"A response to why cars and planes are better than trains" by George Robertson

1. Airports are single pupoose expensive and quite dangerous (9/11), Freeways aresingle purpose, expensive and quite Dangerous 40,000 fatalities annually (As if Al Quaida succeeded a little over once a month)

2. Planes go where they want but landing is mainly done at airports,  we call it crashing when it is not at an airport.  Cars, Trucks and Buses mostly confine themselves to roads.

3. Flying before or after your scheduled flight is very expensive, very energy intensive, or very very tiring. 
Cars do leave when they want, but they are very energy inefficient, and you have to drive.  You cannot read or work or relax and have dinner with four interesting people you just met on the train while you travel.

4.  Getting off the plane between airports is generally fatal.  
You can get out of the car where ever you want, but they are very energy inefficient, and you have to drive.  You cannot read or work or relax and have dinner with four interesting people you just met on the train while you travel.

5. But trainsets are modular and as a result they can be easily sized to fit their load, unlike both planes and cars.

Furthermore.... Did someone propose having only trains?

Buses are more flexible....but they get stuck in traffic, , are much much smaller and carry a tiny fractionn of the number of people and and much less freight, They cannot reach half the speed that modern trains can for longer trips.  they are handy for getting to the train however and you don't have to park.

Cars are more.....but they are very energy inefficient, and you have to drive.  You cannot read or work or relax and have dinner with four interesting people you just met on the train while you travel.

Why not make a better automobile engine....yes why not do that? you get right on that.  I'm going to take the Train to LA while you work on that and  I'll read a couple of novels. meet and dine with about twenty strangers on the way and have a thoroughly wonderful trip.

(Reposted here because the original disappeared from Ideas for Change: Rebuild American's Rail System. George Robertson has his own blog, Khyimo.)

Buses vs. Trains (unfortunately)

Obviously, I love trains. I would not have started this blog or my Asian one if that was the case. However, I am disturbed by the attitude exhibited by some train supporters in the US, particularly the way some people look down on bus riders. A good transit system serves walkers, people who take the bus, bikers, and people who take the train. In fact, some people do all four.

In most successful transit systems, buses carry many more people than trains. Buses are more flexible and can be used to carry people to and from dispersed locations. Trains are a cost effective way to carry large numbers of people who want to along the same route.

It is especially interesting that some Americans think that trains are inherently more classy than buses because in Korea the opposite is the case. The chattering classes take buses, especially the intercity kind, while trains are for people trying to save money, the disabled, and environmentalists. The truly rich drive.

National Association of Railway Passengers

Curious about how you can support rail in the US? The National Association of Railway Passengers offers ways to take action with other people. The NARP is also a great source of information.

Here is a short video that NARP put together to inform people about the benefits of rail.

another bookstore

Someone commented on my original post about Denver which told readers about the Tattered Cover bookstore in downtown Denver. This commenter mentioned another bookstore that is accessible by rail, the Eliot Bay Book Company in downtown Seattle, Washington. The King Street Station serves this area. Amtrak and Souter Commuter Rail stop in two parallel stations.

What are smoke stops?

Smoke stop

You cannot smoke on any Amtrak train, but some people, including some Amtrak employees, are smokers. And some of Amtrak's routes last multiple days. So every so often on the longer routes, there are stops that are longer than the others, so people can get out of the train and walk around and, yes, smoke. Always stay within earshot of the train, in case there is something wrong with your watch or you heard the wrong time to come back.

There is one exception to the rule that you should never be out of earshot of the train station. That is if the train is early. The longer routes have extra time built into their schedules in case something goes wrong. But some routes, such as the Southwest Chief, are running on improved track and with improved overall operations and they have fewer delays than they used to. The trains will not leave a stop early, so passengers sometimes get to explore places like Albuquerque. You should be back in the station area ten to fifteen minutes before the scheduled departure or when the conductor has told you to be back, whichever is earlier.

Do not ever get off the train at a regular stop. Ever. They will leave you behind. (By the way, this is true in France, and Korea, and Japan and every other country that has trains.)

Glenwood Springs, CO

Of Interest: The Hot Springs Pool, scenic location

Lodging: hotel next to the station, other hotels within walking distance

Glenwood Springs is famouns for its outdoor hot springs and its beautiful location in the Rocky Mountains. The station is on 7th Street, which is where Glenwood Spring began. The historic Hotel Denver is right next to the station. There has been a hotel on this spot since 1915 with the present hotel dating from 1938.

Most of the town has since moved to the other side of the river. It sounds like walking over an interstate would be inherently dangerous, but the bridge is pedestrian friendly. Close to the other side is the Hot Springs Pool, the most famous hot springs in Colorado. It is actually two pools. The larger is two blocks long, and its water is 90 degrees. The smaller is 104 degrees.

Glenwood Springs is six and a half hours from Denver and nine hours to Salt Lake City via Amtrak's California Zephyr. All trains arrive and depart in the early afternoon.

Grand Junction, CO

Of Interest: downtown Grand Junction

Lodging: two within walking distance, two by shuttle bus

Tourist Office: no, but there is a map on the wall and a shop selling local products

I went through Grand Junction recently on a trip from California to Denver. Grand Junction is a smoke stop, so I had a little time. I spent about half at the local products shop and half walking around the station area. The road that the station in on is at an angle to downtown, so you have to walk five-ten minutes directly toward the downtown area before you can see anything. From the station it looks like a typical midwestern town, except you don't get to most midwestern towns by going through some of the most beautiful valleys in the world.

According to its website, downtown Grand Junction is notable for its galleries, outdoor sculpture, and restaurants with patio seating. According to hotels.com, there is a convention center downtown, and two hotels within walking distance of the station. (Hotels.com is really inconsistent about the cities that list the Amtrak station as a landmark. It is good that Grand Junction's station is listed, it would be better if stations were considered landmarks in all the cities that have a significant number of hotels near their stations.) There are also two hotels that will send shuttles to the station. Both are near the interstate (I-70), so I wouldn't recommend them. But it is unlikely that anyone would get stuck without a place to stay.

In the station building itself, there is a restaurant and a local products shop. Excellent fruit is grown in the local valleys, and I bought some apricot jam. Readers of my Asian site will know that I am a sucker for good jam. There are a wide variety of food products, both locally made and snacks for the journey. There are also books and postcards of the local area, including a guide to the California Zephyr, the train that passes through this town.

A train in each direction (east/west) arrives once during the day. Both Denver and Salt Lake City are about eight hours away in opposite directions. The Zephyr continues on to either Chicago or the San Francisco Bay area, obviously depending on the direction that you are going.