At the infernal hour of 0430 yesterday I was standing beside the Ohio River in Maysville, Kentucky waiting on the Cardinal, the Amtrak train that runs from Chicago to New York City.
After only a brief delay the train pulled into the station and once a dozen or so Amish climbed off we were able to board and get DC bound. Rolling through the early morning darkness, a sudden sideways jostle was quick to remind me that for all its wifi and e-tickets we were traveling on 19th century technology.
Here in the US, passenger rail has been on life government support longer than I've been alive. Freight trains are just about all you see on the rails these days so it was nice to take a train before they disappeared entirely.
The ride took about the same amount of time as driving would have but was much more stress free. I'd ridden on the Cardinal once before but it's been close to twenty years since then. Couldn't tell it by the train though. About the only differences were the dining options were even more rudimentary and there was wifi. Well, there was a wifi network at least but it might as well have been dial-up for how well it worked.
A little before 1900 we rolled into Union Station in Washington DC. Does every city have a Union Station? I swear I've been in one in at least six different cities.
This adventure seems to be on track so far. Spent today shooting with the wide angle, once I post this it's time to start playing with them.
Until next time, y'all be good or be good at it.