Yes, and at the aforementioned NMRA Convention, rather than parking in downtown Long Beach, or staying at the hotel, I parked at the Wardlow Blue Line Station, and took the trolley to the convention. Except for one morning when I was running very late, and in danger of missing a tour bus departure, and parked downtown (paying through the nose for the privilege, at least compared to the round-trip trolley fare of $3.50).
As it happens, at least one of my fellow docents at the International Printing Museum is also an NMRA member, as is a fellow parishioner at one of the churches I attend semi-regularly.
Years ago, I was on the Coast Starlight, on my way to the Bay Area, and (I think we were at the San Luis Obispo Station) found myself on the inside of a closed coach door, with my car attendant on the outside, unable to reach the outside latch, and gesturing to me to open the door from the inside. She didn't need to ask twice, and she didn't need to explain how the latches worked.
I was also on the platform at the Mystic, CT station once, waiting for my train, at what was (for most trains) a completely safe distance from the edge. An Acela went by without stopping, and the turbulence was enough to make me a little bit unstable on my feet. On a later trip, I rode an Acela. When it was going full-speed, I found that I couldn't read the signs on the station platforms we passed.
And there was one occasion, many years ago, in San Francisco, when I was pressed into service to help operate a Cable Car. I'd been sitting at the Van Ness terminal of the California line, and a car rolled in with only one crew member aboard. I asked the fellow pulling the grip what happened to the conductor.
"Oh, he ran off."
A moment later, he asked me to give him a hand with the rear brakes. When somebody in a MUNI uniform makes a request like that, especially if you have a working (if purely theoretical) knowledge of how a Cable Car works, the only question you should be asking is "Wheel or track?"
We went one block, with me half-expecting Allen Funt and a camera crew to jump out from behind a bush, and announce that I was on
Candid Camera, Then another guy an a MUNI uniform walked out of a convenience store, and took over the grip: the fellow who'd asked me to take the rear brakes
was the conductor.
Card-carrying member of the National Model Railroad Association and the California State Railroad Museum Foundation, and I have an active Amtrak Guest Rewards account
And how could I possibly forget: also a card-carrying member of the National Association of Rail Passengers (AKA the Rail Passengers' Association).
