American Journeys - Orlando to Miami and back ....

A mile and a half outside Fort Worth we stopped again.  After half an hour or so the lady from the snack  bar told us that the driver of the freight train on the track in front had gone home.  He had to, she said, because he'd completed his twelve hour shift ... We rolled into Fort Worth at four pm; the time the Austin train was due to leave.  Amtrak was good enough to wait the few minutes it took to clamber from one train to the other and I found myself sitting next to an oversized Texan in a baseball cap who occupied, in addition to his own seat, a quarter of mine.

 (American Journeys by Don Watson)

In Don Watson’s book, ‘American Journeys’, he describes the abysmal system of Amtrak, America’s train system.  I read his book whilst on my last US trip and found myself wondering what he was talking about.  The trains ran on time, they were clean, the stations were well served with cafes and other small stores, the staff were friendly.  “What was he complaining about?” I wondered.

On my Orlando-Miami round trip, I understood.  I arrived at Orlando station to be greeted by a dirty waiting room where the stale smell of urine and beer wafted through in the stifling heat.  There were no cafes or lovely bookstores to browse.  With no explanation, the train was late and passengers were continually given the wrong information about where to wait.  The system of boarding the train was complicated and confusing - how hard can it be to get people onto a train?

Everyone was relieved when we got going.  The standard of the train was still great – friendly staff and big, comfy, reclining seats.  Not long into the trip, we stopped.  And waited.  And waited some more.  No one knew why.  Was there a driver-less freight train ahead of us, as in 'American Journeys'?  Half an hour later we were still waiting but had a vague explanation - we weren't allowed to cross the crossing until the delayed north-bound train had passed.

Despite all this, I still love train travel.  Traveling by train gives you an opportunity to peek into someone else's life from a different perspective.  I learnt that people from Florida have lots of big trucks sitting in their backyards and that like in most cities, graffiti artists choose backyard fences as their canvas.  I saw orange trees in lush green orchards, industrial sites, along with many small and run-down townships.  Train travel gives you a time to truly relax, there is nothing you can do except sit back and enjoy the ride.  In between watching the scenery, reading and viewing a couple of episodes of Criminal Minds, the time whizzed by and I arrived in Miami only 2 hours late.  The return train was only 30 minutes late.