Riding trains is great
John E. Peterson, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, August 20, 2009
It sounds as if it is possible that we may have passenger railroad service again in Emporia. That would be wonderful because trains are a great way to travel. The service would, indeed, come back, if I had my way.
Permit me to tell you a bit about our Emporia train riding experiences. They happened many years ago, in the 1970s, if my memory is correct. We came to Emporia in 1971, so it was sometime after that.
We liked spending a couple of days in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since the railroad was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe — now Burlington Northern Santa Fe — it seemed reasonable that we use it to get there. We did. We would board it at night here in Emporia, sleep most of the way there, have breakfast and arrive.
It is interesting that a railroad with Santa Fe in its name did not go to Santa Fe. It passed about 15 miles east of the city. Consequently, we had to get off there and use a rental car to get to Santa Fe. But we did it several times and it was a marvelous trip.
Both of us are from the Chicago area. Hence, we went there often. We often drove, but we did take the train a few times. We would get aboard about 2:30 a.m., have a room reserved in the sleeper coach, get into our bunks and sleep the rest of the night away. We would get up late, have a breakfast and soon be in Chicago. It was a great way to get there.
Those were our Emporia experiences, but we have many more in other places. We were on three different trains in Australia, for example. There is a railroad there which goes all 3,000 miles across the continent from Sydney to Perth. It has the longest straight track in the world, some 300 miles without a curve. And darned few ups and downs, too. We did the western 2,000 miles of it, through the outback to Perth.
We also took a train in the middle of the country, north to Alice Springs. And another one way up in the northeast corner. This one was full of orchards, forests and ups-and-downs. Of course, we always had to take a bus back to Adelaide, where I was given lab space at the university, so we could stop several times and spend a day or two so I could gather soil samples. My reason the for soil samples, of course, was to isolate myxobacteria from them.
Our train trip in Costa Rica was spectacular. There was no road through the rain forest from San Jose, the capital, to Limon on the Caribbean Sea shore. You either went by train or flew. That train route was like a highway. The train stopped at every village, people got on and off, mail was delivered. After a couple of days in Limon, we flew back to our car in San Jose.
On one of our soil-gathering trips in Mexico, we left the car in Chihuahua and took the train through the mountains to the Pacific coast. After a couple of days on the beach, we took the train back to the car. It was a magnificent train ride!
I wanted to collect soil samples in northern Canada along a northern east-to-west road. So we drove north through Manitoba. Why should we not go to Churchill on Hudson Bay and get samples from near-tundra soil? We would, but the road ended far south of Churchill.
A railroad went on to Churchill, however, so we left the car and got on the train. Great ride through the forest until the forest almost faded out. It stayed light until about midnight, so we saw much while we ate, drank and chatted with Canadians. We flew back to our car after a couple of days in Churchill.
We drove all over South Africa so that I could collect soil samples. That was why we were there. But we did take the train from Cape Town, where I was at the university, up to Johannesburg and back a couple of times. Great Ride. Much like our Great Plains.
I must mention the several lovely little railroads in Colorado. Beautiful rides. We took a tour and rode trains on three of them. We also rode lots of other trains in the U.S. Great fun!
Just a bit about our train rides in Europe. Those through the mountains of Switzerland and through those from Oslo to Bergen in Norway were great. From Lund to Stockholm in Sweden a couple of times. I rode one in northern Sweden above the Arctic Circle. A couple in England, from Copenhagen to Rotterdam, and others. European trains are great.
This final story. We were going to gather soil samples in Canada. At the end, we arranged to have our mothers fly to Calgary, we would pick them up, spend a couple of days at beautiful Lake Louise, then leisurely drive home.
My mother insisted that she wanted to go to Calgary via train. That was because, she told us, you can really see the country from a train. Of course, she was right. She did it that way.
I end with that story because it motivates me to say that you see the country from a train. You, of course, can also see it from your car, but you cannot relax, nibble food, sip drinks and chat in the car the way you can on a train. Emporia should, indeed, get its trains back, if I had my way.
arminius (anonymous) says...
Good word John, THANK YOU.
A passenger train does go through Emporia still - it just doesn't stop. You have to either go up to Topeka or West to Newton to get on (at 3 in the morning).
I agree completely. Train travel is the best way to go. Nothing else gives you the backyard view of America.
August 20, 2009 at 7:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
b3bill (anonymous) says...
Great article. Train travel is quite enjoyable to many people, and for some it is the best means for them to travel. Some people hate it, but that's their choice. No one says they have to ride a train.
Emporia city officials, as well as anyone interested in having passenger train service here, need to contact all of Emporia's federal and state representatives to request them to work with Amtrak to get The Southwest Chief to stop here once again. This is the passenger train that already goes through Emporia. Passenger train service was discontinued here in 1997.
Other Amtrak routes have "whistle stops", which is where the train only stops in a town if they have passengers getting on or off. The Southwest Chief is an all-reserved train, so the train crew knows about anyone getting on or off long before they arrive in Emporia. Maybe if Emporia was established as a whistle stop, passenger train service here could be restored. A depot is not needed for the train to stop.
It would be great to have the new proposed train from Oklahoma City to Kansas City stop here as well. Emporia needs to be a stop for it was well as The Southwest Chief.
August 20, 2009 at 11:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
d23_66801 (anonymous) says...
tell ya what i have a son whom loves trains and would love to go on weekend trips on the train with him!
August 21, 2009 at 12:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )