trails and rails

I’m into my third day of train travel and here is what I’ve discovered thusfar. I’ve decided that anyone who rides trains around the U.S. and Canada are of an entirely different culture and mindset than most of the country. A number of the people are European but that stands to reason because there is a lot more train travel in general in Europe, so why wouldn’t they travel by train in the States as well? Also, and this may seem obvious, but people don’t just take a train to get from one place to another, if they are on the train then there is usually some sort of adventure in their background.


On my train from Chicago to New York, I had a seat of my own at first and so the beginning of the trip was fairly uneventful. I sat, read, and watched some TV on my ipod, nothing excited. At one point an elderly couple boarded the train but there were any free adjacent seats. So, as my momma taught me, I offered to move and let them sit together. They were very grateful, and offered their thanks, as did some of the other passengers around them. “What a sweet boy”, was the general sentiment.


Behind them, an Indian man about my age offered me the seat next to him and we chatted. He was born in India but grew up in Los Angeles. He had taken a train from there to New York and spent some time with his friends and was heading back. He was missing a leg (though I never found out why) and so I made runs to the snack car for him a few times and we basically hit it off. We talked about girls, drinking and our jobs (he’s also a techie) and basically hit it off. He also kept me company in Chicago while we both waited for our next trains.


My train left about an hour before his and when I got on I sat behind a girl who I’d noticed on the first train (from New York) and noticed she was heading all the way to Seattle as well. At one point, one of the… flight attendants (?) asked anyone who was sitting in a seat by themselves to move to the back of the car as she was reserving the front of the car for couples and families so they would be able to sit together. So I asked the girl ahead of me if I could sit with her and she agreed.


So my current seatmate is a sweet girl named Rachel who is from Switzerland, where she teaches elementary school. She’s in the United States because her brother lives in Vancouver and she is going to go to school there for a few months to learn better English (although apart from a few words, she seems to know it quite well). Prior to heading to school though, she took a train from Vancouver across Canada. She visited Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, New York and a number of other cities. She’s been traveling for about a month and a half and is now heading back.


As far as other people I’ve met, at my first night’s dinner, I met a large, crazy man (albeit quite friendly) who gave me advice on what to eat and what not to eat in the dinner car (he’s not a fan of vegetables). At my second dinner I met two elderly men, one of whom is retired from Amtrak and now has a lifetime supply of free train trips and is using them to see America. The other recently went to his daughter’s wedding in New Mexico and bought an All-American Pass. In his words, “now that my children are married and I’m retired, I figured I should see a bit of the world while I’ve got the time.”


Lastly, I met a man on the scenic view car (I know it has another name but I can’t remember what it is) who was on his way back to Seattle from Nova Scotia. He had biked for 67 days across the United States and then taken a train to Nova Scotia. He told me that a lot of his route had been following the train tracks and so a lot of what we were passing now he had seen before on his way out.


The lunch car just opened so I might go grab a bite. I get to Seattle in less than a day now so if anything exciting happens before that I’ll update you again. I miss and love everyone in Kentucky and New York.