pick up the Sonic Line.... but BWI is 10 minutes from my house, and my buddy and I are flying back so we can get to work on Monday.... *sigh*

Why not just hop on the Sonic line at the BWI station?

We are planning on getting on at BWI (that's what we did last year). It just seems that the majority of the riders will be getting on in DC.

antherem

cynthetic wrote:

So... No one is on the Pac Man line but my husband and I, but when I just got on to book the trains, I found that the 22 Texas Eagle is entirely sold out. We're taking a 322 Texas Eagle that leaves at exactly the same time, instead. So I guess that changes our line to Metal Gear, and our boarding location to Chicago, since the Pac Man line is not available.

I've only booked our Metal Gear tickets as of now, though, just in case I've missed something obvious.

The 22, 322, and 422 are all the same train at that point. I believe in this case, the 322 is an extra car added in St. Louis. Several of Amtrak's lines work this way (for instance, for part of the Metal Gear trip, it is both the 48 and 448, and then the 48 splits off in Albany.) Fear not. It's the same route. If you have to board on a different coach, they warn you when you get there, as well as if a coach is going to split off. At least that was my experience on the Metal Gear last year.

flatline wrote:

We are planning on getting on at BWI (that's what we did last year). It just seems that the majority of the riders will be getting on in DC.

Again, this is just my experience, but it was not a big deal at all to join the fun mid-route. The best part of the train is it keeps picking up new people on the way!

Malgaras

flatline wrote:

gespo89 wrote:

flatline wrote:

Man, I feel like I should join the group and venture down from Howard Co to DC to pick up the Sonic Line.... but BWI is 10 minutes from my house, and my buddy and I are flying back so we can get to work on Monday.... *sigh*

Why not just hop on the Sonic line at the BWI station?

We are planning on getting on at BWI (that's what we did last year). It just seems that the majority of the riders will be getting on in DC.

True, but BWI is only 28 minutes down the line, and you still have a 7.5 hour ride to Boston from there. There will be plenty of fun left to be had.

UEAKCrash

So does this tend to get booked fast? I'm trying to figure out how to spread out my spending as long as possible, and that includes Tickets, Hotel, and Train ride. I'll end up getting on from Chicago on the Metal Gear line, if all works to plan (Kalamazoo MI to Chicago, I believe). Is the PAX Train Alliance something big enough that it could sell that specific train out?

Moe Fwacky

I believe we sold out the Metal Gear Line last year, but I forget when exactly that happened.

UEAKCrash

Also, while I'm asking, do you know if there is a pay-early deal with Amtrak? Does booking and paying now end up being cheaper than later down the road?

Moe Fwacky

Prices are subject to change, much in the same manner as airlines, but not to the same extremes. Also, Amtrak tends to run sales here and there, so poke around and see if they're running any sales on the Lakeshore Limited. You also might qualify for discounts, such as AAA, so check and see what kind of discounts they offer as well.

Tetakeo

What line you will be on: Sonic Line
Name(s): Stephen, Colby, Mike, Dylan, Fergy (Robert), and FoFo (Stephanie)
Location: Winchester, VA
Boarding Stop: Union Station, DC
Ticket Purchased: Yes, all six.

I'm posting this because the rest of them don't have an account on the forum. The first four of us went to PAX East 2011 and we are all psyched to come again and hang out on the train! See you all then!

TabooPhantasy

Dag, the Sonic Line is gonna be a fuckin' party. I want to book some sort of party car! With nothing BUT tables and outlets. We'll just sit on our bags.

HuskyDork

TabooPhantasy wrote:

Dag, the Sonic Line is gonna be a fuckin' party. I want to book some sort of party car! With nothing BUT tables and outlets. We'll just sit on our bags.

The last car on the Sonic Line last year became a PAX car by the time we got to NYC. Here's hoping we can do the same this year.

xenard

Getting my ticket for the Sonic Line Friday.

That_Guy

I priced out a ride on the train vs a plane.

Round trip for train is about $350 for me according to the nice lady at Amtrak. It would only be 200 to fly. I wish the prices were a little more competitive or I would join you guys. It has been my "dream" to take the train to PAX one of these days, but I just can not justify the extra time and cost. Maybe if I live a little closer next year.

cynthetic

Got our tickets. Also got a roomette from CHI to BOS so we can sleep overnight (we're lame). I know we wont get much sleep during PAX, so getting a full night before is essential for non-cranky interactions with other PAXers.

Tarranon

Moe, did you mean to have the Metroid line depart on the 4th? That'll have it pulling into Boston early Thursday morning

If that's working as intended, I might be able to manage it, I just don't remember arriving Thursday last year

(also the one that leaves on the fifth and arrives early friday morning is like $35 cheaper <_<)

Moe Fwacky

The Metroid line does leave on the 4th, but arrives in DC on Thursday morning, not Boston. From there it catches the Sonic Line to Boston.