“Trains are wonderful…. To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches, and rivers, in fact, to see life.”
Today is a day to be outside to take in the best of days. I was on the deck to watch the birds while my coffee was brewing. The nuthatches come in waves. The chickadees are quick to arrive, grab a seed and leave. Yesterday I saw a couple of crows and the cardinal pair. I’m glad I bought more seed.
This is a quiet week for me. The only scheduled event is my uke lesson. I won’t know what to do with all the time. I guess I could clean. Better yet, I could read, take a few naps or sit on the deck.
Saturdays have always been sacrosanct to me. When I was a kid, the whole day was mine. In the winter I’d go to the matinee or ice skate or go sledding if we had snow. In the summer, I’d sometimes ride my trusty steed, my bike, and wander the town. I seldom had a destination. Other days I’d walk all over. Sometimes I’d walk the tracks. Trains still came back then. I’d stand close to the tracks, close enough to feel the wind from the train as it raced by me. I’d put a penny on the track hoping the train would smush it. I’d walk the track which ended at the station. Across the street from the station was the turnout where the trains changed direction and headed back. Sometimes I’d head back like the train. I never found the end of those tracks. I remember the station master’s house. His job was to lower the gate and activate the red lights. The train always blasted its horn before the crossing. The house is still there, but now it is just an odd shaped regular house on the side of the tracks.
I love trains. I loved the subway when I was a kid. I’d kneel on the seat and look out the window. Once I took the train to Washington D.C. Ghana, when I lived there, had trains. I used to take the train from Accra to Kumasi. I always went first class which wasn’t expensive. I’d board the first class car and find a compartment. There were four big, comfy chairs in each compartment. Sliding doors closed off the compartments. I always felt a bit like Miss Marple. Those trains are gone now, but Ghana is hoping to bring them back. I wish we would do the same.
Today, in my Africa video, I saw two white men and a Ghanaian wearing a Lakers shirt.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
August 31, 2024 at 4:49 pm
Hi Kat,
Today is partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain. The high today will only reach 91°. Autumn is on the way.
We have completely killed passenger trains in this country. I bought my son a ticket to Washington D.C. on Amtrak and the trip was a disaster. When the train reached West Virginia they couldn’t proceed further because a freight train derailed ahead of them. Amtrak doesn’t own any track and the freight train companies lease them the right of way. The conductor kept telling the stranded passengers that buses were coming to take them to D.C. Instead, after 12 hours of sitting in the station at Huntington, they took the train and the passengers back to Chicago.
I finally bought him a plane ticket from Chicago to Washington. Then I had to argue with Amtrak’s customer service to get a refund. They wanted to give me vouchers instead and not pay for the leg from Ft. Worth to Chicago. I finally said to the agent, “You failed to fulfill your contract of carriage for the entire trip, and owe me the entire fare”. They did refund the money.
This country is too large and there’s too many low cost air carriers for trains to be profitable. Supposedly, there will be a high speed train between Dallas and Houston. It will make the 225 mile trip in 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the Houston terminal won’t be downtown, but located in an old shopping mall in a northern suburb.
September 1, 2024 at 12:15 am
Hi Bob,
We are supposed to get rain Sunday on and off all day. It is supposed to get to 75°. The 70’s seem to be what we’re expecting from now on for a while. That is the start of fall weather.
There are still fine train trips cross the country. The California Zephyr goes from Chicago to San Francisco on a three day trip. I found a series of old mystery novels which take place on the Zephyr which got me interested as the scenery is so wonderfully described.There are also other spectacular trips which take less time. Most of them leave from cities in the mid-west or the west.
You are so right about Amtrak’s problems on the shorter routes. Not owning the track has them competing with freight trains. I would love to take a train to New York or Washington, but the plane is so much faster and more convenient.
I’m amazed you got the whole fare back. You must have been relentless. Good for you!!
Whenever I can in Europe, I travel by train.
September 1, 2024 at 10:35 am
I just kept telling the agent, “You failed to fulfill your contract of carriage”, he must have thought I was a lawyer and would take them to court. 🙂
If you aren’t in a hurry, or have to be somewhere, then the train is not a good choice. Maybe Amtrak should just run tourist trains. Except for the high speed trains that go between Boston and Washington with a stop in New York City, passenger trains in the U.S. is a waste of taxpayer’s money. Obviously, the railroads got out of the passenger business years ago because it’s been unprofitable for years.
High speed rail in Europe makes sense because the distances are shorter. The argument for the Dallas to Houston route is that the train is faster when considering the entire journey. But having Houston putting the terminal in the outskirts instead of downtown defeats the purpose of the train. Additionally, they are having problems getting the right of way because the tracks have to be grade separated along the entire route. You can’t have grade crossings when the trains are traveling over 100 mph. Also, the ranchers and farmers don’t want to sell their land and the private company, who is investing in the project will have to get the State to invoke eminent domain which is very unpopular.
September 1, 2024 at 5:05 pm
There are still commuter trains here which are wonderful for avoiding the notorious Boston traffic jams at rush hours.
I would take the existing tourist trains if I didn’t have the animals to worry about. I’d go across through Canada and back through the US.
I took a train from Denmark which was put on a boat with rails and taken across to the continent. From there the train went across countries to Hook of Holland on the English Channel where I took a boat to England. I had an Irish rail pass and traveled the country. It was even good to get to the airport. I took a train from Helsinki to Leningrad, as it was called back then. Europe has long distance trains in each country. I took them whenever I could.