Train Travel

I’m about to board a train – to do some traveling – and I’m thinking about trains and how much I love them!
by Charlie Leck

I’m on my way to see a couple of my grandkids and their parents. Then I’ll be off to visit a daughter in the Big Apple. Then into Pennsylvania to visit my two brothers. I’m waiting to board an AmTrak train (the Empire Builder) as I write this. I’ll spend 60 hours riding trains in the next week. I have sleeping rooms arranged, so I’ll be comfortable even though the travel is slow. I’ll be able to get up and walk around. I’ll sit in the observation car for a while and I’ll spend time in the dining car. I’ve got some good books loaded on to my iPad, a copy of the day’s paper, and a writing pad.

What more does a fella need? Perhaps, a glass of wine a bit later!

I’ll keep you posted from the road.

Since today is Saturday, I’ll try to catch Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me on the radio and, after that, Radio Lab. I brought a little, gadget radio along and I’ll see if it works on the train. Tonight I’ll be having dinner with two granddaughters, a daughter and a son-in-law in their new home.

I got used to train travel when I lived in Europe as a young man for awhile. I so hoped the U.S. would catch up to our allied European nations when he came to train travel, but, alas, it seems like something our national leaders can’t get their collective heads around.

Train travel is growing more popular as air travel gets so much tackier than it used to be. The train I'm about to get on is completely sold-out. The airlines have taken the fun out of flying – and charge us ridiculous rates to handle us like stray animals when we travel with them. I don’t like sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers. Nor do I like some strange person in front of me, lowering his seat into my lap and stealing from me most of what little space I have.

The conductor on the train still calls me “sir” and asks me if I’d like him to make a dinner reservation for me. And, if I accept his offer, he’ll get it done with a wide, bright smile on his face. At dinner time, he’ll knock on my door and tell me my table is ready.

AmTrak is not as good as the elegant TGV in France, but it’s one heckuva lot better that being stuffed into one of Delta’s regional jets.

They’re calling for us to board now. I’ll write more tomorrow.

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Paris to Istanbul

On my bucket-list I have a trip from Paris to Istanbul via the Venice Simplon Orient Express.
by Charlie Leck

Do you have a bucket-list? When I tell people I do, they think it’s because of the Jack Nicholson movie of a few years ago. Not true! I remember the term from years and years ago as it was used by my grandparents to designate some of the most important things they wanted to do yet in their lifetimes.

I have a number of little adventures I put down on my bucket list. I have it posted to keep me thinking about how I’m going to fit them in. A trip to Prague now has a line drawn through it. I made that wonderful adventure with my wife this past September. We had an extraordinary time and loved the city.

There are some simple things on my list; like a trip to Oklahoma (one of the last two states I’ve yet to visit). That little excursion might only involve a quick flight down and back, but, perhaps, I’d stay long enough to play golf on a couple of famous Oklahoma golf courses. A cruise through Alaska’s inner waterways on a small ship is also on the list (that’s the other state to which I’ve not been). Here are the other things I have on the list.

• A nearly two week train trip across Canada – from Toronto to Vancouver – with interesting and remarkable stops along the way. (I love Canada and I love traveling by train).
• A day or two of golf at the remarkable Pacific Dunes Resort in Oregon.
• A baseball game at Fenway Stadium in Boston
• A visit to the village of Leck in northern Germany (near the border with Denmark)

The major trip I’ve not included above is a voyage on the modern version of the famous Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul. It’s a 6 day/5 night journey aboard the most luxurious train in the world. The train only makes the trip once each year. In 2012 it will leave Paris on August 30. That would mean that I’d spend my birthday on a train – as I did this year – and nothing pleases me more. The tickets range from ten to twenty thousand dollars. So, it’s one of those maybe adventures. The economy would have to make a strong improvement between now and then.

Paris to Istanbul
The train leaves from Gare de l’Est in the afternoon with tea, dinner and an overnight stay on the train. The train rolls into Hungary on Saturday. Breakfast is brought to one’s cabin and lunch is served in the very attractive dining card.

Budapest
The night is spent in a luxury hotel in Budapest. One can dine at the hotel that evening or seek out another restaurant in the city. Breakfast is at the hotel and it’s followed by a guided tour of the city that sits upon the Danube River, with a lunch along the way. Dinner and the night will be upon the train as it rolls into Romania.

Sinaia
In Romania the train will stop in the mountain village of Sinaia. Passengers disembark for a visit to the Peles Castle (it was also visited by the travelers on the original Orient Express in 1883). After reboarding, the train travels on to Bucharest and passengers join a guided toward of the city and have dinner and spend the night in the Athenée Palace Hotel.

In the morning the train moves on to the south and crosses the Danube and enters Bulgaria. A short stop allows the passengers to enjoy a small village town and then the train moves on through the night.

Istanbul
On the final evening the train enters Turkey and crosses the Thracian Plain. In the afternoon the travelers arrive at the Sirkici Station in Istanbul

Dreams
Dreams, I believe, are what make life so wonderful. They take us beyond the ordinary and allow us to experience some of the remarkable and unreachable wonders of our lives. I’m going to keep thinking that my life still includes enough time to make this trip to Istanbul and to enjoy the marvel of travel on a luxurious and splendid train.

Do you have a bucket-list? What’s on it?

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If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.

A Great Investment for America

President Obama wants to get the economy rolling by investing billions in the nation’s infrastructure. Here’s an idea for an investment that will pay off in a big way.
by Charlie Leck

I’ve got some good advice for our new President – for the fellow who wants to rebuild the nation – for the fellow who said he wants to get the economy rolling again by investing billions of dollars in our nation’s infrastructure.

One of the things I love about visiting Europe is its trains. Wow! They’re really wonderful. A few years ago, while visiting France, I needed to travel from Paris to Lyon. That’s a trip of approximately 310 miles. I boarded a trained right within the city of Paris and I was in Lyon less than 2 hours later. That’s an average speed of 155 MPH. Wow! I sat in splendid comfort. A steward came by with coffee and a croissant. I had a good book with me.

Bill Moses, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab in California, wrote on-line about his experience with French high speed train (TGV) from Paris to Lyon (click here to read).

“I can’t say enough good things about the TGV in general. Although the raw speed lies between that of a car and an airplane, it tends to be significantly faster than air travel because 1) you start and end in the middle of the town instead of at an airport 30 minutes outside of the town and 2) boarding (and disembarking) is so fast that you can arrive at the station without a ticket 5 minutes before the departure time and still have the train depart (on time) with you on it. I don’t necessarily recommend this, but from personal experience I can vouch that it can be done!”

In 2001, I did the same thing in Japan. I took a train out of Kyoto on approximately a 300 mile trip and arrived in approximately an hour and a quarter later – whoosh! It was a totally restful and relaxing trip.

You know where I’m going with this. It’s too late for me, but America needs this option for travel around our nation. We need seamless, smooth tracks, capable of handling high speed trains that travel at speeds greater than 200 MPH and connect virtually every major city in the nation. What a comfort it would be to travel that way.

Imagine! I could get on a train here in Minneapolis for a trip to Denver, 900 miles away. I'd been in downtown Denver in less than 5 hours later, having made stops in Des Moines and Omaha on the way. Frankly, that's faster than I could make it by air and I'd be able to sit in comfort all the way and, probably, for much less money. A side benefit is that it would take pressure off the airports in both these cities -- two of the busiest of all U.S. airports.

Or, I could board a train in Minneapolis and travel to Atlanta (a bit more than 1200 miles). I could make the trip in approximately 7 hours from downtown to downtown with 6 or 7 stops along the way in Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville and Chattanooga. The cars would be sleek and comfortable. Steward service would be available. There’s plenty of leg room and comfortable, reclining chairs.

Build it, President Obama, and they will come. It would be a thrill to start catching up with the other civilized nations of the world.

Imagine traveling from New York City to San Francisco on a high speed, comfortable train. 3120 miles in just about 15 hours. As it is now, by the time you get out to the airport, get through security, board and then go through it again at the arriving end, air travel would take about 8 or 9 hours. And, you wouldn’t be treated like branded cattle on a high speed train.

[Read what David Houle had to say about the future of high speed trains in America – that they “must, and will become an essential component of the U.S. transportation system during the next 20 years.”]