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T O P I C     R E V I E W
StonewallJones
Member # 887
 - posted
ABOARD THE CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR (AP) -- It creeps through the twilight into Ottumwa, Iowa, a silver ghost from the past.

In 1923, 57 passenger trains a day called here. Today there is only the California Zephyr -- eastbound in the morning, westbound at night.

Ottumwa's two-story brick depot has been in continuous use since 1889, but only barely. Amtrak rents a glass office for its one attendant. Most of the building is used by the local historical society, as a museum.

The Zephyr has a storied past -- it follows part of the original transcontinental rail route as it travels from Chicago to near San Francisco. But its future is in peril.

In February, Amtrak's then-president, George Warrington, warned that the Zephyr and 17 other long-distance trains -- which cost $1 billion annually to run but bring in only $514 million -- would be the first ones cut this fall if Amtrak did not get a major boost in federal support.

Shutting down these legendary trains -- including the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief and the City of New Orleans, memorialized in song -- would mean that, for the first time in 133 years, travelers could not cross the United States by rail.

More recently, Amtrak's new president, David Gunn, warned the railroad was on the brink of shutting down all service for lack of cash. An agreement with the Bush administration Friday averted the immediate crisis.

For now, the Zephyr lives. At its stop in Ottumwa, 20-year-old Maegan Lee Andrzejewski climbs down, returning from Chicago, where she has been planning her wedding with her aunt.

The trip marked the first time Maegan and her husband-to-be, Rodney Baker, have been apart during their seven-month engagement. "I'm home! I'm home! I'm home!" she calls, rushing to his arms.

Then, with the hoot of a whistle and the creak of steel, the Zephyr eases out of town. It picks up speed, heading west, running from extinction.

"All Aboard!"

The westbound Zephyr leaves Chicago's Union Station each day at 2:45 p.m. carrying a diverse cast of passengers, from retirees and fearful fliers to the cost-conscious and even a few business travelers, working as they go.

Riders settle in for the two-day, 2,438-mile journey in three double-decker coach cars, where the trip to the West Coast costs $164. In two double-decker sleeper cars, other passengers are splurging on compartments that, depending on size, add $400 to $1,000 to the fare.

The two groups meet and mingle in the lounge car, the train's Main Street.

Long-distance trains are for those with the time and inclination to savor the journey across America with a cold drink, a collegial atmosphere, and a pillow.

"When I was growing up, rail travel was seen as old-fashioned," says Ray Dellacroce, 55, a real estate developer heading home to Colorado Springs. "What I've come to find out is it's a much more civilized way to travel."

He stretches out in his seat as western Illinois unfolds before him. "Here I can lean back and put my feet up," he says. "Try that on a plane."

A nation linked coast to coast

Before 1869, when the pioneering rail route between Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacramento, California, was completed, a transcontinental trip took months. Afterward, New York to San Francisco could be accomplished in a week. A nation still recovering from the Civil War suddenly found itself not only united but linked, coast to coast.

It was 80 years later, in 1949, that three railroads created the first train called the California Zephyr. It had meals with silver and linen, "Vista-Dome" glass viewing cars, and hostesses in teal suits.

But as Americans turned to automobiles and planes, the Zephyr's losses mounted and the route was shut down in 1970.

A year later, Amtrak was created, charged with taking over money-draining passenger service from freight railroads. Eventually Amtrak resurrected the route.

Trains turned Ottumwa into a manufacturing and agricultural center when they arrived in 1859. The city now has a population of 25,000, a community college and, still, the Zephyr.

Cutting Amtrak service would "isolate and cripple the transportation systems in southern Iowa," the Wapello County Board of Supervisors said in a February resolution urging continued federal subsidies for the Zephyr.

"If you are any small town, any rural town," said Supervisor Rhea Huddleston, "and you end up with the post office leaving, or your school leaving, that makes a big dent. It's like your identity is fading away. And you can look at that with rail service also."

Scenic route

Tumbleweeds bouncing in its wake, the Zephyr blows through western Iowa and Nebraska as its passengers struggle to sleep.

"I've never been on a train that jostled as much as this one," says Bill Lawrie of Wayne, Pennsylvania, bound for San Francisco.

Amtrak trains are only as smooth as the tracks they run on, and 97 percent of those tracks are owned by freight railroads.

The train wakes to the farmland of western Nebraska -- a huge checkerboard with squares of gold and green.

For hours, the train cuts a straight line through the flat terrain of eastern Colorado under cloudless skies -- before a voice in the sightseer lounge turns heads:

"Are those clouds, or mountains?" The Rockies are on the horizon.

Arrival in Denver is at noon, more than three hours behind schedule. Amtrak says its long-distance trains were late 32 percent of the time last year; the Zephyr, 51 percent.

The Zephyr pulls out, beginning a snaking ascent up the Rockies. More than 9,000 feet above sea level, it enters the 6-mile-long Moffat Tunnel, a shortcut between Denver and Salt Lake City blasted through the Continental Divide in the 1920s.

The train emerges into bright sunshine and sidles up to the Colorado River, here just a stream. For the next four hours, the scenery is breathtaking: snowcapped mountaintops and whitewater rapids, evergreens clinging to rust-color rocks. Fishermen wave as the train rumbles by.

At Green River, Utah, pop. 1,000, an unstaffed depot awaits riders who get on or off. Not many do: last year, not quite four people per day.

The town's fortunes have been tied to the railroad almost since its founding in 1878. It grew as a shipping point, then declined when the railroad moved operations.

"We never dreamed about being a town without a railroad," says Allene Spadafora, who has lived here since 1940. "That's part of our inheritance."

Connie Copenhaver, a former city recorder, says Amtrak should promote the Zephyr as a convenient way to reach a playground of nearby national parks: Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.

But promotion may not be the issue. Amtrak says the train is already full during much of the summer.

The biggest problem is the cost of operating the train -- labor and maintenance, for example -- and widespread agreement that fares cannot reasonably be bumped much higher.

The politics
The Zephyr is a creature of politics. Its seven-state journey takes it through territory represented by 14 senators and 18 House members, many of whom would have little reason to support Amtrak if not for the train.

It stops four times in the district of Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Republican representing most of Nevada. If the Zephyr ends, he said, so would his votes to fund Amtrak.

"You need a national Amtrak presence to make it a viable entity that can be supported by all states," Gibbons said.

One stop in Gibbons' district is in Sparks, Nevada., a growing city of 71,000 which began in 1904 as a Southern Pacific yard. Sports teams here are the "Railroaders."

City officials, working with Gibbons, hope to turn an old railroad machine shop into a science center, tourist information office and a grand, Victorian-style station.

But for now, riders get off in the middle of a rail yard, with no services or shelter.

The journey ends

Nearly 56 hours have passed since John Olfano boarded the train in Chicago.

A recent medical problem forced Olfano, 30, out of work. Tired of sitting home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he headed west. Looking for a journey and not just a trip, he chose the train.

"You take the bus, you're cramped," he says. "You take the plane, you get there the same day, but you don't see nothing. I didn't want that. I wanted to see something new."

At 8:45 p.m., 21/2 hours behind schedule, the Zephyr reaches its final stop in Emeryville, California. Olfano picks up his bags, descends the stairs and steps into the California night.

The empty Zephyr is driven to the rail yard for routine inspections, cleaning and refueling.

At 9:35 a.m., with a new load of passengers and an announcement of "All aboard!" it will begin its long trip back.


 

Gilbert B Norman
Member # 1541
 - posted
You know, if you really think about it, the Long Distance passenger train, with daily service on three East-West routes, and tri-weekly on a fourth, is probably as "healthy" in the USA as anywhere in the world.

Look at Canada; while much is favorably written about "Th/Le Canadia/en", one should not forget that it operates tri-weekly and then only over the least populous and scenic of the two routes potentially available.

Mexico - essentially, extinct.

South America - not too much anywhere down there to my knowledge.

Asia - I guess there are still long distance (but short on amenities) services in both Russia and China. So is there extensive service, but not exactly "luxo", within the Indian sub-continent. Extinct in the Middle East.

Australia - I believe there is still a Melbourne-Perth train with sleepers and diners but on less than daily frequency.

Africa - I guess Long Distance trains with amenities remain, particularly in South Africa.

Europe - Plenty of trains, including overnight; but "not exactly" long distance. Same for SE Asia.

Antartica - Well!!!!!!!!!
 

reggierail
Member # 26
 - posted
Great article Stonewall, thanks for posting it. It's too bad more people haven't experienced the train & all that goes with it.

Reggie
 

hookedup
Member # 1691
 - posted
That is a great article, thanks for posting it.

This is exactly why we chose to take the SL across the US for our vacation this Summer. Sure we could have flown to Orlando and been there the same day (and it would have cost quite a bit less), but chance to go by rail and have that experience was something that I wanted to have.

I have been on long distance trains in Australia, Europe and Asia, and it seemed a shame that I have never done this in my own country!

I look forward to sharing some stories from my upcoming trip on the #2 & #1 LAX-ORL at the end of the month!

 

StonewallJones
Member # 887
 - posted
No problem guys..

I got it off CNN.com last night.
 

DisbandAmtrak
Member # 1429
 - posted
I'm no transportation engineer by no stretch of the imagination. But the critics seem to have the hardest time with the long distance trains that travel almost cross country stopping in every little NoWheresville town.

Why not think of regional hubs where the trains spider out from there to all points of the country.

You're in LA and want to go to Florida. So, teh train leaves LA to Phoenix, connect to train leaving for Dallas, connect to train leaving for Miami. That kind of thing. I've taken Greyhound cross country in my youger years and that's basically what they do.

Of course this futuristic spider hub network takes place on brand spanking new tracks, brand spanking new locomotives and cars, travelling at 150 mph. The stations are ultra modern, beter than most airports, with food stands, car rental/airline/hotel hookups.

Ok, I'll stop living in fantasy land. Oh God, please help us do something, because this is looking like Amtrak is going to stay with the status quo, and we'll keep going through this forever. =(
 

DisbandAmtrak
Member # 1429
 - posted
I'm no transportation engineer by no stretch of the imagination. But the critics seem to have the hardest time with the long distance trains that travel almost cross country stopping in every little NoWheresville town.

Why not think of regional hubs where the trains spider out from there to all points of the country.

You're in LA and want to go to Florida. So, teh train leaves LA to Phoenix, connect to train leaving for Dallas, connect to train leaving for Miami. That kind of thing. I've taken Greyhound cross country in my youger years and that's basically what they do.

Of course this futuristic spider hub network takes place on brand spanking new tracks, brand spanking new locomotives and cars, travelling at 150 mph. The stations are ultra modern, beter than most airports, with food stands, car rental/airline/hotel hookups.

Ok, I'll stop living in fantasy land. Oh God, please help us do something, because this is looking like Amtrak is going to stay with the status quo, and we'll keep going through this forever. =(
 

Ken V
Member # 1466
 - posted
quote:
Originally posted by DisbandAmtrak:
...the critics seem to have the hardest time with the long distance trains that travel almost cross country stopping in every little NoWheresville town. ... =(

This, to me, is the most important function that Amtrak serves. The fact that Amtrak also stops in, or near, major cities as well as many smaller communities only enhances its usefulness. The nature of Amtrak gives all different types of travellers the ability to go from one big city to another, from one small town to the next, or, from Metropolis to NoWheresville.

In many of the places where Amtrak stops flying is not practical and for shorter journeys, even between cities, driving (or Greyhound) is often the only alternative.
 

Mr. Toy
Member # 311
 - posted
quote:
Originally posted by DisbandAmtrak:

Why not think of regional hubs where the trains spider out from there to all points of the country.

It is my understanding that what you describe, which is similar to the airlines "hub and spoke" (a.k.a. hub and choke) system is not well suited to rail networks. I'm not real clear on the reasoning, but I have heard that rail networks work better in something resembling a grid pattern crisscrossing the country. But that's just what I've heard.

------------------
Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car
 

Ken V
Member # 1466
 - posted
Now that I've mounted my soapbox and repeated my favorite argument, I'll get off and back on track.

The article posted by StonewallJones was very interesting and contained several points worth considering.

The "hub and spoke" idea proposed by DisbandAmtrak may work for some, but not me. While I've never experienced this on Greyhound, I've had enough long waits at airport terminals (on board the plane) and missed airline connections (when originating/intermediate flights were severely delayed) that I would shy away from any train trip that relied on so many connections. Besides, changing trains is always more of a hassle than simply riding on through.

Finally, Mr. Gilbert Norman's point regarding train travel outside the U.S. is important. Other than in Europe and Japan, where distances are relatively short, train travel is not necessarily any better, especially long distance, elsewhere in the world.

[This message has been edited by Ken V (edited 06-30-2002).]
 

DisbandAmtrak
Member # 1429
 - posted
Ok, a better idea. Express trains, like a non-stop New Orleans-Miami, Washington DC non-stop to Chicago or NYC. Local trains that make stops to smaller towns.
 
RRRICH
Member # 1418
 - posted
Stonewall - good article!! Thanks for posting it!
 



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