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Pete, even if I were wealthy (which I certainly am not) I don't think I'd want to be stuck on a train with a bunch of rich people. To me, part of the fun is the changing cast of characters that you meet in the diner and lounge car, as well as the station stops in little towns - especially the...

I wouldn't blame Hillary for being a sore loser: After campaigning for so long, and finally gracefully admitting defeat, she gets slapped in the face with that schlockey mom from a state with the population of Memphis, who is engineered to appeal to the very lowest common denominator in the...

Well, there's this one from NBC itself, but it doesn't seem to want to load. Maybe others will have better luck. http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Hillary and Sarah made an appearance on SNL last night.

Ralph, you should definitely take "The Canadian". Trip of a lifetime: Great food, great scenery, and great service, all in meticulously restored Heritage equipment. Now that American Orient Express has bit the dust, it's pretty much Via or the Rocky Mountaineer if you want the old school...

Ralph, a Superliner coach seats 72. The old overnight coaches sat 48 (or was it 42?). A Superliner Sleeper sleeps 44, an old 10/6 sleeps 32 (with no shower!) Basically, it's a matter of making the attendant do more work. Nothing wrong with that per se, but you can see where the labor savings...

The old stuff was indeed nice. But Congress, being Congress, micro-managed Amtrak and thought they were too labor intensive, and didn't carry enough passengers per car. And the mandate of the retention toilet really sealed their fate. Canada, as usual, was smarter than us. They gave VIA a few...

Ralph, even in the lower 48 there are plenty of places where the long-distance trains come in handy. The Empire Builder goes through an area with no bus service and virtually no air service. It is heavily used by people going from rural North Dakota or Montana to Seattle or Minneapolis for...

Even in the "glory days" of passenger trains, they were subsidized. The US mail was what kept most of them operating, and when the mail went to airplanes, the railroads lost interest in running the trains. I still think that the long-distance trains serve a purpose for the folks in the rural...

Jon, have you heard of "The Downeaster"? It runs several times a day between Boston and Portland. It looks like the closest stop to Nashua is Haverhill. I took it from Boston to Portland for a friend's wedding a few years back, and was very impressed. Old Metroliner equipment, but nicely rehabbed.

Ralph, I agree that it would be great to have the Lark back. I'd just tweak it so that it left Redding (or someplace up there) in the daytime, got to the bay area in the evening, and arrived in LA in the morning. Northern California needs to be brought into the mix :-) Unfortunately, part of...

When I was young, I was in a Drum & Bugle Corps sponsored by the Union Pacific. You had to be a relative of an employee, and since everyone I knew (except for my mom and dad) had worked for the UP, I got in. Every summer we travelled through the west on vintage UP equipment, and performed in...

Amtrak is what it is: Corporate welfare, starved for funds, ran over lines that have been deterorating for the last 30 years. The equipment is ancient, and the manufactuers are out of business, so it's hard to keep them rolling. Congress makes them beg for funds year after year, Bush, Reagan...

All of these oldies remind me of growing up outside Omaha: The big rock station was "The Mighty 1290" KOIL. The softer stuff was KFAB - "Good neighbor to the Midwest". KOIL disappeared in the 70's as part of an anti-trust suit or something like that (yes kids, we used to break up monopolies in...

Libby! Ken, I love that part of the Rockies! My John is the manager of the train that goes from Seattle to Chicago, and it runs through Libby (in the middle of the night, unfortunately) and gets into Whitefish in the early morning (eastbound) or in the early evening (westbound). That's a great...

Lawrence, the Cory is for Buffets! (Lord knows it's a nightmare to actually cook on) This, and the Saladmaster, are the work horses. If I ever used electric skillets, that is ;-)

the control-o-matic thingy...

the inside....

big pic...

Such a dainty little thing. And all folksy and colonial-esque! I'm sure Paul Revere had one just like it. ;-)