Login
or
Register
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Home
»
Model Railroader
»
Forums
»
General Discussion (Model Railroader)
»
Elliott's Trackside Diner - July 2012
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
<p>Since when does coffee moan and groan?</p> <p>[(-D]</p> <p>Just watched my favorite afternoon TV show - R"Railroad Romantics". Today´s feature was about a ride on the California Zephyr, from San Francisco to Chicago. Aside from the really spectacular scenery the train passes through, I now understand why taking a train is not really an option in the US:</p> <ul> <li>56 hrs for 2,500 miles - that´s an average of just 45 mph. This may be OK for freight, but for passenger service this is way too slow!</li> <li>Train depots are located somewhere in the boon docks or hard to reach places.</li> <li>Station platforms are too low. Elderly people may find it hard to enter a train using that step. The same goes for those high-level cars the train consisted of.</li> <li>Stop-over time at intermediate stations is way too long. Manually open each door, getting out the step and escorting people takes too much time. Why not automatic doors and platforms level with the entrance of the cars?</li> <li>On-board atmosphere is somewhat sterile, though functional. Other than being able to get up and walk around a little, there is not much of a difference to the atmosphere and comfort of an airplane. That´s not enough to attract folks to riding trains again, as there is a trade off between comfort and traveling time. Trains, even those HSR beast we run here in Europe, will never beat planes in terms of time, so they have to excel in comfort and atmosphere.</li> </ul> <p>I took AMTRAK´s Coastal Starlight Express back in 1974, all the way from Seattle down to LA Union Station and even in those days, that train was no match to the name trains in Europe, like the famous "Rhinegold" train from Basel in Switzerland to Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.</p> <p>If there is a public will to revive long distance train travel, there will be an awful lot to do. But that would certainly require a different mandate to AMTRAK, a different organization, maybe even a different management, but certainly a different way of funding.</p> <p>This is by no means a rant, so you can keep the soapbox, Chloe. It´s just an observation from someone outside of the US, with a major in transportation science ... [:-^]</p>
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
Update Reply
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Users Online
There are no community member online
Search the Community
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter
See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter
and get model railroad news in your inbox!
Sign up