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I agree. That would truly put rail at a pretty even position with roads. To take it a step farther, if the tracks & stations were government owned, then there could be private operators of vehicles on that track, for both freight and rail. The equivalent of the FAA would control the...

That was a short one. Is Bruce sick? :)

The obvious solution to Raton Pass vs. Transcon is to simply add a second frequency to the SWC. Keep the current schedule as-is over Raton Pass, and add the second SWC over the transcon. The benefits are numerous. You add service to cities like Clovis, Amarillo, and Wichita. You add a second...

I didn't see you, but maybe you saw me. I was the guy with a wife, two kids, and a stroller, wearing Brewers gear. That should have narrowed me down! I parked for free on 90th St!

http://www.ridemcts.com/uploadedfiles/SystemMap08.pdf Looks like you could walk a few blocks east of the train station to pick up Route 18 which goes right past State Fair Park. Ah, State Fair. I'll be going on Wednesday, yippie! Cream puff, corn dogs, cheese curds, milk, corn on the cob...

The CONO departs at 8 PM, but as a sleeper passenger you'll be able to board early and have dinner. They usually board sleeper passengers from the Metropolitan Lounge between 6:45 PM and 7 PM. That's when we boarded and got dinner reservations for 7:30 PM. Personally I would try to get a...

There's been some talk in the media recently about wanting a restaurant in the new station. But there seems to be disagreement about what type of restaurant. Several leaders insist it be a nicer, non-fast food restaurant. Something that people not using the train will come to use. I think...

Well, I'm pretty sure they mentioned that the cafe part of the CCC was still open, just that the sit-down dining was going to close. And they made it sound like that meant we'd have to pay for food if we wanted it at the cafe. And as a person on vacation and used to sleeping in and eating...

My wife and I took a trip to New Orleans a couple weeks ago. It was our second Amtrak trip (Here's the first) and our first in a sleeper. We got lots of great advice from this forum and I'd like to extend special thanks to MStrain for his PMs. On Saturday June 7 we got dropped off at the MKE...

My wife and I just got back from a round trip on the CONO. From the Metropolitan Lounge, you're boarded around 6:45 PM. As you get on the train, your attendant will greet you and either ask when you want to eat or tell you when your seating is. Ours just told us that we'd be eating at 7:30...

This Saturday (June 7) my wife and I will be going from Milwaukee to New Orleans. We rode the EB in coach last year, but this year we've got a roomette. I have a few questions. - What is the luggage situation like on the Hiawatha? We'll probably each have one suitcase, plus a backpack each...

First of all, the gas tax IS a user fee. You can't use the roads without using gas and paying the tax. You are right in that it doesn't factor in demand, but it CERTAINLY factors into the use of the road. Some people may say it isn't uniform, since your payment for use of the road varies with...

I think that may be what the "plan" is, based on the Midwest Regional Rail System Report: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/stat...railmidwest.pdf Go to page 10 and you'll see a proposed frequency table. There are 17 daily trips from Chicago to Milwaukee. Then it also lists 10 from...

It's booked! June 7 in roomette 4 and June 16 also in roomette 4. Looking at the car layouts, looks like that's a good roomette to have. I booked it over the phone, so I have to go down to the MKE station within a week to use my voucher and pay for the tickets. The booking agent was nice...

Thanks everyone for your help! One last (for now!) question: The Hiawatha is unreserved, right? Can we basically just board any departure we want, or do we need tickets for that particular run? I'm thinking that at the end of the trip, we may not want to spend a few hours in Chicago like I'm...

My wife and I are taking a trip using Amtrak this June. We had been thinking of taking the CZ all the way to EMY (from MKE), but we've had a hectic spring and are just now ready to start serious planning. The one-way roomette cost on the CZ went from $590 to $947, which is too much for us. So...

Monument Valley is pretty great. One change you might consider is after leaving Capitol Reef NP, heading south on UT 95 to Natural Bridges NM. There's a nice loop around it and is pretty neat and takes about an hour, plus more if you do some hiking. From there go south on UT 261, on the Moki...

The terminal wouldn't be IN New York City or Chicago. They'd be on the fringes of the metro areas, like Lorton and Sanford are. I can't speak for the NYC area, but there is PLENTY of open space south of Chicago. My suggestion would be the Peotone area (where there's a controversial plan to...

I disagree. Bring some of your favorite snacks. They'll be much cheaper that way, and you'll be guaranteed to have the snacks you want. As for the lounge, I've not heard of the no outside snacks policy. And even if there is such a policy, I'd bring them there anyway. I just can't see any on...

It is the customers who are wrong and the business that is right? I don't think so. The (potential) customers demand reasonably on-time performance, and Amtrak has to find a way to give them that if they want their business. I understand that YOU don't mind late trains because YOU don't have...