Scanning Around With Gene: You Meet the Nicest People on the Train

Gene Gable

While old movies taught me that train travel was romantic back in the day, I thought modern train travel was akin to riding a slow Greyhound bus with a bunch of people who were never able to overcome their fear of flying.
My prejudice wasn’t born from personal experience. Aside from European trains (which seem geared to efficient travel, not intended to be some sort of “experience”), I’ve never set foot on a train. But now that I’m less stressed and not so much in a hurry, I have moved train travel up on the list of things to try. Images like these from vintage train marketing have fueled my interest.



Train travel has increased in recent years as more people grow tired of the drama and uncertainty of air travel. In 2007, Amtrak carried the most passengers in its history, more than 25 million. And so far this year, Amtrak travel has risen 11 percent. Of course, these numbers still pale to the heyday of train travel when numerous railroads competed for passengers by offering better food, more windows, glass-roofed cars, etc.



One of the big reasons I’m still hesitant to take any significant train trips is that my expectations are now unrealistically high. I don’t want Amtrak-institutional, I want Carry Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest, or Marlene Dietrich in the great 1932 Josef von Sternberg movie Shanghai Express.



Heck, I’ll even take Richard Prior and Gene Wilder in Silver Streak, the great train comedy from Colin Higgins, directed by Arthur Hiller. And though I’m not a big fan, many people will likely have fond memories of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon in Some Like it Hot. Plus there are all those great who-done-it train movies, such as Murder on the Orient Express and even Strangers on a Train (though it was a commuter, not an over-nighter).


I hope I’m wrong, but I just don’t equate modern train travel in the Unites States with the sort of luxury, mystery, and sexuality inherent in the movie versions. That possible divergence between the movies and reality is also why I’ve stayed away from private balls held at giant mansions, and from working as a hard-boiled newspaper reporter on a big-city daily.



The one thing about train travel that I don’t think has changed much is that it is a more social travel experience than most other forms. Cruise ships are famous for being a place to interact with others, but the sheer size of most cruise ships actually works against this — you don’t have to engage with people if you don’t want to.
On a train, however, I’m told that the tighter quarters and long hours tend to stimulate conversation. So lots of vintage train-travel marketing played up the idea of meeting and socializing with interesting, well-dressed fellow travelers.


And of course there are those breath-taking views. Having lived in big cities most of my life, I picture the view from trains as being primarily the worst parts of town and the backyards of very poor neighborhoods. But I suppose at some time you do get out of town and see mountains, meadows, shorelines, canyons, and wheat fields.
Accordingly, the other big emphasis in vintage train advertising is the views, and how the various railroads made it easier to see them. And while I can appreciate a breathtaking sunset as much as the next person, I do have to say I’d probably spend more time in the observation car when going through urban areas than rural ones. I think cluttered backyards and laundry hanging on the line is the more interesting picture of America.



Thanks to shrinking home equity and the juggling of several jobs, I don’t think my wife and I will take a vacation this summer. But when we finally have the time, the money, and the right hats, I’m pretty certain our next trip will be via the rails.
If you have fond — or even horrible — train-travel memories, please share them via the Comments button below. I’d appreciate tips, too. Should I bring my iPod and experience America with a soundtrack, or let my guard down enough to actually speak to others? And what do I say if one of them (who looks suspiciously like Robert Walker) suggests we “swap murders?”