Tedger.com

As I write this I’m sitting on the Capitol Limited, Amtrak Train 30. We’re pulling out of Cumberland Maryland at 1:24 PM local time. The train was supposed to get into Union Station in DC at 11:49 AM. I’m beginning to wonder why I even considered the train and how I was drawn in. When I originally had the idea of riding the train out to DC I was easily drawn in by the romantic images of train travel that Amtrak puts up on their website. A long train banks of lit windows coming around a bend in the tracks, lit by the moon and the lights inside. It’s a very enticing image.

But for all the imagery there is I don’t think that it can save american train travel. Cars are faster and –so long as gas doesn’t get that much higher– cheaper. If you buy your tickets long enough ahead of time planes and just as inexpensive. That isn’t to say that trains don’t have things going for them. Trains do live up to their romantic ideal in some ways. The Lounge cars allow you to look out onto the views (as I am doing now) with ease. Allowing you to take in the countryside, something you can’t do on a plane. On the same note you can’t be as stress free in a car; intestates are as busy as ever and it’s awfully nice to have someone else at the wheel.

All of these things considered trains I would say come out even, one other thing comes into play though, reliability. European trains arrive on time and leave on time. Amtrak is no TGV but I was at least under the impression that it would get me there in a reasonable time frame, not so I’m afraid.

My trip this started out in Oceola Iowa (the nearest stop to Ames and still about an hour and a half away). My Grandfather and I pulled up to the old depot, which was in a minor state of disrepair, about an hour early. Because of how much time we had I decided to call the 800 number to check on the train status. It was expected to be 5 hours behind. The major issue with this being that my connecting train (the Capitol Limited) was leaving only 2 hours after the scheduled arrival. I would be late, and would most likely be spending the night in Chicago. The agent told me that I could get a full refund on my tickets so I called my Dad and after talking to him decided to drive the first leg and catch the Limited in Chicago.

The car ride wasn’t too long and at least going into town traffic wasn’t horrendous (thanks again Mom and Dad). I got to the station on time, took a few pictures, waited in line, and boarded the train. There was no expected delays and everything was looking good. We departed only about 5 minutes late because of the number of people booked on the trip made finding seats for everyone difficult. We make our way out of the station, I introduce myself to the gentleman sitting next to me, and we talked for a while. Dennis was taking the train for the first time as well and seemed to be drawn in by the good customer service and the same romantic images that I was. He was heading for Florida to spend some time at a timeshare. I decided that I had talked long enough with Dennis (my ears were going to fall off) so I decided to go to the lounge car to watch the Pink Panther.

Eventually as the movie was playing we begin pulling through Gary Indiana. The train stops. The head conductor came on the intercom to tell us that 2 trains ahead a freight train was having some problems and he didn’t know how much longer we would be. Ended up being 2 hours and we were finally on our way. I watched the next movie (8 Below) and then decided to get some sleep. The next morning I was woken up around 7 AM (Eastern time) because Dennis was getting off the train in Pittsburgh. A number of people had connecting trains that they were going to miss so Amtrak had got a bus in Pittsburgh to take them to DC faster than the train could.

The rest of the day I’ve spent sleeping, reading, and watching a movie. We’re long past Cumberland now the conductor came by a while ago saying that we were about 4 hours out of DC. That puts us in at 5 PM, 5 hours late. The tranquility and romance of Amtrak unfortunately can’t make up for it’s unreliability. Next time I suppose I’ll just get tickets sooner and fly. It’s really too bad, I’m really enjoying looking out the windows as the countryside goes by.