We Need More Whistle Stops

I woke up this morning thinking about trains. I was remembering the sound of a train whistle from a coal train on its way to Canton’s paper mill. (Canton, NC) I was a little girl that was put down for a nap and refused to go to sleep. I would lay there and listen to the sounds outside. The birds, the dog down the street, my Grandmother cooking in the kitchen and the train whistle. I love this sound; it is so comforting to me. There is a train down the road from where I live now and every time I hear the whistle I go back to that moment lying in my Grandmother’s bed.


When I was a little older it was fun to sneak out at night and walk the tracks in the dark. I would be visiting my other Grandparents and there were train tracks right behind their house. I have a younger Aunt and Uncle that are my age and we were always agents of mischief. We would walk almost to Lake Junaluska and back; walking on the rails and skipping the tracks. It was a feeling of being free. Of course we were 10yrs old and doing something naughty. There is always excitement in that!

Recently I went to see my son who lives in Chicago. I made my trip an excursion by using public transportation the whole way. This required planning and time management. I live in a bedroom community to Milwaukee with freeway flyer transportation into the city. I did a little research and discovered there was a freeway flyer that would drop me off in front of the train station. So I coordinated the time of the bus drop off to the time the train pulled out of the station. My wait in the station was 5 minutes and ride to Chicago took about 45 minutes. I then walked across the street from Union Station and caught the Metro and took a 10 minute ride to the stop where my son lives. I had a really nice time taking the train and it was fun.

I was very pleased with myself and felt like a responsible citizen. I had someone ask me why I didn’t just drive. Claiming it would not have been so much trouble. This got me thinking, what trouble? So I did a little math and here are my results:

Time: Car -150 miles at 60mph = 2.5 hours
Time: Public Transportation = 1.5 hours

Cost: Car: 150 miles at 25 miles per gallon at $3.89 a gallon = $48.00 round trip
Additional consideration: maintenance and wear and tear
Cost: Public Transportation- $40.00 for Amtrak, $2.75 Freeway Flyer, $ 3.00 = $46.00

Stress: Car- Maximum – Rush hour, I-94 construction from Ryan Rd to the state line, constant attention to the road, toll road (don’t have enough change), the guy in front of me is really pissing me off to the point I just want to rip that fish off their trunk, “Shit” I just missed my exit, now where the “Hell” am I, can’t find my phone to call my son for new directions and ”Damn It “he never answers his phone he only does text messages, “Shit” now I have to pull over and text him and by the way I didn’t plan my trip I just got in my car to drive to Chicago and “Damn it” I need gas.

Stress: Public Transportation - Minimal - I was a passenger; I read my book, drank my coffee, closed my eyes and had polite conversation with someone interesting.

I have never understood why passenger train travel is so undesired. It makes so much sense to me. It is quick, it is efficient, and it is practical. Ah! HA! There it is, “Practical”. Why would we do something that is practical? We like the convenience and control over our lives no matter what the consequence. So why don’t we change? Oh Gosh, there is that word again, “Change”.


Mr. President, Let’s get this Health Care reform done and we can move on to improving our train systems.