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I could scarcely believe my ears. The man repeated himself. "Are there any railfans who would like to drive the Lake Shore Limited to Poughkeepsie?" I raised my hand. The man told me to follow him. We went to the platform and walked the length of the train. There were coaches, two sleepers, an Amcafe, a diner, a crew dorm, and several baggage cars. When we arrived at the engine the man told me to climb into the cab. There was another man in the cab. He asked me, "Are you a Railfan? Do you read Trains magazine?" Yes, I said. "Well then you can drive the Lake Shore Limited to Poughkeepsie. This is the throttle and this is the brake. It's easy. Just wait until that dwarf signal turns green." The light turned green. I threw the throttle into Run 8. The big P32 AC-DM lurched forward. I ignored all the warning bells and whistles. The train raced alongside the Hudson River. Within two minutes we were in Yonkers. "Can't this thing go any faster?" I asked. We streaked through Tarrytown. The cab attendant was hiding in a corner of the cab in the fetal position. "I told HQ this was a bad idea!" he muttered. The Lake Shore blasted past Ossining jail. We were doing 310 mph. "It's high time America had high speed rail" I said. "But it's always had high speed rail," the man said. "it's just that the airlines pay Amtrak to go slow. Every train in America is capable of going 350 mph." So that was the big secret! If trains went fast it would turn the aviation industry upside down! The US economy would go belly up! I slowed the train for the Poughkeepsie stop.
-------------------- Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I'll take the train! Posts: 230 | From: Ithaca, New York | Registered: May 2009
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Hey - Low Speed Rail is better than nothing at all.....right?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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So true. Keep writing, I love reading it. I write books, and in a few minutes I'm going to start posting it. Good job
Posts: 465 | From: elgin (s-line) | Registered: Dec 2008
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