Driver, on to Freiburg bitte - mini rant ahead

I am feeling the need to restate my belief that we lost something by ripping out the tracks in favor of car travel. It is funny how we remain enamored by the old west ideals but not the way so many people got out there in the first place. As I sit on the train there is something comfortable and relaxing about being able to just sit back and enjoy the trip. We are going up to 200 km/h (124 mp/h) and the trip from Frankfurt to Freiburg will take just over two hours; even with the few stops in between. There is none of the stress of traffic, bad drivers, or even the possibility of going the wrong direction (unless you get on the wrong train of course). While it could be argued that they have good motorways as well, I couldn’t be typing this or completing some of my other work if I were driving there myself. So I guess we can add the potential for additional productivity to the positive tally for trains. Heck, they even just came by with a tray of frisches kaffe for sale even though they have a bistrokarte just a car further up.

I have also liked watching the countryside rush by and being able to notice so many things. For instance, just outside of Mannheim there were a couple of little solar farms. Fenced off areas that were just filled with solar panels along side the rail line. Coming into Karlsruhe there was a neat little community garden area that had sheds and other structures that were mostly of recycled materials. I do think there were some people living there more permanently, but there were lots of garden plots laid out, with each narrow space fenced off from its neighboring space. South of Karlsruhe we now have the changing terrain with more hills and elevation differences. The hills are still snow covered, but only lightly so now, but it is also neat seeing the little communities tucked into the sheltered sides of those hills. The hills are becoming more identifiable as small mountains, with the clouds hanging around their upper reaches, obscuring a peak or two as we go.

Don’t get me wrong I love to drive. I will confess that even if we had more practical rail service in the U.S., I can’t easily say I would give up having a car. I don’t know whether it is simply the Type A personality or the feeling of freedom to go as you choose, when you choose. It is also an added bonus that you can usually get to your immediate destination a little better with a car. I think a lot of my frustration is because of the lack of an option of which mode of transportation we want to use. Just now do we see areas where trains, trams, light rail, and other options are being put back into place. If we hadn’t been so quick to rule out the value of them originally and remove the infrastructure for them, we wouldn’t have to be spending such large amounts now to put them back into place. I am also not convinced that it was simply an objective decision made by insightful, intelligent public figures. The growing automobile industry had a lot to potentially lose if the trains were given priority locally, regionally, or even nationally.

I am glad that the train ride isn’t any longer today, as I do have to admit to feeling tired. I will do all I can to stay awake until 8 or 9 tonight, but a short nap is a tempting idea. I will meet up with my ITC colleagues, Ken and Amara, in Freiburg this afternoon. It will be good to have a final destination for the next couple of days before the students are to arrive and we get ourselves down to business. The time in advance will allow me to acclimate to my surroundings and, more practically, get down to work on the online components of my classes that continue at UWRF in my absence.