http://www.railwayage.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=547&Itemid=121

 

Amtrak outlines "near-term" equipment needs 

[...]

[...]

Amtrak seeks to acquire 60 electric locomotives for the Northeast Corridor, 25 single-level dining cars, 75 baggage cars, 25 single-level sleeping cars, and 130 bilevel cars for short-distance routes.

[...]

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Maybe the economics of investment, maintenance, and crew utilization don't work out, but I'd like to see Amtrak consider bringing back a modern version of the PRR Slumbercoach. They provided more sleeper capacity per car, while still providing the privacy and security of a roomette at a lower price.

 

They were very popular when Amtrak still had them on the Broadway Limited. They weren't as spacious as a roomette, but for a guy my size they were adequate. For somebody over 6 feet tall, probably not so much.

I rode slumbercoaches twice. Once on the Lake Shore Limited from Cleveland to New York City and return in 1985, and again on the Broadway Limited from Canton to New York City in 1987 (I returned via Washington DC on the Capitol Limited). Of the three trips, two were in the "lower" bed and one was in an "upper." I slept well and had a nice ride each time. And the cost was just $100 more than a coach seat, which was well worth it to sleep in a bed vs. a seat. For those who can't picture a slumbercoach "room" it was essentially a horizontal closet with little head room with just enough room for a bed that would convert into seat with a table during the day. But the seat didn't recline much, which was the only bummer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/18/AR2009021803733.html

 

Federal City Digest

 

Thursday, February 19, 2009; Page A13

 

High-Speed Rail To the White House

 

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sent the White House a "comprehensive memo" with recommendations on how to jump-start high-speed rail service nationally, he told reporters yesterday. The memo identified several potential high-speed rail corridors in the

The final bill includes a separate provision that could be worth another $288 million to Amtrak service along the Washington-Boston line.

 

I was just doing some math again (uh oh) and that sounds like a lot of money. But based on formula costs of $2 million per track mile for a new overhead catenary system works out to about $1.8 billion for the 301 miles of New Haven to Washington D.C. That's where the catenary needs to be replaced.

 

But the worst section is in the 75 miles between New Haven and New York City. Most of that ROW is four tracks wide, but the 17 miles between Sunnyside Yards in the Bronx and New Rochelle is mostly double track. Replacement of the catenary system between New Haven and New York City could be a $500 million to $600 million project.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/20rail.html?_r=2&th&emc=th

 

Slice of Stimulus Package Will Go to Faster Trains

By MICHAEL COOPER

Published: February 19, 2009

 

It may be the longest train delay in history: more than 40 years after the first bullet trains zipped through Japan, the United States still lacks true high-speed rail. And despite the record $8 billion investment in high-speed rail added at the last minute to the new economic stimulus package, that may not change any time soon.

 

That money will not be enough to pay for a single bullet train, transportation experts say. And by the time the $8 billion gets divided among the 11 regions across the country that the government has designated as high-speed rail corridors, they say, it is unlikely to do much beyond paying for long-delayed improvements to passenger lines, and making a modest investment in California’s plan for a true bullet train.

 

In the short term, the money — inserted at the 11th hour by the White House — could put people to work improving tracks, crossings and signal systems.

 

......

I would like to see Cincinnati be the gateway to the drrty south (or if you consider Cincy the northernmost southern city, connect it to the rest of the South :-)).  Probably not dense enough populations anywhere south of Cincy though. 

 

Lex is a 500,000+ metro and Da'Ville is a 1,000,000+ metro. If we're going to have an eastern connection I think it should be through Pburgh. Pburgh is the closest for all of us. Cincy: 4 hour drive, Cleve 2 hour, & Cols 2.5 hour drive.

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090222/ap_on_go_co/high_speed_spending

 

Vegas, Midwest seek the $8 billion for fast trains

By JIM ABRAMS – 2 hours ago, February 21, 2009

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans attacking President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package point to a project they dub the "Sin Express" — a high speed rail link between Anaheim, Calif., site of Disneyland, and Las Vegas.

 

Not so fast.

 

In fact, competition for the $8 billion in mass transit construction is just beginning. Backers of numerous other planned high-speed rail corridors around the country are making their case for the money.

 

......

 

On the Net:

California project: http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/

Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada: http://www.railpac.org/home/

Midwest High Speed Rail Association: http://www.midwesthsr.org/

The connections south that would really benefit Cincinnati are much longer runs than are currently being looked at between metros - Cincy to Atlanta would be a key path (though the city owns the RR to Chattanooga if I'm not mistaken). I imagine any serious to Texas route would like be run through St. Louis. Cincy into some part of Western NC would be good (and expensive). I imagine we'd have more potential with beefing up the Cardinal line and making an easier transfer somewhere in Western VA.

Merkow.... you hit one very good point: "beefing up the Cardinal".

 

It is ridiculous that a city like Cincinnati gets such abominable service on an every-other-day schedule for East and West bound trains. The Cardinal should be a daily train, especially given the end point destinations of Chicago & New York.

 

The mayors of Cincy, Indy and Chicago should demand a better schedule.

Maglev is horrendously expensive to build, compared with even high-speed rail using tracks. My personal curmudgeonly viewpoint is that spending that kind of money to link Disneyland and Vegas contributes nothing to the nation's real GDP over the long haul, and is utterly frivolous.

 

As the impact of higher energy costs makes itself felt, national and international entertainment attractions like Vegas and Disneyland are going to feel the pinch very badly. We shouldn't be running up national debt for projects based on expectations of their endless infinite growth.

 

The Anaheim-Vegas HSR is an excellent opportunity for private investment. If the Disneyland and Vegas interests think it will be enormously beneficial to them, with a postive cost-benefit ratio, let them build it. If needed, government could provide the muscle for eminent domain to help private interests acquire right-of-way, but stimulus money shouldn't be spent on it.

Maglev is horrendously expensive to build, compared with even high-speed rail using tracks. My personal curmudgeonly viewpoint is that spending that kind of money to link Disneyland and Vegas contributes nothing to the nation's real GDP over the long haul, and is utterly frivolous.

 

As the impact of higher energy costs makes itself felt, national and international entertainment attractions like Vegas and Disneyland are going to feel the pinch very badly. We shouldn't be running up national debt for projects based on expectations of their endless infinite growth.

 

I agree. I think it's a bit over the top at this point. It's like the gadget that's really, really cool, but that one doesn't REALLY need.

I'd think to make the Cardinal a better option really requires two changes: a schedule in which at least one train leaves at a better time than 3AM and second probably getting the usual trip under 12 hours - which would still be roughly 4 hours longer than the trip by car.

Noozer and dmerkow are right on point. The Cardinal should be:

 

a) Daily

b) Rescheduled to serve Cincinnati at a better time (about 7 am eastbound/12 midnight westbound)

c) Mayors and other leaders Cincinnati-Indy-Chicago should start to make a pitch to extend the Hoosier State to Cincinnati.

d) An effort should be made to get some federal HSR money to start rebuilding the old Big Four-NYC between Cincinnati and Indianapolis. Back in the day, it was a racetrack, with some trains covering the line in 2 hours.

 

a) still wouldn't have helped me when I lived in DC

b) better, better

c) I was thinking the same thing

d) did those trains stop anywhere between Cincy and Chicago???  :) 

In answer to the point-by-point:

 

a) The Cardinal exists because of Sen. Byrd of West Virginia, which is why it runs during daylight hours there. Our legislators have not spoken up, so we get nighttime hours. My suggestion reflects that reality, plus to slow travel times that currently exist west of Cincy. Any daytime service would be hadicapped by this.

 

b) The Hoosier State is a better possibility. It runs four days a week between Indianapolis and Chicago already, on days the Cardinal does not run. This train could leave Cincy at 7 am and be in Indy by about 930am, thence to Chicago for a late afternoon arrival. Equipment is already dedicated to this service. None would be necessary to go to Cincinnati.

 

c) Great minds think alike!

 

d) Delving into the 1948 Official Guide of the Railways, we find that the hottest train on the Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago route (The James Whitcomb Riley) took 5:25 to run the 300 mile line and stopped at Indianapolis, Lafayette, Kankakee and Woodlawn (Chicago). It made the 109 miles between Cincy and Indy in 1:45 non-stop. Pretty impressive! Others made more stops and were somewhat slower.

 

By contrast, the Cardinal requires 3:34 to go from Cincinnati to Indianapolis and 10:25 Cincy-Chicago, almost twice as long as the NYC did it---behind steam! We have a lonnnggg way to go.

Was there any reason to stop then between Cincy and Chicago (I kid . . . little). I imagine the real force behind getting the Cardinal fixed would have to be West Virginia and Virginia and to a lesser extent Kentucky. The Cardinal serves a important transit in some of those small towns in West Virginia. Maybe we could promise to change it's name to the Byrd to get some WV and VA support. The Cincy, Indy, Chicago portion would 'naturally' be improved as part of the midwestern rail plan, but upgrading the rest of the trip is really about points east. I also imagine that the Cardinal would benefit from VA's thoughts about improving rail along the 81 corridor since that is roughly the route it takes at least to Charlottesville.

Incidentally, that photo on my profile is the James Whitcomb Riley from 1940. Too bad we don't have it now.

 

The Cardinal could run five days a week, rather than the three it does now, if the operating funds could be found. Its equipment is idle two days a week. That would be an interim step.

 

Your point concerning the service to small towns in W VA is a good one. There is already an "essential services" aviation subsidy for out of the way place. there's no reason why we couldn't have that for rail as well and the Cardinal would be a prime candidate for that.

d) Delving into the 1948 Official Guide of the Railways, we find that the hottest train on the Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago route (The James Whitcomb Riley) took 5:25 to run the 300 mile line and stopped at Indianapolis, Lafayette, Kankakee and Woodlawn (Chicago). It made the 109 miles between Cincy and Indy in 1:45 non-stop. Pretty impressive! Others made more stops and were somewhat slower.

 

If I could make that trip by train in 5.5 hours, I'd never drive from Cincy to Chicago again.  And I drive that route a lot.

Just for grins, the Cardinal schedule from 1979. Note that Chicago is on Central Time, and all points east of there are on Eastern Time.

 

The Cardinal ran daily on CSX (ex-C&O) track between Chicago and Cincinnati then. I rode it from Marion, Indiana to Tri State Station (Catlettsburg), Kentucky, and then rode the Hilltopper to Washington and Baltimore.

 

The timetable image is a link; click on it to see the whole photo set from my train trip on the Cardinal and the late, lamented Hilltopper.

 

 

 

House approves $10.2 billion for transit in omnibus appropriations bill

ProgressiveRailroading.com

 

Yesterday, the House passed the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105), a $140 billion bill that would fund domestic federal programs for the full fiscal-year 2009, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

 

Read more at:

 

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=19784

Privatization is not a panacea. Keep in mind that government subsidies for railroad operating costs skyrocketed after the UK sold off BritRail and began contracting with private operators like Virgin. Still an interesting article.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article5804544.ece

 

February 26, 2009

Virgin Trains in race to realise Barack Obama's high-speed rail system

David Robertson

 

Virgin Trains, which operates the West Coast Main Line in Britain, is bidding for a slice of President Obama's multibillion-dollar upgrade of the American rail network, The Times has learnt.

 

 

Obama budget plan: More money for ‘high speed’ rail 

http://www.railwayage.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=565&Itemid=121

 

The Obama Administration Thursday unveiled a budget plan that identifies $5 billion in funding over a five-year period for “high speed” passenger rail projects in the U.S., supplementing the $8 billion it provided in its stimulus package for a two-year period.

 

America by Rail

Train trip opens new window on world for first-time riders

Sunday,  March 8, 2009 4:11 AM

By Ann Fisher

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

U.S. train travel is more popular than it has been in a generation. But from where I sat in central Ohio, far from the nation's rail hubs, I figured it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

I reconsidered one morning late last summer from my crisply sheeted berth on the City of New Orleans, an Amtrak train that travels between Chicago and New Orleans.

 

Full story at:

 

http://dispatch.com/live/content/travel/stories/2009/03/08/anntrain.ART_ART_03-08-09_F1_3PD3GRV.html?sid=101

 

Info on Amtrak discounts:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/travel/stories/2009/03/08/perkins_train.ART_ART_03-08-09_F4_0BD3JGA.html

 

I used to go to the Earl of Old Town (Chicago) to hear Steve Goodman play when I was in college in Indiana (and, yes, I took South Shore Limited).

 

For 10 years now, my wife and I (and this year, our son), have taken the train overnight from Pittsburgh to Chicago to be there for the opening of the Magnificent Mile holiday season. It isn't that bad from Pittsburgh since the train leaves at 11:30 or so but gets into Chicago sometime between breakfast and lunch.

 

When he was 3 months old we took him on his first train ride from Pittsburgh (Capitol Limited) to Charleston, SC (Silver Meteor). That second leg was always fun because there are many cross tracks and a lot of places where the track is still jointed. There isn't a roller coaster in the Country as scary as flying along that route being bounced back and forth, but my son slept the whole way, both ways.

 

 

I did a trip on the Auto Train a few weeks ago.  It was a great experience.  In terms of the professionalism and courtesy of the crew, it's the best I've ever seen on Amtrak.  The terminals are clean and the whole process of loading/unloading the cars was seamless.

 

They board you  90 minutes before the train leaves, but offer wine and cheese in the lounge cars from 3-4 pm. 

 

We even arrived (at both ends of our round trip) 90 minutes early (more of a sign of the state of the economy than anything-- freight traffic is way down). 

 

On the way to Florida, our train was loaded with 503 passengers and 173 automobiles and ran with multiple diners and lounges (479 passengers and 168 cars on the way back).

 

All in all, the best Amtrak experience I've ever had. 

 

 

The Columbus Dispatch had a rail-travel story today, but to see how to do a real rail story, turn to today's NYTimes:

 

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/travel/08amtrak.html

 

March 8, 2009

Riding the Rails

By ANDY ISAACSON

 

SOMEWHERE on the west side of Illinois, the Amish men broke out a deck of Skip-Bo cards and I joined them as the cafe car attendant, using an iPod and a set of portable speakers, broadcast Eckhart Tolle, author of “A New Earth,” discoursing on the virtues of stillness.

 

“Life gets discombobulating,” the attendant said, calmly. “This helps.”

 

 

Follow the link above for the rest of the story.

Amtrak's Boardman paints a bright picture  

Railway Age Magazine

 

Following an infusion of $1.3 billion in capital (over and above the $13 billion over five years authorized last year) and indirect access to $8 billion in state-administered funds under President Obama’s economic stimulus program, Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman is faced with determining how best to invest this near-windfall within a relatively short time frame.

 

Full story at:

 

http://www.railwayage.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=616&Itemid=121

'Amtrak Joe' is Tired of Defending Amtrak, Announces $1.3 Billion in Stimulus Funds for Nation's Rail Services

March 13, 2009 2:03 PM

 

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/03/amtrak-joe-is-t.html

 

ABC News' Karen Travers reports:

 

Vice President Biden, perhaps the nation’s most famous Amtrak passenger, announced today that Amtrak will receive $1.3 billion in stimulus money to expand passenger rail capacity.

 

Full story at the link above:

CNN's take on the same story...

 

Biden rolls out $1.3 billion for Amtrak

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden continued the administration's rollout of the recently passed economic stimulus package Friday, highlighting $1.3 billion in federal funding for Amtrak.

 

 

Find this article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/13/biden.amtrak/index.html 

 

CNN buried the lead. The Biden quote about Amtrak being left out, and not being at the trough, should be at the top of the story. Not since Nixon -- if ever -- has a president or vice president spoken forcefully in favor of Amtrak, or passenger rail at all. When was the last time a president or vice president spoke the honest truth that all transportation is subsidized? These are radical statements -- radical because they are true -- and CNN buried them beneath naysaying blather.

This affects Ohio...

 

Amtrak restores Boston-Chicago sleeping car service 

 

 

Beginning in early April, Amtrak passengers travelingbetween Boston and points west of Albany, N.Y., on the Lake Shore Limited willhave access to sleeping car service for the entire route. Amtrak is adding asleeping car on its eastbound run April 2, and westbound run beginning April 4.Sleeping car services will remain as is on the leg between Albany and New York.

 

 

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/676/121/

This again raises the possiblity of splitting the Boston and New York sections into separate trains, since the equipment already operates all the way to Chicago. You'd have to find food service cars, tho.

 

If that could be done, we could double the service west of Albany to Chicago. Maybe some stimulus money for that purpose, with operating funds paid for with CM/AQ money?

 

I wonder if Sens. Brown and Schumer would work on this if we asked? It seems like a natural fit, along with extending Empire Corridor service to Cleveland and possibly to Chicago as well.

I'm all for splitting the Lake Shore into separate trains, but I'm sure that would require infrastructure investment in the route, not just additional equipment. 

 

On a similar note...the best think Amtrak could do with the Lake Shore Limited would be to not forget that winter comes every year and properly winterize their cars.

 

 

Winter? Does that happen every year? :laugh:

Winter? Does that happen every year? :laugh:

Almost. Some years more than others.

 

The track approaches to Union Station in Chicago should get some winter preparations in the form of brushes or high-velocity blowers to clear accumulated snow from the roofs of cars before the cars are backed into the train shed.

 

In the photo below, the Lake Shore Limited consist on December 17, 2008, was backed into the train shed for boarding with several inches of snow piled on the roofs of the Superliners. Once inside the train shed, the cars began shedding big slabs of heavy, wet snow onto the platforms. The crew member in the distance had just been bombed with the pile of snow seen on the platform immediately behind him, and seconds before, a disabled woman on a scooter had passed that point.

 

 

 

I remember when the E. 16th yard was rebuilt in 1980. It was considered state of the art and made a big difference in reliability back then. I wonder what's different today?

 

I do know that when Amtrak went thru its mail/express debacle, they stored mail cars on yard tracks that were intended for passenger cars. These tracks had 480V power to keep cars warm and guess what? The passenger cars froze up.

 

Amtrak's equipment itself has a tendency to to freeze up anyway and this is a never-ending problem. Maybe the best thing to would be to put the coach yard under roof, so equipment could thaw out between runs.

 

The ironic thing is that years ago, cars were steam heated and were maintained in open-air facilities. Somehow the railroads managed to get them out on the road reliably. Maybe the difference was that they had many more employees?

^I can't believe that in today's day and age it's that difficult, labor intensive, or expensive to winterize a rail car.

Twice, traveling from Oakland to Chicago in January I was on trains where they shut down most of the restrooms because of frozen toilets. That was in the 1980s; you'd expect them to have fixed freeze-up problems by now, since most of those cars probably have been shopped for rebuilding at least once.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I've never-ever been warm in a superliner, be it coach or sleeper, in winter. They're cold and drafty.

^I can't believe that in today's day and age it's that difficult, labor intensive, or expensive to winterize a rail car.

 

It's not. But the worth ethic of too many Amtrak's employees needs to be "upgraded" too.

^I can't believe that in today's day and age it's that difficult, labor intensive, or expensive to winterize a rail car.

 

It's not. But the worth ethic of too many Amtrak's employees needs to be "upgraded" too.

 

I've noticed that, too. I wonder how much of that problem is associated from low morale that results from working for an organization that is so widely disrespected in the mainstream press, and from having to do too much with too little in terms of resources to keep everything in a state of something less than good repair.

 

Talking with on-board service people on long-distance trains, I get the impression that the hours and working conditions can be very tough, and I'd think that if one hasn't been promoted to something else by the time they turn 35, they'd probably bail and go into some less-demanding job like smoke-jumping. When long-distance trains run late or equipment breaks down, that adds significantly to the demands on them and can tax their ability to provide cheerful customer service.

It's not. But the worth ethic of too many Amtrak's employees needs to be "upgraded" too.

 

How true. I traveled over 20,000 miles on Amtrak between summer 2007 and summer 2008 and I met many conscientious Amtrak employees. But I also met many who were downright lazy.

 

Worse, yet, there was little consistency. I traveled in sleepers and, depending upon who was staffing the dining car, I was either able to or not able to order my own meal and take it back. In one case, I went to the dining car and was told that I had to order my meal from the porter who I couldn't find, anywhere. When he finally showed up, he mixed up the order and by the time it got to me it was too late to fix it because the dining car was "closed".  I asked him to wake me up at least 45 minutes before the scheduled arrival as I was arriving in the very early morning and wanted to wash, pack and call for a taxi. Instead, he woke me as we were pulling into the station and the complained that they were behind schedule and I was taking too long even though the stop was a scheduled smoke break.

 

I have met some truly wonderful people, including Janet, who worked the dining car on the Capitol Limited (although I swore it was the Silver Service when I first met her), is one. Another, Len Dawson who worked the California Zephyr back in the mid-80s, and whom I've never been able to find to thank him. At that time I could only afford one night in the sleeper and had to spend the rest of the trip in coach, but he came by after my first night in coach to let me know that there was a shower available if I wanted to use it. Unfortunately, there are many more who seem to forget who is the customer.

 

My father-in-law who was a frequent flier used to have a pet response when he was confronted by rude or non-functioning employees of the airlines. He would say "Listen, I'm revenue and you're overhead!"

 

If the employees working at Amtrak only realized that making the trip more pleasant is a good way to get more public support, but many seem to miss this link. I was sorry to see Amtrak eliminate on-board cooking though it was probably safer. A few years ago, I took a trip with my wife and we sat with a woman who was a vegetarian and this was before they had a more politically correct, though often boring, menu. She told the dining car steward that she was a vegetarian and wanted only the rice which came with the chicken dinner. She got the rice, covered in chicken gravy.

 

Inconsistency of service and employee laziness have been chronic problems with Amtrak for years. Strong unions and poor management are among the culprits, as is poor morale from continued underfunding. If Congress/Presidents don't care enough about passenger trains to write checks to keep the system maintained, why should anyone who earns those paychecks care, either?

I always set a travel alarm when traveling by sleeper. That paid off when riding from Harrisburg to Fort Wayne on the Broadway, back in the day when we still had service.

 

My alarm went off and I got up and got cleaned up and dressed. I had prepared my bag the night before.

 

As I recognized the lights of a shopping center a little more than a mile from the station in Fort Wayne, there was a frantic knocking at my door. I opened it to see an attendant with a purely stricken look on his face. I thought he was going to melt with relief when I stepped into the aisle with my coat on and my bag in hand. He'd been taking good care of his passengers the evening before, so who knows what happened? I tipped him nicely anyway.

 

I always thought that the long haul routes should think a little more like cruise ships. I don't mean an onboard swimming pool, but it wouldn't be that hard to think about things like Internet service, a facility for exercise, a business center, etc.

 

There is a real lack of vision (coupled with consistently poor funding, as you noted). I stayed in Reading, UK and commuted to London, daily, for a month, and found the trains comfortable, and the lounge car a nice place to meet people.

 

Personally, I think that they goofed when they took away the movie service and started renting personal DVD players. I used to enjoy sitting in the lounge car watching some Adam Sandler movie with a bunch of people that I didn't know.

 

On one trip to DC, there was a huge delay and we were stranded at the Sand Patch for hours. They ran out of their stock videos but some crew members had uncensored Adam Sandler movies which were, ahem, not so child friendly in terms of the language. There was nothing left to eat on board, except for a big bowl of lettuce with some vegetables. In spite of the language, the movie was a perfect distraction (and the language was nothing worse than what some of the passengers were saying, anyway).

 

 

I always thought that the long haul routes should think a little more like cruise ships. I don't mean an onboard swimming pool, but it wouldn't be that hard to think about things like Internet service, a facility for exercise, a business center, etc.

 

That might work for those who are traveling long distances on the long-distance trains. But most people aren't. Many of Amtrak's critics (not saying you're one which you aren't) see a train running from Chicago to the West Coast and wonder why anyone would ride it when you can fly it in much less time. But many riders are traveling from Grand Junction, CO to Salt Lake City or from Minot, ND to Havre, MT, or from Garden City, KS to Albuquerque, NM. And many of these are folks who are riding to visit family, attend a business seminar, or going to college because they can't afford to drive, there's no commercial airports nearby or the winter weather is too difficult to travel any other way.

 

For some communities, the long-distance train is an economic lifelife -- literally. There are some towns along Amtrak's Empire Builder route across Montana and North Dakota who must transport acutely sick people to hospitals in larger cities or ship medical supplies in by Amtrak package express because winter weather shuts down all other travel.

 

I don't think that we are at odds, here. There can be different levels of service. At my former employer I took my subordinates on a retreat that included taking the train both ways. If there had been meeting facilities on board, I'd have gone across the Country rather than stopping in Chicago.

 

The fact is that cruise ships travel maybe 14 to 20 knots, tops. People could fly to the islands, faster, but they take the ships because they offer other things.

 

You are correct, of course, that many of the riders of even long haul service are only going short distances. But the affluent and the wealthy continued to take the trains long after air travel was available in part because train travel could offer a certain degree of freedom that you don't find on a plane (which is nothing more than a flying bus).

 

 

I wonder if some Ohio legislators read The Onion and take the cartoonist seriously:

 

http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/mar-30-2009?utm_source=featureband

What planet (or drug) is that cartoon-maker on?

 

I think we need to get for the cartoonist this handbook....

 

KJP, you're often thrown by Onion references.  Everything it produces is facetious.  That "cartoonist" is a parody of conservative views, like a Stephen Colbert.

But I still hate them. Hate them, I do.