By Theresa Carter

We’re now in the Illinois Terminal waiting for the train. One thing I’m learning quickly is that Amtrak is always late. It’s not really their fault; the rails are owned by freight companies and most of the line is one track only. Alan at the Amtrak counter told me they try to have passing tracks every 10 miles or so. He also mentioned that about 90% of the time the delays are due to freight. I asked him if they lease it long term like Hong Kong. He said it was something like that. They’ve got a deal worked out with the government that gives them use of the rails as long as Amtrak’s in existence. (I’ll definitely be doing some research on that!)

Talking with him was confirmation of the romantic ideal I’ve had of train travel. Unlike Gordon, the gentleman on last night’s Cafe Car who’s worked there for twenty years but feels like it’s been “twenty centuries”, I could tell Alan felt an immense pride and he evoked the warmth I had previously only imagined from those who work the rails.

Today we’ve got a short 40 minute ride to Mattoon. David’s reading up on it and Charleston, where we’ll be headed tonight for his gig at Mac’s Uptowner. In between we’ll explore these towns. Now it truly feels like we’re “Writing The Rails”.