Thanks for the good report; it basically embodies the inconsistency one can expect on Amtrak. There are great trips and bad trips, but usually somewhere in between. I always tell first-timers: Don't expect a cruise ship, and don't expect Greyhound!

Would you agree that we should create a free market and stop "donating" tax dollars to aviation infrastructure (which underwrites the losses of the pitiful airline industry) and crumbling interstate highways (which is a de facto subsidy for trucking and autos)? Could it possibly be that Amtrak is weak because it's survived as a political football, always getting just enough public investment to squeek by, but never any long-term vision or sustainable financing?

I just returned from Japan, where Japan Railways were regionally privatized... only after an $80 billion public investment. Just maybe, that might have contributed to the quality and quantity of the world-class Shinkansen and local rail services I enjoyed?