When transportation works, it's a wonderful thing

The eastbound Lake Shore Limited rolls through Rochester, N.Y., in December 2011. Photo by Brian Schmidt

I walked in to the Trains Magazine offices in suburban Milwaukee about 1 p.m. today. Many people would think that's grounds for dismissal, until they learned that I woke up the same morning somewhere between Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio. I was returning from a long weekend in Rochester, N.Y., on the Lake Shore Limited. Upon my arrival at Chicago Union Station, I was able to make a hasty transfer to the next departing Hiawatha Service train to Milwaukee, just 15 minutes after I stepped off the first train.

At its most basic level, Amtrak worked for this trip. I was able to travel many hundred miles overnight, spending one last full day (and evening!) in Rochester, and only missing a half day in the office. Chalk one up for the convenience of rail transportation.

But that's about the only positive I came back with.

I traveled in coach, which was, in a word, unpleasant. The train was dirty (more an indictment of the patrons than Amtrak's yard crews), doors stuck open, restrooms ran out of paper products (both directions in my coach!), and the incredibly priced breakfast omelette was mediocre, at best. To top it off, the "diner light" crew had a rather loud disagreement that got the attention of every patron in the car. Boarding at Rochester was chaotic enough that I questioned just how long the station staff had been working with the temporary setup there during construction of the a new facility.

As I was booking the trip in early summer, I (briefly) considered getting a roomette. The going rate for a round trip in coach was $198; a roomette was north of $700. With the schedule, a Chicago-Rochester round trip passenger would see just two breakfasts for the fare. A paltry bonus to be sure. Since my travel voucher – Amtrak's apology for a botched vacation in late 2015 – was for just $250, and not wanting to fork over the remainder of the roomette fare out of pocked for a long weekend in Western New York, I rode in coach. The irony here is that the voucher was penance of sorts for a three-night trip booked for two people in a bedroom, yet it wouldn't cover a single rider in a roomette for just one night.

After this experience, I can't help but think of what Amtrak still could be. Imagine what Amtrak could do with a new fleet of intercity equipment, with two trains on each long distance route spaced roughly 12 hours apart, with corridor departures every hour on the hour, with an attention to detail that seems to come naturally to European rail operators.

When I return to Rochester, weeks, months, or years from now, I will likely do so in a Boeing product. My preferred airline shows fares for a random weekend at less than $300 round trip – with a change of aircraft in Baltimore. A roomette on Amtrak for the same weekend is more than $800 round trip. That difference will go a long way toward covering the extra night of hotel New York!

I could be persuaded to take a day train to Rochester, at least one direction, spending the time taking in the scenery and maybe read through a book. I had some pleasant trips on the daytime Chicago-Philadelphia Pennsylvanian before its 2003 demise and I believe I would have the same experience on a daytime train over the Lake Shore's route. Then, maybe, people traveling from Buffalo to Cleveland – and there seemed to be plenty onboard – wouldn't have to do so in the middle of the night.

If only.