1960's Saftey Patrol school trips to Washington DC via rail. - Trains Magazine

   In the 1980's & '90's I would take my Advanced Placement United States history students on an annual overnight train trip.  One year we went to Pittsburgh, the next year to Philadelphia, but mostly we went to Chicago.  Every trip was a fine one and has led to a lifetime of happy memories for them; they still thank me in their Christmas cards.

   Highlights included leaning out the dutch door as we climbed Horseshoe Curve, with a huge "Allegheny moon" in the clear sky of a warm May evening.  One conductor told us to shut the door, and I replied that we'd come a long way and I wanted the kids to experience the curve as I had done over the years.  Ok, he said, just be careful!  Thank you, conductor.

   I aways booked seats on the Capitol Limited so the students could ride in an old-fashioned dome car and they invariably loved it!  One boy, up in the dome, the train running fast and with those heavy ups and downs passenger trains have as they move, commented to his buddies, "Can you imagine having a girl up here at night?"  I didn't say anything to him, but I thought "Yes, I sure can!  Ask my girlfriends!"  The kids loved the dining car for all the right reasons.  One evening the train carried a lounge car from the Florida service and in it was an electric piano (remember those from pre-Walkman days?).  One of the girls in our group was an accomplished pianist and she sat down and played cocktail piano music for two hours; she walked away with about $20 in tips given to her by the other passengers!

   One morning I heard Amtrak president Graham Claytor was aboard, so when we disembarked at CUS I had the kids hang back a bit in the hope we could meet and thank him.  When I approached and spoke to him in front of my students, he never broke his stride.  He and his two or three goons (ok, staff assistants), simply looked straight ahead and deliberately ignored us, astonishing me.  I know in this forum he is considered St. Graham Claytor, but that morning he was an oaf.  That's how I remember him, in spite of all his other qualities.

   My students got to experience Amtrak station and train personnel who ranged from fabulously friendly and helpful to, well, you can guess.  Some were then motivated to take their families on train trips, and others learned they could take a train to and from college when they got there.  

   Not all learning takes place in a classroom, and I think I made a lot of friends for Amtrak over that decade or so.  Long live class trips by train!