Wyndham Wisdom

C'mon Ride the Train

By Charyn Pfeuffer

On my recent trip back east to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City, I got reacquainted with a much loved mode of transportation - the train. Seattle, although conveniently tucked between the great cities of Portland and Vancouver, B.C., is not exactly positioned for efficiently getting from Point A to Point B via train travel.

Growing up in suburban Philadelphia, I took the train all the time. The local Septa R5 train into Philadelphia for Saturday morning art classes at Moore College of Art and Design, to meet friends at the Wayne movie theater, and to dance performances up and down the Main Line. When I got older, my jaunts expanded along the northeast corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C. via the railed magic of Amtrak. Living on the east coast, you're never too far from the next major city, and Amtrak was always an affordable option, even as a college student.

My love for train travel only deepened when I discovered the power of an unlimited Eurorail pass. During the fall of 1993, my best friend and I zigzagged across a half dozen countries over the course of a few months.  We'd wake up in Nice and think "Wouldn't it be nice to have dinner in Italy?" So we'd gather our backpacks, muster up as much makeshift language as possible and head merrily on our way in search of fettuccini and chiseled cheekbones.

Train travel still enthralls me. In some inexplicable way, it's romantic, yet such a civil and practical way to get around. There's something about stepping up to the ticket counter to purchase your ticket, then grabbing a cup of coffee and newspaper, as one eye watches the timetable ticker board. I relish those moments of anticipation when passengers lined up on the platform, look furtively down the track for the train's arrival. Always seated next to a window, I keep my eyes locked on the passing landscape. And for a period of time, I lose myself in the scenery and my mind wanders with ease. I don't find this calm in any other mode of transportation. Driving makes me nervous, especially at night or in the rain (a head-on collision crushed all my behind-the-wheel confidence a few years ago).  Airline travel has become an exercise in jumping through hoops, akin to a circus acrobat. Boats are fine by me - for limited periods of time.

Amtrak just gave away 2-for-1 coupons for travels on its Cascades route throughout the Pacific Northwest. In the past, I would've shrugged at this offer, since going anywhere requires a 2-hour-plus commitment. But I'm inspired to hatch a travel plan that involves taking the train, because after all, I still have a lot to explore that cannot be seen from the passenger seat of a car.