Guardian UK: All aboard the American express (Ruth Fowler travels the country via Amtrak)

[marmar]

All aboard the American express
Ruth Fowler travels coast to coast by rail and discovers that, if you really want to get under the skin of the States, Amtrak is the way to go

Ruth Fowler The Observer, Sunday June 29, 2008



I'd been seduced by the mythology of the American Road Trip. Hunter S Thompson's Fear & Loathing, Thelma & Louise ... even Ferris Bueller's Day Off had me drooling for the open highway. After living in New York for three years and seeing nothing of the rest of North America, it felt like a rite of passage. The only problem was I hadn't driven in 10 years, and the last time I did I'd managed to cruise into a petrol pump. Then there was the problem of petrol prices reaching $4 a gallon: a cross-country road trip would have cost me around $2,500 in fuel alone. Greyhound, of course, was an option, but I'd done that before. If you ever want to experience pure unmitigated terror, head for a US bus station at midnight. That's all I'll say on the matter.

I decided to go by rail. Every American I spoke to was astounded. 'You're taking the train across America? Isn't that, like, old-fashioned?' They besieged me with horror stories: 'Once I took the train to LA. This lady stalled her car on the tracks. She just sat right on in the car and kept trying to start the engine. Then we came along, ploughed right on over her and the car. She died. We were delayed a whole day.'

My plans may have met with bemusement, but it turns out I was not alone in turning to the train. Passenger numbers on Amtrak, the government-run intercity rail service, have increased by 17 per cent this year alone due to fuel costs pricing out Middle America from driving or flying across the country. Its increased popularity has even led to talk of reinstating routes that fell out of use last century.

I took the plunge and booked a trip from New York to LA, with stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Whitefish Montana, Portland Oregon and San Francisco.

I rocked up to Penn Station one baking hot day a month back, ready to get on my first train for an 18-hour journey to Chicago. Initial impressions? This ain't British Rail. OK, you're not getting high-speed deluxe journeys à la Eurostar, but huge, spacious coach seats - and for the more discerning, wealthier passenger, cute little first-class private sleeper compartments with fold-out bunks - ensured that this was not like the cramped, uncomfortable journeys I remembered from my youth in England. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/29/railtravel.usa

[zanne]

1. That article made me want to hop on a train. nt

[prairierose]

2. Yes, me too....it's too bad that there isn't...

a passenger train closer than a 6 hour drive.

[zanne]

3. I wish we had more public transportation, period.

My town in considering cutting down on bus routes again. I don't drive and the bus system is a necessity for me. If they cut down more routes, I won't be able to walk to the bus stop.

[MindPilot]

4. "cute" is not exactly the way I would describe those berths,

$2500 for gas for a cross-country trip? Did she intend to drive a Kenworth?

And the story of the woman who got too high to get back on the right train. Ha ha! Thats SO funny. Not.

I would expect better from the Guardian.

[KoKo]

6. It was a bizarre article. Sounded like an advertisement...

and the last time I took Amtrack from South Carolina to New York ....it was stale ham sandwiches, and lots of folks you'd find in a Greyhound Bush station at mid-night....that Ruth was so afraid of.

There were some rowdy folks who took up the "social car" with lots of laughing and profanity and a "glass of fine merlot" was really a can of soda. That was about 10 years ago...so maybe Amtrack has cleaned up it's act, but this article seemed pretty fantastical.

[XOKCowboy]

7. Actually what she described is what I experienced...

on the California Zephyr from Denver to Reno and back 4 yrs ago. The food is good (I was surprised at the quality and service in the dining car) plus the lounge car even had White Castle's to snack on. Her description of the people you meet is also right on. I met people from all over the world and people who like this lady who'd never been out of Chicago or New York. We did hit a car (it delayed us about 3 hrs and seeing the guy laying on the roadside in a blood pool wasn't very cool) and it seems to take forever. The payoff is the scenery and the people. The conductors did a good job of keeping the rowdy ones in check and even had the police meet us in Elko to take off an unruly passenger.

If it didn't take so darn long I'd do a lot more train travel.

[ensho]

5. thanks for posting this - enjoyed the article

nt