Finding peace on a 72-hour train across America
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Just a story about a guy who took the Amtrak train from New York to San Fransisco.
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@taiwan_girl said in Finding peace on a 72-hour train across America:
I've ridden both of those routes (tho the
LateLake Shore Limited was from Boston - it meets the NYC segment in Albany).The LSL is a rather boring ride. Going through Massachusetts is pretty, but rather, um, "same." It's a lot like Wisconsin. Very nicely wooded, but after about an hour, you just pick up your book. After leaving Albany, at about 4 PM, dinner is served, and you settle in for the night afterward. You wake to the boredom that is northern Indiana. Nothing of interest other than farm field after farm field.
Now, the California Zephyr is different. After leaving Chicago, the high points are crossing the Mississippi river in Burlington Iowa, and then again, after dinner, it gets dark and you settle in to sleep. You awaken in the wide-open prairies of Nebraska and eastern Colorado. I always found that "boring" part to have its charms. The last time I rode the CZ, we stopped in Denver. However, my first ride on it was in 2014 when we headed East from San Francisco. Now THERE'S some serious scenery.
The writers experience is pretty spot-on. At meals, you're seated with strangers. We've had good experiences, weird experiences (like the guy with the mustache so long that he braided it and tied it into a bow under his chin), and "nothing" experiences - where we just ate in silence. The food has always been good. On the LSL, my steak was underdone, but I ate it. When the attendant asked how it was, I told her that it could have been cooked more. She said that I should have told her and she would have taken it back. Good service.
Amtrak's problem is one of philosophy. Many people, like me, consider it like a "cruise on wheels," whereas others, particularly in the northeastern part of the country, consider it basic transportation. Your philosophy of what you are determines what you want to do, and people on both sides of the issue will complain.
