Back to the Old Values

A lot of passengers have complaints about railroads, and few have the opportunity to do anything about it. One passenger who is an avid railroad enthusiast recently traveled from Chicago to Washington on the B. & O.'s crack Capitol Limited. "The train traveled so fast through the Alleghenies that I found it difficult to sleep or shave, much less keep my coffee in its cup," complained Jervis Langdon Jr. Since he happens to be president of the B. & O., he forthwith ordered engineers to slow down. Trains, he argued, should go back to the old values of comfort and contemplation that they once offered.

"We put back 15 minutes on the Capitol Limited" says Langdon, "and when it wasn't enough, we slowed it down another 15 minutes. We've put 30 minutes back on the schedule of the National Limited (St. Louis to Baltimore), and engineers on these long-distance runs are under instructions not to try to make up time on unavoidable delays." The extra time permits a smoother ride, and a chance for the passengers to get a look at where they are before they have passed it. Other railroads are not inclined to put such a high premium on comfort or scenery. Says a New York Central spokesman: "People take trains because they don't want to fly, and that's all."

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