If you are ever bothered by a 6 hr. late Amtrak train, rude train attendants, or any other small or large problems, I think it's sometimes good to reflect on major problems overcome by others, especially with July 4th one day away.
If you get a chance, read the book "Unbroken", about the life of Louis Zamperini. He passed away earlier, today. The movie comes out in Dec.
What a fantastic story. I've never heard of him, or the book. I'm really glad this is being turned into a movie. What an incredible story.
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
He's local here in Torrance. Our local airport is Zamperini Field. Quite a guy.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Quite a guy, indeed. I hope the movie will be as good as the book in describing the horrors he went through during WWII. Zamperini was one of the Olympic torch bearers in the 1998 winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, at the age of 81.
Richard
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Absolutely agree that he will be greatly missed. Reading his story renews my optimism for this country. If we all lived to be 100 and were half the human this guy was, it would be a much better world. RIP, Mr. Zamperini and so sorry that you couldn't hang around to see the premiere of that film.
Posted by bill613a (Member # 4264) on :
One of Mr. Zamperini's teammates in the 1936 Olympics was the famous sportscaster Marty Glickman. In a recent HBO documentary on Mr. Glickman Mr. Zamperini's exploits (athletically and military) were highlighted. RIP to a fine American.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
They did a nice feature on him on the NBC Nightly News tonight.
RIP.
Frank in dark and cool SBA
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
My wife's dad was a bomber pilot in the pacific. He passed away last year. We passed on to our son a piece of flak that lodged near him in the cockpit. Hopefully the new generations will never forget what these men did.
The book really meant a lot to her. We could use a few heroes in Washington.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
To continue here with another subject unrelated to Amtrak, this past Wednesday, The New York Times reported that several of the Canadian Railway hotels will soon have a new owner, although they will continue to be managed by Fairmont and marketed under that brand:
OTTAWA — The age when rail travel dominated in Canada has long passed. But the railway-built hotels that era left behind have retained much of the glory and glamour of that period.
Now a decision by Ivanhoé Cambridge, which is owned by Quebec’s largest investment fund, to largely eliminate hotels from its holdings has put a handful of Canada’s most famous landmarks on the market.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
I didn't know Canadian National hosted Canada's first public radio stations.
I hope, whomever buys up some of the old railway hotels, there will be consideration in bringing a better balance between the cost and quality. I stayed in the Chateau Lake Louise Hotel, a number of years ago, as part of a Rocky Mountaineer package. The price was steep but the quality was excellent. However, I've had friends who have stayed in the Empress in Victoria and the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff. In both cases, the report was hugely expensive hotel rates with rooms well below par.
Richard
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Here is the NBC News segment immediately noted by Frank:
Definitely not an Amtrak subject, but ESPN The Magazine shot a segment for The Body Issue with the Seattle Seahawk's Marshawn Lynch at the old 16th Street Station in Oakland. If you're not familiar with ESPN's Body Issues, I'd suggest not clicking this link until you've done some research. It looks like the station was quite an amazing structure in its glory days.