left coast. Big time.

Maybe VP Pence can save it.



Will the cuts include the SouthShore lines running from South Bend to Chicago too?

I know they have had their struggles. I have used that route many times over the decades. It helped me and my daughters get to LaPorte via Michigan City last year too. Great experience for my girls with mass transit. In AZ, we don't have a lot of accessible mass transit.

...that's been the Republican theory for decades.

which goes from Chicago through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington all the way to Seattle, will really hurt rural communities in those states - especially since Trump wants to eliminate funding for essential air service to small communities as well.

It's like Trump is making a special effort to inflict the most pain on the people who voted for him.

There simply aren't that many Amtrak routes as it is.

About three years ago I travelled from New Mexico to Portland, OR, to visit my son, taking Amtrak. It was the best trip ever. Two full days on the train. I booked sleeper cars, and it was well worth it. I could move around, hang out in the lounge car, make new friends. The best part was that on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Portland, there was a separate lounge car for the sleeper car passengers. We could take our meals there if we wanted. There was a bar open most of the time. I spent several hours with new friends drinking wine -- every so often one of us would go to the bar and purchase another bottle of wine -- and just chatted away. Fabulous trip.

I arrived in Portland relaxed and happy and had a wonderful week there.

I want to do it again. I want to take more trips by train. Unfortunately, the people who hold the purse strings would never be caught dead taking a train.

What we need are more routes and more frequency. There are not enough north-south trains. There are not enough cities served. There should be more than one train a day on the major routes. When I took the trip referenced above, I flew home mainly because the train from Portland to Los Angeles didn't connect to the Los Angeles to New Mexico train, and rather than book a hotel and go through all that, I took a plane. Too bad. It would have been wonderful if there were two trains a day on each route, ensuring I could take one that let me connect without a Los Angeles overnight.

Say don't you know me?
I'm your native son.
I'm the train they call the city of New Orleans,
And I'll be tossed in the trash heap
When Don's work is done..."