JAMES KUNSTLER: Riding the Rails

[Tace]

James Kunstler -- Clusterfuck Nation

After sitting on airplanes for two days, like a mummy in a casket, I took the Amtrak train from Bellingham, Washington, down to Seattle. It was an extravagant relief from harsh inanities of aviation. The train cars were new, clean and luxurious, very unlike the beat-up rolling stock on my usual Hudson River line (Albany to New York City). The seats were better than first-class airplane seats. There was a cafe car serving up hot beverages. The conductors were cheerful, as if they actually liked what they were doing.

The view out the (clean) windows was supernaturally beautiful. Loveliness everywhere. The tracks ran along Puget Sound most of the way. Dark fir-covered mountains spilled down to rocky bays where, here and there, people were digging -- for clams, I supposed. I saw three bald eagles along the way. Also scores of some kind of stately, long-necked wading bird with a vivid black-and-white blaze on its cheeks. At other times we passed through farm fields and orchards. White and pink foxgloves grew wild along tracks most of the way along with yellow broom and phlox.

As we got closer to Seattle, you saw more people in the bays, clamming, running their dogs, hugging their girlfriends. Almost all of them waved at the train as we passed, as if to say, "Notice how glad we are to be here!"

When the train got to the station in downtown Seattle, it just stopped and we got off, without ceremony or painful delay. There was no standing around waiting to be squeezed out of tube, the way they unload an airplane. I caught a taxi outside the station door, and five minutes later I was at my hotel.

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http://worldnewstrust.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=3705

[LiberalPartisan]

1. Remember - it's the simple things in life

that bring the greatest pleasures. And it doesn't hurt to take a ride on one of the most scenic stretches of rail in the US either.

[stoxx]

2. A comment from another fan of railroads...

One of my relatives had a mantra: "Railroads (for freight), monorails (for people), draft (so everyone stood a chance of being at risk)."

[Dogmudgeon]

3. But wait -- there's more!

Here's the "punchline":

But why Americans do not demand to have railroad service all over the nation is one of the abiding mysteries of these crack-up years.

My mother recently went to visit my brother and his family and took the train from Philadelphia to Orlando, as she does twice a year, and has done for the past several years. Over that period of time, prices have increased brutally, and service has declined just as much.

It's a day-long trip; this time, the train was an hour late into Philly, and ten hours late into Orlando. This time, there wasn't even the pretense of being good employees: The staff all complained openly about the Republicans, Conservatism, and Bush. One passenger said to no one in particular, "Damn that President Bush!" and within five minutes, over a dozen people, including staff, had joined in.

And David Gunn was recently fired with prejudice in spite of improving both service and profitability, and the budget for next year has been slashed again.

It's just one little piece of our Great National Suicide.

--p!

[megatherium]

4. I wish I had good train service in/out of Louisville, KY.

I looked into traveling by train from Louisville to Portland, Oregon. It happens there is no Amtrak service from Louisville to Portland -- they bus you to Indianapolis, you take a train to Chicago, then you can ride a (single) train to Portland (the Empire Builder line). The latter sounds like it might be pleasant, it takes about 2 days.

So I decided to fly instead. Flying is indeed uncomfortable nowadays. I saw a cartoon the other week showing a fish being carried by an eagle in its talons, and the fish is thinking 'God I hate to fly.' But I got to Portland in 8 hours gate-to-gate (changing planes in Chicago). While our "hallucinated" economy (as Kunstler puts it) still functions, I will fly. I do hope we can revitalize train travel soon.

[1620rock]

5. And now Greyhound has recently dropped hundreds of cities...

...from it's routs. It's nuts that we all have to depend on cars or the hassle of flying.

[AndyTiedye]

6. Fund AMTRAK!

We need more trains, not less.

Trains are not only efficient, they are a very nice way to travel
when they are well-maintained.

We can do it here.

[silvershadow]

7. Anyone besides me have a dream of

a nationwide monorail? I would love to see us work on a mag-lev system that is truly nationwide, like our interstate system. The interstate is about 1 mile from my house. Imagine if I could drive one mile from my house, park my car, get on a train, and go to St. Louis, or Seattle, or LA...or just 10 miles down the road to do my shopping. Surely something like this would be utilized and would have to better for the environment than the cars we drive.

[KingM34]

8. I agree with Kunstler, except...

I'm with him about the need for more and better rail, I just wish he didn't always express such disdain for this country. Not only does he think we are doomed, he thinks we deserve to be doomed. I'd like to see a little more optimism.

[depakid]

9. This train goes all the way to Portland and Eugene

And it really is a pleasurable experience. Some friends of mine are riding the cascade down from Seattle this weekend. Forget about parking & traffic- Portland has light rail and streetcars that go all over the city.

Too bad for the rest of the country... especially the South.

http://www.amtrakcascades.com/