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From Booklist
Although there is probably plenty of interest in a fond reminiscence of the bygone days when people regularly traveled the U.S. on steel tracks, this is certainly not it. This is a hard look at the current state and (possible) future of America’s passenger rail service. McCommons, a travel writer and frequent train passenger, addresses a number of key issues: the widespread distrust of railroads; the railroad companies’ record of poor service; the increasing erosion of the country’s intercity rail system; a lack of funding and support for what used to be an efficient and popular form of transportation. McCommons writes in a measured tone (he’s trying to be informative not judgmental), but there’s an undercurrent of disappointment and even disgust: he’s not just a reporter; he’s also a fan of the railroads, and he feels like they’ve let him down. What is the future of the passenger rail system? That’s a tough question, but McCommons says one thing is certain: if we don’t commit now to building a solid rail network with high-speed trains, soon there could be no railroads left. --David Pitt
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Review
Library Journal, Editors' Pick-Attention! Readers of travel memoir, of investigative reporting, those seeking to understand America today, even devotees of fiction of the American journey--heck, simply of fine writing! Look out for James McCommons's Waiting on a Train. NOTICE!: Train chasers, railroaders, and train hobbyists, you'll want to chase down this book as well. DESCRIPTION: Height nine inches, approximately 272 pages deep. Instigated by veteran journalist McCommons, who was last seen riding the rails in 2008 on extended trips covering all regions of the country that still permit the possibility of passenger rail travel. As he rides the California Zephyr, the Silver Meteor, the Acela, the Empire Builder, he interweaves stories of the men and women he encounters with an accessible and expertly traced history of America's enchantment and subsequent tragically wrongheaded abandonment of its railroads. In a year when gas prices tipped the $4 mark, the speed and efficiency of freight trains carrying shipping containers became all the more clear. McCommons urges us not to fall back on train nostalgia but to look to the future. He sees the possibility that with increased stimulus support of America's railroad lines, age-old disconnects between freight and passenger rail may at last ease, and we may cease to be "a third-world country when it comes to passenger railroads." McCommons is the son and grandson of railroad men. He does them proud. Detain his work. Can be found as of November 2009. Reward: The pleasure of reading prose that has the shimmer, strength, and authenticity that our railroads can still inspire and that they may yet attain again.Library Journal-McCommons sets out to rectify American ignorance of passenger trains by describing his rail travels around the United States in 2008. He writes of the people he meets, the scenery, the long decline in American rail travel, and its emerging renaissance, interweaving discussions he has had with dozens of the leading minds on American passenger rail. McCommons explains that Amtrak has been starved for funding since its 1971 inception but argues that a brighter future is coming with increased funding from the Obama administration, states working on regional plans, a new spirit of cooperation from the freight railroads, and the 2008 four-dollars-a-gallon gasoline price, which refocused the public's attention on rail travel. Still, he's objective, and though repetitious, his narratives get the mood of train travel right. He's at his best when deftly connecting the lack of a salad in a dining car with bigger issues like Amtrak's funding. VERDICT: Essential reading for rail fans, policymakers, and anyone curious about the future of transportation."America once had a passenger railroad system that was the envy of the world. Now we have one that the Bulgarians would be ashamed of. The task of reviving it could not be more important if we wish to keep people moving around this continent-sized nation, especially as the airlines crap out and our system of mass Happy Motoring founders on the shoals of 'peak oil.' The infrastructure of our rail system is lying out in the rain waiting to be fixed; the project would put scores of thousands of people to work at meaningful jobs at all levels; and the fact that we're not even talking about it shows how un-serious we are as a society. This book is one small step toward the giant leap of consciousness necessary to repair our battered country."--James Howard Kunstler, author of World Made By Hand and The Long Emergency "Like William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways before it, James McCommons' Waiting on a Train is a celebration of America's past and a hopeful prescription for its future. It is one of those rare books that will change the way you see the world, a fascinating and engaging tale of how this nation's infatuation with the automobile all but destroyed a once glorious passenger rail system. If you are not already a rail lover, you will be by the time you finish this book. You will want to pack your bags and hop aboard. Waiting on a Train is an important story thoroughly reported and well told."--John Grogan, author of Marley & Me and The Longest Trip Home"James McCommons has captured the adventure, the angst, and the inadequacy of modern train travel. He also gives us perspective, taking us from the days when trains were the pulse of America to today when they could be so much but are on life support."--Don Phillips, columnist for Trains magazine and former transportation writer for The Washington Post and International Herald Tribune "Waiting on a Train is a timely and worthwhile addition to the canon of transportation literature. It manages to be both a lively account of rail travels across America--with insightful portraits of the train enthusiasts and just plain folks met along the way--and a deeply informative history of Amtrak in its short but troubled existence. More than that, it points the way toward a more dynamic future for passenger railroads, complete with heavily used high-speed trains zipping around regional corridors."--Jim Motavalli, author of Breaking Gridlock: Moving Toward Transportation That Works and Forward Drive: The Race to Build Clean Cars for the Future"This is must reading for anybody who cares about the transportation future of this country. It should be a call to arms for all Americans who keep wondering why our friends in Europe and Asia have terrific trains while we have poured billions into highways and airports and a pittance into our national passenger rail system."--Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and vice-chairman of the Amtrak Board of Directors, 1998-2003
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Product details
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing; First Edition edition (November 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603580646
ISBN-13: 978-1603580649
Product Dimensions:
6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.4 out of 5 stars
69 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#840,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A really interesting look at the past, present and future of Amtrak through the lens of the long distance trains. McCommons is a university professor and some chapters come through as feeling like a published paper, but overall it was super readable. Especially as I began reading it on a Lake Shore Limited between Albany and NYC. While not a foamer myself, long distance train travel fascinates me and I enjoyed this look at the history of some - especially why the Empire Builder has that name.While the cost of gas isn't the issue that it was in 2009, there remain many reasons to take trains. Seeing the country is one amazing one - getting there quickly isn't always.
This is a good and fair book that needs updating now that gasoline really isn't that much of an issue anymore. And the peak oil nonsense of the forward has bitten the dust. Someday the federal politicians will realize they can't just build their way out of traffic jams and start putting the bucks they now put in highways and short-hop jet travel into making Amtrak less late and haphazard.
I agree with some of the detrimental comments other reviewers posted. The author could have gone deeper in some cases and present a little more comprehensive and detailed proposal without getting too technical and boring; main reason why I give the book four stars not five. But it gets four because it is an excellent read and every one who wants to, or is already involved, with an interest in passenger railroading has to read this book as a primer. If you have no idea how a freight railroad runs, what are the main blockades other than money that face passenger rail expansion, or in general, how a railroad can contribute to American transportation infrastructure now and in the future, this book is is a great introduction. The author keeps it simple, to expand on his work, volumes have to be written but would be laden with technical and economic details that would put off a common reader who wants to get the "gist" of the current and future American passenger railroad operations.Rail fans need to read this book to help quell the outrages propositions (Like coast to coast bullet trains) commonly found on forums, news groups, magazines, conventions, and even passenger rail advocacy groups. I see some of these proposals as detrimental to the cause because the grand and sometimes outrages scope they posses have the propensity to be instantly ignored by those who make the decisions. In result, ignoring the more sensible proposed solutions that need to be implemented.Sometimes it is the transit companies themselves whose grandiose plans get shot down because they cannot see the big picture. As an example of this, research SEPTA's Schuylkill Valley Metro (SVM) project in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. They wanted a to build a system that connected two main cities; Reading and Philadelphia with a huge and overbuilt rail system that was a clear overshot of what is needed with price tag of over $2 billion. I should mention that there was an existing service between these cities as recent as 1983. Instead of working with what they had and negotiating with the host railroad (Norfolk Southern), SEPTA wanted a unique, separate system designed to support frequent head-ways that most likely will not be needed and never reach capacity goals. Because of this grandiose plan, the project was nixed by the feds as too expensive for what is needed. I honestly believe that if the planners of the SVM knew and UNDERSTOOD what was in this book, trains would be running between Philadelphia and Reading today. Now, it may be at least 10 more years.In conclusion, if you want to know what is wrong with this country in regards to the problems plaguing American transportation and how the railroads can help, read this book immediately. It will get your foot in the door so you can understand not only what it takes to get a passenger rail project moving, but what obstacles it will face. You will have a better understanding in reading rail proposals and the political underlinings involved. Again, a great foundation for more advanced research if so inclined, but enough for a casual reader to get what is going on and what is needed.
Before reading James McCommons's engaging and thorough account of passenger rail service in America, I had no idea how polarizing an issue passenger rail is with politicians. It is sad that in America, every issue has to have two sides with the Republicans on one side and the Democrats on the other and the divide preventing real accomplishments that could help all Americans. McCommons rode the rails--mostly Amtrak--for a year and, yes, he suffered many long delays and spotty service. But he also learned how mostly Republican politicians and some freight railroads (with Union Pacific the worst offender) stiffle the growth of passenger rail service in America. Democrats do not always escape blame either, as their inability to take action when they are in the majority has also hurt the expansion of rail service. Yes, Amtrak loses money but McCommons also points out how government subsidizes the air and highway industries at an exponentially greater rate than it does for railroads. The refusal to fund passenger rail properly is just another example of how this country, as great as it is, still falls short.
With the Obama Administration starting to fund passenger rail more aggressively, I found this book to be a very well reasoned and timely addition to the literature. The book functions at one level as something of a travelogue, with the author taking various train trips and noting facts about the train and the passengers it serves. But more importantly, the book delves into the history of the passenger train, the reasons it started it's decline after WWII, and how Amtrak got it's start. The author takes pains to avoid being a "railfan cheerleader"; if anything he seems to go out of his way to decry avid railfans as being somewhat out of touch, which I personally could have done a little without. Never the less, his dispassion towards rail as a hobby serves him well as he discusses the key challenges rail currently faces, specifically capacity, funding, timekeeping, and linkage to other transportation modes.For someone looking for a good overview of what to expect as we see more high speed rail, and as conventional rail gets more attention, this book is an excellent resource in my opinion. It is well written, very factual, and most of all, the author understands the industry and can discuss it as a business and a service industry.
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