Christian Wolmar's October newsletter
Christian Wolmar
Dear subscriber
I’ve just spent two weeks in America, and oddly enough I am also trying to finish my book on American railways in time for the publisher’s deadline of October (with publication due in May, with the title The Great Railway Revolution) , but unfortunately there’s been a spate of journalistic work – all of which will be on the site next month – delaying me which explains why I am writing this on a Saturday.
America was both fascinating and a tad depressing. Oddly, enough, in parts it seems like a third world country given the lack of investment in the infrastruture which means crumbling sidewalks, potholes in the road and a rather neglected passenger rail network. In other parts, it has all the exuberance of the frontier spirit and New York grows on me more every time I go there, even if Penn station is probably the most difficult station I have experienced in the world (though I have never been to Japan…).
If I had space and time, there would be no shortage of things to write about. Washington is a far more interesting city than I expected it to be with its wealth of museums and memorials, while Pennsylvania was like America itself a land of contrasts – the affluent county of Lancaster contrasted with the more rundown area of Johnstown in the west, but both were characteristic by the friendliest and most welcoming people I have met in a long time.
Gettysburg was an amazing surprise and an absolute must visit for anyone in the area. There has been enormous effort to try to restore the fields and woods to the state they were in at the time of the battle in 1863. Moreover, there are literally hundreds of memorials and plaques, listing the site of every regiment or even company, explaining what happened at each point in the three day battle and even Best factette: If there is a statue of a soldier on a horse with two feet off the ground, it means the subject perished – if one foot is lifted, they were injured, while all four feet on the ground shows they survived unscathed.
Perhaps the fact that Civil War wounds are not all closed was best highlighted for me by our hosts at Gettysburg, a very knowledgeable couple.They told me that they had offered a tour of Gettysburg to some visiting bankers from the South but had been rebuffed: ‘Why would we go to the site of our worst defeat?’, they said. Scary.
As for American railways, I have blogged about Amtrak, attracting some criticism from enthusiasts but I stand by what I said. The service is clunky, often delivered by rather rude staff – I’m afraid the majority I encountered this time, unlike last year when on some trains they were universally pleasant – overstaffed, bureaucratic – why do you need to sign your ticket and show ID when you purchase it, what kind of terrorist outrage will that protect? – and with are infrequent and slow trains, even in the northeast corridor. It took us 7 hours to reach New York from Altoona, Pennsylvania, four hundred miles away. One big plus, though, is the leg room and the comfort of the seats – there is no feeling of being cramped, like in a Pendolino.
While there will be many new items on the site next month, this time, apart from various blogging entries, there are just three – the two Rail columns covering respectively the fares rises whereby the government is exploiting the commuter monopoly of rail, here, and Chiltern’s revamped service to Birmingham which raises many issues about the nature of franchising - here
The only other new piece is a comment I wrote for the Evening Standard about Boris’s attempt to tackle roadworks which is a naked electoral ploy – here
I have, I confess, been tweeting far more than blogging. It’s just so immediate, and you can attach links, which makes all other material accessible. So please follow me @christianwolmar. For some reason, I have recently been on a particularly wide variety of radio programmes, including R4’s Costing the Earth, PM, Today, Radio 5 Live Drive, Radio Scotland, Making History and a couple more.
This month’s offer is for the two DVDs – Subterranean Railway and Fire & Steam – usually £15 each, for just £20 for the two that I presented based on my books and produced by 1st Take. They are both 90 minutes and would make an ideal prezzy for that long lost uncle who loves trains. Pay by PayPal to xi...@pro-net.co.uk or email me for address to send cheques.
Have a good Fall, as they may say in the States.
Christian