Detroit > Fallingwater > Washington DC

[PaulM]

Following up on Oldsmoboi's idea, if it were I, I would get off in Connellsville, have breakfast at Valley Dairy, rent (hire) a bike at Bike's Unlimited, and check out the Great Allegheny Passage. Falling Water is 4 miles from the trail.

You'll see a part of America very few have.

Incidentally, where did the "much maligned" idea come from? I just finished a CHI-WAS trip, one of the most pleasant ever.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Yes it was that programme, I had forgotten the name: Quote from programme trailer :-

"Julien Temple's new film is a vivid evocation of an apocalyptic vision: a slow-motion Katrina that has had many more victims. Detroit was once America's fourth largest city.

Built by the car for the car, with its groundbreaking suburbs, freeways and shopping centres, it was the embodiment of the American dream.

But its intense race riots brought the army into the city. With violent union struggles against the fierce resistance of Henry Ford and the Big Three, it was also the scene of American nightmares.

Now it is truly a dystopic post-industrial city, in which 40 per cent of the land in the centre is returning to prairie. Greenery grows up through abandoned office blocks, houses and collapsing car plants, and swallows up street lights.

Police stations and post offices have been left with papers on the desks like the Marie Celeste. There is no more rush hour on what were the first freeways in America. Crime, vandalism, arson and dog fighting are the main activities in once the largest building in North America. But it's also a source of hope.

Streets are being turned to art. Farming is coming back to the centre of the city. Young people are flocking to help. The burgeoning urban agricultural movement is the fastest growing movement in the US. Detroit leads the way again but in a very different direction"

Ed

 

[jamesontheroad]

Incidentally, where did the "much maligned" idea come from? I just finished a CHI-WAS trip, one of the most pleasant ever.

You know what it was - I made the cardinal sin (hehehe) of confusing the Capitol Limited with the Cardinal. When I first starting riding Amtrak in about 2005, and when I subsequently planned a handful of NYP-CHI trips, I remember being warned about the sub-par service on the Cardinal as opposed to the LSL.

 

[Oldsmoboi]

Incidentally, where did the "much maligned" idea come from? I just finished a CHI-WAS trip, one of the most pleasant ever.

Indeed. I've switch to using the Capitol for business travel because it is really nice. I get first class service for the price of coach on a jet.

 

[railbuck]

Unfortunately, the only car rental place in Cumberland is a Hertz that isn't walking distance from the train station unless you illegally cross about 6 lines of freight tracks. You will need a cab to get your car.

I found Hertz to be within reasonable walking distance; the key is to walk north, not south, when leaving the station, and use the street crossing. Still, if Enterprise will pick up and drop off at the station, that's the most convenient.

 

[SarahZ]

Hi,

Yes it was that programme, I had forgotten the name: Quote from programme trailer :-

[snip]

Oh wow. I really want to watch that. Thanks for the title.

It really is sad how Detroit has become such a shell of its former life. I would have loved to have seen it during the days of heavy auto production and Motown music. The department stores and hotels were so beautiful. It was sad when they started tearing everything down. I wish I could have seen Hudson's when it was a gigantic, fully-operating department store. My uncle managed to get one of the bricks after they tore it down to make room for Ford Field. (Grrrr...

)