Review
Library Journal-McCommons sets out to rectify American ignorance of passenger trains by describing his rail travels around the United States in 2008. He writes of the people he meets, the scenery, the long decline in American rail travel, and its emerging renaissance, interweaving discussions he has had with dozens of the leading minds on American passenger rail. McCommons explains that Amtrak has been starved for funding since its 1971 inception but argues that a brighter…
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Mr. McCommons provides us with a past, present, and future prospects of passenger trains in our country; fundamental information about the value of this invaluable source of transportation as the U.S. faces increasing populations in need of moving about this great and huge land for economic and recreational purposes. As you read you accompany the author as he crosses America, experiencing diverse accommodations of present-day travel by rail, and sit in on his one-on-one interviews with principals of the industry. It is a comfortable and entertaining read. It is essential for any policy-makers engaged in promoting the expansion of passanger trains, and for the rest of us who enjoy terrific non-fiction that has the power to incite action to improve our country. Just outstanding; encourage you to read it, and support more track more places for us all.
Comment by Zephan — December 14, 2009 @ 12:01 am
If you have ever wondered why passenger train service today is a skeleton of it’s former self, or if there is any possibility of a return to passenger rail and what that service would look like, then this is a book you should read.
The author spent months riding current passenger rail routes around the country in order to evaluate the service level presently, to talk with passengers and to interview people on all sides of the rail issue, from politicians to freight railroad executives and on to current employees of passenger rail operations. He not only road the main service routes that cross the country, but also the regional trains (or more properly corridor trains) that have become so popular in certain areas of the country. While doing so, the author describes a little of the history of the line and the forerunner trains, as well as discusses current conditions. Upon arrival in a particular area, the discussion turns to what the future holds in both national and regional rail and how people in that geopgraphical area feel about national and regional rail service.
The author broke the book into sections by region, starting with the Pacific Northwest and moving on to the Southwest, etc. Each of the discussions about particular trains is covered in the geographical section that the train most represents. The ending is a culmination of what the author has discovered and where he believes the future of rail is headed.
The author did a wonderful job of weaving together the various stories that make this book so readable. Each of the sections could stand on their own as a monograph, or pieced together to form the book. Even dedicated rail travelers such as myself can learn historical and political lessons from the book, which should be in the hands of anyone who believes rail has a future in the United States and especially in the hands of those who doubt rail has a future!
Comment by Helmfried — December 14, 2009 @ 12:37 am
Highly entertaining and personal look at our passenger rail system across the U.S, as the author travels the rails for over a year crossing all over America with short, well-described history of the various lines, types of trains, towns and cities at various stops as well as excellent descriptions of their status today. McCommons speaks highly of the potential of passenger rail lines that may be the most efficient mode of travel in the future particularly if they ever achieve a more dominant position on the rails in reverse of their secondary position to freight that often has first priority causing delays to passenger trains. McCommons has a link to the rails with family connections to trains and the loss of a grandfather to a boiler explosion. He meets and interacts with a number of passengers along the way from his presence in dinning cars, sleepers, train stations and stops of interest along the way. Many of these individuals have an admiration for train travel and have a variety of unique interests making themselves an interesting study with plenty of time to get to know them. McCombs does not glorify train travel at present and in contrast to the dinning car scene from the movie ‘North by Northwest’, there are no elegantly dressed couples such as Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. They are replaced by a far more casual scene of people dressed informally down to their pajamas as if they dropped down to their own living room. Even the service can be touch and go, although often comfortable, with a humorous description of a waiter who cannot read the wine label effectively resulting in a customer relieving him of the bottle to pronounce it for him. Very accurate descriptions not only of the positives of rail travel but also the deficiencies such as my work town of Norfolk, VA. Travel to meet a Norfolk and Western executive in Norfolk is frustrated by an Amtrack railhead that maddeningly ends in Newport News, well across the river from Norfolk, requiring bus then cab travel. Rather ironic, Norfolk & Western has headquarters in a City without rail service! This is a wonderful travel book, with short economical chapters on the various lines and locations across America. You may become a ‘foamer” after reading the book or enjoy it if you are already one. A sort of “Route 55″ on the rails, each chapter is an education, an adventure and an opportunity to meet new people.
Comment by Zahur — December 14, 2009 @ 12:56 am