My amtrak to a game story: I lived in Ferndale MI. The first suburb north of Detroit. I lived right by the bus stop that cost only $1.50 at the time that took me to within a block of Comerica Park. So for $3 I had round trip transportation to a Tiger game. One day I decided to walk two miles north to Royal Oak to take Amtrak to the game. The closest Amtrak stop to Comerica Park was 3 miles away, so I either had to take a bus the rest of the way, or walk a total of 5 miles. (It was a beautiful day so I ended up walking) the price of the train ticket was I think $26, but for sure a little bit north of $20. It was only one way. But it was a memorable experience I'd recommend anyone doing once, but it definable isn't feasible to be my primary transportation to the game. Now $99 does sound high at first, but it's a unique experience and since there wasn't other reliable transportation for non drivers to get there, it might even be worth it for a one time experience. But, while I agree a bit overpriced, (I would say $60 would have been fair to all parties) it was the marketing that was the real killer. They could have done a train ticket/game ticket package. They could have had a former Packer as the ticket taker, but instead of taking the ticket, he autographs it. Basically the marketing they had in place was you have to already have a ticket to the game, you have to have no other means to get to the game, and you've got to afford another $100 to use our service. They just limited their potential customers instead of broadening it. I just hope amtrak at least offered bus shuttles for those 150 people who bought the tickets.
The ironic thing is the Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Chicago is one of the most high volume, low cost lines in the entire system, and Chicago is only slightly less further than Green Bay from Milwaukee in the opposite directions. The Hiawatha runs 7 times a day.
AMTRAK seems to be notoriously expensive outside the Boston-Washington corridor. Regular rail commuters are used to dozing on the train. Did it for 7 years. At least Milwaukee to Green Bay you can’t oversleep and end up well past your stop.
As someone who lives in Seattle who uses Amtrak for weekend trips to away games for the Kraken of the NHL & the Sounders of MLS in Portland & Vancouver at least once a year, I definitely agree with you about Amtrak being expensive. Heck I paid $175 for a one way train ticket to Portland for a Sounders-Timbers match a few years ago & I have seen prices for the weekend of that particular game as high as $300 for a one way ticket. It's even worse for Vancouver as back in July when I went up there for the Sounders-Whitecaps match, I paid $330 for a round trip ticket in just the basic class of seats.
I'm 50, not a Packers fan, and I agree. Saw several of their games that season and most of the time they made it look so clinical and effortless. Even the 15-1 team wasn't as dominant.
@@82dorrinI’m surprised you didn’t mention Super Bowl 32 happened in San Diego, as a Packers fan I remember going to English 12 the next day and seeing Broncos celebrating with Lombardi trophy while my teacher was reading a paper and commented “Look at them celebrating with our trophy” and he told me I “would get over it” and I did. That’s my first memory from that game
Lead the league in points scored and points allowed. A top ten team in the super bowl era, IMO. Might have gone 15-1 if not for being hit hard at receiver by injuries mid season.
From where I travel to Patriots games 45 minutes away, the fan train is run by a regional rail provider (MBTA), and is only a little more time than driving. It also costs $10 for a round trip, or 1/5th the price of parking your car at the stadium. So a family of 4 still saves money (even before counting gas and maintenance) taking the train up. And based on the great value proposition, these always run full. Only negative is the one run time that arrives one hour before kickoff and leaves a half hour after the game. So it is difficult to mix in a restaurant or Hall of Fame visit pre and post-game.
I hope Amtrak can bring a Green Bay/Milwaukee route back just for general purposes. As for going to football games alone, I do that all the time. However, that price point would've been prohibitive for me. I don't have a car, so I wouldn't be able to attend many (if any) Orlando Magic NBA games from here in Tampa if the Magic had such a package.
It seems like this could’ve worked if they had done two things differently: 1. Find a way to run multiple trains to the stadium leaving at different times 2. Give discounts on tickets for fans who show their game tickets I don’t know how possible this would’ve actually been, but it seems like it could’ve worked if it was.
In the mid 90s there used to be a Amtrak "Bills Train" from NYC to Depew New York then a Blue Bird bus will take you from the Depew Station to Orchard Park to the Bills game for BILLS/Jets games. Amtrak must have tried to do some partnership with the NFL in the 90s.
Not to get off topic but with the new Bills Stadium in Orchard Park opening, it would ideally to bring back a “Blue Bird” type bus running non stop express between Downtown Buffalo and the New Stadium. Although I have not (as of late 2023) been to a Bills home Game, I was stuck in traffic driving home to my then home in NYC after a weekend trip to Toronto in late October 1998. Most importantly hopefully NYS opens up a new HOV lane on Interstate 90 on the Western NY Thruway to handle both that express bus and cars/vehicles of at least 3 passengers on game days between Downtown and Orchard Park.
Most heartbreaking aspect of Amtrak is its prices are much too high. It's as if the prices were set by individuals coddling the petroleum and automotive industries, which most likely is the case considering that Amtrak is a government-operated entity.
I really think Amtrak should have tried to enter an exclusive deal with the Packers. They offer the Green Bay-Milwaukee trip for free to the fans who had the season package in exchange for a cut of the revenue. The Packers would probably raise the price of the season package a little, but let Milwaukee fans know that it comes with free transportation.
This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about how the Packers themselves experienced their own travel-related disaster in Denver in 1978.
And in a video about football....Jaguar Gator summed up why rail does not work in the US....and people should stop trying to make it work...Spoiler Alert...it won't,
Geo while I agree that full 100% nation wide rail won’t ever work in the US, there is no reason why at least 75-80% of the country should not have some access to it.
This is very similar to what happened with Newcastle United of the Premier League 3 years later in their match vs West Ham though instead of trains it is with buses. Newcastle at the time offered a season ticket package that allowed fans to go to 2 away matches (in agreement with the other clubs in the Premier League) of their choosing free of charge along with the away rivalry match vs Sunderland. This was in addition to all 18 home matches in the Premier League. As a way of trying to encourage fans to not deal with the traffic associated with driving, Newcastle offered a round trip bus service for all away matches. However like in this story, the cost of the bus service was absolutely unaffordable. It cost 150 pounds or $187 per person in 1999 money to use this service and for this particular match, fans would be on the bus for almost 12 hours at least (if not more if there was traffic which there likely was given how bad the traffic is in London). For some context on how expensive this service was, a round trip train ticket between those two cities cost 12 pounds or $14.98 per person, meaning a fan would have saved $172 if they took the train. They would have also gotten to the match quicker as it takes 3 hours 20 minutes to London by train (due to the UK having a significantly better rail service than what the US has) from Newcastle as opposed to 6 hours by driving/bus. As you can imagine, not many Newcastle fans took the bus as only 17 of them bothered to ride it out of two buses that could seat 110 people each. Newcastle lost a ton of money as a result & discontinued the bus service after the 1999/2000 Premier League.
Here's a full list of the games the Packers played in Milwaukee: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers_home_games_in_Milwaukee Interesting how most of the years at County Stadium, it was three games; with 4 games in 78 and 80. And if they aren't willing/able to do a Green Bay/Milwaukee Amtrak route; why not a dedicated game day round trip by bus?
Despite its many flaws ie overcrowding, weather ie Northeaster rain/snow storms, severe heat with humidity in the summer every couple of years, etc. at least most of the Northeast US mainly from Boston-NYC-Philly-DC has very good regional rail access compared to the rest of the nation.
Amtrak is ridiculous, but I enjoy a trip on the rails once in a while. Its also a nice place to sleep when you got to catch a really early one or really late one and great safe transportation for people who plan on drinking. But I cant believe it took over 4 hours to get from Milwaukee to Green Bay. Lol. This whole story is/was absurd. Typical of the Pukers. Neat piece of history about the Pukers playing in Milwaukee all those decades because I didnt know about any of that though.
In January of 1997, Packers fanes would travel south to New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXI. Which they won.
My amtrak to a game story:
I lived in Ferndale MI. The first suburb north of Detroit. I lived right by the bus stop that cost only $1.50 at the time that took me to within a block of Comerica Park. So for $3 I had round trip transportation to a Tiger game. One day I decided to walk two miles north to Royal Oak to take Amtrak to the game. The closest Amtrak stop to Comerica Park was 3 miles away, so I either had to take a bus the rest of the way, or walk a total of 5 miles. (It was a beautiful day so I ended up walking) the price of the train ticket was I think $26, but for sure a little bit north of $20. It was only one way. But it was a memorable experience I'd recommend anyone doing once, but it definable isn't feasible to be my primary transportation to the game.
Now $99 does sound high at first, but it's a unique experience and since there wasn't other reliable transportation for non drivers to get there, it might even be worth it for a one time experience. But, while I agree a bit overpriced, (I would say $60 would have been fair to all parties) it was the marketing that was the real killer.
They could have done a train ticket/game ticket package. They could have had a former Packer as the ticket taker, but instead of taking the ticket, he autographs it.
Basically the marketing they had in place was you have to already have a ticket to the game, you have to have no other means to get to the game, and you've got to afford another $100 to use our service. They just limited their potential customers instead of broadening it.
I just hope amtrak at least offered bus shuttles for those 150 people who bought the tickets.
Yeah unless you're Sheldon Cooper, you're never going to take the train. Just drive or fly.
The ironic thing is the Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Chicago is one of the most high volume, low cost lines in the entire system, and Chicago is only slightly less further than Green Bay from Milwaukee in the opposite directions. The Hiawatha runs 7 times a day.
AMTRAK seems to be notoriously expensive outside the Boston-Washington corridor.
Regular rail commuters are used to dozing on the train. Did it for 7 years. At least Milwaukee to Green Bay you can’t oversleep and end up well past your stop.
As someone who lives in Seattle who uses Amtrak for weekend trips to away games for the Kraken of the NHL & the Sounders of MLS in Portland & Vancouver at least once a year, I definitely agree with you about Amtrak being expensive. Heck I paid $175 for a one way train ticket to Portland for a Sounders-Timbers match a few years ago & I have seen prices for the weekend of that particular game as high as $300 for a one way ticket. It's even worse for Vancouver as back in July when I went up there for the Sounders-Whitecaps match, I paid $330 for a round trip ticket in just the basic class of seats.
The 1996 Green Bay Packers. the reason I'm a football fan today and still IMO the greatest Packers team in my lifetime.
I'm 50, not a Packers fan, and I agree. Saw several of their games that season and most of the time they made it look so clinical and effortless. Even the 15-1 team wasn't as dominant.
As a Broncos' fan, I'm partial to the 1997 Green Bay Packers. 😂😂
@@82dorrinI’m surprised you didn’t mention Super Bowl 32 happened in San Diego, as a Packers fan I remember going to English 12 the next day and seeing Broncos celebrating with Lombardi trophy while my teacher was reading a paper and commented “Look at them celebrating with our trophy” and he told me I “would get over it” and I did. That’s my first memory from that game
Lead the league in points scored and points allowed. A top ten team in the super bowl era, IMO. Might have gone 15-1 if not for being hit hard at receiver by injuries mid season.
My dad and his new girlfriend were going to take me to this game trying to buy tickets from a scalper, but we didn’t find a decent price.
From where I travel to Patriots games 45 minutes away, the fan train is run by a regional rail provider (MBTA), and is only a little more time than driving. It also costs $10 for a round trip, or 1/5th the price of parking your car at the stadium. So a family of 4 still saves money (even before counting gas and maintenance) taking the train up. And based on the great value proposition, these always run full.
Only negative is the one run time that arrives one hour before kickoff and leaves a half hour after the game. So it is difficult to mix in a restaurant or Hall of Fame visit pre and post-game.
I hope Amtrak can bring a Green Bay/Milwaukee route back just for general purposes. As for going to football games alone, I do that all the time. However, that price point would've been prohibitive for me. I don't have a car, so I wouldn't be able to attend many (if any) Orlando Magic NBA games from here in Tampa if the Magic had such a package.
It seems like this could’ve worked if they had done two things differently:
1. Find a way to run multiple trains to the stadium leaving at different times
2. Give discounts on tickets for fans who show their game tickets
I don’t know how possible this would’ve actually been, but it seems like it could’ve worked if it was.
In the mid 90s there used to be a Amtrak "Bills Train" from NYC to Depew New York then a Blue Bird bus will take you from the Depew Station to Orchard Park to the Bills game for BILLS/Jets games. Amtrak must have tried to do some partnership with the NFL in the 90s.
Not to get off topic but with the new Bills Stadium in Orchard Park opening, it would ideally to bring back a “Blue Bird” type bus running non stop express between Downtown Buffalo and the New Stadium. Although I have not (as of late 2023) been to a Bills home Game, I was stuck in traffic driving home to my then home in NYC after a weekend trip to Toronto in late October 1998. Most importantly hopefully NYS opens up a new HOV lane on Interstate 90 on the Western NY Thruway to handle both that express bus and cars/vehicles of at least 3 passengers on game days between Downtown and Orchard Park.
Most heartbreaking aspect of Amtrak is its prices are much too high. It's as if the prices were set by individuals coddling the petroleum and automotive industries, which most likely is the case considering that Amtrak is a government-operated entity.
I really think Amtrak should have tried to enter an exclusive deal with the Packers. They offer the Green Bay-Milwaukee trip for free to the fans who had the season package in exchange for a cut of the revenue. The Packers would probably raise the price of the season package a little, but let Milwaukee fans know that it comes with free transportation.
This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about how the Packers themselves experienced their own travel-related disaster in Denver in 1978.
OK so I don't think you had to mention 1971 was a HALF CENTURY ago. You could have left it at 1971 and not made us feel so old.
And in a video about football....Jaguar Gator summed up why rail does not work in the US....and people should stop trying to make it work...Spoiler Alert...it won't,
Geo while I agree that full 100% nation wide rail won’t ever work in the US, there is no reason why at least 75-80% of the country should not have some access to it.
This is very similar to what happened with Newcastle United of the Premier League 3 years later in their match vs West Ham though instead of trains it is with buses. Newcastle at the time offered a season ticket package that allowed fans to go to 2 away matches (in agreement with the other clubs in the Premier League) of their choosing free of charge along with the away rivalry match vs Sunderland. This was in addition to all 18 home matches in the Premier League. As a way of trying to encourage fans to not deal with the traffic associated with driving, Newcastle offered a round trip bus service for all away matches. However like in this story, the cost of the bus service was absolutely unaffordable. It cost 150 pounds or $187 per person in 1999 money to use this service and for this particular match, fans would be on the bus for almost 12 hours at least (if not more if there was traffic which there likely was given how bad the traffic is in London). For some context on how expensive this service was, a round trip train ticket between those two cities cost 12 pounds or $14.98 per person, meaning a fan would have saved $172 if they took the train. They would have also gotten to the match quicker as it takes 3 hours 20 minutes to London by train (due to the UK having a significantly better rail service than what the US has) from Newcastle as opposed to 6 hours by driving/bus. As you can imagine, not many Newcastle fans took the bus as only 17 of them bothered to ride it out of two buses that could seat 110 people each. Newcastle lost a ton of money as a result & discontinued the bus service after the 1999/2000 Premier League.
I miss County Stadium in Milwaukee.
Too bad it's gone.
Here's a full list of the games the Packers played in Milwaukee: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers_home_games_in_Milwaukee
Interesting how most of the years at County Stadium, it was three games; with 4 games in 78 and 80.
And if they aren't willing/able to do a Green Bay/Milwaukee Amtrak route; why not a dedicated game day round trip by bus?
Yeah i would just drive
Green Bay to Milwaukee is about the same distance from where I live in Louisiana to Alexandria, about 2 hours.
“That’s a lot of time being wasted” has a double meaning when you are talking about Packer fans 🍻
Amtrak is apparently bringing MKE-GB trains back. And hopefully much cheaper than this idiocy.
Thank God i live and work along the northeast corridor 🚂
Despite its many flaws ie overcrowding, weather ie Northeaster rain/snow storms, severe heat with humidity in the summer every couple of years, etc. at least most of the Northeast US mainly from Boston-NYC-Philly-DC has very good regional rail access compared to the rest of the nation.
Over or under 1 DUMB DECISION from todays packers chargers game
We have Lafleur vs staley two REGULAR GUESTS on this program
I'll take the over.
Amtrak is ridiculous, but I enjoy a trip on the rails once in a while. Its also a nice place to sleep when you got to catch a really early one or really late one and great safe transportation for people who plan on drinking.
But I cant believe it took over 4 hours to get from Milwaukee to Green Bay. Lol. This whole story is/was absurd. Typical of the Pukers.
Neat piece of history about the Pukers playing in Milwaukee all those decades because I didnt know about any of that though.
I took AMTRAK from Los Angeles to Albuquerque the coach ticket was $67 and that was in 2019
Packers @ Chargers 2026 regular season, who wins?
Great vid, expected more puns tho
NFL working with Amtrak to revive for 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay
7:02 The Lions themselves TAUNTED us packer fans by having their entire sideline flex it us
Then we went into their building on national television on Thanksgiving and pulled their pants down. Karma came down on them hard for it.
Right idea-wrong and Carl costly!!😂😂
Well, you had to decide how got from Milwaukee to Green Bay yourself. The value was in the experience. It was their call.
But what was Amtrak's passer rating?
First
2241st