Plain Trains & Automobiles
We’re on vacation this week, so I thought I’d tweak some older pieces I wrote before I was blogging.
From May 2003 [living in Richmond, VA]. . .
Things I learned and heard on the Amtrak train to Charlotte last Thursday night...
“This is a smooth ride; feels like we're barely moving." A middle aged gentleman—waking up from a short nap and riding a train for the first time in his life—as he looked out my window and saw us whizzing past a freight train. Actually, it was the freight train that was speeding; we were not moving at all.
There is a crossword puzzle website from some university in Ohio that is great for giving the answers to words that have you stumped. It's much cheaper than the 900 for crosswords. How does it work, you ask? Well, you can plug in something like "blank, blank, n, o, blank, e, blank" and it will give you the possible word combinations.
Government-subsidized people transportation will always take a back seat to private-enterprised freight transportation when there is only one track available.
You get a $19 discount if you booked a business class seat on the train and if the air conditioning is completely out in your car and it is hotter than h, e, blank, blank.
It ain't worth the $19.
You get free drinks (sodas, water, etc.) in business class. However, when they are out of water since "everyone has been drinking it on account of the A.C. being out," you, not the "Train Attendant" must walk to the dining car and get some water. However, when you explain that it should be free since you are in business class and you get free drinks 3 cars back, you will hear this reply: "Then go back to business class and tell them to come up here and get it for you." Press ‘1’ for my thoughts on government-subsidized customer service.
“It's not too bad when the train is moving,” an elderly woman commented when we our train finally started moving after two one-hour delays. . . to which I wanted to respond, "But, ma'am, there are no open windows on this train. A sauna on wheels is still a sauna."
The unusually long stop just before Greensboro was not due to 5:00 traffic as some had surmised. It was, in fact, due to someone lying on the track that almost got run over by our train.
