This was a very good article to read. I have loved trains and train travel since my eyes could understand what they were seeing. DW&L had their mainline run through the village of my birth and the Lackawanna name is featured on roads, buildings, and topographical features. The Phoebe Snow was often talked about and was the sort of thing people lamented never riding. I used to walk the right of way from Groveland Station over Dansville Hill just to feel a connection to the past. Nostalgia is a great motivator and I aspire to ride the rails in comfort.
My first real, long distance, rail service trip was in 1980 out of Chicago Union Station heading for Rochester, New York. I was 18 years old and just completed my US Navy A school. I truly was hooked after I enjoyed the diner. I remember my entree: Prime Rib cooked to a perfect 125° F with real mashed potatoes and a side of sweet peas. I had Cheese cake with blue berry topping. I was offered coffee and it seems like there was a choice of smoking materials you could purchase. The chef wore a proper hat and the service attendants had a nice crisp white uniform. I was in heaven.
For years, I rode the train as often as I could; usually from duty station to duty station or on leave. Since my retirement, the tempo has increase and I have found great joy in visiting the great rail station of our country. I long for a ride on the ATSF Super Chief, but the closest I could come was the Canadian.
Perhaps the day will come when this great nation of ours decides that the automobile is for short trips of convenience and rail travel is the civilized way to take a long haul to a desired distant city.
