Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

You long-time Gentle Readers know that I took a vow about six years ago that I'd never fly again.  I took that vow because o' the hassle that flying has become, most o' that having to do with the asshat rules and regulations foisted upon us by the gub'mint in the interests o' our "safety."  The rules are only part o' it, though, coz the numb-nuts enforcing those rules are about as clue-free as it gets, not to mention tact-free and generally objectionable, in the best case scenario.  So: no flying for ME!

Our personal No-Fly Zone was the primary reason we elected to drive out to the Right Coast on our vacation this past summer.  While that was fun I don't think I'll ever do it again, mainly on account o' because that trip messed up my back.  We haven't been the same since we returned from our 4,214 mile road trip, ergo: never again.

So.  We can't drive and we won't fly.  That leads one to wonder how we're gonna get back east this year.  And then it hit me: AMTRAK!  Yeah, let's do the train!  Traveling by train is enjoyable and I've done a lot of it in my lifetime, both here and abroad.  I've also gone on a bit about the joys o' train travel, most notably here.  Just so ya don't have to chase the link...

It’s fun to travel by train. You have a lot more room than you do in a car. You can get up and walk around, you can sit and look out the window, and if you’re taking a long trip, you can eat in the dining car and sleep in a bed, too! The trip from Atlanta to New York takes two days and a night. We got a Pullman sleeper compartment on the train for our trip. A Pullman compartment is the term used to describe a little private room on a train. The room has two bench seats and beds that pull down out of the walls so you can sleep.

Train at Peachtree Station

The picture above was taken in 1969 at Peachtree Station, which is where we caught the train to New York. There’s little or no difference between the train you see in the picture and the one I took to New York.

I really enjoyed riding the train, especially eating in the dining car and watching the country roll by the window. When we were going through open country the train ran about 60 or 70 miles per hour. Whenever the train passed through a town you could see people in the street, kids would wave at the train, and it seemed like everyone was looking right at you. In the old days the train tracks often ran right in the middle of the main street of those small towns. The train would slow down to 25 or 30 miles per hour whenever it went through a town (for safety reasons, I’m sure), and the result was you got a close-up look at the town. I’m sure all that has changed, now. The train also stopped to pick up passengers, mail, and supplies in the larger towns and cities. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and raising the shade to look out on to the station platform. It was very late, but I could see men wheeling baggage carts and people getting on and off the train. I’ll never forget those sights.

As soon as the sun went down the porters began their work. Porters are people that are sort of like waiters or butlers. The porter’s job was to take care of the passengers and get the sleeping cars ready for bed-time. The porter would knock on your door and ask if you were ready to have your room “prepared.” That was the signal for you to step into the corridor while he pulled the beds down out of the walls, tightened the sheets, put the blankets on the beds and fluffed the pillows. The whole exercise was over in about three or four minutes. When you went back into your room the seats were gone and your beds were made for you. It was very cool!

The train passed through northern Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., a tiny bit of Pennsylvania, and New Jersey before arriving in New York City. We got to see a lot of farm land, lots of woods, rolling hills, and flat plains. The east coast of America is very, very beautiful, even in November. And rolling through the big cities like Richmond, Washington, Newark, and finally New York was exciting. A lot of folks say there’s no better way to see the country than by train. I’m inclined to agree with them.

So there's that... noting the fact I like traveling by train... and then we were off on these here inter-tubes to visit AMTRAK.  Imagine my surprise:

Aiiieee!  Over 700 Yankee Dollars... ONE-WAY!  You'll note that price is for a roomette, which is the only way to go.  Can you imagine almost 48 hours in a coach seat?  I can't.  And that price doesn't include meals in the dining car which, bein' as how you're a captive audience, would cost ya an arm and a leg.  Not to mention the fact I'd have to drive three hours up to Las Vegas just to get to the train station, which also means I'd have to come BACK via AMTRAK if I wanted to retrieve my car from where I parked it.  Compare the above to this:

Looks like I'm gonna break my vow and fly this summer.  Every man has his price and it appears mine is a long ways south o' a thousand Yankee Dollars.  I'm really quite sad about this.