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Why is it that Europeans take their (almost invariably well-behaved) pets everywhere, on public transport and in restaurants, and there is no barking and caterwauling from fellow Europeans about it? What is it about us Americans, anyway?

But, Neroden, CATS have free REIGN in their households. Ask any victim "owner" of a cat.

I am sympathetic to Peter's point of view about never burdening a disabled person, being one myself, but we still have to deal with real-world problems like service dog fraud. While the burden of proof should NEVER be on the disabled person, a voluntary identification system like Michigan's...

Being the human part of a service dog team, I can make a few comments: 1. By federal law, no formal certified training by "recognized facilities" is needed for a service animal. It simply must be trained to perform a task for a person with disabilities that the person can't perform for himself...

As a budget oenologist of many years' standing, I can testify that the low-bidder merlots decanted on Amtrak trains are not only unpretentious and drinkable but also contain modest yet bright suggestions of diesel, subtly tinged with creosote, that goes well with bloody rare sous-vide beef. The...

The trick to Amtrak Unlimiteding is to get good answers to your original question (as I did here) before the smartasses start pilin' on! But I do enjoy smartassery. When we get to Winslow I'm gonna get a photo of Trooper lifting his leg on the Standin' on the Corner sculpture. Just you wait.

Last time we were in Winslow after a trip on the Southwest Chief from Chicago, we rented a car from a Dollar Rent-a-Car in Winslow. It seemed to be the only choice, and still seems so after Googling the subject. Dollar charged our credit card $30 for washing the car after we dropped it off...

Chakk and JayPea, I was just waiting for you guys to burst into song.

Thanks to everyone. Looks like Fort Madison will be Trooper's first fresh-air stop outbound from Chicago, followed by Kansas City, Raton and Albuquerque. He has an eight-hour tank so there is some leeway (peeway?) in his schedule.

I'm planning a trip with my wife and new service dog from Chicago to Winslow, Arizona, on the Southwest Chief during the second week of March. Need to know good places to take the dog out for "fresh air". I know that the carded service stops are Kansas City, La Junta and Albuquerque, but are...

"Lost situational awareness." That could have happened to any of us doing anything in our lives. I think it's a very good article, although the armchair experts will have at it.

I keep seeing the name Gene Poon. Who is he?

Why "god forbid her RR Retirement Pension"?

I've stayed at the Emeryville Hyatt several times, and always ask for a room on the 6th floor or above facing the train station. The desk always tries to accommodate.

Nobody's said anything yet about the transportation of LiPo (lithium polymer) batteries commonly used in radio-controlled model airplanes, cars, boats and the like. Those batteries can set off a helluva fire just by sitting there. I keep and carry mine in a vented steel ammunition box but keep...

"You could wipe a booger on the ceiling w/o using your hands." Gack. I can't unsee that.

HuffPo is simply the left-wing version of Faux News. Pure ideology. No point in paying attention to either.

As my grandma once said, "Cheeriness begets cheeriness." This fellow must have been born with a pickle in his mouth.

I used to write on the train but in recent years the tracks have all been beat to hell by heavy freights, making the ride too rough.

I just looked up the Illinois law. (I live in a Chicago suburb.) *ALL* parties to a conversation have to consent to voice recording, whether or not that recording is done in public or private, if that recording is to be legal. So we'd better do our dining-car evidence-gathering AFTER the...