Story posted Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Park Ridge Man Loves Seeing The Nation By Train
By DENISE FLEISCHER Lifestyle Editor
Joe Ori of Park Ridge loves trains. He feels they are a great way to see the beautiful landscape of our nation and to bond with families.
"My love of trains has grown since I was a 5-year-old boy," Ori said before leaving on his next train trip. He's an electrical contractor by trade and a collector of train memorabilia. "My mom and grandmother took me to San Francisco years ago. We rode on The City of San Francisco, dully christened a streamliner, which is a light-weight diesel-powered long-distance train."
When Ori was older, his mother took him and his brother to Landenberg, Pennsylvania, to visit an aunt.
"The fun part was getting there," he admitted. "We took the Broadway Limited, it was an all Pullman train, all sleeper train that rivaled New York Central Railroad's Twentieth Century Limited. We had a drawing room with three beds."
Traveling by railroad was partly responsible for the development of the West during the late 1880's, said Ori. He spoke of the "Harvey Girls," which, if you love old movies, you would remember featuring Judy Garland. The western musical focused on women working for a special Santa Fe line meal service.
"Fred Harvey spoke to the Santa Fe Railway about having restaurants on the Santa Fe lines. Before there were dining cars, travelers got off the trains in various towns to freshen up and have a meal. They often stopped in dirty saloons during the Wild West. Harvey hired women, who were dressed in black and white, to serve quality food and provide wonderful service. They lived by a strict code and were not allowed to date clients."
Long distance traveling continues during contemporary times, often rivaling the finest hotels. Ori said that celebrities traveled by train in private cars to get to their next appearance or for leisure.
"It was a vehicle of entertainment," said Ori. "All the movie stars would take the Twentieth Century Limited or the Broadway Limited to arrive in Chicago or take the Santa Fe or Union Pacific to the West coast. Those were the days when people enjoyed getting to their destination."
There were trains for the elite and coach trains, which were more affordable, for the average traveler.
Ori rides Amtrak trains. In fact, he was headed to Washington, D.C. for his latest trip.
"I'm going to visit a friend on the East coast. I'll take the Capital Limited to Washington and come back four days later," he said.
He recalled a trip in 1997 which he took with his kids.
"I wanted to take my two children on a trip before they became young adults," he said. "We took Amtrak's California Zephyr to San Francisco. We spent three days in San Francisco and then we took the Coast Starlight up the coast through Dunsmuir, California, Portland and into Seattle. The scenery was magnificent. We slept in a sleeper car and the kids did activities in the lounge car."
Ori admits he's hooked on trains for life. He travels a couple of times a year. It's his way of "enjoying life" and he hopes this article will help others to see how wonderful train travel can be.
Businessmen have found a quick way to get to work also.
"The North East Corridor railroad service from Boston to Washington offers high speed rail travel. It's quick, efficient and extremely comfortable," said Ori. "It's the future of America."
He also said that the United States hauls more freight than any other country. He feels that our freight service is so valuable.
Most importantly, Ori feels that we have to slow down our frantic pace to enjoy life. We need to back off from computers and a regimental lifestyle to see our beautiful country.
So the next time you want to travel to the Milwaukee Zoo, for instance, take a train.
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