The California Zephyr – the photos

Photos from the Amtrak’s California Zephyr can be viewed here.

Emigration Canyon - Utah

The California Zephyr – Almost Home

I’ll call it one of the ten best steaks I’ve ever eaten. Medium-rare with herb butter, a baked potato, and green beans. A dinner salad and warm bread rolls accompanied each dinner entree. Crab cakes, ribs and sea bass were the other choices.

Just as flavorful was the dinner-time conversation. At my table sat a man from London, a woman from Vancouver, a professor from the University of Utah who moved to Utah in 1969 from Chicago, and myself. Perhaps you can imagine the wonderful political and social debates that emerged from this group – all in good humor, of course. I think our table was the envy of the dining car because of the amount of laughter as well as solid discourse that came from our foursome.

With dessert and coffee we prolonged our conversations until we had arrived at the Denver station. During our time together we learned why our train was late. The night before, the inbound train that made up our outbound train was hit by a rock in the canyon just outside of the Moffat Tunnel. Quite a large rock, in fact. So large that when the rock hit the Amtrak locomotive, the locomotive leaned enough for one set of wheels to come off the track.

This action caused the emergency breaks to engage and when the locomotive’s wheels locked, there was so much force behind them that they were ground flat by the friction. Consequently, our train was being pulled by a Union Pacific locomotive. We passed the two disabled Amtrak locomotives along the way. As the professor said, “How the hell does one go about changing flat tires on a locomotive?”

The attendant in my car was working that consist and said that a new locomotive had to be dispatched which created a ten hour delay. “It’s a good thing that the locomotive only tilted slightly,” she said. “Had it been just a bit more forceful, we’d have ended up in the river.”

I was in bed by 10:00 pm and I didn’t wake until we had departed Lincoln, Nebraska at 6:15 am. It had been a good nights’ sleep, though I always sleep well on trains. It’s the gentle rocking that occurs when not being hit by falling boulders.

I freshened up downstairs before breakfast and was delighted to have the professor join me again. It was just the two of us so we debated the brands of political corruption in Salt Lake and Chicago, neither one being declared superior, though both brands being declared equally effective. We finished breakfast by the time we passed through Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Now we’re heading east through Iowa and still behind schedule. I suspect I’ll arrive in Chicago right around the tail end of rush hour. Once home I’ll post a link to Flickr where photos from the trip will be visible.

The California Zephyr – I made it to Salt Lake City

I’m not sure where to begin. Or in this case to end. Though the fact of the matter is that this journey is only half over. In less than three days I board Amtak’s California Zephyr for the return trip to Chicago.

First and foremost I have to commend Amtrak employees. Despite everything these folks go through on a daily basis, from bumpy rides, to tight quarters, to chronic delays, to having to inspect the train’s undercarriage in complete darkness in a Utah canyon, they remained upbeat, positive and never once scowled at daily adversity. Hats off to all of them.

It wasn’t long after departing Denver that our ascent into the Rockies became the magnificent sight most everyone aboard paid to see. While there wasn’t much snow, the amazing vistas, the s-curved winding tracks and the rocky canyons brought clicking cameras in virtually every window. The observation car filled, as were the narrow aisles of the sleeping cars.

Having visited the site of the Golden Spike and having read about the great lengths it took to connect the nation by rail, one can’t fully appreciate the work it took to build this until actually riding the rails. In terrain that is utterly and amazingly beautiful but utterly and amazingly unfit for human labor, these tracks were laid with precision and determination. Sides of mountains were blasted, tunnels were carved, land was graded and most all of it by human hand. These tracks, this route must certainly be one of the great American achievements.

The train’s engineer came on the PA system to tell us that we’d soon be entering Moffat Tunnel, a six-mile long tunnel that would take us over, or in this case through, the Continental Divide. We were told to stay in our respective cars because the doors between cars would have to remain closed in order to prevent the intake of exhaust from the train’s engines. Elevation; 9,239 feet.

From this point on the train began its descent. For hours the train descended into evermore narrowing canyons until at one point, it seemed as if we were descending into the very center of the earth. Layers of geological time carved away for the narrow track, such that had the windows opened I could have leaned out and touched prehistoric time.

At one point the train slowed to a crawl. The engineer told us that track sensors indicated a potential rock slide ahead. This canyon is lined with an electronic fence of sorts that triggers a warning system when something, be it a rock, a branch or an animal comes into contact with it. His eyes would be the first witness to whatever may have tripped the warning signals on this single line of track.

We passed through without incident but had their been something on the track, rocks or otherwise, Amtrak’s personnel would have had to attempt to clear it. There was no other track and no other way for the arrival of assistance.

Night fell in western Colorado and while I had thought I had seen the darkest skies ever over Iowa, I soon discovered otherwise. I dozed off after dinner and awoke to a narrow view the stars above.

In a canyon between Helper and Spanish Fork, Utah, the train stopped suddenly such that boxes tumbled to the floor and the steel wheels sounded as if they were skidding against the rails beneath them. While I have no idea how jumping a track may sound or feel, this is what I thought it might be like. The train was still upright so we hadn’t derailed but we were stopped in complete and utter darkness. The train’s electricity went out and from my window I could see only the dim rays of flashlights moving under my car.

For a good thirty minutes I watched and listened, but couldn’t see or hear anything other than shadows being emitted from under my car. Because most people were sleeping, or had been prior to the sudden stop, no announcements were made as to what had happened. Amtrak’s staff was obviously under the train inspecting something.

Eventually we were back in motion and on the relatively flat surfaces of Utah County headed northbound through Provo and into Salt Lake City. At 3:00 am the train arrived at Salt Lake’s new intermodal station where light rail, commuter rail and Amtrak converge. On the opposite track, the eastbound California Zephyr prepared for departure.

Initially pissed off at being four hours late, I realized that on a journey this far, though so many adverse geographical conditions, four hours isn’t that bad. I wouldn’t want to have to depend on this schedule, but I imagined how little four hours must have been to the thousands of people who once traveled across a country on a journey that at one time could have only been accomplished on foot. The fact that a nation once made this a priority is truly remarkable.

The California Zephyr – We’ve reached Denver

I opened the curtains this morning at 6:15 am expecting to be somewhere close to Denver. Instead I saw flat land. Prairie. My map showed me that we were still in western central Nebraska, hours away from Denver.

While I was sleeping the train stopped, and apparently more than once because from what I could calculate, we were behind schedule by a few hours. As the sun began to light the morning sky prior to it’s rise over the eastern horizon I decided to make my way to the dining car. Breakfast seating began at 7:00 am. Pancakes or French toast, scrambled eggs or as I chose, a Swiss cheese omelette with potatoes, bacon and a warm croissant. The woman with whom I ate dinner last night sat down at my table just as I was finishing up.

When 8 am arrived the conductor made his first announcements of the day, stating indeed, that we were now about four hours behind schedule due to freight traffic during the night. Our travel thus far has been on rails owned by Burlington Northern and their controllers give priority to their own trains.

The railroads were initially built to connect the country, thus bringing people and goods to a nation that was expanding westward. You may recall from history books that the government gave land to private companies on which they were chartered with the business of building railroads. While there was income to be made on transporting people and goods, there was even more money to be made from selling off the land that adjoined these new railroads. The railroad magnets of that era were creating their fortunes off of a government subsidy – that being the land itself. The model worked and thus the country became connected from sea to shining sea.

Fast forward to the late 1960′s and the railroads began to discover that carrying people wasn’t as profitable as it once had been, in part because of mismanagement and in part because people started traveling by cars built by yet another private industry, though enabled through the huge government subsidy known the Interstate Highway System. The shifting of government subsidies, from the giving of land to build railroads to clearing land to build highways, shifted public demand and passenger traffic on railroads nearly evaporated.

Amtrak was created by Congress in 1971 to maintain the intercity movement of passengers via rail, though the government continued to subsidize the construction of freeways, airports and of course, oil. This model worked to produce new industries which created tremendous wealth for many millions of Americans.

Things began to change again in the early twenty-first century. The country’s population had grown rapidly. The aging and now underfunded Interstate Highway System was over capacity and beginning to crumble. The cost of securing oil through military use became increasing more expensive and created political strife. The Untied States was no longer the only industrialized nation and we were competing for the purchase of oil, thus driving oil prices even higher.

Today, due to shrinking federal funds the systems that were built by federal funds are unable to keep up with demand. Now we have to rethink where and how to invest – to make sustainable public investments so that we don’t run into these types of problems again.

The reason my train is now four hours late is because Amtrak does not have dedicated track. Dedicated tracks aren’t necessarily required, but modern train tracking equipment is, though the private railroads are reluctant to spend the money to increase efficiencies that don’t necessarily benefit them. Airlines don’t have dedicated runways, but they do have a system in place for the fair (some may question that) and equitable use of air-traffic facilities. It’s known as the Federal Aviation Administration.

My train could even go faster too if the engineer wanted but private railroads have not maintained their tracks to sufficient levels to sustain higher speeds. So when you hear politicians talking about how inefficient Amtrak is, they’re only partially correct. Amtrak is efficient as it can be because it is being throttled by private industry. Additionally, while the federal government continues to build new highways and new runways, it is not building new railroad tracks.

Other nations are, however, because federal dollar for dollar, passenger travel by rail remains the most cost effective method of moving people. My 1038 mile journey to Denver which on Amtrak has taken thus far twenty-one hours would have only taken five to seven hours on a 200 mph modern train like those in France, Germany, Japan or Korea.

Critics are correct when they say that people will not travel long distances on trains because of time constraints. Critics will also say that if passenger rail travel were profitable, private industry would build it. They are also correct. And if General Motors had to build the Interstate Highway System and if Delta Air Lines had to build airports and runways, both companies would have vastly different business models.

Despite the critics, Amtrak is seeing steady year-over-year increases in passenger boardings. Yes, the scenery is beautiful. Yes, the seats are more spacious than on an airplane. Yes, train stations are less congested and less burdensome than airports and yes, maybe it is that now that the largest segment of the American population is retiring with the largest amassed income ever produced, these people may very well be the driving Amtrak’s business.

Our tax dollars build industries. They always have and when you hear politicians say that they can’t or shouldn’t, they’re wrong. Look around at what you have and a vast portion of it has come because the government subsidized an industry that supports you, or pays you. I will agree with the politicians that funding inefficient industries and/or projects is wasteful. Which is exactly why government needs to invest in passenger rail because it is inherently efficient with land use, fuel, speed and capacity.

My train has just arrived in Denver. Exactly four hours late. The engineer announced that he’ll try to make up time as we head to Salt Lake City. For the remainder of the trip, my train will be using tracks owned and maintained by Union Pacific.

The California Zephyr – somewhere in Iowa

Walking into Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge at Chicago’s Union Station reminded me of walking into a nursing home. This isn’t the hip new pre-departure lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 or Finnair’s Blue Wings Lounge at JFK. The people here, rather, looked as if they’d collapsed into the furniture that had been placed along the walls. Mostly everyone had grey hair. Baggy corduroys and sweaters seemed predominant. Unlike a chic airline club where one might catch up on the business or political news of the day the television in the Metropolitan Lounge was tuned to the Maury Povich Show. Is this really what wealthy retirees watch?

It’s not unreasonable to determine that based upon the time requirements of cross-country train travel few people other of retirees have the luxury of spending three days on a train just to get to the west coast. Add to that the additional cost of sleeping accommodations, and well, that’s the generation that has all the money.

Not unlike the challenge once faced by Cadillac, Amtrak is going to have to find a way to attract a new demographic for their premium services because within ten years, this group will be dead. Like Cadillac, Amtrak will have to add speed and new technological advances to accomplish this.

Soon, however, boarding was called and those of us scheduled for the California Zephyr were escorted to Track 12. Our attendants greeted us at the door and gave us directions to our rooms. You may have heard that Amtrak just placed a multi-million dollar order for new rail cars, some of which will be Sleepers. My car is evidence of this need. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my car or my room, its age is noticeable. The carpet is tattered. The washroom on this floor has layers of sealant around the basin and commode. Fixes made to bide time.

For some reason the electricity goes out each time the train stops, which is both at stations as well as when we’re waiting for freight trains. While Amtrak has the right to travel on private rails (which were initially built on land granted from the government to private industry), freight trains get priority.

In the aisles and in my room the overhead lighting is dim and the plastic globes appear dingy. The “adjustable” reading lights adjacent to each of the two seats in my room don’t adjust much. If you happen to be acquainted with the flight attendant jump seats on an L-1011, you’ll get the picture. A call button and the adjustments for the heating controls are within the same unit.

The train departed on time and shortly thereafter the conductor came by for tickets followed by my car’s attendant who introduced herself and told me about the trip and the amenities available. A coffee station at the top of the stairs is always on and a cooler of water and juice sits nearby. A few minutes later an attendant from the dining car came by to inquire about dinner reservations. I reserved a spot for 5:30p.

The dinner selections offered something for everyone. Steak. Chicken. I chose crab cakes with rice pilaf. Hot bread and a small salad were brought by first and there was nothing second class about either. Crisp lettuce with cucumber and tomato with an assortment of dressings. The crab cakes were delicious. My dining partner had the sirloin with a baked potato which she found to be equally delicious. Sugar-free cheese cake with raspberry sauce and a black coffee for desert, though I could have opted for carrot cake, a variety of ice creams or some chocolate temptation.

My attendant said she’d be by at 8:30p to make up the bed. That’s hours before I’m used to being in bed, though with the gentle rocking and utter darkness of the Iowa plains outside my window I’m sure I’ll fall asleep easily. My room is warm, comfortable and quiet. It is the perfect place to relax.

Preparing for the California Zephyr

On Wednesday the 18th I begin a day and a half journey that I’ve been waiting years to experience.  It’s said to be one of the most beautiful American journeys, particularly during the winter months.  It is the Amtrak ride through the Rockies to Salt Lake City.

The trip is scheduled for thirty-four hours each way.  By Thursday morning at 7am the train is scheduled to arrive in Denver.  After an hour in Denver the train begins its ascent into the Rockies and arrives fourteen hours later in Salt Lake City.  Only half of this portion of the trip will be during the daylight hours, and I intend to be glued to the windows, either of my room or in the observation car.  I suspect there will be plenty of competition for seating in the observation car.

I’ve reserved a sleeper car for the trip, paid for with Amtrak points I accumulated during my commutes to and from Ohio prior to the move to Chicago.  While Amtrak’s coach-class seating is ample for a journey such as this, and very reasonably priced, being able to sleep in a bed and having access to showers and complimentary meals in the dining car seemed to be a more comfortable way to go about the journey.

I’ll attempt live updates from the train, be that on the blog or via Twitter.  Data coverage will be spotty at best as this segment of Amtrak does not offer Wi-Fi service.  I look forward to sharing this trip with you.

Photo by Ann Owens

The entire trip will be completed with the use of public transportation.  From my flat in Chicago I’ll travel by bus to Union Station, board the train and once in Salt Lake City I’ll have access to the Utah Transit Authority’s buses and trains.

A Response to the Columbus Dispatch

I laughed out loud when I read the Columbus Dispatch editorial stating that COTA buses  are to blame for the 45 empty store fronts along High Street in downtown Columbus.

The editorial states that, according to a downtown strategic plan endorsed last year by the Downtown Commission and Columbus City Council, bus traffic along High Street increases congestion, blocks storefronts and prevents on-street parking.

There are numerous valid reasons why 45 High Street storefronts remain vacant and public transit is not one of them.

We could look back to 1989 when City Center removed pedestrian traffic from once vibrant streets and encapsulated it inside an urban bunker.  While Columbus wasn’t the only city to duplicate sub-urban shopping facilities in a downtown environment, it none the less did what every other one of it’s kind did – it took pedestrians off of the linear path of traditional downtown shopping.

While perhaps a magnet for the fifteen-odd-years of it’s success, City Center didn’t appear to do much for the businesses around it.  It didn’t even shore up enough business at the once acclaimed downtown Lazarus to keep it afloat.

Ten years ago there were dilapidated store fronts along High Street just as there are today.  From Broad north to Gay Street there was nothing of significance, although there was an Arby’s on the west side of the street.  From Gay north to Long one side of the street continues to garner no interest outside of a surface parking lot.

On the east side of the street Cafe Brioso started attracting a lunch crowd right around the time of City Center’s steep decline.  Cafe Brioso is perhaps the one pivotal business that brought about any positive change along downtowns portion of High Street prior to the razing of City Center.

We could also look back to Columubus’ land-use policy and determine that the City spent decades annexing unincorporated land, building out the utilities and thus creating long-term sprawl.  The City of Columbus could have spent that money investing in upgrading existing infrastructure which would have bolstered the health of center-city neighborhoods, keeping and attracting new residents.  Rather, the City let the inner city decay.

We could look at ODOT’s policy of neglecting public transit projects and instead funding the expansion of roadways and interchanges.  Combined with Columbus’ land use policies and inner city neglect its no wonder that retail development followed the population, leaving downtown behind.

But let’s look at what we have today for a moment.  Busses along High Street are only lined up along High Street during non-business hours.  The 9pm, 10pm, 11pm and 12am line-ups do line an entire block on either side of street.  For about 15 minutes.

Northbound busses line up in front of the State House and southbound busses line up on the west side of the High Street in front of COTA’s headquarters and adjacent to a small surface parking lot.  Once they depart, they spread out rather evenly.

Alleged bus congestion did nothing to inhibit pedestrians that joined the protests at the State House earlier in the year.  Bus traffic doesn’t appear to be a hinderance to retail vibrancy in the Short North either.

What hinders business downtown is the perceived lack of safety.  Empty blocks, blank street-level facades of Federal buildings and the deep set back such as the Nationwide campus do nothing to invite pedestrians.  Add in the crumbling plaster, dirty windows and mismatched efforts of 1970’s style “modernization” and High Street does indeed look unappealing.

In Chicago busses line the most magnificent shopping district in the mid-west – North Michigan Avenue.  Lots of busses and the extra-long flexible busses. So many busses that the bus stop signs are printed on all four sides of the post.  The same holds true on Chicago’s State Street in the Loop.

On Minneapolis’ downtown stretch of Nicolette Mall busses are the only traffic allowed.  They connect to the light-rail line.  Minneapolis’s Uptown shopping district is also lined with busses.  To claim that bus congestion is a deterrent to filling vacant [class C and below] retail space in downtown Columbus is ludicrous.

Essentially, there is nothing inhabitable left on High Street downtown.  And COTA busses are responsible for this?

If there’s a place to lay blame it can only be with the leadership of the City and the Columbus City Council.  Poor planning, lack of leadership, lack of vision, lack of investment and a misguided land use policy has left downtown Columbus in a shambles.

And somehow the folks at the Columbus Dispatch believe they have a say in what’s next?  Perhaps it should be noted that the decline in size and content of the Columbus Dispatch coincides with the decline of downtown Columbus.  So, yeah, I guess the Columbus Dispatch is influential.

 

 

Lake Street

As a child of two parents who grew up connected to Lake Street, so was I. It was the elastic band that stretched to accommodate life in South Minneapolis and it seemed as if life couldn’t have existed without it.  For nineteen years my life Lake Street was a mainstay.

Even the events leading up to my life revolved around Lake Street. My Polish grandfather, my mother’s father, worked at Minneapolis Moline, a tractor factory that once consumed acres at the intersection of Lake and Minnehaha. The man who was to become my father worked at Sears on Lake and Chicago.

We lived two blocks from Lake Street. My grandmother, a half a block and an aunt and uncle just two blocks as well. My elementary school was one block off of Lake Street as was my high school.

My dad had his film developed at a camera shop on 27th Avenue and Lake. We’d wait nearly two weeks to see the results of snapshots taken with his Kodak Instamatic. In the same building there was a department store and a ballroom. Our bank was on this block. Woolworth’s was on the same block.

Across the street was the Town Talk Diner. It was the only sit-down restaurant for miles in any direction, though there was a drive-in on 21st and Lake. Kresge’s on 20th and Lake had a lunch counter.

27th and Lake – photo credit:  J. Johnson

But 27th and Lake, with all of it’s riches was a a world away, nine blocks away from our section of Lake Street. At the intersection of 36th Avenue and Lake were the smaller businesses that served us. The grocery store, the drug store, the bakery, the flower shop, the hardware store – all referred to as “the” because these businesses were, at the time, the sole providers.

Lake Street was also the last street south on which a business could get a liquor license. Mixed in with everything else were bars – neighborhood gathering spots which my surrounding family never frequented. They weren’t taboo, it’s just that my dad’s consumption was limited to a PBR on the back porch after he cut the grass.

A decade later most of what remained of my mid-70’s childhood were the ubiquitous bars. The addition of a second car and working mothers gave physical and financial access to larger, nicer and newer businesses further away and thus the decline of what were completely self-contained neighborhoods.

A long-time friend from my neighborhood captured these images in 1983 and recently sent me the scanned images.

Lake Street looks much the same today.

Poodle Club – 30th and Lake

Duffy’s – 26th Ave at 26th Street

36th and Lake looking southwest

36th and Lake looking east

Dan Za Bar – 38th and Lake

Fine Used Cars – 38th and Lake -  photo credits:  L. Pederson

“Finally Out” – a book review

“When a man discovers his homosexuality, his education must begin all over again,” this according to Loren A. Olson, author of the newly released book “Finally Out.” While this story of coming out as a middle-aged man is uniquely his, the story is told not only from his perspective, but with doses of candid statements and scenarios that came from counseling many men in similar positions. Loren Olson is, among other things a psychiatrist.

He brings up the topic multiple times throughout the book, that being asked how he could not know that he was gay until he was forty years old, as well as being asked, “Wasn’t your marriage just a sham to protect yourself?” Throughout the chapters Olson attempts to answer that question and in doing so, highlights many important milestones in the life of gay men, middle-aged or otherwise.

I’d known that the book was in the works for some time as I’ve been a follower of Olson’s blog, MagneticFire.com. I also knew I’d read the book just as soon as I could get my hands on it. I didn’t know, however, just how important this book would be to helping me understand my world. Not only from where I came to how I got here, but to where I’m going myself, a now middle-aged gay man.

At about the time that I was coming out at age twenty in socially progressive Minneapolis, Olson was dealing with the same struggle, though he was twenty years older than myself and living in rural Iowa. While that is only a geographic distance of 245 miles, it is a cultural distance that is nearly immeasurable. Single and with the majority of my life ahead of me, I had the ability to explore and discover with little consequence. For Olson it meant discretion, secrecy and sometimes lies.

Through reading his story I discovered what a married man thinks as he discovers his homosexuality. I can never truly feel it myself, but I have been the emotional recipient on more than one occasion, of outbursts and frustration from men that I have dated that either were at the time or had been married previously.

“For those who have internalized the cultural constructs of masculinity (strong, heterosexual) and femininity (weak, sissy), life is complex and difficult. They experience a silent and secret sense of of difference from the masculine ideal. Shame and secrecy, lying, self-blame, and self-hatred inform their sexual activities with other men. They experience a sense of dissonance between who they know they are and who they think they should be, and the greater the difference, the greater the self-hatred.”

Regardless of age, location, economic condition and other social conditions this statement is probably true for more gay men than are willing to admit it.

It’s inevitable that the these two worlds of men of various backgrounds collide more often than one might consider. Traditionally gay men of all backgrounds used ‘the bars’ as a place to meet up and socialize. Regardless of age or family status, gay bars were and still are the one place where men who desire men can frequent without traditional boundaries.

This world, the world where men who desire men has moved to new locations thanks to technology. It has moved to virtual spaces around the globe and is connected by the Internet. Olson speaks to this new environment as well –

“He hungers for a connection with like-minded men and his only link is via the Internet, but those relationships are often with other emotionally starved men. Frequently these connections focus on sex to the exclusion of the emotional intimacy he craves.” This again, being a common challenge to men regardless of age, location and economic condition.

Throughout the book I was able to look back at my own experience and challenges, but in addition to looking back, Olson gives readers a chance to look forward. The United States is quickly approaching a time where the largest population of gay senior-citizens will be in need of unique social services that have yet to be defined or protected by law. Inheritance, Social Security, land laws and housing, just to name a few.

There is a lot of work that remains to be accomplished, but Olson’s book connects the dots logically for all men who are homosexual, but just as importantly, for their families – biological or otherwise.

Dr. Loren Olson and his husband, Doug Mortimer, live on a farm in Madison County Iowa where they raise Belted Galloway cattle. They are involved in sustainable agriculture and the production of grass-fed beef.

You can read more about Mr. Olson in an article from the Des Moines Register by clicking here.

An Open Invitation to John Kasich

If you’d like to travel on the Ohio rails with me to Chicago, I’m buying.

When I took my first Amtrak trip in September of 2008 I would have never imagined that I’d be commuting on Amtrak just two years later.   Now, in just a little over two-years time I’ve earned enough points to get a bedroom car for my winter trip through the Rockies to Salt Lake City.

In addition to my regular commutes to and from Chicago/Toledo I’ve ventured to both Washington DC and Minneapolis via Amtrak.  Allow me to add that the route to DC through the Allegheny mountains is simply spectacular.

Over the past couple of years my friends and colleagues have heard me talk about my train trips and some of them started asking questions about how and when one books and travels on Amtrak.  Some of them have taken the time to book trips.

A colleague and his wife booked a sleeper car to Chicago for a long weekend.  Since they were traveling with their young daughter, they found sleeper car accommodations to be perfect for the three of them.  Another couple booked a long weekend in Chicago, but spent the night in Toledo first, thus contributing a little something to Toledo’s economy.  Yet another friend booked a trip from Portland to Seattle while she was on the West Coast.

All of them have eagerly told me how excited they were to be taking their first train rides and equally excited to tell me how much they enjoyed their trips once they returned.

“It’s so convenient.”
“The scenery was beautiful and it was so relaxing.”
“My wife just loved the idea.”
“My eight year old just asked about going for a train ride and I’m thinking about taking the entire family out for the day.”
“It’s so much cheaper than flying.”

This got me thinking more about just how many Ohioans ride the existing Amtrak routes that pass through Ohio.   Toledo has the most boardings of any Ohio train station, and the two other major stops in Ohio are Cleveland and Cincinnati.  However, whether I’m traveling east or west, scores of Ohioans board and disembark at various other stations which include Elyria, Sandusky, and Bryan.

Mind you, Amtrak schedules through Ohio are not that convenient.  The trains travel through the night delivering passengers to Chicago by eleven o’clock in the morning (at the latest), to DC by mid afternoon and to New York and Boston my early evening.  Still, Ohioans make a choice to travel via Amtrak.  Imagine how many more might choose Amtrak if they were to build their schedule around Ohio cities as destinations.

This led me to think that maybe one of the reasons that Ohio’s new governor Mr. John Kasich returned the $400 million in rail funds to the Federal Government is because he’s never traveled through Ohio on a train.  Maybe he thinks that no one rides regular-speed trains because he himself has never thought to try it.

My friends who have chosen to travel on the train absolutely love it, and maybe if John were to jump aboard, he’d like it too.  Maybe he’d like it enough to find another way to fund the expansion of rail through Ohio and create jobs by doing so.  And if that’s the case, I’d like to personally offer to buy John Kasich a round-trip Amtrak ticket to Chicago.

Since I travel out of Toledo often, he’s certainly welcome to ride up to the station with me.  He doesn’t even have to go in half’sies with me on the gas.  The trip is on me.

I’ve thought about the political implications of paying for Ohio’s governor’s train ticket.  Since I didn’t vote for him I don’t think there would be any ramifications for either of us.  And since I won’t be voting for him in the future, it’s not like I’m asking for any type of political favor in return.   But hey, just because I don’t necessarily want to hang out with John Kasich all the time, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be casual friends.  Hell, I’ve paid for other friends to travel with me, so why not John Kasich.

So John, if you’re reading this the invitation is on the table.  If you’d like to travel on the Ohio rails with me to Chicago, I’m buying.  I’ll even pay for breakfast in the dining car.  Have your people get in touch with my people and we’ll coordinate calendars.