Eddie Huang on Food and Trains

"One of my favorite things is to take a train to a neighborhood I don't know and just collect menus representing a certain style of cuisine, ... I keep going back trying the same food item at different places until I develop a foundation and frame of reference." (Post is also here.)


I would not know that usually we buy cassia and not true cinnamon if it were not for trains. I would not know that there is a neighborhood in Sintaein, South Korea with its own crest if it were not for trains. I would not know many of the people that I know if it were not for trains and buses.


Update: More discoveries by Adonia: Riding the Bus in Seattle

Spices near the Littleton/Downtown Station (light rail)

Did you know that the cinnamon that we buy in the store is not really cinnamon? I didn't. I learned this on my trip to the Savory Spice Shop in downtown Littleton.

Most of what we buy as cinnamon is really cassia. If you have a piece of cinnamon bark that looks like a scroll that is cassia. If you have a piece of cinnamon bark that looks like a piece of bark, that is cassia. Ground cassia includes both the inner and outer bark which may be why it is cheaper than true cinnamon. Savory Spice Shop specializes in telling you exactly what you are getting, including multiple kinds of cinnamon and cassia. (I like locally owned shops.)

Downtown Littleton is a five minute walk from Littleton/Downtown Station.

Of Interest: Spices, downtown, locally-owned shops, Littleton Town Hall Art Center, court houses, historic buildings

Restrooms: No

Tourist Office: No

Other transit: local buses, bus stops are at both ends of the station

Grocery Store: no, but there is a coffee shop in the light rail station that is open until 5pm.

ATM: Don't all old downtown's have a bank. (Littleton was incorporated in 1890 and several buildings downtown date from the 1920's.)

Computer Access: Five minutes away at Englewood Civic Center in the library.

Downtown is northwest of the station, left when you leave the train. If you head left when you leave the station area, you should run into Main Street. Once you are on Main Street, walk toward the mountains to get to Savory Spice Shop. Note that you will walk past another spice shop. They are not locally-owned, and their spices are not as good, so keep walking. You also turn left to get to the courts, but you will have to walk east over the tracks to get to them. Littleton Municipal Court is right next to the bridge, and Littleton County Court is further along Littleton Boulevard.

Turn right to get to Arapahoe Community College and most buses.

Be careful and watch for cars when entering or exiting the station are and ParknRide.

The Littleton/Downtown Station is served by lines C and D of the Denver Metro light rail system. This is the second to last station; the end of both lines is three minutes south at the Mineral station which is still within Littleton's city borders. Downtown Englewood is five minutes away to the north. This is the station you want to go to if you are looking for a library. Trains heading north meet other lines in the system twelve minutes away at the I-25 and Broadway Station. This is the first station Change here to go to southwest Denver and suburbs. It is also where you need to start paying a higher fare for travel. Please note that even if you are traveling back into the zone where you started, if security checks your ticket here and you have not paid enough to get to this station, you will be fined.

You are now in the city of Denver. The C and D lines continue on together for two more stations until the 10th and Osage Station. From here the C line continues past Auraria Campus (three colleges), the football stadium and the Pepsi Center (basketball, concerts, other sports) before arriving at Denver Union Station which is twenty-eight minutes from Littleton. The D lines curves slightly to the south. It passes a different side of Auraria Campus before going through the middle of downtown. Some trains end here a half an hour after leaving Littleton and some continue on to the historic Five Points neighborhood which is another 8 to ten minutes further along.

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Holding Public Meetings?

Last week, the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced a series of public meetings and "field hearings" on upcoming surface transportation legislation. State and local officials and transportation stakeholders are being invited to the "field hearings".

Originally, the idea of the stakeholder was invented to give a way for someone who did not vote in a particular jurisdiction to have a voice in legislation that impacted them. However, it has come to be a way to do an end-run around democracy. After all, the only non-US citizens who should have a voice in our nation's transportation policy are immigrants, but I do not think that is who Mr. Mica wants to hear from.

The first "field hearing" was in Beckley, West Virginia today in the morning at The Theater at Tamarack, One Tamarack Park. There is no transit to this location, not even Amtrak or Greyhound, both of which serve Beckley. Only men have been invited to testify. Only one is an elected official. Two represent individual highways.

A second metting was later in the morning in Charleston, West Virginia. Fortunately, a member of the Friends of the West Virginia Cardinal was able to attend. He said that it went better than expected

I am still looking for information on the other meetings. They are being held within the next ten days, so hopefully more information will be available soon.

We Are Holding a Wake

From Edie Bryan, Colorail activist extraordinaire:


Come one and all to a wake, commemorating the historic tunnel at Denver Union Station.  It is scheduled to be demolished next Monday.  Therefore, we plan a memorial service, a wake, a celebration of its interesting history--what ever you want to call it. 

Where:  At Denver Union Station

When:  1:00 p.m. This Sunday, February 6, 2011    Before the  Superbowl game

Who:  Anyone and everyone who wishes to mourn for the loss of Denver's interesting History Tunnel

Speakers:  Those who have some good stories about people who used the tunnel for a variety of romantic or criminal activities

What to bring:  Probably some warm clothes, cameras, signs or posters Anyone have a microphone setup?


Spread the word to everybody!  History Buffs! Families!  Railroad enthusiasts!

I'm bringing some old black tombstones from some Halloweens of yesteryear.    

Lasting:  Maximum of half an hour, could be shorter.


We will be meeting on the Wynkoop Street side of the station. Buses 6, 10, 20, 28, 32, and 44 stop close to the station. You can contact Edie at 303-935-1020 if you have any questions.

You can take the train to the Super Bowl (sort of)

Arlington, Texas is the largest city in the country that does not have a transit system, but that does not mean that you have to rent a car if you go to the Super Bowl. You can take the TRE (commuter rail) from either Dallas (Texas Eagle) or Fort Worth (Heartland Flyer, Texas Eagle) Amtrak Stations to CentrePort/DFW Airport Station. There will be multiple buses from that station. (If you must fly, there are multiple shuttles between the airport and the TRE station.) Just a bus ticket to and from CentrePort Station costs $20, but a four day transit pass costs $30. This gives you unlimited rides on Dallas buses and light rail, all TRE trains, the Molly Circulator, and "services from the T and DCTA" which I think are the special Super Bowl shuttles.

TRE is running extra trains  the day before the Super Bowl and the day of the Super Bowl. TRE will run on an ordinary weekday schedule, but will add extra cars.