Don't worry about other people's bags, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. It's still far safer, convenient, and more pleasurable to take the train than to drive or fly.

Due to the lack of a baggage search, the terrorists would have absolutely no idea how many people had weapons until it was too late.......

But I wouldn't worry about security. Post Sept. 11th, quite honestly, I've seen quite a bit of it on Amtrak: Huge german shepards and burly police seem to be a frequent sight these days.

Not quite sure what you mean about "friendly skies." Most people I have spoken to lately seem quite discontent with the attitudes they've been receiving from the airlines these days.

Trains just don't seem to be much a terrorist target these days. I think the Palestinians even tried to target an Israeli train a few months back without much luck.

I feel very safe on the train. I have found that the conductors and attendants keep very close attention to what is going on, even though they seem to use an antiquated form of record keeping.

Relax, Theodore. Trains are the only way to travel. Things might appear a little chaotic on the surface, but I am convinced that the crew carefully scrutinizes every traveller and if anything is amiss, they will be thrown off the train.

And when I say amiss, I mean 1) they can't match their ticket with their luggage 2) they can't show proper identification 3) they're argumentative, drunk or disorderly 4) their ticket is one way 5) they paid with their one-way ticket in cash 6) they're not sitting in their assigned seat. The list goes on and on.