Train whistles go choo-choo in three-part harmony.
Railroad travel bypassed the Boomer Generation, by and large. We grew up on long family vacations via station wagons and as adults caused a boom in the airline industry. My parents had many stories of train travel when they were young during WWII, and then they took it up again when they hated driving across country.
Back in the diner for lunch we ate with Hideki, a tourist from Okinawa, Japan who was completing a one-week train trip with stop offs, traveling from San Francisco to New York City. We exchanged cameras as a pleasantry. He said he was not in the recent tsunami, but a friend was, and out of communication for two days. I have few phrases of Japanese at the ready, despite having hosted Japanese exchange students in the past. He gave us two bookmarks of scenes in Japan, and I was able to say “domo arrigato,” and bowed. He bowed back and said “Do itashimashte,” You’re welcome. He was interested to learn Jesse is a Native American. He had never heard of Comanche.
One passenger complained he couldn’t sleep, but we didn’t have a problem. There was a cargo strap on the top bunk to prevent toppling. I delighted in “the singing of the rails” and “the lonesome whistle blowing.” In our roomette on the lower level the chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga of the wheels and the seductive motion lulled us right to sleep.
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| All Aboard at Denver Union Station |
Railroad travel bypassed the Boomer Generation, by and large. We grew up on long family vacations via station wagons and as adults caused a boom in the airline industry. My parents had many stories of train travel when they were young during WWII, and then they took it up again when they hated driving across country.
Traveling with Jesse Bear by train is lovely. We entrained before sunset in Denver and bid the mountains farewell from the diner car. The dining car has fresh pink carnations, cloth napkins for dinner, and the cost of meals is included in First Class (sleeper) accommodations. The first night we were seated with a couple from Illinois (community seating, they call it) who had taken the train to Denver from Illinois to attend their grand children’s track events and talent show. At breakfast we chatted with a couple who had taken a “retirement trip” around America, now completing the northern trip returning to Virginia. Their account of getting off the train for the Grand Canyon was enticing.
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| Japanese Tourist |
Back in the diner for lunch we ate with Hideki, a tourist from Okinawa, Japan who was completing a one-week train trip with stop offs, traveling from San Francisco to New York City. We exchanged cameras as a pleasantry. He said he was not in the recent tsunami, but a friend was, and out of communication for two days. I have few phrases of Japanese at the ready, despite having hosted Japanese exchange students in the past. He gave us two bookmarks of scenes in Japan, and I was able to say “domo arrigato,” and bowed. He bowed back and said “Do itashimashte,” You’re welcome. He was interested to learn Jesse is a Native American. He had never heard of Comanche.
Traveling in a roomette is lovely, as one can lean back and put your feet up and pick your teeth or type on the computer without an audience, except for one’s companion who is of course closely involved with every movement of each other's body parts.
In our coach there are four roomettes the size of a closet in an old house with pull-down bunk beds, and then an end compartment twice as big across one end. In the middle by the door fresh coffee is brewed throughout the day and then carry-on luggage is stored. At the end of the car are two toilets (twice as big as on an airplane and for many fewer passengers) and two showers. We forewent the showers, due to the swaying of the train. Jesse managed to shave with no bloody aftereffects.
During the night the conductor announced that Osama bin Laden had been captured and killed, and in the morning there was a photo on the front page of the Omaha World-Heritage that had been slid under the sliding glass doors.