In a few days I’ll be off on another cross-country train trip. I really have two destinations: the first is Washington, DC, for one of our semi-annual NARP* meetings, and then Boston, where I will indulge my other passion and see four Red Sox games in venerable Fenway Park. But before all that I’m going…
Having traveled by train a great deal over the past couple of decades, it distresses me to read criticisms of Amtrak by newspaper and magazine columnists that are based on ideology or misinformation. Some of these people get their shorts in a knot because Amtrak operates in the red and receives some government subsidy. Of…
Some years ago, following another financial squeeze applied by the anti-rail Bush Administration, Amtrak was forced into another round of cost-cutting. To eliminate one food service employee from the dining car staff on every long-distance train — the person who washed most of the dishes — Amtrak stopped using real china and substituted disposable plastic…
I received an email the other day from someone who wants to take a long-distance train trip and asked which of Amtrak’s routes would offer the most scenic ride. That’s a really tough call but, if I have to pick just one, I’d have to say the California Zephyr. After leaving Chicago, the Zephyr crosses…