I took the train from Rochester to Albany yesterday. The train ride is supposed to be four hours long. Mine took a total of 6 hours. Oye. It just doesn't seem right that we can send people to the moon and consistently bomb other countries, yet we cannot spend on the technology and resources to make taking the train an easy and enjoyable endeavour as it is in other countries.
The issue with the Empire line in upstate NY is that in many places there is just one track. Passenger trains have to pull over for freight trains and TV shows (yes, TV shows... Good Morning America is doing a series about riding across America) to pass. This meant that there were 4 different times during my journey yesterday in which my train was just waiting for another to pass; sometimes for up to 45 minutes. It's just dreadful.
On the positive side, I had this view during one of the waits of the Mohawk River:
And, I finished a NOVEL. Really. Thanks to my friend B. who gave me a book I really enjoyed called The Cranberry Queen. It was about a woman who had lost her parents and brother in a car accident and how she dealt with her grief and loss. I suspect that one of the reasons I enjoyed this book, was that I too am dealing with my own loss, so I connected with the main character a bit on that point.
our train technology is not as good as other countries because we rely so much more on cars.
ReplyDeletei am so glad you enjoyed the cranberry queen.
I agree. Amtrak is a wonderful part of this country's infrastructure, but it's run very, very badly and if we're going to subsidize it - as we should, I think - it needs to be a much more responsive organization.
ReplyDeleteHere's my take:
http://tinyurl.com/amtrak-fails