Travel and Trains and Other Things

Coast-to-Coast Across Canada by Rail … Part Six.

2012-01-25T17:25:00.013-10:00

During lunch, someone at the next table is the first to spot the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies still many miles ahead, but the news prompts an exodus from the dining car as people scurry for a seat in one of the domes.

By 3:00 we’ve reached the mountains and the Canadian begins threading its way through imposing peaks – some with sheer faces of gray rock, others dark green with spruce trees somehow clinging to their flanks. Most of the mountains are topped with snow descending in white streaks toward the valley floor below, then dissolving into icy water that tumbles down into lakes offering mirror images of the peaks above.

Almost everyone in the dome car is snapping pictures through the glass. “I can’t get it all in,” complains a woman. “It’s all too big.”

After a 90-minute stop in Jasper for refueling, the train continues its climb into the Rockies, gliding left then right then left again as it winds along mountain ridges and cuts through rocky passes, in and out of shadows cast by massive mountains, the snow on their peaks now dazzling white in the late afternoon sun.

In another hour, we meet the Fraser River, swirling around boulders and plunging through crevasses as we follow it to the northwest.

Two black bears come into view on the right side of the train, rooting industriously at the base of a dead three stump.

As I enter the dining car for my dinner seating, the steward tells us we’re passing Mount Robson, at not quite 4,000 meters, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Today its obscured in mist, but many of us dutifully reach for our cameras anyway. Conversation over dinner is about the two black bears – who saw them and who didn’t.

The next morning is my last aboard Train # 1 and for almost an hour I’m content to stay in bed, comfortably propped up on an elbow and watching the mountain passes gradually give way to a broad fertile valley.

The day is beautiful – bright sun and clear blue skies over a panorama of tidy farms surrounded by lush green fields. Well behind us now, snow-capped mountains provide a magnificent backdrop.

The Fraser River is alongside again, but very wide now and moving at a gentle pace toward Vancouver and the sea. There are several large lumber mills at the river’s edge. Thousands of huge logs are simply lashed together upstream and floated down to the mills, emerging as lumber that’s stacked, wrapped, loaded onto rail cars and sent back east over these same tracks.

As the train sweeps around a long, graceful curve, the Vancouver skyline appears up ahead. In another hour, we’re in the suburbs and, minutes later, the train stops, then begins rolling slowly backwards into the Vancouver station.

A gentle stop and my transcontinental train journey is over. VIA crews are standing by to service the train for it’s return trip to Toronto this afternoon and, truth be told, if I had the time and if they had the room, I’d be with them. In a heartbeat.

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

Coast to Coast Across Canada by Rail … Part Five

2012-01-22T09:29:00.018-10:00

Evidently freight traffic delays us during the night because we’re behind schedule by almost two hours when we arrive at Sioux Lookout late the next morning. The population here is just 3000, but it’s the largest community we’ve seen since leaving Sudbury, 1200 kilometers behind us.

Throughout the afternoon, the Canadian rocks along at a steady 70 mph across Canada’s vast breadbasket – endless fields of grain, much of which is shipped back east over these same tracks to Quebec, where it’s loaded on ships for Eastern Europe.

The city of Winnipeg comes in the early evening (that’s their wonderful train station up ahead in the photo above) and brings a new complement of car attendants to look after us from here to Vancouver. The dining cars also have new staffs – two cooks, a steward and three servers in each. Because the train is running late, the Toronto crews handled the first two dinner sittings, then seamlessly turned things over to their replacements for the third. Our new steward says cheerfully, “You got to be flexible to work for a railroad.”

My choices for dinner include onion soup followed by pork roast garnished with a glazed onion sauce and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Desert is a delicate apple torte. A very acceptable Canadian sauvignon blanc accompanies the meal and the glorious sunset occurring across the vista ahead – orange giving ‘way to pink, all streaked with wisps of purple.

VIA Rail’s official timetable lists 67 stops for Train # 1, but only eleven are regular ones. The rest are “flag stops” where the train stops only if someone is getting on or off and only on 48 hours notice. One of these is Brandon North, 140 miles or so west of Winnipeg. There’s a station here, but the building is so small it could easily be hauled away on a flatbed truck. The Canadian stops just long enough for a young man in a military uniform to board, leaving a middle-aged couple behind on the platform. The woman dabs at her eyes with a paisley handkerchief; the man’s expression is grim.

Morning finds the Canadian still on the prairie – wheat and horses and cattle and the huge grain elevators, but an occasional oil well has been added to the passing scene.

There’s more wildlife today: deer and antelope, bald eagles, wild geese and even sea gulls, congregating in what appears to be a low spot in the prairie filled with rainwater. We trundle onto a trestle crossing a picturesque little valley. A stream winds away to the south with three beaver dams and lodges clearly visible. Every so often we pass small ranch houses, most with trees planted on several sides to help break the prairie winds.

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine
and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

Coast to Coast Across Canada by Rail ... Part Four

2012-01-19T23:03:00.010-10:00

By mid-afternoon, we’ve entered the vast rocky area above Lake Superior known as the Canadian Shield. This is real wilderness now, a forest of oak, maple, spruce and birch. Fallen trees and saplings bent double from heavy snows have created an impenetrable tangle. Every few minutes we pass a lake, almost every one with a resident loon paddling around on it. There are occasional small frame houses, one with a man filling an inflatable pool in the backyard with a garden hose.

Sharing my table for lunch is a couple from Scotland and we wonder aloud about the people in these little houses. Who are they? What brought them here? How do they make a living? We pass a number of hand-lettered signs for “outfitters,” so at least some are catering to visiting campers, hunters and fishermen.

Back in the observation car, a half dozen people are relaxing with soft drinks. I settle into a seat next to an American couple from North Carolina. He’s a chemistry professor and a model railroad enthusiast who happily describes the elaborate layout that has taken over their garage. “It keeps me occupied,” he says. “And out of my hair,” his wife says emphatically.

Outside, the landscape is more barren now, almost desolate, with trees struggling up out of rocky ground. We are, in fact, in the middle of a large area rich in minerals, the result, scientists say, of a meteor strike millions of years ago.

After a 30-minute stop in Sudbury, the Canadian resumes its journey, swinging more to the west and plunging back in the forest. Wilderness or no, a massive infrastructure is required to keep the trains moving. For instance, every switch along this route is connected to a tank of propane gas fueling burners that ignite automatically to prevent the switches from freezing in the winter.

After an excellent meal in the dining car, I collect my toiletry kit and a towel provided by VIA and walk to the head of the car for a delightful hot shower. My bed is made up in the meantime and I drift off to sleep as the Canadian passes above Lake Superior.

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine
and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

Coast-to-Coast Across Canada by Rail … Part Three

2012-01-15T18:46:00.009-10:00

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

Toronto’s downtown skyline is dominated by towering high-rise office buildings as befits this center of business and banking. With more than 5 million residents, this is Canada’s biggest city and the fifth largest in North America. And, as local folk are quick to tell you, Toronto boasts both a high standard of living and a low crime rate.

The dominant feature here is the freestanding CN Tower, over 550 meters high. On a clear day you can see the far shore of Lake Ontario from an observation deck featuring a glass floor. If you don’t have a fear of heights before you step out onto it, you likely will forever after.

The next morning brings clear blue skies and bright sun, a perfect day to begin the last and longest leg of my trans-continental rail journey, a three-night trip to Vancouver aboard VIA Rail’s premier train, the Canadian, appropriately designated Train #1.

We’re not yet in the peak travel season, but this is nevertheless a very long train: three diesel locomotives pulling 21 cars, including coaches, sleepers, two dining cars and four lounge cars, each topped with the classic sightseeing dome.

Well before our 9:00 departure time, a gaggle of passengers has filled the lower level of the bullet-shaped observation car on the rear of the train and every seat in the upper-level dome is taken.

At 9:15, a woman asks, with a touch of petulance, “When are we going to leave?” Her husband shrugs then, pointing forward, says, “Whenever. At least we know it’ll be in that direction.” Not 30 seconds later, the Canadian starts moving, but it’s backing up. There’s laughter all around, but it’s an effective icebreaker. A minute later we come to a stop and, after a brief pause, the Canadian begins moving forward, clattering its way through a maze of switches and out onto the main line.

Coast-to-Coast Across Canada by Rail -- Part Two

2012-01-11T15:40:00.008-10:00

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

I waken in the morning to a splash of yellow sunlight on the forward wall of my compartment. We’ve crossed above the State of Maine during the night and are now heading southwest toward Montreal. I’m about to leave the Ocean, however, and catch a connecting train to my next stop, Quebec, capital city of Quebec Province.

We follow the broad St. Lawrence River approaching Quebec through suburbs of tidy little houses with steep-sloped roofs. Up ahead, the city is now clearly visible with the distinctive tower of the Chateau Frontenac dominating the skyline.

This city is thoroughly, proudly and defiantly French. First settled by French traders in 1608, it will celebrate its 400th anniversary next year. The British captured Quebec in 1759 and it remained under British control until Canada was formed in 1867.

It’s the only fortified city in North America thanks to the British who built the massive stone Citadel on a bluff more than 100 meters above the St. Lawrence. The ritualistic changing of the guard takes place here every morning at 10 o’clock – a British tradition presented by French Canadians to mostly American tourists.

Two days later I’m off again, heading west on a three-hour train ride to Montreal, the second-largest French-speaking city in the world. The skies are clear and the forest trees are leafing out in the warm sun. Halfway to Montreal we enter dairy country – large farms with herds of black and white Holstein cattle wandering in verdant pastures.

Exactly on time, the train comes to a stop in the Montreal station, which teems with people bustling to and from trains. I’ll only be here overnight, so I spend the balance of the day walking around the old town and along the riverbank, with a stop for lunch at Schwartz’s Delicatessen,a Montreal institution for 75 years. Their famous beef brisket sandwich is a euphoric experience that must have registered on my face because a young man next to me at the counter nods solemnly and says, “Extraordinaire, n’est-ce pas?”

Another day, another train – this one from Montreal to Toronto. The countryside along the way is rural, but the farms are large and prosperous. We pass a picture-postcard horse farm, with a stately main house and several out-buildings. The pastures and paddocks are delineated by pristine white rail fences. Minutes later we flash by an orchard with hundreds of fruit trees – apple or pear – each a giant snowball of white blossoms.

Lake Ontario appears and reappears on our left and seagulls, silhouetted against a mist that shrouds the lake, swoop lazily in and out of the haze.

Coast-to-Coast Across Canada...4,000 Miles by Rail.

2012-01-09T10:09:00.013-10:00

(This story originally ran in International Living magazine and subsequently appeared on the SoGoNow.com web site.)

In the broad protected harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, General Sir William Howe organized the invasion fleet that captured New York City in 1776. During two world wars, convoys of merchant ships loaded with the men and material of war assembled here before setting out for England across the North Atlantic through the terrible gauntlet of German submarines.

This morning, Halifax is also the jumping-off point for a 6,500 kilometer rail journey taking me from Canada’s Atlantic Coast all the way to Vancouver on the shores of the Pacific.

The double glass doors of the Halifax train station swing open and passengers begin moving in small clusters along the platform where VIA Rail’s Train # 15, the Ocean, waits – a dozen cars, in blue and teal livery.

Precisely on time at 12:35 p.m., the train begins to move and my trans-continental train odyssey has officially begun.

An hour later, we’re speeding through wooded countryside, forests of pine and birch interrupted occasionally by small farms. Every few minutes we cross streams running at the top of their banks, swollen from the Spring thaw. Freshly plowed fields have standing water in low spots.

Around 4:00 in the afternoon, under lowering clouds, we cross into New Brunswick Province and run along the shores of Chicnecto Bay. Farther to the south, it empties into the Bay of Fundy, known for tides that can rise and fall as much as eight feet an hour.

When I appear for my 7:00 reservation in the dining car, the steward seats me with a young woman named Veronica. She’s a Montreal native who works for a pharmaceutical company, translating everything from advertising to medical texts from English into French.

Somehow our server instinctively knows to address me in English and Veronica in French, switching languages effortlessly in mid-sentence saying, as she presents me with a menu, “The special tonight is beef stroganoff and (shifting her glance to Veronica) vraiment, il est tres bon.”

When I return to my compartment, I find that the car attendant has lowered my bunk, turned down the bedcovers and plumped up my pillows. A dozen pages into a paperback book, my eyelids close.

(More to come)

Treating the Grandkids to an Amtrak Adventure.

2012-01-04T16:19:00.013-10:00

Mealtime in an Amtrak dining car is almost always a surprise. With family-style seating, you never know who’ll be sharing your table; and in the course of many long-distance train trips I’ve drawn everything from a Japanese doctor specializing in organ transplants to a 300-pound biker in a tank top.

A couple of years ago, I was having breakfast in the Crescent’s diner, en route to Washington, D.C., from New Orleans. I had just ordered breakfast when the steward appeared and seated three youngsters at my table: a brother and sister, plus a cousin – all between 9 and 13 years old.

It took a few minutes, but we finally got a conversation going. All three were from Calhoun, Georgia, and they had boarded the train the night before in Atlanta. They were being treated to an overnight train ride to Washington by their grandmother and were going to visit relatives and tour the Black History Museum. And they were pumped!

That struck a chord: my grandparents had treated me to my first overnight train ride. It was unimaginably exciting and was clearly the start of my love affair with train travel. What kid wouldn't love eating in the dining car and snuggling down into a real bed at night while cities and towns and fields and mountains pass by just outside!

And so, sitting there across from those wonderful kids from Georgia, I resolved to take both of my granddaughters on overnight train rides. The older of the two, Olivia, is nine and lives with her parents in San Diego. She got her ride last April.

Along with her mom, my eldest daughter, we rode Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Los Angeles overnight to Seattle. The trip was a big hit with both girls.

My other granddaughter, Lehua, who lives here on Maui, is not yet 5. But her trip is now tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2013.

She can’t wait.

You know what? Neither can I!

How come it’s Amtrak’s fault that some parents are stupid?

2012-01-02T16:05:00.007-10:00

Anyone who has spent any time in government – especially in a role that offers a chance to develop policy – has acquired a loathing for the person who looks at a brief news report of your effort and says, “Well, that’s a stupid idea!”

And, if pressed to offer his own solution to immigration or nuclear proliferation or Iran, he’ll start by saying, “All you gotta do is …”

Well, you can take it to the bank: there are no simple solutions to complex problems.

Recently, Amtrak has taken a lot of heat for its new policy covering unaccompanied minors.

Old policy: the kids traveling alone couldn’t be under eight years old.

New Policy: Any kid under age 13, must be accompanied by someone at least 18 years old.

This has seemingly brought the Wrath of God down upon Amtrak and much of the criticism has started and ended with: “Well, that’s a stupid idea!”

But there is no simple answer to this issue. Some eight year olds are perfectly capable of traveling alone on a train; others are not. Not even close. Is it right or fair to put the responsibility for looking after an immature eight-year-old on some Amtrak employee … someone who also has to board passengers, help others detrain, and deal with a myriad other distractions throughout a journey of several hundred miles and perhaps a dozen stops?

And, regardless of age, a great deal depends on how well the parents prepare the kids for their solo journey. Pick any Amtrak conductor or car attendant at random and ask them about this problem and they will roll their eyeballs at some of the criminally careless and, yes, stupid parents who have sent their kids off alone on a train trip. And guess who would be the first to scream for a lawyer in the event something did go wrong!

Still, people are mad at Amtrak over the change. Here’s an idea: instead of referring to this as the “Unaccompanied Minor” rule, maybe Amtrak should give it a more accurate title: the “In Case of Stupid Parent” rule.

Americans speak up loud and clear: We want Amtrak! We want more trains!

2012-01-01T09:52:00.005-10:00

More and more Americans are riding trains. And to handle those people, more trains are being added to existing routes.

Two examples: to accommodate increasing passenger demand, more frequency is being added to Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service on the Los Angeles-San Diego run. And additional equipment is being ordered to add capacity to Amtrak’s Cascade trains running between Portland, Oregon, through Eugene to Seattle, Washington. Oh … and, by popular demand, a second daily train is now operating in both directions between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Yet Congress – let’s face it, most of the Republicans in Congress – continues to try to kill Amtrak by slow starvation.

How weird is that? How maddening? How frustrating!

That just means Amtrak continues to struggle and, unfortunately, those struggles affect the service Amtrak is able to provide. Equipment is getting older and it’s hard not to notice the fraying around some of the edges. Breakdowns are occurring … overworked locomotives quit and passengers end up being bussed and inconvenienced.

Still, Amtrak is clearly a travel choice millions of Americans want. More than 30 million of us rode an Amtrak train this past year, yet another record.

And no wonder! Train travel is relaxing. The seats are big and wide and comfortable. You can get up – there’s no seat belt to unhook – and walk around whenever you feel like it. If you’re in a sleeping car, there’s a real bed to sleep in on overnight trips. When you get hungry can wander into the dining car, have a surprisingly good meal, and get to know some of your fellow passengers in the bargain. And, all the while, the United States of America is passing by right outside your window.

It’s costing the U.S. taxpayers about $1.5 billion a year in federal tax dollars to have Amtrak available as a travel choice for you and me. To hear some of those bozos in Washington talk, that subsidy is what’s driving this country into bankruptcy. Oh yeah? Here’s a little perspective, a little reality for you: That billion-and-a-half is almost exactly the same amount the U.S. is giving away every year in foreign aid … just to Egypt!

Here are three New Year’s resolutions for all of us:

Jot a note to our members of Congress and urge more support for Amtrak and for passenger rail.

Join the National Association of Railroad Passengers, a non-profit, non-partisan organization actively promoting more and better and faster trains for the U.S.

And take a long-distance train ride.

Happy New Year everyone. Haole Makahiki Hou!

West Coast to East Coast and Back – by Amtrak

2011-12-27T09:35:00.013-10:00

It’s time to begin thinking about attending the Spring meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers held every year in Washington. In addition to the usual amount of business, these meetings include a Day on the Hill, when we knock on Congressional doors seeking support for rail in general and Amtrak in particular.

Those of us who serve NARP as officers or directors or elected members of the Council of Representatives pay our own expenses when attending these meetings. Happily, because of NARP’s non-profit (501C-3) status, those expenses are tax deductible. I am unashamed to admit that I will use that fact to rationalize yet another cross-country train ride.

My current itinerary, subject to further tinkering, includes flying to Los Angeles and connecting with Amtrak’s Sunset Limited for the two-night trip to New Orleans, where I will make another memorable visit to the D-Day museum, enjoy a couple of superb meals at Irene’s, and spend an evening listening to one of the city’s great jazz bands.

From there I’ll take the City of New Orleans overnight to Chicago, connecting with the Lake Shore Limited to Boston, yet another overnight ride. Of course that will mean attending a couple of Red Sox games at Fenway Park. By happy coincidence, April 20, 2012, will mark the 100th anniversary of the first major league game played in this venerable old ballpark and there will be an appropriate celebration to mark the occasion. I will probably have to pay a scalper three or four times face value to get a ticket to the celebration and game, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

From Boston, I’ll take one of Amtrak’s high-speed Acela’s to Washington for the NARP meetings. Then return to Chicago on the Capital Limited, where – Is there no end to these happy coincidences? – the Red Sox will be in town to play the White Sox. After two ballgames there, I’ll be aboard the California Zephyr en route to the Bay area and my flight back home.

All of this serves to illustrate, I hope, my contention that a long-distance train ride is not just another mode of transportation. Far from it! An overnight train journey is part of your vacation experience, except there is no hotel bill to pay and, assuming you’re riding in an Amtrak sleeping car, no meals to pay for either.

I’m already looking forward to the April trip. And don’t worry: I’ll tell you all how it goes.

Christmas Greetings from Maui!

2011-12-24T16:37:00.001-10:00

Mele Kalikimaka! How's the weather where you are?

Hey! You Can Swap Air Miles for Amtrak Miles!

2011-12-22T10:14:00.007-10:00

UPDATE: Apparently this offer is only good through December 31st. Get cracking!
-----------------------------------------------------
According to the boingboing blog, anyone with frequent flyer mileage on Continental can swap those miles for points in Amtrak's Guest Rewards program. I have no idea how long this opportunity will last, but it would certainly be worth considering.

I'm a member of the Amtrak program, of course, and I love it. For example, 25,000 points will get you a roomette in a sleeping car for a two-night trip no matter which train, no matter what the fare ... just as long as there's a free room for those nights.

This is unlike the airlines who limit the number of seats on every flight to be used for their frequent flier program. When the allocation is gone, that flight is no longer available for mileage. And, of course, they also vary the number of miles you have to pony up depending on how full the flight may be. For example, American Airlines has two flights a day from Maui to Los Angeles. Last time I checked on a specific date in April, they wanted 60,000 miles for the daytime flight and 25,000 miles for the red-eye. And that was for one-way!

So by all means sign up for Amtrak's Guest Rewards program. And, while you're at it, if you're not already a member of NARP*, become one. You'll get a 10-percent discount on all Amtrak rail fares. Just a few trips a year will pay for your membership ... and you'll be helping NARP in their advocacy of more and better and faster trains for the U.S.

*National Association of Railroad Passengers

Which Amtrak train offers the most scenic route?

2011-12-19T17:16:00.007-10:00

That’s probably the question I’m most often asked, and it’s a tough one to answer. Certainly all of the western trains have plenty to offer. But pressed to pick just one, I’ll probably go with the westbound California Zephyr.

Originating in Chicago, the Zephyr departs in the mid afternoon and right about dinnertime, crosses the Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa. Denver is there the next morning right around breakfast and for the rest of the day you’ll be passing through some really glorious areas … first climbing up into the Rockies and under the Continental Divide via the Moffat Tunnel, then following the Colorado River through a whole series of canyons to Glenwood Springs and then Grand Junction.

There’s plenty more to see the next day, too. The Zephyr runs along the Humboldt River which finally just spreads out and disappears into the Nevada desert east of Reno. From there is up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, across Donner Pass (photo above)and down into Sacramento and finally the Bay Area.

Will Chicago to San Francisco on the Zephyr cost more than flying? Of course! But that two-night journey in a sleeping car is much, much more than simply an alternate mode of travel. It’s part of your whole vacation experience. You not only get your transportation, you get all that magnificent scenery and the time to savor it, plus two nights with no hotel bill to pay and – don’t forget this! – your sleeping car fare includes all your dining car meals. For husband and wife in either a roomette or a bedroom, that means a total of twelve meals.

And, folks, you just can’t beat that!

Death on the Tracks – And the Forgotten Victims

2011-12-15T11:22:00.005-10:00

About a dozen years ago, I was on my way to Florida and relaxing with three or four other passengers in the lounge car on Amtrak’s Silver Star. We were just north of Savannah, Georgia, when suddenly I felt the train braking hard. Four or five seconds later, there was a jolt and the train came to a stop. Everyone knew we had just hit something.

The lounge car attendant, a woman of about 40 and obviously a long-time Amtrak employee, said quite dryly, “Well, I sure hope we didn’t kill ‘em.”

I must have looked at her strangely, because she said, “You don’t understand. If we killed the damn fool, we’ll have to sit here and wait for God knows how long until a coroner shows up and tells us what we already know – that he’s dead. But, if he’s still alive, the paramedics will come, haul his sorry ass to a hospital, we’ll be on our way and I’ll be home in time for dinner.”

The more I’ve learned about the continuing tragedy of what are typically referred to as “grade crossing accidents”, the more I can understand what appeared at the time to be a callous and unfeeling attitude from that lounge car attendant.

In truth, the term “accident” is a misnomer. With very rare exceptions, every last one of these incidents is avoidable. Almost always, they involve someone in an all-fired hurry who stupidly ignores the flashing lights and clanging bell and drives around the lowered gates … and into the path of a locomotive.

Sadly, some are suicides but, whatever the cause, these incidents are not only tragic for the families of those killed, but they can have a devastating impact on the forgotten victims – the Amtrak or freight engineers, who see it all coming and know there is not a damn thing they can do to prevent it.

The New York Times recently carried a story about this problem. Very much worth reading.

By, the way ... that incident on the Silver Star? The guy was driving a VW van and the train cut it right in two. The guy was drunk. He was also dead. And we were 2:45 late into Jacksonville.

Maui's Weather - Something for Everyone.

2011-12-11T10:49:00.011-10:00

We’re getting into the time of year on the mainland -– that's how we here in Hawaii refer to the 48 contiguous states -- when friends and relatives start making envious comments about our weather.

Truthfully, we do tend to rub it in a little. When I lived on Oahu, I remember walking down to the beach, usually around the middle of February, and wading out to my knees in the ocean to call my brother in Illinois and inquire solicitously if he had grown tired of winter yet. He always seemed to take it in good humor.

Then I quit work and we moved to Maui.

Maui is different. If you don’t like the weather where you happen to be, there will always be something completely different going on just a few miles away. Something is at work here – the topography, wind patterns, or maybe ancient Hawaiian gods – that creates little micro-climates all over the island.

I took this photograph about twenty minutes ago from our front deck. It’s chilly here in the Ha’iku area -– at least, by our standards -– and the rain is being driven across our pasture at a 45-degree angle by strong gusts of wind. We’ve had a fire going all morning in the little wood-burning stove in the corner of our living room.

Meanwhile, chances are the tourists are lolling on the beach under clear skies and a warm sun over on the far side of West Maui at Kaanapali or Kapalua. That's just an hour's drive from here.

Curious, isn’t it? And quite wonderful, too.

Our Travel Options To Be Pinched Even More.

2011-12-04T12:03:00.018-10:00

Comes now the news – hardly a surprise – that the nation’s airlines are slowly but surely cutting back on short-haul flights. That makes sense, of course, because a modern jet aircraft uses relatively little of that expensive jet fuel sailing along at 35,000 feet. Most of it is consumed on take-off and climbing to cruising altitude. Ergo: short trips = expensive trips.

Last I heard, something like 30-percent of flights in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare involve destinations 400 miles away or less. Think of the environmental benefits if we could drastically reduce the number of short-haul flights in and out of our major airports! And then there's all that imported oil we wouldn't be using.

Well, gee ... as we speak, all over Europe and Asia, high-speed trains are routinely running at speeds of 187 mph and up. I recently rode a Chinese train from Beijing to Shanghai and we topped out at 220 mph. Begging the question: Why can't trains replace all those short-haul airplanes?

A high-speed train could take passengers from Dallas to Austin in an hour and 20 minutes … or from Cleveland to Chicago in just under two hours … or from downtown Chicago to Minneapolis in two hours flat. And in each case, you would leave from downtown and arrive in the center of the city. Try doing that, in those times, by plane! And you can also forget about the $30-$40 cab ride on each end.

So, with airlines in the U.S. cutting back on short-haul flights, we have just one more argument in favor of rail … specifically, high-speed rail.

D’ya think this’ll help convince those anti-rail Republican ideologues in Congress?

Nah.

We Argue About High-Speed Rail in California …

2011-11-30T09:19:00.008-10:00

… and they’re building the damn thing in Uzbekistan! Does anyone else see the irony, not to mention the absurdity, in that?

Uzbekistan Railways has bought two trainsets from the Spanish manufacturer, Talgo, and will put them into service on their first high-speed run (250 km/hr) between Tashkent and Samarkand.

Meanwhile, in the United States of America, we are continuing to hear shrill voices denouncing high-speed rail as “a boondoggle” and a waste of money, and proclaiming that people won’t ride it. Then, of course, they go on to remind us all that America is the greatest country in the world.

And that reminds me of another bit of insufferable arrogance that occurred last May when members of NARP* were visiting Congressional offices on Capitol Hill to urge support for rail and for Amtrak. One of our members was meeting with an aide to a Republican congressman from Alabama and was informing him how the U.S. was falling years behind even third world countries in rail transportation. At that point, the aide interrupted and said to our member, “If you’re going to continue running down America, we have nothing further to discuss.”

See? That’s what we’re up against. No wonder this country is in trouble.

*National Association of Railroad Passengers, a non-partisan, non-profit organization advocating more and better trains for America. Go here to join.

A Clear Message from Small Towns: "Don't Mess with our Amtrak Service!"

2011-11-27T16:00:00.012-10:00

I’ve been struck recently by the growing number of news stories about cities and towns in various parts of the country that are agitating for more or better or even new rail service. But by far the loudest agitation is coming from areas where existing service is threatened for one reason or another.

Take, for example, the possible rerouting of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, which runs daily in both directions between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Most Amtrak trains run on track owned by one of the freight railroads and the Chief operates on track owned and maintained by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The trouble is, stretches of that track in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico are not in great shape. Oh, it’s fine for slower freights, but not so good for Amtrak. And faster trains running over any given stretch of track mean that more maintenance is required. Not unreasonably, BNSF says they’ll be happy to maintain that track to the higher standard as long as someone else pays for it.

Passengers take a break as the Southwest Chief stops in Raton, New Mexico.

But that won’t be cheap. Amtrak figures that it will take something like $94 million the first year to bring the track up to their standards and as much as $11 million every year thereafter to keep it at that level. And that’s a swat for a railroad that’s being kept on near-starvation funding levels by Congress.

The alternative being considered is to reroute the train so it will be traveling over better track that will permit it to sustain higher average speeds. Trouble is, the minute that idea was floated, mayors and town councils of cities along the existing route rose up as one to oppose that option. The last I heard, a meeting of the concerned parties was being scheduled. Could the money be raised if everyone put something in the pot?

But isn’t this interesting: while members of Congress are whining about the paltry subsidy that Amtrak receives every year*, people in three states across small-town America are apparently ready to pony up the money needed to keep the bare-minimum train service they already have.

There’s a message here, dammit! People want trains!

*Amtrak’s annual subsidy has been averaging about $1.5 billion a year. That’s just about exactly how much the U.S. gives away every year in foreign aid … just to Egypt!

Life on Maui: The Important Stuff Comes First.

2011-11-23T09:36:00.014-10:00

I realized this morning that when it comes to the news of the day, my priorities are quite different from most folks … at least if I’m to be judged on the order of the web sites I visit after turning on the computer in the morning.

First up is the Sports Section of the Boston Globe, more specifically, any stories concerning the Boston Red Sox. This is serious stuff: the search for a new manager is nearing a resolution; free agent players are leaving; others may or may not be re-signed; and trades are under discussion.

Next comes breakfast. There is juice from our own oranges, picked five minutes earlier, fresh brewed cappuccino made with coffee grown a dozen miles from here, and a couple of slices of toast. The bread comes from a little hole-in-the-wall bakery a mile down the road.

The morning edition of the Maui News goes nicely with all that and my first news story of choice is whatever carries the by-line of ace staff writer, and daughter, Ilima Loomis.

Then it’s back to the computer to check emails and – finally – a quick review of the news of the day with a very brief stop at CNN, followed by the incredible jumble that is the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s web site, and finally the New York Times, still the gold standard of journalism.

I stretch all that out as far as possible … until 9:30, if I’m lucky. That’s when I am confronted with my to-do list for the day. Usually, it’s thrust in front of my face, blocking my view of the monitor. Today it’s finish washing windows (we have guests coming for the long weekend) and spread horse poop on the pasture.

And I have to get cracking. At 2:00, the Boston Bruins are playing the Buffalo Sabres on TV.

About Dome Cars and Amtrak Food Service and What Not to Do About it.

2011-11-20T11:04:00.016-10:00

Railroad passengers love observation cars! That’s certainly understandable, since a big part of the train travel experience is enjoying the passing scenery, and where better than from a rail car with oversized windows or, better yet, from a glass dome on top of the car.

The most popular place to be on one of Amtrak’s long-distance trains is in the Superliner lounge car, with its large, comfortable seats and the huge windows that extend up beyond the curve of the roofline.

Canada’s premier long-distance train is the Canadian. It’s operated by VIA Rail and runs three days a week in both directions between Toronto and Vancouver on the Pacific coast. During the busy times of the year, that train features as many as three of the classic dome cars and – trust me on this – seats up in that glass bubble are always at a premium.

Way back in it’s early days, when it was having to make do with a fleet of mismatched rail cars collected from the various private railroads, Amtrak obtained a few of those classic old cars. Alas, only one remains. But, as a rare treat, passengers traveling next week on Amtrak’s Wolverine between Detroit and Chicago may find this vintage car as part of their consist.

Again and again for the past 100 or more years, it has been proven that the more pleasant train travel is, the more people will choose to ride. Makes sense, eh? But, and this certainly should be obvious, the reverse is also true: If the train travel experience is allowed to deteriorate, a loss of ridership will inevitably follow.

Notwithstanding that which is clear to you and to me, Representative Jean Schmidt, a Republican Member of Congress from Ohio, has introduced H.R 3362 which would drastically curtail food service on Amtrak trains.

What is not clear are Ms. Schmidt’s motives. Does she simply fail to understand the obvious and inevitable consequences of this measure? Or does she understand very well that fewer riders will mean the need for higher subsidies … which, of course, would further “justify” calls from many of her Republican colleagues to shut down Amtrak’s long-distance trains altogether.

Either way, it’s a terrible idea and shame on her.

Oh, by the way, the most scenic train ride anywhere east of the Mississippi is Amtrak's Cardinal. It passes right through Jean Schmidt’s Congressional district. Go figure!

A Big Plus to Many Amtrak Long-Distance Trains

2011-11-17T12:03:00.006-10:00

For any long-distance trip, especially for family vacations, there are many reasons for taking Amtrak instead of flying or driving. But certainly at or near the top of that list is the opportunity to see new and wondrous parts of this vast country of ours. There is just nothing comparable to the experience of relaxing in a wide comfortable seat as the U.S. of A passes by right outside your window.

For three or four hours out of Denver on the westbound California Zephyr, for instance, you’ll be following the Colorado River all the way to Glenwood Springs. Most of the year, rafters will wave at you as they float along a hundred feet below.

Or you could be on the Cardinal – my favorite train in the Eastern part of the U.S. – as it crosses the Appalachian Trail or snakes its way through the New River Gorge.

And, as the folks on TV are wont to say, “But wait! There’s more!” On those trains, as well as several others passing through other scenic areas, members of the National Park Service and other historical societies board Amtrak trains and provide running commentaries about the history and geography of the areas passing by outside.

What a bonus that is! And it all underscores my argument that families can easily justify to cost of a long-distance train trip by realizing that the rail journey is not simply a means of transportation taking you to where your vacation begins … the train trip is, in fact, a big part of the whole vacation experience. Your Amtrak ticket doesn’t simply cover the actual transportation, but it saves the cost of a hotel room for those nights and, assuming you’re traveling in a sleeping car, it also includes the cost of all your family’s meals, too.

And you can’t beat that with a stick!

People Attacking Amtrak's Long-Distance Trains Mostly Get It Wrong.

2011-11-11T11:41:00.027-10:00

The people who constantly generate anti-Amtrak editorials and op-ed pieces in the media drive me crazy ... especially when they go after Amtrak's long-distance trains. In most cases, they either make unsupportable statements or get their “facts” completely wrong.

The former group reminds me of the line that originally came from Lucy in an old Peanuts comic strip: “If you can’t be right, be wrong at the top of your voice!”

Case in point: the people who immediately and loudly blow off those trains with “Just a big waste of money ... another damn gummint boondoggle!”

See? No further thinking required. Now they can all go back to their football game.

Then there are the people – more often than not the anti-rail members of Congress who should know better – who love to beat up on Amtrak’s long-distance trains. To hear them tell it, U.S. taxpayers are picking up the tab for wealthy seniors who are traveling in subsidized luxury from, for example, Chicago to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief.

The fact is, most of the passengers on all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains are traveling between two mid-points along the route. And they are doing so because there is no alternate means of public transportation or because it’s cheaper to go by train than by air.

The Southwest Chief is Amtrak’s daily train that runs between Chicago and Los Angeles, a trip that takes just over 46 hours. But, on average, 60 percent of the Chief’s passengers are aboard the train for 10 hours or less.

Some may be traveling from Kansas City to Chicago, a total of 437 miles. An Amtrak coach seat for that trip costs $52. Want to fly? Last time I checked, that’ll cost $121.

Or, if you live in Flagstaff, Arizona, and have to travel 350-plus miles to Albuquerque, New Mexico, a ticket on the Chief will cost you $58. If you’d rather fly, the cheapest ticket I could find was $108, and the flight included one stop.

And here’s the punch line to all this: Most of those short-hop, regional airlines get federal subsidies to provide that service! When was the last time you heard one of those rabid anti-subsidy members of Congress complaining about that?

Ironic, eh? Frustrating, too, because many of the people spouting all that nonsense were elected – and are being paid with tax dollars – to know better.

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You can help support more and better trains for America by becoming a member of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Click here to learn how.

Amtrak Passengers Catch a Break, and a Fool Speaks Up

2011-11-07T10:19:00.007-10:00

Papers, Please!

Over the past couple of years, there have been several stories (and –ahem! – blogs) about U.S. Border Patrol people boarding Amtrak trains in the middle of the night and rousting passengers who look as though they might be illegals. Many of the complaints have come from passengers on the Lake Store Limited, the daily Amtrak train running between Chicago and either New York City or Boston.

Mind you, the train never comes within 50 miles or so of the Canadian border, but that’s apparently close enough. Obviously, passengers rousted from sleep in the middle of the night and being asked to produce identification have not been happy about the intrusion. Now comes word that the practice has apparently, and quietly, been stopped.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Mark Twain said it’s better to let people think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Case in point: In today’s Washington Post, columnist Robert Samuelson tells us how to go about cutting the federal budget and, specifically, refers to Amtrak as “non-essential transportation.” I find it astonishing that it’s possible to display such monumental ignorance and ideological bias in just three words.

Here’s an idea: Let’s test his theory by shutting down the entire Amtrak system for three days this week, and giving Samuelson’s home phone number to everyone affected.

Two great ways to save or travel FREE on Amtrak.

2011-11-04T11:00:00.007-10:00

We all look for travel bargains … especially so for those of us living in Hawaii, because traveling anywhere outside of the state means five-hours in a jet … at the very least. I’ve been into the frequent flyer programs of both American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines from Day One and use mileage for many of my out-of-state travels. Of course, once I get to the U.S. mainland, I usually switch to Amtrak.

I’m always surprised to discover that many people are not aware that Amtrak, too, has their version of a frequent flyer program. It’s called Amtrak Guest Rewards and, compared to most of the airline programs, it’s generous and – even better – it’s simple!

As with the airline programs, you earn points for every Amtrak trip and those points can be exchanged for Amtrak travel. And, also like the airlines, Amtrak offers a credit card which earns still more points for every purchase.

But here’s what I like so much about Amtrak Guest Rewards: It takes 25,000 points to book a roomette on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle no matter when you travel and no matter if there’s only one space left on the train for your travel date. Same thing for the two-night trip between Chicago and LA on the Southwest Chief: it’s 25,000 points any day there’s a vacant roomette. And that’s true for all other awards for all other Amtrak trips.

By contrast, the airlines limit the number of seats on any given flight that will be available for frequent flyer miles, and the closer those get to being used up, the more miles the airline will whack you for that seat.
And here’s another way to save on the cost of Amtrak travel: become a member of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. As a NARP member, you’ll get a 10% discount on your rail fare every time you travel. Just a few trips a year will more than pay for your membership and, of course, you’ll be helping to advance the cause of more and better trains, too. You can go here to join. Thanks!

A Story About Ray Kroc, and McDonald’s, and One Insight Into His Success

2011-11-01T17:26:00.018-10:00

There was an article in our local media recently about the 15-acre Kroc Center that's about to open on Oahu. Among other things, it will include a pool, a gym, a theater, an athletic field and a banquet facility. It all comes with a $133 million price tag, most of which has been paid for by the late Joan Kroc, widow of Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonald’s hamburger empire. There’s a Kroc Center in San Diego and others in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and Salem, Oregon. Eventually, there will be some 50 centers around the country, all the result of a $1.6 billion bequest.

You’ve got to sell a helluva lot of hamburgers and fries to give away money like that.

Anyway, the article reminded me of a time when, by sheer chance, I spent 20 minutes sitting on a bus next to Ray Kroc himself. Bear with me now … it’s a bit complicated.

It was in December of 1978 and I had just been named General Manager of the Hawaii Islanders, our local professional baseball team in the Pacific Coast League. At that time, the Islanders were the Triple-A farm team for the San Diego Padres, who provided our players … and Ray Kroc owned the Padres.

My first official duty as the new Islander GM was to attend the baseball Winter Meetings, which were held that year in Orlando, Florida. I flew to San Diego where I joined a lot of other people who either worked for the Padres or for one of the minor league teams connected to the organization. Together, we flew from there to Orlando on – ahem! – the Padre’s private jet.

In Orlando, we all boarded a bus and headed into town to the hotel where the meetings would be starting the next day. I was in a window seat on the bus and who should climb aboard and plunk down in the seat next to me, but Ray Kroc himself. I introduced myself and we chatted as the bus left the airport and headed off into the city.

About ten minutes later, and right in the middle of a sentence, Kroc suddenly pulled himself up and lunged across me, pressing his nose against the bus window. It took me a second, but I realized that we were, at that moment, passing a McDonald’s restaurant … and he was counting the cars in the parking lot!

After a few seconds, he sat down, glared at me and said, “There oughta be more cars there this time of day!” He fished around in his coat pocket for a pen and a small notepad and scribbled a few words on a blank page. Then he muttered, "I gotta call the manager of that store."

And now you know how Ray Kroc sold all those burgers.

Canada's VIA Rail makes a bad – No, strike that – makes a HORRIBLE decision.

2011-10-30T10:01:00.017-10:00

Just over a year ago, I rode a twice-weekly train operated by Canada’s VIA Rail that runs almost 1100 miles due north from Winnipeg to the little town of Churchill on the shores of Hudson Bay. The reason for my journey was to see polar bears in the wild. These magnificent animals gather in the area around this time of year, waiting for the bay to freeze over. They spend the winters out on the ice catching seals, essentially their only source of food. (Yes, I took this photo of a 700 pound bear looking at a potential lunch ... me.)The two-night train ride was a wonderful experience. The scenery gradually changed from rich farmland to dense forests to semi-frozen tundra. And there was the eclectic mix of passengers I met three times a day over meals in the dining car. Many were like me, going to Churchill for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing the polar bears, but most of us were from wildly different backgrounds.

One of the evening meals lasted more than two hours, much of that featuring a fascinating conversation between a Swiss man, living in Toronto and working in the freight forwarding business, and a grizzled farmer from Saskatchewan who raises vast quantities of grain and canola and peas, most of which is shipped to Asia by way of the deep water harbor up ahead of us in Churchill. The fourth tablemate was an extremely attractive Chinese woman who described herself as being “from Montreal, but sometimes Tallahassee.”
Others on the train, mostly traveling in the coaches, were locals -- many what the Canadians refer to as “First Nations people” -- heading for one of the 50 or 60 tiny villages strung out along the train’s route. Several of these folks, in fact, left the train in places without a single building anywhere in sight.

All this is by way of saying that meeting and getting to know all these different and interesting people over a good meal served by friendly staff in the VIA Rail dining car was a wonderful and rewarding experience … in fact and in retrospect, it was almost as rewarding in its own way as seeing those polar bears!

And that’s why I was so damn distressed to read that, in what is being called a cost-cutting move, VIA is laying off all the chefs on those dining cars and will henceforth be offering meals prepared in advance and heated in a microwave before being served. Once again the people wearing the green eyeshades have had their way. This move is short-sighted and will invariably lead to fewer passengers, as Amtrak executives will be more than happy to confirm from their own similar and unhappy experience with this very same issue.

Future tourists will have a disappointing experience in those VIA dining cars, but I really feel for all those local folks, many of whom make that 48-hour journey several times a year. For most of them, VIA Rail is it. There is no Door Number Two because there are no roads linking the major cities to the south with their little towns and villages. And flying is out of the question for either practical or financial reasons.

So bad call, VIA! Shame on the accountants who recommended it, on the executives who approved it, and a pox on the short-sighted, ignorant political ideologues who have been starving the railroad with less-than-bare-minimum subsidies for years, for they are the ones ultimately responsible.

All that said, would I opt for the train again instead of flying on a repeat trip to Churchill? Yes ... but I would remember my first trip and would hate the food.

And would I recommend that rail journey to anyone wanting to see those magnificent bears? Yes, again ... but I would tell them about my first trip and they would hate the food.

Using the anti-Amtrak Argument on Highways.

2011-10-24T12:45:00.012-10:00

Over the past year or so, the Wall Street Journal has turned into a regular critic of rail transportation in general and Amtrak in particular. A recent column took Amtrak to task for not being profitable – of course! – and for needing government subsidies to operate. Essentially, it said the railroad should either break even or be shut down as a failure.

Regular visitors here have often read my response to that argument … that all forms of public transportation are subsidized by government – from the airlines to bike ways and sidewalks – as, indeed, they damn well should be in a modern, civilized society.

I recently came across a wonderful collection of pro-rail writings culled and assembled by Jack Ferry for his internet column, The Observation Car. One suggested that a good way to expose the phony arguments used by the WSJ to attack Amtrak would be to apply that same “logic” in a critique of this country’s Interstate Highway System. What a wonderful and wicked idea! I took some of those thoughts, tweaked and added some of my own, and came up with the following:

Highways – America’s Bottomless Money Pit

WASHINGTON--Despite the fact that a record number of Americans traveled by car last year, it’s time for the federal government to stop subsidizing interstate highways. It was an interesting idea back in the 1950's, but after 60 years and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, the Interstate Highway System has never once turned a profit.

Even with massive taxpayer subsidies, the costs continue to rise. Roads are wearing out, bridges are falling down, and there is no money to fix any of it without huge new infusions of taxpayer dollars. In this era of record deficits, can we really afford to keep pouring billions every year into this failed venture?

The interstate highway system has not only failed to provide any return of investment to American taxpayers, but it is now clear that this government run system will never even earn enough to pay for itself. To cut its losses, the federal government should sell off the interstates to any private entrepreneurs who believe there is a possibility of turning a profit from them.

The time has come to stop throwing good money after bad and bring this failed experiment to an end.

So ... What's good for rail travel should also be good for highways. D’ya think anyone at the Wall Street Journal will get it?

Uh, no … probably not.

Lex Brodie – Doing it the right way for a long time.

2011-10-21T06:29:00.014-10:00

I first arrived in Hawaii on the 1st of May in 1962. It's changed a great deal over the years, of course, but I remember, even then, thinking how truly wonderful this place must have been 25 or 30 years earlier … when the Moana and the Royal Hawaiian were really the only two hotels on Waikiki Beach and it took tourists almost a week to get here by ship from the West Coast.

Lex Brodie was there in those days. He was born on Kauai, but moved to Oahu when he was just a kid. As a young man, Lex gave surfing lessons to tourists and apparently specialized in young females. By his own account, he had an awfully good time for what most of us would consider a well-spent youth.

Child movie star Shirley Temple posed with Waikiki beach boys some time in the 30s. Lex Brodie is the tall one standing behind her and to the left.

Back around 1960, Lex opened a tire store in Honolulu and became a local celebrity because of his TV commercials, every one of which closed with Lex looking into the camera and saying, “Thank you (pause) very much” (emphasis on "very").

There were other tire stores in Honolulu, of course, but for me and most folks, it was unthinkable to buy tires anywhere but at Lex Brodie’s. I pulled in one day to get a slow leak fixed and, while I was waiting, couldn’t help notice that every one of the half-dozen people working there were really hustling about their work. The whole place seemed to be running on fast-forward.

Lex himself was doing some paperwork at an old metal desk sitting on a kind of platform a couple of steps above the main floor. Lex and I belonged to a couple of civic organizations together and I wandered over to say hello. During the conversation, I mentioned his hustling employees and asked how he managed to motivate them. Lex smiled at me. “It’s the ‘No Walls’ theory,” he said. “They can all see me, and I can see all of them.”

Lex was active in a great many community organizations and served for years as an elected member of the Board of Education. But he always loved surfing and for decades, Lex kept a surfboard in a locker at Waikiki Beach. He continued to surf there almost every morning for years … finally giving it up at age 90. I remember a wonderful photo on the wall of his tire store. It showed three generations of Brodies – Lex, his son, Sandy, and a tow-headed grandson – all surfing the same wave off Waikiki … and all three of them grinning happily at the camera.

Lex Brodie turned 97 a week ago, still an inspiration to us all.

Hau`oli la Hanau, Lex. And thank you … very much.

Amtrak’s Amazing Ten-Year Record … In Spite of Weather and the GOP.

2011-10-17T18:42:00.013-10:00

Ten years ago, in 2001, Amtrak, America’s national rail passenger system, carried a total of just over 21 million passengers.

Almost every year since then, Republicans in the White House and in Congress have done their best to reduce Amtrak’s annual subsidy, several times to the point that, had their budgets passed, it would likely have caused the railroad to shut down. Even in “good times”, Amtrak has had to get along on what has essentially been bare-bones funding.

As a result, ordering of new equipment had to be postponed, new routes couldn't be added, the existing rail cars and locomotives are getting older and wearing out, and of course there are more breakdowns and delays.

This past Spring and Summer, because of unprecedented flooding and other weather-related problems, Amtrak was forced to cancel literally hundreds of trains running through and across the mid-west.

Heading west out of Denver, Amtrak's California Zephyr follows the Colorado River for well over 100 miles through the Rocky Mountains en route to Glenwood Springs and, ultimately, the Bay Area in California.

And yet, as of September 30th, Amtrak has reported an all-time ridership record: 30.2 million passengers for the previous twelve months.

Just imagine what could be done if our national passenger rail system had been given an adequate amount of funding over these same ten years: more trains running with more and newer equipment over some new and expanded routes.

Even so, the message is crystal clear: Americans want trains.

But House Republicans are still doing their best to gut Amtrak -- even kill it altogether -- with their current budget proposal. Their underwear is in knots because Amtrak averages about $1.5 billion a year in federal subsidies.

Here’s a little tidbit to put that into perspective for you: a billion-and-a-half dollars is almost exactly the amount of foreign aid we send every year … just to Egypt!

Seems to me House Republicans ought to understand that keeping the transportation mode of choice for 30.2 million Americans is worth at least as much as that.

Amtrak and Transit: Big Winners in Los Angeles

2011-10-15T16:31:00.004-10:00

LOS ANGELES – The two days of meetings here of the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) have concluded and, as always, it was time well spent. NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that advocates more and better trains for the U.S. and I serve on the governing body, the elected Council of Representatives.

Also as always during these meetings, we had a chance to see some of the local rail transportation facilities in our host city. Several things struck me as impressive … even amazing.

We toured Amtrak’s state-of-the-art repair and maintenance facility here – brand-new and built with stimulus funds. Both short- and long-haul trains are inspected, cleaned, and necessary repairs done by crews working two shifts.

Two things struck me during our tour. First, becoming aware for the first time that in all the years before this facility opened, Amtrak workers had to do their work out in the open … in blazing sun (it was 102 degrees Thursday afternoon during our tour) and in the rain. And, second, realizing once again just how complex a passenger rail operation is … from inspecting every wheel on every car to fixing a jammed bedroom door to washing all the windows to restocking the right number of steaks and canned sodas and clean sheets … and on and on. It’s truly an amazing process.

We also heard about the huge strides public transportation has taken throughout Los Angeles county over the past 20 years. Back in the late 80s, the citizens of LA voted to tax themselves another half-percent, with the proceeds dedicated to public transportation, and today there is light rail, heavy rail, coordinated bus operations covering hundreds of miles of track with millions of people are using the system every week. And this, remember, is the Home of the Car Culture in the U.S.

Still there are strident voices opposing rail projects everywhere. Those naysayers need to be made to answer two simple questions: First, if transit is a proven a success in Los Angeles, why do you think it will fail here? And how do you plan to move people in and out of the city when your population increases by 20-25 percent over the next 30 years?

Hmmm?

I Wish They Would at Least Fight Fair!

2011-10-11T10:59:00.010-10:00

The battle continues non-stop between those of us who advocate more and better trains and the folks who are anti-Amtrak and anti-rail. But – dammit! – I do wish the other side would stop distorting their figures and misrepresenting their facts. It makes it hard to engage in serious discussions that should be helping people make up their minds. Instead, they deliberately muddy an already complex social issue.

First, there’s the recent story originating with Bloomberg and then circulating throughout the internet media about improvements to the Northeast Corridor. Someone at Bloomberg took the cost of improving a 24-mile stretch of track in New Jersey, divided that by the improved running time over the entire Washington-to-New York route, and came up with a wonderfully sensational headline: The cost to taxpayers for shaving 1:40 off the running time for those trains was $4.5 million a second. You can imagine the outrage that stirred up! Of course, the real benefit will be to several hundred passengers, on board dozens of trains running every day, every week, every year, on into the future. And let’s not forget all the jobs those track improvements will provide. Ah, but what’s all that compared to coming up with a cheap-shot headline to generate snickers from all the shallow-thinkers!

Ticketing and waiting area for Amtrak passengers in the present-day Atlanta station. Trans arrive and depart on a lower level.

Then there’s Randall Utt, who cranks out endless anti-Amtrak op-ed pieces on behalf of the Libertarian-funded Heritage Foundation. His most recent effort is a column that appeared the other day in Atlanta’s daily newspaper, the Constitution Journal. In it, he attacks the plan to build a new Amtrak station for that city as – of course! – a waste of tax dollars. He cites a 16 percent increase in Amtrak passenger traffic and says it’s wasteful to spend $38 million dollars to accommodate just 40 people a day.

See what he’s done? He’s not counting the 308 Amtrak passengers a day who are already using that station. He’s also not counting increased ridership in the future. Utt makes it sound as though just a handful of people would use that new station, but right now, today, the new station facility would serve something like 130,000 people a year. And – oh, yes – Utt also conveniently leaves out the fact that commuter trains will also use the new station.

C’mon, guys … fight fair! Of course, you won’t have much of an argument if you do.

One way to handle the “Big 4-0”.

2011-10-09T12:22:00.007-10:00

Cycle To The Sun is a once-a-year bicycle race here on Maui that draws entrants from all over the world. It starts at the little town of Paia (elevation: sea level) and finishes at the rim of Haleakala* crater (elevation: 10,023 feet). Start to finish, it's 36 miles and up hill pretty much every inch of the way. Whenever I take visiting friends and relatives up to the rim of the crater, we almost always pass a dozen or so hardy people laboring up what is billed as “the longest, steepest, paved road on Earth.” Most are training for the big race, which is held in August.

For several weeks, my son-in-law, Pete, has been training on his bicycle, too … taking longer and longer segments of that punishing route in each session. Pete turned 40 yesterday and had resolved that it would be a good, symbolic day for him to attempt the entire route. To his everlasting credit, he did it. (That's Pete in the photo above.) His time was 5:01, which computes to an average of 7.2 mph.

As he was catching his breath up at the top, accepting well-deserved congratulations and a bit of champagne from a group of friends, another rider puffed up the hill and stopped next to him.

Pete: "Good job, man!"

Guy: "Thanks."

Pete: "What was your time?"

Guy: "3:08."

Pete: "Oh."

But make no mistake: the 3:08 time means that guy is really in the “elite” category of riders. The best time among all Maui residents in this year’s race was 3:19.

Pete's my hero today.

* “House of the Sun” in Hawaiian.

Remembering Burma Shave Signs: The Best Advertising Campaign Ever.

2011-10-06T11:32:00.012-10:00

When you grow up in Connecticut, you are heartily sick of winter by the time Spring Vacation finally rolls around. Back in the late 40s or very early 50s, that was when a visit to my grandparents in Fort Myers, Florida, sounded awfully good. We took the train a few times, but at least twice we did it by car.

In those days, a trip like that was an ordeal. There were no interstate highways and whatever route you chose, it necessarily took you right through the heart of every city and town along the way. It was about 1400 miles altogether and almost all of it was on ordinary two-lane roads. On one of those memorable journeys, my brother, Pete, probably 6 or 7 at the time, became carsick just south of New Haven. We had covered 40 miles since leaving home.

Keeping three kids occupied on a trip like that and under those conditions was a challenge. There were word games and “spotting” games … as in “Let’s see who will be the first to spot a white horse!” Before long, my father would issue another challenge: “Let’s see who can go the longest time without saying anything!”

If anything saved those interminable car trips, it was the Burma Shave signs … five small signs spaced out at the side of the road, one every hundred feet or so. The first four signs –- white lettering on a red background -- would deliver a clever rhyming message, always with a safe-driving theme.

The last one would say, simply …
We’d come up on another set of these signs every hour of so and one of us would read them aloud as we drove past. This has to be one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history. Here are just two examples of the kind of messages that appeared on those signs back in those days (there were literally hundreds):

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW.
Burma Shave

Funny, isn’t it. The Burma Shave signs are what I remember most about those long trips down to Fort Myers. That and, “Let’s see who can spot the first palm tree!”

It's Way Past Time to Reconsider Our Priorities.

2011-10-04T10:16:00.015-10:00

Guam is a colorful and interesting island far out in the Western Pacific. There’s a lot to see and do there, especially if you’re of an age to be interested in World War Two history. There was a great deal of bloody fighting on Guam. Today, it’s quite a lovely, very tropical island and it attracts a good number of tourists, many from Japan.

But there are no birds on Guam.

The culprit is the brown tree snake. It has no natural enemies and reproduces prolifically. And, as the name implies, it climbs trees and eats birds’ eggs ... all the birds' eggs.

That’s not all the trouble this terrible pest causes. The damn snakes also climb utility poles, slither from one wire to another and … ZZZAPP! There are power outages every couple of days occurring all over the island. The snakes are only mildly poisonous, but can deliver a painful bite nevertheless and often find their way into houses where kids and babies are bitten.

We have a great many birds in Hawaii, many quite beautiful and unique to these islands. There is constant concern that the brown tree snake will find its way here from Guam … hidden away in the wheel well of a jet plane or in a container after being offloaded from a freighter.

For years, the federal government has provided money to pay for some additional agricultural inspectors whose primary job is to inspect planes and ships coming from Guam, making sure no stowaway brown tree snakes get to Hawaii.

As part of their cost-cutting effort, Republicans in Congress have recommended cutting those funds -- the money being used to pay those few extra inspectors -- as wasteful and unnecessary.

I guess it’s all question of priorities, isn’t it. Well, in this case, Republican priorities suck!

No Breaks for Passengers … Except in China, Where They Break Your Head.

2011-09-30T11:02:00.010-10:00

Airlines continue to find ways to squeeze more money out of passengers … or just to make it more difficult for us to be sure we’re getting the lowest possible fare.

You are no longer able to find any American Airlines flights on Orbitz, for example. If you’re going to or through Atlanta and are looking for cheapest fares on CheapOAir.com, you won’t see any Delta flights listed, and Atlanta is Delta’s main hub. And Southwest has refused to list any of its flights on any web site but its own.

And, speaking of Southwest, they are running television commercials ad nauseum trashing other airlines for charging fees for checked bags and claiming that “bags fly free on Southwest”. Well, yeah ... unless, of course, your bag is bigger and heavier than Southwest thinks it ought to be. Then they'll charge you a fee just like all the other airlines.

But, as much as we all complain about the way US airlines are treating us, it could always be worse. Take, for example, the case of a middle-aged male passenger on a Chinese train operating in Jiangxi Province. According to news reports, the man apparently became involved in trying to break-up a dispute involving another passenger and, for his trouble, was beaten so badly by members of the train crew that he died. I wonder if his next-of-kin got a refund for the cost of his ticket.

Passenger: “Uh, conductor … ?”

Conductor: “When you call me that, smile!”

Here It Is: My Biggest Complaint with Amtrak.

2011-09-27T17:45:00.015-10:00

I love to travel by train and use every possible excuse to do so. Unlike air travel, you’ll find that almost everyone on board a train is enjoying the experience. Well … OK … I will concede that those of us who usually ride in the privacy and comfort of a sleeping car may be enjoying ourselves a tad more than folks traveling in coach.

That said, it is true that there are times when things go wrong during a rail journey. Usually, that means a train is delayed, which can happen for any number of reasons. In fact, I’ve heard it said that the most commonly asked question on an Amtrak train is, “Why are we stopped?” *

And that brings me to what is my biggest gripe with Amtrak: conductors who do not keep passengers informed when there are problems and delays. I’m prepared for those things -- after all, I’m on the train in the first place because I’m not in a hurry -- but not knowing why we’re sitting on a siding somewhere in the middle of Montana drives me bonkers.

All a conductor has to do is reach for the PA system and say, “Folks, we’re stopped here on a siding because we’re waiting for a westbound freight train. It should be here in 10 to 15 minutes and we’ll be on our way again as soon as it comes through.”

Really, now … how hard is that?

*Insider Tip: If you're on a long-distance train that has stopped for no apparent reason, take a look out of both sides of the train. If you don’t see a second track out there, chances are you have caught up to a slower freight train and are waiting for it to reach and turn into a siding. If there is another track out there, your train is probably on a siding and waiting for a train that’s coming from the other direction.

The One Question They Never Answer.

2011-09-25T10:26:00.005-10:00

Doing battle with the anti-Amtrak, anti-rail people is frustrating. They never offer solutions. They just go bonkers at the idea of tax dollars being used to subsidize Amtrak.

Of course, the Highway Trust Fund, which is where money from the federal gas tax goes, only covers half the cost of building roads; all the rest of the highway construction is paid for – subsidized! – directly with tax dollars. Why don’t we ever hear a peep about that?

And, as I have noted here numerous times before, state and municipal governments subsidize the airlines by building and maintaining airports; the federal government chips in by paying for the air traffic control system.

Furthermore, I guarantee that wherever you live your local bus or metro system is heavily subsidized. If it weren’t, fares would have to be doubled overnight … at least!

But here’s the question the anti-rail people never want to deal with:

With the U.S. population projected to increase 13 percent by 2025, how are they planning to move all those people? By building more roads?

In urban areas, the high cost of buying the land for right-of-way, of relocating utilities, and of evening work restrictions, means that every lane of new highway can cost anywhere from $17 to $76 million dollars per mile. In other words, a six-lane elevated highway running ten miles through an urban area could cost from one to five billion dollars … and the interchanges are extra.

And, finally, remember that a single track on a rail line has a carrying capacity 20 times that of a lane of highway.

Unfortunately, facts and logic and thoughtful discourse will not change the minds of the anti-Amtrak ideologues. But the least we can do is refuse to let them off the hook. We have to keep asking how they plan to move another 40 million Americans.

News of Passenger Rail from Here and There

2011-09-22T22:43:00.011-10:00

Through the magic of Google Search, I try to keep track of news about passenger trains from here and there and there’s no end to the news stories that pop up on a daily basis and ranging from the tragic to the absurd.

For example, in Turlock, California, a guy driving a truck and trailer, both loaded with tomatoes, drove onto the tracks and stopped with the trailer remaining in the path of an Amtrak train. Bam! No one was seriously hurt although a few people on the train, no doubt after consultation with their lawyers, reported minor injuries. The truck driver is apparently OK … well, physically, anyway.

Then there’s the incident of a train in India carrying 1500 people that somehow managed to travel 600 miles in the wrong direction before railroad officials noticed. The real miracle is that there wasn’t a horrific collision during the five hours that the train was rumbling along where it had no business being.

And, while it’s important to talk about the continuing misguided efforts by House Republicans in particular to gut funding for Amtrak, there are a number of heartening example where cooler and wiser heads have prevailed and actual albeit modest progress is being made.

The State of Connecticut will be spending $30 million to increase frequency of trains running between New Haven and Springfield, Massachusetts. And in the Midwest, a bit over 200 miles of Union Pacific track between Chicago and St. Louis has been upgraded. Testing of trains running at 110 miles per hour will take place next year and the timetable calls for Amtrak's Lincoln Service trains to run at those speeds bginning in 2014. The bottom line: People want more and better train service!

How the Love Affair with Train Travel Began

2011-09-20T17:53:00.012-10:00

When I was a youngster back in the late 40's and early 50's, our family would take an annual train trip from our home in Connecticut to either St. Louis or Florida, where grandparents would be waiting. Back then, believe it or not, the train was the only practical way to travel over a distance of more than 100 miles or so.

Our rail journeys began at the Hartford railroad station. We would be catching a New Haven Railroad train either south to New York, where we would change to one of the Florida trains, or north to Springfield, Massachusetts, to catch a train coming out of Boston and heading for St. Louis.

For an 8 or 9-year-old boy, those train rides were great adventures. I would impatiently crane my neck for the first glimpse of the train. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but finally, a rasping monotone would blare out over the public address system: "Your attention, please. Now arriving on Track Two . . ."

The platform came alive with that announcement: baggage carts rattling past, last-minute passengers running up the stairs from the waiting room, mothers anxiously corralling their kids.

Then, there it was! A black steam locomotive bearing down on us, even appearing to accelerate as it loomed larger and larger. It was always so much bigger than I had remembered. And noisier, although the locomotive's bell, clang-clanging slightly out of rhythm, was somehow clearly heard above the din as the train rumbled past and came to a stop.

A train ride is still a great adventure for me and it’s still the very best way to see this great country and to meet interesting people. Even after all these years, I'm always anxious to board, always sorry to get off. My next rail “fix” is coming up in mid-October. I’ll be in Los Angeles for a meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and, when the meeting conclude, I’ll again be taking Amtrak’s Coast Starlight overnight to Seattle. Reports to follow here, of course.

A Few More Thoughts About Russia and Siberia

2011-09-18T16:11:00.007-10:00

Start to finish, there were a lot of surprises on this journey and there are a lot of little mental images that keep popping up. Some – not nearly enough, but some – I managed to photograph at the time. Here are a few, along with the impressions that remain.

First, the traffic congestion in Moscow rivals anything in any U.S. city, with the number of cars growing far faster than streets can be widened and added to accommodate them. And speaking of avenues in Moscow – they’re called prospeckts – they are often six or eight lanes in each direction, with cars whizzing along at breakneck speeds and changing lanes impulsively as openings occur. Pedestrian crosswalks are a real adventure!

Infrastructure leaves a great deal to be desired. This photo was taken in the main parking lot facing the train station in Irkutsk. Throughout Russia and Siberia, one has the constant feeling of being in a construction zone. There are small piles of broken bits of concrete, barricades in place, perhaps a piece of equipment parked off to the side. But most of the time there is no apparent work going on.

The signs are in the Cyrillic alphabet and do give you a helpless feeling. I wondered at the time if perhaps it’s a bit like how an illiterate person must constantly feel. But even in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, you turn a corner and there’s something that reminds you of home.

One of the members of our group used a wheelchair and was constantly confronted with daunting obstacles. One of us carried the chair while he gamely grabbed his cane and labored up the stone stairways and, usually, back down again at the end of each particular sightseeing experience. For all the touring we did, I can only remember once or twice when ramps were available.

Finally, I was interested to learn that the soil across most of Siberia is not very fertile. Case in point, there are millions upon millions of birch trees, but they never grow to more than 15 or 20 feet in height before withering and finally dying from lack of nutrition. Most of Siberia’s prodigious wealth comes from what’s under the surface – oil and a huge variety of minerals.

Still, Siberia was by far the most surprising place of the entire journey ... nothing like what I expected ... so very much more.

A Close Call ... Or how I almost spent 10 days learning Korean and eating kimchee.

2011-09-16T10:34:00.006-10:00

If there’s one basic travel rule I have preached and tried to follow over the years, it’s to establish a routine … and stick to it no matter what! The specifics of the routine itself don’t matter so much; it’s whatever works best for you. But when you get distracted or start deviating from that routine, you’re asking for trouble.

To prove my point, let me tell you how I lost my passport in the Seoul Airport. Yes, I really did!

I was going through a security check after arriving on my Korean Airlines flight from Shanghai, but became distracted by a impatient, non-English-speaking uniformed guard. I had already given him my passport, but he kept demanding a boarding pass for my continuing flight. I didn't have one because I'd be getting it from the Hawaiian Airlines counter before boarding my flight to Honolulu, but I finally dug out my stub from the Shanghai-Seoul boarding pass and that seemed to satisfy him. By then, however, I was painfully aware that I had been holding up a long line of passengers. And I forgot to get my passport back.

I wandered around the airport for a while, changed my Chinese money and some euros back into U.S. dollars, and had a bite to eat. When I got to the gate where my Hawaiian Airlines flight would be boarding -- it was in a completely different terminal -- I found a comfortable out-of-the-way seat and read for a couple of hours.

With less then two hours to go before boarding, something made me reach for my passport where I always keep it: in a special zippered slot in my small carry-on bag. It wasn’t there. I quickly went through my pockets. Nothing. Next I carefully went through my bag, removing all the contents and checking every little compartment. I can tell you that when I fully realized that my passport was missing, it was a very, very bad feeling. After all, I was a "transit" passenger with no Korean visa, of course, and could easily see myself sleeping on hard plastic airport seats for a week while some clerk in the local U.S. Embassy put through the paperwork for a replacement.

Trying to remain calm, I went to the nearest Information desk and explained my problem to a very nice, very professional woman. She spent the next ten minutes making phone calls, did a lot of chattering in Korean, slowly and carefully pronouncing then spelling my name. Then, abruptly and triumphantly, she announced that the Main Security Office was holding my passport. Ten minutes later, a young man in a black suit -- there was a wire coming out of his shirt collar and a black button in his ear -- literally came jogging up and handed over my precious passport. I must say they were very efficient and very matter-of-fact about it all, but it had been a very tense 20 minutes for me. I had made a stupid rookie mistake and was damn lucky that it all turned out well.

So when you travel next, remember to stick to your routine and – most important -- do as I say, and not as I did in the Seoul airport.

Leaving Shanghai: Short, Sweet and Fast!

2011-09-14T16:14:00.013-10:00

In hindsight, I didn’t allow enough time for Shanghai. There is just too much to see and, understandably, visitors are taken by the incredible, even breathtaking architecture of the soaring, modern skyscrapers in the Financial District.

Given more time, however, I would have liked to seen more of the traditional old parts of the city that are still around. My cousin, Steve Grace, has written an absolutely marvelous book about this city, titled simply and appropriately, Shanghai, and he spends a lot of time exploring these old parts of the city and the unique and traditional lifestyle of the people living there.

This is an exact scale model of almost the entire downtown Shanghai area. Clearly, the city government has focused a great deal of time, effort and money on urban planning and redevelopment. They have done miraculous things in a very short time. Of course, they have a huge advantage … no NIMBYs to slow things down. Typically, people living in older neighborhoods will simply be served notice that their block has been scheduled for redevelopment and they have three weeks to get out. (Not to worry, though … the government has a brand new 500-square-foot apartment on the 40th floor of a high-rise tower reserved for you. It comes with a washing machine and a dryer. You’ll love it.)

The final rail link in my itinerary was the shortest, but also the fastest: the magnetic levitation (maglev) train that carries passengers from downtown Shanghai to Pudong International Airport. It’s a 20-mile trip that takes just seven minutes. The top speed I noted on the way out to Pudong, according to the digital display in the front of each car, was 431 km/h, or 268 miles per hour.

Given my very limited understanding of the maglev technology – using the opposing force of huge magnets to lift the train off the track and propel it forward – I was expecting an almost silent and very smooth ride. It was neither. It produced what is best described as a rumbling sound that was, in fact, noisier than the high-speed train I took from Beijing to Shanghai. And the ride was rough enough so that I had to grip a seatback to stand up when we were moving at top speed.

Still, at least for an advocate of more and better trains, it’s a thing of beauty. And without doubt, it’s a technology with tremendous potential. For me, it was a fitting conclusion to my rail travels that started a month earlier in London.

The final stretch of my ‘round-the-world journey would all be by air: first from Shanghai to Seoul on Korean Airlines, then home in two hops – eight-plus hours from Seoul to Honolulu and the 22-minute hop from Honolulu back home to Maui – both on Hawaiian Airlines.

But there was still time for one final, brief and very scary adventure.

Ride a bicycle? Now there’s a bulls-eye on YOUR back!

2011-09-13T08:42:00.004-10:00

Whenever I run into one of the knee-jerk conservative ideologues who goes bonkers at the very idea of a federal subsidy for Amtrak, my standard response is, “But in a modern civilized society, all public transportation is subsidized, from the airlines to bike lanes and sidewalks." (In fact, see previous post!)

Well, now one of the chief crazies, United States Senator Tom Coburn, Republican from Oklahoma, is proposing that we eliminate federal monies used to build bike paths and sidewalks. Yes … really!

Just when you think we may have finally hit bottom, some damn fool like Coburn starts digging again.

Uh-oh! The Inmates Are Loose in the Asylum Again!

2011-09-11T10:32:00.004-10:00

Sorry to interrupt my trip narrative, but I must report that House Republicans in Congress have recommended a budget reducing Amtrak’s annual subsidy to a level that would, in effect, ultimately force the railroad shutting down.

The root of this idiocy is the Republican ideological obsession with the whole issue of a federal subsidy for Amtrak. Eye balls start spinning in their sockets and all objective, rational thought disappears.

I’ve written about this before, but let me mention just three quick points regarding the federal subsidy for Amtrak:

First, all forms of public transportation are subsidized, from the airlines to bike lanes. If the GOP is so damn set against subsidies, they should demand that the airlines start paying for the air traffic control system.

Second, Amtrak generates about 80% of its operating costs from fares and other income, which is a better record than any other national rail passenger system anywhere in the world.

Finally, and to put the issue into some kind of rational perspective, over the years Amtrak's annual subsidy from the federal government has been around $1.5 billion, in return for which we have a national rail system that carries 30 million Americans every year. As it happens, $1.5 billion is just about exactly the amount the U.S. gives in foreign aid every year ... to Egypt!

We can only hope that this proposed budget will be amended and Amtrak will once again end up with a bare-bones budget … enough to continue operations, but short of what is needed to properly maintain equipment and certainly not enough to improve let alone increase service to meet a still-growing demand.

Please take a moment, go to the NARP web site, and use the link provided to send a message to your member of Congress asking for continued support of this country’s national passenger rail system. And, if you’re not already a member of NARP, please consider joining.

Thanks!

Day 30: Shanghai - the Past, the Present, and the Future.

2011-09-09T10:53:00.012-10:00

Government and politics in China are centered in Beijing, but Shanghai is the heart of business and commercial activities. That was apparent right away when I stepped off the high-speed train and once again found myself in the middle of a huge, new train station.

Shanghai is a city of striking contrasts. For instance, there are a number of classic old buildings, most from the early 1900s, that were built by the French or the British or the Germans, all early colonizers of this city.

But turn 180 degrees and there, right across the Yangtze river, are some of the more spectacular examples of dramatic modern architecture you’ll find anywhere in the world. That building with the rectangular opening at the top is the 1614-foot tall Shanghai World Financial Center, a mixed-use structure that contains office space, shopping malls and, from the 79th to the 93rd floors, the Park Hyatt Hotel. By the way, and no doubt to the dismay of the building’s architect and owners, it’s universally referred to as “the bottle opener” by the locals.

Next, if you turn around again and walk a few blocks past the main thoroughfare, you’ll find yourself in one of the many older parts of town, still looking like it has for a great many years – charming, comfortable, and moving at a pace that seems to be much more leisurely than the rest of the city.

My guide, Jean Liu, led me around a corner, down an alley and through a side door into a noisy, crowded market where, even in the middle of the afternoon, local people were shopping for that night’s dinner.

I had expected bustling markets and skyscrapers in Shanghai, with lots of people hurrying here and there. I did not expect to find tranquil parks, beautifully designed and meticulously maintained.

Back across the river and away from the financial district, with all its big-name chain hotels and office towers and international conglomerates is the real heart of this city of some 23 million … stores and shops and businesses of every kind, with taxis, delivery vans and vehicles of every possible type stopping, starting, honking and zipping about, usually at breakneck speeds. It only takes a few hours to realize that this has to be one of the most vibrant cities in the world … and most definitely worth another visit.

Next: A very short, very fast maglev train ride.

Day 30: A High-Speed Ride from Beijing to Shanghai

2011-09-07T21:28:00.009-10:00

I tried, but there is absolutely no way one photo can begin to convey the immensity of the new Beijing South train station which, I was told, is the largest in all of Asia. The best I can do is show you the photo I took of an artist’s drawing to scale of this amazing building.

Sleek high-speed trains use this station and, in fact, their newest high-speed line linking Beijing and Shanghai had its inaugural run at the very end of this past June. But there are many other trains coming and going here … carrying commuters and people traveling between this capital city and southern provinces at more conventional speeds.

Here’s a shot of the electronic board providing departure information. Note that it lists a total of 34 trains that were scheduled to leave Beijing for a variety of destinations in just over a four-hour period.

The newest, fastest Chinese trains have pretty much the same streamlined aerodynamic design typical of high-speed equipment in Europe. These trains are rated for 350 km/h (218 mph), but are being limited to top speeds of 300 (187 mph) for the time being. There is a digital read-out at the front of every car and the highest speed I noted during the 4-plus hour ride to Shanghai was 304 (189 mph). For the record, the ride was quite smooth and pleasantly quiet.

This photo was taken from the train about 20 minutes after leaving Beijing South station. It seemed like an exceptionally smoggy day, although it could also have been that we were passing through an area containing a lot of industry.

It’s obvious to even the most casual tourist that the Chinese government has two main priorities: feeding and housing people. There are massive high-rise apartment buildings going up everywhere and, from where this shot was taken all the way to Shanghai, every square foot of tillable land was being used for growing vegetables, including a great deal of corn. (I’m not sure why, but that surprised me.), And, unfortunately, it’s equally clear that environmental concerns are at or very near the bottom of their list of priorities.

Next: Shanghai … Another Big WOW!

Day 29: A Visit to the Really, Really Great Wall.

2011-09-05T12:14:00.018-10:00

According to our guide, the Great Wall of China is the Number One tourist attraction in this country … and I believe it. After the heat and the pressing crowds of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, we all were a bit put off at the thought of coping with more and even bigger crowds. Not to worry, we were assured: we’re going to a section of The Wall that is farther out of town, but will be less crowded.

That was the good news. The bad news? Getting there meant slogging through more than 90 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Thankfully, there was A/C, but it just cooled the smog before sucking it into our lumbering bus. Our guide remained unfailingly cheerful, however, assuring us that we had missed morning rush hour, but then noting apologetically that we would probably be in the middle of the heavy going-home traffic on our way back.

Finally, there it was. Climbing a steep slope, swinging on upwards past one of the watch towers, and continuing through the haze and over a distant ridge out of sight. Just these few miles of wall are nothing short of astonishing, but try to imagine: when finished and intact, it stretched for some 4,000 miles! (By the way, it is not true that the Great Wall is visible from outer space.)

This is one of a dozen or more very ancient cannon that are positioned along several stretches of The Wall here, all aimed at the valley below. This would have been a marginal photo until a little girl hopped up and struck a feisty pose for her father … and instantly turned it into an interesting shot in several different ways.

This photo was taken about halfway up to the top of this stretch of The Wall and I will tell you without any apologies that I was lucky to get this far. As I sat there huffing and puffing, I had fun imagining a Chinese non-com back in the 14th century summoning one of his soldiers and barking an order:

“Qang! Run up there and tell Lao that dinner will be at 7:00 tonight, not 6:30. Hop to it!”

As I was sitting and catching my breath in one of those little niches in the wall, this Chinese woman with a little boy about four-years-old rushed up to me and thrust him onto my lap … frantically gesturing that she wanted to take a photo of me holding her child. I was happy to oblige – actually, too surprised not to – the photo was taken, and the little boy scurried back to his mother.

But now, a queue of parents and babies began forming and, before I knew what was happening, there were more kids on my lap and more photos taken. I felt like a department store Santa working at fast-forward!

Finally, I was able to wave them off, break away and head back down The Wall and into some shade. Later I asked our guide about the experience. He laughed and said that those people were probably from one of the outer provinces where they rarely if ever see a white face and they wanted a photo of the strange-looking man they had seen during their visit to the Big City.

I’m flattered … I think.

Day 28: Cheek by Jowl in the Forbidden City.

2011-09-03T02:34:00.013-10:00

If you’re fortunate enough to visit Beijing, by all means plan to see the Forbidden City, home to 14 Ming emperors and 10 more from the Qing Dynasty. Like Tiananmen Square, it’s big, almost 180 acres in all. That means there will be a great deal of walking. And it’s not all flat. There are flights of stone steps. Lots of them.

The Forbidden City dates back to the very early 1400s and wasn’t opened to visitors in 1925, almost 15 years after the last emperor was overthrown. But for all those years when emperors were in residence, the Chinese were serious about protecting them. There is a 30-foot wall around the entire area. And a moat – 50-plus feet wide and six feet deep.

Expect crowds if you go … big crowds. It was just over 90 degrees on the day I was there and by the time our tour of the place ended, I was very tired and more than ready for a cold beer. Looking at these photos now, I’m sure that the constant press of all those people for several hours contributed to the fatigue we all felt. Our guide estimated the crowd that day at 40,000. But, he said, it’s often twice that or even more on big holidays. Wow!

There are dozens of these huge copper and iron vats located throughout the Forbidden City, the oldest ones dating all the way back to the late 1400s. The buildings, even the emperors’ quarters, were built of wood and the vats were kept filled with water used to fight fires. And there were fires, ultimately reducing the entire complex to a mere 8700 rooms, down from the original 9,999. (Nine, you see, was considered a lucky number.) By the way, charcoal fires were built around the bases of these vats in winter to keep the water from freezing. Amazing what you can do with no limit to the money or manpower at your disposal, eh?

I mentioned earlier that the Chinese guide for our group carried a small transmitter and microphone and that each of us heard his narration and comments through a little receiver and ear bud we’d been given. Indeed, most tour groups used that excellent system. There were other groups, however, that got their information from tour guides screeching through little bullhorns and any ear-bud narration was obliterated when these obnoxious people came within 100 feet. With a repressive government able to do any damn thing it wants, cracking down on these devilish devices would be an excellent place to start.

We entered the Forbidden City through the South Gate and headed straight ahead: up long flights of stone stairs, through crowded passageways, into courtyards, down other stairs, out onto huge open areas, up still more stairs and through decorative arches -- plodding on and on and on. By the time it came in sight, the North Gate wasn’t just another interesting structure, it was a goal. Our finish line! Hot, tired and seriously in need of cold beer, we staggered through the gate desperately looking for our big, beautiful air-conditioned bus.

But it was not to be … at least not yet. Instead, we found ourselves in the Imperial Gardens, quite a beautiful area mercifully shaded by very large trees and, truthfully, a very nice way to decompress from the press of crowds and the heat within those 30-foot walls behind us.

Bottom line: The Forbidden City absolutely must be on your list of places to see in Beijing. And the very best advice I can give you is to make it the only place you visit on that day. Most especially if you happen to be there on one of the big Chinese holidays! Take your time ... bring bottled water ... and (I'm quoting our guide here) keep one hand on your wallet. But go!

Next: The Great Wall.

Day 27: An Eye-Opening Incident in Beijing

2011-08-30T20:18:00.021-10:00

The Chinese understand rail and how trains can move people – a lot of people – quickly and efficiently. We arrived in Beijing at a grand old rail station with some 30 trains appearing on the constantly-changing departure board, all scheduled to depart at varying times in just the next 120 minutes.

First order of business: a visit to Tiananmen Square which, days later in Shanghai, was described to me by a local Chinese as “the political epicenter of China”.

At one end of this vast area is the mausoleum for Mao Zedong – he is always referred to as “Chairman Mao” in China, never simply as “Mao” – and this is the line of people waiting to enter that building. I have no idea how many were standing there, but our guide estimated it would be a two-hour wait from this point … and, he emphasized, this was a slow day with less-than-normal crowds.

I should add here that each of us had been given a small radio receiver with an ear piece. Our guide carried a small transmitter and could describe what we were seeing in a normal voice that we could easily hear through this device.

It was at this point, as our group had briefly stopped to reassemble, that I asked our guide where exactly in the square was this famous photograph taken showing the one man standing in front of a tank during the 1989 protest demonstrations.

A stricken look came over the guide’s face. Finally, after staring off into space for several seconds – the guide said, with lengthy pauses between every word, “ Well … you see … China … is … a very … special … place.” There followed a very awkward silence for several seconds, then the guide nodded carefully in the direction of a man standing 30-40 feet away from our group and holding something up to his ear.

Finally, when the man turned and started walking away, I snapped this photo of him. Our guide – obviously still very uncomfortable – muttered the words “secret police” under his or her breath. Clearly, the concern was that this man had been eavesdropping on what was being said to our group. (I am obviously making an effort to obscure the identity of our guide and would like to add here for the record that at no time did our guide say one derogatory word about the Chinese government.)

Gee .. I wonder why!

And that said, I will now acknowledge that there are video cameras mounted in and around most public areas in U.S cities – Times Square in New York, for example – as well as most other major cities around the world. Nevertheless, I could not escape the uncomfortable feeling -- on this particular day, in this particular location and following this incident -- that these cameras were primarily there for reasons other than public safety.

Setting all that aside, however, Tiananmen Square is a must-see for anyone visiting Beijing. It is impressive for it’s size alone, with the national museum on one side, a massive building where the government meets on the other and Mao’s mausoleum dominating the far end. There are the usual and expected heroic monuments to the workers and, of course, always the huge crowds.

Next: A visit to the not-very Forbidden City.

Day 25-26: Through the Gobi Desert to China

2011-08-29T12:47:00.014-10:00

So far, Mongolia has been the biggest surprise of this journey, perhaps even the highlight. And without question, the most exhilarating experience in Mongolia occurred when we attended a performance by the Mongolian National Orchestra.

There were a few western instruments in the back rows, but almost all of the musicians were performing on traditional stringed instruments and what we would call “woodwinds”. There were also several instruments very much like the cimbalom featured in Hungarian music. In particular, there was a solo performed on an instrument fashioned from a long, curved cattle horn which produced a lovely sound much like a clarinet. The orchestra performed very traditional Mongolian music and other pieces in a style more familiar to the western ear. Either way, it was an unexpected and almost breathtaking experience.

When I awoke early the next morning, the train had stopped for refueling and watering at a way station in the middle of the Gobi desert. (Technically, that’s a redundancy since “gobi” translates as “desert” in the Mongolian language.) There was time to get off and slog around out there … tough going in the soft sand that varied anywhere from one to 8-10 inches deep.

But it was easy going for camels. A Mongolian entrepreneur showed up by the train and, before we departed, was offering camel rides to a few of the passengers. Later, after resuming our run toward the Chinese border, I was able to get photos as we passed several small herds of camels.

Way back several weeks ago, when my train from Berlin to Moscow crossed into Russia, the trucks (or “bogies” as they are called in Europe) had to be changed to accommodate the wider Russian gauge. Here, just inside China, the passengers were switched instead. We were transferred, bag and baggage from our private Russian train (on the right) to a Chinese train that would take us on the overnight run to Beijing.

I am unable to resist adding here that each sleeping car on the Chinese train was staffed by two young female attendants, who were just as sweet and cute and nice as they could possibly be, notwithstanding the fact that their entire English vocabulary apparently consisted of “Good morning!” and “Good night”. Any other attempt at conversation produce and enthusiastic and, I have no doubt, quite genuine, “Welcome to China!”

Next: B is for Beijing … and for BIG!

Day 22-24: Across Mongolia.

2011-08-25T11:00:00.015-10:00

Notes and impressions from my recent rail journey -- from London to Germany, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia on to China -- now continues. Sorry for the interruption.
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Mongolia has been another great surprise. Ulan Bator is a modern city, with apartment buildings, parks, cultural activities, and – at least as far as we could tell – universally friendly people. Of course, this comes from the perspective of someone from Hawaii where all outdoor advertising is banned, but I was struck, by the constant visual assault of signs and billboards that really give the city a tawdry look. How bad is it?

Well, the main entrance of our hotel in Ulan Bator is just behind that big tour bus. I'd say a billboard that big on the front of the hotel is just a bit over the top, wouldn’t you?

Our last day in Mongolia, we were driven to a National Park for a fascinating look at the lives of Mongolian nomads. They live in yurts – just one round room with fabric stretched over a wood frame – but pack everything up and move three or four time a year to provide more or better grazing for their cattle, horses, camels and sometimes sheep and goats as well.

Once inside the park, we stopped for a look at a herd of yaks ambling across a valley below us on their way to a small river. Great big shaggy beasts.

Just a couple of hours later, we had the unusual experience of being invited into the home of a Mongolian family where we were each given a small bowl of their beverage of choice: fermented mare’s milk. According to Timor, our guide, it would be unthinkable to decline and protocol required at least a small sip. I did my bit for international relations and was prepared for the worst, but it was not as bad as I expected. Think warm skim milk with a bite.

And here’s how a mare is milked: To start the flow, her foal is brought up to nuzzle, then is pulled back and a second person does the actual milking … but it takes three to tango: the foal and two Mongolians.

There was also an archery demonstration, with two men firing arrows at a bright red target not more that a foot square and probably 200 feet away. I didn’t keep count, but they scored hits at least 3 times out of five arrows.

The next morning, we continued on our train to the Mongolian-Chinese border, then transferred to a Chinese train for the overnight ride to Beijing. Next time: A very interesting incident in Tiananmen Square.

CENSORED in China!

2011-08-19T18:39:00.000-10:00

Many of you may have read of the recent dispute between Google and the Chinese government. I'm not 100 percent clear on the details, but it had to do with the Chinese government not wanting their people to have unfettered access to information via the Google search engine.

It never occurred to me that I would ever be affected by that dispute, but I use the Google format for my blog and it turns out that I am unable to access their blogger web site from here in Beijing. I presume the same will be true when I get to Shanghai. (This post has been accomplished by means of an email to my daughter.)

Unless things change -- I've tried again this morning without success -- it looks like I will be unable to do any more posting until I get back to Maui on the 24th. In the meantime, let's take a moment to count our blessings.

Jim Loomis

Day 19-21: A Few Impressions of Siberia

2011-08-15T22:27:00.012-10:00

We have seen only a small part of Siberia, a narrow slice running west to east from Kazan through Nowosibirsk and Irkutsk to Mongolia. In the process, our train has covered just under 6,000 kilometers.

My first and most overpowering impression seems to be universally shared with the rest of the group: Siberia is nothing like we expected. It’s big, of course, and the cities we have visited are separated by vast stretches of forests briefly interrupted by tiny villages whizzing by every hour or so.

But those cities, most of which we have never heard of before, are modern metropolises in every way, many of them with well over a million inhabitants. There are metro systems, six- and eight-lane boulevards, flashy hotels, apartment and townhouse complexes, and shopping centers teeming with customers, most chatting on cell phones or busily texting as they go. And it’s all going on literally in the middle of Siberia. Who knew?? Here’s a quick example from just two days ago.

This is the Opera-Ballet Theater in Ulan Ude, a city of some 400,000 people which lies less than 300 miles from the Mongolian border. (Everyone who has ever heard of Ulan Ude raise your hands.) The building was recently re-opened after several years of extensive renovation. It’s a magnificent structure located just off the main square and we were all invited to a special performance featuring local singers and dancers – some clearly Caucasian, others Asian and Mongolian – performing works by Puccini, Tsaichovsky, Bizet and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Again: Who knew??

That said, not everything is coming up roses here. Most ordinary people have to work very hard and are just getting by. The effects from the collapse of Communism are sill being felt: factories that employed thousands of people producing helicopters or cars or dishwashers upon direction from Moscow have struggled and often closed down when left to sink or swim in this scary new world of free enterprise.

There are plush, spacious apartment buildings – this one is in the city of Krasnoyarsk – but they are far beyond the means of average working people. Who lives there? Government officials, managers of what factories are still operating, and business entrepreneurs, universally described here by our local English-speaking tour guides as “merchants”.

Ordinary people, especially those who live in the countryside, have quite a different existence. Small houses, most with outhouses, family garden plots, dirt roads and most living a great distance from any city of any real size. This one is bigger and better than most.

And, of course, our diverse group hasn't even scratched the surface. Several of us have agreed: All we can do is look, listen, take photos of what seems unusual or interesting to us, and come home with stories of this vast, surprising, multi-cultural, multi-faceted place. Because we now know that Siberia is nothing like what most people imagine. And it certainly isn't the end of the world. In fact, it could well be at least a part of the beginning of a whole new one.

Day 13-18: Train from Moscow to Irkutsk in Siberia.

2011-08-13T04:24:00.011-10:00

Apologies going in. It’s been a week since the last post and I have just spent an hour downloading over 200 photos into the laptop (after weeding out an embarrassing number of dark, blurred, badly-framed, totally uninteresting or otherwise unworthy shots). It’s 10:30 p.m. here in Irkutsk and the relentless people running this train have us out of here at 9:00 tomorrow morning. This will be rushed.

Tonight I’m going to focus pretty much on the train. It is operated by the Lernidee company of Germany which has provided the multi-lingual tour guides, and the on-board crew which, including car attendants and dining car staff, is all Russian. English is limited to a handful of words, but nevertheless it’s all working.

It’s a big train. There is a baggage car, a couple of crew cars, and what seems to be a supply car for bottled water, linens, towels, dining car supplies, etc. There are no less than three “restaurant cars” and that leaves 14 sleeping cars for a contingent of passengers that are divided into three groups: English Speaking, Spanish Speaking and German Speaking.

My cabin, which I occupy in solitary splendor, is reasonably spacious. The seats turn into beds at night, which means they are quite narrow. It was a minor problem the first night; none at all since. There is a knob cleverly concealed in the fancy trim above the window that controls what they call “the radio”. It's a public address system which, on the precise dot of 7:00 every morning, pours out rousing Russian songs. (Is there another kind?) I have ratcheted the knob full left and can barely hear it now. But it lifted me right off the bed that first morning.

The meals are … well … OK. There are several courses, most of which can be readily identified, but often include booby traps. Yesterday’s lunch began with a cabbage and beet salad – in a kind of slaw presentation – but which also contained small pieces of herring. I do not care for most fish, especially “fishy” fish, and herring is now all alone in undisputed possession of first place on my Most-Disliked-Fish list. The main entrées vary, but are usually pork, chicken or fish.

Both at lunch and dinner, we can count on cabbage in at least two different forms … that is, first in a salad and then showing up again minutes later in a soup. There are potatoes, of course, usually boiled, and probably carrots, also in the salad and repeating in the soup. The chefs do a pretty good job of varying the soup base, however: it’ll be beef today, chicken tomorrow and something else (but neither beef nor chicken) the next day. Oh … and someone back there has a very heavy hand with the dill … on everything but desert.

All that said, and allowing for me having a bit of fun with this, the meals are certainly nutritious, well prepared and, while perhaps not to the typical American taste, are perfectly fine. Further, they are dished up by a very professional, very efficient and ever-smiling pair of Russian servers, especially a delightful young woman named, of course, Svetlana.

We are off again tomorrow, and it will be another several days before I again have internet access. I will do my best.

Day 12 – Moscow By Night

2011-08-07T10:37:00.003-10:00

This will be my last post for at least a few days. We will be checking out of this hotel early in the morning for a day that will include a tour of the city, the highlight of which will be a visit to the Kremlin. Toward the end of the afternoon, we’ll be delivered to our special train and begin the rail journey through Siberia and Mongolia to Beijing.

However, because it’s unclear at the moment when I will next have access to the internet, it’s therefore equally unclear how soon my next post will appear here. I’ll do my best, of course.

In the meantime, our tour group met for the first time over dinner this evening. It’s billed as an English-speaking tour, and that’s true enough, but so far I have met Danes, Germans, Swedes, an Australian woman, and I spent dinner tonight chatting with a very interesting Norwegian couple. The wife was an exchange student for a year at a college in Pennsylvania which explains her near-flawless American-English.

After dinner – there was free champagne, by the way – we all piled into a bus and were driven to one of the amazing metro stops. Moscow is famous for its metro stations, each of which is spotlessly clean and of a different, elaborate and quite extraordinary design.
After a two-stop ride, we came up from about 150 feet below ground and, turning a corner, stepped out onto Red Square.

And there it all was: St. Basil’s cathedral, the massive Kremlin wall and, immediately in front of it, Lenin’s tomb. Maybe it’s my age or my interest in history or that I grew up during the Cold War, but I confess that I stood there and gawked for several minutes. And I said, quite out loud, “It’s really me … and I’m actually standing in Red Square.” It was, as we say in Hawaii, a “chicken skin” moment.

OK … more to come as soon as I can manage it.

A Memorial: The Siege of Leningrad

2011-08-06T16:52:00.015-10:00

It has been just one day since I left the extraordinary city of St. Petersburg and, at the moment, I feel as though I’m on information overload. Much of what I saw and heard has blurred.

What will never blur, however, is the memory of my visit to the memorial built to honor the people of Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was called in those days, who lived and died during the German siege of their city in World War Two.

(Wrong time of day for good photographs, but please click to enlarge and they will improve.)

In the end, more than a million people died from the shelling and bombing and, I'm sorry to say, from slow, agonizing and unrelenting starvation. I was shocked to learn that St. Petersburg has the sad distinction of being home to the largest mass grave in Europe, in which are the remains of 500,000 men, women and children.

Translation: YOUR HEROIC DEEDS LENINGRAD

The siege lasted 900 days, through hot summers and winters of paralyzing cold and the suffering, with no end in sight, is beyond our capacity to understand. But the people of this magnificent city refused to submit, and that spirit is captured in this memorial. It is impossible not to be deeply moved.

OK, OK … An Apology to Russian Railways

2011-08-06T05:42:00.002-10:00

In a post three days ago, I estimated that the Sapsan, the Russian “high-speed” train I took from Moscow to St. Petersburg, had a top speed of only 80-90 mph. On my return trip to Moscow today on the same train, I was able to see the digital message board at the front of the car from my seat. There were two or three stretches where our speed was shown hovering at or just under 200 kilometers per hour, or 124 mph. More than I thought, but still well below the 300 kpm (187 mph) that both the Eurostar and the Thalys trains routinely sustain. Most of the time today, the posted speed was 140 kph (89 mph). But never mind … how do I say mea culpa in Russian?

Day 11 – The Gardens of Peter the Great

2011-08-05T16:15:00.034-10:00

It’s worth learning about Peter the Great. Time and available space does not permit much about him here, except to say that he was clearly an extraordinary figure … and not just in the 18th century.

Today my guide, Natalya, took me to the Grand Palace at Peterhof, located about 30 miles outside of St. Petersburg. It’s called the “Russian Versailles” and no wonder. Plans made and construction begun under Peter, but he died in 1725 and the palace was completed by his daughter, Elizabeth, in the 1740s.

Big, eh? (Best to click on these photos to enlarge them.)Sorry, it was backlit at the time and nothing I could do about that, but get the idea? Actually, you don’t, because there is more to this magnificent building to the right of where I was standing, and behind me …

… and this was over there to the left. How’s that for a Big Wow! It certainly helps to explain the popularity of this place and on a quite beautiful summer day, there were certainly crowds coming to tour the palace. Serious crowds!

A nightmare, you say? For these folks, perhaps, but not for me. I was in the care of Natalya German-Tsarkova, who discretely flashed her guide’s license, murmured into the ear of watchful docents, and led me around the mobs and under the ropes and into the palace.

For this post, however, I will skip over descriptions and photos of this palace, except to say it is opulent, magnificent and there are treasures to behold in room after room. But the beautiful day drew us to the palace gardens and, again, the size and scope is almost more than can be absorbed. But today, we're going to see the gardens!

This is the canal constructed so guests to the palace could sail right up to the grand buildings from the ocean (in the distance), there to be escorted into the royal presence.

These gardens cover an area of four hectares – almost 10 acres – and include more than 100 fountains surrounded by paths, formal gardens, wooded areas, statuary and, today, musicians performing classical music on vibraphones and marimbas. Sound strange? No, it was perfect!

And, finally, here’s a view looking back at one of the buildings – not the main palace – from a small portion of the park at the very beginning of the grand canal that features the main and most impressive fountain. How’s this for a visiting guest’s first impression!

Bottom line: St. Petersburg is a must-see experience. And, when you come, connect with Natalya. It will make all the difference.

Next … back to Moscow and then the private train all the way to Beijing. Wow!

Day 10 – Saint Petersburg and The Hermitage

2011-08-04T09:05:00.013-10:00

It’s late as I sit down to write this, and I’m at the end of a long but quite extraordinary day … my first touring Saint Petersburg. Much of what I saw was simply too big for the camera.

My extraordinary guide, Natasha German-Tsarkova, met me this morning in the courtyard of the charming Hotel Helvetia. And I am ashamed to say that much of what I was told earlier today by has by now become jumbled … what with all the Alexanders and Nicholases and Peters and Catherines, some of whom are 1sts and 2nds and ever 3rds. So with that as an apology, here are a few of the photos from today’s excursion.

St. Isaac’s cathedral took forty years to build and was completed in 1858. The inside is massive and can accommodate 9,000 worshipers.

Saint Petersburg is actually built on several islands and is crisscrossed with canals and rivers that open onto the Baltic Sea.

We spent several hours in the Hermitage, created by Catherine the Great and one of the largest and certainly among the best-known museums in the world. You move from one room to a larger and more magnificent room to another room even larger and even more magnificent. And they are all simply too big for the camera.

Then you enter a smaller room, come across this and discover it’s the work of Michelangelo. Just over there is a DaVinci. Prefer some impressionists? OK, here’s a room with more than a dozen paintings by Matisse. Move to the next room and there you’ll see walls filled with the work or Gaugin. Next it’s Monet or Picasso.

Tomorrow I have another day of touring with our expert guide Natasha. And it won’t be enough. One could spend months in this city and it would still not be enough

Day 9 – The High-Speed Sapsan ... Isn’t.

2011-08-02T23:46:00.013-10:00

Russia’s Sapsan trains linking Moscow and St. Petersburg sure look like high-speed trains – sleek and streamlined inside and out like the French TGV and the Eurostar, but the trip this morning to St. Petersburg was pretty ordinary, with – just my best guess – speeds topping out at 80 or perhaps 90 mph … and most of the time a lot less than that. Certainly, nothing even close to the 187 mph at which the other European high-speed trains run. But, as has been the case on every train I’ve taken so far, this one appeared to be full and the station was bustling with hundreds of people coming and going.
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Now, to finish up on the overnight ride from Berlin to Moscow, here are a few photos, the first of the main train station in Berlin. Click on photo to enlarge.

They’re not all visible in this shot, but there are ten tracks on this lower level, with both commuter and inter-city trains coming and going on one or more tracks every few minutes. At street level and on the middle level, there are lounges where train tickets can be purchased, information windows, shops and more than a dozen restaurants.

In addition to more commuter and inter-city traffic, long-distance trains come and go on six more tracks on the top level and, in fact, that’s my train to Moscow arriving on Track 11. There were six cars in this consist and another eight were added in Brest.

Immediately after being cleared at the Russian border, our train was run into a huge building where each rail car is raised by four powerful jacks so the wheel assemblies (we call them trucks; the term bogies is used in Europe) can be replaced by those that fit the wider Russian gauge. The entire process took less than an hour for all six cars. It was a very interesting process, even at 4:30 in the morning.

This is Train 443’s restaurant car where I was offered my “no-money” meal (see previous post). For whatever reason, all the windows in the Russian trains are draped and re-draped. I really don’t get that. Isn’t the idea to enjoy the passing scenery?
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At any rate, I am now in St. Petersburg and will be here for some serious sightseeing for the next two days. Then it’s back to Moscow to connect with the private train that will take me all the way to Beijing.

Day 7 and 8 - Berlin to Moscow with You and Me

2011-08-02T08:32:00.003-10:00

A late arrival into Moscow and my choice is either to download photos for this entry or to make it text only and get some dinner before turning in. So … photos must wait.

My sleeping car accommodations on Russian Railway train 443 were really quite nice. I rode in solitary splendor in a spacious room with an equally spacious bath, complete with shower.

The car attendant – a 30ish Russian man – was decked out in a snappy uniform when I boarded in Berlin, complete with military-style billed cap. He spoke no English, however, and that led to some confusion when I tried to find out his name. Somewhere in that process I pointed to me, saying “Jim … me”, then to him, saying “you?” with the unspoken question mark. Unfortunately, I never could figure out his name and he spent most of the trip smiling in my direction and saying “Hallo, Me!”

At 3:55 this morning there was an insistent knock at the door and it was You announcing “Passport Control.” The Bello-Russians had come aboard and were checking papers and transit visas. That took 45 minutes, then the train started rolling again and I drifted off ... only to be awakened less than five minutes later with another “Passport Control!”

This time the Russians, and the process was repeated. My passport went off down the corridor with a huge Russian official and, moments later, a uniformed woman with long blond hair surrounding a grim face appeared in my doorway.

She, too, spoke no English and appeared impatient and frustrated when I smiled and shook my head in response to her questions. Finally she stepped past me, opened the door to the lavatory and peered into the shower stall. Finding no one hiding there, she turned and we actually had a bit of a conversation:

“Alcohol?”

“Nyet.”

“Tourismo?”

“Da.”

With that she nodded, stepped out into the corridor and slammed the door. Welcome to Russia!

This noon, I went to the dining car for lunch and, when I sat down, was presented with two menus by the attendant. He held up the first menu, a simple laminated sheet, and said, “No money.” Then he held up the second menu, a much fatter one, and said quite emphatically, “Money!” Ah-ha! I get it: As a sleeping car passenger, some of my meals are included in the fare!

I pointed to the No-Money menu. He said, “OK” and jabbed his finger at the first item in large, but incomprehensible Cyrillic characters. “Beef,” he said. Then, jabbing his finger at the next item, announced “potato!”

Perfect! I held up my hand and said, “Yes, good. Beef and potato … and beer!” He beamed, no doubt from relief, and said, “OKBeefpotatobeer! Da!”, and bustled of into the tiny kitchen at the front of the car.

Five minutes later he was back with my lunch, which was actually rather good and included some sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side.

Except the beef was actually pork. But what the hell … it’s tourismo and it’s Russia, and I’m a happy camper.

Day 6 – A Sobering Step Back into the Time of the Third Reich.

2011-07-31T09:30:00.029-10:00

Today was the day – my only day, I’m sorry to say – to see a bit of Berlin.

It’s a modern city … tall office buildings, restaurants, shops, clubs, hotels … almost all of contemporary design. Understandable, when you remember that 70% of this city had been reduced to rubble by April of 1945 and the end of World War II.

The infamous Third Reich of Nazi Germany was the focus of my day today as I joined a walking tour of some remaining sites from that era.

Our first stop was one of the few buildings to survive the massive bombings and, for me, it was the most moving moment of the day. The building includes the office used by Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who planted the bomb that almost killed Hitler in June of 1944. (You may remember the movie, Valkyrie, in which Tom Cruise played von Stauffenberg.)

The building is entered through this courtyard, which is where von Stauffenberg and several of his co-conspirators were summarily executed. By the way, Valkyrie was filmed here on location and museum staff were given final approval of the script to ensure accuracy.

We also visited the place where Hitler's underground bunker was located and where he committed suicide. It is now -- by design -- a non-descript, very ordinary parking lot with no structure of any sort that could possibly be used by neo-Nazis as a shrine to glorify Hitler.

The tour ended at an empty city block that is -- also by design -- wall-to-wall gravel. This is where the infamous Gestapo headquarters was located. A museum on one corner of the parcel provides a history of the abuses -- arrests, interrogations, torture and murders –- committed by the Nazis all over Europe as well as in Germany itself.

It was all pretty sobering, but it is heartening that the Germans themselves have confronted this part of their past. In fact, our guide noted that the public schools are required by law to provide detailed instruction about the Nazi era twice: once at the elementary level and again during high school.

And, just to end on a much lighter note, regular visitors here will know that I am a devoted follower of the Boston Red Sox. (Note my cap in the small photo.) When I arrived at the meeting place for the tour, I was startled to see that the tour guide was wearing a New York Yankee cap. I soon discovered, however, that he’s from Scotland, the cap was a gift, and the only thing he knows about baseball is that the Red Sox and Yankees are “true and mortal enemies”.

Tomorrow: the overnight train to Moscow.

Day 5 – Train, Train and Train Again.

2011-07-30T11:24:00.012-10:00

Today was my opportunity to experience three different trains: first the Eurostar from London through the Chunnel to Brussels, then a high-speed Thalys from Brussels to Cologne, and finally a German ICE (Inter-City Express) from there to Berlin.

I’ve ridden a Eurostar train several years ago and my first impression when stepping on board this morning was that this particular trainset seemed to be a bit threadbare. Nevertheless, it was an excellent trip with the train zooming through the Channel tunnel at 112 miles per hour, then picking up the pace to 187 mph most o the way on into Brussels.

And, since I was comfortably seated in first class, a simple, but very good breakfast was part of the deal. Rather amazing that you are riding along at 187 mph and the attendant is very calmly pouring you a cup of hot coffee.

The Thalys trains are operated by the national railroads of France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and link major cities in those four countries. The equipment is very much like the Eurostar, but more colorful. Still in first class; still very nice … especially when a small bottle of very acceptable white wine is complimentary with lunch.

All the rail stations are pretty spectacular. This is Berlin and that’s my ICE train down there. One common denominator for all the stations I saw today: each had a McDonalds or a Burger King or a Pizza Hut and they all appeared to be busy. I dunno … why do I find that a bit depressing?

OK, so now I’m in Berlin and will see some if this incredible and historic city tomorrow.

Day 4 – Checking Out a Little Corner of London

2011-07-29T03:05:00.007-10:00

St. Pancras station is directly across the street from my hotel here in London. Because my train for Brussels will be leaving at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow, I wandered over there this morning for a leisurely look at the magnificent Victorian building.

The original station dates back to 1868 and – astonishingly – came close to being torn down back in the 1960s. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and after repairs and renovations amounting to some 800 million pounds, the result is a Big Wow!

In addition to the sleek Eurostar trains that depart from here for the continent multiple times a day, this is the main terminus for trains connecting London with other towns and cities in this part of the country. But there are also shops and restaurants and St. Pancras has clearly become a favorite stopping-off place for non-traveling Londoners who lkive and work in this part of the city … very much like the way Union Station in Washington, DC has become a focal point in the city.

Then, tin the afternoon, I spent some time strolling around this general area, which includes rows of tidy apartment buildings, some surrounding a small park with huge old trees providing a leafy canopy for people enjoying this hazy, but bright and sunny day.

Ah well, almost time to move on. Tomorrow I’ll be on three different trains: London to Brussels, Brussels to Cologne, and Cologne to Berlin. Full report to follow.

Day 2 and 3 - Los Angeles to London

2011-07-28T06:28:00.010-10:00

OK, I’ve had my ride on the Boeing 777. The plane itself is big, all right … but it features two-five-two seating in the economy cabin and you really do feel packed in. I still prefer the 767.

That said, the American Airlines flight was fine and, in fact, we had a tailwind for much of the way. At one point during the flight, our ground speed was well over 600 mph and that helped put us into Heathrow about 45 minutes ahead of schedule. But even reduced to 9 hours and 25 minutes, it’s still a damn long flight.

Immediately after zipping through Immigration, I almost literally bumped into a young man doing on-the-spot ticketing for the Heathrow Express, a train that is walking distance from where you pass through Customs and which takes airline passengers directly to Paddington Station in downtown London. It’s a 15 minute ride and for probably half that time the train is traveling at 120 miles-per-hour. Very slick and efficient. A train of some eight or then cars – clean, spacious and comfortable – and they run quite frequently.

I am now comfortably situated in the Megaro Hotel. It’s small, the room is quite compact, but everything I need. More to the point, Saint Pancras Station is less than 100 yards from here and it is from there that I will take the Eurostar through the Chunnel to Brussels early Saturday morning. One more thoughtful convenience arranged by Simon Hodge of Railbookers. By way of thanks,
I shall look forward to bying him a beer tomorrow evening.

Day One – Maui to Los Angeles

2011-07-27T07:59:00.008-10:00

My American Airlines flight from Maui was aboard my least-favorite aircraft: a Boeing 757 … a long narrow aluminum tube, with a center aisle and three seats on either side. Cramped and claustrophobic. Nevertheless, the five hours en route to Los Angeles passed quickly. Happily, I found myself seated to a nice lady from San Diego who was returning home with her family from a Maui vacation. For whatever reason, most long flights are passed in silence, but we had quite a nice chat.

In anticipation of two long flights and quite a few nights on various trains, I downloaded a number of books into my Kindle before leaving home. One is “Men at Work” by George Will, which is a fascinating study of baseball based on what were clearly many hours spent with outstanding individuals representing the five principle aspects of the game: pitching, catching, fielding, hitting and managing. I detest Will’s politics, but this is a superb, very readable work and a must for anyone wanting to explore the endless mysteries of this amazing game.

Today’s flight to London will also be on American … a non-stop red-eye leaving here at 8:00 p.m. and getting to London at 2:20 Thursday afternoon. Start to finish: 10 hours and twenty minutes. It will also be my first flight on board a Boeing 777 and, from everything I’ve heard, I expect it to be a good experience.

I'm Off -- Around the World and Mostly by Train!

2011-07-26T05:41:00.018-10:00

I’m leaving this morning on what will be almost a month-long trip that will literally take me around the world, most of it by train. Internet access en route permitting, I’ll do my best to post photos and brief accounts on my experiences along the way.

I’ll overnight tonight in Los Angeles, then leave the following evening for a long red-eye non-stop flight to London, arriving there Thursday afternoon. By happy coincidence, my niece and her husband will be in London and I’m meeting them that night for dinner.

The following evening, Friday, I will meet for drinks with two people from Railbookers, the firm that handled 95% of the reservations and ticketing for this odyssey and did an absolutely outstanding job in every respect. They will have all my tickets and other confirmations.

Early Saturday morning, I’ll be on the Eurostar to Brussels, comfortably seated in Seat 61, my personal tip-of-the-hat to Mark Smith, the man behind this terrific train travel web site. In Brussels, I’ll connect with another high-speed train to Cologne and from there to Berlin for a two-night stay.

Then it’s on to St. Petersburg and Moscow where I’ll join a group of folks taking a special train to Beijing by way of Irkutsk, Lake Baikal and Ulan Bator. Back on my own again in Beijing, I’ll take China’s newest high speed train south to Shanghai and fly home from there: Korean Airlines to Seoul and my favorite, Hawaiian Airlines, back home.

Finally, a brief commentary: The price of a first class seat on my flight from Los Angeles to London is $11,660 … one way. If the person in that seat is traveling on business, it’s a deductible expense, which means there will be no tax paid by the corporation on the income earned to pay for that ticket. Meanwhile, we’re about to cut benefits for retirees. See anything out of whack with this picture?

Nothing Could Be Finer Than Dinner in the Diner

2011-07-21T19:45:00.018-10:00

Eating in a rolling restaurant is what passengers remember most about their long-distance train trips. During the Golden Age of train travel from the mid-1930s to mid-1950s, competing railroads would vigorously promote the quality of the food served on board. Today, Amtrak’s dining experience is less than gourmet, but still quite good.

Amtrak passengers enjoying a wine tasting in the dining car as the Coast Starlight passes through California's wine producing region near Napa Valley.

On a recent cross-country trip, the dinner menu’s choices for a main course included a flatiron steak, pork shanks, seared salmon and roast chicken. You even can order a split of acceptable wine, usually a choice between two reds or two whites.

They start you with a small salad, and side dishes include a choice among baked or mashed potato or rice. Desert choices include chocolate cake, a really excellent cheesecake or ice cream … Haagen-Dazs, if you please!

Passengers are seated for dinner by reservation. A member of the dining car staff passes through the train every afternoon taking specific reservation times. They start this process in the sleeping cars, which means passengers there usually can decide when they want to eat–another perk that comes with that higher-priced ticket. And, as regular readers know, if you’re traveling in an Amtrak sleeping car, all dining car meals are included in your fare.

Sleeping car passengers on the Coast Starlight relax over a light lunch in the Pacific Parlour Car.

Amtrak dining cars have community seating, meaning you’ll find yourself at a table for four, seated with two or three strangers. By all means, take this opportunity to get to know some of your fellow passengers. It’s an unexpected bonus to the train travel experience and I’ve enjoyed many a meal getting to know some very interesting people.

Bottom line: The dining car experience is one of the best parts of a long-distance train trip … and it happens three times a day!

More About John "Wasting-Time-and-Money" Mica

2011-07-19T17:17:00.005-10:00

Those of you who stop by here on a regular basis know that Congressman John Mica (R-Florida) is not one of my favorite politicians.

For one thing, Mica never talks about Amtrak without sneering that it’s “America’s soviet-style railroad.” And then he beams when his audiences titter politely in response.

Unfortunately, as the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mica is a force to be reckoned with. Some weeks back, he introduced a bill that would take the busy and profitable Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston away from Amtrak and peddle it to private operators.

That certainly caused a stir among folks who understand that the U.S. needs the national passenger rail system Amtrak is now providing. They realized immediately that once the profits generated by the NEC are taken away from Amtrak, the railroad’s annual losses would increase dramatically … and that, in turn, would allow Mica and the rest of the anti-subsidy ideologues to justify Phase Two of their plan: killing off Amtrak altogether.

But wait! Comes now the respected, non-partisan Congressional Research Service with a report that says Mica’s privatization scheme is without doubt unconstitutional!

Think of the time and money that have been wasted on a proposal that isn’t legal and won’t work anyway … just so John Mica can generate some headlines and score political points with his conservative base.

Is it any wonder people are fed up and have lost faith in our political leaders?

A Travel Horror Story Comes With a Big Price Tag

2011-07-16T07:19:00.015-10:00

When you travel, things can go wrong. Stuff happens, and when it does we just have to deal with it the best we can.

But here’s a tale of woe that still has me shaking my head at the cold-hearted, just-plain-dumb treatment given a friend of mine and his wife by Air France.

Every year, for the past six years, my friends have swapped homes with someone in France. And on each of those occasions, they have flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles where they connected with a non-stop Air France flight to Paris. They are also "silver status" members of the Air France frequent flyer program.

A couple of months ago they left Hawaii for their most recent French get-away. After their Air France flight landed at Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris, they went on from there to where they were staying near Dijon.

Two days later, while coming down a flight of stairs in a Dijon shopping mall, the woman slipped on a broken tile and fell, breaking one leg in two places and severely spraining the other ankle. After surgery and ten days in a French hospital, she was still in pain, but ready to undertake the long flight back home to Hawaii.

To prevent potentially deadly blood clots from forming, her physician here in Hawaii provided a letter insisting that both of her legs needed to be elevated for the two long flights, especially for the 10-plus hour flight from Paris to Los Angeles. That meant they had to fly first class.

Here comes the sock in the eye.

Air France refused to discount either of the first class fares, even under these unfortunate circumstances.

But the airline also refused to give them credit for the cost of their economy class ticket … so that was something like $1200 down the drain.

And – here comes the insult-to-injury part – Air France also charged both of them a $150 change fee … even after sticking them for their unused economy class tickets!

Finally, when they wheeled the dear lady onto the Air France flight, they discovered only one of the six seats in first class cabin was occupied, so there had been plenty of room in first class anyway.

The cost of those two first class seats from Paris to Los Angeles? Nine thousand bucks … EACH!

A polite letter to the Air France customer service department drew a curt response stating that the airline had acted properly and that no further accommodation would be forthcoming. And, by the way, they misspelled the lady’s name.

A subsequent letter to the head of the airline remains unanswered.

How’s that for sensitive customer relations!

There is a lesson to be learned from this sad, infuriating story, however: If an interruption were to occur to one of your trips for whatever reason -- but especially illness or accident –- and if that would result in severe financial loss, buy travel insurance before you leave. (More about that in a subsequent post.)

In the meantime, let’s have a big round of Bronx cheers for les idiots inconsidéré at Air France!

Thinking about Amtrak and Irony and Ideology

2011-07-13T17:52:00.003-10:00

I had an extraordinary English teacher way back in boarding school. Norris Orchard loved the complexity and the subtlety of the English language and somehow managed to pass that along to those of us fortunate enough to be in his classes.

We played word games over meals at his table in the dining hall. And he had a standing offer of $25 – a helluva lot of money in the early 50s – for any student who could come up with two perfect synonyms. Orchard, you see, maintained that there are no two words in the English language that mean exactly the same thing … and he emphasized exactly.

On one occasion, I came up with “menace” and “threat” and thought I had him. Orchard looked at me pensively for a moment and said, “A rather good effort, Mr. Loomis, but for the fact that one cannot send a menace through the mail.” The he added, “Unless, of course, it were possible to pack and ship a five year old boy.”

On another occasion, Orchard gazed around the table and said, “Who can provide us, using no specific examples, with a definition of irony?” It really can’t be done, but it was sure a fascinating and stimulating lunch hour.

That was more than 50 years ago – a testimony, I guess, to the impact a truly inspired teacher can have on a young mind, however ordinary it might be.

I thought about Norrie Orchard today when I considered how ironic it is that Amtrak is now projecting 30 million riders for the calendar year, which would be an all time record. It’s ironic because Republicans in Congress, led by Rep. John Mica of Florida, are proposing drastic cuts to Amtrak's already meager subsidy and are seriously talking about privatizing the Northeast Corridor between Washington to Boston, the only profitable route in Amtrak’s system.

Of course, peddling the Northeast Corridor to some private company would mean that the rest of Amtrak’s operations would immediately show much greater losses. And that, in turn, would give John Mica and others of his ideological ilk the excuse they’re looking for to begin calling for a shut-down of America’s national rail passenger system.

And that, in the vernacular of today’s youth, is an irony that really sucks.

Stopping and Starting Trains - A Science and an Art

2011-07-09T09:02:00.017-10:00

From my very first train trip – I was about nine years old and headed to Florida to visit my grandparents – I’ve loved traveling by train. I’ve also been fascinated by the details of train travel, starting with ... well ... the starting and the stopping of those huge machines.

Being able to stop a train that's moving at high speed and with tremendous momentum was a big issue from the get-go. The first trains were slowed and stopped by brakemen, literally riding on top of the rail cars, manually turning cranks that pressed brake shoes against the wheels. Clearly, it was a very dangerous job and the sad fact is that literally hundreds of these men were killed every year.

A real breakthrough occurred when the railroads began using compressed air to apply the brakes against the wheels. That worked fine … until there was a loss of air pressure. Then – oops! – no brakes at all. Very unpleasant consequences usually followed.

It was George Westinghouse who got the bright idea to simply reverse the process – using compressed air to keep the brake shoes off the wheels. Then, should air pressure be lost for some reason, brakes would automatically be applied and the train would stop safely. Certainly seems obvious today … with 20/20 hindsight.

But what about starting a train … especially a long fully-loaded freight train that can weigh more than 10,000 tons? Theoretically, it's just not possible for a locomotive to move all that weight. It does, though, and the secret is in the coupling mechanisms between all those freight cars.

There's roughly a foot of slack between each car in the train. When he wants to start his train moving, the freight engineer first gets rid of all the slack by backing up enough to compress the entire train. Then, when he starts the locomotive moving forward, the slack is gradually taken up and the train starts moving literally one car at a time. Once all the cars are moving, the locomotive can keep them rolling, even speed up and slow down. But it was the slack that got them all started.

Now comes the shameless plug: Lots of information like this -- along with a great deal about Amtrak, VIA Rail and train travel throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico -- is contained in the 3rd edtion of my book, All Aboard-The Complete North American Train Travel Guide. If you enjoy train travel, I really think you will like the book. (End of commercial!)

Inconsiderate Yahoos and Their Carry-On Bags.

2011-07-05T16:33:00.015-10:00

Everyone knows that most of the airlines are now charging most passengers for checked baggage. One result – entirely predictable – is that more and more passengers are lugging their bags aboard when they fly.

Another result, also predictable, is that people are now bringing more than the required minimum size and number of carry-on bags aboard. Most get away with it because the beleaguered flight attendants don’t want to be convenient targets for the increased resentment all this nickel-and-diming has generated among passengers.

But the increase in carry-on bags has also brought another scourge to air travel.

(photo from National Geographic Traveler on line)

Many airlines ask passengers seated in the rear of the plane to board first. That includes the thoughtless creep assigned to seat 36B in the rear of the plane, who stops just back of the first class section and stuffs his two oversized carry-on bags into the bin above row 8. He does this for his personal convenience, of course, because when we get to our destination, he won’t have to drag his bags down a crowded aisle for the length of the plane.

Unfortunately, as a consequence, when the person assigned to row 8 finally gets to board, there’s no room in the bin above his seat and the poor sod has to drag his carry-on bag to the rear of the plane before he can find available space in an overhead bin.

Then when the flight lands, like a salmon heading upstream, Mr. Row 8 has to work his way back through all those passengers hurrying to deplane in order to retrieve his bag. As a result, the entire deplaning operation is confused and no doubt takes longer.

What can be done about this latest among the ever-increasing number of annoyances with which air travelers must deal? As far as I can tell, not a damn thing.

But whenever possible, I’m still taking Amtrak!

Another Luxury Train Ride for Our Bucket Lists

2011-07-02T17:14:00.017-10:00

The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, is pretty much the ultimate get-away, and has been for a hundred years. Very classy ... very tasteful ... very, well, very. It’s a beautiful facility in one of the most beautiful parts of this country.
The first hotel was built on the property in the early 1800’s and 100 years later construction was begun on the facility that’s there now. As with many of the great hotels around North America, the resort was owned by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Today it’s owner is the Justice family of West Virginia.

OK, what do you want in a luxury resort? Spas? Golf? Fine dining? How about a casino? Well, it’s all there. And, starting somewhere around the middle of next year, Greenbrier guests will be able to arrive at the Amtrak station in White Sulphur Springs after a six-hour ride aboard a luxury train that will originate in Washington, DC. What a perfect touch!

According to a news release sent to me by Lynn Swann, the resort’s PR lady, “the 15-car train will accommodate up to 240 passengers and will feature a board room car, salon car and even an open-air car.” (This is one of the artist renderings she sent along to tantalize me even more.)

I’m hoping to get more specific information about the consist and will include it in a subsequent post.

Oh, boy ... another train ride for my to-do list. My wife will be thrilled!

A Simple Question for the Anti-Rail Folks.

2011-06-29T11:43:00.004-10:00

Bill Ford is the head of the Ford Motor Company. When he says we’d better start looking for alternate ways of getting around … well, we’d better start looking for alternate ways of getting around!

Consider:

The population in this country has more than doubled in my lifetime.

According to several research organizations, there will be as many as 438 million people in this country by 2050 ... that's 130 million more than today.

It’s estimated that we would need to spend more than $300 billion to increase the capacity of our roads and highways to handle all those additional cars. Then there’s all the congestion, all the pollution, and all the additional mid-East oil they would require.

So here’s my question to the people demanding an end to Amtrak’s subsidy and ranting against high-speed rail:

Are you OK with that?

The Future of Passenger Trains - Here and There.

2011-06-24T09:49:00.018-10:00

Item One: The Japanese government has given the go-ahead to a private firm, JR Tokai, to begin work on a new high-speed train that will run between Tokyo and Osaka. Initial cost estimates are 9 trillion yen or about $111 billion. But here’s the thing: this train will use maglev (magnetic levitation) technology!

Item Two: At the moment, the only scheduled maglev operation is in China, taking passengers from downtown Shanghai to Pudong Airport (above photo). But on June 30th, the Chinese will formally begin high-speed rail service between Beijing and Shanghai. Express trains on the route will cover the 820 miles in something like 4:45, which is averaging over 170 miles an hour.

Item Three: Back here in Washington, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee are getting ready to decide where the dollars will go for the coming fiscal year ... and that, of course, includes money for Amtrak. Here’s the cheerful prediction from NARP, the National Association of Railroad Passengers:

“…it seems certain that the subcommittee will impose a crushing funding reduction on Amtrak, possibly zeroing out the national network and limiting capital funding to the bare minimum needed to avoid bankruptcy.”

Really makes you feel proud, doesn’t it.

Best Choice: An Amtrak Sleeping Car.

2011-06-19T11:31:00.006-10:00

The most common question I get comes from people planning an overnight train trip who are trying to decide whether to travel by coach or to spend the extra money for sleeping car space. Several considerations go into that decision.

How far are you traveling? If it’s a daytime trip, anywhere up to 8 or 10 hours, I’d opt for riding in coach. The seats are wide and comfortable and there is a lot of legroom … much like the first class seating on an airplane.

But if you’re going to be traveling overnight, give the sleeping cars serious consideration. You’ll have private accommodations and a real bed to sleep in at night.

Yes, sleeping car space is more expensive … often a lot more. But there are considerations (or, if you prefer, rationalizations). First, while every passenger pays the basic rail fare, the sleeping car supplement is for the room, so there is no additional charge for the second passenger in a sleeping car roomette or bedroom.

Remember that a long-distance train trip is part of your vacation experience, not just the mode of transportation that gets you to where your vacation begins. That means you’ll be saving the cost for a hotel room on those nights you’ll be on the train.

And don’t forget that all dining car meals are included in the fare when you travel in a sleeper. That can add up to considerable savings on a two-night journey aboard one of Amtrak’s long distance trains … especially with two or more passengers occupying the roomette or bedroom.

Finally, if your travel dates are flexible, check the cost for the sleeping car supplement for several different dates. Depending on how close to being sold out they are, there can be a significant difference in cost from one train to another.

Bottom line: If you can afford it, by all means go for the sleeper.

Who Says People Don't Want High-Speed Rail??

2011-06-11T14:37:00.018-10:00

As Congress persists in providing Amtrak with bare-bones support, the railroad struggles on, doing its best to keep old equipment running and all the while serving more and more people. This past May Amtrak carried 2.6 million passengers. It was the 19th consecutive month that ridership has increased and projections are for record numbers to continue right on through the summer.

By the way, opponents of Amtrak harp on the cost of subsidizing our national rail passenger system. So here’s a question for you: Which mode of transportation is doing the most damage to our deficit problem? The answer is the automobile, and it isn’t even close. In the last three years alone, the federal government has borrowed more than $62 billion dollars to plow into the Highway Trust Fund for the building and fixing of roads all over the country. Amtrak’s annual subsidy is about $1.5 billion.

The next time a politician calls high-speed rail a boondoggle and claims the American public is against it, don’t believe it. A recent Harris poll shows strong support for high-speed trains, especially in states where high-speed rail is actively under consideration. Furthermore, that support is across party lines. While most support comes from Democrats and Independent voters, some 52 percent of Republicans want fast trains.

Meanwhile, the know-nothing yahoos in this country are still arguing that people won’t patronize high-speed rail if we ever build it here. If they’re right, does that mean everyone else throughout the rest of the world is wrong? Hardly. They’ve got it figured out in France, where people have preferred to travel between their cities on the TGV for more than 30 years. The Russians have a new high-speed line operating between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Chinese will inaugurate their latest fast train, running between Beijing and Shanghai, at the end of this month.

And the Koreans – South Koreans, of course – have just announced another expansion of their high-speed system at a cost of almost $15 billion. One reason there isn’t massive support for fast trains in this country is that fewer than 20 percent of Americans own a passport and an even smaller number of our people have ever been to a country with high-speed trains, let alone ridden on one.

One way to support high-speed rail in this country is to join the National Association of Railroad Passengers. (Disclaimer: I'm an active member.) NARP is non-profit and non-partisan, and maintains an office in Washington with a professional staff that lobbies Congress for more and better and faster trains. You can join NARP by clicking here. Thanks!

Making the Case for More Trains.

2011-06-09T08:12:00.010-10:00

Writer James McCommons spent the better part of a year traveling around the U.S. on Amtrak trains to interview a variety of knowledgeable people about this country’s transportation problems. And if you are under the illusion that we don’t have problems, let me quote just one paragraph from his terrific book, Waiting On A Train:

"California has big transportation problems: it contains three of the nation’s most congested urban areas, transportation accounts for 40 percent of its air-quality problems, congestion costs $20 billion a year in fuel consumption and lost productivity, and the state may add another 20 million people over the next twenty years, reaching 50 million. These statistics have staggering implications. If the trains system is not built, studies show the government will have to build 3,000 additional miles of freeways and expand all major airports at a cost of $82 billion."

What’s so maddening about the anti-rail people is their shallow “arguments”. They object to a subsidy for Amtrak, but ignore the fact that every form of public transportation is subsidized. They claim “no one will ride” proposed new transit systems when, once completed, every new system in the country has exceeded ridership projections. Every one! And they never, ever discuss the consequences of not expanding and improving our national transportation infrastructure. If “gummint” is involved, they’re against it. If Obama proposes it, they hate it. We can only hope that eventually facts will become relevant to the decision-making process and that the clear thinkers will prevail.

Once again, the book is Waiting On A Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service--A Year Spent Riding across America. Go here to order your copy. It’s an terrific read. And it’s an important work.

Coming Up: The Ultimate Rail Journey

2011-06-05T23:24:00.017-10:00

For most rail enthusiasts, the Trans-Siberian Express – covering 5,753 miles from St. Petersburg through Moscow to Vladivostok – is the ultimate train travel experience. It’s certainly been on my must-do list for years.

In less than two months, I’ll be taking off for an extended rail journey and a version of the venerable Trans-Siberian route is included: St. Petersburg and Moscow for the start, but switching to the Trans-Mongolian line in Ulan Bator and going south from there to Beijing.

Interestingly, Russian trains run on wider track than the standard width between rails found most everywhere else in the world. Russian gauge is 4 feet, 11 5/6 inches, which is about 3½ inches wider than standard gauge. The original idea behind the extra-wide gauge was to make it difficult for invading armies to transport their military machines and hardware into Russia by rail.

At any rate, according to Mark Smith, the Man in Seat 61, the Moscow-Beijing route is more scenic and more interesting than the traditional one to Vladivostok. This photo from Wikipedia is the Chinese train in the Gobi Desert.

From Beijing, I will be taking the brand new Chinese high-speed train to Shanghai. How new is it? Its inaugural train is due to run sometime this month. Finally, and in one way the highlight of the trip, I’ll take the world’s only regularly scheduled magnetic levitation (maglev) train on the brief but very fast ride from downtown Shanghai to Pudong, their international airport, for my flights home.

And, yes, I’ll be taking my laptop along and, as time and internet connections permit, will post here about my experiences along the way.

Knee-Jerk Opposition to Amtrak's Subsidy is Nuts!

2011-06-03T11:34:00.015-10:00

The budget battle goes on (and on and on) in Congress, and the issue of Amtrak’s annual subsidy keeps coming up in the course of those discussions. There are ideologues in Congress for whom the word “subsidy” is anathema, and they are demanding cuts or even elimination of federal dollars for Amtrak.

OK, may I offer a little bit of perspective?

Amtrak needs about $1.5 billion next year to continue operation of this country’s national rail passenger system.

The U.S. is going to spend $1.5 billion next year in foreign aid
... just for Egypt!

What the hell are those bozos thinking?

Airlines Tighten the Screws. We're the Screwees.

2011-05-31T12:14:00.017-10:00

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, that the inconvenience and the discomfort have leveled off, at least a few of the airlines are considering still more ways to make us dread flying.

This is of particular concern to those of us who live in Hawaii; unless we’re on an inter-island hop, it’s a minimum of five hours aloft to LA or San Francisco, eleven-plus to the East Coast, eight to Japan, ten to Sydney … well, you get the picture.

So how would you like to spend a couple of hours straddling this: It’s called the Skyrider and it’s designed for low-cost airlines – duh! – with mostly short-haul flights.

Sounds perfect for Spirit Airlines. These are the folks who have begun installing non-reclining seats on their planes. I know, I know … it’s a pain when the guy in front of you tips his seat all the way back and you find yourself staring down on his bald pate. But not being able to tinker with the recline button in an effort to find the most comfortable position is a distressing, almost panicky thought.

When asked about these new seats, a Spirit spokesperson noted that they are made of lightweight materials which will save on fuel which, she says, means your actually helping the environment. How? By not being able to recline your seat?? How's that for putting lipstick on a pig!

Oh … and there are also reports in trade publications that Spirit will soon begin charging you for stuffing a bag in the overhead bins.

Seriously now … do you still wonder why I fly to the West Coast and take Amtrak to wherever I'm going from there?

(All the above notwithstanding, I still think Hawaiian Airlines is a great airline and the best way to visit these islands. In fact, I'll be returning to Hawaii from Asia in August on Hawaiian's new service between Honolulu and Seoul.)

More About Amtrak’s Long-Distance Trains

2011-05-29T13:48:00.008-10:00

I received an email the other day from someone asking for more information about Amtrak operations and, specifically, what goes into maintaining their schedule of long-distance trains.

As you would expect, it’s an immensely complicated business. Every day, day after day, Amtrak overnight trains are carrying many thousands of people all over the country, not to mention feeding and providing beds for many of them along the way. It takes a lot of people and equipment to make it all happen.

It sounds simple to say that the California Zephyr runs between Chicago and the San Francisco area. But remember that the train runs every day ... in each direction ... and it’s a two night trip. So, at any given moment, Amtrak needs six complete train sets to operate the California Zephyr: two are en route heading west, another two are somewhere out there heading east, and two more are getting ready to depart -- one in Chicago, the other at Emeryville in the Bay Area.

The westbound California Zephyr passes Gross Dam an hour out of Denver. Photo by Kevin Morgan.

Each of those six trains requires two (sometimes three) locomotives, a baggage car, a dorm car for the crew, plus coaches, sleeping cars, a lounge car, a dining car. That means, at a minimum, Amtrak needs 54 railcars and a dozen locomotives just to operate that one long-distance train.

Then, of course, there are three other western trains that run two-night trips: the Sunset Limited, the Southwest Chief and the Empire Builder. In addition, there are eleven other trains that operate over routes that require one overnight to complete.

Leaving very little to chance, Amtrak also has what they call “protect” locomotives located in strategic places around the country ready to be pressed into emergency service … in Denver, for example, in case one of the Zephyr’s locomotives should fail.
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This information comes directly from the 3rd edition of my book, All Aboard-The Complete North American Train Travel Guide. Click here for the link to Amazon.

John Mica Has an Agenda: Screwing Amtrak.

2011-05-26T17:16:00.017-10:00

I have a big problem with Congressman John Mica (R-Florida), who, as a result of the 2010 election, finds himself chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. I have personally been present for a couple of Mica speeches and he is a preening, self-impressed and arrogant man. (I've always wondered ... why would someone wearing such a terrible rug preen in the first place?)

Anyway, there was a meeting of the T&I Committee in Washington today and, according to a first-hand report from a transportation expert who was there, Mica made at least three statements about Amtrak that were misleading at best and knowingly false at worst. Mica, of course, has an agenda: he wants to privatize Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston and to do that he has to portray Amtrak as a failure.

I don’t want to bore you with all the details that refute all three of his misrepresentations, but here’s one good example of how he distorts facts to suit his personal agenda and ideology.

Mica says Amtrak is a failure and, to “prove” it, he stated today that Amtrak’s ridership from 1977 to 2010 has not increased. Trouble is, that’s just B.S. Mica was using 1981 figures! Furthermore, he failed mention that in that year Amtrak turned two very busy commuter lines over to railroads that are now carrying 2.2 million passengers a year into New York from Philadelphia and New Jersey. But that convenient omission aside, further study – honest study, that is – shows that Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor trains carried 7.7 million passengers in 1981, and 10.4 million in 2010 …and that’s a damn 26-percent increase, Congressman!

But if we consider passenger-miles – a better, means of analysis giving a truer picture -- the increase is even greater. According to Ross Capon, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, Amtrak posted 932 million passenger-miles on the Northeast Corridor routes in 1981 and 1.708 billion passenger-miles in 2010. And that, Congressman, is an 83% increase!

But you know what I remember most about the time I sat through one of Mica’s dissertations on transportation? After bemoaning as wasteful Amtrak’s annual subsidy of about a billion and a half dollars and referring with a smirk to “America’s Soviet-style railroad, Mica said he had more important things to do: trying to get a five billion dollar appropriation for a new runway at Miami International Airport. How’s that for prioritizing!

Sometimes, on Hawaiian Airlines, getting there is just half the fun.

2011-05-22T13:06:00.016-10:00

Today I've got an airline story for a change and regular readers will not be surprised to find that it involves Hawaiian Airlines. After all, it's our very own airline and, however parochial we might be, it's a damn good airline and we're proud of them!

This story has nothing to do with their planes or service, however. In fact, it’s about an incident that occurred a year or so ago in Los Angeles and on the ground.

I had just flown into LA on a Hawaiian flight and was riding to the Marriott near LAX in the hotel shuttle. The flight had been fine and the only thing in any way out of the ordinary was all the fog we had flown through on the approach into LAX … in and out of the soupy stuff for the final seven or eight minutes, almost to touch-down.

As I boarded the crowded van, I noticed two Hawaiian pilots seated a couple of rows behind me.

I nodded and asked if they had been the crew on flight 2. The younger one, the first officer, said yes, they were and he and I chatted a bit … mostly about what parts of which island we came from.

Suddenly other guy, the captain, who looked like he had come directly from Central Casting, piped up and exclaimed, “What did you think of all that fog as we were landing. Jeez ... it scared the hell out of me!”

There was a pause for a couple of beats as the rest of the people on the bus turned to stare, goggle-eyed. The two pilots stared back, then cracked up.

I dunno ... maybe you had to be there. But it was awfully funny at the time.