In the past I’ve written about the internet,
tying it to earlier modes of communication and transportation such as the
railroad. Well, I finally had a chance
to experience one of these earlier modes the US, courtesy of my cousin who was
traveling cross-country as part of Amtrak’s Writers in
Residence program. We met up in Seattle,
and boarded the Coast
Starlight for the twenty-four hour leg to San Jose. Of all the Amtrak long-distance trains, this route
is probably the most popular due to the scenery and the fact that it probably
as close-as-possible to the experience from half a century ago. For this reason: Having reserved a sleeper, we were able to
access the Pacific Parlour Car, the few remaining examples of the Santa Fe’s Hi-Level cars. And given that even cellular connectivity
was spotty through some of the wilderness we passed, you were by necessity
thrown into an earlier time.
A slower pace of life - retirees, European families, and
others who see more in the journey than the destination. I described the experience to my cousin as
a long aluminum cruise ship in miniature, and instead of the waves, the
mountains and fields. Plush (rotating)
chairs and great cocktails, it was easy to strike up a conversation, but Tobi describes
this in much better eloquence than I ever could. At dinner, you were matched up with others,
inviting shared experiences. Try that on
a plane more recent than Pan-Am’s
Clipper Service! Finally, to tie
back to earlier posts, the fibers supporting the internet,
carrying traffic about 10 million times faster than the train, lay parallel to
the tracks.
Rail Routes
Fiber Routes
