April 21, Day 4, 8:47 AM.
Up early and had breakfast. Took a hot shower; BOY did I need it after yesterday’s ordeal. As of now, it looks like I should get into DC right on time (1:30). I have a little bit of leeway, as the Northeast Regional doesn’t depart for NY and points north until 4:05. I “played” through the concerto once this AM as well as spent some time studying the score I am going to conduct.
I got to DC in good order so I went to the ticket guy to see if I could get onto and earlier train to Providence. For a few bucks, he put me on the 94 train, that goes through Baltimore. Philadelphia, NY & Boston. I’ll get to Providence 2+ hours ahead of the original plan. This might give me some time to actually practice because I didn’t buzz much tomorrow and haven’t touched the mouthpiece today.
It is pretty hot & muggy in DC.
I can’t buzz on this train because there are no private rooms. BUT, I clocked this train at 120 mph! It averages about 108 when moving. Why can the trains in Cali go this fast? Probably some self appointed safetycrat won’t let them; might run over an endangered desert rat!
Looking out the window is a bit depressing here, as I see a lot of squalor. A lot of run down houses, piled on top of each other in varying states of disrepair. Garbage everywhere and the view is pretty ugly overall. Of course the train tracks and train stations are never in the GOOD part of town, so I take that with a grain of salt.
Boy, did I miss my OWO guys last night!
More later…
Friends, I have gone back into production on my Tony Clements Mouthpieces, affectionately called "The Soup Can." The description o...
"Why can't the trains in Cali go this fast?"
ReplyDeleteSuper-short technical answer: Because the freight railroads own the tracks. Trains faster than 79 MPH require signaling equipment that the freight railroads don't want to install.
Between California's high speed rail project and Obama's high speed rail initiative, we'll hopefully have faster passenger trains in the future.
That's good knowledge!
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