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| USA Transcontinental Rail Trip 2021 |
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"Our life is a constant journey, from birth to death. The landscape changes,
the people change, our needs change, but the train keeps moving. Life is the
train, not the station."
- Paulo Coelho
(shoutout to my lovely cousin for introducing me to this quote)
Table of Contents
Emeryville-Chicago [1.0]
July 23, 2021 [1.1]
July 24, 2021 [1.2]
July 25, 2021 [1.3]
Chicago [2.0]
July 26, 2021 [2.1]
July 27, 2021 [2.2]
July 28, 2021 [2.3]
Chicago-Boston [3.0]
July 29, 2021 [3.1]
[1.0] Emeryville-Chicago
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[1.1] July 23, 2021
We have left the station and are underway! I am currently writing this at 22:02
mountain time somewhere in Nevada. I am currently lying in my top bunk in my
roommette annoying my cousin as he tries to sleep.
I think I want to start off with formalizing my motivation for doing this trip
via rail. I think my rationale may be split into two buckets: environmental, &
'speed.'
I feel like the environmental justification is fairly straightforward; train
travel roughly emits 0.22 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile compared to air
travel's 0.40 pounds per mile. The difference between the two modes over the
~2,000 miles that separates San Francisco and Chicago (360 lb/0.18 tons) is
roughly equivalent to the *annual* emissions from the average Tanzanian. This
does not come without downsides; what would have been a 5 hour plane ride has
now morphed into a 3 day train trip.
Having said that, I think it's this stretching of time over space that forms
the meat of my second reason for taking the train. With the advent of rapid
transit, GPS, and ridesharing services I think it's become increasingly easy to
overlook the areas that exist between our start and end point. I view this
stratification as very similar to the 'echo chambers' often described in social
media or on different news networks. Despite having lived in America for 24
years, I have yet to spend any amount of significant time anywhere except the
coasts. As a result, I think this trip is my first small step to rectify my
ignorance and attempt to see the heartland as it exists.
So how does my first day on the train live up to these two idealized points? I
think the first one is simply too nebulous to tangibly observe. That said, I
have done some reading which makes me more skeptical of the environmental cost
of train travel. The only electrically operated passenger trains in the U.S.
run in the Northeast corridor making the bulk of this trip fairly heavy
emission wise. Nonetheless, I think I'm still committing less harm overall than
if I had elected to fly.
On the second point I have been pleasantly surprised. The route so far has been
mainly scattered mountain towns with expansive views, but the real pleasure has
been meeting random people from different walks of life also riding the train.
I think you select for a very specific type of person when you elect to take a
train across the country, and everyone we've met so far has been a delight to
know. In this respect, I think train travel has enabled me to meet and interact
with people I would never have otherwise met.
Some other random thoughts.
I never considered this but trains are one-way throughout. Most hallways aren't
wide enough to fit more than one person, so traffic jams are common where
different groups of people are trying to head in opposite directions. It's been
funny so far, but I can imagine it getting annoying within a couple of days.
Also, the food has been sort of amazing? I think airline food has conditioned
me to expect literal trash everytime I am served while traveling, but each dish
so far has been fantastic. Also, walking between different cars is amazing.
There's this push button that swings the doors open, and I wish more door
designers included this as an option in everyday doors. Finally, the beds are
quite comfy. I think the rocking of the train is quite soothing and I'm looking
forward to tomorrow. We're planning on waking up early to try and snag a good
seat on the observation deck for the sunrise over Utah!!
[1.2] July 24, 2021
We woke up around 05:30 in western Utah and as we were waiting for a shower to
open we were able to catch the early morning sun. I think most people who ride
long-distance trains are early-morning people, so I think in the future I'll
try to take evening showers. From there, breakfast was a hearty meal of
scrambled eggs and potatoes. Again, I am consistently amazed at how good the
food is and how good the company was! We were able to dine with a geologist and
a old-school computer programmer. (Apparently there is a new shield volcano
*currently* developing near Reykjavik, Iceland.)
The train was going noticably faster today, apparently most of the western rail
tracks are owned by freight companies so freight trains are given priority over
Amtrak. As a result, we are currently delayed by ~6 hours largely due to being
stuck behind large, slow freight trains. One passenger commented "one doesn't
take the train to get somewhere on time" and in some sense I agree.
The journey today covered all of Utah and most of Colorado. Utah struck me as a
solemn place, large swaths of empty land are abruptly interrupted by
contemplative and majestic mountains. I have to imagine there are significant
variations in microclimates that generate biological niches; even within a
couple minutes, I was astounded by how rapidly the foliage and soil could
change.
I tried the vegan chili for lunch and it did not disappoint. At this point, I
have tried each of the 3 dessert cake options. Jerzy, an attendant in the
dining car, has personally vouched for the splendor of the carrot cake and I
have to say I agree. I think my rankings are (1) carrot cake, (2) cheesecake,
and (3) chocolate cake. Frankly, they're all good. Let me also take this moment
to say that every Amtrak employee has been wonderfully friendly and
good-natured. Jerzy lovingly mocks people who don't choose the carrot cake, and
his good-natured attitude is indicative of the vast majority of employees I've
interacted with.
After lunch we passed into Colorado, following the Colorado River closely. I
thought this section was particularly scenic, the rusty mountains frame the sky
beautifully. Apparently, it's a tradition for rafters on the Colorado River to
flash the train. Every child in the observation deck devolved into a gaggle of
giggles at the sight of grimy butts wiggling in their direction.
At this point our train rapidly filled with passengers from Colorado.
Apparently a major highway has been closed for some time due to flash floods in
the area; as a result, we retreated to our sleeping car to allow the new
passengers the opportunity to use the observation deck. Very quickly the sun
went down, and the Rocky Mountains became shrouded in darkness. Getting good
photos in the low-light proved to be near impossible, and this was slightly
disappointing given how many people have said the Rockies were some of the best
parts of the trip. It wasn't all bad, we could still make out the whitewater
churning at the base of the mountains. It gave the impression of some ancient
being living underneath us.
In the twilight, we drank rum and concluded the movie "The Assassination of
Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." It dragged on a bit, but was still
quite good. I am currently writing this at 22:34 from Fraser, Colorado. We
expect to be in Denver sometime near midnight and hopefully in Nebraska by
tomorrow morning.
[1.3] July 25, 2021
Ha. I did NOT take an evening shower, yet I did find every shower was open at
05:30 in the morning so maybe yesterday was a one-time fluke. By the time I
woke up we had passed through Colorado and were in western Nebraska. Our routes
through Nebraska and Iowa were largely dominated by industrial cornfields and
the occasional small city. The lack of natural beauty did force me to more
deeply consider the communities we passed through.
I think one constant through the journey has been the signs of decay and wear
on the areas along our path. None of the trains we passed looked particularly
clean or modern or new (unfortunately, this also included our train), and most
of the train stations we've stopped at were either run-down or falling apart
(see yesterday's photo of the Grand Junction station).
Some of these areas feel like the physical emodiment of a dream about a Golden
Age that is already half-forgotten. There was a time when railroads and the
communities they passed by dominated this country; but the longer I spend on
the train, the more acutely I feel how far they've fallen. Pretty much every
train buff we've met has commented on "the way things used to be" or "how
things were, back in the day." The train seems like a vehicle whose primary
destination is nostalgia. I'm certainly not against this, but I think this has
to be married to some degree of practicality. Otherwise the dream remains just
that; a dream.
As it stands, doing this trip consistently is simply a non-starter. Spending 3
days going an average of 30mph (with a peak of 80mph) is just not good enough
to justify it over other forms of transport. I see no reason why America, a
country whose extensive railways were once the envy of the world, is now
incapable of providing reliable and modern commuter rail to its citizens. China
and the US are roughly the same size, but China's high-speed rail network
(~37,900 km long, running between 124mph-190mph) currently accounts for
two-thirds of the world's total high-speed rail. I think America's failure to
more effectively link the country together is a large reason behind the fraying
of our social fabric (see above 2nd reason for taking the train). I think it's
also fair to assume that making the interior of the country more accessible
from the coasts could help money and talent be more widely shared among the
American states. This could also provide a much needed influx of people to
communities losing population to larger cities. Trains are cool.
Illinois was too dark to really see, but I was surprised at how far the suburbs
began outside of Chicago. In any case, we ended up arriving at Chicago's Union
Station at 22:55, a full 8 hours and 5 minutes after we were supposed to reach.
Thus concludes the first leg of the journey. Now, Chicago! The Windy City!
[2.0] Chicago
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[2.1] July 26, 2021
Honestly the first thing I noticed today was the smell. The second I left the
apartment I was hit with the lovely fragrance of freshly baked chocolate chip
cookies. It took me an embarrasingly long time to realize that this is *not*
the typical smell of Chicago, my friend just happened to have an apartment near
the Blommer Chocolate Factory.
Every article I've read (I've only read 2) about Chicago's history has used the
city's relationship to water as the central thesis. Located between Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi River, Chicago was ideally situated to serve as
the central trading post between in-land America (connected by the Mississippi)
and the Atlantic (through the Great Lakes). Actually building the canal that
linked the two waterways was a monumental task, and well worth reading about.
In any event, climate change has drastically affected their systems and you can
see evidence of this in the constant warnings about sewer outfalls along the
River.
We walked along the River and went on an architecture boat tour of the city.
The Riverwalk was recently renovated, and is quite beautiful. The architecture
tour was fun and helped place a lot of the buildings and their designs in
context. After that we got some delicious chicken and walked along the north
side of Michigan Lake.
We then saw the Vincent Van Gogh Immersive thing. It was pretty amazing, just
one large set of rooms with projectors displaying animations of Van Gogh's
paintings matched with audio. Van Gogh is probably the only artist whose work
I've seen analyzed in different ways and I thought the presentation did a
fairly good job getting into Vincent's psyche at certain points. After that we
went to a rooftop bar AND got some delicious donuts. Now enough of that
BULLSHIT, Arya what was the coolest playground you saw in Chicago?? Excellent
question, clearly Seneca Park's playground.
[2.2] July 27, 2021
I finally remembered to download & listen to Sufjan Stevens' Come On Feel the
Illionoise as I left the apartment today. It might be confirmation bias, but I
think it does a pretty accurate job of capturing Chicago's/Illinois' energy
(partic. Part 1/Chicago). I walked underneath a railroad track for a while,
which was pretty freaking neat-o.
Then got brunch in the South Loop and walked through Museum Campus to go to the
Field Museum. It's honestly amazing, so many cool exhibits.
We spent ~5 hours there, but there was easily enough material for 20. I wish
museum tickets allowed people to come and go over a multiple days. The Evolving
Planet section on the 3rd floor and the animal collection on the 2nd floor were
particularly well done. By random chance, I had just finished reading Metazoa
yesterday so it was really cool to see the animals discussed in the book.
Biology is *crazy* I wish I could study it!!
After that we headed to the BEAN which is actually supposed to be a CLOUD. It
was quite a bit larger than I expected.
Then it was pizza and margaritas to end the day. GOOD DAY.
[2.3] July 28, 2021
Began the day with breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. If you know me, you know I'm a
sucker for an old-fashioned diner, and this did not disappoint. Wish we could
have eaten there everyday, but they're closed Mondays/Tuesdays so this was the
only time we could try them :(. They had this marvelous combination of small
coffee mugs AND rapid coffee refills. There are 2 common issues I run into when
having coffee in a diner. Either they don't offer to refill the coffee, or they
prematurely top off a coffee mug as I'm drinking it. Now the second scenario
may not sound bad, but imagine if you have finally synthesized the perfect
ratio of cream/sugar to your cup. When uncut black coffee is added on top of
it everything goes to shit. Before today, I thought this was one of those
intractable problems in the same vein as Navier-Stokes or P==NP; however, when
a smaller cup is used then the problem is obviated! Smaller cups enable one to
drink the majority of coffee before the refill, thus allowing one to reseason
from scratch! Brilliant! I ate a florentine benedict. It was ok.
Then went to check out Union Station when we weren't stressing with luggage and
figuring out rides. The architecture is beautiful, and we were lucky to have
the station to ourselves. I know that the Chicago Architecture tour taught us
a specific term to classify this style, but I cannot for the life of me
remember it (I cheated and looked it up, it's neoclassical)
Then we marched once again to the Lakefront to see off my cousin. We were able
to catch more art installations in Millenium Park and explore the area around
the BEAN a bit. After my cousin left, I wandered around the park some more. I
happened to stumble across ANOTHER beautifully-designed playground. I still
think I prefer the first day's for it's accessibility, but I appreciated the
fun of this one. I'm starting to suspect it's only West Coast cities who have
yet to try experimenting with playground design.
Then left to the apartment to catch up on work, talk with my friend, and pack
up. So concludes the Chicago leg of my trip! Closing thoughts on Chicago? I
think it's similar to Boston but with a much more dramatic emphasis on size and
scale. It's obvious the city was built and designed for large-scale industry
and I think that gives it a bit of an impersonal & apathetic feel. That said I
was only there for 3 days, so what do I know.
I am currently writing this at 23:31 from the Lake Shore Limited on the way to
Boston. I'll save train stuff for tomorrow but just want to say that my
experience of catching the train was not super enjoyable.
[3.0] Chicago-Boston
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[3.1] July 29, 2021
Ok this is it. The big finale. The final showdown. The last call. The
penultimate kahuna. It is the last leg of the trip, and with its completion I
have successfully traversed the continent of the U.S. on nothing but rail. I
have gotten back to my Boston home and have unpacked and showered and shaved;
and after all that, I am technically writing this at 01:42 on the 30th, but
fuck off it still counts as the 29th.
Today's journey really began at the tailend of yesterday; I had expected to be
able to check my bags at the station, but apparently certain trains don't have
this option? It would have been nice to know that ahead of time. To be fair, I
should have also packed significantly lighter. Amtrak is *not* the service to
bring significant luggage with you.
In any case, I made it TO the station and ON the train. On this train trip, I
was in coach which was still quite comfortable. In terms of space, it reminded
me of first-class on an airplane. I mainly read and slept on this trip, there
was not much scenery to enjoy. I found this odd because one of the selling
points of this train was its 'lakefront views,' but I think we passed all of
them in the dead of night so there was nothing specifically to enjoy.
One cool feature of this train is that it splits into TWO trains when passing
through Albany, New York. One half adds an engine car and heads to NYC, while
the other half refuels and carries on to Boston. This experience reminded me
that trains are really the only form of transportation that is modular. One can
swap out different cars to suit their needs, and I think that's pretty freaking
neato.
I want to conclude this log with whether or not I'm hopeful. Hopeful for the
human race, hopeful for America's future and the future of the democratic
experiment. I had gone into this trip with the romantic ideal that the answer
at the end would be a resounding yes. I imagined being swept away with the
indominatble nature of the spirit Americana; and that I may more easily lay my
demons of despair to rest.
As with most of my idealized tendencies, I think the answer is more complicated
than what I wanted. I saw a lot which provided some measure of hope, and I saw
a lot which told me that this hope was misguided. One point which did stick
with me were the lovely people I met along the way. There was Jerzy (the
wonderful polish carrot-cake pushing train attendant), the lady who freely
volunteers to give the Chicago Architecture tour and was remarkably thoughtful
about city design, my friend who let me stay on his couch for multiple days
after only having met me once before, the lady who saw me struggling with my
bags at 21:00 in Chicago's Union Station and offered to help me, and infinite
small gestures I was privy to. I don't think it'll be easy, and I still doubt
if it's even possible; but if we do overcome our challenges I think it'll be
largely due to the kindness of everyday people.
Arya Kaul (C) now - forever