Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance

...Or, I could go by train.

A dear friend of mine wrote me on Wednesday to suggest this option. Cross-country journeys don't have to be taken in a car. Amtrak is faster, safer, and cheaper. It liberates me from spending hours behind the wheel and worrying about where to sleep and eat. Perhaps most importantly, on a train people expect to chat with strangers. It's a more natural context than a laundromat to approach someone, tell them about this cool project you're doing, and ask them to tell you a story.

On the other hand, this convenience comes at the expense of breadth and autonomy. I sure won't be stopping in every city I pass through; I'll have to rely on the city to serve up new people with new stories. Which raises the question: is it still a cross-country journey if you get on at Tampa and off at San Francisco without visiting the towns in between? You're still visiting with some of the people from those towns, distinguishing a train journey from an airplane trip, so the answer might be a qualified yes, but you sure don't get to immerse yourself in local culture. No visits to Spring Hill College or the Grand Canyon; all you get is the changing landscape out the window. You also lose a ton of control over your route, since coast-to-coast trips invariably go through Chicago. In theory you can get around some of these disadvantages by booking trips with multiple legs. This gets expensive fast but is probably still cheaper than going by car. I wonder how far in advance you have to book. Can I take it one leg at a time, or do I have to plan a complete itinerary while sitting at home in one corner of a country that boasts 3.8 million square miles?

These thoughts were running through my mind when I opened up a collection of W.H. Auden's poetry that night. Flipping through at random, I happened on one of my favorite Auden poems, The More Loving One. I smiled and went on to the next poem -- and what should it be about but the comparative virtues of driving and riding a train! I am completely serious. It was one of those coincidences that just floors you, like God has appeared beside your bed amidst a chorus of angels to send you a portent. I read the poem, A Permanent Way, three or four times looking for this sign from Heaven. ...Yeah, it turns out Auden is ambivalent. Damn you, Auden! This is the problem with your poetry: you're too much like me!

What do you think, gang? Compared to going by car, would going by train be cooler? less cool? or cool in a different way?