PalenQ

I think driving the autobahn with no speed limits was also such a rush - even though the VW Squareback I picked up at Wolfsburg VW plant long ago could only go about 80mph - its speedometer only went that high and I could barely - going downhill reach that speed. But to be in Kstate's type of ride - wow. (I understand that only about half of all autobahns do not have speed limits - maybe a little higher % but not nearly all.) I also drove a Ford Transit van on them and was considered to be a road hazzard -with once driving in the slow lane at top speed for the van was passed by a pissed truck driver who flashed a large knife at me - never forget that.

I think driving a souped up car on an speed-limitless German autobahn would be such a thrill!

Trains however can still go faster on the special-built high-speed rail lines! Nearly 200mph - that is a thrill of a different type but still a thrill.

Yup Kstate (KS or Kent?) you are a real trouble maker! (Jess kiddin')

Fussgaenger

FYI Aramis: The OP has been absent from this thread for 5 days; my last post was not directed at the OP's situation but at Kstate90's broader comment about cars and trains from yesterday.

"I'm not sure why evidencing the fact that many many many towns in Germany have train stations is supposed to inform... the individual traveler."

I was not advising an individual traveler, but addressing the mistaken notion that small-town visits by ANY traveler should necessarily exclude trains; it's a fact that many can be visited by train, and very easily (depending on one's plans.) A car may or may not be necessary or more convenient.

"...Does that make an all car argument" win"?"

I was not making an all-train argument for the OP or anyone else. Please read my post; I think you are reading INTO it.

"And if you think rail travel should be promoted at all costs..."

Who thinks, or has said, that?

"...well, we know the type of arguments you will make."

Straw-man arguments are helpful? Scolding too?

"The first step is to not get angry when someone has a different opinion."

Yes, that's an important step, but the only angry response I see here is the one at 1:56 pm. Of course the very first step is to read and understand the statements of others.

Fussgaenger

KState90:

Your post sounded like an over-generalization about visiting small towns. If it wasn't, I stand corrected - sorry for the misread. Because these threads stay here forever, I routinely respond to posts that advise avoiding trains altogether on small-town visits - they shouldn't be rejected out of hand, especially if one is already using trains elsewhere.

Kstate90

That should have been Neustadt, Germany.

Kstate90

I think it is sad that Americans tend to only focus on the major cities and not venture into the countryside. There is a lot to see in Europe.

Thursday we visited the documentation center at Stalag 326 VI K in Sennelager Germany. I shared picture of the camp that my dad took in 1945. They were so exited to get it.

Kansas State

swandav2000

Yes I realize that I'm something of a fanatic for trains. But there's a reason behind my fanaticism ... and that's global climate change.

Where I live at the edge of the German Alps, I can see the effects of it daily, and our ski season is growing shorter and shorter and warmer and warmer. Every year, too, I have to answer incredulous posters who cannot believe that there probably won't be snow in the Alps at Christmas. Scientists say that our glaciers will be gone within 20 years.

If there were no other choice but to drive ... well, I wouldn't post anything. But when the train system is SO good and SO fun and SO efficient ... yes, I do get angry when folks decide to drive, "just because." Most of the time, I don't post anything when the decision has already been made, but when a poster asks the question, then I give my full opinion. And when others give information counter to the facts, then I also feel that I have to post.

So, Aramis, that is the information that is relevant to the question, and to me, it is the most important information. It's not an opinion. And even if folks have different thought processes and make different decisions, the ice will continue to melt, and the seasons will continue to grow warmer. I just think that people might want to avoid contributing to this, even if it makes travel a bit less fast or convenient.

And Kstate90 -- I'm not sure where you got the idea that Americans don't venture into the countryside. Fussgänger and I just told you how easy and fun it is to get into the countryside with trains & busses. I'm an American, and I have been using the trains for travel in rural Switzerland, Germany, France, & Italy since the 1990s.

s

Kstate90

s.

I see now the reasoning behind your opinion. If travelers are truly concerned with climate change they would never leave the area they live in. I came to Germany to learn about their system. I doubt most Americans have gone to the farms and talked with the farmers about their bio gas systems and the solar systems. They have very similar challenges as I do at home but also face others that I do not.

Another way to reduce your impact is to travel light. If every traveler only brought a carry on vs a large checked bag at the max weight and a maxed out carry on the plane would have less impact. My family only brought a carry on sized bag for each person.

Kstate90

Sitting here at Kassel hbf waiting on the ICE. It is now 80 minutes late. My German exchange students tells me this is why they do not take the train. It is a travel day but kind of funny considering.

Fussgaenger

The ironic turn to this topic is that it's your LONG-distance train (which skips the small towns) that is so late. IME the local and regional trains are consistently the more punctual of the two. 80 min. is pretty unusual.

Also IME (which includes no pedaling but lots of driving and train travel) clogged roadways have delayed my getting around more often than trains have. I've seen a couple of accidents as well (no, not train accidents.) I've no clue how many have been injured or killed in train accidents in the last year, but I suspect very few if any. It's certainly not 400,000, this past year's casualty total for automobiles in Germany. Hospitals = pretty serious delays.

I drive now only on the rare occasion that I find my travel goal otherwise impossible, and I drive for as few days and km as possible. For me it's less the global consequences of driving, and more the personal ones; it's less a matter of right and wrong, more one of individual priorities and choices.

Kstate90

Take the train they said. It is relaxing they said. First train cancelled after two hour delay. Standing in a crammed standing room only. Just got kicked off train. To full.