I spent part of the weekend reading about our impending train journey. Thursday afternoon at 1.45 we’ll board the California Zephyr at Union Station and disembark at Denver the following morning at 7.30. (Eventually we’ll end up in Estes Park at my folks’ house). There are very good reasons for taking the train: Andy hates to fly, and airports around Christmastime tend to be seething hellholes of crowds , delays, and claustrophobia. But the main reason is that I’ve always wanted to travel by train long-distance via sleeping car. We have a Superliner roomette reserved, which includes the following amenities:

Meals included
First Class status
Picture window
Two reclining seats which convert to a bed; upper berth which folds down from wall
restrooms/showers nearby in same train car
Electrical outlets
Climate control
Individual reading lights
Garment rack
Fold-down table
Fresh towels and bed linens
Soap and shower amenities
Personal service (turn-down, coffee, paper, make-up bed)
Bottled water
Daily newspaper

My anticipation contains generous dollops of romantic myth drawn from movies like “The Thin Man,” “North by Northwest” and “Twentieth Century.” At Union Station, as we wait for the train, we’ll have access to the 1st class Metroliner Lounge. Onboard I’m picturing a sort of combo airplane/hotel feeling. We’ll make our reservations for the dining car after we’re shown to our cabin. We’ll have wine with our meal, which might be Chicken Provincial or Seared Catfish. And when we retire for the evening, we’ll be gently rocked to sleep by the rhythm of the rails.

But hostile monopolization of travel by airplanes and cars has turned train travel into hardly more than a shadow of its peak years in the 30’s and 40’s. Partly I think it’s the reasonable desire to get to one’s destination faster. The power of oil, business, and obsession with profit helped things along too. If Bush & Co. get their wish, the system will be purposefully bankrupted and fragmented. Stations will be closed. Most routes will end up with cutbacks, and some will be discontinued altogether. Long-distance 1st class train travel could well vanish for good, at least in the U.S. Which, in my opinion, is a real shame. In Europe, Japan and elsewhere, it’s been demonstrated that modern train travel can be affordable, speedy, and energy efficient.

I’m pretty darn excited to see what our trip will be like.