An AMTRAK vignette. Local train fan greets trains.

[pinto]

I'm a frequent train rider and live a couple of blocks from the AMTRAK station. So I'm often around the station, either as a passenger or when out on a walk.

A local guy routinely greets one or two trains each day. He's disabled in some ways. Not sure what specific medical impairments he has or their causes. His speech is limited and his arms are akimbo at times. Yet he's fully mobile and fully engaged.

And he loves trains! He and a female companion (his sister?) are regulars at the station. Wears an engineer's cap and an AMTRAK button on his shirt. He knows the schedules. Last time I was at the station he paced the platform to let passengers know that "Train #11 is coming in. Train #11 is coming in."

Here's the thing. All of the AMTRAK conductors and train staff know and like him. By first name. And he gets a walk through to check out the cars on their stop here. Just to be sure that all is copacetic. Then he gets off and waves as the train pulls out.

All is good.

Every time I hear rants about funding for rail transport I think of him and the train staff. A totally emotional take yet I think it reflects the connection of local and affordable transit with the communities that trains serve.

[riqster]

1. We love trains

Ride 'em whenever it is possible.

[upaloopa]

2. There is a guy like that at the San Luis Obispo station too.

This guy has ragged clothes and has a Cane but he knows all the trains all the Amtrak employees all the schedules and calls Amtrak continuously if a train is late.

[vanlassie]

3. I rode Amtrak with a coworker a few weeks ago.

We had a three hour wait in Los Angeles. I still can't get over how excellent the red caps were. They gave us a ride from the train out to the lobby (a long walk!) and they came by and checked on us every time they walked or ride past where we
were sitting. Now, we eventually realized that we were sitting in a designated Disabled Passengers section, but on behalf if any truly disabled passengers, I was pleasantly amazed.

[pinto]

15. Union Station (LA) is amazing, no? The lobby is an architectural gem and the station, like LA,

is sprawling. LOL, you go a block to get to your train. I've had help from the red caps, as well. Good bunch.

If you ever have a lay over at Union again, Olivera St. is just a short walk from the station. Good eats up and down the street.

[vanlassie]

19. Yes. I took pictures! I was in King Cross Station

in London over New Years. Union Station was just as classy. Olivera-Thanks for the tip!

[upaloopa]

4. Last year we took the Coast Starlight to Seattle and back. You get to know the employees on the

train after spending 36 hours and several meals and bottles of water or champagne in the club car.
They are a great bunch of people.

[monmouth3]

5. My younger son takes AMTRAK auto-train every summer from Florida to New Jersey. Wouldn't

consider going any other way. The food is great (and he's in the business and is kind of fussy), the people working on the train are the best, etc. I told him he should go to work for them, he's such a fan.

[peacebird]

6. We ride from Virginia to Seattle every year, sleeper cars. Love Amtrak!

Friendly, competent staff, great food in the dining car, and a wonderful relaxing civilized way to travel!

[longship]

7. Yummy food! No severe security checks. Comfort!!!

I took an AmTrak Pullman from LA to New York. Ate like a pig. A private compartment is way comfortable and service is wonderful. Wake up to hot brewed coffee and fresh Danish every morning.

It is a truly marvelous way to travel. But Pullman compartments are very pricey since the cost includes three squares a day, plus the morning coffee and Danish.

Coach is very nice, too. You meet nice people either way. Always!

[Permanut]

8. Took my first train ride ever last month, and I'm 67..

Always wanted to go, my wife surprised me with tickets for Christmas. Just went from Portland to Seattle and back, but loved every minute of it. Kick back and watch the scenery roll by.

[ThoughtCriminal]

9. I think that Amtrak does have some volunteer hosts at some stations

that do not have a station agent. I remember one at West Glacier (Belton, MT) when we visited in 2001.

[wryter2000]

10. I love Amtrak

The western end of the California Zephyr is near here. Some day, I'm going to take that train all the way to Chicago.

I smile when I enter an Amtrak station. Quite a contrast to the mess that our airports have become.

[AndyTiedye]

11. We Took the Train Across the Country Right after Thanksgiving

You know, Thanksgiving weekend, when the airports and the highways are completely horrible.
AMTRAK was nice and comfortable and relaxing. Everything that driving or flying during the holidays isn't.

[RebelOne]

12. I love taking the train.

When I was just a kid, my mother would send me on a train from Miami to Philadelphia every summer to my grandmother. It was always a fun ride. At that time, I had to ride coach. But years later, when I traveled to visit my sister and her family who lived on an Air Force base in New Jersey, I wanted to relive those train memories, I took the Amtrak train from Miami. I had a compartment with bed and toilet. And everything just folded up in the morning. It was a great trip.

[KittyWampus]

13. Autistic kids/people seem to have an affinity for trains (in general)

Children With Autism, Connecting via Transit
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/nyregion/children-with-autism-connecting-via-bus-and-train.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Ravi Greene can tell you how to get anywhere in New York City by transit — like the beach, on the 6 train.

“The 6 goes elevated from Whitlock Avenue to Pelham Bay Park,” he explains. “And at Pelham Bay Park, you can transfer for a Bx29 or a Bx12 — the Bx12 to Orchard Beach.”

Ravi has drafted elaborate proposals for expanded bus service in Brooklyn, and has memorized the exact date that the W train stopped running in 2010.

And he is only 5 years old.

Like many children with autism spectrum disorders, Ravi is fascinated by trains and buses, entranced by their motion and predictability. And for years, these children crowded the exhibitions of the modest New York Transit Museum, chattering about schedules and engine components and old subway maps.

[vanlassie]

20. That's why they love Thomas The Tank Engine

[cliffordu]

14. It's pretty much the only way I travel, if I'm not on the bicycle.

I love the train in spite of the expensive food and booze.

[madinmaryland]

16. I always BYOB when I travelled on Amtrak.

I did the DC to CT route more than a few times. A bottle of wine, or a six pack of beer!

I spent years taking Metro North into NYC everyday. Nothing better than a tall-boy of beer or two on the ride home!

[cliffordu]

17. lol....

I had a fifth of cheep vodka for my trip from Ell LAY to salem oregon a couple of weeks ago....

I was VERY popular with fellow travelers.......

[madinmaryland]

18. Glad you had some help finishing that off...

Had you not, you might have ending up waking up back in Ell LAY wondering how you ended up where you started!!

I knew a guy who passed on the Path Train (subway) that runs between the World Trade Center and Hoboken, NJ and spent the whole night making the trip back and forth umpteen times between those stations! It's about a 15 minute ride.