To NYP by Sorta High-Speed Rail.

The annual April meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers has concluded and more that 120 members are now heading for homes all across the country.The meeting was held at the Sheraton in Silver Spring, Maryland, and everything was fine although NARP members immediately noticed that the hotel’s restaurant is called “Mica” . . . an ironic coincidence because probably the one politician most detested by NARP members is the anti-rail blowhard from Florida, Rep. John Mica.
 
I rode up to New York City on one of Amtrakl’s Acela’s and it was full, as far as I could tell. I was also struck by how rough the ride was off and on for the entire two hours and 40 minutes. Certainly rough if compared to the French TGV or the Eurostar where the attendants walk up and down the aisle pouring hot coffee while you’re heading for Paris at 200 miles per hour. The Acela’s are capable of speeds close to that–and they actually hit 150 mph for a couple of short stretches–but the average speed is somewhere around 85.
 

 I’ll be in New York City just for tonight and thought it would be fun to go to a sports bar called Professor Thom’s that caters to Boston fans and have a few beers while watching the Red Sox-Orioles game being played in Boston, some 200 miles north of here. The place was packed, all right, and the Sox games was on some of the wide screen TV’s, but most of the people were watching hockey: the New York Rangers losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
 
Tomorrow it’s the Maple Leaf to Toronto. More to come.