Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
How QC and webcomics generally relate to the real USA
Oilman:
...... Mel Gibson in Braveheart.
Actually, the sheer quantities of tartans unknown before the 1890s, sold to American tourists probably come under this heading.
The Gurkha Regiment (Nepalese mercenaries attached to the British Army) wear tartan and have a pipe band, under certain circumstances. Mind you, they have earnt the privilege of doing pretty much anything they please.
Aziraphale:
--- Quote from: Zebediah on 28 Jan 2015, 15:48 ---Hey, I know the feeling - I grew up in Charlotte and have lived in Raleigh and Durham, three islands of sanity in the mess that is North Carolina.
--- End quote ---
To be fair, the Outer Banks isn't terrible either. That could be because they'd rather not scare off the tourists.
--- Quote from: Oilman on 29 Jan 2015, 01:50 ---
What, American trains don't have dining cars?
--- End quote ---
As has been pointed out, Amtrak does, but they're a national carrier operating at longer distances. You don't find dining/bar cars on the smaller regional carriers (like the LIRR, NJT, MTA, etc.), by and large.
Oilman:
Most short-haul British and European trains have no catering facilities, either. Given that the longest unbroken train journey in UK is about 6 hours, few people eat on trains anyway other than snacks, sandwiches and hot drinks or cans of beer.
I was just puzzled by the reference to "restaurant stops"
Is it cold in here?:
I'll try again.
Cross Montana by car, and you'll have to stop to eat.
Amtrak keeps going, as fast as I'd care to drive, while meals are served. In fact, no stops at all except to let freight trains past and to pick up/discharge passengers as fast as possible. It eliminates all the reasons you would drop to sublight speed if you were driving, like refilling the car or draining the driver.
The food quality, on the Empire Builder at least, is about that of a restaurant you'd go back to regularly if you lived close to it but not otherwise.
BTW, the Empire Builder route, start to finish, takes almost exactly 48 hours plus delays. Europe's shorter distances and faster trains probably make this sound bizarre to a European.
Penquin47:
When driving, long driving times get somewhat inflated by the fact that you stop every few hours for a bathroom or meals. I say it's a six hour drive from my parents' house in Amarillo to my aunt's house in Dallas, but probably somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour of that is spent at gas stations or a fast-food restaurant and not actually driving. Trains don't make those stops.
I would think that passenger stops would be just as much dead time, though, but I've never made that trip by either car or train.
ETA: Google Maps says that from Beach, ND (just east of the Montana border) to Spokane, Washington (just west of the Montana border) along the Interstate is an 11.5 hour drive.
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