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St. Paul is my home station, and I've waited for #7 heading west at least half a dozen times since the Empire Builder started stopping at SPUD. I always travel in sleeper class and have never spent any time in the lounge. Whenever I've gone in there it's been crowded and surprisingly loud...

Yes, I think that three adults in a bedroom is less cramped than two in a roomette.

The last time High-speed rail from Twin Cities to Chicago was discussed, a route via Rochester was discussed, though rejected. The Zip Rail wikipedia article does refer to a 2009 study. (warning: big pdf) It all seems pie in the sky to me (and it's noteworthy that the same consulting firm was...

No, halberds, like other pole arms, are out because they're sharp, and really could you expect Amtrak to distinguish them from spears? (Another question would be why Amtrak has to specifically ban spears.) The bolos would be okay, since they aren't sharp. The thing on a chain, though is...

As far as I can see the page you connected to allows you to exchange Choice Points for airline miles. I don't see where it says that you exchange miles for Choice Points.

Can you still transfer AAdvantage miles to Hilton? I thought that went away several years ago. The only way I know of transferring AA miles to AGR points is points.com, and your exchange rate there usually isn't very good.

1) Why bother with Santa Fe? Was the city generating much traffic at the time? 2) Why not plat a new city like Albuquerque on land you own, and make money selling the lots? Why make money for Santa Fe landowners? You then can build a branch to Santa Fe, and they have to lump it. What's the...

Absolutely correct. Hoisted by my own petard, I am.

That is simply not true. I think you're confusing "probable cause" with "warrant."

As a Minnesotan, I have to point out that the conductor's arrest powers extend only to disorderly behavior, not paying a fare, and, oddly, smoking. Smuggling dope, he's got nothing to do with.

How would we know the resource was legitimate? This is the Internet, where no one knows you're a dog. Sorry. I couldn't let SarahZ be the only one to apply an Internet trope to this thread.

That's the calculation Officer Friendly expects, that you'll waive your constitutional rights in the hope of not being inconvenienced. That's an especially strong argument for people who are poor or young. I think that behooves those of us who are neither to be especially recalcitrant. Of...

My attitude has always been that Officer Friendly never asks to search if he already has enunciable probable cause. I'd never say yes to any search, just out of cussedness. Of course, that's easy for me to say, since I'm a balding middle-aged rich white guy, so Officer Friendly isn't ever...

But you'd be happy to tip afterward? What's the difference? Or are you saying that you'd stiff your sleeping car attendant? I'm a well-off middle-aged guy, so now I'm probably seen as a probable good tipper. Once upon a time I was younger, thinner, and poorer. I probably wasn't seen as a...

Is there something wrong with that?

As far as I know, ORL-WAS-CHI-FMD was never a published route. SPK-PDX-SAC-DEN was. When the Empire Builder connections in Portland were restored, as far as I know none of three-train itineraries were put back into the system. Some ought to have been noncontroversial, like say...

Never heard of the 2-hour rule. What happened when you pointed out that the 14-28 connection is less than two hours? FWIW, SAN-LAX-PDX-MSP used to be a published route, and I traveled on it in 2013.

My impression is that the no-overnight-layover thing is a feature demanded by Amtrak, not a failure of programmers. I seem to remember AGR Insider suggesting that Operations really didn't like the idea of people stranded overnight, and the absurd circuitous routings were the result (For...

I personally would be very surprised if most of the three-train connections yarrow mentions are ever restored. What do Denver, Albuquerque, and El Paso have in common? They are zone-boundary cities. People paying for their own tickets can still book those routes, but eliminating the routing...

Why should I assume that now the blankets will be washed after every use, just because they are put in a plastic bag?