BookCrossing on Amtrak

[fizzball]

My wife is big into BookCrossing.com. It's sort of like Where's George? for books, where you tag a book with an ID code and leave it somewhere for someone else to find, read, and (hopefully) enjoy. We've had books left at gas stations in Wisconsin end up in other continents.

So as this "organized littering," as a friend calls it, has become a staple of our travels...What's the Amtrak position on this, and the position of frequent riders? Obviously leaving anything unattended in a station is off limits in these times. But is anonymously leaving something (clearly marked as free-for-the-taking) in a lounge car or a coach seat viewed as harmless, or is it just making more work for the OBS? I suppose it's a slippery slope...the random Grisham paperback gives way to people strewing Jack Chick tracts about in seats.

Of course just swapping books with other passengers takes care of any problems. But the message-in-a-bottle aspect of anonymous BXing is part of the fun.

 

[Ispolkom]

My wife is big into BookCrossing.com. It's sort of like Where's George? for books, where you tag a book with an ID code and leave it somewhere for someone else to find, read, and (hopefully) enjoy. We've had books left at gas stations in Wisconsin end up in other continents.
So as this "organized littering," as a friend calls it, has become a staple of our travels...What's the Amtrak position on this, and the position of frequent riders? Obviously leaving anything unattended in a station is off limits in these times. But is anonymously leaving something (clearly marked as free-for-the-taking) in a lounge car or a coach seat viewed as harmless, or is it just making more work for the OBS? I suppose it's a slippery slope...the random Grisham paperback gives way to people strewing Jack Chick tracts about in seats.

Of course just swapping books with other passengers takes care of any problems. But the message-in-a-bottle aspect of anonymous BXing is part of the fun.

Actually, I'd think that this might work out better at stations. I know the Minot, ND station has a rack of free paperbacks which is restocked by friends of the Minot Public Library. I always leave off any paperbacks I've finished there. I'd think that this might be an inexpensive and not too messy feature at other stations, especially ones with longer stops. I'd fear that leaving books in seat backs or lounge car tables would just be treated as trash.

 

[the_traveler]

I agree. If it's left in the seat back or lounge, it would probably be just picked up by the crew or cleaners and thrown away as "trash" without even looking at it closely.

I like the idea of a rack at the station. Another that I know of is Westerly, RI. And this is not even an extended stop. Of the Northeast Regionals that go thru, about 1/2 (or less) stop at WLY, and -0- of the AE's do! And the station is only open and manned weekdays until 3 PM!

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I know a really good place for this! The PPCs on the Coast Starlight have a small cabinet with a pathetic collection of well-worn paperbacks. One of the attendants I talked to mentioned that they'd like to get more books in there someday - your Book Crossing idea would probably work really well there, as it would require no work or maintenance on Amtrak's part.

 

[wayman]

My wife is big into BookCrossing.com. It's sort of like Where's George? for books, where you tag a book with an ID code and leave it somewhere for someone else to find, read, and (hopefully) enjoy. We've had books left at gas stations in Wisconsin end up in other continents.
So as this "organized littering," as a friend calls it, has become a staple of our travels...What's the Amtrak position on this, and the position of frequent riders? Obviously leaving anything unattended in a station is off limits in these times. But is anonymously leaving something (clearly marked as free-for-the-taking) in a lounge car or a coach seat viewed as harmless, or is it just making more work for the OBS? I suppose it's a slippery slope...the random Grisham paperback gives way to people strewing Jack Chick tracts about in seats.

Of course just swapping books with other passengers takes care of any problems. But the message-in-a-bottle aspect of anonymous BXing is part of the fun.

Most SEPTA stations have a bookshelf like this. I can't say how often books are taken or left, but being self contained on a bookshelf it's absolutely no work for anyone to maintain. maybe some library volunteer comes by to restock periodically, but it's no work for anyone associated with the railroad.

I agree, it wouldn't be so simple to do this on an actual train car.

 

[had8ley]

A really great idea. How many time have you brought a book that you thought you would enjoy and only read part of it? Sure would be nice to have a back up. Great idea and good luck with it.

 

[fizzball]

Okay, thanks all; I had hub stations in mind; smaller stations would naturally not be all uptight about unattended items. I imagine we'll continue traveling with a stack of books meant to be scattered.

If it sounds like a good idea to you, by all means go and do likewise. The "trains, tube, metro, buses" section in the USA only has 8 books floating around at present; mostly in DC and Boston.

 

[inspiration100]

I know a really good place for this! The PPCs on the Coast Starlight have a small cabinet with a pathetic collection of well-worn paperbacks. One of the attendants I talked to mentioned that they'd like to get more books in there someday - your Book Crossing idea would probably work really well there, as it would require no work or maintenance on Amtrak's part.

I very much agree with you. When I was in the PPC there was hardly anything good to read. That would be a great place if Amtrak would allow it.

 

[sky12065]

Last month my wife left a book (with permission) on the service counter at the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI. No sooner than she walked away from it, the employee who gave the permission took possession of it! I wonder what she would have said if she hated books?

 

[VentureForth]

Part of Book Crossing is to accurately describe where you place a book (so folks can go find a title, if so inclined). Since ANY moving mode of transit is impossible to track, I don't think that Book Crossing would work. Really, it's nothing more than just 'take a book, leave a book' except that, as mentioned above, it would be cleaned away by the end of the line. It's unlikely when you get on the SWC in CHI that you can say "Hardy Boys are on Train 3" and post it and have someone look it up and board that exact train before a cleaning crew gets to it.

I like the idea of doing it in stations. I would even check with the local station and ask to set up a small kiosk. Hmmm...