In a previous post, TRAINS Magazine assistant editor Angela polls readers for pointers about what they wish to see regarding transit/commuter rail systems (bus dudes get lost! -- we're talking rail here). In a similar vein, I am offering (unsolicited) what I'd like to see more of, and what TRAINS has just a tantalizing bit of: stories on railway corridors.
Now the best writer on this subject, bar none, is Fred Frailey. The non plus ultra of feature writers on this score -- no one else comes close. I'm humbly suggesting that each month, come rain or drought, TRAINS dedicate a feature on some major railway corridor -- the Overland Route, the Transcon, the Northeast Corridor, the Sunset Route, the NS Crescent and Heartland Corridors, etc. The list is endless, because what Fred Frailey wrote about in TRAINS about the Golden State Route or the T&P Line several years ago has become stale, and could stand to be updated. An offshoot of this series could revolve around plans to unplug bottlenecks in major railway terminals (Chicago's CREATE -- more hot air than results; the multiple overpasses in Kansas City, what they've meant in regards to expediting railway operations, and plans (if any) for more; Houston -- what's happened since the 2002 meltdown there; Los Angeles (are they serious about another trench leading out of Downtown LA to the east?) -- that sort of thing. Many of these stories were featured in TRAINS at the time they were hot items. But time passes, and interested readers are interested in follow-up. What happened in the intervening six years since TRAINS covered that topic?
If any readers wish to supplement this list, I welcome it. One supposes TRAINS would, too.
Addendum (or maybe I should call it "addendumb." I noted your comments, both Al and Bergie, and indeed I did respond to Angela's request for what I'd like to see in TRAINS' transit/commuter rail coverage. When I posted this piece, I thought I was in the General Discussion section of the forum, not in transit/commuter. My mistake.
Take a look at the thread "What would you like to see covered in TRAINS magazine?" It's on the same (Transit) site.
As Al mentioned, Angela started a thread here.
I'm going to lock this thread so we keep all conversations in one place.
Bergie
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