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The summer doldrums seemingly having enveloped this forum, I will offer an amusing item from last Sunday's NY Times about a celebrated travel writer on Italy's trains, which seem as endearing as Amtrak is aggravating.
dilly Member # 1427
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I traveled a fair bit on Italian trains during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
During those trips, I watched a number of conductors display their "entrepreneurial spirit" when collecting tickets from non-Italian tourists.
The drill was always the same. The conductor would enter the car. The tourist would hand over their ticket or Eurail pass. The conductor would peer at it and -- after shifting into a macho posture and threatening tone of voice -- sneer "No good" and demand more money. Usually quite a bit more.
Typically, the intimidated tourist would meekly pay up. The additional cash always went straight into the conductor's pants pocket. No new ticket. No receipt. No nothing.
And if a passenger (such as yours truly) refused to go along with the obvious shakedown? Invariably, the conductor would start waving his fists and shouting about calling the police. About jail time. About physically hauling the passenger from his/her seat and ejecting them from the moving train.
Then, as if on cue, the conductor/scam artist would storm out of the car -- like an exiting character in an Italian Opera -- loudly vowing to return and make good on their threats.
Needless to say, they never did. But it was terrific on-board entertainment.
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Jerome Nicholson Member # 3116
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Reading the article reminds me of when I had a conversation with an Italian who disparaged his country's train system; he finished by saying that "Italian Rail is the worst system in the world". I asked him, "Is it worse than Amtrak?"
We both laughed.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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My most memorable experience with Italian railroads was on the Rome-Milan Il Settebello express in the 1970s. I was in the company of two fellow journalists, both young, female and very attractive. We rode in the front car, which hosted the control cab.
A few minutes into the trip one of the engineers came down and invited the two women to the cab. I got up to go along with them and received a curt "Not you, signore."
A little later I peeked into the cab. The two women were sitting in the engineer and fireman seats while the crew leaned close and showed them how things worked, paying no attention that I could see to the view ahead.
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