New York To Montana Summer 2005  A Rail Adventure  by  John Fasulo
						In the summer of 2005, I took Amtrak from Poughkeepsie NY to Whitefish Mt. Things started out fine with my friend Bill getting me to the station in plenty of time. Amtrak, however, as is often the case, was a little late. Twenty minutes behind schedule, the train finally arrived. I said goodbye to Bill and was on my way. Little did I know just how late we would be getting to  Chicago.   I was traveling on the old Water level Route of the New York Central Railroad. It was the route of the historic 20th Century Limited, one of the most celebrated trains of the last century. It was a train that was not often late except for rare occasions. Amtrak, on the other hand seemed to have a reputation for always running late.    I left Albany NY bound for Chicago around 6pm. By the next morning, we were crawling through Ohio. We should have been in Chicago at 9:30.a.m.  Moving at five miles an hour and seemingly frozen to the tracks for hours, our arrival time was going to be  anything but close to on time. By noon, it was clear that we would be seriously late. We were somewhere in Indiana. Track problems, stalled freights, track construction, all were leading to our problems. By early afternoon the food service car was out of most refreshments and the dinning car had served its last meal. By three o’clock, the train had no beverages of any kind and passengers were understandably upset.
			At 6pm, we pulled into Union Station, almost nine hours late! Those passengers that had connecting trains to catch obviously didn’t make them. The line to for hotel and meal vouchers added about another hour to the days fiasco.     I thought that my compensation by Amtrak, while generous, was in need of something else; but what?  The Amtrak representative that I sat down in front of was a little old black lady who had probably worked for the railroad for 50 years. After receiving my vouchers and her condolences, I ask her if she didn’t think that Amtrak should offer something more for the delay. She peered over her granny glasses and said, ‘well young man, (I’m 57); what exactly did you have in mind’?  ‘Well’, I said, ‘How about a refund’? She looked at me pan faced and said, ‘honey I can’t do that’. I thought for a moment and looked at the poster advertisement behind her for the Amtrak sleeping car. It featured a family looking quite happy after a nights rest in a beautiful, spacious sleeping compartment; complete with shower!  I thought for a moment and said, ‘ok, how about this… on my return trip from Whitefish Montana to Poughkeepsie NY, you up grade me to a sleeper’? She thought for a second, and said, ‘what’s the date of your return’?  I gave her the date. She checked her screen, punched a few keys and, after a long pause said, ‘I can do that’. I smiled, if you don’t ask…..   The rest of the trip to Montana was terrific. It seems that Amtrak, West of Chicago is a class act, at least compared to my earlier adventure. The equipment was newer, the scenery improved, the food was better, and we were on time, (more or less).   I had a great time in Montana. My friend John Eck who I visited teaches during the school year and in the summer runs white water rafts. We hiked in Glacier National park, experiencing some grand scenery and spectacular sunsets. While I delighted in my time in Montana, the real adventure was the trip itself, adding credence to the adage, “It doesn’t matter where the train is going, what matters is making the decision to get on board.”    The return trip was that much more pleasurable having a sleeping car. Granted, I was given the broom closet sleeper, nothing like what I saw in the poster back in Chicago.  All things considered, for one person, it was just fine. The only thing missing in this day of welded rail was the long gone, but still familiar clickity clak of  jointed rail to lull a tired traveler to sleep. John Fasulo 2007
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