DON'T YOU LOVE A TRAIN?

High speed rail for California would be such a boon to us. It would improve our lives, the economy and eliminate the concentration of smog from automobiles that fouls the air and pushes global warming. What we used to call Smell A could once again be L. A.

I loved taking Amtrak in Stockton to visit my daughter in Southern California. I could read, play cards, have lunch walk, look at the scenery. It is such a pleasant way to travel. Unfortunately, Kristanne doesn’t live in SoCal anymore.

It puzzles me why we have an out of date rail system while other countries with just a fraction of our resources, like Turkey, Poland and Morocco have modern, comfortable rail systems. Switzerland, Japan, France, Germany, and UK have fantastic, high speed state of the art bullet trains and commuter rail systems that get people where they need to go with little hassle.

A majority of working Americans are daily stuck in traffic, feeling road rage and yearning for a better way to get to work.

Our whole economy depends on infrastructure. Yet, we can’t get High Speed Rail moving. HSR is electric and we don’t have the hassle of getting to the airport, going through the rigamarole of inspection; waiting in lines and using transportation that gobbles up polluting jet fuel. The jobs it would create right here at home makes me want to fire congress for not getting behind HSR.

And, of course, that is where the problem lies. They either have oil money in their pockets or concrete for brains. I’m remembering back to the 1930’s when Shell Oil bought the public transportation network in Los Angeles and ripped up the tracks and burned street cars.  It wasn’t only Shell, but the combined power of Standard Oil, Firestone Tires, Mack Trucks and General Motors who were in on the deal.
Likewise, in the 1990’s corporate profiteers mounted a fight to undermine the high speed potential for Amtrak. Guess who funded that? KOCH Brothers Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation and Reason Foundation, that spread the analyses that Amtrak is a pokey slow little train system of little use. They bought politicians  with fabricated studies that have systematically starved Amtrak and any progress to HSR.  Most Amtrak trains have to shuffle along at 48 miles per hour, instead of 150 miles per hour.  THANK YOU CONGRESS.

Of course, naysayers point to Amtrak crashes. Guess what?  All modern rail systems have PTC ,  positive train control systems. But congress imposed some budgetary and ideological restrictions on Amtrak’s ability to implement PTC.  The people who die in crashes have congress to blame.

For more information on HSR to the following links:
http://www.ushsr.com
http://www.narprail.org

LIVING IN LIBBY, MONTANA

Driving from Kelispell to Libby yesterday morning  brought us through 9 miles of road work much of it really, bumpy gravel.

Elevation rises, more trees and stump farms with scraggly second or third growth. One plot had about 3 scraggly trees and nothing but stumps. This is lumber country obviously and the twigs we see everywhere that pass for trees is disheartening even if it is private land.

Libby is called the City of Eagles. We didn’t see any flying around or nesting spots along the roadway, but there were plenty of them around town.

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We had expected to see the Museum and Nordic Heritage Center, but it was closed.

We missed by one day the Nordic Heritage Days annual celebration. This sign was left on the street. We pulled in to stay at the VFW in town and just walked the downtown area and took pictures.

I  judge the health of a small town by its art or lack of it, good beer, buildings that are well cared for and if you see a nice child care center, a drug treatment center, senior center, plenty of doctors offices, a hospital and good looking schools you know you are in a progressive community. Libby qualifies. The main street was only about four blocks long and two blocks deep, but it was full of murals and they are expensive.
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Even their garbage cans were painted. This one mentions their Annual River Front Blues Festival.
They still have a working theater in town. Nice.

The Libby Cafe claims to have the best huckleberry flapjacks in Montana.  I liked their sign.

This one too.

Libby has an Amtrak Station so you can get where you want to go. Country living, small town, pretty nice place to live.

ABANDONING MY PARTNER

Its that time again, I'm leaving for home and Jim will be in the motor home by himself. According to him, I'm abandoning him. He's told his friends that I've banished him from my house because he is a distraction. Its true. He is a distraction. And, I need time to finish some projects without distractions, but, he makes it sound like I'm running away in a big red bus and never coming back.
 
 Yesterday, we dug out our collective receipts and went through them to figure out who owes who what. I normally buy all of the groceries, and pay for restaurant meals and entertainment while we are on the road. He pays for everything else,  the propane, gas, any incidental site expenses, parking fees, quarters for the laundry and so on. When we add it up, it amounts to about the same.
 
 He is delivering me to Amtrak in Bakersfield where I'll take the train to Sacramento and pick up my car at my daughters. I've begun to hate flying, the security, the waiting, the crowds, the whole thing. Amtrak is a comfortable alternative to travel while sitting at a table to read or compute or whatever. Roomy, comfortable and scenic. For those of you who wish to keep up with Jim, his blog is at http://blog.seattlepi.com/ramblinman

A--- CBRECCD-- BLOG

Egads! Jim seems to have adopted my cold so we stayed home yesterday and read. We did manage a quick trip to the store for chicken broth to make chicken soup.

 Neither of us get bored because we are avid readers. I'm currently reading a Phillip Margolin, Ties That Bind.

Home, in California, is beckoning and I've made reservations on Amtrak. I have a bum shoulder and its looking like surgery is going to be my only option. Not something that can be accomplished from the road.

Drat!

Jim reminded me that I'm here and can complain. Something to think about. Anyway, I know this is a pretty  CRummy blog, but when you have excess letters, you may as well use them. Or, Can Break Ribs Easily Coughing, Coughing Dreadfully.   (Where's the damned Kleenex?)