Back from the Zephyr

I made it home last night.

The only problem were the train delays. As I mentioned earlier, passenger trains must wait for freight trains and there is only one track in each direction (for brief parts of the trip there is only one track), so you must expect delays. There was one delay I didn't expect, however. Yesterday afternoon the train left Philadelphia during a huge rainstorm, and then the train stopped somewhere between Philadelphia and Trenton for over an hour. I was glad I wasn't in an airplane trying to land in Philadelphia or Newark.

What we didn't know was that the storm had knocked out power for central New Jersey, which affected the train lines. Trains were backed up in both directions of the Eastern Corridor. When we finally got to Trenton at 6:45 I waited for the 4:45 train to Princeton Junction. You know it must have been something when a guy from the NJ PBS affiliate, NJN news, was walking down the platform getting soundbites.

Will I do it again? Absolutely, yes. I'll probably fly to either Chicago or Colorado and then ride the Zephyr. It is an extraordinary experience. I just got this comment from Melissa, who I met in the train,

Fausta,
My husband Tim and I had the pleasure of dining with you on the zephyr this week and we wanted to tell all of the cynics out there that a trainride should be experienced by everyone at least once in your life. I don’t even consider myself an outdoor person, but when you see the sights on the train, the only word that can describe it is majestic. We live in the city and usually drive from california to denver but, on the train, you get to see the "Real America" that we tend to forget about. It's also a very nostalgic experience that my husband and i will have for the rest of our lives. Who's waxing nostalgic in an overcrowded airplane or when fueling at the pump. Who I ask you? WHO?

It was a wonderful journey.

Crossposted



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I'm riding the Zephyr for the trip back from BlogHer08 and have been reading an article Maria sent by Ben Jervey of the NY Post, RUN OUT ON A RAIL

THIS WOULD BE THE TIME FOR TRAINS, IF TRAINS RAN ON TIME

Ask around onboard almost any Amtrak train, and you’ll get a pretty short list of reasons why people ride the rails. In the café car, chugging along one of the country’s oldest routes, I counted four types of passengers. There are thrifty ones looking to save a few bucks on plane tickets. There are those who are scared of flying, a group that has no doubt grown in recent years. There are the zealots - without exception, older men - who describe themselves with charming lack of inhibition as "rail junkies," "railroad nuts," "train buffs," or, my personal favorite, "railfans." The rest - indeed the majority - say they"re here for "the experience." Good thing for Amtrak, that romantic notion of the rails is alive and well. Naturally, it’s something the beleaguered rail company promotes to death. The experience is an important sell; nobody ever mentions reliability or practicality.

Jervey is right about riding the Zephyr for the experience: the views have a spectacul beauty of almost mystical quality, and the Zephyr is the way to enjoy them, much more so than driving through the same part of the country. I have driven trough much of the area and one gets to enjoy the views much better in the train.

You might save money over plane fare if you ride in a seat, not in a sleeping compartment. For a two-and-a-half day trip you will need a bed to sleep, so there is no saving.

As for the three other kinds of passengers, the "experience" ones outnumber all the others. While most of them are Americans, you will also find a good number of Brits, several South Americans, and an Australian couple or two.

While Jervey makes a long list of Amtrak grievances, the main problem is that freight trains have priority over passenger trains. That is the main cause of delays in all the routes Amtrak serves, and, as I mentioned on this post, the logistics for passenger rail travel in America are much different than for rail travel in Europe .

That said, I recommend that everyone take the Zephyr from San Francisco to Denver. It is a journey of wonderous beauty.

Here's a photo I took right now, just outside of Reno,

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Last evening at BlogHer08

Last night BlogHer08 rounded up with a huge party at Macy's, where we all had a great time. It was a great conference, and a lot of fun. There's a video interview of me at the shoe department (imagine that!) which will be up on YouTube (or maybe not). When it turns up I'll link to it.

I have to thank the fabulous Jane Goowdwin for her wonderful support and her friendship, which made the past four days a very happy experience.

Special thanks also to Morra Aarons-Mele, Lisa Stone and Elisa Camahort Page for inviting me.

Moving the blog has had a lot of bumps and now http://faustasblog.com appears to be down. For the time being, here's a photo of San Francisco at 6AM today.


The train ride home starts in California right now:




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