Where is the Steam Engine when We Need It?

Having recently completed a vacation facilitated (or impeded, based on your frame of mind) by air travel, it occurs to me that we might well take a long and serious look at returning to travel by rail. We all understand the need for tightened security at our domestic airports. The recent bomb threats and 9/11 have been clear and tragic reminders of the need for national security and preventive measures. Unfortunately, this tightened security has resulted in powerful results to our ability to travel easily and comfortably.

Let me provide an example, keeping in mind that we've all experienced the best and the worst some time in our air travel journeys. My tale is not unique or extraordinary in any way. I mention it as an illustration of how simple life was when all we had to do was make certain that we arrived at the railway station on time.

Due to a son in California and as a result of intricate and strategic planning, we were all scheduled to meet within minutes at our vacation destination. The short version is that after waiting in line for forty-five minutes on his end, my son was advised that his check-in was one minute ago. It's simple to make a case for the advantage of extreme planning - getting to the airport well in advance of the flight. That's a reality best saved for those of parent age. He arrived at the destination by 2:00 am, having been rerouted to two additional flights and after extraordinary screening, insult and amazingly discourteous service.

My own experiences verify the complexity and frustrations of air travel. Being the happy recipient of titanium appendages, I was subjected to more patting down and scrutiny than my doctors have ever administered. Again, I understand the rationale but that realization doesn't mitigate the time and feeling of personal invasion that some of us need to overcome.

Compare that to train travels of long ago. No screening there although admittedly I haven't taken enough rail trips lately to see what has changed. We climbed into our cars and stowed luggage, as much as we needed or wanted, in a luggage compartment at the front or back of the car and took our seats. Admittedly, the flight that took me three plus hours to complete would have taken twenty-four to thirty-six by rail. But along the way, America would display her shining face, with hills and lakes, trees of various flavors and a landscape that is never tedious.

My recollection is that food on trains was not prohibitively expensive. On long trips such as this fantasy rail adventure, there would surely be a dining car and wait staff with starched white aprons and pearly smiles. Having just experienced a plastic cup with lukewarm water (I refuse to pay for in-flight beverages), the rattle of trains on tracks would be a melody to accompany my refreshments.

No, we can't go backward in our technological advances. Yes, time is valuable and the most significant advantage of air travel is time saved. But I can't help but mourn the dignity lost, the privacy sacrificed and the views of our beautiful country that are translated at 36,000 feet. It seems to me that an airline dedicated to resurrecting that level of railroad courtesy would easily capture the market that remembers how it felt.