Also from Flimsies in case you missed it, a vivid description of an Amtrak trip that started well, but turned into the trip from hell on the return side. The reporter trying to put a good face on things, but even her patience was tested:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/today/articles/1255672.html

Good Post , although it makes my boil over what these people had to endure during what should have been a festive occasion. Keeping in mind, that the writer of the article had in fact traveled by train in the past. It makes me ashamed of what can happen to our national passenger train system. It's horror stores like these that will keep people from riding Amtrak. Not a good thing in these times. You would think that after all these years, this system would be progressing rather than regressing. It seems that for every person that I talk to that had a positive experience, two or more come up that had a negative one. I know that there are a lot of dedicated people who try to make this thing work, but it appears that one step forward is always followed by two backwards.

Readers:

At the risk on continuing a discusson on a non-preservation related topic, wouldn't it be nice if each of our US Senators and Representatives read this account of the train ride from hell, with a headline or lead-in saying something like: "This is what the last few years starvation diet in AMTRAK funding has done, and will continue to do, unless AMTRAK is fully funded." Or words to that effect.

Thanks!

Jim Vaitkunas
Minnesota Streetcar Museum

Heck, I saw the thread title and thought it was about an old girlfriend...