It’s hard to explain to someone who has never done it, why a long-distance train trip is so rewarding. Half of the secret is simply paying attention–and I mean really...

Without doubt, the question I get most frequently is what’s my favorite long-distance train ride? And that’s really hard because the scenery varies dramatically from, for example, the desert you...

The question I’m most often asked is which of the long-distance trains is the most scenic. I really like the Empire Builder and I think I’ve probably ridden the Coast...

Plans are 99% complete for my trip London at the end of June. The reason for the trip, as I have mentioned here once before, is the two-game series between...

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA–This was an interesting trip in several different ways.   First, both the Southwest Chief taking me to Chicago and the California Zephyr that brought me here to Davis,...

The third rail leg of this journey has brought me here from Chicago aboard the California Zephyr, Amtrak’s train #5. It’s probably Amtrak’s most popular long-distance train and it’s certainly...

Good Luck with This. One of the transportation goals being advocated by the National Association of Railroad Passengers NARP) is “connectivity”, meaning that we should be able to transfer smoothly...

When it comes to Business Class on Amtrak, what you get varies from train to train. Sometimes you’ll have a 2-and-1 seating configuration and leather seats; on another train it’s...

Riding from Minneapolis to Chicago on the Empire Builder recently, Fritz Plous, a former reporter with the Chicago Sun-Times who specializes in railroad issues, had what we can only hope...

The two-day meeting of the NARP Board of Directors is over and I’ll be leaving the hotel here in Evanston, Illinois, in about an hour to start my journey back...