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EASTTEXGLOCKER wrote:I know having been in the rr enviroment for 40 years , I have ridden many of the fine and great passangers in my time.

Commercial rail passenger travel ended in 1969. That's when USPS switched to air and truck delivery of First Class Mail. Before then, the mail service subsidized passenger rail; the post office kept afloat an otherwise unprofitable system.

That's sad; I really do miss passenger rail service. I grew up on the railroad; my Grandfather and Dad were career operators/agents, and I worked summers on a section gang. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve catching the KCS passenger trains from DeQueen (where Dad was an operator) to Mena (where my grandmother lived), and back.

That ended by the time I entered Second Grade. Not because of the "evil corporations", but because of government interference in the marketplace.

Kevin

NcongruNt wrote:What I don't understand is how the only rail travel option for folks in the US is a federally-funded money sinkhole, while the rest of the world enjoys efficient cost-effective rail travel with much nicer accommodations and tracks in much better condition (and hence a smoother ride). Anyone I've spoken to who's traveled by train in Europe or Asia tells me how much the trains here suck.

Simple: population density.

People live in much closer proximity in Europe and Japan. The cities are old and established, and they don't "sprawl" like American cities do. Fewer people own cars, so they live where they can walk or use public transportation.

In Europe you can get off the train at a major station and be within walking distance (or short bus/taxi ride) of the major attractions and hotels. But in America, you really don't want to be in the neighborhoods where the train stations are.

Within 500 miles, going downtown-to-downtown is faster by train than by air. But if your destination isn't downtown, you're probably out of luck.

NcongruNt wrote:I've wanted to take Amtrak as a mode of leisurely travel for quite some time. From what I can tell, Amtrak is a corporation, but is owned and controlled by the federal government. Does this inherently preclude someone from carrying on Amtrak?

It is a curious beast, but Amtrak and its employees are not federal employees. Like all rail companies, Amtrak has its own "railroad police", who are also curious, legally speaking. The authority of RR police is often confused and obscure and varies from state to state, but the guns and handcuffs are real. If they deposit you in the local county jail, the jailers aren't inclined to listen to constitutional arguments. Their response will be, "Talk to the people who arrested you!" (And good luck on that!)

If you found discussions that involved srothstein and myself in a police forum, then you probably read the case of a railfan who was arrested for taking pictures while waiting for his connecting train. While he was absolutely in the right, he still spent some time in the New Orleans jail until things could be sorted out.

Here's the bottom line: if you purchase an Amtrak ticket, you agree to the terms of carriage. Check out the jurisdiction for dispute resolution:

Governing Law

All travel on, and transactions with, Amtrak is governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, United States of America, without regards to its principles of conflicts of law. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of any State or Federal court located in the District of Columbia, United States of America, and waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.