“People might not mind a slowish trip if it could be something like a party”
Yeah right! I decided to take Amtrak from Oakland to Los Angeles a couple of years ago. Nice trip so long as you are not too near death because it takes 12 hours! You can fly it in an hour and drive it in six. Amtrak is the rolling equivalent of the Post Office!
But what was going on in that train car. Everybody grimly frowning at everybody else, just caring about “when are we gonna get there.”
It would take something that transcends Amtrak-think to come up with such a thing. But why can’t we get something like a riverboat atmosphere (with or without gambling) rolling on the rails?