I love trains so much I’m an Amtrak card-carrying member; during my travels in Europe and around the Eastern part of the country, I was fortunate enough to board trains, not as a bum, but as a ticket holder who enjoyed the sound of the railroad tracks for miles and miles of the American landscape. It allowed me to work on my schedule and verify appointments prior to arriving at my destination. It also gave me the time to be taken from city to city without renting a car and driving myself to unknown cities and towns without getting lost.
My parents were young in the ‘40s during the “Big Band Era” and enjoyed Hollywood at its best. I inherited the love of Swing, orchestras, ballroom dancing and of course Union Station in the heart of Los Angeles; you could find me visiting the station during weekends or holidays just to feel the people’s movements from track to track. It is exhilarating how the scheduled trains come in and out of the station filled with passengers going and coming every day of the year.
Our first train trip from California to Kansas City was during the winter and leaving the main station in Los Angeles gave us a sense of adventure. After all, how can Grumpy and I travel 1400 miles in about 40 hours to Kansas City without the feeling of being transported into another era and another space in time?
While resting from the daily grind of working in the city, the travel time was a respite from schedules, driving in traffic and meetings; it also allowed us to talk, read and spend some time getting to know each other better. We ate on board, the service was excellent, the cabins were clean, and we met other people from other places; one time, while sitting on the viewing car, we heard two women commenting on the landscape. Apparently, they were not frequent travelers, as their comments were directed at the stark trees we were passing as we travel. They mentioned how they thought there had been a fire recently as the trees had no leaves and looked burned and dry. Obviously, they had never been outside California and although we did not mention it to them, in other States, in the winter, the trees lose their leaves and wait for spring to renew themselves. Not in California, where the palm trees are green 12 months of the year.
Arriving at the station in Kansas City was a letdown as we were, once again, driving into traffic, dodging vehicles on the highway and hoping our time away from home was rewarded with visiting friends, family and enjoying their company. Still, I couldn’t wait to return to the train station once again and travel back to our home in the train.
I keep looking forward to another train trip.