This Train Is Bound For Liquidation

I'm a train nut. Love 'em. I love long distance trains, commuter trains, subways and "L" trains, street cars, even monorails. I even have a subscription to Trains Magazine. So let's get that admission out of the way. Full disclosure and all that.

Amtrak. Is it a great train system? Not at all, as anyone who has ever taken a train ride in Europe will tell you. It had its problems. Trains run late, equipment is outdated and in short supply, and there are not nearly as many routes as there once were. This is mostly due to under-funding over the years. Amtrak has received about $30 billion since its creation 34 years ago. A little under a billion a year for a national passenger rail system in a country as big as ours is not a bad deal. If we want more we need to spend more. It is our only national rail system, and it should be preserved and fully funded. George W. Bush doesn't think so. Bush's budget proposal for 2005 includes these two items for the national transportation budget-

Highways - $35 Billion
Amtrak - $0

So the Texas oilman wants to spend more this year on a free ride for SUVs than has been spent on passenger rail in the entire history of Amtrak. He and his little flying monkey Norman Mineta keeping singing the same tune about Amtrak being self-sufficient and turning a profit, despite the fact that nowhere else in the world does the passenger rail network turn a profit. And I've never once heard that same demand of the highways, "If I-80 doesn't start making money we're going to take away all its funding". It's just a ridiculous proposition. If my taxes have to go to free roadways for SUV driving yuppie ass-holes, then we should get our trains. At a time when just about every city in the country has finally realized you can't base your entire transportation network on cars and is building some sort of Subway/light rail/commuter rail to stop the gridlock and free flowing of oil, Bush is running the opposite direction. Even L.A. has a decent public system now. And Phoenix is building one. Dallas has exceeded all ridership expectations for both its commuter and light rail and is rushing to add more miles to the system.

And it is such a great way to travel. There is no better way to see this beautiful country than on a train. One great example is the Empire Builder. There is so much to see on this train that runs between Chicago & Seattle/Portland. The Empire Builder includes a trip through Icicle Canyon, running alongside the Columbia River through the river basin, not one but two stops at Glacier National Park (east & west entrances) and some of the most amazing scenery in Big Sky Country. And of course the trip involves two major mountain range crossings (Cascades & Rockies) that include traveling through the two longest tunnels in the western hemisphere. And there is even cute things like the owners and guests of the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Montana coming out to wave at the train as it goes by (yes they do it every time). This is just one train route, and only a fraction of the sights.

And you can see all this while sitting in the Sightseer Lounge Car sipping on a cocktail chatting it up with a schoolteacher from Havre, Montana. Or while having lunch with a couple of hippy college guys from U of Montana. Or drinking a beer with a couple of Amish brothers from Indiana. Or playing Euchre with a gay Australian guy as you partner. Nobody ever gets off a plane with that kind of experience. You get crushed in a little seat with no leg or elbow room that has a tiny window next to it, and there's no room to walk around or anything interesting to walk to. And if the person sitting in the seat next to you sucks or is in anyway uninteresting, well, that's your only person to talk to. On a train you can just get up and go find someone else to talk to. Like if your talking to the weird Vietnam Vet with the plate in his head showing you his Thai Chi moves you can politely excuse your self.

"Hey that's great! Oh, I'm out of beer. I gotta go to the lounge. I'll talk to later."

Easy as that. Then you go get your Australian buddy you met three hours earlier and bitch him out for leaving you there alone. Good times, good times.

So don't let Bush kill my Amtrak. He's trying to kill a federal agency that had a record breaking year for ridership, despite the fact they have less routes/miles/stations than in the past. And more could be done with proper funding and upgraded equipment. The results from the investment in California Amtrak have been amazing and ridership is passing all expectations. And more ideas. A great one would be for them to invest in European style couchette cars so that more people could take an overnight train and have a bed without the cost of Amtrak's "roomettes" which are too pricey. They should make it so people with modest income should be able to pay a little more and not sleep in a coach seat (though the seat is quite comfy).

A lot of small towns have no Greyhound service or commercial airport nearby. That's true for every stop in Montana on the Empire Builder except for Whitefish. And you want to talk hurting local business? In Havre, Montana there is a longer stop for servicing the train. So you get about 30-45 minutes to get out and walk around. Right across from the train depot there is a building that has a sign that says "RESTAURANT CASINO CIGARETTES LIQUOR". You can run into this place and get a bottle of booze and a couple packs of smokes, order some jalepeno poppers to go, have a beer, and throw some quarters in the slots while waiting for your poppers. And then jump back on the train.

I don't think he will succeed in killing it all together. Amtrak has just enough friends in Congress to keep it running on fumes another year. But I think it's worth a quick email to your Senator or Congressperson. Check out Save Amtrak or Friends Of Amtrak for more info. If we get rid of Amtrak the only long train rides will be on those damn luxury carriers that cost as much as a cruise and has the same annoying wealthy bankers, lawyers and others that I can't stand talking to. So do it for me.

Better yet, take Amtrak. Use it whenever you can.