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Trains like this are demonstrably useless as transportation. The only way they can be useful is to focus on tourism. Wine-tasting get-away-weekend trains to Santa Fe would appeal to the artsy-fartsy types who keep that poor beleaguered pueblo alive.

If they were smart enough they would extend it to Denver, through some spectacular country. I took the train from Denver to Raton many years ago (The Texas Zephyr) and it was as beautiful a ride through the mountains as there is anywhere. As for routine transportation, though, this is obviously the predicted bust.

For years my late husband and I had talked about taking the train through the NW Nat’l Parks but he developed cancer and died before we could do it. He made our daughter promise that she would go with me when the time was right. Well, the next year, out of the blue I got to thinking about that. I talked to my daughter, grandson, and granddaughter separately if they wanted to go on this trip of get the money after I was gone. Each told me to go on the trip. In July, 2007, we went on that trip. We flew to Seattle about a week early so she could show me the city and for the kids to see their dad who lives out there. We toured an animal reserve in the state of WA, went through the tunnel through the mtns, Idaho, Glacier Nat’l Park, Yellowstone and ended up in Jackson at the Lodge there. We had a blast and made enough memories to last our lifetimes. We are so thankful we went because the company went out of the business the next year. We hate to think what we would have missed if we had waited. It sure was a whole lot different than here in Alabama!