Amtraking America

Welcome to Amtrak

~ During my 2010 American trip, I travelled via Greyhound Bus from New York City to New Orleans (with stopovers in Philadelphia, PA and Raleigh, NC). I have written an extensive six part road trip report of that journey beginning here…

That trip went so well, that I was keen to repeat the experience―albeit along a different route―during my 2012 visit to America. To that end, following my three week stay in New York City, I caught the first of what I thought would be many Greyhound Buses, to Lancaster, PA.

During my stay in Lancaster, someone suggested I use Amtrak to get to my next destination―Harrisburg, PA., a short leg by any standards. Since Greyhound Buses shared facilities with Amtrak, it was easy enough to do―so I did. That was it. I was immediately smitten. Seduced by the comfort; the leg room; the ability to get up and walk the length of the train; the large windows; the smooth, traffic free flow of the carriages; and more. The run from Lancaster to Harrisburg was over in under an hour, but I was hooked. I decided that if the opportunity arose to travel by train again, I would seize it.

Washington, DC to Savannah, GA

When I left Harrisburg, it was by bus for Washington, DC. But when I left America’s national capital, for Savannah, Georgia, it was on the Amtrak Atlantic Coast Service that takes in New York - Washington, DC - Charleston - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa/Miami. There was no turning back after that. Given a choice between spending nearly eleven hours on a train or a bus, there is only one choice, and that of course is the train.

Atlantic Coast Service route guide

In researching current prices for this entry, I was able to confirm what I already knew, that depending on how and when you choose to travel, it can be cheaper to take a train than it is to take a bus. For example, current prices (as of Sunday, 14 April 2013), for the Washington-Savannah run are US$101.00 for the morning and afternoon trains, and US$173.00 for the evening train. The same route by Greyhound Bus ranges from $85.00 (advance purchase) to $159.00 (refundable ticket). The Standard Fare is $142.00.

Using the example above, the bus is cheaper than the train service. However, even though I was initially looking for the cheapest tickets available, I did not hesitate to spend the extra $16.00 for the space and luxury of the train. Oh, and it helps that some of the Amtrak services include WiFi as well. And did I mention the restaurant car? And the observation carriage with its comfortable seating that allows you to sit back, stretch your legs, and enjoy panoramic views of the passing countryside? All in all, the experience is better; the ride much smoother; and the journey certainly seems to pass much quicker.

After the Richmond stop I walked up to the restaurant car for a coffee and Panini. It occurred to me that a coach paying passenger could spend most of their trip here in relative comfort. In fact, it was a whole lot easier to use my iPad there where I could rest the device on a table and type, than to balance it in my lap, or hold it for extended periods.

Also in the restaurant car one has an opportunity to take part in conversations with a number of other passengers, rather than sit alone or converse with the person in the seat next to you in your designated carriage―assuming they want to talk in the first place.

New Orleans, LA to Tucson, AZ

Alpine, Texas

From Savannah, I rode a Greyhound to New Orleans, and after a five night stay there, I boarded Amtrak’s Sunset Limited service for Tucson, Arizona.

For the record, current prices on the New Orleans-Tucson run are $143 (Amtrak), and $188 (web only) to $232 (refundable) for the Greyhound Bus. That’s a difference of $45 assuming you buy the cheapest tickets, or a difference of $89 (if you purchase a refundable Greyhound ticket) in favour of Amtrak. As the saying has it: It’s a no brainer.

I have taken to referring to Amtrak as one of America’s best kept secrets. Almost everyone I spoke to about my train travel was amazed at the prices I paid, and my glowing recommendations. Most assumed that travelling by train would be far more expensive than by bus, and had therefore never considered the Amtrak service.

If there is a downside to using the rail network, it is that compared to the Greyhound Bus network, passengers have many more choices available to them when travelling by bus. The American rail network is a pale shadow of what it used to be, which is a great pity. Never the less, what remains covers all the main urban centres and for my money, it just can’t be beaten. At the very least, take time to compare prices between the Greyhound Bus and Amtrak services. Like me you may become a convert to the joys of rail travel.

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Amtrak… 

Greyhound Bus… 

The Joy of Travel

Now that I am slowly readjusting to life back in Adelaide, I am beginning to process the experiences and encounters I made during my latest three month American trip (July 30-October 22, 2012). Generally, it is only after some time and distance has inserted itself between the travel and the homecoming that I am really able to fully appreciate and reflect on the events, encounters and experiences I had while on the road.

While family members and friends are becoming used to my long absences, some are still amazed by my extended solo journeys, and what appears to be my ability to pass through ‘alien’ territory without harm or hindrance. I hasten to add, that America is hardly alien territory for me, since it has always been a part of my life in some way through the medium of television, movies, books, music, and other forms of popular culture. However, there is a big difference between absorbing American culture from the comfort and safety of a home in Australia, and experiencing it first hand.

I am delighted to report that once again I can honestly say that I did not encounter one threat or dangerous situation during this or my two previous visits to the United States. And this, despite a seemingly endless series of media headlines that trumpet the latest mass shootings, hurricane, tornado, or other major disaster – man made or otherwise that seems to infect America. On the contrary, I met people from many walks of life, and all have been friendly, interested in my journey, and very welcoming, even to the point of offering to host me in their homes if my path took me to the city or town they resided in.

My latest trip took me by road and rail from New York City to Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and thence to Washington, DC., Savannah, Georgia, New Orleans, Tucson and Flagstaff, Arizona, and finally to Los Angeles. I was lucky enough to enjoy extended stays of three weeks each in New York City and Tucson, and shorter stays of ten days in Savannah, and around five days each in New Orleans, Washington, DC., and Lancaster/Harrisburg.

Once again I travelled by Greyhound Bus, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the relative luxury of long distance train travel via the Amtrak Rail network. I say ‘relative luxury’ because my budget did not stretch to the full luxury of a sleeper compartment. Never the less, compared to bus and air travel, I very quickly came to appreciate the luxury of extra leg room, restaurant cars, observation decks, and the ability to walk pretty much unhindered up and down the length of the train.

I will have more to say about all the above in due course, but for now – it’s good to be home again. While I hope to be house sitting again in Melbourne early in the new year, I suspect I will be staying close to home for the next twelve to eighteen months before heading off again for yet another extended journey to… well, I won’t get ahead of myself. A lot can happen between now and then, but whatever happens, I hope I never lose the joy of travel. See you down the road.

Nat Love: “See America”

Nat 'Deadwood Dick' Love

In my review of Nat Love’s autobiography, The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, I mention a section of the book in which Nat Love (a former slave, cowboy and Pullman porter) urges his fellow Americans to “see America”. It is such an exciting piece of inspired writing that I thought it worth quoting in full on this blog.

It has always seemed strange to me that so many Americans rush off to Europe and foreign countries every year in search of health and pleasure, or to climb the Alps in Switzerland, and to view the scenery of the old world, when our own North America, the new world, offers so many better opportunities to study Dame Nature in all her phases, and I always say to the traveling American, "See America." How many of you have done so? Only those who have seen this grand country of ours can justly appreciate the grandeur of our mountains and rivers, valley and plain, canyon and gorge, lakes and springs, cities and towns, the grand evidences of God's handiwork scattered all over this fair land over which waves the stars and stripes.

Go to New York and view the tall buildings, the Brooklyn bridge, the subway, study the works of art to be found there, both in statuary and painting, ponder on the vast volume of commerce carried on with the outside world. Note the many different styles of architecture displayed in the palace of the millionaire and the house of the humble tradesman, view the magnificent Hudson river and the country homes along its grassy, tree-lined shores, note the ships from every clime riding at anchor in the East river. Then speculate on the changes that have been wrought in the course of the short time since Manhattan Island was purchased from the Indians by Pete Minuts [sic] for a few blankets and beads amounting in value to $24.00. Then board the Pennsylvania Limited, whose trains are the acme of modern railroading and go to Washington, the nation's capital city. Walk along Pennsylvania avenue and note its beauty. Visit the capitol and let your chest swell out with pride that you are an American.

Visit the tomb of General Grant and the thousand and one magnificent statues scattered throughout the city. Visit Annapolis and West Point, where the leaders of the nation's navy and army are trained. Walk over the battlefields of Fredricksburg, Gettysburg and Lexington, and let your mind speculate on the events that made modern history.

Note the majestic Potomac and the Washington monument. Take a short trip north and see the great Niagara Falls, listen to what they tell you in their mighty roaring voice. Go to Pittsburgh where the great steel works are located, and see how the steel pen and the steel cannon are made. Go to Chicago, that western hive of commerce. See the Great Lakes, or better still take a cruise on them. Note the great lumber industry of Michigan, and the traffic of the lakes. Go to Kansas City and Omaha and see the transformation of the Texas steer into the corned beef you ate at your last picnic, or was it chipped beef? See the immense stock yards with their thousands of cattle, hogs and sheep, and think of the thousands of people that they feed.



The proud Pullman porter

Cross the Missouri river and enter on the plains of the great and recently unknown west. Think of the pioneer who in 1849 traversed these once barren stretches of prairie, walking beside his slow-moving ox team, seeking the promised land, breaking a trail for the generations that were to come after him as you are coming now in a Pullman car. Think of the dangers that beset him on every hand, then wonder at the nerve he had, then again let your chest swell with pride that you are an American, sprung from the same stock that men were composed of in those days.

Note the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains as they rise from the plains, their peaks snow-capped, glistening in clear blue sky, breathe the pure essence of life, drink of the crystal streams twinkling down their sides, then scorn the wine made by man. Listen to the salute of the bells and the whistles as the trains approach and pass that strange monument of nature's handiwork, the Mount of the Holy Cross.

Go to the Yellowstone National Park and revel in the wonders thereof, walk in the garden of the Gods and listen to the voice of the Giant Geyser as it sends forth its torrents of boiling water. Bathe in the life-giving springs and mud baths. Note the fantastic forms of the rocks and trees, carved by the hand of nature, then go to Colorado Springs and climb Pikes Peak and behold the world stretch out before you in valley, mountain and plain. Visit the mines of Leadville and Cripple Creek, the store houses of a part of the nation's wealth.

Nat Love and family

Visit Denver and see the strides made in the improvement of the west in a short time. Board the Denver & Rio Grande train and note the magnificent scenery of mountain, canyons, gorges and the beautiful mountain lakes and streams, note the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the royal gorge. Now note the great white expanse of the great Salt Lake, as it lies glistening in the rays of the setting sun, and think of the stories you have heard of it until the conductor brings you back to earth with the cry of "Ogden."

Note this bustling railroad center in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and acknowledge our country's greatness. Visit Salt Lake City, the "City of Zion," the Canaan of the new world. See the beautiful city nestling within the protection of the Warsatch and Oquirrh range of mountains. Walk its wide tree-lined streets, visit the tabernacle and hear the sweet strains of the world's greatest organs. See the Mormon temple. Visit Saltair and sport in the waves of the briny sea. Board the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake westbound train and cross the end of this same lake, one of nature's wonders.



Cross the desert of Nevada, which was only a short time ago a desert waste, on and on until you smell the orange blossoms of sunny California, and the train emerges from the mountains and brings into view the grand Pacific Ocean. See the big trees of California, the seals and the scenery of the Yosemite Valley. Visit the orange groves and the vineyards, and partake of the orange and the grape.

Visit Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean, and try a couple of hours fishing in its waters. Then take the Southern Pacific and return to New York by way of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, New Orleans, Florida and other southern states. Then again let your chest swell with pride that you are an American.

I think you will agree with me that this grand country of ours is the peer of any in the world, and that volumes cannot begin to tell of the wonders of it. Then after taking such a trip you will say with me, "See America." I have seen a large part of America, and am still seeing it, but the life of a hundred years would be all too short to see our country.

Quoted from: The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, better known in the cattle country as  "Deadwood Dick" — by himself. A true history of slavery days, life on the great cattle ranges and on the plains of the "wild and woolly" west, based on facts, and personal experiences of the author.

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Whew! Now there was a man who, despite being born into slavery, was able to carve out for himself and his family, a place in post-Civil War America, and who did so on his own terms – growing to love and embrace the United States.

If you are looking for something to download onto your computer, smart phone, Kindle, iPad or whatever your preferred electronic reading device may be, I highly recommend The Life and Adventures of Nat Love.

Visit the Gutenberg.Org download page for Nat Love’s book…

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In Review – The Life and Adventures of Nat Love

Over the past couple of years I have reviewed quite a number of books for this blog, but this is the first time I have reviewed a book acquired as a digital download.

The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, is a remarkable tale by any measure. The full title of the book – as can be seen in the illustration on the left – includes the additional words: better known in the cattle country as Dead Wood Dick.

Nat (pron: Nate) Love (1854–1921), was an African American cowboy following the American Civil War. In The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, his 1907 autobiography, Nat reveals that he was born into slavery during the month of June, 1854 (exact date unknown), on the Tennessee plantation of Robert Love, an “…owner of many slaves”.

Following the common practise at that time, Nat was given the surname of his owner, as were his two older siblings, sister Sally and brother Jordan. Nat Love’s father was a slave foreman in the fields, and his mother managed the kitchen.

Following the Civil War, Nat’s father, Sampson, rented 20 acres of land from Robert Love, and the family began to farm their own piece of ground cultivating corn, tobacco and vegetables. Nat learnt the basics of reading and writing from his father, whose untimely death a year or so after gaining his freedom, forced Nat to assume the role of head of the family, despite the fact that he was younger than his two siblings.

The family struggled on for several more years, until one day Nat’s luck finally changed for the better when – with a fifty-cent stake – he won a horse in a raffle. The former owner immediately bought the nag back from Nat for $50, and proceeded to raffle the horse for a second time. Incredibly, Nat, who had bought a ticket in this new raffle again won the horse. Once more the owner offered to buy the horse back for another $50, to which Nat agreed. Now armed with one hundred dollars in cash, Nat headed home and giving half to his mother, he used the other half to “…go out in the world and try and better my condition.”

Although he was only 15 or 16 years of age at this time, Nat went west to Dodge City, Kansas, and found work as a cowboy. Because of his excellent horse riding skills, he was soon given the nickname, "Red River Dick."

Nat Love goes on to recount his many adventures involving cattle rustlers, wild storms, marauding Indians, buffalo and cattle stampedes, gun fights, and long months on the trail, and life in general as a cowboy. His many years of experience made him an expert marksman and horse rider, and when, at the age of 22, he entered a rodeo in Deadwood, South Dakota on the 4th of July in 1876 – winning the rope, throw, tie, bridle, saddle and bronco riding contests – he was given the nickname "Deadwood Dick."

In 1890, Nat Love – who had recently married – gave up the life of the cowboy to begin his second career as a Pullman porter on the vast new rail networks that were then criss-crossing their way over the old cattle trails. For 15 years he rode the ‘iron horse’ the length and breadth of the continental United States, and his book contains a paeon to America that is so beautifully written that I will quote it in full in a forthcoming entry.

I was particularly taken with this passage too: “At the present time there are in the United States upwards of two hundred and sixty thousand miles of railroad open and in operation, not to mention several thousand miles now building and projected … while in 1851 there were only…9000 miles.” Later, he adds, “They carry somewhat more than 800,000,000 passengers every twelve months.”

The heyday of rail travel in the United States has of course, long since come and gone. The Wikipedia entry for Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation), states that today Amtrak “…operates passenger service on 21,000 miles of track,” compared to the 260,000+ miles and growing in Nat Love’s day. Further, Wikipedia states, “In fiscal year 2008, Amtrak served 28.7 million passengers,” as compared with the 800 million annual passengers when Nat Love worked across the rail network.

Nat Love died in Los Angeles at age 67 in 1921. He lived an extraordinary life that took him from slavery, to the heyday of the American West, to the rise of the railways, and many places in between. He personally knew William ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, Frank and Jesse James, Kit Carson as well as Billie The Kid – all of whom he writes about in his book. If ever there was a story crying out to be turned into a great Hollywood movie, the story of Nat Love is it, and why it has yet to be done is beyond me.

Maybe it is because truth really is stranger than fiction.

I only have one major reservation about the autobiography: Nat Love refers to Native Americans and Mexican nationals in quite derogatory terms in his book, where he refers to Mexicans as ‘greasers,’ and when he repeats the widespread cry of the day that ‘the only good Indian is a dead one,’ etc. In his defence, one could argue that he was simply reflecting commonly held sentiments of his era, but to my mind it does detract from the full esteem he surely deserves.

Also, one obvious omission came to mind as I finished this remarkable story: once Nat gives his mother half his winnings from the horse raffles, and heads off to better his “condition,” he never mentions his mother or two siblings again, and I was left wondering if he ever saw them or kept in contact with them over the remainder of his life.

The Life and Adventures of Nat Love is available as a free digital download from that amazing repository of free public domain books, Gutenberg.Org, where along with Nat Love’s autobiography you will find more than thirty thousand other titles that can be downloaded gratis to your iPhone, iPad, Kindle, PC, Mac or any number of other electronic devices.

Highly recommended.

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