5/6/22 – 2:15pm, Moynihan Train Hall, New York, New York – The Adventure Begins

I set a few ground rules for this trip around the country. No idle scrolling on my cell phone, no watching shows or movies on its cracked screen (I may have to allow a podcast, if it gets truly unbearable) for the purpose of facilitating more introspective thought, and more meaningful habits, by which I mean reducing the urge to scroll on a screen when I feel bored or mildly uncomfortable. What thoughts, conversations, and choices am I missing because I am in screenland, looking at memes or transportation screeds? We’ll find out.

These missives will be recorded, at irregular intervals, hoping to codify the particular, peculiar experience of transcontinental railroading in the internet age. Freed from distractions, I will have more time to ponder the error of my ways.

There will also be time to ponder the direction of my life, the choices I’ve made hitherto, and my relationship to my country. This is a chance to see America, in a way that few today do. Maybe it will teach me more about myself and others. Maybe I will just come to hate train travel, Amtrak, and everything it stands for. Stay tuned.

Odds and Ends

·      “It’s the Mother’s Day train,” our conductor announces before we pull out of the station. He says this a couple more times, really hammering in the point.

·      This is the Crescent service to New Orleans, where I’ll be staying for the weekend with an old friend. It travels through the South, and it was interesting seeing who was taking the train, mostly Black, all very Southern—it was a reminder, getting on the train NYC and suddenly hearing so many accents, of where we’re going.

5/5/22 – 6:38pm, Union Station, Washington, D.C.– Update

We are in D.C. At a decrepit, crumbling Union Station. There is the ever-present prospect of having to share a seat with someone. It’s important, as one worries about the ease of egress, as well as a night spent shifting into the window, always avoiding brushing up against one’s seatmate.

The ride has been pleasant thus far, but slow. This does not bode well. Amtrak owns the tracks between New York and D.C. It shares tracks with freight companies for the rest of the trek. Historically, this means hours spent waiting for freight trains to pass. We shall see.

A slow-er, restless night beckons.

Odds and Ends

·      As a public transit enthusiast, has been delightful to see the various transit providers across the northeast, Pennsylvania’s SEPTA, Maryland’s MARC, and D.C.’s Metro. It’s fun to pass through different jurisdictions and see the different styles (and varying degrees of investment). Some of SEPTA and MARC’s stations make NJ TRANSIT look positively pristine.

·      The route has been rather swampy. In between the postindustrial cities, plenty of marshlands and watery groves.

·      Coolest view: crossing the Susquehanna River on a tall bridge. It feels like flying—except you’re in a train.

5/6/22 – 7:30 AM, Toccoa Station, Toccoa, GA

It was a rough night. I am a light sleeper, and in between the constant in and out of seatmates (three in twelve hours), and the stopping and starting, the constant shrieking of the train horn into the night, and the general discomfort of sitting in a forced position—there may have been four hours of sleep in there.

But before, it was beautiful. We left Washington right as the sun was going down, and it was exciting to see the orange sunset across the Potomac, and the green Virginia spring as we crawled forward.

I don’t often think about the South, but there is a lush beauty to it that I’d forgotten. Georgia is covered in kudzu.

Thus far, at least, the region seems sleepy and poorly developed—mostly rural, industrial, and suburban sprawl. But in between are the same old railroad towns I fawn over up north, with their tightly packed, walkable main streets, such as in Manassas, Virginia (below).

I have yet to have any particularly interesting conversations, except for someone asking me if my Jonathan Franzen novel is any good (it is), or to commiserate with one of my seatmates, who was coming all the way from Pittsburgh, about how embarrassingly slow Amtrak can be.

But it has been nice to avoid Reddit and Instagram and Facebook and just stare out the window, watching the rolling tableau, a cross-section of America we don’t see from the highway or at 30,000 ft.

Odds and Ends

·      The George Washington Masonic Memorial (right behind the Alexandria train station) is a sight to behold, and evidence that Nicolas Cage was right all along.

·      A lot more multifamily housing in the D.C. area than I would have thought, but it all seems super far away from transit. Do all of these poor people have to drive?

·      My inner transportation planner wants to survey all of the people on this sold-out train. Why are you riding this thing? Why didn’t you just drive?

·      Amtrak Food Review: Rather large (and greasy) microwaved sausage egg and cheese, and a black coffee. What the sandwich lacked in flavor, it made up in its sheer size. (6/10).

·      Vibe check: tired from a lack of sleep, but my spirits are still strong. We’ll see how I’m feeling when we get to New Orleans (14 hours from now).